My first teeheehee moment

[softgrip]

I bought a 2016 BRZ on Wednesday. "Upgrading" from a 2006 WRX hatch.

Last night I took a corner that would have given me a 4 wheel power slide in the WRX. The BRZ hunkered down and massacred the corner with no loss of traction or speed. This is on new stock tyres. It was a giddy feeling - even with vsc and tc on. The lack of roll was also very confidence inspiring.

Can't wait to hit 1600km so I can rev it out a bit more.

[MisterSheep]

Originally Posted by softgrip

I bought a 2016 BRZ on Wednesday. "Upgrading" from a 2006 WRX hatch.

Last night I took a corner that would have given me a 4 wheel power slide in the WRX. The BRZ hunkered down and massacred the corner with no loss of traction or speed. This is on new stock tyres. It was a giddy feeling - even with vsc and tc on. The lack of roll was also very confidence inspiring.

Can't wait to hit 1600km so I can rev it out a bit more.

just wait til you get some good tires on the car!

[ThornhillSubaruOwner]

Im getting my car this wednesday too. I can't fucking wait LOL

[rookie]

Originally Posted by softgrip

I bought a 2016 BRZ on Wednesday. "Upgrading" from a 2006 WRX hatch.

Last night I took a corner that would have given me a 4 wheel power slide in the WRX. The BRZ hunkered down and massacred the corner with no loss of traction or speed. This is on new stock tyres. It was a giddy feeling - even with vsc and tc on. The lack of roll was also very confidence inspiring.

Can't wait to hit 1600km so I can rev it out a bit more.

I had that same feeling my first time pushing my BRZ around a turn that my RSX would understeer through and BRZ just stuck to the road.

[themadscientist]

The car definitely likes corners like a fat kid loves cake. That's what sold me on it. Coming from the late 80's-early 90's Nissans I was used to driving, the cornering ability of this relatively cheap car was a real revelation. It's no Elise, ask me how I know, but the smiles per dollar factor is off the chart IMO.

I don't know. My Advan's are stickier than a toddler's fingers and I can still step the rear end out at will. I want to say the factory tires were almost as capable.

I think it's the suspension that is exhibiting the limitation, not the tires. IMO, based on the experience I have had with stock tires and sticky tires on the exact same car, I can't say the tires are that much of a limiting factor on this car as delivered. Sure, they aren't great, but in the context of the full package, they are pretty damned effective. I wouldn't change them just to change them.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by softgrip

Last night I took a corner that would have given me a 4 wheel power slide in the WRX. The BRZ hunkered down and massacred the corner with no loss of traction or speed. This is on new stock tyres. It was a giddy feeling - even with vsc and tc on. The lack of roll was also very confidence inspiring.

Then you'll appreciate a story I've told here before.

There's a two-lane country road that goes about 25 miles from the interstate to my family's cabin on a lake. The twisties are not extreme, but it does have a few curvy sections here and there through some hills and ravines. The speed limit on this road is 55. I was driving 60.

In my rear view mirror I saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee approaching rapidly, and pretty soon he was right on my bumper. I didn't speed up. I didn't slow down. I maintained 60 mph on the straights and in the curves. He stayed right on my ass for several miles.

Then we got into the area that was a little bit more curvy. The Jeep stayed on my tail. I kept it right on 60, and it wasn't anywhere close to the car's limits. The tires didn't even squeak.

Mine didn't. But his did. I looked in my rear view mirror to see that fucker in the Jeep sliding sideways into the other lane. By some miracle the guy managed to recover. But after that he backed off and didn't try to pretend he was driving a sports car.

I almost gave the guy the finger, but I figured he was probably embarrassed enough about the mess in his pants that I didn't need to.

[pfaffendorn]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

. . . I saw a Jeep Grand Cherokee approaching rapidly . . . I looked in my rear view mirror to see that fucker in the Jeep sliding sideways into the other lane.

Great story, but you must admit you plucked some really low-hanging fruit there! Grand Cherokees are infamous for not holding the road. I regard them as death cars, and I have never put my butt in one, as driver or passenger, after one broke traction on me and went sideways at 70 mph -- on a dry, smooth 4-lane road, going around a gradual, interstate-style curve -- my two passengers froze with their mouths open. I did recover, but with a very lousy taste remaining for the vehicle that tried to kill us. And people who are terrified of the open road always seem to buy them, e.g. Floridians who buy mountain cabins in WNC.

Speaking of SUVs, these and pickup trucks seem to be the ones that pick on the little BRZ out on the highway. They ride in the blind spot, they tailgate (and I mean tailgate), they block me from passing a truck, all sorts of petty little crap. But I like to think they get a wee surprise when I downshift, floor it and escape through a tiny gap and disappear down the highway.

[gravitylover]

I had a Chevy truck of some sort (was too close to be able to tell, all I could see was a grill and bowtie) running right up my ass yesterday so I cruised at a steady 10 over so ~40mph and didn't brake going into a 15mph corner and all of a sudden he wasn't there anymore. About 30 minutes later I went the other way down the same road and there were two wreckers pulling it out of the woods and flipping it back onto the wheels after it went over the guardrail and flipped over.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by pfaffendorn

Speaking of SUVs, these and pickup trucks seem to be the ones that pick on the little BRZ out on the highway. They ride in the blind spot, they tailgate (and I mean tailgate), they block me from passing a truck, all sorts of petty little crap.

This doesn't always work, but...

I have a TapTurn with the strobe pack installed in my car, with LED tails (Tom's). I have my hazards set to strobe, and if you turn them on with the turn signal stalk clicked to the right, they go into a wig-wag strobe pattern like on an emergency vehicle. When I get a tailgater, I hit my strobes. Probably 6 or 7 out of 10 drivers will be confused by that and back off. It worked a lot better when I lived in Louisiana, but Texas is filled to overflowing with assholes, and many of them just don't give a shit what you do.

I have a set of Hella Supertones I haven't gotten around to installing in my car. I was thinking of taking the stock horns and hiding them up under the rear bumper with a separate horn switch and relay so I could honk at the tailgaters.

[gravitylover]

On my old Willys Jeep I had aircraft landing lights on the back for off road use at night. That thing was almost as slow as 1950's VW Bug so people felt the need to tailgate all the time. If it really bothered me I'd flip those puppys on and watch them lose it in my mirror. Fun times.

[softgrip]

Ok first time for some twisties. VSC on but left the TC on too. Its a little jarring when the TC engages. Car handled very well, it's so easy to drive fast.

Took a couple of "recommended 35kmh" at 90kmh and it just goes where it's told. I think I could get myself into trouble

4 weeks till Pioneer nav unit and morel/Polk speakers get dropped in. Then it's time to save for the suspension, wheels and brakes, and finally SC. Good fun so far.

Great car. Not missing the WRX except for ride clearance.

[themadscientist]

If you are trying to push the car, turn that nannytech off. The last thing you want in the middle of a high speed or traction-testing moment is the car suddenly changing its personality.

[softgrip]

Wise words.

I'm only 440km on the clock so far - still getting a feel for the car. Also, this was on a steep windy hill - very steep drop offs on one side - so for the moment, I'll get a bit more of a feel for when it's going to slide instead of just letting it go .

Give me a week.

[V_86]

I LOVE losing tailgaters on freeway ramps. Even at the speed limit, I don't have to break and they disappear in my mirror. Try sport mode for added enjoyment of oversteer