2017 Subaru BRZ Facelift

[KalbiCool88]

As long as these cars stay relevant, I'm happy lol

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[funwheeldrive]

Originally Posted by wtrxprs007

Yeah on closer and longer inspection i thought it might be red too. Who knows, they might actually introduce new colours to the lineup

I would love a MY17 BRZ track pack in British Racing Green!

[SuperDave]

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza

One thing I want to bring up. Sales for the twins are dropping every year, these changes wont help at all in my opinion. They did way too little to attract new buyers.

this car was never designed to sell like a camry or a corolla, get over it. the designers, marketers, product planners knew this.

if i was a new buyer, i'd be all over the kouki, because it offers all the things i want, oil temp gauge, track timing, better midrange torque, and probably better reliability.

[churchx]

I'm not sure about this, that they didn't expect a bit higher sales. After all, it was spiritual successor of original hachiroku, recipe being - cheap rwd coupe with rather high sales. So maybe they expected below sales of generic family cars, but would certainly had wished more then sales actually were. But seems that in current times practicality is moved up a bit versus driving fun to not repeat success of original AE86.

[Zaku]

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza

One thing I want to bring up. Sales for the twins are dropping every year, these changes wont help at all in my opinion. They did way too little to attract new buyers.

I think I have to respectfully disagree, I think they did a lot to modernize it and keep it relevant to the market. Things like a nicer interior and sport package to keep up with its rivals the Miata for example or a new head unit that can support Apple car play, a rear back up camera, possible sort of driving assistance, the Tiranza instead of the prius tires, these things might seem very trivial to you and I but to a new car buyer who care is to get into something sporty with a nice interior and have something like car play. This is a great affordable platform I think they did an amazing job and I give credit where it's due.

[airjonny]

It should give it a small boost. I'm much more inclined to buy new over used now. Especially since they did all the things I was going to do in the aftermarket.

[rastapete]

Originally Posted by Jordan Silveira

P.S. for those interested in the head unit I hate to disappoint you but it's the same as in the 2016 and it is an absolutely garbage head unit. I am currently looking into going backwards and getting the 13-15 FR-S or BRZ head units. I can fill anyone in on the numerous amounts of problems with this head unit. Feel free to ask.

Thanks, I'm interested to know what the issues are - and also what aftermarket options might there be.

Presumably if it's the same as the 2016 then Crutchfield's recommendations for the 2016 model would apply to the 2017 model?

I'm going to order a 2017 next week and if I can achieve this without risk of a mismatch I'd like to have the head unit in hand when the car arrives.

[Poodles]

Originally Posted by Mim

So A/T shoppers basically got shafted. Why update the FD ratio on the Manual, but not the auto? Or am I misreading something here?

Also I imagine the fuel economy of the manual will take a bit of a hit with the new ratio, unless they fiddled with gearing.

Loving the update otherwise. There are enough detail changes (as a whole) for people that have an early release / first gen car to want to upgrade. Especially those that are leasing and not able to mod their car.

This fits into Tada's view that the car will evolve over time little by little, but as with the new cluster, goes against what he said earlier around people being able to retrofit future updates to earlier models...

A/T has a torque converter, so shorter gearing isn't needed. It is a bit odd that the A/T doesn't get the boost in power though... I'm wondering if that's a tune thing or is there physical part differences.

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza

One thing I want to bring up. Sales for the twins are dropping every year, these changes wont help at all in my opinion. They did way too little to attract new buyers.

Going to disagree. Outside of the hideous Acura beak fiasco, every time a car gets a refresh, sales jump up.

[Sport-Tech]

Originally Posted by Zaku

I think I have to respectfully disagree, I think they did a lot to modernize it and keep it relevant to the market. ...This is a great affordable platform I think they did an amazing job and I give credit where it's due.

While I agree with you to some extent, the fact remains that the more general car enthusiast audience is not really doing the happy-happy about these announced upgrades. Comments on the stories on Autoblog, TTAC, etc. are very largely negative, full of sarcasm and snark about the 5 hp power boost (as are the articles themselves for the most part). The sales bounce from this refresh is likely to be modest.

And there do appear to be a few missed opportunities in the MRC - no nav option on the HU in 2016? Give me a break (if this turns out to be true).

[Side]

Originally Posted by rastapete

Thanks, I'm interested to know what the issues are - and also what aftermarket options might there be.

Presumably if it's the same as the 2016 then Crutchfield's recommendations for the 2016 model would apply to the 2017 model?

I'm going to order a 2017 next week and if I can achieve this without risk of a mismatch I'd like to have the head unit in hand when the car arrives.

I've had no issues with my 2016 head unit. I only use it for bluetooth (both music and phone calls), FM radio, and siriusxm though. He may be experiencing issues with different features though.

[Mim]

Originally Posted by Poodles

A/T has a torque converter, so shorter gearing isn't needed. It is a bit odd that the A/T doesn't get the boost in power though... I'm wondering if that's a tune thing or is there physical part differences.

Actually I was referring to the final drive ratio change. Up till now the manual and A/T both shared the same 4.1 FD ratio, but with this update the manual has been upgraded to a 4.3 and the A/T was left with a 4.1.

The Manual already has shorter gearing than the A/T so this will widen the performance gap between the two possibly out to a full second 0-60mph.

Both manual and auto are getting the power boost though. Makes no sense to increase one and not the other ie why have two different ECU tunes and different engine components between the transmission types?

[KalbiCool88]

Originally Posted by Mim

Actually I was referring to the final drive ratio change. Up till now the manual and A/T both shared the same 4.1 FD ratio, but with this update the manual has been upgraded to a 4.3 and the A/T was left with a 4.1.

The Manual already has shorter gearing than the A/T so this will widen the performance gap between the two possibly out to a full second 0-60mph.

Both manual and auto are getting the power boost though. Makes no sense to increase one and not the other ie why have two different ECU tunes and different engine components between the transmission types?

The 5hp in the auto is unrealized due to power transfer loss

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[Zaku]

Originally Posted by Sport-Tech

While I agree with you to some extent, the fact remains that the more general car enthusiast audience is not really doing the happy-happy about these announced upgrades. Comments on the stories on Autoblog, TTAC, etc. are very largely negative, full of sarcasm and snark about the 5 hp power boost (as are the articles themselves for the most part). The sales bounce from this refresh is likely to be modest.

And there do appear to be a few missed opportunities in the MRC - no nav option on the HU in 2016? Give me a break (if this turns out to be true).

Theres a lot I want to say in the defense of the designers and engineers, but at the same time I respect my fellow peer journalist and blogger etc. Everyone is entired to their respective views. I can't talk about the process to why they came out to where they are... Sorry but let's take a good sample out of the competition the Miata, at first when none of the journalist had driven the car I recalled they praised the interior and loved how much more nicer it is than its rivals. But when they found out it was only 155hp they cringed had bad things to say etc. Then they drove it and it got praised for balanced. In the end it was this isn't a car that will get you whatever in a straight lines, but you'll always have a smile on your face, etc. Is a good car, and now our twins are trying to get up to that equipment level and it already had the driver feel. So what if it's 205hp those general enthusiast most of them will never drive a car at 205hp to its limit, they'll never become SCCA solo champions or the next DK, but I gurantee you, you'll have fun driving the car we've had this discussion many times, and most people never get it. Again I might know alittle but more, but I can't talk about it, I don't think they could have done anymore with out having more problems.

[Jordan Silveira]

Originally Posted by rastapete

Thanks, I'm interested to know what the issues are - and also what aftermarket options might there be.

Presumably if it's the same as the 2016 then Crutchfield's recommendations for the 2016 model would apply to the 2017 model?

I'm going to order a 2017 next week and if I can achieve this without risk of a mismatch I'd like to have the head unit in hand when the car arrives.

Hey RastaPete,

So my biggest complaint is the latency in all aspects of this head unit. When I start the car it takes about a 1.5-2.0 minutes for my bluetooth on my iPhone 6 to link with the Starlink head unit. Additionally, every button pressed (physical/digital) staggers with latency to register and when it is finally recognized takes about 1.5 seconds to register. The apps don't work consistently despite being connected to USB mode with my iPhone. The starlink media player app is aesthetically unpleasing. When you use the regular USB mode with no Starlink app the head unit has no play/pause button. The Head unit doesn't show volume or volume adjustment when on the phone. Aha is a horrible app. Overall I would prefer the 2013 premium FR-S head unit or the 2013-2015 Subaru BRZ head unit for the navigation it came with, the customization of the boot screen, etc.