Test drove a 2014 BRZ...not worth $20,000

[DarkSunrise]

Interesting to see how polarizing this car can be. You have pro drivers, reviewers, and regular owners who rave about it and compare it as a drivers' car to some of the great Porsches and exotics, and then you have other guys who hate it and think it's barely worth $14k lol. Regardless, everyone seems to have a strong reaction to it one way or another, depending where they fall on the spectrum.

Personally, I love mine. Incredible value for the money. It's not a perfect car, but it's the perfect car for me right now. On my daily commute, it's awesome being able to redline the engine and downshift to pass, and not be in license revocation territory (this was an issue when I had my 310 hp Boxster S). On the weekends, you can hit the track with it and exploit the fantastic handling if you know what you're doing. It is fairly neutral at the limit, but quite forgiving beyond it as well. Whatever you want the car to do (oversteer, power oversteer, understeer, trail-brake/lift-throttle), it will respond. Also offers good feedback, excellent seating position, responsive steering and brakes, etc. And when you want to get serious about lap times, a few simple mods will go a long way.

As a bonus, these cars happen to be great looking, practical compared to most sports cars, and fuel efficient.

My only real qualm about a stock FR-S/BRZ is the engine note, but a good exhaust or header makes that an easy fix.

[TheAsianRacer]

Glad to know you "enjoyed" the twins so much, but now you could go back to your awd and turbo, that'll cure you of all your "headaches" of our underpowered, sloppy shifting, "lack" of grip cornering, and actually learning how to drive.

Really though, I think you found someone who abused their brz or frs, so don't let the door hit you on your way out.

[Jyn]

Texas, eh?

I'm curious as to where in Texas. Sounds like Houston to me.

[Demandred7]

Have you test driven a Genesis 3.8L? That sounds more up your alley for power and Hyundai is just giving them away at deep discounts.

[Pat.Thornton]

Wait you think the frs is slow... Well I guess I'll have to sell it and buy a v6 Camry and boost it so I can have a fast car... Why don't you go on the honda forums and complain to the s2000 owners how much you hate the car cause I guarantee no one on this forum cares


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[@Art_Mighty]

Originally Posted by iBoost

I like the "glued-to-the-ground" driving feeling of the Subaru boxer engine layout...

5. Less Grip and Rear-End Losing Traction during Turns: The rear end of the car would lose traction on any spirited-driving street turn (Yes, traction control was ON). This was a let down because I expected this car to grip the turns better without losing traction. In fact, after the test drive I took my Subaru Forester XT on the same turn and achieved a higher speed +7mph with no loss of traction. My "old" Forester SUV gripped the turn better much to my surprise! To be fair, I was not aware of the tire pressures in each car so this could also be a contributing factor. Nevertheless, the tendency of the BRZ's rear wheels to lose traction on a turn sooner than I expected was disappointing.

So I went from an E46 M3 to an FRS (which actually oversteers more then the BRZ) exactly because it did the very thing you're complaining about.

The FT86 platform car's aren't like AWD cars (or most RWD cars for that matter). When driven correctly they rotate. The front end digs in and the rear slips out a little. Here's a car that damn near does exactly what you tell it to do. You have to manage weight transfer with this car. The only reason why that rear end stepped out was because either you were transferring weight forward (stepping on the brakes / lifting off the throttle) or you didn't transfer enough weight back.

When you screw up driving this car it lets you know and it does so in a way that dosen't kill you. It's exposes the the ability (or lack thereof) of the driver.

Every AWD car I've ever driven understeers. Even car's like M3's and 370z's have some understeer built into them because very few drivers know how to safely manage oversteer. Subaru added understeer to the BRZ because they felt their customers would prefer a car that behaved a little more like an AWD car. Eventually Toyota did the same with the GT86/FR-S for the 2015 model year.

[ame="http://vimeo.com/59415579"]Toyota GT86 @ TopGear on Vimeo[/ame]

I think you should buy a used BRZ. Leave the suspension alone, buy some stickier tires of the same size (for your safety) and learn how to drive it.

[hypercarfanatic]

Originally Posted by FirestormFRS

Feed the troll boys he's hungry today.

Originally Posted by Annahra

This is OP's only post? The trolling is strong... I can't believe you guys are bothering with serious replies.

Exactly what I thought. Smells like a honda troll coming over to try and crap on a good car, because he wants a **** measuring contest. Only 2 posts, and an account made specifically to bash the car?

Originally Posted by campy

Ok after reading this thread I have decided I must sell my FRS for a Forester. But before I do, I must know this: Does it have TPMS like a true drivers car?

No, bad it doesn't have 90000hp, so it can't be one

Its not a true drivers car if it can't go in a straight line at Mach 6

Originally Posted by teamturbo

This guy belongs in one of those boats on wheels...what do you call it....oh yeah. Mustang! Don't feed the troll.

Lol. Don't you remember that Mustangs are for pricks? Oh wait....you're right

[mmsracing]

why come on here to say, "I don't like it",


???


Troll LOL... get a girlfriend dude

[litemup]

Trading mine in for a camaro TODAY.

[Deep Six]

First paragraph states the op intends to add a turbo. The first "gripe" is that the car is underpowered to the point of sacrilege. This post is total contradiction....time to move on.

PS I'll try and remember to stay out of the way of the occasional Forrester at the track!

[humfrz]

I can't believe I read the whole thread .....


humfrz

[pushrod]

I feel bad for the members here that entertained the OP with lengthy responses. His post reads as extremely arbitrary. Number of spark plugs == ease of maintenance? Get real.

Clearly, the OP had something very specific in mind before test driving the car, and was disappointed to find that it wasn't an exact representation of it.

[stugray]

Originally Posted by Pat.Thornton

Wait you think the frs is slow... Well I guess I'll have to sell it and buy a v6 Camry and boost it so I can have a fast car...

You dont need to boost it.
My Solara v6 is faster off the line than my BRZ.

[dnieves]

Originally Posted by dizzario

@iBoost...as you can see the community is full of, well, you get the idea.


Oh and don't you dare have an opinion about this car that isn't praise. As you can see you'll be blacklisted.

Anybody can critique the car (and they do) but blatantly false and the same old "this car sucks because it's not a Italian super car or American muscle car or whine car x is better solely because it has more horsepower" are the same old tired topics on every car forum.