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FR-S / BRZ vs.... Area to discuss the FR-S/BRZ against its competitors [NO STREET RACING]


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Old 02-11-2019, 11:58 AM   #29
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Kept the brz but upgraded to an Elise. The regret comes because the brz now feels so pedestrian. It is still a good entry level sports car but I'm very aware of the compromise it makes.
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It is but I don't really think that matters a whole lot

Things like this clamshells bring brittle and expensive, the aluminum frame not being fixable, suspension glued to the body, cams getting wiped, lack of dealer or aftermarket support. Basically if I damage the brz I have little issue fixing it but it's not the case with an Elise
You have just traded one set of compromises for another. At least the BRZ ones don't make you afraid to drive the car.
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Old 02-11-2019, 12:16 PM   #30
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Not sure how many people who got rid of their 86's still peruse this board, but just curious what people upgraded to and what their experiences were. I get the itch occasionally, but usually settles down after a week or two and I love my car again
Hmm... so I sold my first one because it was time to either boost it or move on, so I moved on. The same day I sold it I went to pickup a 93 MR2 Turbo with low miles. It wasn't a replacement as I was going to pickup the 93 MR2 anyways but the BRZ was taking up it's garage space.

Since then I've had a Focus RS which was a good car minus Ford messing up and a Camaro SS 1LE.

I have not regretted selling the BRZ.

But I bought another one last month or whatever so :shrug:
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Old 02-11-2019, 12:39 PM   #31
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So I take it this is you?


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If so worried, why did you buy it? They are pretty tough little cars.
I think there is a difference between being worried about a car on the track and worries regarding a car in general. I might take the car to the track but I plan to be more serious with the brz because it's nice to learn with lower less costly limits.
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You have just traded one set of compromises for another. At least the BRZ ones don't make you afraid to drive the car.
Yeah, the compromise in the first quote is regarding the qualities of being sporty for being a good car. The compromise in tracking the brz exist but when I go to the track, I'm directly competing with my previous self so in that regards, if the compromise is there before and after, it doesn't matter to me.
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Old 02-11-2019, 12:52 PM   #32
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Hmm... so I sold my first one because it was time to either boost it or move on, so I moved on. The same day I sold it I went to pickup a 93 MR2 Turbo with low miles. It wasn't a replacement as I was going to pickup the 93 MR2 anyways but the BRZ was taking up it's garage space.

Since then I've had a Focus RS which was a good car minus Ford messing up and a Camaro SS 1LE.

I have not regretted selling the BRZ.

But I bought another one last month or whatever so :shrug:
Ah I used to have a 91 MR2 turbo, another car with a 'scrappiness' to it. Really enjoyed that car for years until I went to an E36 M3. Better overall car, but while it brought that refined hunkered-down glued to the road feel, I lost some of that playfulness inherent to the light nosed MR2. The 86 feels the closest to the MR2 (despite big differences in power delivery) of any car I've driven to date.

So with the new BRZ & the Camaro 1LE (another car I considered once), which one do you grab the keys for more often? The 1LE is an amazing piece of engineering, and I really like the way they look/sound, but I can't get over how claustrophobic I felt sitting in the cockpit. Both visibility and cockpit elbow room, I was surprised how tight it was compared to my tiny FR-S - I figure it's just more of what Chevy was going for when they designed the car, and probably something you'd get used to fairly quickly.
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Old 02-11-2019, 01:03 PM   #33
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There are also of course the guys that changed and never went away but they usually spend most of their time raving about how perfect their 12 year old Porsche or something like that is so greatly superior and we are all a bunch of morons for liking the Twins as they are.
Haha I actually bought a 2009 Boxster S after the FR-S. Not really a replacement since I kept the FR-S too.

It's funny because I do think the Porsche is better in pretty much every way (as it should be > double the cost) but I ended up selling it and keeping the FR-S. There's something to be said for having a cheap fun reliable sports car that you don't really have to worry about.
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Old 02-11-2019, 02:36 PM   #34
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Ah I used to have a 91 MR2 turbo, another car with a 'scrappiness' to it. Really enjoyed that car for years until I went to an E36 M3. Better overall car, but while it brought that refined hunkered-down glued to the road feel, I lost some of that playfulness inherent to the light nosed MR2. The 86 feels the closest to the MR2 (despite big differences in power delivery) of any car I've driven to date.

So with the new BRZ & the Camaro 1LE (another car I considered once), which one do you grab the keys for more often? The 1LE is an amazing piece of engineering, and I really like the way they look/sound, but I can't get over how claustrophobic I felt sitting in the cockpit. Both visibility and cockpit elbow room, I was surprised how tight it was compared to my tiny FR-S - I figure it's just more of what Chevy was going for when they designed the car, and probably something you'd get used to fairly quickly.
Well since the BRZ isn't street legal yet (it's a salvage car that's been waiting for a working SRS module for weeks - it arrived this morning so HOPEFULLY it works...).

However, I drive my 94 Accord Wagon daily. I don't care if it gets wrecked, door dings, etc. I don't even have comp or collision insurance on it because.. well why would I?

However since I really don't want to pay more insurance money I will be selling the accord and daily driving the BRZ. The Camaro has 6k+ miles on it and I absolutely love driving it. I'll be all in under 10k for my 2015 BRZ though so I'd rather risk it on a daily basis.. at least until I get too lazy to swap seats for track days and just leave buckets in it.. then I'll DD the Camaro. The ventilated and heated seats and 100x better infotainment system plus the power and feel of the car certainly makes me want to drive the Camaro more. Currently I have to move a car to get the Camaro out of the garage.. and team lazy and all that.
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Old 02-11-2019, 07:10 PM   #35
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Well since the BRZ isn't street legal yet (it's a salvage car that's been waiting for a working SRS module for weeks - it arrived this morning so HOPEFULLY it works...).



However, I drive my 94 Accord Wagon daily. I don't care if it gets wrecked, door dings, etc. I don't even have comp or collision insurance on it because.. well why would I?



However since I really don't want to pay more insurance money I will be selling the accord and daily driving the BRZ. The Camaro has 6k+ miles on it and I absolutely love driving it. I'll be all in under 10k for my 2015 BRZ though so I'd rather risk it on a daily basis.. at least until I get too lazy to swap seats for track days and just leave buckets in it.. then I'll DD the Camaro. The ventilated and heated seats and 100x better infotainment system plus the power and feel of the car certainly makes me want to drive the Camaro more. Currently I have to move a car to get the Camaro out of the garage.. and team lazy and all that.
Agree, I think that's one of the biggest factors in my retaining my FR-S, price. Cost of maintenance, fuel, and overall investment. Something happens to it, whether it be a shopping cart, soccer mom, or tire wall, I'll be less sad about it vs. something nice like an E92 M3, 911, etc. And theres always the whole "wife and kids need to take a nice vacation" factor.

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Old 02-11-2019, 11:13 PM   #36
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When Comparing maintenance and consumable costs of my brz againts the likes of porsches and bmw at my last hpde event, I was blown away by how cheap the brz is in comparison. (Tires, brakes, etc) whenever I had the upgrade bug, I kept adding some things on mine, so there is always something new and improved about it, which keeps it fun, but spreads the costs over the years and builds upon my initial purchase.
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Old 02-12-2019, 02:52 PM   #37
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I sold my BRZ because I needed 4 doors and a functional backseat as the kids grew.

Got a WRX which I drove for about 1.5 years then got a Golf R which I drove for 1.5 years and then sold that for a C7 Z51 and a Honda Fit. Ended up driving the Fit wayyyy too much and the C7 way to little and sold both for a Focus RS that I bought new for a steal (sat on the dealer lot for almost a full year).

Been driving the Focus RS for over a year and in many ways its the perfect compromise (very fun, very functional) but I still miss RWD light cars.

I have room in my garage for an ND Miata which is likely my next purchase but trying to decide if I keep the RS or get the Miata and something else that is fun like a Fiesta ST.

I really like the twins but I like to try different cars so not sure I would buy another unless they added more power or made some big changes.
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Old 02-12-2019, 08:29 PM   #38
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I probably gonna keep it or trade it in for the 2nd GEN 86 for DD.

However, I would like to get an RX7 FD or the new Supra "Manual" as a weekend car.
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Old 02-12-2019, 09:20 PM   #39
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I've had two cars since my FR-S, the first was a 2016 Camry XSE V6 and now a 2018 (also an XSE V6 (albeit after the major model change)). Certainly in power, buttery smoothness, and space, it was an upgrade.

I definitely still miss my FR-S and was just reminiscing in a new 86 at my local dealership while getting my wife's truck serviced. For what it lacked in outright power, it made up for it in the fun to drive factor. Although, it did bring out a different (and not so desirable) side in me when I drove it. I have matured "somewhat" in the interceding years, but, I wonder if those aggressive tendencies would resurface.

For now, I am content, but, we'll see what happens when the lease on my current car is up.
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Old 03-06-2019, 12:09 PM   #40
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Short story time: I bought a new BRZ Limited in 2013, got bored after spending nearly $20k in mods, parted it out and traded in for a 2005 911 Carrera S in 2015. Sold the 911 in the summer of 2017 due to some financial woes, then decided to try to be more financially sensible and bought a 2017 BRZ Performance Pack in January of '18. I think I would've been OK with it for longer if not for the fact that I moved to Colorado and live 7,000ft above sea level now, and the car just felt like a complete dog up here in the mountains. So, not wanting to repeat the process of dumping tons of money into mods to remain dissatisfied, I traded it once again for a 911 just like the one I had before.

The only things I regret is the cost of tires is now double, and the fear of replacing a $20,000 engine will keep me from driving as intensely on track as I did in the BRZ knowing that the engine was under warranty and worst case scenario a new short block is about $2,000 (I may elect to buy an NA Miata or AW11 MR2 for track duty in the future). Also, the BRZ offered more practical cargo space with the trunk and folding rear seat; the 911 has only a small front trunk area so trips to the hardware store aren't gonna happen. Apart from those, the 911 is better in every way (as one might expect).

Also, despite the 911 being the "nicer" car, because I purposely didn't buy the nicest example of one and it's my daily driver, I kind of stress less than having bought a brand new car and watching it deteriorate from scratches, rock chips, someone backing into my front bumper, etc.
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Old 03-06-2019, 12:26 PM   #41
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Old 03-06-2019, 02:29 PM   #42
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The trick is to keep the car and buy another.
Yup or get something 'in between' that scratches your itches. It's a bit of a moving target for me - my FR-S is certainly a compromise car, but you could argue just about every car is a sort of compromise. I'd look to an M3 as a possible step up that can 'do it all', but then again I'd consider a 997.1 + 100 series land cruiser + trailer with shifter kart attached Wife may protest about too many cars in the driveway though.

But the moving target part is - I still care about running costs, and I can't beat the combination of affordability, fun, and flexibility the FR-S brings. I can cart my kids around, fit golf clubs in the trunk, fit a BUNCH of stuff with the back seat down, get close to 40mpg on the highway, all while looking good and cackling like a maniac.

I guess I need to make more money, so the affordability factor stops being an issue.
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