Test-driven: WRX, BRZ, Accord, Civic Si

aclayonb

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Your chances are better than most. I've been eyeballing all of the Stingrays for sale around here. I've got the itch to get one but I know better.
 

Erci

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I've been eyeballing all of the Stingrays for sale around here. I've got the itch to get one but I know better.

Mmm.. Stringray. LOVE the new C7, but that's so much more coin than any of the stuff I've been looking at. Heck.. BMW 228 is coming out very soon and that'll be 33k.. should be pretty good fun.. 240HP + 6sp + RWD.
 

SweaterDude

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Big +1! Which is why BRZ was so much more fun to drive than everything else I tested.

AWD is great in some situations, but has to be done right to be fun. AWD with heavy front bias is not that much more fun to drive than FWD, from my experience.

or you could get a used volvo S60R with the 6-speed. they have a haldex diff which usually mean's that its tuneable to a point. not to mention that Volvos are extremely underrated in the handling dept. Good chassis and soaks up bumps pretty well. leave it to the Sensible Swedes to make something sporty but still remember to keep comfort and practicality a top priority.

also as far as the Focus ST goes:
ive heard from multiple mechanics that Ford's "Eco-Boost" engines are total crap. tons of injection and valve issues. would not own.
 
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Erci

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3 cars test-driven on Saturday and I made my choice (though have not actually signed the dotted line yet).

The cars: 2015 WRX, 2015 GTI and 2014 BRZ again (just to compare it to others).

Read on, if you're a car enthusiast.

WRX: Massively improved from 2014! Everything about the interior is much nicer. There's a really trick center display with scrollable modes showing things like boost gauge, clock, real time fuel eco, outside temp.. etc. All controls have a nice feel to them.
The biggest improvement (to me): the engine and the handling!
It's still a turbo and they actually went back to 2.0 from running 2.5 for a while, but the turbo comes on much sooner than in the previous version and once you're in the boost, it's hard not to giggle. There is, however, still some lag and if you're in high gear at somewhat low RPM, you can floor it and the car will barely move.. such is the nature of this turbo beast.
The handling is almost shocking. While I'm not a fan of electronic wizardry, I cannot deny that it does an amazing job in this car. It uses torque vectoring: as you turn, it applies brakes to the inside wheels and I can only guess that it does all sorts of calculations to figure out just how much brake to apply based on speed and degree of steering wheel input. The result: it feels like it's absolutely on rails. There is no body roll, no skipping or hopping.. bumps or not.. it's just dead-planted.
About the only *dislike*, and it's a pretty substantial one, is the seat. It's well bolstered, but the bolsters are too far apart for me, so the seat is not supportive as it should be in a sporty car, but the worst part is the seat bottom.. it's somewhat short and too flat.. there is no thigh support (2015 owners are complaining about this on Suby forums too).. no big deal for short drives, but I have a feeling I wouldn't be happy on longer journies.

GTI: While 2015 has nearly 60 foot pounds more torque than 2014 version, I can't say it was very obvious. The old one was pretty darn good and this one is no different. Even though it's a turbo, the torque comes on so early it almost feels like a V6.. very little lag, just a fantastic motor.
The interior.. it's silly-nice. The leather they used to wrap the steering wheel is nicer than the leather on any of the gloves or jackets I've ever owned. All materials are top notch. Seats are very comfortable, though I don't get the manual fore/aft adjustment with POWER seat back angle :rolleyes:
The stick shift is buttery smooth and effortless.. same goes for the clutch. All of this adds up to a fantastic near-luxury family car, which happens to be capable of going pretty fast and handles better than most regular cars. Having said that, I pushed it slightly hard in one bumpy curve and I did not at all care for how the body of the car danced around. Perhaps when the sport package comes out, it'll be that much better.. since limited slip diff will be a part of it. The smooth shifter and clutch .. are TOO smooth. Again, great in luxury car, but just not what I'm looking for.. I want mechanical feel.

BRZ: This was my 3rd time driving it and I had the same grin as the 1st time I drove it. The car barely moves, compared to the other 2, in terms of straight line acceleration, but it's not about that with this thing. Part of it is about feeling like you're being hugged by your significant other like they really missed you, the moment you get into that seat, part of it is about the ergonomics.. the perfectly placed pedals, steering wheel and shifter.. part of it is the noise (some don't like it.. I love it), and probably the biggest part of it (for me) is the handling.. how it does lose traction so easily, but remains 100% controllable with the tail happily (slightly) stepping out as long as you keep your right foot down.

My wife test-drove all 3 with me. Between the 2 of us, we ruled out GTI relatively quickly. She said she actually felt a bit nauseous after driving it, same as when she drove the older version :rof: .. so definitely not for her and not silly enough for me.

WRX made it extremely hard to choose between it and BRZ. It's an outstanding car and if the seats were better, the choice would be even harder, as it's not only fun (in it's ticket-acculumalting way), but is also very practical.. being AWD and having enough room for 5 adults (or 4 adults, comfortably).

In the end, what I want is a car which makes me smile every time I drive it.. without having to go very fast. Nothing hits that target like the BRZ. So.. BRZ it is :thumbup:
 
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FinalImpact

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BRZ Go-Cart! :rof::rof::rof: :D Told ya.... but its only practical use is entertainment!

Yeah I fully blame you for bringing it up in the other thread! If I buy one, I'll tell my wife you made me do it!

If I'm taking a hit for that, it should be nearly broken in by the time you hit Oregon and hand me the keys! :rockon: :eek: :D:D

Think of Mulholland Drive but higher in the mountains towards the North! I know some great roads. :thumbup:

Does that mean your gonna break it in on the way here? :rolleyes:

Nice slow roll getting the wife to buy a 2 seater! :eek::eek: :thumbup::thumbup:
 

Erci

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Does that mean your gonna break it in on the way here? :rolleyes:

Nice slow roll getting the wife to buy a 2 seater! :eek::eek: :thumbup::thumbup:

Lol.. Wife's more than ok with it. She loves driving it as much as I do. I'm at the dealer right now putting my order in for 2015 :D

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk
 

2006_FZ6

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Congratz on your potential purchase! Just to stir the pot, did you try driving a Mini Clubman S or John Cooper Works Version? Funky car but lots of fun. Drives like a go kart, IMO. Decent MPG too.

My daughter had a Protege 5 until it was totaled. She was fine. Got her a 2010 Mazda3 hatch and she's happy.
 

Erci

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Congratz on your potential purchase! Just to stir the pot, did you try driving a Mini Clubman S or John Cooper Works Version? Funky car but lots of fun. Drives like a go kart, IMO. Decent MPG too.

My daughter had a Protege 5 until it was totaled. She was fine. Got her a 2010 Mazda3 hatch and she's happy.

Funny.. even though BRZ is nothing like it on paper, out of everything I've driven it's the most like Protege5: no real power to speak of, all sorts of interesting noises and great handling!

Looked into all Cooper variants. Did not test drive any because everyone who owns one told me it's not a smart car to buy for long term. It is a BMW, after all.. once you're out of warranty, any little issue costs significantly more to fix than any of the Japanese offerings.. and they're not known for being bulletproof either. I've no doubt they're very fun.
However, front engine + RWD FTW!! :D

My order is in.. it's gonna be a looong wait, as 2015 is not expected to show up till late July! Oh well.. more bike riding for me :thumbup:
 

trepetti

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Congrats Eric and welcome to Subieworld. Let me know when you are ready to tune. The Etherworld is chock full of open source help and tools. I am on my second LGT and there are a few cheap tweaks related to the switch between open and closed loop fueling that spice up power delivery. These things come with very conservative tunes to meet emissions.
 

Erci

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Congrats Eric and welcome to Subieworld. Let me know when you are ready to tune. The Etherworld is chock full of open source help and tools. I am on my second LGT and there are a few cheap tweaks related to the switch between open and closed loop fueling that spice up power delivery. These things come with very conservative tunes to meet emissions.

Excellent to know, thanks! This isn't our first Suby.. we had a 2005 Outback.. loved that wagon, but all the trips to VT in the Winter ate that thing up.
 

Smersh

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Congrats on a Subie! Sounds like a good car - I've heard nothing but good stuff about the BRZ and its twin FRS.:rockon:

PS: just looked at 2015 Rex - almost had a heart attack - almost thought they've overdone it with the interior. no, all is good - we have not jumped to a parallel universe just yet - the interior still looks like a throw back 10 years. the same old seat heater switches. phew. i was worried there for a second.
 
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2006_FZ6

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Funny.. even though BRZ is nothing like it on paper, out of everything I've driven it's the most like Protege5: no real power to speak of, all sorts of interesting noises and great handling!

Looked into all Cooper variants. Did not test drive any because everyone who owns one told me it's not a smart car to buy for long term. It is a BMW, after all.. once you're out of warranty, any little issue costs significantly more to fix than any of the Japanese offerings.. and they're not known for being bulletproof either. I've no doubt they're very fun.
However, front engine + RWD FTW!! :D

My order is in.. it's gonna be a looong wait, as 2015 is not expected to show up till late July! Oh well.. more bike riding for me :thumbup:

Yea, I get that reliability thing! Good points! I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but my 2000 Acura TL is just over 180,XXX miles and seems to be running strong!

Good luck, the BRZ looks like a blast!
 

oaks

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:thumbup: Cool. Long time Subaru driver, here.

Do keep an eye on oil consumption -- seems to be a normal thing with their current gen engines that use thin 0W20 syn oil. My brother says it's typical for his Impreza to use a quart every 2000 miles.

I just sunk a couple thousand bucks into my 2004 Forester to fix leaky head gaskets (a problem with older gen, non turbos as they age) timing belt, and a major service. No reason I can't get another 100K mile and ten years out of it. And I've never had to add oil to it. ;) At the dealer, I parked next to another Forester that had 320K on it!
 

Erci

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:thumbup: Cool. Long time Subaru driver, here.

Do keep an eye on oil consumption -- seems to be a normal thing with their current gen engines that use thin 0W20 syn oil. My brother says it's typical for his Impreza to use a quart every 2000 miles.

I just sunk a couple thousand bucks into my 2004 Forester to fix leaky head gaskets (a problem with older gen, non turbos as they age) timing belt, and a major service. No reason I can't get another 100K mile and ten years out of it. And I've never had to add oil to it. ;) At the dealer, I parked next to another Forester that had 320K on it!

Thanks for the heads up.. I'll make sure to check often. 320k?? That's nuts!

Few things I like on paper about BRZ maintenance:
- It uses a timing chain and as such has no scheduled maintenance for it :thumbup:
- Coolant is Suby's "long life", rated for 11 years or 137k miles
 

iviyth0s

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Good choice, I want to try one since everyone raves at how fun they are.

This thread makes me laugh though since I was telling my friend how no one buys the FR-S over the BRZ since Scion over priced them hahaha
 

Erci

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Good choice, I want to try one since everyone raves at how fun they are.

This thread makes me laugh though since I was telling my friend how no one buys the FR-S over the BRZ since Scion over priced them hahaha

Interesting thing about base FR-S vs base BRZ. Scion invoice is 1k less. The only *real* difference is that BRZ comes with navigation standard, BUT their true market value is nearly identical. So why get a Scion without nav? :don'tknow:

I love the Suby dealer near me.. I bought a car from them before, so that's a major factor in choosing BRZ over FR-S too.
 

iviyth0s

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Interesting thing about base FR-S vs base BRZ. Scion invoice is 1k less. The only *real* difference is that BRZ comes with navigation standard, BUT their true market value is nearly identical. So why get a Scion without nav? :don'tknow:

I love the Suby dealer near me.. I bought a car from them before, so that's a major factor in choosing BRZ over FR-S too.
Oh I thought it was the other way around...either way I guess everyone wants the nav because I never ever see FR-Ses but BRZs are very common (among the platform)
 

Gary in NJ

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I have owned a BRZ Limited for the last year. Love it. I installed an electric super charger and a Nameless catback. I enjoy driving this car as much as I enjoy riding.
 

MG-242

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Good luck with the new car and glad to see you've done the research. It sure is fun shopping for one! :thumbup:

My comments -
You over-looked the MX5. It's the only true motorcycle auto :). And, you overlooked the TSX, not the wagon. If you liked the Civic, you would have enjoyed the TSX. We just bought a new 2014 2 weeks ago. The 6-speed manual really wakes it up. And, it was in the $25K budget - we got a good deal :). Mid-Ohio used the TSX for years for their high performance driving school, but now use the ILX mostly for cost I suppose.

Known reliability issues with several you mentioned, like Audi, Mini-cooper, Ford, VW. All, much worse than others. In our neck of the woods, if you ever have a problem with a Subaru, plan on getting very little support. Hopefully, it's a regional thing. I know of 3 people who have had issues and Subaru would not back them. Also, I know of several who have had big dollar repairs with relatively low mileage on them. Things that don't normally go wrong with other Japanese autos. And, as mentioned, I hear they do like to consume oil. Hopefully, yours will be trouble-free!
 
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