My Car just came in! (Midwest)

[NWIguy]

Originally Posted by Lighting Red

First: NWIguy, to you for getting your car in! Those are the best pictures of a white BRZ I have ever seen. I would like to hear more of your thoughts on the car.

dsgerbc: You have come off as a cooler-headed member on this forum, so I am keenly interested in your assessment of the car.

After driving one of the pre-production models a few months back, I found that I really enjoyed the experience in the car. Therefore driving impressions, such as the one Ryephile gave are of great interest to me.

Yea I will be back at the dealership tomorrow...My reviews after driving it is coming soon and thanks

[Draco-REX]

Well, the dealership called the #2 guy on the list to say their #1 car arrived and that his was slated for mid June. Funny thing is, my car is the #1 car and they didn't call me! :p I swung by the lot and it's not there but a lot of wrapped Foresters are. Hopefully the salesman I've been dealing with took it home for the night to keep it off the lot. Phone call first thing in the morning to get the scoop!

[NWIguy]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Well, the dealership called the #2 guy on the list to say their #1 car arrived and that his was slated for mid June. Funny thing is, my car is the #1 car and they didn't call me! :p I swung by the lot and it's not there but a lot of wrapped Foresters are. Hopefully the salesman I've been dealing with took it home for the night to keep it off the lot. Phone call first thing in the morning to get the scoop!

ur eta is the 29th too?

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Funny thing is, my car is the #1 car and they didn't call me!

WTF? If the VIN is from your order that's f-ed up.

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by NWIguy

ur eta is the 29th too?

Yup.

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

WTF? If the VIN is from your order that's f-ed up.

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. I don't think the sales manager there understands how involved in the Subaru community I am. He'll find out tomorrow. But he's not the guy I've been working with. I hope it is just a matter of not calling me because the PDI wasn't done.

The truth will come out tomorrow.

[eikond]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

I haven't bought the car yet. I'm still waiting for the dealership to give me a quote on trading in the TDI, and I need to close on my auto loan. The BRZ is a fantastic car, it just doesn't feel like the perfect total package. I'm going to try to drive it again on Thursday and wring out the engine and find more corners to see if I simply didn't dig deep enough [rev high enough] to extract the essence of the car. At this point, I may step back and wait for Subaru or Scion to make the next evolution. To be honest, sometimes I don't "get" the car on my first test drive. I want to give it another shot.

I'm betting you have a little different set of expectations than most BRZ/FRS owners-to-be. You certainly have a different comparison base than most of us. Of any car in the world, the Elise is probably the most similar, but improved version of the BRZ in every way.. Naturally it's a fair amount more expensive, but not Ferrari range.

What is curious to me is your comparison to the TDI Jetta.. I'm not surprised to hear that the deisel's torque feels better.. but I find your comment about handling to be interesting. I can't help but wonder if the extremely poor road conditions around the area made your test drive worse than it would have been for most people..

Still, it's nice to hear some educated and honest feedback about the car rather than all the blind praise we keep getting fed.

I'm a little worried about your comment about not being able to lazily plop down into the seats.. I'm a big guy with somewhat bad knees.. so I'm now a little concerned about my comfort in getting in and out of the car. I guess we'll see.. I've owned a couple lowered 240sx's in the past, so I assuming the height from the ground won't be the issue.. but the big seat bolsters and position of the wheel and the small overall space might be an issue for me to get in and out.. we'll see..

[Draco-REX]

It shouldn't be as bad as my WRX with thigh-bolstered racing seats. In that car, you plant your right foot on the floor, grab the wheel and enter tail-first. Exiting is a matter of left leg out, head out, then levering over the thigh bolster.

The BRZ should be a lot easier. But it will likely be a tail-first car rather than a head-first car.

[Draco-REX]

Well it seems one of the sales guys jumped the gun. They dealership got the invoice and MSO, but he didn't bother to check to see if the car was actually in the lot. So I'm still waiting. The lot manager said that it could arrive any day now, possibly still today. So we'll see.

[Ryephile]

Originally Posted by eikond

I'm betting you have a little different set of expectations than most BRZ/FRS owners-to-be. You certainly have a different comparison base than most of us. ...

What is curious to me is your comparison to the TDI Jetta.. I'm not surprised to hear that the deisel's torque feels better.. but I find your comment about handling to be interesting. I can't help but wonder if the extremely poor road conditions around the area made your test drive worse than it would have been for most people..

Still, it's nice to hear some educated and honest feedback about the car rather than all the blind praise we keep getting fed. ....

Thank you for the kind words. It seems there are a good handful here on the forum that have lots of experience and can reasonably articulate their observations with a minimum of emotional bias. As such, I don't feel my expectations are entirely out of line. I know the car isn't about forward thrust; what's throwing me off is how adamant the OEMs were that all the senses were to come into play, and yet after driving it the sound aspect doesn't seem to be contributing in a balanced manner.

FWIW, my Golf TDI has KW Variant 1 coilovers, which improves its handling ability beyond the Mk6 GTI [which I've also owned]. Curiously, the Golf has virtually the exact same body length, width, wheelbase, and Mac strut front and multilink rear suspension as the BRZ, making for an amusing handling comparison.

Finally, the roads I drove the car on are roads I'm very familiar with and drive every day. For me, they're a constant, not a variable.

Hopefully I'll drive the BRZ again tomorrow and get a more refined feel for the car. Until then, back to your regularly scheduled NWIguy thread. :happy0180:

Originally Posted by NWIguy

Yea I will be back at the dealership tomorrow...My reviews after driving it is coming soon and thanks

I really look forward to hearing your test-drive review. Hopefully you're not as jaded as I am!

[thill]

Originally Posted by Ryephile

First off, I want to totally apologize to NWIguy for accidentally thread jacking, I should've started my own thread. No harm intended.





Let's put it this way; I've owned 19 cars to date, from crap cans to trucks to American muscle to Euro to Japanese. I'm also friends with several automotive media personalities. I also work in the auto industry. My father and I also build street rods for fun. I've driven many hundreds of different cars over the years. My current garage is only a snippet of my automotive perspective. Please, please don't think that I'm narrow enough to seriously make such ridiculous comparisons without understanding how out-of-context the comparisons are. I'm not strictly comparing the BRZ to any one car, as that would immediately pigeon-hole the car into something it may not be. Yes, the Exige is definitely the most visceral street vehicle I've owned, but I will hazard the statement that it's only opened my eyes to what's possible in one extreme. Of course, the 1962 Chrysler Imperial Crown convertible and/or Rolls Royce Silver Spur is the other extreme.

That said, the acid test of any test drive is when you get back into your own car and make a back-to-back comparison. Today, I had my Golf TDI. When I got back into the TDI from the BRZ, the immediate feeling was of ample and available torque, and how sprightly and quick about traffic it was versus the BRZ. That was the overwhelming sensation; not the more numb steering, the bus-driver seating position, or the better ride quality. That sense of torque reserve and potential gives a dynamism to the TDI that frankly the BRZ didn't project.

I haven't bought the car yet. I'm still waiting for the dealership to give me a quote on trading in the TDI, and I need to close on my auto loan. The BRZ is a fantastic car, it just doesn't feel like the perfect total package. I'm going to try to drive it again on Thursday and wring out the engine and find more corners to see if I simply didn't dig deep enough [rev high enough] to extract the essence of the car. At this point, I may step back and wait for Subaru or Scion to make the next evolution. To be honest, sometimes I don't "get" the car on my first test drive. I want to give it another shot.




That's what it's all about in the end, having fun.

If the BRZ is anything like the Mazda RX-8 I have driven (and horsepower and torque figures are close, along with handling characteristics I imagine), you are going to need to rev the BRZ more to get that quicker feeling of acceleration. And it will require a little more effort to get there than other cars that have more horsepower and torque at their disposal. I know this is hard to do on a brand new car that you are trying to break-in mildly, but I suspect until you do it, you won't see the true benefits from the Boxster engine. The car should feel every bit, if not more, quick than your Golf TDI once you get past the babying stage with the car.

This was my biggest complaint with the RX-8. The lack or torque. Ultimately it was the reason I did not buy the car.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by thill

This was my biggest complaint with the RX-8. The lack or torque. Ultimately it was the reason I did not buy the car.

I'd be worried if this was my reason for not getting RX8. Acceleration you feel in the 3-4k range should be roughly the same as in the 6-7k range. And revving it to 6k won't solve the issue of TDI feeling faster. TDIs are very good around town with gobs of torque down low.

[thill]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

I'd be worried if this was my reason for not getting RX8. Acceleration you feel in the 3-4k range should be roughly the same as in the 6-7k range. And revving it to 6k won't solve the issue of TDI feeling faster. TDIs are very good around town with gobs of torque down low.

It was a concern, but fate intervened. My trusty 6.5 year old Mazda 3 was going to require extensive repairs from an accident 3 years ago (not my fault) that was never properly addressed. I had to buy a different car and cancel my BRZ order (it was looking like months before I could get a car here). Frustrating, as I was really interested in this car, but I guess I will wait and see what the STI model has to offer

I do intend to test drive one as soon as I can.

[dsgerbc]

Picked mine up today.


On a test-drive I basically wanted to evaluate if I fit comfortably and how livable the suspension is around (crappy Michigan) town roads, so I have no comments on how it corners etc. I'll do it after it's broken in, tires have scrubbed off their slick outer layer, etc.
Suspension is firm, but not bone/kidney-jarringly so. I feel the bumps but it didn't make me want to go and buy a Buick. And I fit just fine.

My wife didn't complain about the bumps to much, but lack of height adjustment in the passenger seat did seem to bother her a bit.

I'm actually really struggling with comments: everything felt just fine and at home.
So some random things, mostly recalling what other people have talked about:
Didn't rev it past 4k yet, shifter is really light. There's a faint metal clunk when you shift gears (reportedly a lot less faint if you listen from the outside), but you don't hear it when speeds get up beyond cruising-the-parking lot.
Brakes are awesome. Haven't mastered the heel-toe yet, my other car is kinda awkward in this department so it will take some time to adjust.

The car goes get warm on the underside, you can definitely feel it when you exit the car. Parallel to what's being discussed in the FRS secion - I will probably have to run the A/C most of the time, since the alcantara lacks perforation behind my back (and side bolsters are also pretty snug) and if it gets warm inside I'll probably quickly start sweating.

Ground clearance at the front bumper is pretty low, so I'll have to stay away from all curbs.

Some interior plastics are kinda cheap/rubbery. Mousefur in the headliner is about the same as in the current STi.

So now I'll have to wait a couple of hundred miles before I comment further. Might hit some local half-assed twisties in the next few days and will go around (or at least along the western border of and up to UP) Michigan once it's broken-in.

[Ryephile]

Congrats! Give the car a dynamic workout to get everything broken-in and I'd love to hear your 48 hour feedback.