I (maybe) want a really cheap BRZ to prep for stage rally- Subaru contingency is WAY better than any other brand and the BRZ is one of the few rwd cars that is new enough to continue having parts available for a long time. Problem is, most of them are too expensive for me so I'm trying to figure out the price floor. So let's see who can find the cheapest one that meets these criteria:
-Manual
-Actually a BRZ (FRZ and FT86 variants don't qualify for contingency, it needs to say Subaru on it)
-Reconstructed or clean title
-No major chassis damage
Otherwise anything goes- minor crash damage, hail, blown engine, vandalism, whatever. The best I can find is a few sub-$5k ones on Copart that aren't totally annihilated.
I regularly troll CL, $7500 the with a branded title is about the cheapest I see.
I don't recall seeing any less than that.
In reply to Floating Doc :
Seems closer to $10k here so that's good to know, you're in Florida right? I bet they're cheap with broken AC in the summer!
SE Michigan...$9K is the cheapest I found , with a rebuilt title and it's an FRS. I assume you have to start with a BRZ so the VIN is actually a Subaru?
In reply to lnlogauge :
That seems like a decent deal... I wonder how much I could flip the interior stuff for. Off to eBay completed listings!
Sorry man, $14k is as low as I see around here.
Don't do it! Stay vintage ;)
In reply to irish44j :
Can we lobby for Radwood to start a contingency program?
EDIT: This may actually not be the dumbest idea I've ever had. Anyone have a contact there?
Ian F
MegaDork
7/25/19 8:50 a.m.
Is the contingency really worth the expense of prepping a BRZ for stage rally over staying with the Merkur?
Why not just buy a cheap Impreza and put a frs/brz trans in it?
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
I'll keep an eye on IAA Cleveland Ohio location. If one does show up (none currently) I can even pre-inspect it for you.
In reply to Ian F :
That's part of the math I'm doing with this thread right now. The Merkur is also legal for Ford contingency but that only pays for a national level podium, which is a tough fight to win.
In reply to MrChaos :
Weight distribution and suspension geometry not suited to only driving the rear wheels.
MrChaos said:
Why not just buy a cheap Impreza and put a frs/brz trans in it?
There's no such thing as a "cheap" Subaru when rallying. Just ask the pile of blown engines at every event
(and I'm saying that as a long-time WRX owner who likes Subarus)
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
In reply to Ian F :
That's part of the math I'm doing with this thread right now. The Merkur is also legal for Ford contingency but that only pays for a national level podium, which is a tough fight to win.
Having thought about BRZ myself here and there over the years, the one thing that always makes me leery is the seemingly never-ending rumors of the BR-Z's demise due to meh sales (especially vs. the Toyota-badged version) and the fact that it's the one thing in Subaru's line that isn't AWD making it a misfit toy in their lineup and difficult to market using their traditional methods. I would tend to wonder if the BR-Z goes out of production, does Subaru bail on offering contingency to them - since contingency is about marketing, and there's no reason to market a car that isn't in the lineup any longer.
This (and my general distrust of Subaru engines) is the major reason I stopped thinking about BR-Zs. Besides, for the 1-2 rallies a year I do, contingency isn't necessarily the make/break factor - especially since you have to be FAST on the jump signing up in order to get the Subaru entry deals.
MrChaos said:
Why not just buy a cheap Impreza and put a frs/brz trans in it?
A couple guys have done that (well, done RWD-coversion with front axle delete) on WRXs in rallycross and found them to be awful - both quickly put their axles back in . I believe the quote that one buddy who did it said was "you get excessive oversteer AND excessive understeer with basically nothing in between" lol.
HFmaxi
Reader
7/25/19 10:39 a.m.
irish44j said:
MrChaos said:
Why not just buy a cheap Impreza and put a frs/brz trans in it?
There's no such thing as a "cheap" Subaru when rallying. Just ask the pile of blown engines at every event
(and I'm saying that as a long-time WRX owner who likes Subarus)
I'm pretty convinced most failures are due to poor oil cooling. Even our 2.2 NA needed a decent sized oil cooler to keep things in check. The water jacket coolers just aren't enough.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
In reply to Floating Doc :
Seems closer to $10k here so that's good to know, you're in Florida right? I bet they're cheap with broken AC in the summer!
Yeah, Central Florida, usually looking at Orlando CL and surrounding areas
$9k about two hours from me and meets all your criteria.
RedGT
Dork
7/25/19 12:01 p.m.
I currently drive one of the best paying chassis/tire combos in autocross and I would NOT be running either if I didn't already want to. Maybe rally pays a lot more than $600 to win but it takes a LOT of contingency to cover a whole build.
I mean you should build a rally BRZ anyway but contingency shouldn't be the reason.
Also yes, these cars do really benefit from an oil cooler. Mocal has the sandwich plate and everything you'll need.
I won't link out to it because we're not a sponsor of this forum (yet) but I am an authorized dealer of all Mocal products and can get you the oil cooling parts (and a special deal).
Slippery said:
Nothing in south Fl.
I checked around here also, nothing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
In reply to irish44j :
Can we lobby for Radwood to start a contingency program?
EDIT: This may actually not be the dumbest idea I've ever had. Anyone have a contact there?
No, but those guys are very active on social media. Wouldn't hurt to reach out that way.
