- coupe 61,708
- 1,533 below average
- 16,987 good
- Charleston, OR
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- autoshopper.com
- 1,533 below average coupe 61,708 gasoline black manual
2013 subaru brz review this car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale. There was a clear purpose in mind: make an affordable sports car without luxury add-ons or mega horsepower, but that is still state of the art when it comes to efficiency in the powertrain and chassis. The brz a 2+2 coupe, with jump seats in the rear for children or stuff like gym bags. the engine is a new 2. 0-liter with the latest direct port injection, making 200 horsepower normally aspirated. The standard 6-speed manual gearbox is way fun, carefully designed like the rest of the car to be that way. It's the only option for the car, beyond two models, premium and limited. the suspension is tight; it negates the bumps and hugs the road, and doesn't transmit anything harsh or jarring. The handling is more flick-able than any sports car out there, including the mazda mx-5 (although not counting the nearly identical scion fr-s because anything we say about the brz is also true for the fr-s). The center of gravity is 1. 9 inches lower than that of the porsche cayman. The whole car, including the new engine, was designed with that in mind. Later we drove the brz on oregon back roads at an event called run to the sun, hosted by the northwest automotive press association. We drove as aggressively as we dared, with no worries about losing control, also thanks to the standard non-intrusive stability control that has five levels, including one for track driving. The brz will be a blast at track days or autocross events. The standard summer performance tires are fine on the track, but some track-day drivers and most autocross drivers go for stickier rubber so they'll be able to drive to the event on the street tires and change over to the race tires for the event. rear-wheel drive is a modern first for subaru, a company that's been totally all-wheel drive almost forever. With no drivetrain to the front wheels, the engine could be placed farther rearward to achieve better balance; the engine is 9. 5 inches farther back than the 2. 0-liter engine in the subaru impreza. And the engines are slightly different at the intake manifold and oil pan, so the brz engine could also be mounted 2. 4 inches lower than the impreza's. The brz's light weight of 2762 pounds, using high-tensile steel in the frame with an aluminum hood, adds to the car's agility. the styling doesn't turn heads, unless maybe the brz is a flashy color, for example copper like the scion fr-s comes in. If the brz's lines resemble any other car, it might be the same-sized nissan 370z, or the mazda rx-8, a car that might be the best comparable. The brz is super low, with a roof height of only 50. 6 inches, or . 8 inches lower than that of the porsche cayman. From the side, its distinction is in the humps on the fenders harboring 17-inch wheels and tires. The roof has a wide groove, and that adds distinction, and the sideview mirrors are sharpened, which is also neat; but there are some cheap plastic bits on the sides and nose of the car. the interior is tight, simple and comfortable. That's tight as in design, not lack of space. There's no apologizing for the fabric seats, which are rugged and stylish with excellent bolstering. Little kids will love the two seats in the back. Navigation is standard and blessedly simple. Alloy pedals and red-stitched leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob are cool. We especially liked the tachometer mounted in center that includes a digital readout for speed that's very easy to read. In fact, the speedometer redundant. fuel mileage is good, with the 6-speed manual delivering an epa-estimated 22 city/30 highway/25 combined, and the 6-speed automatic bringing better numbers, 25/34/28 mpg. But that's on premium fuel, because of the high compression ratio of the direct port injection engine, so fuel cost isn't as good as mpg appears. lineupthe 2013 subaru brz comes in two models, premium and limited. Scion has a couple colors for the fr-s that subaru doesn't have, and colors on this car make a big difference. The brz looks like everything else and nothing else at the same time, and please don't ask us to explain. If it looks like anything else at all, it might be a cross between the nissan 370z and mazda rx-8. it's super low, with a roof height of only 50. 6 inches, or . 8 inches lower than that porsche cayman. The coefficient of drag is a sleek 0. 29. But where it seems lowest is at the hood, with its 17-inch wheels jammed up inside wheelwells that rise above the hood. Sideview, the car's only distinction is those humps over the fenders. The wheels have many sharp spokes, some black and some alloy. the nose looks like its designer knocked it out in an afternoon. Not that it's ugly, because it isn't; it's just simple, almost cookie-cutter. Big hexagon mouth, corners trimmed. Hid headlamps are sharp triangles pointing toward the grille, like pizza slices smoothed out so they don't look like pizza slices. the roof has a wide groove, and that adds distinction; it spreads out, so by the time it reaches the top of the rear window, most of the roof is groove. The sideview mirrors are sharpened, which is also neat, but it would be neater if they weren't black on the bottom half. There are some awful gray or black plastic things just forward of the sideview mirrors. At the tail, the lamps are round red led lights that look good when they're lit up, with white wings that don't look so good, hiding amber turn signals. Twin tailpipes come out of the black diffuser that has vertical ridges that appear to have been copied from the batmobile. Between the pipes there's a red triangle reflector that somebody forgot to remove from the european version (where it's a foglight), and a white backup light. interiormaybe spartan isn't the best word to describe the brz interior, because spartan implies it's lacking, but spartan is how this car should be, so spartan is just right as far as we're concerned. It's simple navigation. Even a subaru rep couldn't get the nav to get within about 2000 miles of where we wanted to go. Although recently a chrysler 300 we drove got it right. we like the rugged fabric seats; they have an appropriate look and feel, not a cut-rate cloth feel. The bolstering is good and tight; maybe too tight, as very broad backs won't fit. The three-spoke steering wheel is leather-wrapped with red stitching, and looks cool. So do the alloy pedals, including the dead pedal that's very functional and great to have in a car like this. gauge-wise, there's a big tachometer in the center, with a small shift light on the left side of the dash; not the best place but bette. Power Windows✔ Tachometer✔ AM/FM✔ Climate Control✔ Air Conditioning✔ Cruise Control✔ Bluetooth
16,987 Charleston, ORCharleston, OR at autoshopper.com