Andy Cap Cincinnati Red BRZ journal

[andycap]

I figured at the behest of our gracious site administrator Gianni Cabiglio (brz-club.com), I would start my own journal thread.

I have been dreaming of getting a new car for 8 years now, but 5 years ago I let my wife get a new car first as she needed it more than me. She was looking at replacing her old Toyota Corolla with a new Corolla, a Highlander or a Subaru Forester. Luckily she decided to go with the '07 Forester LLBean edition (in pictures below).

I was always thinking of getting a Mazda RX-8 and as we came closer to paying off the Forester, my time for a new car was approaching. Last summer when I was starting to really assess my options, Mazda decided to end the RX-8 during the 2011 model year with no direct model replacement. I considered the Hyundai Genesis Coupe, MazdaSpeed3, Camaro, and Mustang but wasn't really too enthusiastic about any one of those.

Then in November of 2011, I started seeing buzz about the BRZ from the Tokyo Auto Show. I fell in love almost immediately. I started looking for all the details I could get on the car.

In February, we had to take the Forester in for service so I took the opportunity to ask the sales guys about the car. That morning the dealership had just received promotional material for the car and the sales man was waiting for the manager to come it to open it. luck for him, I came in asking

Got to put my order in a few weeks later and was the first and only order at the dealership. The requested to keep the car for a week since it would be the first on in. I reluctantly accepted.

I wasn't expecting my BRZ to come in until Tuesday May 29th, but I got a call from the dealership on Wednesday the 23rd that the car is in. I wasn't charged any mark up on the car but I did agree to let them keep the car locked up in the show room over the weekend so that they could get people in to look at it and fill the other three orders they are allotted. I drove it for 5 and a half miles on Wednesday night when it came in and then locked it up in the show room. It was a blast!









I drove it around town on Monday afternoon and took off work to drive it on some twisty back roads on Tuesday. The car handles like a dream! I really haven't pushed it too hard, but every corner I push it through seems like I have endless grip.

I have a 3 year old daughter and the first day she didn't really enjoy riding in the car because she was used to much more leg room and my wife was in the front seat. On Tuesday when it was just me and her in the car, I pushed the front passenger seat up and she enjoyed the ride much more. I don't think we'll be taking the BRZ as a family for any long trips, but I am looking forward to a few long trips that I have planned with just me and one other person. The leather/Alcantara® seats are amazing. They support the body and keep you secure without pinching or feeling uncomfortable.

I've had a little problem with glare on the touch screen radio the first time I drove it in the early evening sun, but now that I'm more familiar with it, it's not an issue. I haven't played too much with the voice activated feature of the radio, but when I have, it's been frustrating. I guess I'm used to a more natural voice recognition on my iPhone with Siri. Connecting my iPhone was simple and you setting up blue-tooth for both phone and audio streaming is easy. I do wish the head unit on the car would give a little more control over track selection of the iPhone's playlists.

I'm having a blast with this car and have no regrets in purchasing it. Please let me know if anyone has any questions for me too.

Andy Caplinger.

[andycap]

I usually take the bus into work, but I decided since my bus pass expired yesterday to drive my BRZ in today. It was raining the whole way down and had to contend with stop and go traffic on the highway. I have found that driving on the highway wasn't too bad noise wise in the past couple of days when you are cruising around 2-3K RPM, but in the rain, the water kicking up in the wheel wells does make quite a bit of noise.

The back window could also use a wiper to clear off some of the drops. I'm planning on giving it a wash tonight so I'll have to apply some Rain-X to see if that makes a difference.

[Jeredin]

Thx for taking the time to tell us about your experiences with your BRZ. Sounds like cabin noise is the worst thing drivers have had to put up with in the BRZ/86. I've been wondering if it would add too much weight by installing the sound deading material. Obviously the car is very fresh for you, but from 1 to 10 (10 being worse) how annoying is the cabin noise? Thx.

[gianni@brzclub]

Good stuff Andy! Red is really growing on me, I thought I could never own a red car, but it does look good!

I don't feel that road and engine noise is too loud, maybe just personal preference. An STI is much louder.

-Gianni

[andycap]

Under normal driving the cabin noise definitely isn't a problem, even on the highway. I can keep the radio at around 10 on the on-screen dial and still hear it clear as day. We had some heavy rain this morning and the water hitting the wheel wells was a lot noisier than normal highway driving but it wasn't unbearable. I guess I would rate normal driving from 1 to 10 (10 being worse) at around a 2 and with the heavy rain I would rate it a 4 to 5 depending on how much water you are plowing through on the roads.

I'm not expecting Mercedes or Lexus levels in the cabin and I am very pleased with the noise I get.

[andycap]

Good stuff Andy! Red is really growing on me, I thought I could never own a red car, but it does look good!

I don't feel that road and engine noise is too loud, maybe just personal preference. An STI is much louder.

-Gianni

Thanks Gianni. This is the first red car I've ever owned. I figured I will be taking it easy out on the roads since red might be a target for the police and highway patrol.

I've owned black and silver and white cars in the past and wanted something a bit different this time around! I am so pleased with the color. I figured if the interior was going to have red stichting and instruments, I might as well make the outside match. Plus it is officially called Lightning Red and my daughter loves Lightning McQueen from Pixar's Cars so that clenched it for me

[Longhorn248]

I'm normally not a fan of red cars unless they're Italian, but I think the color Subaru went with looks great! Glad to see you're already enjoying the car, when are the mods coming?

[onbooSTi]

Thx for taking the time to tell us about your experiences with your BRZ. Sounds like cabin noise is the worst thing drivers have had to put up with in the BRZ/86. I've been wondering if it would add too much weight by installing the sound deading material. Obviously the car is very fresh for you, but from 1 to 10 (10 being worse) how annoying is the cabin noise? Thx.

You would really want to add weight with sound deadening?

[onbooSTi]

thanks for the journal! You must be the first person with a red BRZ?!

[Jeredin]

That's why I was asking and from his reply, it's not as bad as I've worried. I never want to add weight to a sports car.