Willtl

This seems to have gone away. Not had it for more than a week.

Looks like I am going the audio specialist route. Went down to a bigger Halfords today and although they would do it, I would need to source some parts myself. I asked the dealer I bought the car from if they could help with a unit that had Bluetooth and DAB and they said they can fit a Pioneer unit with sat nav for £1,400! I said not interested in Sat Nav, can you just get a unit with Bluetooth and DAB or fit a unit I provide but they don't have access to anything else and don't want to fit a unit I provide because "something I feel is likely to be not profitable". So much for customer service!

Hello! My (almost) life long dream of owning a TVR recently ended in disaster (traded in my BMW 325i coupe towards it, ended up not being able to live with the TVR and have had to sell it as a result ). At first wasn't going to get another car but then thought I should. Initially thinking about a 2nd hand M3 or 335 diesel, but after the exclusivity of the TVR wanted something that was a bit more unique so thought about the GT86 and BRZ. Initially was looking at a 2nd hand one, but on checking the Subaru website discovered that a new model wasn't that much more so have a test drive lined up for tomorrow. Hope to contribute decent posts/spam to the forum (depending on how tomorrow goes).....

Interesting comment about the throttle, I struggle with pulling away, either 2,000 revs or try to do it sensibly and then risk stalling. Gradually getting there though....

This picture really doesn't do the colour justice. I'll have to take a photo of it on a clear day. I'd never seen this colour "in the flesh" so when I arrived at the dealership and saw it in their workshop I was like Then when I got some petrol in the evening and saw the car all lit up from the garage lights I felt totally badass.

Grays/Chafford Hundred

I suppose I should provide a poor quality picture here. The real thing is slightly less grainy, but the twilight setting hid how dirty it has become.

Although I picked up my BRZ last Monday, I've only got round to properly trying the USB out today. I have a 32GB micro SD card running through a USB converter. This worked no problem in my 2009 BMW, but does not work properly in the BRZ. It plays one song and then locks up! Not sure if this problem is due to the shitty audio system in the BRZ, exceeding the USB limit (the manual usefully doesn't tell you what the maximum size is) or due to me running from a card. The stock audio system really is shocking, no Bluetooth, no dab but a dual din system which makes no use of the extra size. The stock BMW system from 2009 is just so much better. I looked in Halfords to see if I could get a replacement but they are uncertain of the parts to use, they think they could use the GT86 connectors, but I'd need to go to a non local branch. I've contacted the dealer I bought the car from to see if they could get and fit a system to my liking, but no reply to my e-mail yet. I'll probably give them a call tomorrow and if they aren't interested in helping out, maybe I'll contact a Toyota dealer to see if they can sell me and fit a Toyota option.

There are a few non hatchbacks around with rear wipers, but rare. As someone else has said though, a rear wiper here will spoil the looks, so just something to complain about that I don't actually want.

Definitely. Get a lot of rain and people will start drowning due to no rear window.

This has been covered, the rear heater magically clears the rain.

Someone is going to get injured here...

Yep, I'm also not finding it the smoothest in first and reverse.

I'm not sure about this on my car. I thought I had to press unlock each time but tonight, the door just opened. I'll have to monitor....

Having to unlock the door when opening from the inside. Is this the norm? Seems ridiculous that you have to press unlock before opening the door.

I just kind of pull it to unlock and then pull again to open.

Buy a TVR Griffith instead, then you can have the fun of opening the boot to put the petrol in. Get it at the wrong angle and you get a volcano effect as the petrol "erupts" into the boot.

Yep. Kind of surprised as it does very little. I'm beginning to think it may not be the fault of the car, just that the car is highlighting the problem.

Leather. I test drove both versions and didn't have any problems during the test drives. I can only conclude that it is now a seat setup position or my elderly legs are causing me trouble.

Do you find your thighs aren't fully on the seat? I adjusted my driving position last night (reclined the seat more) and tried slightly raising the seat (any more and my head touches the roof). Not tried driving it yet in this position, but hopefully some improvement when I do tomorrow.

I know what you've said, but I'm not convinced you can cover off a blind spot without a blind spot mirror. I'm just not happy to rely on mirrors before pulling out. You can move forwards to check, but in the time when it is forgotten, that is when there will be someone in your blind spot.

I never rely on mirrors, always want to turn my head. If you try this you will see how poor the visibility can be. It is a shame the mirrors don't have the bit that takes care of blind spots.

Will be more to follow, but for now: 1) Had to fill up at Esso with only 97 ron. Anyone use this regularly and is it going to cause any long term problems filling up under the recommended 98 ron? 2) The car seems to want me to change up at lowish speeds, about 26 for 4th and 30 for 5th! Is that normal, don't want to labour the engine.

I can now cast my vote. I chose a BRZ mainly because there are less BRZs around than GT86s and also less Subarus than Toyotas. After coming from a TVR I wanted something that was uncommon. I think I prefer the colours on the dashboard of the Toyota and also the headset in the Toyota (actually, definitely for the headset, can't understand why in 2015 the stock BRZ doesn't even have Bluetooth, let alone DAB). Got my eye on a Kenwood dual din DAB/Bluetooth touchscreen in Halfords. Hoping there will be a black Friday deal on Friday in which case I'll buy one, otherwise I'll just wait a while.

For the few of you who may remember me posting several months back, I still have a BRZ on order with a current "date at dealer" of 29th November (so if it turns up on that date, probably be early December before I take delivery as I need the dealer to fit the Side fin blades and reversing sensor). One thing I am curious about is why so many owners have GT86s rather than BRZs. From my experience, I can see waiting 5 months for a new car a bit of a turn off so maybe that is one of the reasons why most of you seem to have GT86s. So as well as the poll, maybe you could add a little on what made you chose a GT86, or vice versa if you are one of the superior BRZ master race owners.