Why I maybe crazy | Got rid of my STi for a BRZ

"Joshua Rollins" (joshuarollins)
11/02/2015 at 15:34 • Filed to: None

Well its been a little over a month since my first initial post and thought today would be a good day to talk about a recent change in my Garage. I’ve always wanted something fast, so when I got my first big boy job, I bought a 2008 Evo X. I put every bolt on, including fuel system and ended up eking out 376 whp/ 399 ft/lbs tq with the stock turbo. It was quick, but with the police I couldn’t take it out of my garage without being pulled over. I knew at that point it was time to get into something that was less conspicuous. Needless to say, I kind of floundered around car to car for a while.

I bought a Lexus IS250 AWD, Fiat 500 Abarth (which I adored), 2005 WRX, 99 Impreza (winter car), and a couple more. When I got the job I have now, long story short I am incentivized to drive a Subaru. Without thought I bought a 2015 STi, Crystal White base with the OEM lip. It felt very Evoish with the new faster steering ratio, and upgraded suspension. After a couple mods, I really started to get a feeling of the STi and the same complaints I had with the Evo I had with the STi.

My first car was a 1987 GTi - for the automotive connoisseurs I did have a 16v, for anybody not aware this was the first year of the 16v motor. The reason this information is important is because I have always had lightweight compact cars, the Evo was my first 4 door car ever! (I’ll write more about my first car in a later post) Even though the AWD system was fantastic, it always felt heavy to me. I’ve owned some pretty extensively modified Honda’s (yes I know you can call me a ricer) I had a 95 with a B16 swap about 15 years ago, 95 B16 Turbo, EP3 cammed K20A with 6 speed swap, just to name a few, so light weight and high revving has always been my thing.

Lets rewind to about 5 months ago, my girlfriends brother let me borrow his FRS for a couple days. It was love at first drive. I’ve always wanted a RWD car, I LOVED the S2000 but at the time I couldn’t afford one. I’ve driven just about everything, 370Z, RX8, Charger, Challenger, Mustang, etc and I’ve never fallen for another RWD car except the S2000 (besides exotic stuff I cannot afford) - until I drove the BRZ.

It wasn’t an easy process to take a 100 hp loss from the STi to the BRZ. That said, Patrick George wrote a piece in April titled “What nobody understands about the Subaru BRZ.” ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) It was really this article that swayed me to make the decision on the BRZ, it took a couple months to really narrow down what I wanted and pull the trigger. Its been 3 months and 11,000 miles since I bought it, there have been only a handful for times I’ve wished for more power but not often. I can fix power pretty easily but I can’t fix lightness, or steering feel without extensive work. This car is by far one of my favorites, I have owned somewhere in the range of32-35 cars. What the BRZ lacks in power it makes up with feedback and enjoyment, I’ve never owned a car that puts a smile on my face like like this thing does.

I also just got done doing a 2200 mile road trip. Burlington VT to Arlington VA, to Skyline Dr, Blue Ridge parkway, tail of the dragon, to Orlando fl. I’ll post that in the upcoming weeks as I process the pictures.

(All photos are taken and edited by me)

IG: joshua.rollins83

DISCUSSION (5)

qbeezy > Joshua Rollins
11/02/2015 at 18:46

Awesome write up. I love the looks and handling of the BRZ, but there’s not enough roads in Oklahoma to take advantage of the handling while coping with the power los .

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Joshua Rollins
11/02/2015 at 21:18

Welcome to the 86 life! I rallycross the shit out of mine and it’s so much fun

Joshua Rollins > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua
11/02/2015 at 23:37

Thanks man looking forward to this adventure - im pretty happy with it

asindhidude > Joshua Rollins
11/17/2015 at 15:34

how big of a hit was it when you made the swap (on the wallet, obvi)

Joshua Rollins > asindhidude
11/17/2015 at 20:56

In terms of getting rid of the STi, I sold it for what I paid for it. So I had about $2500 in equity to put towards the BRZ, also the 19mpg to 31mpg was really nice.