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Stubaru BRZ


Stutopia

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This very morning I picked up the Zed's replacement. Here's a clue. It's missing two cylinders...

 

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...it's in stunning WRC blue.

 

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Last clue, is a state of the art Fisher Price headunit, no bluetooth, no steering wheel controls, not even a tape deck :scare:

 

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Can you tell what it is yet?

 

 

 

It's got a Z in the name (so, you know, technically I'm till driving a Zed).

 

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Just run in at less than 40k, with one careful lady original owner and one old couple previous owners, barely been above 4,000 rpm, until today. It's immaculate inside and out, with just a gentle engine bay clean up required to make it respectable.

 

I know they're not everyone's cup of tea and I'm down on power but I took it down some favourite back roads on the way home and it made me smile, when kept her in the right revs, which is just fine because the gearbox is like a bolt action rifle. Handling isn't as playful as the GT86 I test drove, but that might be awesome mixed rubber combo. Michelin Primacy's on the back and Apollos (???) up front. Already eyeing some matched rubber, pleasingly priced at £30-£40 less a corner than I'm used to. Also saw the other side of 30 mpg for the first time in years, which will be useful with a large upswing in city driving for me.

 

I'm not modding this one, it's staying stock, only maintenance jobs. Firstly I'm going to maintain a new headunit. Then I might maintain a gutsier exhaust. Perhaps some new rims. Then one day I might maintain a supercharger into it, but that's a long, long way off.

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good choice :thumbs: downside is probably the fact that their forum is not as good as this one :oops: but keep us updated here on future plans

I am considering something similar, one day maybe a gt86 project...who knows :ninja:

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Thanks for the kind words, I kind of expected to have to find my tin hat.

 

I'm with you on that carbon Dan, though the scuttle on the BRZ suffers from it sadly.

 

The G37 was just a bit too grown up, probably next time. The rising price of fuel with the slump in the £ wasn't a turn on either.

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Nice acquisition Stu :thumbs:

 

Until you get a new head unit I can highly recommend this.....

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Car-Vehicle-Electronics/TeckNet-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Transmission-integrated/B010NI8JL0/ref=sr_1_sc_1/254-7056647-8595934?ie=UTF8&qid=1488400195&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Technet.+Bluetooth+fm+transmitter

 

A fellow member recommended it.

I can't fault it.

Tune mine to 100.7

Fit and forget.

Auto on.

Auto connect.

No need to retune each time.

Like I said......fit and forget.

Just use your phone as a music player, and all for under £13 delivered!

 

Also looks really discreet when plugged in.

Even the display matches your blue paintwork :lol:

Edited by HEADPHONES
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Thanks for the kind words, I kind of expected to have to find my tin hat.

 

I'm with you on that carbon Dan, though the scuttle on the BRZ suffers from it sadly.

 

The G37 was just a bit too grown up, probably next time. The rising price of fuel with the slump in the £ wasn't a turn on either.

 

Traitor.

 

No I jest really. Looks great!

 

I have a bit of a hankering for a Mazda MX-5 RF as something completely less powered... but it does have a retractable targa which I seem fixated on for some reason :lol:

 

BRZ is Subaru DNA.. so obviously :thumbs:

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Looks lovely, would you say it feels much more modern/refined than your zed?

 

Not much more, it's definitely nicer interior with the leather (real or otherwise) on the door cards and nicer switch gear on the console, though not the steering column stalks, which are decidedly lightweight. The seats are very good, even with my "powerful" physique, gripping nicely.

 

In terms of refinement, it rides the bumps a bit better at low speed, it's generally quieter (but it is completely OEM) though there seems to be a bit of tyre noise from the front end, don't know if that's the tyres or just less sound deadening up front. You can't make progress like you can in the Zed, without more work, but that's not the majority of my driving these days. I really need a bit more time behind the wheel to really say with any certainty.

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Nice acquisition Stu :thumbs:

 

Until you get a new head unit I can highly recommend this.....

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/Car-Vehicle-Electronics/TeckNet-Bluetooth-Transmitter-Transmission-integrated/B010NI8JL0/ref=sr_1_sc_1/254-7056647-8595934?ie=UTF8&qid=1488400195&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Technet.+Bluetooth+fm+transmitter

 

A fellow member recommended it.

I can't fault it.

Tune mine to 100.7

Fit and forget.

Auto on.

Auto connect.

No need to retune each time.

Like I said......fit and forget.

Just use your phone as a music player, and all for under £13 delivered!

 

Also looks really discreet when plugged in.

Even the display matches your blue paintwork :lol:

 

Thanks for the tip but it's got a USB & 3.5mm phono in, which is fine for the time being until Bluetooth lands.

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The BRZ is certainly the one I would have out of the two also. I watched a review once that compared the BRZ to the GT86 and the consensus on the handling was that the BRZ's suspension is set slightly softer at the rear for handling on track, compared the the slightly stiffer GT86 for drifting, so that would explain why some people prefer one to the other after having driven both.

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As I'm not modding this car (other than the stereo and reverse camera arriving tomorrow and possibly an exhaust, remap or final drive) I thought I'd do some routine maintenance to get my kicks. First one is a bit of weird one. Apparently some marques have filters, but not for the oil or air or fuel, for the actual humans inside. Also, your bolt on mods just gain power on these, so I've uprated my pollen filter, good for another extra 15bhp at least.

 

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From the state of that above, I suspect I may be the first person since the assembler to look in this slot.

 

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Which is cleverly behind the rather quaintly located glovebox (in front of the passenger seat :wacko: ). There's also a little keypad in there which I believe disables various alarm sensors and last but not least there is a secret cig lighter, to go with the other one in the centre console and the USB/AUX in the dash!

 

My other job was to slip on some Bosch Aerotwins to resolve some smearing and reduce drag coefficient and weight, equivalent to another 15bhp gains I'd say ;)

 

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There's also a little keypad in there which I believe disables various alarm sensors

 

Theres a guide on the forum. You can make it lock the doors once you've started to drive away for example.

 

I may well have a few bits for sale at some point in the not too distant future, shame you're not modding it really...

 

Great choice btw!

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There's also a little keypad in there which I believe disables various alarm sensors

 

Theres a guide on the forum. You can make it lock the doors once you've started to drive away for example.

 

I may well have a few bits for sale at some point in the not too distant future, shame you're not modding it really...

 

Great choice btw!

 

Let's not be too hasty about anything if you've got things for sale :lol:

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Totally preferred the BRZ to the 86, felt sharper and more accurate, plus the interior didn't have the faux carbon fibre.

 

Great car mate, hope you really enjoy it :)

? it's the same car same suspension
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