FR-S/BRZ Vs. 2015 WRX ride quality

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by sam69

Our roads or a least some of them where we live are soooo terrible so when we bought our 86 even I was finding it very uncomfortable on some of the roads we travel.

My mates WRX STi was just as bad if not worse on same roads

Did alot of research on suspensions for it and finish up settling for the Tog coilovers and there is just no comparison the car rides so well it's a pleasure to drive with the shocks set at the softer setting 4 for general driving and you can up the setting for more spirited drives .

I think if you are that concerned with ride comfort you will have to do suspension like I have to get the ride your after .

Surprisingly, the WRX handles bumps well. I mean when I drive on the highway on very rough pavement, the car doesn't crash like a car with bad suspension would. It's just that it doesn't settle. It hopes a lot. That's the part that's annoying. It's like a pick up truck. I don't mean that it's handling is sloppy like a pickup truck, it's very very sharp, but I mean the ride never settles on bad highway. It's about as annoying as someone kicking your seat from behind.

Thanks for the coil-over suggestion. That's worth looking into.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by Sideways&Smiling

Neither are stiff to the point of being harsh. They're stock sporty cars. C'mon.

Sadly, bad roads dictate what's harsh and what's not. On smooth pavement, I never had trouble with firmly suspended cars. But now I can't imagine driving around with something say like a Ferrari or Lamborigini on such pavement I'm dealing with now.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

This is veering of topic but I see that you've also owned a 20006 Porsche Cayman S. I had a 2005 Boxster S. Mine was unreliable. How did you fare with yours?
I loved mine actually, eventually i went to an 09 987.2 Cayman S. I think the Boxster/Cayman are great vehicles. I have been lucky, and have not had any reliability issues. However, as great as the P-cars are I enjoy tracking Miatas, BRZs and even an S2000 just as much maybe even more. And all of those vehicles are cheaper to track, soooo......for now i stay with them over another Porsche.

I guess I didn't have the best of luck with mine. I loved the sound of the engine on the Boxster S. It sits right behind your ear and it sounds spectacular under throttle. I did find myself going too fast in the Porsche and the reliability wows sealed it. I still do love those cars though. I think cars like FRS/BRZ are more fun on public roads because they're more exploitable. But the engineering craftsmanship in the Porsche makes me think I might yet see another one in my future. Who knows.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

This is 100% true. OP, keep this in mind. Moving up to the STI will not give you a WRX that feels like a BRZ. It will give you a more serious, track ready WRX. But it wont magically give you less weight and only two doors and the driving behavior of a RWD car.

How long have you had the WRX OP? and from what car are you coming from?

Sometimes you have to detox from your old car, and get acclimated to your new one. This is coming from a guy who has owned a lot of cars. When i go from my BRZ to my WRX, i really feel the lag in my WRX. But when i go from my truck to my WRX, the car feels sharp as hell and the lag is never on my mind.

Thanks, this is a very helpful reply. yeah, maybe I do need to detox. I've only had the car for less than a month.

I did have a Scion Tc for a very short period (few months) but that was just a temporary car. The car that I am really coming off of is the 2005 Boxster S. And I do dearly miss the throttle response and the steering feel of that car. I don't necessarily think this is exclusive Porsche territory. I think a lot of manufacturers use to build cars with excellent throttle response an good communicative steering wheels. It's just these modern cars that seem to deliberately numb their cars in every way. The FRS/BRZ are just exceptions in the modern era.

There are things I don't see myself ever getting use to. Changing gears and then waiting for turbo boost when WOT, is just downright annoying no matter how many times I did it so far.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by Pointmutation

Power in the WRX was awesome but I'm also used to turbo lag and a delayed throttle response (two separate things) from driving a turbo 1.8T VW for 12 years. Lemme just say you'll get used to it (whether you like it is another issue though). I hated the lack of immediate throttle response in my turbo VW at first (had a NA Honda before that). But your driving habits will adapt and you'll learn to start mashing the throttle a little before you would in a NA car. With the BRZ now I have to get used to mashing the throttle when I want it verses mashing on it a half second before I actually need it like in the VW. Not sure if that last sentence will make sense.

Have you tried changing sport modes on the car yet? Maybe that will help with some of the throttle response issues??

That last sentence makes total sense. That's exactly what I'm experiencing. It's not the delay that I hate the most, I can certainly live with anticipating things, it's the unpredictability that gets to me. I can't be absolutely certain how much power I'm gonna get when I use the throttle. I have to wait and see what the turbo decides to give me and then I try to adjust my throttle accordingly which is really sloppy. I remember one time, the turbo unintentionally kicked in hard when I was giving a ride to my mother, and boy did I get scolded like a 12 year old all over again.

And what's this on changing sport modes? I saw that button on the steering wheel on videos of the CVT version (I got a 6MT). I don't see anything on the right of my steering other than cruise control stuff. Am I missing something?

[rennlistuser3]

OK, I think I'm going to summarize what I like and dislike about the 2015+ WRX from personal use and comparison to mainly the FRS/BRZ


Like:


- very accurate and direct steering
- good chassis dynamics
- absolutely love the rumbling sound of the boxer engine
- excellent fire power for acceleration
- excellent usability (4 doors big trunk)
- personally love the looks inside and out


Dislike:


- ride never settles on highways with bad pavement. It's bouncy
- wacky throttle response due to turbo
- numb steering (compared to say BRZ)
- doesn't have that nimble feeling a light car like the BRZ has
- when approaching its handling limit, it behaves like a front wheel drive. Namely leaning more and more on the front outside tire and resisting to turn. Nothing like a well sorted car like the BRZ.
- This is a minor issue for me personally but yes that shifter is slow. I know it can be fixed easily and cheaply so I'm not worried about it at all.



The on limit handling is not a huge issue since the limits are so freaking high, I very rarely get up there on public roads. It just doesn't feel as good as the BRZ or any well sorted light vehicle for that matter.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

I have '13 FR-S and my friend has '15 WRX. Both have stock suspension. Stock vs stock, both have same ground clearance and WRX has higher spring rate. To me, WRX feels more rough. But to my friend, FR-S feels more rough. It kind of feels like WRX impact is stronger, but FR-S's up and down movement is more. For an extreme example, if both cars go over the same bump at the same speed, WRX feels like 20 lbs push that goes up 2" but FR-S feels like 15 lbs push that goes up 3". Hard to explain...

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by brzaapi

This. I completely agree. I dont think I will ever go back to owning just 1 car. Unless life makes me. I would always look to own a second car even if it was just a junker to have fun with.

Actually i have owned up to 5 at one time. A few miatas and such. Now i currently own 3. But the wife pretty much runs my Golf R 90% of the time. So now i only get to play with 2 cars. Life is rough like that.

Why in the world have you owned 3 separate BRZs?

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by totopo

I think he means for ride quality. One of the limiting factors of ride quality is ride height. Ride height, unsprung weight, and sprung weight (including expected cargo capacity) are the big determinants for the engineers when choosing wheel rates (spring). Many studies show that lower wheel rates are rated as more comfortable by consumers.

If the brz and wrx suspension have the same stroke, then they should be able to use similar wheel rates is his argument. And the fact that the wrx is more likely to use the rear seats and has more cargo space might mean that they have chosen higher wheel rates to compensate for the expected cargo.

Might have something to do with it weighing 500+ pounds more... surprised you didn't mention that.

[Sideways&Smiling]

Originally Posted by rennlistuser3

Sadly, bad roads dictate what's harsh and what's not. On smooth pavement, I never had trouble with firmly suspended cars. But now I can't imagine driving around with something say like a Ferrari or Lamborigini on such pavement I'm dealing with now.

It is what it is. Any sports car fan would deal with it for the fun they are having the rest of the time, IMO. Do you want a soft, unresponsive, boat-like luxury feel and be bored or a taut, responsive sports car feel and deal with the occasional potholes? I never understand these types of threads...

[AznBRZer]

As another member that has owned both, you should stick with the WRX if you need rear seats and think the ride is harsh. The twins have far less space overall and a much harsher ride. Hell, the WRX rides like a cloud compared to the twins.

[wbradley]

A total waste of money buying a new car and immediately selling it. I hope your parents are rich.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by Sideways&Smiling

It is what it is. Any sports car fan would deal with it for the fun they are having the rest of the time, IMO. Do you want a soft, unresponsive, boat-like luxury feel and be bored or a taut, responsive sports car feel and deal with the occasional potholes? I never understand these types of threads...

I respectfully disagree with you.

I did have harsh riding sports cars before. It was worth it once you get to clean back road and can have fun with them. If no such clean back roads exist, it's just a series bumps against your spine and it's no fun at all.

I see you're in Florida. I was there too. The roads are as smooth as butter compared to what I'm dealing with right now.

I also often read in British magazines how they say US roads are very smooth compared to British B roads. You need to experience some very bad roads with your car and then I'll believe you if you say you can handle it.

[rennlistuser3]

Originally Posted by wbradley

A total waste of money buying a new car and immediately selling it. I hope your parents are rich.

Yes my parents are rich and no I do not get a single dime from them.


And yes I agree with you buying a new car and then immediately selling it is a waste of money. However, I rarely buy new cars at all. I usually buy used. I also never sold a car immediately after buying it, or even thought about doing it before this one. And so far, I am leaning towards keeping it from what I'm reading in this thread so most likely it won't even happen anyway.