Thinking of moving from WRX to BRZ. Yay/Nay
Discussion
Hi Everyone,
Looking for peoples thoughts here.
I have been a Subaru guy for the last 10/15 years. Third scooby. I love brutal raw acceleration and the grip that doesn't give up
I love my WRX (second owner, 51K genuine miles, stage 2 scoobyclinic pushing just over 310 BHP) but I am thinking at the grand old age of 41 it may be time to move to something a bit less "younger driver" 
The pops and crackles from the "optimised" aka decat, straight through Typhoon exhaust are fun but not wife friendly. I also feel a bit "branded" to say the least
Thinking of BRZ or GT86. Has anyone gone from modded Impreza to BRZ? Did you regret it? What is the drive and performance like?
Looking for peoples thoughts here.
I have been a Subaru guy for the last 10/15 years. Third scooby. I love brutal raw acceleration and the grip that doesn't give up
I love my WRX (second owner, 51K genuine miles, stage 2 scoobyclinic pushing just over 310 BHP) but I am thinking at the grand old age of 41 it may be time to move to something a bit less "younger driver" The pops and crackles from the "optimised" aka decat, straight through Typhoon exhaust are fun but not wife friendly. I also feel a bit "branded" to say the least
Thinking of BRZ or GT86. Has anyone gone from modded Impreza to BRZ? Did you regret it? What is the drive and performance like?I test drove a GT86 last year.
As many have said, it's a nice driving experience, I'm no driving god, but it took a bit of pushing to wring any kind of performance out of it (compared to my WRX PPP), but it was by no means a slouch, 200 hp and a half decent 0-60 time, but it really lacked torque in the build up (or felt like it did) and needed to be revved hard. Grip was decent but again, it felt a bit skittish on the B roads, so in the wet it might need some gentle treatment, but coaxing the back end out probably wouldn't take too much effort for some opposite lock fun.
Gearbox was sublime, positive and with a decent ratio, again one of the cars many plus points.
What almost sold it for me was the cabin, some like it and some don't, but for me it was just a great place to be. Driving position was perfect, seats comfy and grippy, feedback was good and it was well laid out, certainly a massive upgrade from the bland WRX.
It looks a great car, well designed and pretty but as many have said lacks performance, however, that's depending upon your viewpoint. I felt the power could have been more, but what it had suited the car in standard form.
I think if you can live with the comparable lack of performance, they are a great car. I was very close to buying one, but decided to keep the WRX another year. It's now on 95k so next year I'll probably look at changing it, being a Subaru fan boy I'll look for a BRZ if that's the way I decide to go, it'll be either that or perhaps a new shape (15 plate onwards) STI.
As many have said, it's a nice driving experience, I'm no driving god, but it took a bit of pushing to wring any kind of performance out of it (compared to my WRX PPP), but it was by no means a slouch, 200 hp and a half decent 0-60 time, but it really lacked torque in the build up (or felt like it did) and needed to be revved hard. Grip was decent but again, it felt a bit skittish on the B roads, so in the wet it might need some gentle treatment, but coaxing the back end out probably wouldn't take too much effort for some opposite lock fun.
Gearbox was sublime, positive and with a decent ratio, again one of the cars many plus points.
What almost sold it for me was the cabin, some like it and some don't, but for me it was just a great place to be. Driving position was perfect, seats comfy and grippy, feedback was good and it was well laid out, certainly a massive upgrade from the bland WRX.
It looks a great car, well designed and pretty but as many have said lacks performance, however, that's depending upon your viewpoint. I felt the power could have been more, but what it had suited the car in standard form.
I think if you can live with the comparable lack of performance, they are a great car. I was very close to buying one, but decided to keep the WRX another year. It's now on 95k so next year I'll probably look at changing it, being a Subaru fan boy I'll look for a BRZ if that's the way I decide to go, it'll be either that or perhaps a new shape (15 plate onwards) STI.
Thanks for that. It does have awesome looks and is a good deal but you are echoing what I hear "performance isn't what you'd expect if you're coming from a Subaru.
It's a crying shame really because there is no performance model available to buy in the UK now (Well you know what I mean!)
Cheers
It's a crying shame really because there is no performance model available to buy in the UK now (Well you know what I mean!)
Cheers
It depends what you like in a car. The bit that worries me is when you say "I love brutal raw acceleration and the grip that doesn't give up".
That literally cannot apply to a BRZ in any way, shape or form. I don't think you'll "get" a BRZ.
I'm a diehard Subaru guy, 6 Impreza's, a Forester and a BRZ to my name and the BRZ is joint first for my favourite with my current classic RA. You could actually use the power on the road, you feel what the tyres were doing, if you wanted to chuck it round into a slide you could.. or if you wanted to feed it into a few twisty corners you could do that too. All while maintaining high 30 mpg's if being a bit more sensible.
I loved it! But life changed and I decided I needed to buy a house - otherwise I'd definitely still have it.
You could get one and supercharge it, could do that for around £17k all in including car purchase price. But tbh, you sound like an Impreza guy and that's no bad thing.
Maybe just put a more sensible exhaust on, map out the pops and bangs and take the misuss on some holidays in it. We can get too focused on the 'next thing' (modifying or next car) and forget to actually sit back and enjoy what we have.
That literally cannot apply to a BRZ in any way, shape or form. I don't think you'll "get" a BRZ.
I'm a diehard Subaru guy, 6 Impreza's, a Forester and a BRZ to my name and the BRZ is joint first for my favourite with my current classic RA. You could actually use the power on the road, you feel what the tyres were doing, if you wanted to chuck it round into a slide you could.. or if you wanted to feed it into a few twisty corners you could do that too. All while maintaining high 30 mpg's if being a bit more sensible.
I loved it! But life changed and I decided I needed to buy a house - otherwise I'd definitely still have it.
You could get one and supercharge it, could do that for around £17k all in including car purchase price. But tbh, you sound like an Impreza guy and that's no bad thing.
Maybe just put a more sensible exhaust on, map out the pops and bangs and take the misuss on some holidays in it. We can get too focused on the 'next thing' (modifying or next car) and forget to actually sit back and enjoy what we have.
I'm currently in the lucky position of owning both, a WRX with similar power to yours and a pretty much stock GT86.
Although I'll be looking to sell my WRX in the near future the two are drastically different cars.
As far as comfort goes (arguably the least interesting subject for you
) The 86/BRZ is miles ahead in my personal opinion, the addition of cruise control, heated seats, 6th gear and a fantastic driving position is miles ahead of the WRX which whenever I drive always feels like i'm sitting in an SUV by comparison due to the high seat position. Oh and the rear seats are basically non-existant compared to a 4 door WRX.
When it comes to grip apart from pointing out the obvious that one is AWD and therefore will tend to understeer if pushed and the other RWD so will tend to step the back out when pushed I think you'll be surprised by the grip the 86 platform has when given even a half decent set of tyres. With just Toyo T1R's which by all accounts are at most summer tyres I'll really struggle to unstick the 86 unless I have turned the assistances off (as much as you can) and act like a real child coming out of a junction or on a tight round about.
Staying on that topic of assistances there are quite a few modern systems on the 86 which can get in the way if you're trying to have fun. Normally even when holding down the TRC button you can only turn these off about 70% of the way so the car will still try and save you if you're trying to have fun. There is a way to turn these off 99% of the way but its a bit of a procedure, just look up the "Pedal dance"
The biggest difference you'll notice if you enjoy the power and torque of the WRX is the lack of it in the BRZ. In a totally standard unit there is a torque dip around 3k RPM which is well documented online and very easy to notice if you're starting from a stand still but after 4k RPM is the FA20's happy place if you're trying to have fun. Keeping the car at high revs makes it feel a little punchy out of corners thanks to its low weight and you'll definitely enjoy revving out to the 7k redline as of course hanging around high revs is a bit pointless in a WRX for power.
It's a very different experience driving a BRZ quick, it's not as fast but it feels just as fun and it's quite a rewarding experience if you have some nice roads around you.
It's a difficult one to advise either way, I love both cars and getting back in to the WRX after driving the 86 around is great treat due to the way it just eats the road but I feel I can push the 86 a bit harder at times just to how the Centre of gravity is lower it feels as though it leans less in the corners even on stock suspension compared to the WRX's Coilovers. The interior of the BRZ/86 is miles ahead of my blobeye/hawkeye WRX.
Although I'll be looking to sell my WRX in the near future the two are drastically different cars.
As far as comfort goes (arguably the least interesting subject for you
) The 86/BRZ is miles ahead in my personal opinion, the addition of cruise control, heated seats, 6th gear and a fantastic driving position is miles ahead of the WRX which whenever I drive always feels like i'm sitting in an SUV by comparison due to the high seat position. Oh and the rear seats are basically non-existant compared to a 4 door WRX.When it comes to grip apart from pointing out the obvious that one is AWD and therefore will tend to understeer if pushed and the other RWD so will tend to step the back out when pushed I think you'll be surprised by the grip the 86 platform has when given even a half decent set of tyres. With just Toyo T1R's which by all accounts are at most summer tyres I'll really struggle to unstick the 86 unless I have turned the assistances off (as much as you can) and act like a real child coming out of a junction or on a tight round about.
Staying on that topic of assistances there are quite a few modern systems on the 86 which can get in the way if you're trying to have fun. Normally even when holding down the TRC button you can only turn these off about 70% of the way so the car will still try and save you if you're trying to have fun. There is a way to turn these off 99% of the way but its a bit of a procedure, just look up the "Pedal dance"
The biggest difference you'll notice if you enjoy the power and torque of the WRX is the lack of it in the BRZ. In a totally standard unit there is a torque dip around 3k RPM which is well documented online and very easy to notice if you're starting from a stand still but after 4k RPM is the FA20's happy place if you're trying to have fun. Keeping the car at high revs makes it feel a little punchy out of corners thanks to its low weight and you'll definitely enjoy revving out to the 7k redline as of course hanging around high revs is a bit pointless in a WRX for power.
It's a very different experience driving a BRZ quick, it's not as fast but it feels just as fun and it's quite a rewarding experience if you have some nice roads around you.
It's a difficult one to advise either way, I love both cars and getting back in to the WRX after driving the 86 around is great treat due to the way it just eats the road but I feel I can push the 86 a bit harder at times just to how the Centre of gravity is lower it feels as though it leans less in the corners even on stock suspension compared to the WRX's Coilovers. The interior of the BRZ/86 is miles ahead of my blobeye/hawkeye WRX.
ChocyLint1 said:
Hi Everyone,
Looking for peoples thoughts here.
I have been a Subaru guy for the last 10/15 years. Third scooby. I love brutal raw acceleration and the grip that doesn't give up I love my WRX (second owner, 51K genuine miles, stage 2 scoobyclinic pushing just over 310 BHP) but I am thinking at the grand old age of 41 it may be time to move to something a bit less "younger driver"
The pops and crackles from the "optimised" aka decat, straight through Typhoon exhaust are fun but not wife friendly. I also feel a bit "branded" to say the least Thinking of BRZ or GT86. Has anyone gone from modded Impreza to BRZ? Did you regret it? What is the drive and performance like?
The BRZ is cool as its not very common, but its quite a drop on horses plus no AWD, Have you looked at Legacys? either Twin scroll or 3.0 SpecB? Looking for peoples thoughts here.
I have been a Subaru guy for the last 10/15 years. Third scooby. I love brutal raw acceleration and the grip that doesn't give up
I love my WRX (second owner, 51K genuine miles, stage 2 scoobyclinic pushing just over 310 BHP) but I am thinking at the grand old age of 41 it may be time to move to something a bit less "younger driver" The pops and crackles from the "optimised" aka decat, straight through Typhoon exhaust are fun but not wife friendly. I also feel a bit "branded" to say the least
Thinking of BRZ or GT86. Has anyone gone from modded Impreza to BRZ? Did you regret it? What is the drive and performance like?Gassing Station | Subaru | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff