Rear Diffuser & Power Mirrors

**Doug** · 06-19-2012, 03:18 PM

Second picture below is of the rear diffuser I pre-ordered in March, which back then was called a "rear underbody panel". It looks OK, but it's just cheap plastic and definitely not worth $745 + installation. Just fyi for anyone considering it.

Different subject, does anyone's BRZ have the power folding mirrors that are mentioned in the owner's manual? I have a Limited and they aren't on it, maybe just a European feature? Not that I want them particularly, just curious since everything else in the owner's manual is on my car.

Finally, any idea how to order the European padded kneepads with the red stitching here in US? The stock US ones are hard plastic, no padding, and my knee bones hit the edge which is pretty uncomfortable.

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**raventare** · 06-19-2012, 06:37 PM

Congrats on your new car. That "diffuser" is definitely not worthy of the rest of the car. I saw the power mirrors on the STi shop in Japan but you have to translate the words if you don't read Japanese...We can't buy them here. You may have gotten the 1st Owners manual, there was a recall of over 1000 worldwide. Yours may be rare at this moment...now that is worthy of this car.

I bet any car interior shop could get you a better deal on padding and exactly set for you...now that is worthy too. Are you going to use the tow hook for the front license?

still waiting

**Doug** · 06-20-2012, 10:14 AM

Thanks, that's a good suggestion for the pads, I'll check it out.

I'm sure I have one of the original owners manuals because the dealer also gave me a bunch of photocopied correction pages... Re the tow hook, I'm going to have to check, I don't even know if it came with one. I got a front license plate bracket, which I'm not using, but if there's a hook it must be in the trunk along with the spare tire tools, haven't got that far!

Good luck with your wait, hope it's not too long. But even if it is you'll be happy, the car is totally worth it!

**raventare** · 06-20-2012, 03:04 PM

Thanks back...the tow hook would attach behind the small plastic cover on the front bumper, just off center towards the passenger side. If you have a plate mount in the center the dealer probably put it there. www.Subarupartsonline.com (and other places) has a $70 plate holder that can screw onto that "tow hook" mount so you don't have to make more holes in the bumper. Whoever put your plate mount on probably didn't know any better and may not have attached it very well too. Good luck with all that and enjoy your new car.

**Doug** · 06-20-2012, 04:19 PM

OK I see what you're saying. Luckily the dealer didn't mount the front license plate holder, it just came separately in a plastic bag. And I'm not going to put it on since front plates aren't required here anyway (GA). But they did put on a dealer plaque even though I asked them not to, which I have to get off somehow. It's not a decal but a little plastic plate, so I don't know if the acetone I read about will work here.

Anyway, this is my second day driving it, so far just to work and on errands, but I love almost everything about this car. The steering was heavier than I expected but I'm already used to it and it feels great. Fantastic in curves, flat as a pancake. Shifter feel is awesome. Rear 3/4 visibility which I expected to be bad given the tiny back side windows is actually pretty good, if the seats aren't too far back.

In a parking lot the car's not as nimble as I expected for only 167 inches long (the turning circle's pretty big), and it feels heavier than 2776 lbs - which may be a good thing, I don't know. But besides that and the hard kneepads (and the touchscreen radio controls!), my only complaint is the dead zone in the torque that all the reviewers have commented on. You definitely feel it in every gear after 1st if the rpm drops too low (low for the BRZ, normal for most other cars). Then you can't accelerate without dropping a gear. But then I'm probably not used to driving high-rpm engines yet. I'm just freaked out by the mileage indicator which probably hasn't settled in to functioning right yet, it shows only 6 (!) mpg half the time so I'm afraid to rev it up!

This sounds like I'm not happy with it but I totally am. And every time I've come back to it in a parking lot I find 2 or 3 or 4 guys hovering around and asking me all sorts of questions when they see it's mine. That kind of car...