Maybe the impression has to do with gearing (+tire diameter.)

My buddy purchased a Subaru BRZ for light track use and was unhappy with the handling. For those that are unfamiliar with this car, it is a Subaru flat 4 engine with a Toyota/Scion chassis. I like it but it is underpowered. The car is targeted for younger folks as a performance car and is popular as a weekend track rat. The car is really fun to drive.

Grant provided him with some good input, but my friend who is a bit neurotic, ordered $3000+ Ohlin adjustable coil overs. We just finished installing them ourselves today. It needs a good performance alignment, he will get one tomorrow, but the handling is amazing. Super smooth but rigid as all heck. Zero roll. I never drove a car with "performance" shocks and springs that rode so smoothly. They are definitely hard though; the car does not float over bumps.... it traces them! But so smooth at the same time. We had them on their softest settings.

Anyway, if anyone is considering Ohlins, let me know. I can hook you up with my friend. I will say, they are pretty easy to install... just unbolting crap and re-bolting. We did it with just a pair of jack stands.

Peace
Bruce in Philly.

... with pads, brake fluid and thick oil - plus the magic coilovers. I have heard good things about ohlins, but heard they were harsh. You say no eh?

Note: i suspect the Subie is easier to do coilovers on than our cars.

Did you not have to take the drive shaft out or half-out?

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

They are performance shocks and springs so they are hard. No doubt. The springs are around 30-50% stiffer than stock... don't remember the number. The car doesn't bob like it did with the stock setup. However it does drive silky smooth until you hit a bump and then the car jolts. It is like they took the edge off of a high performance suspension.

No need to remove any shaft. For the rears, we had to drop the lower control arm from the innermost point, then pivoted it down. We did not remove the swaybar links as noted in the instructions. Since we did both rears at the same time, the whole system just pivoted downward otherwise the links would have to be detached from this arm. No issues with the fronts either although you had to hang on to the rotor assembly or it would swing out... we held it in place temporarily with a coat hangar. Very easy. Unbolt, cuss, bolt, ibuprofen.

If you want to talk to him, drop me an email and I will reconnect you if you lost his email. We got a performance alignment this morning - not too aggressive. He can tell you the before and after.

Peace
Bruce in Philly

I have to say that I'm intrigued by the BRZ. But what the he## do you mean that it's underpowered?!!! Same HP, less weight than my Boxster. Just what are you saying?!

Aside from the handling stated above, what are your (or your friend's) overall impressions of the car?

Thanks, Doug

BRZ is 200HP @ 2762 LBS therefore a bit underpowered to me but nice and light. I think he paid about $27,000 for it.... One hell of a deal for a car this price.

My impressions given I've driven the car three times. Fun as heck! A really fun sports car. I think they really got it right with this car. I also love the looks. I think these looks are stylized to the times, targeted to younger folks, and may not look good in five years or so, but still a good looking car. Boxster styling was more unique and therefore more timeless. The Toyota chassis appears very stiff to me... but the metal overall seems thin - I don't know if this is bad, but I was impressed with what looked to me like an inexpensive chassis. Interior stuff seemed adequate... not luxury but not cheap either. Seats were designed for holding you in, not ease of getting in and out; this is another clue that the car was targeted to enthusiasts. The seats were more performance than my 2000 Boxster S's standard seats.

My friend spent one day at Summit Point with the car and was disappointed. The car was clearly designed to a price point, so if you really want to track the car, you need to do some upgrades... so he said. He experienced brake fade for one thing, and big plowing. The brakes, as Grant recommended, may be improved by different pads and performance fluid.... which he did purchase but we haven't installed yet. The plowing.... well, some are just putting slicks or bigger tires on it, or, as my friend did, highly adjustable coil overs to adjust the suspension geometry. Our Porsches, are track ready right from the showroom floor; of course if you put on some slicks, you will have to do some upgrades, but in general, you won't experience brake fade if you drive a Porsche right from the dealer to the track.

Others are suggesting oil-coolers which are actually really easy to install. This Subaru is really easy to work on with tons of space and access. It appears they designed the car for enthusiasts IMHO. One guy said the higher oil temps will lower horsepower.... Hmm........ but, the track guys are buying the oil coolers. Other common upgrades are brakes, wheels etc.

So, my friend has a track day coming up in a few weeks so if you are interested, I can post his report with these changes.

Peace
Bruce in Philly



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 10:16AM by Bruce In Philly (2000 S Boxster, now '09 C2S). (view changes)

Yes., the power: weight ratio is about identical to my base boxster.

Now, i have always maintained that on the street,t hat is more than plenty.

OTOH, on the track, its pretty darned slow.
Especially if you run with NNJR-PCA, where every other car is a GT-3 (the other half are GT-3 RSs, GT2s, Turbos, ....).

So i understand both sentiments. It is not slow. Yet, if he wants to track it, it is. That said,its all relative and slippery slope. Would a Boxster S be any faster compared to a GT3? Nope. How about a new CaymanS? Nope. etc.

And power costs more than handling.

For $25k it sounds like a heck of a car. And even "our" cars are barely track ready out of the box. I had about 3 events before i needed track brake pads. And about 5 before i needed more aggressive tires (largely for wear).

We simply cannot fault a street car for not being a race car. If our cars were bult for the track, 85% 9 and i'm being generous) would hate them on the street. Bad in the rain, bad int he cold. Rides hard. Hits the ground on two coats of center line paint. Cant get over the bolsters. Skirts prohibited (!!!!) Gotta warm it up before doing much of anything. Unsafe at any speed (tm) handling (aka not dialed in understeer)

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

Ratios in and of themselves; relative tightness between. There've been observations concerning the early Boxster/Boxster S 5 speed vs. 6 and which gear one had to be in for certain corners and how it would affect exit speed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 03:11PM by Laz. (view changes)

I don't believe I was driving his car all that well and add to that I now drive a 2009 C2S that is a beast. Temper my comments please. I drove my Boxster. What I mean by that is that I planned my gear shifts, heal toe'd, and generally kept the revs up. Sloppy driving will yield poor performance. As Grant pointed out, my comments were also influenced by my friend's comments about always getting passed at Summit Point.

Peace
Bruce in Philly



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/31/2013 04:04PM by Bruce In Philly (2000 S Boxster, now '09 C2S). (view changes)

As the scots would say, its a wee beastie.

Grant

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com

bounce, bounce, bounce

Grant

gee-lenahan-at-gee-mail-dot-com