Car Shopping

[lemming]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

Wow... those interiors look dated.

I didn't think the Miata's interior was much to talk about but it's nice and clean, and works well in comparison.

In any case, while somewhat dated the interiors certainly wouldn't stop me from getting either one. Though, I do like the BRZ interior better. Is it worth the extra coin, especially considering it sounds like the Scion version will have a sportier suspension tune? Dunno.

true.

but the mx-5 interior is an expanse of (somewhat nice quality) black plastic.

the matte silver expanse in the BRZ covering the passenger airbag looks chintzy in person, i can tell from the picture because Subaru uses that a lot now in its cars and it's suboptimal looking.

does it matter to a driving enthusiast? no.

none of this crap matters if the car(s) can be had for less than 30,000.

the closer these cars get to 30,000, the more i'd just opt for a v6 mustang.

look at the interior on those cars.....they've gotten pretty nice.

[Pinecone]

The Fiat Abarths are showing up at dealers. But in someone's infinite wisdom (did they hire people from BMW NA), the demo cars are 2 - 6 weeks out, and only customer cars are showing up.

[John V]

Originally Posted by lemming

the closer these cars get to 30,000, the more i'd just opt for a v6 mustang.

look at the interior on those cars.....they've gotten pretty nice.

Maybe I'm in the minority but I wouldn't even consider cross shopping the BR-Z, FR-S with a Mustang. Certainly wouldn't consider cross shopping a Mustang and an MX-5 either.

They are just such completely different cars.

[JST]

Originally Posted by John V

Maybe I'm in the minority but I wouldn't even consider cross shopping the BR-Z, FR-S with a Mustang. Certainly wouldn't consider cross shopping a Mustang and an MX-5 either.

They are just such completely different cars.

Plus, the V6 Mustang? I mean, it's actually a surprisingly decent car, and there's a weird kind of cognitive dissonance driving a Mustang that has decent power but delivers it in a very cammy way and without the V8 soundtrack. But at the end of the day I would kick myself every time I started it for not getting the 8. Every time.

And while the Mustang has evolved into a pretty nice car to drive, it's way too big to give you any of the same sort of feedback that the Miata does. I assume the BR-Z will be the same story. The Mustang is satisfying, but with the V6 its not particularly *fun.* You need the 8 for that.

[lupinsea]

Originally Posted by lemming

true.

but the mx-5 interior is an expanse of (somewhat nice quality) black plastic.

the matte silver expanse in the BRZ covering the passenger airbag looks chintzy in person, i can tell from the picture because Subaru uses that a lot now in its cars and it's suboptimal looking.

It's a "piano black" swath of plastic in my era NC Miata. In the NC2's it has been colored a matte silver or something like that. Some guys will pop the piece out and wrap it in a carbon fiber look-alike sheet . . . or they will paint it, usually body color. But it's just a simple 3" wide band across the dash. Not some garish amount of it.

Honestly, I'd prefer not to have mine Piano Black (marketing for really shiny, easily scratched black plastic). But I'm not at the point of doing anything about it yet.

[Jeff_DML]

Originally Posted by lupinsea

It's a "piano black" swath of plastic in my era NC Miata. In the NC2's it has been colored a matte silver or something like that. Some guys will pop the piece out and wrap it in a carbon fiber look-alike sheet . . . or they will paint it, usually body color. But it's just a simple 3" wide band across the dash. Not some garish amount of it.

Honestly, I'd prefer not to have mine Piano Black (marketing for really shiny, easily scratched black plastic). But I'm not at the point of doing anything about it yet.

yeah my mazda 3 has something similiar. Was thinking about looking around to see if there was anything nicer to replace it with like real aluminum but havent bothered with it.

[Nick M3]

Originally Posted by JST

Plus, the V6 Mustang? I mean, it's actually a surprisingly decent car, and there's a weird kind of cognitive dissonance driving a Mustang that has decent power but delivers it in a very cammy way and without the V8 soundtrack. But at the end of the day I would kick myself every time I started it for not getting the 8. Every time.

And while the Mustang has evolved into a pretty nice car to drive, it's way too big to give you any of the same sort of feedback that the Miata does. I assume the BR-Z will be the same story. The Mustang is satisfying, but with the V6 its not particularly *fun.* You need the 8 for that.

112MPH speed limiter. No thanks.

Worse yet, the drivetrain really can't take high speeds.

[lemming]

Originally Posted by JST

Plus, the V6 Mustang? I mean, it's actually a surprisingly decent car, and there's a weird kind of cognitive dissonance driving a Mustang that has decent power but delivers it in a very cammy way and without the V8 soundtrack. But at the end of the day I would kick myself every time I started it for not getting the 8. Every time.

And while the Mustang has evolved into a pretty nice car to drive, it's way too big to give you any of the same sort of feedback that the Miata does. I assume the BR-Z will be the same story. The Mustang is satisfying, but with the V6 its not particularly *fun.* You need the 8 for that.

the V6 mustang is a pretty natural competitor for the BR-Z, though. by pricepoint, footprint, space, etc.

i wouldn't buy a v6 mustang, either, but it seems natural to explore the space with some serious cowbell to give context for the BR-Z shoppers.

[Biggins]

The only other car I "considered" (though not seriously) once I decided on a new car was the Hyundai Genesis coupe. I really liked the Genesis Coupe 4-cyl turbo, but I could not get over the styling and it was too much $. I did not even think about the Mustang (V6 or V8).

The waiting time for my FRS is killing me... June seems so far away.

Terry: did you drive the regular Fiat 500 yet? If so, was it fast enough for merging onto the highway? I'm starting to see more and more 500s pop up in the city now, and their styling has really grown on me.

[Pinecone]

We did not drive a standard 500. Our experience with driving a 330 and then getting the M3 showed that can be a substantial difference.