Mad's BRZ Review: or how I came to love a Scooby Doo

[bcj]

I've never *liked* spoilers on any car.
ROFLOLWTFBBQ

U haz teh tast'e

[themadscientist]

FINISH THE PAPERWORK ON MY DAMNED CAR, SUBARU!

Driving by the dealer today and seeing it just sitting there still with no plates on it really set me off.

[lionbacker54]

thank you for the updates. i read the whole post a second time. such a good post. loaded with good info, great photos, and just funny and witty.

you did scare me with the picture of the that huge wing. i thought at first you did that to your new brz. i wouldn't have said anything, but i couldn't help but groan inside.

[themadscientist]

Still very little chance I will be putting a wing on it. It's unnecessary and dangerously lame.

[chaoskaze]

When in doubt always duckbill, that aside OEM Wing with sti gurney flap is pretty nice. =p

Do They have Area 86 close to where you are? They have ALOTs of good stuff....

[lionbacker54]

Originally Posted by chaoskaze

When in doubt always duckbill, that aside OEM Wing with sti gurney flap is pretty nice. =p

Do They have Area 86 close to where you are? They have ALOTs of good stuff....

agree. duckbill looks great.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18587

[themadscientist]

A basic lip would work. If they had one stock I might have opted for it.

[Metabrz]

Great thread. First time I've read an entire thread in a long time.

Like you, I had the color dilemma, I ordered white, then changed it to black, then when back to white again - which I love, but it seems at least 50% of the 86 / BRZ's in NZ are white. And I now wish I'd bought WR Blue and put some gold or bronze wheels on it. Sigh.

Similarly, I had a wait. 7 months after I put my cash down. Worth it though. So worth it.

The engine gets stronger after 10,000km. Every things bedded in and it seemed to gain more top end and lower end. That torque dip though.

The roads you have there look perfect for the car. Tight windy B roads are where this car really finds its groove. You can just place it in the right spot. This is why people think the car is under powered - they're driving them on the wrong roads.

Anyway, enough from me. Congrats on your purchase. I'm looking forward to your updates - both to see your new whip and enjoy your creative writing style!

[themadscientist]

[IMG]http://www.quickmeme.com/img/45/4515147***774c8af480405cbc8642d8f02d2a305cd1f2e73a 3202675be1157f.jpg[/IMG]

I just walked over to the Suvaru dealer; it's down the street from the house. It's taken what seems like forever, but it was worth the wait.





The reason for the plate number.



I didn't take the plastic off the seats and my wife thought I was kidding when I handed her a plastic bag and said "shoes." When I took my boots off and stuck them in another bag she realized I was serious.

Sitting down, yup, these optioned up seats grab me tighter than the Premium seats, but they do it equally on both sides so it's fine.I put on my gloves and started to look around. Big hole in the dash, check. I have a new Pioneer head unit ready to go in when I have a free afternoon.



Just 11 kilometers on the clock.



I ran it down the street to the local beach where I took one of the shots of the rental I drove.







I was not going to order the STI aero. I went in wanted to get a tS which did have it, but they were done selling that model year and they didn't even sell 300 of them which made me want one more, but I missed that chance. I was going to get the middle level model, but by the time I was done I had gotten the seats and the Premium and decided on white. White needed the STI bits to look right to me so I added it. After I changed back to blue, I didn't cancel the STI stuff. I wanted to, but I thought it would be unfair to flake out on that too. I must say, unexpectedly, the STI stuff almost makes the ugly wheels work! I probably wouldn't have bought new wheels and tires if I had seen it like this.

Cleaned out the spot for it. My RX7, well. That became an organ donor to another RX7 and you will likely be eating soup out of a can that used to be a fender on that car. My old pickup truck went to live on a farm where it could run and play with the other trucks. I even washed the oil and rust flakes away since my new car shouldn't be leaving any of that around.



All tucked in.

[bcj]

[themadscientist]

Put the wheels on today. 18x8 Sparcos with Advan tires. If I had taken delivery before I bought the wheel set, with the STI aero the stock wheels were passable and wouldn't have ordered the new ones. I did order them, though, they were a nice chunk of change and they don't fit any of my other cars so they had to be used.

They stick out a bit more than stock, but are still within the wheel wells so they are good for inspection time and the cops can't screw with me. The extra width does present a problem, though, that I hadn't considered. The fronts are going to throw shit all over the rockers unless I put some sort of mud flap behind them.

Stock.


New.


They are extra beefy, though, so it's not just for looks. The tires are a lower profile, wider contact patch and so sticky many Tskuba time attack cars use the same skins so traction, yeah, taken care of.




I want to carry one of the stock wheels as a full size spare so that cool doodad in that spot has to go.



The damned well is too shallow to allow the full size spare to sit there and have the trunk liner lay flat, though; shit!


As it was foretold!

Originally Posted by themadscientist

There is where my car will go!

Some shameless pornography now.

[chaoskaze]

Congrats on finally getting the car!

[themadscientist]

I'm not used to this. My cars don't normally attract this much attention. Wherever it is, rolling down the road or sitting in a parking spot it gets stared at. I have people stopping and throwing me thumbs up and compliments, people ask if they can take pictures of it etc. I feel like the nerd walking into prom with the head cheerleader on my arm and it's not easy to deal with.

I know it seems odd, but I'm a sneaky mofo and I usually have a car that blends in for the most part. If I had gone with, really, any other color, the BRZ would have blended into the background, but WR Blue craves attention like Paris Hilton and it's getting it! and the wheels I went with turn it from a paparazzi still to a sex tape.

I don't regret anything, certainly; I still look back at the car at least once, usually two times as I walk away from it in the parking lot. It's stunning and I totally get why it gets the reaction it does. The problem is, if it were the GT-R it would be fine. I'm not 20 anymore, I don't act as wild as I used to, but I'm still a couple of dirty looks away from a fighting stance and I occasionally ignore road safety. Sorry.

As flash as my BRZ is, though, as crazy as it sounds, this really is my "practical car." Yes, I cruise the highway at 100 mph when the road is clear enough, but that is not me looking for a fight. I cruised at 75 in my little truck before the BRZ came along. Why 75? Because it just would not go 76! This car to me is what a Corolla or Prius is to normal people.

I'm not looking for trouble, but I find myself tiptoeing around actual fast cars lest my visible "chip" rock about and send the wrong signal. I've NEVER had to do that. I've always been ready to run in anything I've owned. It's not that I've never had a slow car, most of my cars were, at best, "quick." The GT-R was the first seriously fast car I've owned.

The GT-R looks like Tyson, but it can actually tear off ears so no problem. The BRZ looks like it's Bruce Lee, but it's about as tough as Mr. Chang, that's sort of, well,



Thank you, Chang.

I will not be changing my use profile and bolting on that turbo kit. Nope, I will probably stay on track to add the big three gauge package, but that's it. I will just have to learn to be humble and mature for the first time in my life because if I rise to any challenge from anything greater than a fart-canned Civic I'm going to get clowned. Not always because of the car, though. This sexy little thing has reminded me that it's been quite a while since I drove a tight car with decent footwork.

The R doesn't compare. It's an rocket. Point it where you want it to go, as long as it's straight ahead and pedal it while it tries to get there without shedding the tires or veering off course. I'm use to driving "lawn darts." This car is precise; totally different animal. I can feel how planted this car is and as weird as it sounds, it's kind of scary.

I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but the car has much more capability than I have skill and it's easy to forget who is doing more in the equation. I could get complacent and forget that I am rusty and that I can do what I'm doing more because the car is good, less that I am good anymore. I don't get a reminder until the car crosses outside its capability and expects me to take up the slack and I've been leaning on the car's skills this whole time.

As long as I remember that, though, it's great. This car expects me to elevate my game and that's a good thing. I haven't felt like this behind the wheel in probably ten years. When pushing it I start to breathe rhythmic, move in a controlled and purposeful manner and my ears ignore the stereo and listen to that silly little tube under my feet making fake engine noises.

As much as the attention is weirding me out, every time I look at it or drive it I know it was the car I wanted and at the perfect time in my life.

[themadscientist]

So, coming around a corner and I romp on it and I wait for the rear end to break loose. It's going to take some doin, these tires are stickier than a 5 year old boy's fingers and this engine has about as much balls as he does too. I feel it start to come loose and I get ready to feed a little countersteer in when I hear a noise and it feels like the left rear brake is doing something and the fun stops like I forgot to bring a rubber, panties came right back up and the car sort of wallowed back in line.

So that's what traction control in a slide feels like? Great Beelzebub's taint, that sucks!

I reached over and turned that shit off, but I didn't get a test until later today when some goof on a big fat wet fart sounding scooter tried to sweep around on the outside and I wound out the gear and spanked the shifter into the next and she kicked the tail a bit out before these gumballs went, "nope, go that way, car." That's better.

I might get that jumper module to shut this crap off permanent if it ever turns itself back on in the middle of naughty time after I toggle it off.