Jon’s little post has gotten me thinking (a dangerous past time, I know). Why is it that everyone (including every car journalist ever) splooges in their pants the second a Scion FRS or Subaru BRZ is even mentioned. Even the big wigs like Chris Harris and Carlos Lago acted like they wanted nothing more than to simply get the car off camera and do indescribably dirty things to it. Its as if Toyota is standing just off screen with a handful of chains in one hand and holding a baseball bat over their crotch with the other hand all while continuously mouthing “your move” to any journalist stupid enough to look their way.
It’s not like this hasn’t been done before. Mazda has been doing this for years with their MX-5 (*cough* Miata *cough*) and they barely get a quarter of the praise that the BRZ/FRS gets. Surely the BRZ puts it all in a more attractive package, but Pontiac/Saturn did that just a few years back with the Solstice/Skyline twins and those two came with turbo options!
I think it really just comes down to the fact that Toyota has finally gotten off their asses and tried to do something exciting for once and, ever since the Fast and the Furious came out, everyone has been hoping for this moment. … Something to note, though, Toyota did nothing really. It was nearly all Subaru doing the leg work on this car (mechanics wise).
OK, I’ll tell you why I’m really and truly sour. Every ass hat and their mother thinks its cool and historical to compare the BRZ to the 240z, as if the BRZ is some wildly revolutionary piece of history that people are going to look back on and go, yep, that’s what started it all.
Get your shit together, guys. Is there even a single piece of revolutionary technology on this car? No? Go ahead and look at the Z. There was more than one new piece of technlogy on that car that had never been used before (hydraulically operated hatch to name one off the top of my head). Furthermore, the Z was actually a competitive car, not only handling wise, but speed wise as well.
In a 1972 Datsun 240z, it was claimed by Motor Trend that one could reach 60 miles an hour in 7.5 seconds. Most auto publications have the 2012 BRZ at roughly the same time.
Think about that for a second. 50 years of technological advancements. 50 years of differences between two “budget sports cars” of their respective eras and they’re running the same sprint times? Is this a God damn joke!? How can you tell me that the 240z and the BRZ are even close to comparable?
Here’s my point, the 240z has its place in history for a reason. Not only did it look amazing, it brought amazing performance to the table for a fraction of the cost. The BRZ looks amazing and is fun to drive, but does nothing to further performance or technology on any level.
To prove my point, I actually “raced” (or accelerated next to on the road, yet maintained the speed limit at all times…) a BRZ while in my 240z recently. Now, remember, my 240 isn’t completely stock. It has an L28 in it that has been tweaked a little bit, but not too much. That being said, I dropped him. When I say dropped him I don’t mean in the same way a Z06 would drop an S2000, but I do mean in the same way that a classic car beats a modern car. A win is a win is a win, and losing to me in that car was something that shouldn’t have happened.
Bottom line: The 240z was a revolutionary success while the BRZ is simply an over-hyped MIata that has no place being compared to such classics as the 240z.
Let the hate begin, I’ve said what I needed to say.
