hello everyone and welcome in this video
we are checking out the 2017 Subaru BRZ
limited and this is of course the manual
transmission now they have made some
significant changes for the 2017 model
year most of those apply as far as the
engine just to the manual transmission
version but some to both there is now
more chassis reinforcements so a bit
more rigid chassis
you've got suspension tweaks they have
up to the east size of the rear
anti-roll bar and you also have a new
spoiler there on the back which will add
a little bit more downforce than the
previous version now as far as the
engine this is where a lot of the major
changes came in so they've revised the
cylinder heads the valves the camshafts
they've also changed out the plastic
intake manifold for an aluminum intake
manifold which I like to see because
pretty much everyone's going plastic
these days and it's cool to see that
they've switched back to aluminum for
the intake manifold so you know it
revised intake they've also revised the
exhaust manifold and so all of these you
know my new engine changes have added to
about five extra horsepower and five
extra torque so 205 horsepower 156
pound-feet now once again this is only
for the manual transmission that sees
these engine benefits so you know
they're further separating the
performance difference between the two
cars and you know the manual honestly
was the better performer already before
these changes and another difference you
know I got in this car and I started
driving it and I thought you know it
feels a little
than the previous version what's the
deal with that it can't be that I'm
possibly feeling you know just five
extra torque that's that's a very
different you know very small change to
be able to feel it wasn't that what I
was feeling it was the rear differential
change they've changed the final drive
from a four point one to a 4.30 and
that's going to be a bit more wheel
torque and I love that I love aggressive
gearing I'll take as aggressive gearing
as the manufacturers willing to put in
so I love the fact that they you know up
the final drive ratio gives you a little
bit more wheel torque so combined with
that and the additional torque from the
engine that certainly is a little bit
quicker of a car now once again this is
only for the manual transmission if you
opt for the automatic box which you
shouldn't do you're going to be getting
the four point one differential and
you're going to be getting the engine
without that additional benefits that
they've upgraded on the five additional
horsepower
and all these people biking up a hill
that's just tiring you could have a
boxer engine do it for you low CG have
fun around the corners not be out of
breath one of the other really cool
things about the fact that they went
from a four point one to a four point
three to me is that it proves that an
engineer wanted discussion out there
rather than the marketing team because I
believe what would have happened is the
marketing team would have seen the four
point three change they know that in
their previous BRZ the four point one
let it hit 60 miles per hour in second
gear so it gave you a nice 0 to 60 time
because you could hit it in second gear
and you didn't have to gear shifts while
changing to the four point three you'll
top out at about 56 57 miles an hour in
second gear and so you won't be able to
get that you know better 0 to 60 time
but this thing will accelerate quicker
to 50 for sure and it will definitely
accelerate quicker to 70 you know it's
just that one small area which everyone
focuses on is that zero to 60 time which
it may be a slightly worse on just
because you've got another gear shift in
there even though it has more torque at
the wheels you've got that additional
gear shift and you have to compensate
for that time and you know engineers
they're not going to care about it zero
to sixty whatever it's not that
meaningful you can you can change
bearing and and get a more fun car to
drive and that's what they've done
marketing sees this as you know that's
what people read people read the zero to
sixty times out there and so I think
that's cool that they've actually
switched to the four point three oh I
don't know if it's actually quicker not
to sixty my guess is that it would
probably do better to just have it top
off in second gear either way I love an
aggressive gearing is the way to go it's
what makes cars fun to drive like this
and it gets them a little tail-happy
another change they made is they've
added a track mode instead of sport mode
and you know that raises the threshold
on the stability control so we gets you
a little bit more sideways before it
kicks in and starts saying hey you're
going to kill yourself so it's exciting
that they've added that change and of
course you can turn everything off off
if you would like to not worry about the
traction aids and just get completely
sideways and you know at your own peril
track mode definitely lets you spin the
tires
so let's talk about what it's like to
drive up front you've got the boxer
engine with a low center of gravity this
is a really well-balanced car and you
know it's got a pretty stiff suspension
all things considered so what this
results in is something that's you know
extremely playful and very responsive
the steering is really sharp you've got
a pretty tight ratio on it so turn in is
very quick not too much weight to it but
it definitely has you know enough weight
that you can feel it pretty well and you
know the response is what makes it so
nice and you actually do get some
feedback through it compared to some of
the other vehicles out there for sure so
I really do like the steering in this
the throttle response is really good as
well which is something that with
electronic throttles you don't always
get these days but you know you put your
foot down and you definitely get the
power very immediately so that's nice
not too much Rev hang when you do shift
gears which is unusual for Subaru a lot
of them you know a lot of models my
Crosstrek for example the WRX for sure
has quite a bit of rev hang this tends
to drop the revs a little bit quicker
when you do shift gears so you know
that's nicer for quicker shifting which
is obviously desired in these quicker
cars which are meant for more spirited
driving the brake pedal doesn't have too
much travel to it really firm nice
progressive build as you press into a
definitely good strong brake so I do
like that and finally there's the
shifting and it's pretty much the
classic story with Subaru where you've
got
you know the classic nachi feel that
they have you know it's secure it feels
good it's not the smoothest shifter out
there by any means but you know plenty
of control with the clutch and nothing
really major to complain about I do like
the shifting in this much better than
some of the other super models where you
have that Rev hang and it's not smooth
as a result pretty nice
and the track notice a nice added
definitely lets you trip around a bit
with the rear end definitely get too
crazy but allows you to have some fun
with it
from this kind of road that's what this
car was made for
you've also got a new power gauge that
they show in the front to the right of
the speedometer and the tachometer which
actually shows you that dip of torque
which you have between about 3000 and
5000 you really want to keep this engine
above 5,000 if you want peak torque
available all the time keep it in a
sweet spot but with that 4.3 rear
differential it definitely helps you
stay there
chef's light blinking on there when
we're getting about 7,000 rpm redline at
7400 I really don't have many complaints
I mean it's a fun car it's a fun solid
car of visibility looking out you know
to your blind spot is pretty poor other
than that you know I mean some people
might complain the interiors a little
dated but they have updated the screen
here so you've got a nice decent
touchscreen the audio systems nothing to
brag about for sure but when you're
buying these kind of cars you're more
looking forward to the audio system of
the engine and it has a nice tone to it
so I've quite enjoyed driving it so the
question everyone always asks and you
know everyone claims does the BRZ need
more power and really I think it comes
down to you have to choose two out of
three things you can have affordability
you can have lightweight and you can
have high power you can only pick two of
those you can have an affordable
lightweight car like this or an mx-5
you can have an affordable high powered
car but it's going to be heavy it's not
going to be lightweight in order to get
the cost down
you have to use cheaper materials and
cheaper materials end up being heavier
it's expensive to build lightweight cars
and so really if you wanted this car to
have more power let's say they throw a
turbocharger on it well then they've got
to up the drive shafts they've gotta up
the differential they've got to up the
rear axles they've got to change the
rear tires make those wider you know
there's a lot of changes that have to be
made in order for it to be safe and
reliable with more power and so every
time you add power you have to add all
this weight to it so you really have to
choose you know do you want a
lightweight fun sports car or do you
want something high powered you know
that everyone would enjoy and I think
that's kind of the beauty about this car
is that it isn't built for everyone you
know not everyone is going to like this
car and that's a good thing we
need more cars that everyone will like
we need cars that have their very
specific niche that you know certain
people will enjoy driving and if you
enjoy driving cars you will have fun in
this thing because it's lightweight it's
so responsive and it's just a really
sharp predictable machine around these
tight corners and that's what makes it
so fun and I think adding power would
add weight and consequently it would
take away the joy of this car and what's
so great about it so I hope you guys
have enjoyed watching thank you all and
if you have any questions or comments
feel free to leave them below