Hey, what's up man? Hope things are well with you. Here's my $0.02 on your questions. Hope it helps!
When you say the 85 Supra i'm assuming you mean the MKII, right? That generation is actually one of my favorites though I've driven a few and I think the GT86/FRS/BRZ is much closer related to the AE86 Corolla. Tada's engineers did a good job of making it the true spiritual successor of that car. If you're expecting the Supra feel i'm afraid you may be a bit disappointed. The 86 feels more nimble in an athletic sort of gutless way.
I never understood the appeal of Subaru at all. I once thought the owners were a bunch of tree hugging hippies (except the STi owners). I now "get it" and you get it too. It's hard to explain when someone asks me lol.
I once read an engineering explanation as to why the BRZ does not rumble. I believe it was only partially due to the UEL headers. This BRZ does not rumble and it's a more modern 4 into 1 header design. It looks relatively equal length. Not many are making power from aftermarket headers, nor intakes, nor exhaust for that matter. Folks are making power from FI and ECU retunes, Flex Fuel, and E85. The FA20 is lightyears ahead of the Subie engines of even just last year. 12:1 compression, Direct Injection, etc. I'm getting 26-34mpg (at the track i was getting 25mpg!!) so it's really an impressive little thing. I just wish it was a 2.3-2.4 litre or a small 1.8L turbo. For day to day it doesn't feel under powered at all but when you're at the track you definitely wouldn't mind an extra 30-50hp.
BTW.. the traction control on this car is very good. You won't notice the lack of grip from the RWD. It's very confidence inspiring w/o being too intrusive. They did the good job with the traction control algorithm here. Actually, they did a very good job with the 6AT shifting algorithms as well.
A buddy of mine is in the process of buying a BRZ 6AT and at this point in time the local dealers are still marking them up $+4k~ over MSRP. I bought mine at MSRP 3 months ago and honestly, I thought the demand would have settled down; it hasn't. You can find BRZ MSRP deals in the winter snow states that historically have high Subie sales from their AWD offerings (Legacies, WRXs, etc) therefore they get a bigger allocation of BRZs but can't sell them in the winter because their local market wants AWDs. This is why I bought mine in Colorado.
BTW... Subaru also announced they will increase the allocation to the US by 2000 units over the next 4 months. That's a lot!! and should drive down prices back to planet Earth again.
http://www.autoblog.com/2012/12/03/subaru-to-get-more-brz-coupes-to-sell-thanks-to-high-demand/
Good news: The young community has embraced this car.
Bad news: The young community has embraced this car.
There is a ton of information on this car but there's also a ton of misinformation as well they all seem to fill the online airwaves very very quickly. So tread on those forums lightly. It's easy to be misled lol. The only "bugs" I've experienced is the chirping sound of the direct injection fuel pump (annoying but not detrimental, TSB already issued but i'm too lazy to take it in for service anytime soon), ticking noise in the trunk (easy fix), idle rpm occassionaly dips (ECU reflash available), but surprinsingly the one major annoyance is my squeaky driver's window. It squeaks when you roll it up/down. They must be using the wrong kind of rubber window guides or something. These are all first build quality issues that when compared to the joy of ownership... I honestly don't even think twice about. The car is damn fun in all conditions and situations.
Oh btw.. I know 2 local guys who have had engine trouble (thru mods.. shhhh!) in one way shape or form. Subaru/Toyota replaced their entire engines no questions asked. Which means the companies are heavily supporting this platform and do not want to see it fail.
Hope this helps! Given the increase in allocation.. you might have good luck finding one at special pricing!
