BRZ gets a thrashing

[thiscocks]

heebeegeetee said:

otolith said:

So you would agree that all those engineering considerations are an irrelevance, and that all one needs is a nose heavy family hatch with a turbocharged four and a torsion beam rear end?

Selling your Porsche then?

Personally, I don't give a stuff what Evo think, I would take any of those alternatives over a hot hatch. Been there, done that, bored of them.

Yes, me too to a great degree. Hot hatches are too one-dimensional to me because all they offer in reality is the ability to go at warp-factor 9 and not much else.

However that doesn't change the fact that they are bloody good fun and bloody quick on the type of roads that I like to drive, quicker with less power than my Porsche very often, I'd wager.

It's the imbalance that makes them such fun and so wieldy and responsive to the right foot, imo. Most rwds aren't as wieldy simply because of the balance and grip they offer, and you couldn't get a better example than my Porsche tbh, which offers so much grip that it needs far more power to make it a proper driver's car in my book.

Luckily the Porsche offers a lot more than just B-road tomfoolery, otherwise I would sell it.

So yes, to a very great degree, all the heritage of Porsche, and the wish bones and mid engine and flat-6 are pretty much an irrelevance if it can be whupped by "a nose heavy family hatch with a turbocharged four and a torsion beam rear end".

well said, but wouldn't agree with the first 'warp factor 9' comment. As a lot of the hatches are fairly light, with good steering feel, they are also fun at slower speeds when your not pushing 100%. Admittedly some of them have fairly one dimensional stiff suspension for just pottering about.

[otolith]

thiscocks said:

well said, but wouldn't agree with the first 'warp factor 9' comment. As a lot of the hatches are fairly light, with good steering feel, they are also fun at slower speeds when your not pushing 100%.

Not modern ones with 250bhp+ turbocharged engines and 235 section tyres on 19 inch wheels.

[veevee]

GravelBen said:

The whole 'low grip' thing is an interesting one, its funny how perspectives change - even just in terms of tyre size the 215/45R17 which seem to be considered narrow now are the same size as my 280bhp Legacy had from the factory, and were probably thought to be fairly wide at the time. (and its not like its lacking in grip either despite being 300kg heavier than a BRZ)

Not to mention the media babble quoted above which seems to be suggesting Fwd cars naturally have more grip?

Edited by GravelBen on Monday 7th May 12:05

More weight = more grip?

Interesting though, wasn't everyone rejoicing that the BRZ wouldn't have too much grip, now people are complaining about the lack of it?

[otolith]

heebeegeetee said:

Yes, me too to a great degree. Hot hatches are too one-dimensional to me because all they offer in reality is the ability to go at warp-factor 9 and not much else.

However that doesn't change the fact that they are bloody good fun and bloody quick on the type of roads that I like to drive, quicker with less power than my Porsche very often, I'd wager.

Thing is, I'm quite sure it would be possible to drive your Porsche (or a BRZ, for that matter) over those roads considerably quicker than is either sensible or legal*, so you have to question how strong an inducement more point to point speed is. If you are racing, that's another matter, but the modern perception of how much performance is necessary just to have fun is totally unrealistic. I've thought about eventually supercharging the Elise, but it would already be too easy to find oneself well into three figures on a B-road, what would it achieve? Do I want to "win" at track days?

• that's legal as in not likely to end up in the dock, not legal as in not likely to end up with a FPN

[MC Bodge]

heebeegeetee said:

MC Bodge said:

Personally, I'd like one of these Subaru/Toyota coupés as a project car in a few years time in the way that I'd like a Mk1/2 MX5 now.

.....one thing I do know for certain is that in the UK, if they sell well, an entire industry will spring up offering substandard tat and junk which when bolted on will spoil almost every one of them.

Rock hard springs, heavy wheels and mega wide Nankangs here we come!

That wasn't quite what I had in mind!