New BRZ Owner!

[kodos78]

How to begin? I am probably older than many of the twins' owners. I am in my late 30s. I had a 2009 RX8 R3, which due to the expanding family and expanding gas prices (the thing got 16mpg) was replaced with a Mazda 5 minivan. Some time later, that was replaced with a Fiat Abarth because we had ended up with two other vehicles to take the family in and the Abarth ended up being my "good on gas car" (almost 40mpg on the highway if you stayed out of boost and sport mode). In the past I've had a 1997 Vette, and a 475hp Mustang GT with a Saleen blower. So I've had powerful cars, and good handling cars.

While the Abarth was fun enough, it always felt like it wanted to roll over on you (it never did, and probably never would, but it was eerie having that high of a COG). I had the opportunity to trade it in yesterday on a BRZ - the closest car (along with the Scion FR-S) to my dearly departed RX8 R3.

I was smitten from the time I pulled out of the dealership for the test drive. The dealer allowed me to go fast enough around corners to break the rear end loose (with stability control on of course), but all of the things I had missed about cars since I got rid of the RX8 were coming back to me. This thing is driving nirvana in comparison to the Abarth.

I've had powerful cars in the past, but for my tastes - a car that handles with scalpel-like precision is where I want to be. Don't have the budget for a Cayman so the BRZ was it - the dealership was selling it for invoice, and gave me a good value on my Abarth so I bought it (wasn't planning on it!)

Here are some impromptu / bad photos of the car - my tint will be installed next week, I'll take some proper photos after that. I am actually shocked how much better in person this car looks than in photos. Particularly with the dark gray paint. From some angles, it almost has Aston-Martin like lines to it.

Anyway, looking forward to learning more from this forum and its members! Thanks for having me!

[bababooey]

cool, welcome. looks like suburban dallas. follow the thread in SW section for the monthly meets or other activities in texas, if your so inclined.

[rookie]

Congrats! Some advice if I may:
1. LS swap.
2. Profit.






j/k I'm with you, the way the car handles is what got me too.

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by kodos78

I am probably older than many of the twins' owners. I am in my late 30s.

LOL. Another kid who thinks he's old.

The car sucks. You'll absolutely hate it. Worst decision you could have ever made. Wipe that grin off your face when you drive it, because you're not fooling anybody.

[Bowen]

Welcome to the club!

Number 1 rule among forum, search before you ask any questions. Certain members here (who will remain unnamed) will lay into newbies for not searching for an answer before starting a new thread with an already answered question

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Bowen

Number 1 rule among forum, search before you ask any questions. Certain members here (who will remain unnamed) will lay into newbies for not searching for an answer before starting a new thread with an already answered question

On that note:

The search button here sucks more than the vacuum of space. It will consistently give you irrelevant results while actively excluding the most relevant pages. That's not the fault of the moderators. It's a problem with the vBulletin software and happens wherever it's used to manage message boards.

Instead, search using Google and the "site:" tag, like so:

site:ft86club.com hidden features

What that does is restrict Google's search to just this domain name. In that link I searched the site for discussions of hidden features, which you ought to read up on anyway to get to know the car. The "site:" tag works with any domain name, not just here.

That way you'll avoid searching for something we've discussed ad nauseum, finding nothing, posting a question and having some smartass tell you that you should have searched.

[kodos78]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I look forward to meeting some of you. I am in the DFW area, and would love to get together for a meetup when my schedule allows!

[FullBoat]

I know what you mean. I went from a '05 RX8 to this BRZ. Had 1 engine replaced at 50k, and I think the new one was going. Didn't get a great price on my RX8, but it had some bad hail damage, and the paint was starting to show its age. But, I'm happy anyway. Got the 0% that they were offering, and this is my first brand new car. Would do it all over again.

[ZionsWrath]

Please update us with how many people make mid life crisis comments on your car

[lionbacker54]

welcome!

[Traffic]

Welcome to the club! Great color choice!

[atlbrz]

Late 30's, how about early 50s. I refuse to grow-up. I have lots of similar comments. Get some better tires and throw in the Subaru crash bolts to get a little camber up front is the first thing you will want to do coming from an RX8. The BRZ front end plows compared to the RX8. I had a Miata NC which is based on the RX8 platform. These two changes will make a big improvement and can be built upon.
Welcome and enjoy.

[Fishbed77]

Congrats! I was 37 when bought my FR-S about a year ago. Loving it.

As far as sports cars go, getting in and out of it is pretty easy for us guys with knees that aren't as good as they used to be. Actually, it's a good bit easier to negotiate than the 1994 Z28 I drove in my late teens/early 20s!