Sciaru BRZFRS (BreezeFrees)

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Even though it's an automatic, the EVO test is the only decent UK road test to date... all the others have been on the track, which is irrelevent for 99% of potential owners.

The BRZ/AE don't necessarily need to be any faster, but from what I've read so far, it's clear it needs more torque.

As it stands, it's not a car to learn RWD in... anything that requires serious momentum (and a big 'bung') to induce oversteer is much more difficult for novices to control. It need more torque so it can overcome it's grip past the apex on throttle alone.

It needs 250bhp and 250lbft... stick a turbo on it.
 
Stotty
It need more torque so it can overcome it's grip past the apex on throttle alone.
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And it needs this because....?

The way I see it - it's an RX8 with decent fuel mileage and potentially reliable engine, that does not need its oil topped of at every time fill-up.

If people were expecting something much beyond that - they should blame their own expectations, not the car/Subaru/Toyota.
 
dsgerbc
And it needs this because....?

The way I see it - it's an RX8 with decent fuel mileage and potentially reliable engine, that does not need its oil topped of at every time fill-up.

If people were expecting something much beyond that - they should blame their own expectations, not the car/Subaru/Toyota.
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That's not strictly the case. Toyota/Subaru have been promising that the 86 is a return to low-ish powered, but fun, adjustable, slidy cars ever since the first concept was revealed. They've used the "86" tag to deliberately evoke memories of the old Corollas, and they've even pointed out that the 86 script in the boxer badge is meant to look like four wheels sliding:

toyota-86-emblem.jpg


Yes, the car clearly has lots of benefits beyond going sideways, and actually EVO's review is fairly positive about stuff like the car's balance before oversteer, the steering feel (despite having electric steering) and even the dinky size, but you can't say that it's just everyone else's fault for expecting an oversteery car when it doesn't do that easily, because Subaru/Toyota have been expressly promoting the car on the basis that it goes sideways.

I'd still very much like an 86 (not so much a BRZ - Subarus mean zilch to me unless the word "McRae" or "Burns" is written on the back window). I think it looks fantastic, I like the small size, and I don't really need any more than a 2+2 at this point in my life.

As far as I'm concerned 200bhp is enough for me on the road, but I am a little disappointed that it's not quite the easy-slider we've been promised for years. I'm looking forward to EVO getting a proper go in a manual 86 rather than an auto BRZ, and I hope the test is a little more positive.
 
dsgerbc
The way I see it - it's an RX8 with decent fuel mileage and potentially reliable engine, that does not need its oil topped of at every time fill-up.
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Oil metering pump. Burns oil on purpose. Just another unique feature of owning a Rotary powered car. If people are bothered by it, they shouldn't purchase one.
 
Cool thing about rotaries is they don't blow to pieces when the timing belt breaks. They don't really break at all actually. The only real problem with pre-facelift RX8s was cold-start flooding. An American team designed that engine, the first one they'd ever designed. None of the other 13Bs have ever had that problem, as well as the facelifted RX8 which had it resolved.

Also, the oil only needs to be topped off mid-cycle, about 1500 miles usually. Change the oil often and you'll enjoy long, maintenance-free operation, accessories notwithstanding.
 
My RX-7 goes an easy 3,000 miles between oil changes, with maybe one top off, like keef said, at the 1500 mile mark. Mine has also never flooded, overheated, failed to start, got appalling fuel mileage (25 highway for a sports car isn't too bad) nor left me stranded in any way. That's over the course of 4 years of daily driving. Simply stated, it's been the most reliable car I've ever had.

I really want to see Evo or similar top tier mag compare the BR-Z/86 to the RX-8. I believe the RX-8 is the closest competition to the BR-Z and basically new models can be bought for essentially the same price or cheaper. So it's still somewhat relevant. I almost bought a 2011 RX-8 ($17,999 with only 4,000 miles on the clock!!), but begrudgingly decided I needed something more fuel efficient...
 
Eunos_Cosmo
My RX-7 goes an easy 3,000 miles between oil changes, with maybe one top off, like keef said, at the 1500 mile mark.
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3,000 miles :lol:

My Mondeo does 20k between oil changes and I had a BMW 2l diesel on variable service intervals that regularly did over 22k... even my 996 does 12k.
 


Found my car should I get one. FR-S in Ultramarine. Man, that color looks great. And with all the silvertone and red accents it's a kendomobile.
 
Omnis
How big are those wheels and tires? That's what I want.
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I can't find anything on the wheel and tire size but my best guess on just looking at the pic it has 15 in wheels and 215/55or60 tires.

R1600Turbo
Take back what I said earlier. Car will be at the shop tomorrow. :sly:

And here she is. :)
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Are you getting a chance to give it a test drive ?
 
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Probably not. :lol:

I heard something about it coming to the shop in the morning and first things first it's going on the lift for parts development.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
I bet your Mondeo wasn't made in 1984...👎
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No it wasn't, but then we're not living in 1984 anymore, and modern consumers don't expect their car to need an oil change every 3k miles... In fact most pepple don't expect to open the hood between services anymore.
 
Stotty
3,000 miles :lol:

My Mondeo does 20k between oil changes and I had a BMW 2l diesel on variable service intervals that regularly did over 22k... even my 996 does 12k.
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We also use inexpensive conventional oil, a whole 4 quarts of it. I already know your 996 uses about 12 quarts of synthetic, Mobil 1 being about 3 times as expensive as the conventional 10W-30 I use. My filter is $3.50.

We use conventional oil because it burns clean - we could use race-spec synthetics, but those cost at least 3 times as much and since we burn it and the purity of the oil is key to engine life, we wouldn't get much benefit and therefore it's just a waste of money. Even my Civics were changed before 5,000 miles despite running synthetic. The factory change interval for my Si was about 8,000 miles I believe, but there's no way it would have reached 140,000 miles very smoothly running dirty oil for such long periods.

Call us old-fashioned, but most people in my area of the States know their car should be maintained often. Most have other people do it, sure, but they still do it often. Besides that, older cars with quite high mileage are more common here in the States, as is self-maintenance. Attitudes toward car maintenance are quite different among wealthy people but most of us aren't driving BMWs and Porsches.

Average vehicle age here is about 11 years, most of those having 100,000 miles or more.
 
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R1600Turbo
Take back what I said earlier. Car will be at the shop tomorrow. :sly:

And here she is. :)
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That looks great! When they revealed the colors I was afraid it would be too much like an electric ultramarine or klein blue, but it looks more dark and muted like a lazurite or natural ultramarine. Can you confirm when you've seen it in person?
 
That blue is definitely the color I would aim for. I'd get some 3-piece wheels with polished lips and bright red spokes.

Btw artist boy, ultramarine is quite a bit more vibrant than this blue. This is totally navy.
 
Keef
That blue is definitely the color I would aim for. I'd get some 3-piece wheels with polished lips and bright red spokes.

Btw artist boy, ultramarine is quite a bit more vibrant than this blue. This is totally navy.
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They should've called it Lazurite.

WISAJ.jpg


Too bad you can't get a red headliner. Because...

oLcj3.jpg
 
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Keef
We also use inexpensive conventional oil, a whole 4 quarts of it. I already know your 996 uses about 12 quarts of synthetic, Mobil 1 being about 3 times as expensive as the conventional 10W-30 I use. My filter is $3.50.

We use conventional oil because it burns clean - we could use race-spec synthetics, but those cost at least 3 times as much and since we burn it and the purity of the oil is key to engine life, we wouldn't get much benefit and therefore it's just a waste of money. Even my Civics were changed before 5,000 miles despite running synthetic. The factory change interval for my Si was about 8,000 miles I believe, but there's no way it would have reached 140,000 miles very smoothly running dirty oil for such long periods.

Call us old-fashioned, but most people in my area of the States know their car should be maintained often. Most have other people do it, sure, but they still do it often. Besides that, older cars with quite high mileage are more common here in the States, as is self-maintenance. Attitudes toward car maintenance are quite different among wealthy people but most of us aren't driving BMWs and Porsches.

Average vehicle age here is about 11 years, most of those having 100,000 miles or more.
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It's not the cost, it's the inconvienience.

If I had to change the oil on my car every 3k miles I'd be changing it every 3 weeks... even the Porsche would need an oil change every 3 months.
 
Was never an inconvenience for me. Most of my cars have been super easy to change the oil though, so I could do it in about 10 minutes and be on my way.

FR-S parked outside this morning when I pulled up. :)

Edit 2: Dyno runs first thing this morning. 155whp on a Mustang dyno w/100 miles on the odo.
 
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R1600Turbo
Was never an inconvenience for me. Most of my cars have been super easy to change the oil though, so I could do it in about 10 minutes and be on my way.
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Depends on where you live. If you don't have your own garage or level driveway, jacking a car up on the street isn't always feasable.
 

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