Dirty BRZ is dirty.

Most people that work at this place drive trucks.  I got some odd looks.

I drive my car.  A lot.

At this point I think I have the highest mileage BRZ in the country.  I can't confirm that for sure because obviously not everyone is on a forum, but with a 100 mile round trip daily commute, a trip to Arkansas and multiple trips to NE Wisconsin for work the BRZ has clicked over 8300 miles on the odometer.  One guy on the forums said his car would likely never see over 7500 miles...the horror!!   I picked it up on May 24th which was basically two months ago.  At this pace I would put on 49800 in the first year of ownership and my warranty would be up in 8.5 months.  Crazy.  In the winter I'm guessing mileage will fall off as I might be driving the xD to work when it's snowing.  But given how mild last winter was, and how insanely hot this summer is, lots of BRZ driving isn't out of the question.

7500 mile review!

I know...my mileage is rather insane.  I drive a lot, and have a 100m round trip commute, plus a couple of trips to visit customer sites and...why not drive the thing you most like driving?!


I've got the chirping issue, and the shift knob vibration issue, but I'm not super concerned with either atm.  The knob issue can be solved by screwing it all the way down and the chirping noise is either going to be deemed normal, or will get a TSB...I no scare.


I've noticed that the care feels more loose, and more powerful.  Not a huge difference but enough that a few times 1st-2nd gear pulls have slightly put me back in my seat, just a tad.  Perhaps this is also me getting to know the shift points and launch points of the car?  Not sure. 


I've done one auto-x and had a blast.  You can't really feel the balance of this car until you get to whip it around on a track or course.  My fear of the limits of this car melted away after my first hard lap.  It's just so predictable and easy to recover if you don't do the right thing.  I also beat the FR-S that was there by 1.0s, so that helped make the day that much better.  :thumbup:


As mentioned I do drive long distances, but I also live in Milwaukee so I see a fair bit of city driving.  I've said im at 70/30 hwy/city.  That being said my current displayed mileage is 32.4mpg.  My current calculated mileage with 21 fillups is 32.31mpg...so the dash display is very accurate.


I'll be doing my 2nd oil change this weekend and haven't noticed any drop in oil level from my first change, also the oil color still looks great.  My Quik valve also goes on this weekend, so hopefully oil change 3 will be even easier.


I'm still loving the car and (obviously) driving any chance I get. It is, hands down, the best car purchase I've made to date.

Mpg to date, 21 fillups.

Miles Per Gallon
29.5
32.7
30.5
31.1
26.7
32.5
32.9
33.1
31.7
29.8
30.8
31.3
29.9
29.8
31.7
26.7
30.2
31.1
31.7
29.4
33.1
32.31

My current mpg based off of 21 recorded tanks.  My dash mpg displays 32.4, so it's doing a really spot on job of calculating.  I'm using the app MPG for Free to record and calculate my mileage.  It also outputs the data as a .csv file which you can email right from your phone.  A great app.

AUS BRZs sold out in 4 hours!!

http://www.ausmotive.com/2012/07/16/subaru-brz-online-sales-stumble-into-top-gear.html

They have a very limited amount for this year (201) but they went FAST!

Among the amazing BRZ online statistics:

• Subaru website traffic initially quadrupled from 12 noon AEST

• In the first five minutes alone, there were eight orders

• 50 BRZs were sold in the first 1.5 hours

• Available stock was exhausted by 1547 AEST

Auto-x review/photos.

I joined a co-worker for my first Auto-x event with the Madison Sports Car Club this past Sunday.  We had a great event at the Madison International Speedway, a circle track with a small infield section.  First, the results!!

1T CS 119 Robert Norris 2005 Nissan 350Z
57.318
[-]0.431

2Tm CS 34 Andy Schuessler 2000 Mazda Miata
57.749
+0.431

3 CS 147 Jacob Mueller 2013 Subaru BRZ
58.213
57.439+1 +0.464

4 CS 114 Shawn Safro 2013 Scion FR-S
58.436
+0.223

The 350Z had Dunlop Star Specs, and the Miata had Azenis 615K's. Had I not coned in my best lap I would have had 2nd over the Miata. The 350 was running 55s raw times but hit 2 cones in each of those laps so even on my best day I don't think I would have been able to touch him.  Sticky tires are a hellofa drug.

All that said I've become even more impressed with the car.  It was the first chance I've had to turn off the traction control and really feel the car in it's element.  The balance that everyone talks about is obvious when you get to sling the car around a track with reckless abandon.  When it started to slide I felt the limit approaching and then the recovery was easy with either a slight lift off of the throttle to get you back in line for the next corner, or you could use steering input to pull out of the slide while maintaining your current throttle position.  At no point, even in the fast entry to the 2nd set of slaloms, when the car had to make a fast transition from one direction to another did it feel unsettled.  I knew what I wanted the car to do, and it did it, within the limits of the tires of course.

Speaking of the tires...they were pretty beat up at the end of the day.  The pavement on this track was not what you would call new.  I wouldn't actually call it old.  I'd call it tightly packed gravel with a thin tar glaze.  The FRS that was in my class said he felt his tires going on his 7th run (yes, we had 8 runs!) and while my times were only getting quicker his were falling off.  I'd assume that I was one or two runs away from tire fatigue as well.  Since the event they have returned to a normal state, albeit with a bit more rounding on the outside tread blocks.  The next step is to get some good rubber on this car and see if it still feels as planted and predictable.

Custom plates

The crew at FT86 is helping me choose my custom plates...I have it narrowed to 4, all of which I like equally.

LOW COG
NAT ASP
NO DRIFT
ESSES

We shall see what happens!

Update 6/12/12!

A late entry seems to have taken the clear win:  AIM4APX!