DevonK
Well-Known Member
The so-called "twins" don't really drive like twins so much according to the few direct comparisons I've read. Toyota has gone for a stiffer rear end than Subie and as a result it has less initial understeer and the tail end can be swung out more easily. However you pay a price for this apparently - several reviewers have noted that the GR86 has a firmer, less compliant ride. OK most of the time but a bit brutal over really scarred pavement.
The main reason I am giving the GR86 a serious look as an alternative (besides the over-pricing of the performance trim IMO) has to with my driving environment - primarily heavily trafficked urban, occasional busy highway/freeway, and no ready access to windy "driver's roads". It's the old slow car fast vs fast car slow argument. I have read too many comments by owners/ ex-owners of higher-powered cars who get bored driving them in my kind of environment because they can never utilize anything close to their cars' maximum potential for more than a couple of seconds at a time without being in license-losing territory. Then they get in a Miata or BRZ and have more fun because its limits are low enough that it can be safely pushed.
If I lived in Nevada, or the sparsely-driven hills of California you always see in the driving reviews, or even did a lot of long-haul driving where comfort and noise were greater considerations then I'd be more inclined to go with the Z.
The main reason I am giving the GR86 a serious look as an alternative (besides the over-pricing of the performance trim IMO) has to with my driving environment - primarily heavily trafficked urban, occasional busy highway/freeway, and no ready access to windy "driver's roads". It's the old slow car fast vs fast car slow argument. I have read too many comments by owners/ ex-owners of higher-powered cars who get bored driving them in my kind of environment because they can never utilize anything close to their cars' maximum potential for more than a couple of seconds at a time without being in license-losing territory. Then they get in a Miata or BRZ and have more fun because its limits are low enough that it can be safely pushed.
If I lived in Nevada, or the sparsely-driven hills of California you always see in the driving reviews, or even did a lot of long-haul driving where comfort and noise were greater considerations then I'd be more inclined to go with the Z.