So, why a Subaru BRZ?

It was a really hard decision on letting go of the Honda S2000(up for sale soon). It's such an amazing drivers car. The twin platform has now been out for 5 or so years and there are now hundreds of articles, reviews, forum threads etc speaking of how great the platform is. 

*not comparing to the S2000 or saying one is better than the other*. 

With the popularity of the platform within the import world and within SCCA (STX, DS) my interests had been slowly increasing. Sometime early 2017 I decided I wanted to start off by just driving one casually at a parking lot or around the block. Luckily for me being a member of the autocross community affords me the privilege of being around a variety of cars with friends more than willing to let you take it for a spin....literally. I was lucky enough that my friend James Tatad has had his 2013 for a bit now and was gracious enough to let me drive it up/down the service road by Metlife stadium. I just wanted to get a quick feel for its steering, visibility, seating position, cockpit layout and transmission. That short test drive peaked my interest even more. All of the above characteristics felt great. The 2017 season had just gotten started and it was time for me to concentrate on my STR car and my driving, so the BRZ/FR-S interest was put away for a bit. 

Fast forward a couple of months and now I'm wanting to go to Solo Nationals. There are basically two ways of attending Solo Nationals. 

a) you go in your own car

b) you fly & co-drive someone else's car.

I had limited time off left at work and other logistics such as recently moving to NJ from NY that taking my S2000 out there just seemed far fetched. So I set out to secure me a fly & drive. It just so happens that it was the same year that James Tatad was planning on taking his own car out to Nationals. James had gone to Solo Nationals for his first time in 2016 as a fly & drive arrangement of his own in Steve Seguis's STR Honda S2000 (Lupa). James was gracious enough to offer up the co-drive in his STX car for Nationals to me. How could I say no?

I was excited for many reasons. 

1. It's Nationals

2. It's Nationals

3. hanging out with a bunch of my friends, meet a bunch of new friends and get to race against the best in the country, in a car I was very interested in. Yea...I was excited. 

First things first...had to co-drive the car at a local event to start getting used to the cars dynamics. 

Co-driving James's STX 2013 Subaru BRZ with NNJR SCCA

Co-driving James's STX 2013 Subaru BRZ at the 2017 SCCA Solo National Championships

To get a feel for what Solo Nationals is, check out this video

Speedway Motors 2017 SCCA Solo National Championships Video

The test drive back home, then the local event co-drive, then the Nationals co-drive and finally the announcement of the much rumored twin Spec Class by the SCCA at Solo Nationals pretty much solidified me wanting to buy an FR-S or BRZ as my next car for the next couple of years.

The Solo Spec Coupe class was announced at the right time for me. Here I was needing to significantly keep my racing budget much lower than previous years while wanting/needing to downsize on number of vehicles in the household while still being able to enjoy autox. Yes I could have done stock class.FOMO

This is how I ended up deciding on an FR-S or BRZ for SSC class. It checks all the right boxes for me right now.  

Those close to me know that I was not looking for a red car again. When I set out to find a twin (FR-S or BRZ), I had decided on wanting an Argento FR-S but the forces of the universe landed me at BMW of Bloomfield, picking up a Lightning Red Subaru BRZ Limited. This particular car, a 2015 Subaru BRZ Limited, just so happened to meet my other criterias(price, mileage, trim, distance and history). I couldn't pass it up.

Most of my racing friends know me for my red Honda S2000 and they all say they can't picture me in another color. I guess this works. 

For those wondering why this blog's URL is KnucklesBRZ.

Simple...

I also race with a death grip, tight fisted , so this also fits the bill. Need to loosen up....