Welcome to M/A.
If you have not already done so, I suggest you take a spirited drive with an owner that will also let you drive to feel the car for yourself. Everyone that has gone with me for a drive and driven my car then wants a Mini. However, a new Mini optioned nicely (such as JCW) is more expensive than a BRZ/FRS or GTI.
I have driven a GTI a few times. It is very fun to drive and more refined than a Mini but lacks the fun found in a Mini (at least a Gen 1 MCS). I have a couple friends with BRZs but have not driven one. I have Auto-Xed against BRZ/FRS and the Mini always wins. The BRZ/FRS just need a little more power and torque to be on my wish list.
Thanks for all the comments. We are going to go visit some friends in Cali in a couple of weeks and one of them has a BRZ, so hopefully I can talk them in to a drive. I do really like the looks of them and it is good to know that maybe some of the reviews are a little overstated, but it is good to know about the issues that you have experienced Code3. I need to find time to get out and look at some of the other cars on my list. I'll keep poking around and will probably ask more questions as I work through my options (have started the same type of threads on some other forums).
Like I said in an earlier post, it is a really busy weekend for us with several friends coming in to town for OSU Homecoming. Maybe we could meet up after I do some more research?
