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BRZ First-Gen (2012+) -- General Topics All discussions about the first-gen Subaru BRZ coupe


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Old 09-28-2019, 12:16 AM   #2325
NaturallyAspirated
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2019 BRZ

New here. My previous car was a 2001 GC Impreza L sedan that I owned 10+ years. Coilovers, bushings, brakes, wheels/tires, exterior, etc. It was a great car that I wanted to eventually swap a WRX or STi drivetrain into, but didn't have the time. In the end, I really wanted a 2 door sports car with great handling instead, which is how I ended up with a my BRZ.

Searched high and low for months looking for a 2015+ WRB BRZ Limited 6-speed, but came out with nothing. They were all either modded to hell, abused, or way too far.

I caved in and found a 2019 WRB BRZ Limited with the Performance Package a few hours drive from me (last one in the state). Got a great deal on it and I'm enjoying every bit of it so far.

Old Impreza (at Thunderhill West):


New BRZ (before the drive home):
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Old 09-28-2019, 10:36 PM   #2326
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Fantastic car....I love the blue. Welcome!

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Old 10-02-2019, 10:07 AM   #2327
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I just picked up this new to me BRZ this weekend. I am loving it so far, looking forward to tinkering with it and having fun with it as time goes on!
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Old 10-07-2019, 02:55 PM   #2328
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Hi, everyone!


The cars posted in this thread are making me jealous. I haven't yet taken the plunge. I've been seriously considering picking up a BRZ now that my Jeep is becoming more of a trail rig.



I figured I should join the forum so that I can see what the community is like. I also plan to pick your collective brain for help selecting a car!


Looking forward to learning and driving!
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Old 10-07-2019, 04:02 PM   #2329
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Hi, everyone!


The cars posted in this thread are making me jealous. I haven't yet taken the plunge. I've been seriously considering picking up a BRZ now that my Jeep is becoming more of a trail rig.



I figured I should join the forum so that I can see what the community is like. I also plan to pick your collective brain for help selecting a car!


Looking forward to learning and driving!
If you're not going to buy a BRZ you might as well get a car that drives by itself completely.

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Old 10-08-2019, 01:47 PM   #2330
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Hi Everyone!
I've been lurking for about a month. Bought a used 2018 blue BRZ. Had a lot of miles (almost 20K) so I changed the transmission and rear diff fluids, and the rear diff fluid definitely needed the change as there was quite a bit of metal shavings on the magnet, and the drive was noticeably smoother afterwards. I also installed the OFT Stage 1 last week which I'm happy with, and think I'm going to keep it like that for another year so I don't mess with the warranty. Will probably upgrade EL header (don't want to be too noisy, as I understand it) in the future. I'm located in the N. Cali Bay Area, still looking for places I can push the car, but just street driving is so much more fun than my Cherokee, lol. It's an absolute dream to drive, and although I rarely wish for more power, I think the car is balanced enough that enjoying driving it isn't really diminished. Excited to be a part of this community!
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Old 10-09-2019, 01:26 PM   #2331
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New here, bought my 2013 BRZ about 2 months ago. Made my account 2 months ago and now getting around to posting.
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Old 10-10-2019, 04:48 PM   #2332
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Greetings everyone. After shopping for a car for the past year, including posting questions here to which many people gave very helpful responses, I finally bought a BRZ this week, a red 2019 Limited (6 speed of course). We’re now a 3 Subaru family – the BRZ joins a WRX (my ‘practical’ daily driver), and my wife’s Crosstrek.

I’ve been a hard-core car guy my whole life. I’m old school (and just plain old… early(-ish) 60’s), and have owned over 100 cars in my life. I grew up with the classic ‘sports cars’ of the 60’s and 70’s, MBG, Triumph, Opel GT, Fiat 124, Karmann-Ghia, Sunbeam Alpine, first generation RX-7. I owned many of them back then. As I coast into the final laps of life and being able to enjoy a small sports car with a stick, I’ve been looking for something that would capture the soul and fun of those old-tyme sports cars. The BRZ does it for me.

There’s a fair amount of dissing the car online. I’ve found that most of the critics have never owned or even driven a BRZ. The internet brings out a lot of armchair experts and bench racers.

The BRZ is not a “numbers” car. If you want to brag about 0-60 or quarter mile times down at the gym or bar, it’s not for you. It’s for people who care about sheer driving fun, about getting goose bumps from a car being hard-wired straight into your central nervous system, of feeling your hands directly connected to the road in a way that few other current production new cars can match.

The usual carping is about ‘not enough power’. Yeah, I wish it had another 50-ish hp and 50-ish ft-lb of torque. But the reality is the BRZ already is so much faster and vastly more capable than any of the 60’s/70’s sports cars ever were.

Most of those 4 cylinder sports cars at the time had around 100 hp. 205 hp was an impossible dream that no one even talked about. A souped-up ‘race’ engine might put out 125-150 hp. 205 hp was unimaginable back then, even with the primitive turbochargers of the day (unless you had the bucks to get a Jaguar or something high end). I plan to do a few modest mods to my BRZ, but after just a few days of driving, I have to say, the power is enough to be fun, enough to be satisfying, and enough to get in trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing.

It doesn’t have a mountain of torque. So what? Formula 1 race cars aren’t known for being able to pull tree stumps out at idle either, and few people accuse them of not being fun to drive. In the BRZ, you have to actually know how to use a clutch pedal and shift lever.

It just feels special to drive. Mazda uses the phrase ‘jinba ittai’, ‘horse and rider as one’, to describe the Miata. The Miata is a great car (I’ve had a couple), but I think it applies just as much to the BRZ.

I looked at a wide range of cars before buying this one. The current ND Miata was close, and is also a blast to drive. But for me it’s just a little too small. Mazda should be commended for not bloating the car and actually shrinking it, but I think they went a bit too far. I’m not humongous, but at 6’0” and 200 lbs, I’m ‘not small’. With two people in the Miata, it just felt borderline cramped and confining. I wanted to be able to take trips in a sports car, and the Miata was just a little too small for us. If it was 10% or even 5% bigger, I might have gone for it.

The 370Z was also a close contender. It has the same analog feel as the BRZ, but with a much more powerful, torquey engine. That 3.7 liter VQ V6 is a great motor. But the BRZ won in every other department – looks, interior space, visibility, handling, and comfort. The 370Z was a fantastic engine, but the rest of the car didn’t quite measure up to the BRZ.

About 10 years ago I had a S2000 and RX8. In weak moments, I stupidly sold each of them. The S2000 because living in the Pacific Northwest there were about 3 days a year when you could use a convertible, and the RX8 because I was fed up with the usual Wankel engine headaches. Big mistakes in both cases. I looked for low-mileage, nice condition, affordable examples of each of them, but they don't grow on trees.

I also looked long and hard at just getting an old 60’s/70’s sports car, reliving my mis-spent and wasted youth. But the reality of those cars is different from the fantasy and memories. When I drove those cars back in the 70’s and 80’s (when they were about 10 years old), the reality was that they were rusted-out, bondo-filled heaps that needed constant tinkering to stay running. After looking at a few dozen for sale, it was apparent they haven’t gotten any better in the 40 years since then. Most of the ones on the market seem to be even more bodged-up back-yard ‘restorations’ than the ones I drove decades ago, or were correctly restored with matching mega-buck prices, several multiples of what a new BRZ cost – and they still had primitive heating, no safety equipment to speak of, and don’t perform anywhere near as well as a new BRZ for a fraction of the price.

Instead of griping about how 'underpowered' the BRZ is, I would think true gearheads would recognize it for what it is - a gift from Subaru and Toyota. For the few thousand a year that they sell, they can't be making much money on it.

So, to all those armchair experts out there who say they want a pure, old-school, naturally aspirated, RWD, manual transmission sports car that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I suggest, go out and drive a BRZ or 86 while you can. I’ll eagerly await the next generation car, and if it’s ‘better’, I’ll buy one. But who knows? Someone at Toyota might decide that there’s not enough of a business case to be made for a manual transmission (like they did with the Supra). For those that don't buy a BRZ/86, I think they should just shut up and don't complain that there aren't any cars like it around.

Thank you very much to everyone who gave such helpful and much appreciated responses and comments to my questions here.
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Old 10-14-2019, 05:50 PM   #2333
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AnalogMan,


Awesome reviews. I have no experience like you about 100 cars, but I have so far just two cars besides BRZ - 1997 Honda Accord (260K miles), 2003 Honda Pilot (190K) both are well maintained and running great. BRZ has about 12K miles and so far it's really a good and fun car.
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Old 10-14-2019, 11:32 PM   #2334
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Originally Posted by AnalogMan View Post
Greetings everyone. After shopping for a car for the past year, including posting questions here to which many people gave very helpful responses, I finally bought a BRZ this week, a red 2019 Limited (6 speed of course). We’re now a 3 Subaru family – the BRZ joins a WRX (my ‘practical’ daily driver), and my wife’s Crosstrek.

I’ve been a hard-core car guy my whole life. I’m old school (and just plain old… early(-ish) 60’s), and have owned over 100 cars in my life. I grew up with the classic ‘sports cars’ of the 60’s and 70’s, MBG, Triumph, Opel GT, Fiat 124, Karmann-Ghia, Sunbeam Alpine, first generation RX-7. I owned many of them back then. As I coast into the final laps of life and being able to enjoy a small sports car with a stick, I’ve been looking for something that would capture the soul and fun of those old-tyme sports cars. The BRZ does it for me.

There’s a fair amount of dissing the car online. I’ve found that most of the critics have never owned or even driven a BRZ. The internet brings out a lot of armchair experts and bench racers.

The BRZ is not a “numbers” car. If you want to brag about 0-60 or quarter mile times down at the gym or bar, it’s not for you. It’s for people who care about sheer driving fun, about getting goose bumps from a car being hard-wired straight into your central nervous system, of feeling your hands directly connected to the road in a way that few other current production new cars can match.

The usual carping is about ‘not enough power’. Yeah, I wish it had another 50-ish hp and 50-ish ft-lb of torque. But the reality is the BRZ already is so much faster and vastly more capable than any of the 60’s/70’s sports cars ever were.

Most of those 4 cylinder sports cars at the time had around 100 hp. 205 hp was an impossible dream that no one even talked about. A souped-up ‘race’ engine might put out 125-150 hp. 205 hp was unimaginable back then, even with the primitive turbochargers of the day (unless you had the bucks to get a Jaguar or something high end). I plan to do a few modest mods to my BRZ, but after just a few days of driving, I have to say, the power is enough to be fun, enough to be satisfying, and enough to get in trouble if you don’t know what you’re doing.

It doesn’t have a mountain of torque. So what? Formula 1 race cars aren’t known for being able to pull tree stumps out at idle either, and few people accuse them of not being fun to drive. In the BRZ, you have to actually know how to use a clutch pedal and shift lever.

It just feels special to drive. Mazda uses the phrase ‘jinba ittai’, ‘horse and rider as one’, to describe the Miata. The Miata is a great car (I’ve had a couple), but I think it applies just as much to the BRZ.

I looked at a wide range of cars before buying this one. The current ND Miata was close, and is also a blast to drive. But for me it’s just a little too small. Mazda should be commended for not bloating the car and actually shrinking it, but I think they went a bit too far. I’m not humongous, but at 6’0” and 200 lbs, I’m ‘not small’. With two people in the Miata, it just felt borderline cramped and confining. I wanted to be able to take trips in a sports car, and the Miata was just a little too small for us. If it was 10% or even 5% bigger, I might have gone for it.

The 370Z was also a close contender. It has the same analog feel as the BRZ, but with a much more powerful, torquey engine. That 3.7 liter VQ V6 is a great motor. But the BRZ won in every other department – looks, interior space, visibility, handling, and comfort. The 370Z was a fantastic engine, but the rest of the car didn’t quite measure up to the BRZ.

About 10 years ago I had a S2000 and RX8. In weak moments, I stupidly sold each of them. The S2000 because living in the Pacific Northwest there were about 3 days a year when you could use a convertible, and the RX8 because I was fed up with the usual Wankel engine headaches. Big mistakes in both cases. I looked for low-mileage, nice condition, affordable examples of each of them, but they don't grow on trees.

I also looked long and hard at just getting an old 60’s/70’s sports car, reliving my mis-spent and wasted youth. But the reality of those cars is different from the fantasy and memories. When I drove those cars back in the 70’s and 80’s (when they were about 10 years old), the reality was that they were rusted-out, bondo-filled heaps that needed constant tinkering to stay running. After looking at a few dozen for sale, it was apparent they haven’t gotten any better in the 40 years since then. Most of the ones on the market seem to be even more bodged-up back-yard ‘restorations’ than the ones I drove decades ago, or were correctly restored with matching mega-buck prices, several multiples of what a new BRZ cost – and they still had primitive heating, no safety equipment to speak of, and don’t perform anywhere near as well as a new BRZ for a fraction of the price.

Instead of griping about how 'underpowered' the BRZ is, I would think true gearheads would recognize it for what it is - a gift from Subaru and Toyota. For the few thousand a year that they sell, they can't be making much money on it.

So, to all those armchair experts out there who say they want a pure, old-school, naturally aspirated, RWD, manual transmission sports car that doesn't cost an arm and a leg, I suggest, go out and drive a BRZ or 86 while you can. I’ll eagerly await the next generation car, and if it’s ‘better’, I’ll buy one. But who knows? Someone at Toyota might decide that there’s not enough of a business case to be made for a manual transmission (like they did with the Supra). For those that don't buy a BRZ/86, I think they should just shut up and don't complain that there aren't any cars like it around.

Thank you very much to everyone who gave such helpful and much appreciated responses and comments to my questions here.
First of all, welcome and congrats!

I loved reading this! So jealous of your past cars and experiences.

Granted, my '18 BRZ is only my 15th car...all manuals except for two. I'm in my late 40's and have bought most of my cars new. Yes, I know, a big financial no-no. Lol. Especially since the longest I've owned a car is 4 years (2 months, the shortest!)

I also share most of the same feelings and views on cars. I do have a huge photography and travel habit which take up most of my financial resources (along with a mortgage), so I don't dig too deep into automotive exploration, sadly. My dream car is still an NA1 NSX but the good ones are still over $60k!

I too had a 2002 Suzuka Blue S2000. I loved it. But it wasn't a good daily driver. I've met and continue to meet people who think I'm a dumbass for selling it, but I never tracked it. And it's DEFINITELY a track purposed car, in my opinion, as I've later learned. Way more so in stock form than a Miata. I thought the Miata would be more "livable" so I got an NC with the Power Retractable Hard Top in 2010. Still, I did a few mods that would improve on it, but it was still a huge compromise for a daily driver. I never want to "daily" a boring car and I can't afford to buy a separate track-only one either.

In between, I've been through Mustang V8's (the 2011 Coyote 5.0 engine rocked! Everything else sucked! Lol), Hondas, Acuras, VW GTIs and Golf Rs. All great! Each with their faults and attributes.

I think you made the right choice as I also owned a 2013 370Z. That's one car I loved which came close to handling and balance of the BRZ and the S2000. Granted, it's got more power, but also more weight. The car did feel a lot heavier by comparison though. Not as precise as the BRZ nor the S2000 either.

My current BRZ feels like the perfect balance between the S2000 and the 370Z. I'm also glad Toyota and Subaru joined together to make this car. Quite a few Toyota fan boys hate Subaru and vice versa, but this car wouldn't have been made if it weren't for both companies taking the huge leap. Especially since most car companies (besides Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren) only make money from SUVs, CUVs and sedans nowadays. Producing a sports car from the ground up takes a huge amount of money and risk. And for less than $30k, we've got a pure bargain sports car.

I can go in about the horsepower race...yes, all cars could use more power. Duh. (I plead guilty of actually being in the process of installing a supercharger! Lol.) But road conditions, construction, speed limits and increasing traffic all inhibit that lust in real world daily driving. Sure, we can go to the track, add more power, mod it extensively and it's made just for that too, but on a commute, daily driver or even a weekend drive up public canyon roads, all the extra power is superfluous. I'd rather have a balanced, proper sports car than a 500hp behemoth with numb handling.

Lastly, everyone has their reasons for wanting more power - whether to impress friends, lovers, coworkers or as Carlos Lago of Motor Trend likes to put it "compensize" is up to you. But the BRZ is a great sports car in its current iteration. I hope Subaru and Toyota continue this affordable and well-balanced recipe in the next generation. And keep the manual!

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Old 10-15-2019, 12:08 PM   #2335
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Smile New here

Hi everyone, I finally pulled the trigger of getting a BRZ. I had a used 2013 370Z with intake and exhaust- tuned manual. It is a beautiful car and had blast driving it on the weekend ( I have a company car). I was in the market of getting a used WRX or STI due to needing a four seater. I test drove them both and along a 86 and BRZ. Ultimately I really enjoyed the BRZ on how well it handled turns and honestly probably the most fun I’ve had in a car. So I ended up trading my Z for a new 2019 BRZ limited manual. I can feel the horsepower difference but the lightness of the BRZ makes up for it. I really believe that Toyota and Subaru made one heck of a car.

A little background: I come from a family that loves cars and majority everyone in my family drove stick in their younger days. I’ve owned a 300ZX NA before getting the 370Z, growing up my family owned, 2005 Mustang GT, El Camino, Tran Am, Saturn ion redline, corvette.

Plans for the BRZ is to have it as a daily driver aka mostly on the weekend and track it here and there. As for performance wise, I have yet to decide on what to do, since I want to keep the balance of the car.

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Old 10-16-2019, 08:56 PM   #2336
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BA9092, thank you!

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Small world, you also having had a S2000 and a 370Z.

I still kick myself for selling my S2000. Especially when I see how much prices have gone up just in the past few years since I sold it. But, realistically, the BRZ isn't that much slower than the S2000 in street driving, and it's a lot more livable in terms of interior space and comfort (and looks!).

I also have second thoughts about not buying a 370Z. It has it all (at least on paper) - torquey NA V6 engine, analog soul, great styling. Your comments about the BRZ being a cross between the S2000 and 370Z are very interesting, and ring true. We'll see if it ends up being satisfying in the long run (so far it's exceeded expectations, and maybe with a few basic engine mods it'll be even more satisfying).

I understand about buying new cars. For most of my life, most of the cars I've bought were used. But in the past 20 years, most have been new. I always start out looking for a used car (simply because they're cheaper than a new one). But there is so much junk out there, even with late-model cars. So many used cars have been in accidents, or abused, or have other 'stories'. I recently went to see a car at a major national used car chain, which I think has a reputation for premium quality cars at equally premium prices. Despite being assured that the car was 'perfect', within seconds of seeing it, it was apparent to me that the car had been in a flood (silt under the carpets, between body panels, and on pretty much every horizontal surface below about knee level). Everything on line looks great in the internet photos, but in person, it's often a very different story. I end up buying new because I just can't find a decent used car with the specs I want.

My dream car is also a NA1 NSX, but the prices have gone through the stratosphere. A few years ago I debated buying a 2003 that had only 14k miles, for $55k. I thought it was a bit too pricey, and would wait a couple of years for them to 'depreciate'. Mistake. That car today costs over $100k (and still climbing), which is now forever out of reach for me. Ah, well, win some, lose some...

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First of all, welcome and congrats!

I loved reading this! So jealous of your past cars and experiences.

Granted, my '18 BRZ is only my 15th car...all manuals except for two. I'm in my late 40's and have bought most of my cars new. Yes, I know, a big financial no-no. Lol. Especially since the longest I've owned a car is 4 years (2 months, the shortest!)

I also share most of the same feelings and views on cars. I do have a huge photography and travel habit which take up most of my financial resources (along with a mortgage), so I don't dig too deep into automotive exploration, sadly. My dream car is still an NA1 NSX but the good ones are still over $60k!

I too had a 2002 Suzuka Blue S2000. I loved it. But it wasn't a good daily driver. I've met and continue to meet people who think I'm a dumbass for selling it, but I never tracked it. And it's DEFINITELY a track purposed car, in my opinion, as I've later learned. Way more so in stock form than a Miata. I thought the Miata would be more "livable" so I got an NC with the Power Retractable Hard Top in 2010. Still, I did a few mods that would improve on it, but it was still a huge compromise for a daily driver. I never want to "daily" a boring car and I can't afford to buy a separate track-only one either.

In between, I've been through Mustang V8's (the 2011 Coyote 5.0 engine rocked! Everything else sucked! Lol), Hondas, Acuras, VW GTIs and Golf Rs. All great! Each with their faults and attributes.

I think you made the right choice as I also owned a 2013 370Z. That's one car I loved which came close to handling and balance of the BRZ and the S2000. Granted, it's got more power, but also more weight. The car did feel a lot heavier by comparison though. Not as precise as the BRZ nor the S2000 either.

My current BRZ feels like the perfect balance between the S2000 and the 370Z. I'm also glad Toyota and Subaru joined together to make this car. Quite a few Toyota fan boys hate Subaru and vice versa, but this car wouldn't have been made if it weren't for both companies taking the huge leap. Especially since most car companies (besides Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini and McLaren) only make money from SUVs, CUVs and sedans nowadays. Producing a sports car from the ground up takes a huge amount of money and risk. And for less than $30k, we've got a pure bargain sports car.

I can go in about the horsepower race...yes, all cars could use more power. Duh. (I plead guilty of actually being in the process of installing a supercharger! Lol.) But road conditions, construction, speed limits and increasing traffic all inhibit that lust in real world daily driving. Sure, we can go to the track, add more power, mod it extensively and it's made just for that too, but on a commute, daily driver or even a weekend drive up public canyon roads, all the extra power is superfluous. I'd rather have a balanced, proper sports car than a 500hp behemoth with numb handling.

Lastly, everyone has their reasons for wanting more power - whether to impress friends, lovers, coworkers or as Carlos Lago of Motor Trend likes to put it "compensize" is up to you. But the BRZ is a great sports car in its current iteration. I hope Subaru and Toyota continue this affordable and well-balanced recipe in the next generation. And keep the manual!

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Old 10-25-2019, 02:31 PM   #2337
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My dream car is also a NA1 NSX, but the prices have gone through the stratosphere. A few years ago I debated buying a 2003 that had only 14k miles, for $55k. I thought it was a bit too pricey, and would wait a couple of years for them to 'depreciate'. Mistake. That car today costs over $100k (and still climbing), which is now forever out of reach for me. Ah, well, win some, lose some...
Never heard NA1 NSX, who makes it?
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Old 10-25-2019, 02:46 PM   #2338
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Never heard NA1 NSX, who makes it?
1st Gen Honda (Acura) NSX

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