Taking your 86 for granted...
 

Hey guys,

I just thought i would say that I remember getting into an 86, and driving it for the first time, and admired how low and well it handles. Every intriciate detail about the car while driving was amazing.

However, as i slowly drive it everyday as a daily driver these appreiciation and traits has slowly become nagging crisitism for what it lacks. It was not until i had to go into a bodyshop to get some things repainted and repair that i realize the difference. I was given a courtesy car, and in addition have to drive my family members car during this time.

When i finally got back into my 86 i realize how good and amazing the suspension felt. Like anything in life, the more you accustom to it, the more you take it for granted. Now a days, i will always remember that absent period without my 86 and experience i felt in the other cars. This only made me more appreciative of the car even more!


What are your thoughts of driving this car as daily driver, and then hopping into another, and did you have the same experience? Did you get bored after a while, and wanted to switch cars?

You don't know how good or bad you have it until you have some comparables. Perhaps you may have to jump into another car before it changes how you see this car.


Let me know your experiences!

Yeah, I really dislike driving other cars ever since I had my BRZ. Especially big cars like vans.

I drove a rental Chevy Malibu out of town for a week and came back to my car. That, was eye opening.

Absence makes the heart grow fonder?

Driving away from Karting is always such a sad experience. Such a night and day difference. Cars just cant compare.

Its really you dont know what you have until you lost it

There's still a smile on my face every time I start her up. I usually baby it during traffic but I love it when I take her around the twisties.

I originally wanted to jump on the Rocket Bunny wagon but had a change of heart after realizing how amazing the 86 body lines are...

I even drive past buildings with reflective windows so I can see her in the reflections.

Some may say I'm odd and crazy for it but I call it being in love.

Driving my gf's Lancer or my parents Grand Prix GT make me realize how amazing the 86's are especially for their price point.

I definitely agree op. This past winter I had been driving my '00 Accord (automatic) and it was always interesting to note the disparity between the Honda and the FRS. The Honda was my DD at school while the FRS was parked in the driveway back home. Driving the FRS on the weekends was always something I'd look forward to.

You don't even need to drive the cars to note the biggest differences; just the driving position alone is soo much more intense. Dodging potholes in the FRS is a breeze. You can flick the wheel right before you are about to drive over a crater and the car will change direction. In contrast, that's not really safe to do in the Honda. You need to anticipate the potholes and can't maneuver around them w/ last minute maneuvers.

I know exactly how you feel. I will always need to keep at least two cars around for the rest of my life or I will go insane. Any car I drive I will eventually get fed up with and want something else. Even with the 86 I will knit pick every little thing I hate about the car (effin gas pedal..) and just when I am about to drive it down to a car lot and trade it off I go and drive my miata around for a few days and all of the shortcomings of the 86 seem to disappear. By the time I get back to driving my 86 I realize all of the things that it does better than my miata (comfort mostly) and I enjoy driving my 86 again almost like when it was new. Heck if I really need a shell shock I just drive my camaro around for a bit and after a few burnouts and manhandling the clutch I get back in the 86 and put my fut through the floor trying to push in the clutch.. lol

Agreed, this car has no drama so you grow numb to all the things it does right that you forget how many cars get it wrong.

I drive my wife's wagon now and then, and it feels like a boat. I also drive other cars rather often, so I get that special feeling every time I get in my 86. After two years I only love it more.

I drive other family cars and rentals enough to never take my FR-S for granted. I miss it a lot, especially when I find back roads out of town after being on a work trip for the week. I always wish I had it instead of a Nissan Rogue or Chevy Malibu...

When I got my FRS my plan was to alternate weeks with the M3.


But the FRS is so much more fun as a DD I haven't been doing that. The M3 is really only fun when you can open it up, so it's a weekend car now. I love the FRS

A - (FR-S) - B = Life is a journey (so you might as well enjoy it) not a destination.

Yup.

I had a Corolla S for a loaner while my seats were being redone. There was absolutely no weight or feedback from the steering wheel at all, the brake pedal was mushy all the way to the floor and the interior plastics were awful.

It felt SO good to get my car back.

One month later and I'm annoyed by my clunky stock suspension again...

I respect my 86!

And then I don't after getting passed by a minivan.





Jk. Sort of. But I do really miss driving it after I've been commuting with a bike or mustang. I end up looking forward to the drive, not the destination in the FRS.

I drove a corolla once as a rental, i think it was a 2005 corolla. OMG.....

When people complain about the power in this car I just think they're too spoiled. I was merging onto the freeway with that corolla and I floored it...it sounded like it was going faster than a lamborghini but I reached 40 in like 8 seconds -_- never again!

This thread made me think of a related incident:
A few years ago I was DD'ing a '99 miata and I had not driven anything else for like 2 years.
One day I had to take a Caravan to make at short trip for work. I came up to a sharp 90 degree turn (no stop sign) and I tough I would make it fine by simply letting go of the gas pedal (I was used to accelerate in that turn).
Couldn't be more wrong. The caravan almost made me sea sick whit how much body roll there was and all 4 tires were squealing heavily for the whole turn.
I must have looked like a maniac. On the way back I took that corner a lot slower.

More recently I drove a courtesy 2014 2dr Civic and HATED it. Was so happy to get my brz back.

When driving something like a brz/frs or a miata slowing down before a turn is something I tend to forget.

I tend to forget how much I have to slow down for turns when driving other people's cars. It causes many scared passengers. :burnrubber:

The worse thing is when I have to drive my sister's yaris. That thing is scary to merge with. You floor it and nothing happens.

i had the exact same experience. i was tired of having to drive a beater car for the winter and/or when it's my turn to take the kids to school in carpool. i thought i'd trade it in for a BMW 3 series. i test drove both the 335 and the 328d, and was really shocked by how bloated they felt. which is funny because two years ago, the 3 series seemed so sharp

When I got mine last year, I could feel it immediately after I drove my truck which felt like I was steering a boat down the road. Got to where I hated my truck. Then a few months later I traded the truck in for a Civic Si sedan.

Now I'm commuting in the Si and driving the FR-S occasionally. And I actually prefer the Si for most of my driving. The Civic Si is an absolute blast to drive around in. It may just be the Si being a manual and my FR-S being an auto, but the Si is more fun ~85% of the time. (Despite the FR-S being able to take corners faster.)

However, I did get my 86 up to the Tail of the Dragon back in January, and transmission aside, it was bloody perfect! It felt like the perfect car for those mountain roads. At no point dd I feel like my car was underpowered, unlike I do almost everywhere else around here in the land of traffic lights and straight lines... :/
If I lived in the mountains, I'd keep the FR-S, no question. (Well...I'd swap it for a manual..:D)

As it is though, I'm afraid the 86 will have to go...:cry:

I basically said the same thing about 2 weeks ago.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...&postcount=108

I drive a Chevy 4500 delivery truck for work all day. Getting into my FR-S for the drive home feels amazing every day haha.

We took my wife's Lexus HS for a week out of town. The luxury and creature comforts are top of the line in the industry but G'damn is that car boring to drive. After that long week away from my frs, hoping back in and rowing through the gears made realize why I have it. But on the flip side, sometimes I wonder why I even have the frs when my mr2 does close to everything the frs does but with 100hp more and is way more rare and exclusive. Still though, a couple corners in the frs and I'm all giddy again.

i drive the opposite of the BRZ a couple times a week. my other ride is a lifted, heavy, soft, and sloppy Tacoma. I love the truck to death and still enjoy it every time i drive it. but when i bounce between the two, the BRZ feels fast again. It is fun to have vehicles that are so opposite of each other and getting to enjoy their different personalities regularly. one i can go faster than most, especially in the corners. the other, i can go where most cant.

I basically do the same. The 86 is my weekday car. On weekends I end up driving my Z71 Suburban which also is "lifted, heavy, soft and sloppy" and I love it. I do occasionally run into problems when I try to drive the Suburban on roads that are usually exclusive to the FR-S and I forget to make the speed transition. 25MPH curves actually are 25MPH and not 65MPH curves in a Suburban!

I bounce between my FR-S, a 95 4Runner 4WD, a F250 Superduty diesel, and a '90 mustang GT that I'm rebuilding. I probably prefer to drive the Mustang honestly, just because it's loud, and I feel like a teenage hooligan everytime I drive it.....plus it does great burnouts. LOL

Every time I get back in my 1994 Toyota pickup, I feel like I'm driving a lawn mower or a golf cart.

OP has got a point. I'll be driving along and feel like I'm blended in with the normal commute. Then I see people staring, revving their engines, or trying to fly by me. I think to myself, "Why are they doing that?" Then I remember, "Oh ya, I got a BAMF car, that's why."

OP - I feel the same way. Even driving my VW GTI for a week (a fairly sporty car in its own right), then switching back to my FR-S feels amazing. The FR-S is so much more responsive and direct, and offers a ton of feedback through the controls. The driving position is also much better.

I am so used to looking at other people's door handles and tow hitches that when I drive the wife's RVR I feel like a giant!

I call it road vertigo.

More like vertigrow!

I remember the first time I sat in my Neon after driving the FR-S last summer (I dd my Neon during the winter) and thinking just how big and spacey the driver seat was in the Neon was compared to the FR-S...basically feel like an astronaut in a rocket ship when I sit in my FR-S...only a few more weeks until I can hopefully feel that again..

My girlfriend wonders why I always insist on driving my car as opposed to her G35 sedan when we do things.

I often drive my BRZ and my old car (Altima) in the same day if I am needing to carpool my daughters. Makes me appreciate the BRZ over and over again. I have had a couple of times when I tried to put my left foot through the floor of the Altima just before my brain reminded me "no clutch in this car" :)

the OP brings up a great point - it actually crossed my mind a few times..not in the sense of not appreciating the FRS, because I know our cars are really good for the money and drives extremely well.

The thought of what car to get after the FRS is bothersome. The FRS does everything right (althought some creature comforts can be better) but what other cars will there be that offers the same amount of satisfaction with an affordable price tag (new car)?

There are Porsches, BMWs, etc that might provide similar experience but the price tag will be much higher.

After driving the FRS for almost two years now, I know i've been spoiled with pure driving satisfaction and it will be hard to find something similar in the future that fits all the categories the FRS excels at.

Agree with you 100%....my fear is that the platform will go out of production within 5 years and then I'll be shopping for a much more expensive German car when it's time to replace.

+2 I also feel the same. Ever car I've driven since the BRZ/FR-S feels terrible to me, and now I know that if I am to have a similar driving feel the next machine I get down the line is definitely going to be pricey.