BRZ STi?

[Dirty Harry]

I reckon it looks a little lower too. STI pink springs? The gap between the factory side skirt and the “STI” piece near the rear wheel arch looks a little odd though. You’d think it would be flush with the side skirt. Agree, the front lip looks cool.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Willpower

The first gen performance package had to be, for the price, one of the best and frankly most unbelievable deals in performance car history. Brembos, Sachs dampers, and wider wheels for a little over a grand!? I had liked the BRZ since introduction, but it was that deal that made me pull the trigger without hesitation in 2017. Still can’t believe it was so inexpensive.

It is not bad for $1200, but not anything amazing. If the wheels were forged then the upgrade would be something to right home about, and I might wonder how they made a profit off of the package. As is, the cost to Subaru is negligible for the wheels—maybe $50 more expensive for 4 wheels. Same with the Brembos and dampers. Not $50, but the difference between rotors with a few more millimeters in diameter and fixed calipers and the upgraded dampers is not much difference than the stock stuff. It is a good package for anyone wanting a little extra from the factory who doesn’t plan on modifying their car much.

[Willpower]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

It is not bad for $1200, but not anything amazing. If the wheels were forged then the upgrade would be something to right home about, and I might wonder how they made a profit off of the package. As is, the cost to Subaru is negligible for the wheels—maybe $50 more expensive for 4 wheels. Same with the Brembos and dampers. Not $50, but the difference between rotors with a few more millimeters in diameter and fixed calipers and the upgraded dampers is not much difference than the stock stuff. It is a good package for anyone wanting a little extra from the factory who doesn’t plan on modifying their car much.

Uh, have you priced just the parts to upgrade to the Brembo brake package? It’s multiples of $1200. And that’s just the brake package. If you look at comparable packages other manufacturers offer, this was the deal of the century. Who cares what it cost Subaru to do it? I’m only interested in the fact that they offered it at a fraction of what it would have cost me to do such upgrades myself, and it all came with a manufacturer’s warranty.

[ZDan]

PP is a great deal for brakes alone. Was a compelling deal for me, I was gonna buy a used ~'15 in 2017, but PP hooked me. Also +5hp and red aluminum intake...

[Willpower]

A little research shows that the MSRP of the PARTS for the FRONT Brembo brake package is $3308.89. MSRP for parts to reproduce the rears is $2443.37. That’s a total of $5752.36 to reproduce the factory Brembo package from the Subaru parts catalog, and that doesn’t include the LABOR involved to install them (and yes there are ALWAYS installation labor costs, even if you do it all yourself, your time should be as valuable to you as anyone else’s, more so even). And then after all that, you have no manufacturer’s warranty on the brakes. Is that insanely expensive? Yes. Could you get a comparable aftermarket package for less? Yes. Could you get a comparable package for less, or in fact anywhere close to the $1195 cost of the factory Performance Package when included as a factory option on the car at time of purchase? NO WAY. I’ll stand by my assertion that the BRZ Performance Package was the deal of the century. And that’s not even to mention the rest that came with the package, or the intangible of the aesthetics of those brakes and wheels. Transformed the car IMO, and convinced me to part with the $26,417 that I paid for my brand new $30,493 MSRP 2017 BRZ back in June of 2017. So, with good negotiation skills, that Performance Package option was also free about 4x over. Win, win, win, win.

[Willpower]

Originally Posted by ZDan

PP is a great deal for brakes alone. Was a compelling deal for me, I was gonna buy a used ~'15 in 2017, but PP hooked me. Also +5hp and red aluminum intake...

Yeah haha, seems like such a silly little thing, but man that red intake prettied up the engine compartment didn’t it?

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by Willpower

Uh, have you priced just the parts to upgrade to the Brembo brake package? It’s multiples of $1200. And that’s just the brake package. If you look at comparable packages other manufacturers offer, this was the deal of the century. Who cares what it cost Subaru to do it? I’m only interested in the fact that they offered it at a fraction of what it would have cost me to do such upgrades myself, and it all came with a manufacturer’s warranty.

All I am saying is that it isn't the deal of the century any more than any other package any manufacture offers is the deal of the century. We can do this with other manufactures with other trim levels too or even other models. Have you priced the difference in parts between a WRX and WRX STI?

Originally Posted by Willpower

A little research shows that the MSRP of the PARTS for the FRONT Brembo brake package is $3308.89. MSRP for parts to reproduce the rears is $2443.37. That’s a total of $5752.36 to reproduce the factory Brembo package from the Subaru parts catalog, and that doesn’t include the LABOR involved to install them (and yes there are ALWAYS installation labor costs, even if you do it all yourself, your time should be as valuable to you as anyone else’s, more so even). And then after all that, you have no manufacturer’s warranty on the brakes. Is that insanely expensive? Yes. Could you get a comparable aftermarket package for less? Yes. Could you get a comparable package for less, or in fact anywhere close to the $1195 cost of the factory Performance Package when included as a factory option on the car at time of purchase? NO WAY. I’ll stand by my assertion that the BRZ Performance Package was the deal of the century. And that’s not even to mention the rest that came with the package, or the intangible of the aesthetics of those brakes and wheels. Transformed the car IMO, and convinced me to part with the $26,417 that I paid for my brand new $30,493 MSRP 2017 BRZ back in June of 2017. So, with good negotiation skills, that Performance Package option was also free about 4x over. Win, win, win, win.

Did you price what it would cost to reproduce the stock brakes? OEM parts receive a huge markup, as well as, all accessories and dealer installed items. This is why it seems like the deal of the century, but it is the status quo for something that comes from the factory. Yes, it saves you money compared to if you were to buy it after the fact, but that is true across the board. You can take a POS $15k car, as an example, buy all the parts from the parts counter to build a car, have someone assemble the car for you and parts alone would cost you $100k.

All I am saying is that Subaru wasn't hooking you up with the deal of the century with these factory add-ons in some rare moment of generosity.

You could add the 1LE package to a Camaro 1LT with the 3.6L V6 for $4,500, and it comes with all this stuff! Remarkable! You should price this out:

-Satin Black hood wrap
-Black front splitter
-Black rear blade spoiler
-Black 20" forged-aluminum wheels with 245/40ZR20 front and 275/35ZR20 rear, run-flat, summer-only tires
-Brembo® 4-piston front, 4-wheel antilock disc brakes
-Performance suspension components (from Camaro SS) including dampers, rear cradle mounts, ball-jointed rear toe links and stabilizer bars
-Heavy-duty cooling
-Dual-mode exhaust and auxiliary engine coolant cooler when equipped with the available 3.6L V6 engine
-Suede-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel and shift knob
-RS badging, front grilles and lighting

[ZDan]

It's a screaming deal at $1200 because it isn't accompanied with a bunch of other stuff I don't want or need in a package that costs $4500...
No, they're not losing money but they also aren't marking it up as much as they could have. And it does save the buyer thousands of $$$$ vs. upgrading to bigger fixed-caliper brakes if the PP didn't exist.
For me, it was a *compelling* bargain.

[Irace86.2.0]

Originally Posted by ZDan

It's a screaming deal at $1200 because it isn't accompanied with a bunch of other stuff I don't want or need in a package that costs $4500...
No, they're not losing money but they also aren't marking it up as much as they could have. And it does save the buyer thousands of $$$$ vs. upgrading to bigger fixed-caliper brakes if the PP didn't exist.
For me, it was a *compelling* bargain.

They wouldn't have marked it up any higher unless it was a dealer add-on. The could have marked it higher, but it wouldn't have been worth the price. That's my point. For what they are offering, $1,200 is a fair price as a factory option because the kit is a basic Brembo kit, which wasn't a huge premium for them, the wheels are negligibly different in price, and the dampers are also a small premium over the stock dampers. While this saves the consumer time and money trying to buy a similar setup and selling the stock setup, the value is subjective. For many people, they would rather invest the $1,200 in a good BBK than the slight upgrade this BBK offers.

For $4,500, that is also a fair price for forged wheels, summer tires, BBK, exhaust, upgrades to suspension, cooling upgrades, the aero and accents. It is a larger chunk of money, but there is equal value in getting this factory add-on then trying to purchase the parts later. I could offer other examples if this one is too expensive as an example.

Just FYI, the BBK in the PP does not equal the BBK sold here or on other sites. It is a larger-cast, axial-mounted caliper that has symmetrical pistons with a narrow clearance for pads. The Brembo GT caliper is a lighter, smaller, yet wider, radial-mounted caliper that has asymmetric pistons for better pad clamping and a larger capacity for rotor/pad thickness. See video below.

I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble about the value of factory add-ons because there is legitimate value there, but I am bursting the bubble on the concept that this is the deal of the century. It just isn't that special.

[Willpower]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

All I am saying is that it isn't the deal of the century any more than any other package any manufacture offers is the deal of the century. We can do this with other manufactures with other trim levels too or even other models. Have you priced the difference in parts between a WRX and WRX STI?



Did you price what it would cost to reproduce the stock brakes? OEM parts receive a huge markup, as well as, all accessories and dealer installed items. This is why it seems like the deal of the century, but it is the status quo for something that comes from the factory. Yes, it saves you money compared to if you were to buy it after the fact, but that is true across the board. You can take a POS $15k car, as an example, buy all the parts from the parts counter to build a car, have someone assemble the car for you and parts alone would cost you $100k.

All I am saying is that Subaru wasn't hooking you up with the deal of the century with these factory add-ons in some rare moment of generosity.

You could add the 1LE package to a Camaro 1LT with the 3.6L V6 for $4,500, and it comes with all this stuff! Remarkable! You should price this out:

Yeah I’m not saying Subaru was being generous, although I do think they could have easily charged more and folks would have bought it, me included. I was stunned at the time however at how inexpensive the upgrade was. Still am. I’ve owned a number of performance cars in my time, including a number of Camaros, though none of these recent generations. I never had the option of such a brake package at such a price. And yes, as I noted above, you can no doubt get an aftermarket package for less, but even at that, a Brembo kit for the fronts is $1915 and the rear kit is $1723 (FTSpeed.com). So that total is still $3638 and again that’s without labor and with no manufacturer’s warranty. So man there’s no way I can come up with anything other than that being a screaming deal. Eye of the beholder I reckon...

[Willpower]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

They wouldn't have marked it up any higher unless it was a dealer add-on. The could have marked it higher, but it wouldn't have been worth the price. That's my point. For what they are offering, $1,200 is a fair price as a factory option because the kit is a basic Brembo kit, which wasn't a huge premium for them, the wheels are negligibly different in price, and the dampers are also a small premium over the stock dampers. While this saves the consumer time and money trying to buy a similar setup and selling the stock setup, the value is subjective. For many people, they would rather invest the $1,200 in a good BBK than the slight upgrade this BBK offers.

For $4,500, that is also a fair price for forged wheels, summer tires, BBK, exhaust, upgrades to suspension, cooling upgrades, the aero and accents. It is a larger chunk of money, but there is equal value in getting this factory add-on then trying to purchase the parts later. I could offer other examples if this one is too expensive as an example.

Just FYI, the BBK in the PP does not equal the BBK sold here or on other sites. It is a larger-cast, axial-mounted caliper that has symmetrical pistons with a narrow clearance for pads. The Brembo GT caliper is a lighter, smaller, yet wider, radial-mounted caliper that has asymmetric pistons for better pad clamping and a larger capacity for rotor/pad thickness. See video below.

I'm not trying to burst anyone's bubble about the value of factory add-ons because there is legitimate value there, but I am bursting the bubble on the concept that this is the deal of the century. It just isn't that special.

Haha no worries, ain’t nobody bursting my bubble kid. To me, as a guy who has bought a number of performance cars in his life, and still own a few of them, this was indeed a no-brainer that the factory practically gave away for that price, and with factory backing. Great value to anyone who bought it, and will pay dividends in resale down the road when finding nice examples of these cars is like finding hen’s teeth. Watch and see.

[gen3v8]

Don`t think that having opposed pistons can clamp better than the sliding calipers. If they had the same size pistons they would be equal.

[Willpower]

Originally Posted by Irace86.2.0

All I am saying is that it isn't the deal of the century any more than any other package any manufacture offers is the deal of the century. We can do this with other manufactures with other trim levels too or even other models. Have you priced the difference in parts between a WRX and WRX STI?



Did you price what it would cost to reproduce the stock brakes? OEM parts receive a huge markup, as well as, all accessories and dealer installed items. This is why it seems like the deal of the century, but it is the status quo for something that comes from the factory. Yes, it saves you money compared to if you were to buy it after the fact, but that is true across the board. You can take a POS $15k car, as an example, buy all the parts from the parts counter to build a car, have someone assemble the car for you and parts alone would cost you $100k.

All I am saying is that Subaru wasn't hooking you up with the deal of the century with these factory add-ons in some rare moment of generosity.

You could add the 1LE package to a Camaro 1LT with the 3.6L V6 for $4,500, and it comes with all this stuff! Remarkable! You should price this out:

I don’t mean to beat a dead horse here, but how is it that the price of the stock brakes is at all relevant? The car HAS to come with brakes, so they are included in the price of admission of the base car. It’s not like they are an option I could decline. The Brembos however were an optional upgrade. Buy them as part of the package and they were $1195. If one wanted to reproduce the exact factory package from the manufacturer, MSRP is nearly 6 grand to ME, the CONSUMER, for the parts without labor and a warranty. There ain’t no debating that.
The price of the Brembos compared to the price of the stock brakes for the MANUFACTURER means nothing to me as the consumer. Who cares? I don’t care if Subaru made a dollar, or $1194 on each performance package sold. All I care about is that I was able to get Brembo brakes and a few other goodies on my car for relative chicken feed.

[Willpower]

P.S. Irace86.2.0:

Your car is dope.

And I do at least understand your perspective a little better. You’re a mad frickin scientist builder of this car haha. Nice job. I’ve done some wrenching myself in my day, but not anywhere close to the level of mods you’ve done to yours. I’m old now though, and just want the highest performance I can get from the factory, for ease of parts when needed, and the factory warranty for as long as it lasts. So that’s my perspective. Anyway, to each his own, and again, congrats on a gorgeous car.