touge-n00b: BRZ in "paradise"

[touge-n00b]

So you may have read the thread about my story of how I got my car. And if not, that's why I've provided a link to the thread.

Well today (5/26/2012) I finally took delivery of my 2013 BRZ Premium 6-speed manual. Put about 150 miles on it today, so I thought I'd give some short first-impressions:

-Fits like a glove, love the seating position.
-Seats are awesome, although I could see how it could be too much bolstering for certain people.
-Shifter is brilliant. So much better than any Subaru shifters I've felt (and I've owned three previous, 2 WRXs and a Legacy GT). It rows through the gears a little on the notchy side, but super precise. Well, much more than the shifters in my WRXs. I really love Honda shifters, especially the one in the S2000, and this Aisin box feels nearly as good.
-After 4 years of turbo cars, it's so nice to have throttle response! Sure power is nice, but the lag and dull-throttle have always annoyed and at times infuriated me. No issue here with the BRZ, I love the way this thing revs. So smooth and instant.
-Power and torque feels adequate for the type of environment I drive in. If you don't know, Honolulu is one of the most congested cities traffic wise in America. So I never really feel the need for more torque at the moment. If anything it just gives me more of an excuse to rev the engine, which I'm only so happy to do (under 4000K rpm of course for now).
-I really like the way this engine sounds. I read a lot of reviewers complaining that it sounds trashy and raughty, but I don't get that sensation. It has a nice, slightly deep tone too it. Almost like a GGGGRRRRRRR. I really think a proper exhaust would improve it's vocals.

As of now I only have two big complaints with it: one is that the seat-belt does not agree with me, as it cuts right into my neck. I wish it was adjustable, but something I guess I have to grow used to. Another thing is the fact that I can't dial numbers via the navigation while the car is in motion. Yes, I know it's a safety thing, but it doesn't make sense as I can just pick up the phone itself and use that to dial. Again, this is probably more a me problem and I need to learn to adapt to the car. But there are times when I need to call someone quickly on the way to meet them or something, and the BRZ doesn't let me do this. Maybe voice control can fix this, but I gave up after two attempts at setup.

In the end though, this car just feels really good to drive. Keyword there for me is "feels". The car is not for everyone, but for me it much more supports my driving style versus the WRXs. As of right now I'm really tired and am ready for bed. I'm going to post some proper photos tomorrow and write an exhaustive write-up for my personal blog, so I'll share those with you all as well.

tl;dr? Well here's one more pic for you:

My BRZ and my friends 2001 Impreza 2.5RS



*UPDATE as of April 26, 2013




Well it's been awhile, so I figure I should update this thread. As I posted earlier in my journal, I race regularly at SCCA Autocross in the stock catagory. As we just wrapped up our season, finally got a chance to put on my wing. Here's what I've done so far:
-17x7.5 +45 Wed Sport SA-90 Wheels, beat up to hell (they're old)
-225/45/17 Dunlop Z1 Star Specs
-245/40/17 Hankook Ventus Z214 C21 Soft Compound Tires (Race Rubber, mounted on stock wheels)
-APR Extended Studs in the front
-5mm Spacer in the front.
-Apexi Drop-In Filter
-Stivo Rear Lip Spoiler

[tdoggy57]

That WRB is such a perfect color

[JiB]

nice

[Egyptn]

nice one brother congrats mate

[Ryephile]

Congrats! Fantastic pair of cars there

I totally agree on your assessment of the seats, seating position, and shifter. They're fantastic.

[MiguelAE86]

This car is just DRAMATIC :0 I love that. Great Write-Up and congrats!

[Jay Grey]

Congrats! Nice pic...

[Scooby]

Mahalo for the update. I love Hawaii so driving a BRZ there sounds like Paradise squared

[arbnpx]

Originally Posted by touge-n00b

I really love Honda shifters, especially the one in the S2000, and this Aisin box feels nearly as good.

The S2000 manual transmission was based off of the Aisin AZ6 (but heavily modified by Honda). The BRZ / FR-S manual transmission is also based off of the AZ6; according to the 86 development story article that Ichitaka posted, they took the Toyota Altezza transmission (which was also based off of the AZ6), and replaced about 80% of the internal parts, while also dedicating an engineer to improving the shift feel while also keeping the shifting movement smooth.

Kaizen Factor had a nice blog article on the FR-S / BRZ / 86 transmissions (auto and manual):
http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/20...e-know-so-far/
...along with a clarification of a misprint in the FR-S Las Vegas press event specifications presentation (specifically, the manual transmission is not "RA62", but "TL70"): http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/20...n-or-is-scion/

[Turbowned]

Originally Posted by touge-n00b

Another thing is the fact that I can't dial numbers via the navigation while the car is in motion. Yes, I know it's a safety thing, but it doesn't make sense as I can just pick up the phone itself and use that to dial. Again, this is probably more a me problem and I need to learn to adapt to the car. But there are times when I need to call someone quickly on the way to meet them or something, and the BRZ doesn't let me do this. Maybe voice control can fix this, but I gave up after two attempts at setup.

Can you use a voice command like "dial number" and speak out the number? That's probably the easiest and safest way to do it. I can't imagine the system not letting you do that...

[touge-n00b]

Originally Posted by arbnpx

The S2000 manual transmission was based off of the Aisin AZ6 (but heavily modified by Honda). The BRZ / FR-S manual transmission is also based off of the AZ6; according to the 86 development story article that Ichitaka posted, they took the Toyota Altezza transmission (which was also based off of the AZ6), and replaced about 80% of the internal parts, while also dedicating an engineer to improving the shift feel while also keeping the shifting movement smooth.

Kaizen Factor had a nice blog article on the FR-S / BRZ / 86 transmissions (auto and manual):
http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/20...e-know-so-far/
...along with a clarification of a misprint in the FR-S Las Vegas press event specifications presentation (specifically, the manual transmission is not "RA62", but "TL70"): http://kaizenfactor.wordpress.com/20...n-or-is-scion/

Some great info there, thanks!

Originally Posted by Turbowned

Can you use a voice command like "dial number" and speak out the number? That's probably the easiest and safest way to do it. I can't imagine the system not letting you do that...

You probably could, but like I said, I tried twice to setup up voice commands and both times failed because the system froze. I'm going to try again today though.


And in other news....





My friend took some brilliant shots last night.

[bestwheelbase]

Beautiful!

[Jayde]

Looks great! Thanks for the mini review!

[Mari0]

Amazing pics