RE: Subaru BRZ: big brother's little brother

[Tahiti]

That really is a tempting package (Toyota or Subaru) if you're looking for a sub £25k new car. I wonder what the residuals will be like (by this, I mean, will I be able to justify one in three years).

[bicycleshorts]

StormLoaded said:

(Not sure about the huuuge alloys or front scoop)

[Ved]

Tahiti said:

That really is a tempting package (Toyota or Subaru) if you're looking for a sub £25k new car. I wonder what the residuals will be like (by this, I mean, will I be able to justify one in three years).

Probably just as bad as any other car. Subaru's drop like a stone regardless of model and Toyotas are similar. A 1 year old one with 4000 miles will be sub 20 easily.

[Sivraj]

I'm sorry but I have to come out and say it 'I like cars with fancy alloy wheels that fill the wheel arches!'
I appreciate that sometimes the aesthetics can spoil that handling of a car but looking at the steel castors fitted to the base spec that the handling can also spoil the aesthetics!..
I couldn’t live with an ugly car greeting me every morning as much as I could live with a car that was terrible to drive.
As much as I love to drive cars I also like to look at them and I'd love either of the previous images.

[pugboy]

Sivraj said:

I'm sorry but I have to come out and say it 'I like cars with fancy alloy wheels that fill the wheel arches!'
I appreciate that sometimes the aesthetics can spoil that handling of a car but looking at the steel castors fitted to the base spec that the handling can also spoil the aesthetics!..
I couldn’t live with an ugly car greeting me every morning as much as I could live with a car that was terrible to drive.
As much as I love to drive cars I also like to look at them and I'd love either of the previous images.

This is where they could satisy many tastes with this/these car(s). There are a few types of petrolhead, some of whom like the Scooby Blue with Gold wheels and big spoilers (and probably 400 hp), some like the steel wheels 'Rallye' spec and others would prefer a car that could be a luxurious GT car, and there is that somewhere in between look that someone posted with the white wheels (sort of Honda Type R look). This has an oppotunity to be (almost) all things to all men in the rear drive coupe genre. They've done all the hard work, so get the research done and satisfy the demand.

[Gompo]

Sivraj said:

I'm sorry but I have to come out and say it 'I like cars with fancy alloy wheels that fill the wheel arches!'
I appreciate that sometimes the aesthetics can spoil that handling of a car but looking at the steel castors fitted to the base spec that the handling can also spoil the aesthetics!..
I couldn’t live with an ugly car greeting me every morning as much as I could live with a car that was terrible to drive.
As much as I love to drive cars I also like to look at them and I'd love either of the previous images.

While I can see where you are coming from entirely, for me being greeted by something looking purposeful would remind me that I'd made a slightly leftfield choice and I would feel the better for it.

I do like the looks of both of the basicly specced cars. I am not saying I would change anything to improve aesthetics but if it was going to compromise driving performance by a noticeable amount then I doubt it.

[Johnnytheboy]

StormLoaded said:

interior wise, bar some colour changes they look identical to me

Steering wheel's on a different side.



At first sight I prefer the Subaru.

[pugboy]

Johnnytheboy said:

Steering wheel's on a different side.



At first sight I prefer the Subaru.

There's always one....

[1 PST]

I love the idea of a no nonsence drivers car with no thrills.

I have an hours drive on back roads to my office, it would be great to hack around in one of these with out the worry of curbing a wheel or getting close to hedge!!

I deal in exotic cars for a living which is great but when driving a £200k on our back roads especially at this time of year its not a lot of fun.

[LukeyLikey]

stephen300o said:

paulmon said:

You would have to be the worlds number one fanboi to buy the Subaru over the Toyota purley because the dealer network for Subaru has possibly one of the worst reputations in motordealerdom.

Thats a surprise, they always used to do well in the surveys. Finding dealers is difficult and a bit of a trek with most off-piste car manufacturers now though. My local Subaru evaporated last year.

I have no idea where the comment about Subaru dealers comes from, I've only had good experiences from them, over many years. In fact, since this car is developed and built by Subaru and the dealers are a much more techy lot, they must be the better bet IMO.

Subaru have also started putting customer feedback for all their dealers on their website. It doesn't seem to be edited either since most comments are very positive but not all. Doesn't sound to me like Subaru are worried about their dealers at all.

Reading the article, sounds like Subaru will not be over supplying the market, whereas Toyota seems to be planning pretty large volumes. That will definitely have an impact on residuals (someone else mentioned poor residuals on Subaru - again that has not been my experience and I have owned more than 10).

Mine will be from the rarer side of the 86/BRZ debate

[TotalControl]

I really REALLY want one of these. I hope they find themselves going to good owners and not to rich chavs.

[stephen300o]

TotalControl said:

I really REALLY want one of these. I hope they find themselves going to good owners and not to rich chavs.

I think Toyota/subaru would be affended by that, they have priced it so you don't have to be rich to buy one.

[TotalControl]

stephen300o said:

TotalControl said:

I really REALLY want one of these. I hope they find themselves going to good owners and not to rich chavs.

I think Toyota/subaru would be affended by that, they have priced it so you don't have to be rich to buy one.

Ah, there is a difference between a good owner who knows how to look after a car and a rich chav who knows only how to throw money at a car and ruin it with 'bling' and 'rimz'.

[MSportUK]

Think I've come a bit late to this, but...

Reading through the posts, seems that people have missed the point of this car being on steelies. It's not a budget model that they'll fit plastic trims to, Fiesta 1.1 style; it's aimed at tuners who will bin the steelies and put alloys on instead.

Also, on the purpose of alloys, my understanding is not that they're specifically to reduce weight - as someone pointed out, steelies are pretty light - but that they bolt onto a nice flat surface with a bigger contact area and have a higher heat capacity so are handy for drawing heat out of brakes etc, which also get much better cooling as a result of not being completely shrouded in steel. Obviously, lighter alloys are better than heavy ones, but that's a different point. Since the guy from Toyota was saying everyone should take these to trackdays, I don't think he'd recommend doing so with the steel wheels still in place.

On the handling front, having bigger (not wider) wheels with lower profile tyres won't ruin handling in the sense of being able to feel your way round a smooth race track, and will probably increase max lateral g because there's less sidewall to flex, but they do tend to bugger up the balance of feel/comfort that makes it as useful on a battered British B-road.

As someone else mentioned, if you need any clarification on how a car can communicate with you and haven't driven an Elise, you really should give one a try. Your Fiesta will feel pretty numb afterwards.