The BIG BRZ Bickering Brief!

[michaelwfox]

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/..._photo_05.html

What digital display are you all talking about? The one on the center console? The ones behind the steering wheel look pretty normal to me

[Sinister]

it's digital mph right in the middle of the tac. pretty cool I think...

[MagnumXL]

My old 1988 Z24 (first car I ever owned back in 1992) had a digital speedometer (with an analog tach and bar graphs for the other gauges). I liked it at the time since it was easy to glance at, but it does kind of look '80s dated (think the Corvette had bar graphs and a digital speedometer too during that time frame as did my grandfather's New Yorker come to think of it). I suppose I tend to think of it these days like comparing a Rolex (analog with nice metal trim, etc.) to a $10 Casio digital watch (this is kind of like one of those $30 analog watches that has a digital display in the middle of it all, which still looks a tad tacky, IMO.) Really, if they're going to have some kind of digital display, why not a nice heads-up display (that you can turn on/off) to show the tach/speedometer on the windshield so you don't have to look down at the dash. THAT would be a cool factory feature.

[zax]

^^ My 1991 Buick Regal had a digital readout for Tach and Speedometer as well.

[michaelwfox]

I see it now. Why have that and a regular speed-o to the left? Seems a bit redundant.

[swarmagent]

Anyone else upset about this?
I love subarus, but this is just shameful. The original BRZ design is much better and at least stands out a bit.
BRZ:
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/29/2...otor-show-2011
GT86:
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/30/t...t86-tokyo-2011

[Anub1s]

It has almost the exact same body lines as my old '95 Celica GT. Not quite sure how I feel about that.

[Weasel 555]

With the introduction tonight of the 2013 Scion FR-S, the triumvirate of oh-so-similar sport coupes born of the joint venture between Toyota and Subaru is complete. The FR-S is what we Americans will get from the Scion brand, as opposed to the Toyota GT 86 that Europeans get and the Subaru-branded BRZ.

Believe it or not, but the FR-S will make Scion a five-car brand when it joins the xD, xB, tC and iQ next year. It is by far the most performance-oriented, thanks to its rear-wheel-drive architecture, relatively light weight and low center of gravity, the latter thanks to its Subaru-derived four-cylinder 2.0-liter boxer engine with Toyota's D4-S direct injection system. As with the GT 86 and BRZ, the FR-S will also produce 200 horsepower at 7,000 rpm and 151 lb-ft at 6,600 rpm. Transmission choices are also the same with a six-speed manual or automatic with paddle shifters.

With its introduction, the FR-S also marks the return of some excitement to Toyota's lineup of products in the U.S., even if it is branded as a Scion. The Japanese automaker hasn't offered a true performance machine in the U.S. since the MR2 Spyder ended production in 2007. The more hardcore Supra disappeared from American soil almost a decade earlier in 1998.

click/more pics/press releaseautoblog.com/2011/11/30/2013-scion-fr-s-makes-the-triangle-complete/

.

[zax]

So... we're unlikely to see the Subaru-badged version of the GT86 here on the shores of North America by the sounds of it.

Yet another car Subaru opted not to bring to the US market.

[michaelwfox]

"The FR-S is what we Americans will get from the Scion brand, as opposed to the Toyota GT 86 that Europeans get and the Subaru-branded BRZ."

That is a very poorly written sentence.

[Mikie13]

The wheels on the 86 are baller. I like them better than the BRZ's.

[MagnumXL]

Anyone else upset about this?
I love subarus, but this is just shameful. The original BRZ design is much better and at least stands out a bit.
BRZ:
2012 Subaru BRZ finally bows

A link to the version you're talking about might be helpful. I thought most of the previous photos were 3D mock-ups anyway. I like the more relaxed spoiler in that photo link than that giant kiddie job shown somewhere earlier in the thread. I think it looks better without the spoiler, altogether though (seems to be an option on both vehicles since the latest Subaru video shows a BRZ with no spoiler).

[Weasel 555]

Hot Toyota GT 86 planned

Toyota is already hard at work evaluating a high performance version of the new Toyota GT 86 sporting coupe. Chief engineer Tetsuo Tada says that not only is a supercharged GT 86 envisaged, test cars have already been made and are being evaluated by Toyota Racing Developments, the Japanese giant’s in house tuning division.

Tada-san favours the supercharger approach because it is simpler to achieve than increasing engine size and doesn’t wreck throttle response as turbocharging might. Indeed Toyota says that turbocharging along with four-wheel drive and wide tyres are what make sports cars boring to drive.

Supercharging is also a key competence for TRD which has been offering this kind of forced induction as an aftermarket kit for Toyotas since 1998. He would not be drawn on what kind of power a supercharged GT 86 might develop but Toyota is known to consider the car’s chassis could easily handle an additional 50bhp to go with the 197bhp already generated by its Subaru 2-litre flat four motor, a view with which, having driven the car, we wholly concur. However he says the TRD is also looking at ways of modifying the suspension to cope with the extra power, raising the possibility of a still more substantial power hike.

TRD’s most popular supercharger conversion is applied to the American market Tacoma pick up, boosting its 4-litre V6 engine from 233bhp to 301bhp suggesting that a 280bhp GT 86 with, critically, a massive boost in the low down torque the car currently lacks would be easily achieved. Even in the unlikely event that all the modifications added 100kg to the weight of the car, its power to weight ratio would still at least equal that of the 326bhp Nissan 370Z, a car capable of hitting 62mph from rest in 5.3sec and recording a top speed of 155mph. The standard GT 86 needs around 6.8sec and does 143mph. It is not yet known whether, if approved, the supercharged GT 86 would be offered as an aftermarket pack or as a model in its own right.

Tada also confirmed that it was so important to his team that even the standard GT 86 drifted properly that special tests were incorporated into the car’s development programme specifically for this purpose, ‘the first time this has ever been done on any Toyota.’

Click: autocar.co.uk/News/260343/


.

[Mikie13]

^^^Ok, now we're talking.

[rotarymania]

BRZ price announced:

- Starting price around $24k for Premium and about $27k for Limited
- Expected sales of 3-4k/yr
- BRZ differs from Toyota/Scion models in its spring rates

All details from: Subaru BRZ Price from $24,000 for Premium and $27,000 for Limited. On Sale May 2012 - Scion FR-S Forum | Subaru BRZ Forum | Toyota 86 Forum | ft86club