MrH's BRZ Thread

[Payman]

That spoiler is hot.

It really suits the car. I hate wings.

[SVT666]

I still think you should get an FFR Cobra.

[Raza]

I really dislike the orange, honestly, but that spoiler looks good.

[MrH]

Yeah, there's a couple of duck bill style spoilers that look really good.  They're expensive when you consider the cost of buying and painting one though.

[Eye of the Tiger]

You should focus on increasing your exhaust tip protrusion. For the ladies.

[MrH]

I do want to get bigger exhaust tips.  Is that also ricer-esque?  The japanese/euro version has 86mm diameter tips and it looks soooo much better.  The US ones are wimpy and don't fit the bumper cut out shape right.

I could go with just tips, or go full Nameless performance exhaust

[AutobahnSHO]

I do want to get bigger exhaust tips.  Is that also ricer-esque?  The japanese/euro version has 86mm diameter tips and it looks soooo much better.  The US ones are wimpy and don't fit the bumper cut out shape right.

YES it's ricer.   But as long as you're getting bigger that still fit and aren't gaudy or just put on for the attention it's a'right.
But DON'T put any fart cannons or extra protrusion on. (see that orange FRS Rockraven posted last page..)

[Eye of the Tiger]

I do want to get bigger exhaust tips.  Is that also ricer-esque?  The japanese/euro version has 86mm diameter tips and it looks soooo much better.  The US ones are wimpy and don't fit the bumper cut out shape right.

I could go with just tips, or go full Nameless performance exhaust

Wait. The US car does not have 86mm tips!? This is unscrupulous!

[Rich]

How's the steering any different? I've only ever had 15s on mine.

The wheels have a different offset, so the steering effort increases, tramlining increases, on center feedback is diminished a bit.

[Eye of the Tiger]

The wheels have a different offset, so the steering effort increases, tramlining increases, on center feedback is diminished a bit.

Scrub radius is best kept to a minimum.

[Raza]

I do want to get bigger exhaust tips.  Is that also ricer-esque?  The japanese/euro version has 86mm diameter tips and it looks soooo much better.  The US ones are wimpy and don't fit the bumper cut out shape right.

I could go with just tips, or go full Nameless performance exhaust

Yeah, but everything else you've done is rice too, don't stop now. 

[MrH]

Yeah, but everything else you've done is rice too, don't stop now. 

I got the Raza seal of approval.  I'm set now, right?

[giant_mtb]

I don't think much of anything you've done is actually rice.

[Secret Chimp]

Rice, no. Boring, yes. It's turbo time.

[565]

I finally test drove one of the twins,  the FRS.  I was going to test drive the BRZ as well, but they didn't have any manuals and they were about the close.  First off the size of this car is just about perfect.  it's well packaged to be usable on the inside.  Everything seemed economical but nothing felt cheap or poorly made in the interior.   Getting into the car, I sit noticeably higher than the Z06, which is to be expected, but overall visibility was good and I had no complaints.   The clutch is extremely light, basically without any heft at all.  The shifter is extremely low effort as well, but it's not as mechanical as others have made it out to be.  It gets notchy at times, but doesn't feel particularly substantial.   Setting off was a little jerky at first because of the ultra light clutch and I couldn't find the engagement point well at first.  Overall the engine was definitely usable, and acceptably smooth.  The issue with this drivetrain is that it never begs you to ring it out, never entices you with the noises or vibes it makes.  Overall the steering is good.  It definitely has that electric steering feeling sense about it, it's hard to describe.  I was impressed with how it transmitted decent road feedback.  The ride was firm, but well controlled.  There was a fair amount of road and engine noise but not a deal breaker.  Overall I came out of the test drive without strong impressions.  It's a fairly capable car, even reasonably practical, and I think a great entry car for someone getting into RWD. All in all it's a great car and the kind of car we've all been clamoring for for years. The problem was there wasn't really any part that felt particularly special.  I think Road and Track mentioned the same issue with their long term BRZ. 

http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-reviews/long-term-tests/test-car-intro-2013-subaru-brz-1

I remember test driving the EVO, STI, S2000, RX8 way back in the day.  They were all flawed in some fundamental way, but they all felt very special and memorable in their own way.  Granted the BRZ/FRS isn't suppose to be competing on the same level as those cars were, yet it's disappointingly lacking personality or a sense of character.

On the plus side, my local Subaru dealer is doing 1500 or more off MRSP on all BRZs now, which really makes getting the FRS kinda pointless.  Supposedly the BRZ somehow manages to sound sweeter according to some reports, and MT seems to prefer its steering/handling characteristics, so I had the dealer call me when they get a manual in so I can try it out.

[Char]

Remove garbage tires, replace with Starspecs or PSS. And PLEASE go bigger on the wheels/tires. 225s would probably feel great on this car. I'm sure your gf/wife wouldn't mind the extra .5 of girth. On the wheels. 

[Eye of the Tiger]

Remove garbage tires, replace with Starspecs or PSS. And PLEASE go bigger on the wheels/tires. 225s would probably feel great on this car. I'm sure your gf/wife wouldn't mind the extra .5 of girth. On the wheels. 

Wider/stickier tires do two things: increase lateral and medial traction on dry tarmac. There is also the potential for increasing unsprung weight, and moment of inertia, but I will ignore those problems for now. What I would rather discuss is how arbitrarily increasing traction may not be desireable.

Vehicles are designed by the manufacturer with certain tires in mind. Many dynamic parameters of the vehicle's suspenion are dependent on the tire to work as expected. The relavent affected dynamic parameters include roll rate, pitch rate, wheel rate, toe, and camber. Each of those parameters is critical in determining the handling characteristics of the vehicle. They are dependent on suspension travel, which is caused by weight transfer, assuming a smooth road surface. The amount of weight that is transferred is dependent on acceleration of the vehicle around its center of gravity, and the quantity of this acceleration is universally dependent on the traction of the tires. When increasing the traction of the tires beyond the manufacturer's specifications it must be understood that it is effectively retuning the suspension.

[Char]

Wider/stickier tires do two things: increase lateral and medial traction on dry tarmac. There is also the potential for increasing unsprung weight, and moment of inertia, but I will ignore those problems for now. What I would rather discuss is how arbitrarily increasing traction may not be desireable.

Vehicles are designed by the manufacturer with certain tires in mind. Many dynamic parameters of the vehicle's suspenion are dependent on the tire to work as expected. The relavent affected dynamic parameters include roll rate, pitch rate, wheel rate, toe, and camber. Each of those parameters is critical in determining the handling characteristics of the vehicle. They are dependent on suspension travel, which is caused by weight transfer, assuming a smooth road surface. The amount of weight that is transferred is dependent on acceleration of the vehicle around its center of gravity, and the quantity of this acceleration is universally dependent on the traction of the tires. When increasing the traction of the tires beyond the manufacturer's specifications it must be understood that it is effectively retuning the suspension.

You're not telling me anything I don't know. Stock tires are garbage, and unless he's using a tire temperature gauge to find out that he's rolling over tire, your concerns of using a larger than stock width tire are irrelevant.

[Eye of the Tiger]

You're not telling me anything I don't know. Stock tires are garbage, and unless he's using a tire temperature gauge to find out that he's rolling over tire, your concerns of using a larger than stock width tire are irrelevant.

You do not seem to understand, but I will not repeat myself.

[AutobahnSHO]

You do not seem to understand, but I will not repeat myself.

Heh.

I see what you're saying though, definitely a concern.

[Eye of the Tiger]

[Char]

You do not seem to understand, but I will not repeat myself.

No I understand perfectly. Your assumption is the car was designed to be equipped with a specific brand of tire, assuming that the suspension was tuned to meet the demands of the tires themselves. Probably wasn't the case. More than likely the tires were a result of compromise of price, availability and finally performance. The Subaru and Scion deviate when it comes to shock valving, spring rates, and more than likely alignment. If they deviation between the two is that wide and both are able to use the same tires, I doubt changes in rubber compound would drastically change the behavior of the car.

So please, don't repeat yourself. Don't say anythng else at all.

[AutobahnSHO]

I doubt changes in rubber compound would drastically change the behavior of the car.

-1

Obviously it won't be a totally different car with different tires, but when you come down to tenths of a second on laptimes, tires could make all the difference. That's "Drastic" in performance terms, while most drivers getting to work wouldn't notice anything (NOT drastic)....

[MrH]

-1

Obviously it won't be a totally different car with different tires, but when you come down to tenths of a second on laptimes, tires could make all the difference. That's "Drastic" in performance terms, while most drivers getting to work wouldn't notice anything (NOT drastic)....

You clearly haven't seen how I drive to work

[AutobahnSHO]

You clearly haven't seen how I drive to work

Oh trust me, I do my bestest to get the tail out (safely of course) and floor it every single light.   But a change of tires wouldn't be super-dramatic for most regular street driving. But could make dramatic difference on the track.

[565]

Well, I got the take the BRZ for a spin, by myself no less without the salesmen.  Maybe it was just the absence of the salesmen, but the drive was a lot sweeter than the FRS.  The drivetrain just felt a little smoother and the whole feel of the car was just a bit better.  The dealer is offering about 25000 flat for the premium version, which is about 1500 off.  I'm kinda tempted.

[Raza]

Oh trust me, I do my bestest to get the tail out (safely of course) and floor it every single light.   But a change of tires wouldn't be super-dramatic for most regular street driving. But could make dramatic difference on the track.

My Jetta felt distinctly different on each different set of tires I put on it, and I never once tracked it.  I drove sideways a lot, spun the wheels a lot, did handbrake turns, and raced illegally a bunch, but I never tracked it. 

[Colonel Cadillac]

Tires made a pretty substantial difference to the driving dynamics of my car. As I said in another thread, high performance summer tires eliminated a lot of understeer in my car.

[AutobahnSHO]

but I never tracked it. 

Yes you did. Just not on a track.
That kind of driving is when you WOULD feel a difference. Most drivers fail to come close to max G's their car can do...

[CALL_911]

H, I was jealous of your car when you got it. After finally having driven one, I can't explain to you how jealous I am now.