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Funny you mention that.

Here in Alberta I hear all over the radio for FINANCING for winter tires!

Although compared to northern Ontario I drive on a lot more ice then snow here which is why I'm putting money aside to replace my shitty graspics with some godly blizzaks next season.

I used to think everybody should have cars, and as much as I hate public transportation (fucking bus nazi cut me off last night, had to nail the brakes to keep out of the barrier), my official stance on the matter is that if you can't afford to make your car road legal, buy a fucking bus pass. It's a privilege, not a right, and far too many undeserving people are given the privilege already.

And I hope to God that's financing through the tire shops and not the government. Again, privilege.

^ It probably is, just like how America's Tire Co/Discount Tires will let you finance a set of tires for 0% (if paid off within six months while making the minimum payments each month).

On autoblog, they posted a video of the first dyno of the new 86. Its readings at the wheels were 172 ps (which is about 170 whp, give or take). What's funny is that there is in-cabin footage of the tach, and the CEL is blinking during the dyno run. Is that supposed to happen? Haha

Dyno footage is so this morning... I'm over it already.

What I'm here to be on about, however, is a brilliant spotting from someone here in the cities:

Image size reduced, original size: 720 x 537. Click here to view the image in its original dimension.

Are they even supposed to be on sale yet? Or are those dealer/training cars? I figure the winter season isn't the best time to introduce a RWD car, especially in Minnesota where it's probably snowing.

The sooner the better. I'm ready and able to dump my tC at a moment's notice for a new FR-S.

Probably. Wouldnt be surprised if it was traction control (rear wheels spinning like mad while the fronts are standing still) or other such related shinanigans.

I'm pretty sure that traction issues generally don't set off the CEL, but maybe one of these:

170WHP?

Thats not bad at all for a RWD only losing 30hp from the crank to the rear wheels....

We'll know if they made light drivetrain parts when people turbo these and start snapping axles or driveshafts.

Im selling my SI for this when this comes out!!!

Hey, I'm too lazy to google the weight of this car.

How much was it again?

I just noticed today in GT5, the GT86 is only 30kg or something lighter than the Impreza Type R.

Kinda lame. For a RWD sports car, it isn't very light. I'll toss it a bone and say it's gonna go hand in hand with a better chassis and safety modifications.

But if they use the same platform/chassis for the next gen Subaru WRX STi coupe/3door and keep the weight around the same we might have a winner.

Gonna rethink investing in a GT86 and maybe wait for the legendary WRX coupe's return.

First off, safety standards. Of course it's going to be heavier than it needs to be.

Second, I shouldn't have to remind YOU of all people, that the Type R STi is to date the LIGHTEST STi Subaru has ever built, much lighter than anything we actually got over here. Something brand new that's that light is certainly doing something right.

It weighs at least 100 lbs. less than an S2000, and that's with a fixed roof and 4 seats. For a new RWD sportscar that's coming out this year, that's f*cking impressive.

And there is no way it will weigh "around the same" if it were to receive a turbo AND all-wheel drive.

This post has been edited by Fast on Jan 27 2012, 10:24 AM

Each year safety requirements change, and with more safety equipment comes more weight. 1200 kg. is pretty light for a 2.0 RWD car, its the same weight for a S13 which has the same displacement and drivetrain layout made over 20 years ago. I think its pretty light, your just comparing it to a AE86


Give me 3 modern day mass produced RWD sport cars that weigh less than the new 86.

This post has been edited by Jardim on Jan 27 2012, 10:43 AM

For the amount of power it comes out of the box with, it's just not very light. If you can't see that, you just can't see the bigger picture.

And yes, I do think that the upcoming WRX coupe will weigh very closely to this car and have AWD. If you don't think so, then you don't know jack about Subaru's boxer engine's transmissions.

Stick with Volvos.

Anyhoo. 3 am and I'm sleepy.

Toodles.



This post has been edited by WRX DEMON Type R on Jan 28 2012, 12:06 AM

It has the power to weight ratio of around 13.5 hp/lbs. That's in line with its main rivals (the Genesis Coupe 2.0T and the MX-5) and a little less than its dynamic benchmark, the Porsche Cayman.

I'll copy and paste from my previous post since it still applies:

It weighs at least 100 lbs. less than an S2000 and that's with a fixed roof and 4 seats. For a new RWD sportscar that's coming out this year, that's f*cking impressive.

It's 2012, not 1990. The one who "can't see the bigger picture" is you.

You're being awfully delusional about a car that has yet to even exist, let alone be confirmed. If such a car goes production, its a given it'll be AWD and turbocharged. The GR STI weighs over 300 lbs more than the base Impreza. So no, such a car WON'T weigh as much as a damned 86/BRZ.

This post has been edited by Fast on Jan 28 2012, 02:19 AM

The automotive section was feeling a bit too civilized recently. Good to see that we're back on track!

You should go back to japan and drive your Kei car's, there light.


And ill stick with my Volvo, thank you very much. Unfortunatly for you i do know about subaru boxer engines and their transmission, in fact, i know a lot more about subaru's than you might think. Just because i dont own a non turbo look alike "type R" doesn't mean i dont keep up with my automotive info on cars i find interesting.

Ill admit I think WRX Demon is certainly missing the point and out of touch with modern car reality, lets not turn this into the potential shit storm it may, and doesnt need to, turn into. Please keep it civil. Ive been able to just lurk and watch you guys for awhile now because its been so good around here- Keep it that way

been looking at this car a lot lately, all reports are its effing brilliant, an excelent chassie but underpowerd and undergripped thanks to it priuse sharing michelens, the engine being a boxter is great in the nose, very low COG, and compact, but will be a bitch to work on, plus its rated localy at least as 5 star safety, so the car looks good

astheticaly looks pretty good to, i like the yota more but i will admit that the brz looks a little better in the front, mainly because it doesnt have those "cannards", plus looks extremely tuneable, i mean $200 x4 au and youve got some high grip yokohama s drives ect on it, and the engine is rumored to be very strong internaly, allowing more power or / and high track abuse,

but the girlfriend loves it, wants one, so relived, as she was looking at pug 307 convertables, >.<

oh uhhh i guess i should say something negative about subaru and insult someones mother to keep with the usual banter,

demon, impreza carpets ar crap, very hard to clean,

perry your mother is err, old, at least older than you or me, so yeah take that,

GET THE 307 SOO MUCH BETTER!!!

That was done for a purpose. They wanted the car to be fun to drive while being economical while leaving room for a more hardcore, higher performance variant, which is without a doubt somewhere in the gameplan, regardless of whether it's coming as a Toyota/Scion or as a Subaru.

This car is meant to be an affordable sports car -- not just off the showroom floor, but throughout the course of ownership. The car handles well because of its inherent characteristics, not because of expensive, sticky tires. To give a brief example, the Evo will surely beat this car around a course, but it handles well because it has a stiff suspension (which helps counter its 61/39 weight distribution) and super sticky tires, both of which come at a cost, especially the latter. To maintain that level of performance, you will have to keep buying super sticky tires. The OEM ones are now $300+ each and generally don't last beyond 20-25k miles (and will last even less if you see a lot of track duty), and even the suitable non-OEM replacements are typically between $150-200 each. So you either have to keep buying expensive tires that generally don't last very long, or you have to downgrade to more affordable tires that will last longer but will decrease its handling capabilities, a lot of which is dependent on the tires, first and foremost. The FR-S/BRZ should handle just fine with its own OEM tires (obviously not super grippy but at least good enough for the job, since it's well balanced enough) which likely won't be expensive while maintaining stock performance... but if the owner decides to upgrade to a grippier tire with stiffer sidewalls, then they just increased the car's handling, whereas with other cars like the Evo and STI, you have to do that just to maintain the car's stock handling.

There have already been reports of this engine being tested with a turbo to be used in the upcoming WRX (and likely a variant of this car as well) with somewhere in the neighborhood of 270 hp. So we know it can at least handle that without much issue.

Let's just say this car gets a turbo and that adds 50kg worth of plumbing, extra reinforcement, etc. It will be 270 horsepower under 2900 lbs which is very very apealing. Might even be a serious competitor to the STI/EVOs out there.

I don't know about it being a "serious competitor" to them in terms of performance. One is a completely new platform, and the others are the results of ~20 years of constant development against each other to the point where they start getting put against Porsches, Ferraris and Lamborghinis.

A lot of the reviews have stated that the 86 seems like it's not being pushed to its potential in stock form, which obviously shows that Toyota/Subaru is planning a more hardcore version. But it depends on how they plan on tuning it. The turbo will certainly give it more firepower, but with this little weight overall (relatively speaking), that kind of hardware will add more weight to the front end and slightly throw off its balance, so they'll need to really work on the front suspension if they want to keep it balanced. Similarly, it'll get better tires (probably wider as well, wrapped around wider wheels as well).

It'll definitely be a fun car with all of that, but it's not as if it's going to destroy cars in terms of performance. But it might destroy cars in terms of fun per dollar and behind-the-wheel involvement.