Subaru Legacy GT Spec B vs BRZ

[warman]

Hello Everyone. I have an 08 Legacy GT Spec B with 57k on it. I put an order in for a BRZ in March and I don't think I'll be getting it until August or September at the earliest.

I love the BRZ but I found the seats a little uncomfortable and I don't know how they'd hold up for long drives. Sometimes I drive 3-4 hours a day for work and the Spec B is pretty comfortable so I don't mind driving it at all. I know some people have replaced the foam in the seats with success, so I'd probably end up doing that if they didn't break in enough.

My goal is to have a reliable, comfortable daily driver that is fun to drive on the road, but also something I can track or AutoX on the weekends. I haven't tracked or AutoX'd the Spec B since I bought it, but I had an S2000 that I got a decent amount of seat time with.

Currently the Spec B has all-season tires and needs new brakes, so I was thinking of either getting a second set of wheels or just getting some sticky summer tires and replacing the brakes and taking it out to a few AutoX events before I make a decision.

Anyone have both or have driven both that can give me some advice?

[coyote]

I have the exact same car as you (only here it is badged a Liberty and mine's a wagon).

Mine makes over 400hp, wears PZeros Corsas and custom built suspension. It is my daily driver, but it is fairly quick and handles very well for what it is. What that car will never have is the feeling of having a wheel at each corner, all the weight in the middle (and low) and the sense of involvement that comes from not starting with a compromised package.

Of course the BRZ has it's own compromises, namely interior quality, space and power. I am going to sell the Liberty and I will miss the power (at least until I go FI on the BRZ) and I will need to modify the headrests on the BRZ. The new car doesn't have the grip, the grunt nor the grocery getting gargantuan girth, but it offers basic building blocks that make you feel things are "right" when you drive it.

No idea if that helps, but the swap from LGT to BRZ is a not a natural progression, it's a complete change of style. As such, there's very little on which to compare them. I wasn't shopping for another Liberty, more like a 1M, 911 or Evora ... but there are some very good reasons (cost springs to mind) why the BRZ suits me best.

[warman]

Originally Posted by coyote

I have the exact same car as you (only here it is badged a Liberty and mine's a wagon).

Mine makes over 400hp, wears PZeros Corsas and custom built suspension. It is my daily driver, but it is fairly quick and handles very well for what it is. What that car will never have is the feeling of having a wheel at each corner, all the weight in the middle (and low) and the sense of involvement that comes from not starting with a compromised package.

Of course the BRZ has it's own compromises, namely interior quality, space and power. I am going to sell the Liberty and I will miss the power (at least until I go FI on the BRZ) and I will need to modify the headrests on the BRZ. The new car doesn't have the grip, the grunt nor the grocery getting gargantuan girth, but it offers basic building blocks that make you feel things are "right" when you drive it.

No idea if that helps, but the swap from LGT to BRZ is a not a natural progression, it's a complete change of style. As such, there's very little on which to compare them. I wasn't shopping for another Liberty, more like a 1M, 911 or Evora ... but there are some very good reasons (cost springs to mind) why the BRZ suits me best.

Thanks for the input. I agree that it is definitely not a natural progression. I think we have pretty similar tastes since I'm really interested in the 1M, 911 and Evora as well, but I can't justify spending that much money on a car at this point in my life.

What I think it comes down to is I'm looking for something that is somewhere in between the S2000 and the LGT. The BRZ seems to fit that, although I think it has more in common with the S2000 than the LGT.

My biggest concern is that, since I haven't tracked or AutoX'd the LGT and I've been riding around on all-season tires the last year and a half, is that I really haven't given it a fair chance. I know they can be quite capable track cars and are highly sought after, so maybe I should put some money into making it a little more track worthy instead of selling it and getting a BRZ.

[dsgerbc]

I have both. 08 w/56k. At the moment my spec.b is listed for sale, cause I've almost stopped driving it. I do take it out once a week just to make sure it's not neglected completely. It feels totally alien driving it after the BRZ.

Do not bother modifying the spec, it's a band-aid. I had pretty extensive suspension mods and used most of the regular tricks to make it turn and it never handled anywhere close to BRZ out of the box.

I'm fat, ~6ft tall, and I fit perfectly fine in a BRZ. The longest I've driven it non-stop is probably ~1-1.5hr, and I have zero comfort issues. I'm gonna drive it to Chicago (from Detroit metro) next month, I can report back if you like. If you need a strong lumbar support to be comfortable - you'll need to modify OEM seats/add something.

If your 3-4 hours per day are mostly highway - frequent need to make small corrections might get annoying, then again stock spec.b isn't too good in this department either. On the plus side, it does not get blown off the highway by the wind/oncoming semis on 2-lane roads, like 4th gen Legacys do.

I do miss the perforation in the Alcantara in the spec.

[warman]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

I have both. 08 w/56k. At the moment my spec.b is listed for sale, cause I've almost stopped driving it. I do take it out once a week just to make sure it's not neglected completely. It feels totally alien driving it after the BRZ.

Do not bother modifying the spec, it's a band-aid. I had pretty extensive suspension mods and used most of the regular tricks to make it turn and it never handled anywhere close to BRZ out of the box.

I'm fat, ~6ft tall, and I fit perfectly fine in a BRZ. The longest I've driven it non-stop is probably ~1-1.5hr, and I have zero comfort issues. I'm gonna drive it to Chicago (from Detroit metro) next month, I can report back if you like. If you need a strong lumbar support to be comfortable - you'll need to modify OEM seats/add something.

If your 3-4 hours per day are mostly highway - frequent need to make small corrections might get annoying, then again stock spec.b isn't too good in this department either. On the plus side, it does not get blown off the highway by the wind/oncoming semis on 2-lane roads, like 4th gen Legacys do.

I do miss the perforation in the Alcantara in the spec.

Thanks.. it's mostly stop and go traffic. I guess once I get a chance to actually drive a BRZ I'll probably realize all this concern is for nothing.

Did the seats hurt your back at first and have they worn in a little or was it completely comfortable from the beginning?

[dsgerbc]

^Completely comfortable. In stop and go it will take some time to get used to BRZ's clutch/delay valve, but it's fine now. Shifting is much more pleasant than in the spec (I have oem sti linkage option).
I'm still thinking I might either keep the spec a bit longer or get another AWD ride for the winter due to snow-removal crews likely being underfunded/understaffed/overworked if there's a really snowy winter here. But in MD I'd be 100% comfortable with the BRZ as my sole car (and some snow tires just in case, it's the clearance I'm worried about here).

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

But in MD I'd be 100% comfortable with the BRZ as my sole car (and some snow tires just in case, it's the clearance I'm worried about here).

Echo. Echo. Echo.

Proper snow tires (I love my set of Dunlop WS3D) and a sandbag in the trunk for winter in MD. There's never much snow just slush and rain to be concerned about, hence my choice in snow tire.

[warman]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Echo. Echo. Echo.

Proper snow tires (I love my set of Dunlop WS3D) and a sandbag in the trunk for winter in MD. There's never much snow just slush and rain to be concerned about, hence my choice in snow tire.

As long as we don't have a repeat of the winter of 2010 I'm not too worried about snow driving. Even if we did, the Spec B wouldn't be much use with 8+ inches.

I drove it last year in maybe 6 inches of snow and it was a blast. I'll miss that but it'll be worth it for the other 350 days a year.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by warman

Even if we did, the Spec B wouldn't be much use with 8+ inches.

With proper tires 8-10 is a non-issue in the spec.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by warman

As long as we don't have a repeat of the winter of 2010 I'm not too worried about snow driving.

Realistically, if it snows that much you're probably not going to need to go out anywhere...including work.

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

With proper tires 8-10 is a non-issue in the spec.

My WRX had no problems in 9+ inches on proper snows.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

My WRX had no problems in 9+ inches on proper snows.

Yeap. I've been in 20"+ deep fresh white stuff in my previous Subies w/o issue, it just has to be fluffy enough. You can run into issues much earlier, however, if the snow is really wet/heavy.

[warman]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Realistically, if it snows that much you're probably not going to need to go out anywhere...including work.

Yeah I wouldn't go anywhere if it snowed that much.

I don't even know if I'd get snow tires for the BRZ.. probably just a set of all-seasons for the winter.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by warman

probably just a set of all-seasons for the winter.

Waste of money. Get snow tires. TRUST me. The difference is PHENOMENAL. I ran all-seasons in my 2002 WRX from August 2001 until March 2009 when I made the switch to dedicated seasonal tires. I'll never go back to any all-season tire on any car I own.

I throw my sets on around late November/early December and take them off mid-late March. You can put 'em on later and take 'em off earlier, it just depends on the winter. This past winter, I probably could have waited until mid-late December and taken them off in late February. In any case, they don't see a lot of wear.

[warman]

Originally Posted by OrbitalEllipses

Waste of money. Get snow tires. TRUST me. The difference is PHENOMENAL. I ran all-seasons in my 2002 WRX from August 2001 until March 2009 when I made the switch to dedicated seasonal tires. I'll never go back to any all-season tire on any car I own.

I throw my sets on around late November/early December and take them off mid-late March. You can put 'em on later and take 'em off earlier, it just depends on the winter. This past winter, I probably could have waited until mid-late December and taken them off in late February. In any case, they don't see a lot of wear.

Cool, thanks for the tip.