What other car did you consider before deciding on the BRZ?

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by 5TLTH

I am still trying to make my decision so maybe you guys can help me out. Even though I'm sure everyone here is biased.. LOL. I would only consider a BRZ limited as I prefer a car with a nice interior. But I must say the interior is the one thing turning me off the BRZ. IMO, it's horrible. I hear nothing but bad things on touch screen system (is it really that bad?), the interior looks so basic, the seats aren't full leather, no steering wheel controls and no armrest? I don't race or track my car. I really just want a car that looks good and gets good MPG's. I have a 140 mile commute a day so I want a comfortable ride. Plus it may go on some road trips every now and then with my GF. So, is the BRZ too much of a "drivers" car for me? Is the interior really that bad or can I live with it on a daily basis?

The only other cars I'm considering is something along the lines of a Fiesta, Focus, Sonic, Civic, etc.. Just to get something basic to commute with. And the $10k+ plus I save from a BRZ I could save and use towards my future such as house, wedding, etc.. Not getting the BRZ is the better financial choice but I feel this may be my last chance to get that "cool" sports car for awhile. But is it for me? I want to see the new WRX. If it looks good and gets good MPG's, I'd be all over it. I like the look of the current WRX but it's 25?mpg highway rating doesn't do it for me. Plus I need an Auto as my GF drives my car as well. Opinions? Thanks!

I'm a bit confused by your judgement of the BRZ's interior. I've spent a fair amount of time in a friend's loaded 2012 Mustang GT, and in no way did I find that interior more "upscale" or nicer. Nevermind the seating position (for driving) is far inferior to the BRZ. As to amenities, what are you referring to exactly? Power seats aren't a big deal. Rear back up camera is superfluous. A center armrest for the BRZ can be purchased for $100 or less (and yes the doors have large cup holders). There's no sunroof but again this is a sports car focused on light weight. Full leather seats are subjective, but personally I prefer alcantara to leather any day of the week.

Based on the sum of your comments I think you should give the BRZ a shot. Even if you change your mind in 1-2 years their limited production will help keep their resale high and thus minimize your depreciation losses.

[Steve201brz]

Originally Posted by 5TLTH

Thanks, yes I like simplicity. Like I said above it's more the appearence of it that gets me. Idk to me it just doesn't look as nice. And the nav unit is something I would prefer not to have altogether. I prefer real buttons. Steering wheel controls would be nice (but can live without if the touch screen is easy to use) and no armrest is odd imo. Where will I put my arm on those long drives! And yeah, the Versas interior was pretty bad. That's why I am looking for a car with a decent interior, sporty but gets good MPG's as well. The BRZ mostly fits that bill but I just wish the interior was just a tad better for my taste. My main question, is the touch screen system that bad? All I hear is bad reviews on which is what I hear on most sytems I suppose. And can it be a fun DD and commuter on long trips.

BTW, I appreciate all the comments guys.

IMO, the touch screen is really easy to use. I haven't had much experience with other systems, however, so I have nothing to compare it to. As with anything, the first few times using it aren't as straight forward as you'd hope, but i never read manuals and i feel the system overall is very good.

Looking for destinations (using the navi) is very easy and fast. There's an 'auto-fill' feature which narrows down the location your looking for based on the letters you've already typed in, and what possible locations are left with the letters you typed in. It darkens out letters too, so mis-spelling is hard to do (conventional 'window' GPS take forever to enter your destination).
There is a slight "lag" if you hit the buttons way too fast, but if you take your time punching letters the auto-fill feature makes up for it by far. It's not something I'd say 'you have to have' but it functions well for me and definetly not 'the worst.'
On a day to day basis, I have absolutely no problem with it but I am someone who likes having it just to have it. Plus, the bluetooth is nice, but I have an ancient phone so can't give you a review on that haha

Cup holders are in the doors, you can easily fit a 24oz can, or a medium fast food cup (which should basically be called large). I've even fit two 12oz redbulls in there at once.
Arm-rest was kind of a let down when I first got the car, but I have done 8 hour drives and couldn't even notice. No discomfort or anything (im 6'1"), but that could be different based on physique. And there are nice aftermarket arm-rests too
Full leather is a nice perk on any car without a doubt, but the alcantara is not a let down at all. Not the same, but better than standard cloth etc and lightweight.
The interior isn't the worst, not the best. Functional and right down to business. No controls on the wheel, which I admit would be nice, but when you're driving the car it almost doesn't matter because you're enjoying it regardless.
Only other thing as a DD, is the stupid window visor. When you try and rotate it to use on your left window, it doesn't extend. It simply pivots, so if your taller, it is USELESS. It doesn't go back far enough to aid you. I got tints, so problem solved but wth. Sunglasses work 'ok' but the visor is such a simple accessory idk why they skimped out on it. Not a big problem but wanted to give my honest opinion
A lot of input, but hope I could help

*EDIT: reading another post. in regards to the navi, the buttons may be harder to hit if you have bigger/wider/fatter fingers. A key factor for some, so had to mention

[Suberman]

Originally Posted by dotdotdotPaul

On what do you base this? My Evo has a center armrest, even my Prius has a center armrest. I can't remember the last car I owned that didn't have a center armrest...

...Paul

Center armrests get in the way of a manual shift.

Since the driver should use both hands on the wheel while actually driving there is no function for driver's armrests.

Pointless accessory.

[Steve201brz]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Center armrests get in the way of a manual shift.

Since the driver should use both hands on the wheel while actually driving there is no function for driver's armrests.

Pointless accessory.

i didn't like the aftermarket options available to begin with. one flipped upward to the passenger side, which seemed to prevent them from having any kind of 'left side' armrest at all if you had drinks. and another one looks like your arm's gonna be lifted half a foot higher then the center console. didn't look comfortable IMO

[Meehow86]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Center armrests get in the way of a manual shift.

Since the driver should use both hands on the wheel while actually driving there is no function for driver's armrests.

Pointless accessory.

If you need an arm rest while driving the twins then you're doing it wrong.

[Meehow86]

New
Ford Focus ST
Ford Fiesta ST
Mazdaspeed 3
Scion FR-S

The biggest problem I had with all these cars (minus the FR-S) was the fact that they were 5 door hatches. Having previously owned a Mini Cooper S and GTI I loved the look and functionality of 3 door hatches. Plus the goofy grin on the MS3 probably would have gotten to me eventually.

[WolfpackS2k]

Originally Posted by Steve201brz

IMO, the touch screen is really easy to use. I haven't had much experience with other systems, however, so I have nothing to compare it to. As with anything, the first few times using it aren't as straight forward as you'd hope, but i never read manuals and i feel the system overall is very good.

Looking for destinations (using the navi) is very easy and fast. There's an 'auto-fill' feature which narrows down the location your looking for based on the letters you've already typed in, and what possible locations are left with the letters you typed in. It darkens out letters too, so mis-spelling is hard to do (conventional 'window' GPS take forever to enter your destination).
There is a slight "lag" if you hit the buttons way too fast, but if you take your time punching letters the auto-fill feature makes up for it by far. It's not something I'd say 'you have to have' but it functions well for me and definetly not 'the worst.'
On a day to day basis, I have absolutely no problem with it but I am someone who likes having it just to have it. Plus, the bluetooth is nice, but I have an ancient phone so can't give you a review on that haha

....

Only other thing as a DD, is the stupid window visor. When you try and rotate it to use on your left window, it doesn't extend. It simply pivots, so if your taller, it is USELESS. It doesn't go back far enough to aid you. I got tints, so problem solved but wth. Sunglasses work 'ok' but the visor is such a simple accessory idk why they skimped out on it. Not a big problem but wanted to give my honest opinion
A lot of input, but hope I could help

*EDIT: reading another post. in regards to the navi, the buttons may be harder to hit if you have bigger/wider/fatter fingers. A key factor for some, so had to mention

Personally, I hate the touchscreen. And this is the first car I've had with a touch screen. To put it simply, you CANNOT change a radio station/music track without taking your eyes off the road. That's dangerous and complete crap IMO. Yes I understand you can sometimes use voice commands, but they're painstakingly slow to be executed. I seldom use the navigation feature because the one on my phone is far superior. Additionally, I don't need navigation that often. However I do like being able to check out the traffic on roads I travel on. And thus far I can't figure out how to get the navigation maps to tell me this unless I plan a route. Meanwhile with Google Maps on my phone all I have to do is view the map and boom, there's the traffic situation. Furthermore the navigation app (again google maps) is superior to the built in system.

I feel your pain with the visor, but IME most cars I've been in do not let you slide the visor back when turned to the side. Additionally, my last car, S2000, didn't allow for the visors to be turned to the side at all! Straight ahead only!

[Steve201brz]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

Additionally, my last car, S2000, didn't allow for the visors to be turned to the side at all! Straight ahead only!

no way! makes me feel better now haha. your absolutely right about the buttons, VERY unsafe. i usually wait til im stopped, or have a free second but you cannot do this at any given time thats for sure. completely overlooked that point

yea the navi isn't even close to google, but i don't actually use it that much either. mostly just use it to find new roads i've never been on when i aimlessly cruise around on the weekend.
i think it shows traffic when i'm not on a planned route, but i'm not too sure now that you said that cuz i've never paid that much attention.
i don't use the voice command either, and i'm not a phone person so theres a benefit for me. i probably hold higher praise for this then needed, but i used to use the "window" gps so for me its an upgrade, all comes down to your personal needs. For the $ it costs, i'd say it's more about if you want it

[nalc]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Center armrests get in the way of a manual shift.

Since the driver should use both hands on the wheel while actually driving there is no function for driver's armrests.

Pointless accessory.

Huh? Maybe if you are talking about some ridiculously oversized armrest you'd have a point, but I've owned three cars with armrests and manual transmissions (97 Maxima SE, 00 LGT, BRZ w/ Toyota Europe GT86 armrest) and they don't get in the way. And I've got really long arms. Elbow on the arm rest, hand on the shift knob. As long as the shift knob isn't significantly lower than the armrest, you're fine. My arm is pretty close to level with the OEM GT86 armrest, although I suppose some people might have problems with some of the crappy aftermarket armrests for the twins that are like 4" thick.

[Ganthrithor]

Originally Posted by WolfpackS2k

Personally, I hate the touchscreen. And this is the first car I've had with a touch screen. To put it simply, you CANNOT change a radio station/music track without taking your eyes off the road. That's dangerous and complete crap IMO. Yes I understand you can sometimes use voice commands, but they're painstakingly slow to be executed. I seldom use the navigation feature because the one on my phone is far superior. Additionally, I don't need navigation that often. However I do like being able to check out the traffic on roads I travel on. And thus far I can't figure out how to get the navigation maps to tell me this unless I plan a route. Meanwhile with Google Maps on my phone all I have to do is view the map and boom, there's the traffic situation. Furthermore the navigation app (again google maps) is superior to the built in system.

Ugh, I totally agree. It's an awful device-- the maps function is clunky and dumb; the Bluetooth link is dicey and only works right about 30% of the time with my phone; and in addition to touch screens being a generally poor idea for cars, this one is actually a bad touch screen as well! I always feel like I have to press the buttons 2-3 times before the screen registers the touch input. Sometimes when it's really being uncooperative it's more like 4-5 times. And even when it works, the system takes so long to do what you've told it that half the time you end up double-pressing because you don't think your command went through. It's a really, really bad head unit. Frankly it's embarrassing that something of this quality made it into any car... it feels like something that belongs in a terrible Chevy rental econobox from 2005.

I really wish I didn't have to go through the head unit to listen to music... if I could I'd just leave the map screen open and never touch the head unit again. I saw someone a while back who had shoved an iPad mini behind their dash. I'm really tempted to do something like that-- at least on a tablet the touch-screen is going to work and it would have decent software.

[akacinna]

Originally Posted by nalc

Huh? Maybe if you are talking about some ridiculously oversized armrest you'd have a point, but I've owned three cars with armrests and manual transmissions (97 Maxima SE, 00 LGT, BRZ w/ Toyota Europe GT86 armrest) and they don't get in the way. And I've got really long arms. Elbow on the arm rest, hand on the shift knob. As long as the shift knob isn't significantly lower than the armrest, you're fine. My arm is pretty close to level with the OEM GT86 armrest, although I suppose some people might have problems with some of the crappy aftermarket armrests for the twins that are like 4" thick.

I'm 5'10" and i find the lack of an armrest to be just fine. I've had a few cars with and few cars without it. I recently drove my car from San Jose to L.A. and found that resting my arm on the e-brake area was more than comfortable. The seats sit you so low and tight that I haven't felt the need to have one. The only time I've actively thought about an arm rest was the first time I got in at the dealership when I was about to go out for a test drive.

[ntron1]

Narrowed the choices down to a Mini and a BRZ. Decided to buy them both the same day with the intention of the Mini as a DD and the BRZ for the weekends. That was 4 months ago. The Mini has 540 miles on it and the BRZ has 7,500 on it now. It better snow here this winter or the Mini will have all of 1,000 miles on it in a year.

[nalc]

Originally Posted by akacinna

I'm 5'10" and i find the lack of an armrest to be just fine. I've had a few cars with and few cars without it. I recently drove my car from San Jose to L.A. and found that resting my arm on the e-brake area was more than comfortable. The seats sit you so low and tight that I haven't felt the need to have one. The only time I've actively thought about an arm rest was the first time I got in at the dealership when I was about to go out for a test drive.

For me, it's mostly an improvement on getting in and out, but it's still nice when driving, as I don't always have both hands on the wheel (although the small wheel and tight steering makes me end up driving with both hands on the wheel more often than I have in my previous cars). I also have pretty long arms, so my arm doesn't really go over the e-brake.

[Ganthrithor]

Originally Posted by ntron1

Narrowed the choices down to a Mini and a BRZ. Decided to buy them both the same day with the intention of the Mini as a DD and the BRZ for the weekends. That was 4 months ago. The Mini has 540 miles on it and the BRZ has 7,500 on it now. It better snow here this winter or the Mini will have all of 1,000 miles on it in a year.

You know, you're just going to get to winter time and find out how much fun it is playing in the snow with a RWD car :P