A friend of mine picked up one of the first Subaru BRZ’s in North Carolina last month and he was gracious enough to let me tag along and drive it for a few minutes. This won’t be a complete in-depth review because I wasn’t about to flog my friend’s brand new car. If you’re trying to find out about at-the-limit performance characteristics, read/watch one of the professional media reviews where they beat on a nameless press car. There are plenty of them here on this blog. I’ll be talking more about the philosophy and execution of the car and what kind of buyers it’ll be suited for. The Scion FRS/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT-86 is supposed to be the spiritual successor of the Toyota AE86 (Corolla GT-S Sport RWD here in the US) which I’ve owned one for the last 10 years, so we’ll see if both cars are cut from the same cloth. Hopefully Subaru/Toyota did a great job of modernizing a cult classic.
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Tag Archives: Subaru
Scion FR-S vs. Subaru BRZ on Track – Everyday Driver
These guys actually get what makes the Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ/Toyota GT-86 special. Just about every other review of the cars are too vague. Yes, the car handles well and is balanced, but it goes beyond that. The way the car handles, thanks to the low center of gravity of the boxer engine, could almost be described as fundamentally different from all other FR cars with pistons that move vertically. I’m going to describe it in much more detail in my review of my friend’s BRZ that should go live later this week, but for now listen to what these guys are saying about how the cars handle. They notice a lot of the unique sensations that everybody else missed in their reviews. It’s also the best run down of how the different suspension tuning philosophies for the Scion and Subaru translate on track that I’ve seen so far.
Source: Everyday Driver Car Reviews on YouTube
Tomei Cusco Impreza Time Attack Car
Have you ever wondered what it takes to build a world class time attack car? This is a bit of a peak into the a Subaru Impreza STi built in 2009 by Japanese aftermarket tuners Tomei, Cusco and Voltex. The entire body has been prepped with a carbon fiber wide body aero package and the suspension is made up of custom adjustable pieces that the teams fabricated. The car competed in several events in the then young American Time Attack scene piloted by Tarzan Yamada. They were shooting for some of the lap records set by the HKS CT2032R Evo, but I don’t think they were ever able to beat them. Tarzan also piloted this car at the first World Time Attack Challenge that year in Australia for a third place finish behind the Cyber Evo (which he also drove) and the Sierra Sierra Enterprises Evo from the US.
Source: Motive DVD on YouTube
Toyota FT-86 Vehicle Stability Control Demonstration
The Toyota FT-86 (aka the Toyota GT-86, Scion FR-S and Subaru BRZ) has three stages of Vehicle Stability Control: on, sport and off. These guys get to try out all of the settings on the skid pad at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. The facility has a water barrier slalom similar to the one they have at the Porsche Experience Center. Thankfully the three settings are all quite different and will be pretty useful.
Source: YouTube user dfawfzx
Subaru Puma RallyCross Team in the Global RallyCross Championship at Charlotte Motor Speedway
Subaru just released this excellent footage from the 2012 Global RallyCross Championship’s first stop at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Several of this year’s events are coinciding with NASCAR events and will be run in a format very similar to this. There was a lot of questions about how the course would look and I think they figured out a way to keep it interesting. There’s the requisite barriers, a jump and it looks like half of the loop is sprayed down with water. I’m sure it’s racing the NASCAR fans can enjoy.
Source: Subaru on YouTube