Why did you get a BRZ?

[BRianZ 14]

I read about Toyota and Subaru making a car together, then read that they were making 13,000 of them and I thought "I will never even drive this car..." When I had the chance to get one, it was a dream come true.

[aoVI]

I've always driven small, slightly under-powered, tightly built imports.


I liked the 16 Veloster Turbo I had, but it really never connected with me; my favorite car of the few I have owned was my 04 Celica--until now.


I just turned 56, and always wanted to have a car to tinker on when I got older. I can see the BRZ being that car in the future, with the added benefit of knowing it was taken care of when it was younger, rather than picking up something used.

[AnotherSlowAE86]

I owned a 2017 WRX that I purchased new. I loved that car and it brought me a great deal of happiness, however I had decided to start putting myself in a better financial position. Unfortunately, part of that meant getting rid of the WRX.


I traded the WRX for a BRZ, cutting my payment in half and reducing my over all loan amount by $8,000.



While I miss the WRX immensely, I feel a lot better having extra money at the end of every month.

[Prmspen]

I was helping a buddy car shop. We were in a Mazda dealership right around the time the ND Miata came out (and before the RF was available), and they had a black one on the floor. I've always liked Miatas, so I checked it out while my buddy shopped CX-3s. It was a bit small for me, and living in the Pacific Northwest, I've gone off convertibles lately. So I thought "wouldn't it be cool if there was a fun, affordable, RWD sports coupe available." Thirty seconds later the light bulb went off, and I had my new BRZ a few days later.

[Noction]

Cause I couldnt afford a Cayman.

[mynamesbert]

I was getting tired of my 2012 WRX STi hatch, and I had it for 3 years at that point, so I was looking to move on. The BRZ had been out for a couple of years already. I kept talking myself into it for a couple of weeks. Even saw two Series.Blue at my dealer (SWP and WRB) when I drove past a couple of times. Then one day I saw a Subaru vid for it on vimeo, and I was like “yep, trading in the STi right now.” Left my house went to my dealer and was hoping to get the WRB, but was happy with the SWP just the same. Traded in the STi, and the following week I had a brand new 2015 BRZ. Also had an extra $$ in my pocket every month too. Best car purchase to this day.

[Inazuma]

RWD, Fun and affordable and the Yellow edition was meant to be discreet ;-).
I had a Golf R prior and don't regret it even with 160 HP less (APR stage 2+ tuned). Handling is soooo much better.
Now I'm taking care of the power issue : a Cosworth supercharger... now this is exactly what this car was meant to be. Not a Turbo because it upsets the handling with the lag and boost action! Supercharger keeps it exactly as an atmospheric with higher output.

These supercharger are listed as discontinued, but are still available directly from Cosworth UK.

[Skyehigh55]

I grew up idolizing STI's and imports, but always felt they were outdated when I was interested in finally buying a car. I wanted to stay RWD and lightweight but with enough cargo space a single man can live with. I've been in slow and fast imports, so speed wasn't something I cared about much.

Was done with school and working full time. Felt like my first car should be one that I keep forever if I'm gonna be paying for it. Chose Subaru over Scion/Toyota because the BRZ is a more refined version of the FRS/86 and was the first to get the performance package, which sold me immediately.

I had to learn how to drive manual with this car (brother drove it home from the stealership), and for the first week or so it was a challenge. Stop and go traffic was scary at first but I don't regret my decision one bit at all. If anything, I was able to grow because of what this car allowed me to do finally being an independent adult.

[Dirty Harry]

Originally Posted by mynamesbert

I was getting tired of my 2012 WRX STi hatch, and I had it for 3 years at that point, so I was looking to move on. The BRZ had been out for a couple of years already. I kept talking myself into it for a couple of weeks. Even saw two Series.Blue at my dealer (SWP and WRB) when I drove past a couple of times. Then one day I saw a Subaru vid for it on vimeo, and I was like “yep, trading in the STi right now.” Left my house went to my dealer and was hoping to get the WRB, but was happy with the SWP just the same. Traded in the STi, and the following week I had a brand new 2015 BRZ. Also had an extra $$ in my pocket every month too. Best car purchase to this day.

Do you miss the power of your STI? Or does the BRZ handling make up for it?

[NMBRzer]

RWD. Manual. Ease of turning off all nanny “aids”. Large aftermarket support. Fun controllable car at a great price. Subaru reliability.

[Willpower]

Nice!! Happy you got one! Hard to have more fun than this car at any price IMO

Originally Posted by Skyehigh55

I grew up idolizing STI's and imports, but always felt they were outdated when I was interested in finally buying a car. I wanted to stay RWD and lightweight but with enough cargo space a single man can live with. I've been in slow and fast imports, so speed wasn't something I cared about much.

Was done with school and working full time. Felt like my first car should be one that I keep forever if I'm gonna be paying for it. Chose Subaru over Scion/Toyota because the BRZ is a more refined version of the FRS/86 and was the first to get the performance package, which sold me immediately.

I had to learn how to drive manual with this car (brother drove it home from the stealership), and for the first week or so it was a challenge. Stop and go traffic was scary at first but I don't regret my decision one bit at all. If anything, I was able to grow because of what this car allowed me to do finally being an independent adult.

[atomicalex]

Originally Posted by Rogues Gambit

Figured I'd ask, and might as well add to this, what else were you looking at?

Many years ago, my driving instructor told me that I was going to need to switch up cars if I was ever going to progress as a driver. I switched to a lighter, prepped FWD car and did well, but still hit a wall - I could outdrive the car. Life intervened and I got to live a dream for a few years (work in Germany), so car stuff aside from owning my dream car (GolfIII wagon) took a back seat.

Came home and FF a bit and it was time to get serious again. In the mean time, my older son settled on an AW11 for his foreseeable future. The invasion of the Toyotas was just beginning.

Chatted exhaustively with my one hundred best friends on the internet, test drove everything (Elise, Cayman, Boxter, Z3, Z4, NA-ND, Twins, FIATA, C6, C7, Mustang, and I'm probably forgetting something), and the twins were the favorite, but something was missing and I was already crafting lists of mods. Then the PP rolled out, and that sealed it for me. Actually, the CF-style accents in the interior were part of it - now if only I could find some matte real CF pieces to replace them with.

Ordered my 2018 PP last January and it's been a wild ride. This week, I made the biggest step in transitioning to RWD - I did a dedicated track school with a RWD-specific instructor, and now I am getting in the groove. I have a lot of car and a really lot of brakes. I made the right choice for me.

Now, if I can outcorner my doggone son, things will be just right again.

[N_Raged]

Originally Posted by Noction

Cause I couldnt afford a Cayman.

For me it was because I couldn't afford a 2019 MX-5 in the config I wanted, which was a soft-top in red with the performance package. It would have cost at least $9,000 more than my 2019 BRZ which was $2,000 off sticker during Subaru's promo event. I didn't want a used 2016-2018 MX-5 because the new engine in the 2019 is so much better.

Though the 2019 MX-5 is the winning car at my local autocross, I'm glad I went with the BRZ because it is so much more practical as a daily driver. I'm always surprised by the amount of stuff I can cram into it with the rear seats folded down.

[Hachi Breeze]

My first car was a 95 Zenki 240SX auto hand-me downed from my sister who owned it for 10 years. After one year of ownership, I totaled it at a 2-way stop.. Since then I have owned by brother's 2000 Civic EX coupe and finally came to the point where I had some money and wanted something newer.


I have always been a Nissan fanboy and was set on a 370Z, but after seeing its impracticality, I leaned toward the FT86. I actually did a quick trip to LA and we rented a red Toyota 86 through Turo to practice my manual driving (as I have been thinking of getting a new car), and after driving and almost getting stuck on Angeles Crest with low gas, I knew this was the car I wanted.


I can actually say this is my first car of choice, and I am happy how similar it was to my first car, the Zenki without the age problems