I pretty much agree with everything you said, but my comment is about comparing the BRZ to its peer group. Naturally, this is just my opinion.
As far as I can tell, the BRZ does not really have a peer group that it directly compares against. Of the vehicles in production for the US market, there is the Gencoupe 2.0T and I think that is largely it for 4-cylinder, 2-door, RWD setup, although the Gencoupe is quite a bit heavier skewing the comparison some. This is why I think it gets compared to the Z so much, which (to me) makes no real sense for two reasons.
First, if you compare it to the Z, then you should compare it to the Mustang. You could use the V-6 model, but the 5.0 is probably the more apt comparison if the desire is to keep the Z as the comparison benchmark because I don't think (might be wrong) the V-6 Mustang is there yet. So now we are comparing the lightweight 2.0L flat-4 NA BRZ to the pretty-heavy 5.0L V-8 NA Mustang or the quasi-heavy 3.7L V-6 NA 370z. The only characteristics these guys have in common is they all handle well and are fairly close in pricing(?), which is not a good basis to setup a comparison on since, well...you end up with this comparison.
Which brings me to my second reason. Why are we comparing it to the Z in the first place? Is it because they both handle well and can be bought for similar prices? How does that make any sense when you can end up with a comparison like the above? Why is not being compared more heavily to vehicles that actually existed in that market segment? Cars like the RX-8 and Silvia. Both are lightweight, just like the BRZ. Both are small engines with relatively modest amounts of power, just like the BRZ. Both existed in the "entry" level RWD sport coupe segment, just like the BRZ. Both have back seats, just like the BRZ. From just about every angle I can think of, these comparisons make a ton more sense and would be far more relevant than comparing the BRZ to a Z.
Again, since that was somewhat ranty although not at you bvl, strickly my opinion on the whole comparison bit.
My hopes for the car are it does well enough to bring this segmenet back and they figure out how to put a turbo on it.
