BRZ and WRX

[tmontague]

Yes this topic has been discussed endlessly on other forums. I'm curious as to what you YW members think as some of you have pretty good track/auto x experience and have driven/built various cars in the past.

Here's my situation:

Within the next 3-5 years I plan on purchasing a used track/weekend (must keep it road legal) car that will be a hobby car for me. Something to have fun with on the track and autox or canyon weekend drive but also looks classy and can be driven around town if needed.

This will not be my DD, I'll keep my fun/efficient Yaris for that. Meaning that it won't be an issue to have this car out of commission if I'm working on it. I won't be driving the car in the winter, it'll be stored once there is salt on the roads.

Here in Ontario we have an etest that simply plugs into the OBD II port and check for any CEL's, if there is none and the vehicle's readiness monitors are all ok then you pass the test. This means that if the car has aftermarket software ability to choose which CEL's you don't want to trigger the light than you never have to worry about passing the etest (think accessport for the WRX). Having this ability on this car is a must for me to not have to worry about the e test every 2 years and being able to tune it. I plan on having this car for a loooong time.

Anyways, I've always thought I've wanted a 2011-2014 WRX as I love the wide body design and the aftermarket support is huge. That said, their re sale value is not cheap for what you get and after reading for countless days they are also not super cheap to keep running at the track.

Since the WRX's aren't light I'd be looking to build it to about 350-400whp which I think would be more than adequate for me. This all costs money which is fine but I also don't want to be throwing cash at the thing every months just to keep it reliable on the track/weekends. It's a hobby/build car not one I want to be under every weekend just to keep it running.

I've recently starting reading about the BRZ/FRS which i had initially dismissed due to their poor engine performance. However since I'm building either engine going boosted on a FRS/BRZ would bring about 250whp on a 2800lbs car that is much lighter than a WRX and has a better stock chassis for the track and balancing. Meaning less cash has to be thrown into suspension for it to handle exceptional at the track.

The cost of the FRS is also much less than a WRX. Now there is no accessport but there are some after market tuning options that I believe allows you to turn off CEL's you want (still not 100%). Where I'm at right now is the FRS/BRZ seems like a better solution for my specific use for this car and will cost less to do so. The car will be built for the track with performance in mind, not for comfort. I figured a SC BRZ/FRS will be just as fun for what I need it for than a built WRX which would cost much more and be less reliable.

Curious as to what some of you more experienced guys think would be a good path to go down in my situation