Should i get a wrx or a brz

Steering feels just as precise as the BRZ, with just a little bit less feedback through the wheel. It soaks up most of the bumps instead of beating you up with them. The steering wheel feels better. The seats wrap around you more. There are more displays of useful information on the dashboard and center console. The climate controls are much higher quality, and the extra display on top of the dashboard lets you see its status without taking your eyes off the road as well as a nifty boost gauge.

You need to upgrade to the BRZ Limited to get it there. Infotainment systems generally suck. Since most of the time I stream my music through Pandora, my fancy infotainment system generally serves as nothing more than an amplifier and music display for my phone. This is a huge upgrade over the clunky infotainment system in the BRZ.

It supports Pandora directly, meaning that as soon as my phone connects full Pandora functionality will be available through StarLink. Other services, like Aha, iHeartRadio, and Stitcher are also supported. Unfortunately for me, StarLink only works over Bluetooth with Android phones. Bluetooth still works for making phone calls and such. The extra space of the WRX seems worth the weight penalty. My head barely brushes the headliner. This was an even bigger surprise to me than the massive improvement of the shifter.

That would be silly. I have to either pack the paper bags to only half capacity and crumple them, save the planet and bring my own reusable bags, or kill the planet with plastic.

After experiencing both cars, I finally understand why Subaru offers both. The BRZ is a true sports car, built for fun and performance without compromises. The WRX is a sports sedan, with concessions to comfort and practicality but still a fun car in its own right. The shape of the back window even has a Hofmeister kink like a BMW, the standard of sports sedans. So which would I choose today? The more comfortable ride makes it a much better daily driver. Real life makes it imprudent and impractical for me to change cars under my current life circumstances.

I will continue to drive and enjoy my BRZ. Follow justinhughes54 on Twitter. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed. Right Foot Down. New Car Reviews Reviews. Justin Hughes. Compare and Contrast Though rather different in execution, the two cars have quite a bit in common. BRZ subaru subaru brz subaru wrx wrx.

The car has been reliable, inexpensive, and equally capable sliding sideways in the snow or carving mountain roads in the summertime. Truth be told, one of them is likely to be my next car purchase, meaning my garage will reflect this exact comparison. I enjoy and learn from every pairing we put on camera, but this shoot almost seemed just for me. Armed with perfect weather and cars known to love corners, we drove across Los Angeles to one of our favorite roads in all of Southern California.

As a result we suffered through stop-and-go traffic on our way to canyon-road-perfection. Doing both quickly reveals all the things you love about a car. And those you hate. The first hint of boost starts early, turning the torque curve into a broad plateau from RPMs onward. This confident pull is so readily available that you find yourself staying in one gear and working the rev-band like you can in a torque-heavy muscle car.

Even in sixth gear on the freeway, one shove of your right foot musters a whistling boost of acceleration. The right pedal feels like less of a throttle and more like an on-off switch. In contrast, the BRZ requires driver involvement to find power, and passing maneuvers require forethought and timing.

On one steep freeway ascent I found an open lane and got the BRZ blasting up the hill with authority, leading the WRX to higher ground. All the while the quick-revving 2. Both these cars cost around thirty thousand dollars, which puts them in competition with many other great used and new options.

A used Porsche Cayman can be found for the same amount of money, but maintenance costs can be daunting. The Focus and Fiesta ST offer similar power and fun, but different drive wheels and packaging.

Careful shopping could yield a Lotus Elise, an S4, or an M3 for the same price. But none of those come will still have a warranty. Plus, Subarus are reliable and cheap to maintain. Decisions, decisions. The WRX has great visibility and surprising room but the driving position feels upright and truck-like when compared to the BRZ.

The long-and-low styling of the BRZ offers up a cockpit interior with legs stretched out before you and a ride height perfect for staring at the bumpers of SUVs. You plug into the BRZ.

You sit on the WRX. Driving into the mountains north of Ojai, the scenery and road style change about every dozen miles. Tight scrub-brush corners give way to long mountainside sweepers and high-plains straights before kinking again into pine forests and cliffside hairpins. I keep checking my rear view mirror, expecting Paul to be closing the distance with the WRX. It never happens. Intrigued, we change cars and I instantly see what he means. The BRZ rewards smoothness and once up to speed it can be driven with very little braking.

While most tests of the 86s show the absurd ease of drifting, the balance available here is rare at any price and carving through a corner without sliding is not only possible, but still extremely fun. When you realize this balance and impressive cornering are done in spite of terrible tires, it makes it all the more amazing. As much as the BRZ could use more power, it simply begs for better rubber. The WRX attacks the road, like its rally history would suggest.

Making the understeer-prone WRX into a cornering machine is accomplished with torque vectoring and the ever-present AWD.