Car abd Driver review - 2017 BRZ

[velvetx]

I honestly think the car fits a niche market. The modding community is great and so is the tuning community. Anything that Subaru leaves off is fine as it lets me turn to the aftermarket community to get reliable parts.

Think about what you can do with this car:

- Engine Swaps
- Forced Induction
- Tuning
- Torque Dip Fix

All these things can be done in this little beast. This is honestly a holy grail in my opinion. You aren't going to get a Supra for the price of a BRZ/FR-S but that doesn't mean you can't bring it there either.

[Irace86]

Originally Posted by Lantana frs

I like my frs but I find I still don't understand the unwillingness to correct the torque band. Imo the drive train is the result of design by committee and is the only thing standing in the way of the car attaining real notoriety among enthusiasts. Considering though, that an appliance maker like Toyota is half of the equation, I guess it all stands to reason.

I think the torque dip is there by design to increase EPA averages for city/highway driving and for emissions. There are aftermarket parts for those wanting to fix the dip. Some just like to rev out of it.

Originally Posted by Twin4Life

This car so needs more power. Ive always loved the looks but it desperately needs another 50HP and at LEAST 50TQ. Whatever that would do to the balance, the scalpel like feeling of corner cutting would be quickly forgotten when you can actually power out of a turn. Its still fun as is but damn if Subaru could drop the 2.5 in that...PLEASE.

More stock power would be great, but handling won't be forgotten with more power. I remember a SubaruWRXfan review video of the Evo, and I paraphrase, 'Yes there is great power there, but to be honest I am more interested in finding another corner.' It would take a lot more than 50hp to outshine the handling of this car.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Sport-Tech

Subaru should have licensed the sound tech from the new Brabus ForTwo - artificial or not, it sounds sweet, if a little misplaced in such a tiny car:

Hah that's just weird to me having that sound coming from that car. I wouldn't mind Subaru implementing a fake engine note, but hopefully something that doesn't cause fits of cognitive dissonance.

[Bristecom]

Originally Posted by Sport-Tech

Has this been confirmed somewhere? Underbody photo?

Not sure how those underbody composite plastic panels constitute an "insulator". I guess they could serve as a heat shield, but given where they are installed this function would not come into play. I thought the panels were installed simply for aerodynamic purposes, to reduce drag.

Update: According to this review adding the panels, which are in fact intended to reduce drag, does have some noise reduction impact, so if these are what we are getting, the MCR cars should be a bit quieter at speed.

I think you guys are mixing two different things. In the 17MY_BRZ document, they state that there are upgraded floor silencers for the refresh, which is for all markets. However, there are also the underbody panels which I suspect are labeled as the "Floor undercover insulators" in the BRZ at a Glance document. So it SEEMS that this new model has improved floor silencers and we will also be getting the undercover insulators, which also help a bit with noise but are mainly for improved aerodynamics, which were previously only available on the BRZ Series Blue. I hope that makes sense.

Originally Posted by Lantana frs

I like my frs but I find I still don't understand the unwillingness to correct the torque band. Imo the drive train is the result of design by committee and is the only thing standing in the way of the car attaining real notoriety among enthusiasts. Considering though, that an appliance maker like Toyota is half of the equation, I guess it all stands to reason.

I think it's kind of hilarious that instead of really fixing the torque dip, they gave us a powerband display in the dash so we can more easily avoid it.

[Lantana frs]

Seems like they improved durability for high rpm use rather than lessening the need to wring it out. Rather than a dash mounted dyno plot they could've just used a picture of a tree with a chain wrapped around it. Open flash and ecutek must be popping the champagne bottles.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by Twin4Life

This car so needs more power. Ive always loved the looks but it desperately needs another 50HP and at LEAST 50TQ. Whatever that would do to the balance, the scalpel like feeling of corner cutting would be quickly forgotten when you can actually power out of a turn. Its still fun as is but damn if Subaru could drop the 2.5 in that...PLEASE.

The Genesis coupe needs less weight. I've always loved the look but it desperately needs another 700 lbs taken off. Whatever that would do to the base price by using more expensive materials, the extra money spent that would kind of put it out of the competitive market range would be quickly forgotten when you can actually attack a corner with scalpel like precision. Its still fun as is but damn if Hyundai could trim some fat off it...PLEASE.

So tired of this. The simple fact is that it's always easier to add HP to an under powered car than it is to make a bloated blimp into a dune buggy.

It doesn't need more HP, you just WANT it to have more HP, as obvious by the car you currently drive.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Twin4Life

the scalpel like feeling of corner cutting would be quickly forgotten when you can actually power out of a turn

If you can put your foot to the floor on corner exit and the rear end doesn't kick out then you're driving too slow.

[OldSkoolToys]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

If you can put your foot to the floor on corner exit and the rear end doesn't kick out then you're driving too slow.

What I got from that was "I was in the wrong gear and below 5k RPM trying to muscle my way out of the apex with torque."

Ie; doing it wrong.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolToys

What I got from that was "I was in the wrong gear and below 5k RPM trying to muscle my way out of the apex with torque."

Ie; doing it wrong.

I didn't realize he switched to an Automatic V6 Hyundai, you're right, I was giving him too much credit.

[Sport-Tech]

Originally Posted by Bristecom

I think you guys are mixing two different things. In the 17MY_BRZ document, they state that there are upgraded floor silencers for the refresh, which is for all markets. However, there are also the underbody panels which I suspect are labeled as the "Floor undercover insulators" in the BRZ at a Glance document. So it SEEMS that this new model has improved floor silencers and we will also be getting the undercover insulators, which also help a bit with noise but are mainly for improved aerodynamics, which were previously only available on the BRZ Series Blue. I hope that makes sense.

Certainly possible, and who knows how accurate the translations from the Japanese are in these docs, but my guess is that the items identified as "insulators" in the At A Glance PDF are in fact the floor silencers indicated in the 17MY_BRZ_details PDF on p.99, and not the underbody panels. Two reasons:

- the details document appears extremely thorough and yet makes no mention of adding underbody trays at all for 2017, in any market; the silencers depicted on P.99 are clearly not these trays (different sizes, etc.)

- it's hard to see how the term "insulator" used in the At A Glance PDF can really be applied to a solid underbody tray intended to reduce drag - it seems a much more appropriate term for a sound dampening pad, which in this application "insulates" against external sounds penetrating the cabin.

Time will tell..

[Bristecom]

Originally Posted by Sport-Tech

Certainly possible, and who knows how accurate the translations from the Japanese are in these docs, but my guess is that the items identified as "insulators" in the At A Glance PDF are in fact the floor silencers indicated in the 17MY_BRZ_details PDF on p.99, and not the underbody panels. Two reasons:

- the details document appears extremely thorough and yet makes no mention of adding underbody trays at all for 2017, in any market;

- it's hard to see how the term "insulator" used in the At A Glance PDF can really be applied to a solid underbody tray - it seems a much more appropriate term for a sound dampening pad, which in this application "insulates" against external sound penetrating the cabin.

Time will tell..

I hear ya on that but it specifically says "Fuel Tank Undercover Insulator" and the updated "Floor Silencers" are not located below the fuel tank as shown in the MY17_BRZ_Details document. Also, the term "Fuel Tank Undercover Insulator" was used to describe the additional panels for aero on the Hyper Blue series. You can see this described here: http://www.cars101.com/subaru/brz/brz2016.html

Also, in that MY17_BRZ_Details document, in the specs for the US market, they show a .027 drag coefficient, which can only be achieved by having both the underbody panels and the spoiler. Without either, it would be .029 and with just the spoiler, it would be .028.

But yes, the Japanese to English document translations often use very confusing terminology. Let's just hope this is right because I really want the full underbody panel set either way. :P

[Irace86]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtry6Cn8pEA"]Why I'm Selling My Subaru WRX STI - For Sale! - YouTube[/ame]

Another video on the topic of light weight over power.

[krayzie]

Originally Posted by OldSkoolToys

What I got from that was "I was in the wrong gear and below 5k RPM trying to muscle my way out of the apex with torque."

Ie; doing it wrong.

The modified Genesis Coupes at the end of my street love to tailgate me while driving home and the last leg of the route is a right corner and then a final left corner.

Somehow everytime after the first turn I don't see them behind me anymore. By the time I'm already on my driveway then I see them coming into the street. So much for +50hp and +50tq and the choo choo train blow-off valve.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by Irace86

Another video on the topic of light weight over power.

It's funny, I had the same car as him (STI hatch) and reached the same conclusion as to what I wanted in a fun car (lightweight, responsive, RWD). Ended up in an FR-S and haven't looked back since.

I specifically wanted the FR-S to avoid the hassle of a roll bar for track, but he'd be crazy not to get an NA/NB Miata for $5k if he's not going to track it. Same formula as the ND but at a fraction of the cost. I think I enjoyed it more on the street than the S2000 even. Really hard to beat the smiles-per-dollar value on a used Miata.