Is the BRZ interesting to drive when the roads aren't twisty?

[MidnightRunner]

My buying criteria were based on me having a more exciting car than my boring old Mercedes, while being able to use it as a daily driver at around 30k.

I also wanted something to match the looks of my old 91 fairlady z (very tough task with my biased opinion). I thought about the g37, the 370z, miata, and even a supra or rx7 due to my frustration with the pathetic choices of newer cars on the market. I couldn't make myself fall in love with the looks of the nissans, so I pulled the trigger on my BRZ. It's closing in on one year of me having it, and I still love it and know I made the right decision.

You can't make yourself love something just because everyone else does. I know there's a lot of hype about the 86s, but if you're a torque kind of guy it might not be your match. To each his own, and I hope you get the car that fits your criteria best. Good luck!

Sent from my LG-P769 using Tapatalk

[userjack6880]

The Mustang/Camaro/etc... can be fun cars, but that fun is limited.

If you drive on public roads, think to yourself which is more enjoyable. Having a massive beast you have to keep within the lower 20% of what it can do or have a small fun car that can give you 50%+ of what it can do and still be legalish?

I'd much rather be pushing an underpowered well handling car rather than trying to keep a 500hp beast under the speed limit.

Before my FR-S, I had 3 cars - a Chevy Aveo, GMC Envoy, and Mercury Sable (HS car and two hand-me-downs). The Aveo, while a complete shitbox, and severely underpowered, was a very fun car to push to the limit, and the Sable was much more fun in the curves than either car (surprisingly, since it was the lowest of the three, despite the really soft suspension). The only thing the Envoy really had going for it was RWD, which I missed dearly.

That said, it really depends on what you plan on doing.

[suaveflooder]

I came from a 500 horse powered 03 mustang cobra and I can tell you that you are comparing apples and oranges here. The FRS/BRZ have a TON of personality. I test drove a new 5.0 and after the cobra, I wasn't impressed. It's big, lacks torque (well, not compared to an 86) and felt numb.

For the lack of horsepower, I was SHOCKED at just how much personality and how much fun the FRS/BRZ can be! I had a blast on my test drive (on a side note, it was on wet roads in the rain). I got back in my cobra and it felt HUGE!!! The power was still AMAZING and beastly, but it lacked the creature comforts of the FRS I test drove.

I sold my beloved cobra a week later and purchased my FRS. Miss the power of the cobra and the crazy brut force it offered, but I don't regret the switch at all.

If you are looking for a car to go quickly in a straight line, handle pretty damn well and looks freakin' killer, the mustang is for you. I still LOVE mustangs and will be a Ford guy to the grave BUT…..

…..If you want some thing small, nimble, rewarding, and can put a smile on your face when you hit that round about off ramp at stupid speeds, or even just driving around town, go with the 86.

Good news is that you will win in either case. Downfall of the mustang is cost. It's a good $10k more expensive than the 86 and IMHO is pretty numb. Downfall of the 86 is power and torque. It really is a gutless wonder with a TON of personality.

[Hanni_0176]

Where I live, it is mostly straight roads too.

Even without many twisties, the driving experience is still enjoyable. There is just something about being behind the wheel of a lightweight, low to the ground sports car that just feels awesome. I never found the power to be lacking. In fact, I rarely even get to "get on" the car most of the time, and really only do that when there isn't much traffic around. I get wheelspin when I go WOT in 1st gear, the car screams past 4k rpm's (might seem to be louder to me because I never deleted the sound tube though), and quickly goes past the speed limit. 1st and 2nd gear are extremely short, and I'm well over 50 mph by the time I shift to 3rd (2nd gear redlines at 58 mph-ish).

I guess it depends what you want the car for. I'm not worried about having the fastest street light race car, and I'm not concerned with bragging rights on having the fastest car on the road. I haven't done any street racing since I was a teenager. If you want a car that feels good to drive, that is unique and gets tons of stares everyday, this car may be for you. If you want to have a fast straight line car, then the Mustang GT is a much better fit.

On a final note, I'll end with this. I bought this car with the expectation of modding it. 200 hp is fairly low for a sports car, but I felt like this platform was going to be great to start from, and that opinion still hasn't changed for me. What I really wanted was an affordable and practical Lotus Elise, and I feel like that is exactly what I got with my FR-S. FWIW, the Elise has less hp/tq than the FT86 (albeit it weighs significantly less). My eventual goal is to get this car up to around 360 whp, although I may find myself satisfied with less. I won't get to take her out to the track until next spring, so until then, straight roads it is and twisty on-ramps it is.

[infinite012]

It's boring and darty on the highway. You will constantly be correcting the steering wheel trying to go in a straight line.

[Kiske]

Yes, you will always be swerving on straight roads avoiding others...

I swear the brz attracts more bad drivers around it than any other car I've owned. I'm constantly avoiding people pulling out without looking, merging ect...

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by infinite012

It's boring and darty on the highway. You will constantly be correcting the steering wheel trying to go in a straight line.

Interesting. I don't have this issue at all. In fact on the highway I can pretty much drive mine hands-free for 20-30 seconds with no problem (not that I do this normally, but I have done it out of curiosity on open stretches of road)

Any car is going to be "boring" if the road is boring as demonstrated in the video below. That said, I enjoy this car because you can drive it closer to its limits than you can some big horsepower behemoth on most roads.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DrrwDHZUK6I"]Speed, The Desert, and Crushed Dreams -- /TUNED - YouTube[/ame]

[wbradley]

Are there empty parking lots and rain in Nebraska? Nuff said.

[sklimo]

[infinite012]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

Interesting. I don't have this issue at all. In fact on the highway I can pretty much drive mine hands-free for 20-30 seconds with no problem (not that I do this normally, but I have done it out of curiosity on open stretches of road)

Interdasting. My BRZ must have the alignment settings of a potato. Even though I paid to have it aligned with a Hunter laser alignment machine to have slight toe in on all 4 corners.

[thill]

Originally Posted by infinite012

Interdasting. My BRZ must have the alignment settings of a potato. Even though I paid to have it aligned with a Hunter laser alignment machine to have slight toe in on all 4 corners.

Yeah, I can take the hands off the wheel of my BRZ with confidence as well. Something seems up.

As for the OP, I live in the midwest and love this car (have also owned higher HP cars as well). The thing about the Mustang GT and Camaro SS type cars is that they feel much larger in terms of driving dynamics, cockpit, etc. They get really crappy gas mileage and they are speeding tickets waiting to happen.

Recommend test driving as many cars as you can and deciding, but you don't have to live in the mountains to really enjoy this car.

[bdbx18]

I gotta agree, my BRZ does get a little darty on the freeway but it's because of the quick steering and/or stiff suspension and not alignment. My car tracks super straight on smoother roads and is the only new car I have not done an alignment yet (8k).

[jblmr2]

Originally Posted by bdbx18

I gotta agree, my BRZ does get a little darty on the freeway but it's because of the quick steering and/or stiff suspension and not alignment. My car tracks super straight on smoother roads and is the only new car I have not done an alignment yet (8k).

It can be tires also. I ran a couple of sets of Toyo Proxes 4's on my MR2 and had that problem for the first 5 or 6K miles. I'm running Nitto's on it now and didn't get that darty feeling with them.

[autobrz]

Perhaps you can get into autocross. Aren't the nationals held in Lincoln?