- These things, they're everywhere.
All right.
They're like my wife's eyelashes and bobby pins.
They're like caterpillars, all right.
They're absolutely everywhere.
I don't know if you have a significant other
with fake eyelashes, but that thing's nuts.
That's tying up for us.
The BRZ, the GT86 and even the new 2022 Subaru BRZ
is or will be, going to be, absolutely everywhere.
High school parking lots, car shows, track days, meets,
and in our own aftermarket gallery,
and every single Facebook group imaginable.
Why, why, why are these cars absolutely everywhere?
I'm Alex, ALEX.FI on Instagram,
and in today's episode of,
who?
Why?
We're going to be talking about
why the FRS/BRZ is quite literally one
of the most perfectest cars in the automotive community
to modify, right now.
(upbeat music)
Anyway, I'm Alex.
It's good to see you
and if you're looking for aftermarket wheels,
tires, or suspension,
be sure to check us out over at fitmentindustries.com.
Now whether that's for your newly acquired BRZ FRS,
or GT86 or whatever it is that we choose to call it
in the next six months, we probably have something for it.
So be sure to check it out.
And if you have an aftermarket
or modified car, add it to our gallery
fitmentindustries.com/add
The Subaru FRS and the BRZ, all of those cars was not really
a car that we thought was gonna be successful.
After all it had sub 300 horsepower, no turbocharger,
didn't embody the Subaru All-Wheel Drive system,
and actively shared components
from other brands to save a dime.
It did not have the typical recipe for success,
and it wasn't an insane car.
It wasn't insanely quick.
The brakes looked normal.
The vents were plastic.
The stitching on the car didn't match
the actual exterior color.
And the engine itself had some quirks,
and features that would make Doug DeMuro go,
"This,
"this,
"this are all the issues."
It was just a weird platform to launch on,
and not many people actually thought it was
going to be successful.
But it's an insanely popular car when we look back at it.
So like, Owen Wilson, we have to ask, "Why?"
It's one of those things.
And if I'm sorry, if I hurt your feelings above,
it's not, it's not meant to.
It's just something that was the fact.
Back then people didn't think it was gonna work.
And it wasn't really that fast.
The car doesn't have anything that would really
make you scream, "Joy"
above the rear-wheel-drive manual pairing
with a pretty decent low center of gravity.
There wasn't anything inherently special.
But here's a few reasons why it became,
and probably is one of the best cars to modify,
especially if you're looking for your next project car,
build car, summer car, or something for you
to jump into modifying your first car.
And the number one thing about this platform
is that it has a recipe to be a blast.
The tail happiness of the car and the raw feeling
of driving it that you can go all out
without killing yourself, had people hooked
the moment they hopped into the seat to test drive one.
This became their flagship car at the dealerships,
and sure the low end torque isn't really there,
but that's what kept you above a 5,000 RPM range,
which makes everything feel better
as an automotive enthusiast.
When you're at the top of your RPMs
that's really when you're having the most fun,
and the car was almost built to keep you there.
It made you always have fun, right?
Now, there's not many platforms out there
that you can modify a car to get a lower
center of gravity as well, outside of coilover.
So with the FRS and BRZ, really being built
about trying to get an extremely low center of gravity,
it was nice.
You didn't have to worry about that.
So you could start with something
that was already relatively low,
with the long nose and just make it lower.
Made it feel like it was on rails.
Now, even with the massive recall the sports car faced
on its earlier models, it still wasn't enough
for people to avoid the platform.
And if you want to hear that story buying FRS or BRZ
check the recalls, it's extremely important,
or you're gonna have a huge headache.
Another reason was that they were just
really easy to modify.
I know that sounds really basic
but the amount of companies that came
out to support this platform came out of nowhere.
All right?
Not only that, the parts weren't that insanely expensive
to grab because there were so many companies supporting it.
Sure, grab your wallets when you start playing with
forced induction or proper wide bodies,
but just a clean set of wheels, coils, headlights,
taillights and some engine pieces
just didn't set you as far back as other platforms.
All right?
There's so many different parts.
There's so many different brands,
and purposes of those parts,
and build styles for the car
that the competition to support this platform
was really, really diverse.
All right?
BRZ and FRS enthusiasts were actually very lucky.
And what this means for people like you,
and people like me, is that when you're
jumping into a platform that has a lot of competitor space
from a like support perspective from the companies
of ECS or AWE or Perrin,
and all that sort of stuff, it helps keep your costs lower.
When you get into cars where the competition
on support isn't as severe as this platform,
let's say like M3s and M4s,
the price of parts raise dramatically.
Not only for the perceived value,
but because there's really only two to three
companies that actually support the platform,
which means if you're an enthusiast on that brand,
like a BMW, you have to go buy
from those two or three companies.
On the FRS and the BRZ platform,
there's dozens of companies that support the very same part,
which means you can go out,
and actually shop for what you want to buy
without necessarily breaking the bank.
Now you might be saying, "Well, Alex.
"All cars are the same to modify.
"Actually, you just need the time and space.
"Okay?
"There's not difference in how you modify it, any cars."
And, and I, meh.
Not all platforms are the same to modify.
And you can tell by going and buying a 3000GT VR-4
and trying to work on the engine bay.
You'll understand why they aren't as supported
as your NA Miatas.
The cars were built with the premise
that they'd be tinkered with,
and you can see it throughout the build of the car.
FRS and the BRZ platform, they knew what they were doing,
and they knew it was going to work.
Now, it's not free to play easy to work on these cars,
but it's actually not too shabby to play with the housings,
the bushings, the links, and the exhaust setups on this car.
They've made it fairly easy.
The entire car feels like a Lego piece,
and they did that on purpose.
It's got the right bones for a modified car,
and the parts are easy to get as it is,
you know like Dakota to slap a wheel.
But there is something else that makes it
the perfect car to modify.
Is it because it's affordable?
Well, yes.
But that should be pretty apparent by now
that you can pick up a BRZ or FRS for a bargain
of a deal, which was exactly what Subaru and Toyota wanted.
But that is not it, my friends.
It's not even that even though it does help.
Like, it's nice.
But it's not the real thing.
It's like an upsell.
It's not the real thing.
No, the real reason is because without modifying
they can almost be a bit underwhelming.
And that may seem like a bad thing,
but because it feels almost underwhelming
it begs you to build it.
The car begs to be built,
to be turned into something that's yours
versus something Toyota thought you would like.
And they know that the parts on the inside don't rival BMW.
The exterior lighting isn't as fancy as Mercedes.
And as an enthusiast, the exhaust note isn't as brilliant
as a new stock Mustang that has a bunch of
fake verbals on it.
But the BRZ and FRS almost taunt you
to make them like their competition
with it's platform, doing it yourself.
It's like, they're handing you the keys
to the Lincoln log set up,
and you get to make it your way.
The beginner sports car make it easy to know
where its shortcomings are.
But it doesn't care.
BRZ and FRS never tried to be something it's not.
It is a budget, entry-level sports car
that's begging to be built.
It's like starting out Tutorial Island
where it'll tell you exactly how to use a tinderbox
but lets you do the rest on your own.
Like this is the car for that.
It has personality, but it's not a unique one.
And that's what makes it unique,
because you go get and make it unique.
You do all the stuff on it.
And you're eight.
It's easy to do that.
It's cheap to do that.
You have everything from the wide bodies,
the turbochargers, the track set ups,
or the drag day builds.
The FRS and BRZ can and does everything you want it to.
And it does so fairly easily.
Which is why so many people jump into these cars.
It's the same reason that people have started
to drift the 350Zs and drag the second gen old Camaro.
Because they just sit in a space that gives you
a ton of bang for buck without really losing much.
Besides, I mean, who actually needs a backseat?
Who actually needs trunk space?
All right, if it's your only car it's gonna teach
you and your significant other just how good you'll need
to pack at carrying like one carry-on
and maybe one additional bag
next to the legs in the passenger seat.
Because honestly you don't need that big of a trunk.
I'm just saying.
But are they overrated?
Well maybe, maybe not.
It's, it's just something that you have to decide.
But there's a reason that so many are jumping into them.
If you're looking for a Subaru BRZ, FRS, GT86,
be sure that you're looking out there,
and getting the ones with the right maintenance work done.
and of course the right actual recalls completed.
Otherwise you're gonna be in for a treat.
However, if you have one, and you're looking for aftermarket
wheels, tires, or suspension, be sure to hit us up
over at fitmentindustries.com, for real.
And if you have a modified one, add it to our gallery.
It's actually a pretty, pretty fun time.
Let us know what you think below,
and let us know what you'd like us to talk about next.
I'm Alex from Fitment Industries and we will see you later.
Peace.