Quick Test Drive: Subaru BRZ

Photo: Joel Stocksdale

Finally! Just a couple days ago, I finally, FINALLY, got behind the wheel of one of the 86 twins, the Subaru BRZ. Since the introduction of the Toyota GT86/Scion FR-S and the Subaru BRZ, I have been desperate to actually get a chance to drive one. The reason being that there has not been a small rear drive sports car to generate this much excitement since the Mazda Miata debuted in 1989, or arguably the Pontiac Solstice/Saturn Sky twins in 2006. It’s no surprise either since it checks all the right boxes: lightweight, rear wheel drive, naturally aspirated four cylinder, two doors, and a reasonable price. The only real differences seem to be two more seats, a solid roof, and a different company. And, as a current Miata owner and enthusiast, I knew that at some point, I had to drive one of these cars, and that day came last week.

Now I need to preface this test drive with the fact that I probably took my first drive of a BRZ in about the worst possible place: Kansas. Nothing against Kansas, but it’s quite flat here, and as a result, there are very few turns. This wouldn’t be much of a problem in something like an old school muscle car that’s built to go fast in a straight line, but that’s not what a BRZ is made for. The BRZ is, like the Miata, a car for turns. With a lack of turns, it was hard to get a really good feel for the car in the handling department, and so there’s only so much I can say about it.

Photo: Joel Stocksdale

But before we get to handling and performance, let’s start from the top, or rather, the outside. The BRZ that I test drove was painted Sterling Silver Metallic, and I have to say that it looked quite good. I’ve seen a number of FR-Ss and BRZs in a variety of colors, but I think this was the first BRZ I’ve seen in silver. It’s not a color I probably would’ve considered at first. I probably would’ve leaned toward the BRZ-exclusive WR Blue Mica, but I think the silver won me over. It complemented the distinct curves of the rather short body quite nicely. I think it also improved the look of the front end. The front bumper is one of the few actual distinctions between the BRZ and its twin the FR-S. I’ve typically felt that the FR-S front bumper seems to tie in with the rest of the car better than the BRZ’s, but I think that the high contrast between the black grill and the silver paint really worked well, and has me second guessing myself.

Photo: Joel Stocksdale
(Photo of BRZ interior at Indianapolis Auto Show)

 

Inside the BRZ is a very nice place to be as well. The seating position is nice and low. The dashboard is short and the windshield is upright. The two combined offer a very sporty driving position with good visibility. The seats are quite superb as well. The BRZ I drove was a base model Premium car, with the standard cloth seats. I The bolstering is excellent and overall they’re quite attractive. The BRZ is also slightly better equipped from the start than the FR-S, mainly in the form of a touch screen stereo and navigation system and HID headlights, though the base price comes in at $1000 more than the base price of the FR-S. The higher level BRZ Limited also has a couple other more luxurious features unavailable on the FR-S such as automatic climate control, and heated leather seats with Alcantara inserts. Of course these amenities come at a higher price than the regular BRZ Premium.

Photo: Joel Stocksdale

But let’s face it, the most important part of the BRZ is how it drives. So, how does it drive? In a word: great! Despite a lack of twisty roads, I still could tell that the BRZ could be an all around blast. In fact, it’s the only car I’ve driven that seems to match my Miata. Everything about it is made to make driving fun. The shifter is well placed and has very nice short throws. The pedals are very well placed and feedback from all three is very good. The tachometer is right where it should be, in the middle, and as I already mentioned, the driving position is excellent. The 200hp flat four engine revs smoothly and has nice, progressive, naturally aspirated power delivery, without being too peaky. The gearbox complements it very well with closely spaced ratios that make it easy to stay in the power band. And while I wasn’t driving hard enough to take advantage of it, the BRZ has a standard Torsen limited-slip differential. With that being said, I can understand how people might prefer more power. I recently test drove a Ford Focus ST, and in comparison with the torquey turbo four cylinder in that, the BRZ did feel a tad sluggish. The BRZ is also in need of a little more growl and snarl from the powertrain. It’s simply too quiet and understated for a car as fun as it is. As far as the handling is concerned, from the few corners and highway merging I could muster, it felt excellent. The steering genuinely felt telepathic. Changing lanes took virtually no effort with the car responding to the slightest beck and call from the steering wheel. The car corners quite flat and it felt reasonably grippy, even with the standard tires that the BRZ and FR-S share with the Prius. The steering was also light and easy to work with. I would almost prefer a little more weight, but then I drive a car with no power steering. It’s also worth noting that the ride is good. It’s firm, but absorbs bumps without much fuss.

Overall, I was very impressed. The BRZ and its Toyota siblings are excellent cars. They absolutely deliver on the promise of being fun, affordable, simple cars that really get at the heart at what makes a car really enjoyable to drive. Most amazing to me, was just how close it felt to driving my beloved Miata. It does everything that mine does, but with a little more refinement, quite a bit more power, and in a more practical package. And any shortcomings that these cars may have, are going to be quickly rectified. The aftermarket is already booming for these cars, as I saw in Tokyo this year, and increasing power is one of the first things being addressed. I also expect factory forced induction options to be available soon. Subaru has a turbo four cylinder based on the BRZ engine in the new Forester, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Toyota offered a supercharger kit through TRD like they’ve done in the past on cars like the Scion tC.

My only regret is that I didn’t get to drive this car where I could get a real feel for it’s capabilities in corners. And I doubt the dealer would let me take it to an autocross. But either way, the BRZ is brilliant, and I think Mazda will have to seriously up their game with the next Miata if they want to stay competitive. And if anyone happens to know someone with a BRZ or FR-S that would be willing to let me drive it on a twistier road or an autocross, feel free to let me know. I promise I’ll be gentle.

Tokyo Auto Salon 2013: The 86 Extravaganza

One of my favorite cars released in the past year has been the Toyobaru. And by that I mean the car that is badged three different ways as the Toyota GT86, the Subaru BRZ, and the Scion FR-S. It really is only one car with superficial differences. I’ve read occasionally that there are minor differences in suspension tuning, but for all intents and purposes, they’re all the same car with slight changes to bumpers and lights. Regardless, the important thing is that it’s a lightweight, front-engined, rear wheel drive sports car with a Subaru flat four that uses Toyota’s direct fuel injection technology. And it is a wonderful little car. I still need to drive one myself, but its rave reviews, including being Top Gear’s Car of the Year, it’s fairly safe to say it is a great automobile.

However, after attending Tokyo Auto Salon, I don’t think any country has gotten as excited over what I will here on refer to as the 86 as Japan. Seriously, the 86 was everywhere at the show. There was even a booth called “86 World” dedicated entirely to the car. It was amazing the amount of stuff for the car and for fans of the car. Frankly, 86 World took some of the merchandising to Ferrari-like extremes. Aside from toy cars, you could also see tools, sneakers, and even eyeglasses bearing the 86 logo! It was almost too much. Ignoring the borderline absurd 86-branded goods, there were plenty of really amazing and interesting takes on this great, affordable little sports car.

These are the eyeglasses you can get, along with tools on the right, and a sign showing available sneakers on the left.

The hero of the Initial D series is a young guy named Takumi Fujiwara and is the driver of a white AE86. And as this drawing shows, he seems to approve of the new GT86.

These taillights were among a large number of parts available for customizing your GT86.

These were some extra small RC Toyota GT86s.

Tomica is Japan’s version of Hot Wheels and Matchbox. The major difference being that these are in showroom spec with showroom colors, and come in nice little cardboard boxes for storage. Yes, I did purchase a Tomica GT86 for myself.

The original AE86 was famous for being a fun, affordable, lightweight, rear drive car. It was also given additional fame as the hero car in the manga and anime series Initial D.

Among the things that I saw tweaked and changed on the 86, power upgrades were quite common. Many people have griped over the 86 having too little power at just 200hp. And while there is likely to be a factory forced induction car (which has even become more likely that the turbo version of the new Subaru Forester uses a version of the same engine), the aftermarket has you covered if you can’t wait. I saw at least three different ways of adding forced induction to an 86 by adding a turbocharger, a centrifugal supercharger, or even a roots-style supercharger. While I’m sure the first two will likely be the most common and most supported modifications, I couldn’t help but love the roots blower on top of that 2.0 boxer engine. However the roots supercharged 86 wasn’t the most unusual 86 with uprated power. I would say that title goes to the Tom’s GT86 on display in the Gazoo Racing booth. In that particular version, the four cylinder was thrown out altogether to make way for a V6. Unfortunately I don’t know nearly enough about the car or the engine to tell you anymore than that, but I would assume that it was taken from another Toyota product.

This is a flat-four engine in a GT86 that has been given the turbocharger treatment by GReddy.

Good-bye flat four, hello big V6.

The other style of supercharger is a centrifugal supercharger. Like a roots-style, it is belt driven and has practically no lag, but is more like a turbo in design, and in the fact that it produces power higher up the rev band.

The roots-style supercharger has been around for a very long time and has been a favorite in the American muscle car community. It’s big advantage is that it produces horsepower low in the rev range, gives a nice smooth torque curve, and has virtually no lag. It also looks extremely cool on top of a flat four.

Outside of just power mods, there were other interesting 86s as well. In 86 World, Toyota had a version kitted out with retro style goodies like vintage looking wheels, thick-sidewall tires, and even rear window louvres! I also was quite fond of the rally style 86 with fog light pods mounted on either side of the grill. Possibly one of the most popular 86s in 86 World was the life-size Choro Q 86. For those of you unfamiliar, Choro Qs are little toy versions of cars that are made to look cartoon-esque with exaggerated proportions and dimensions. This of course translates to a pretty amusing vehicle when scaled to full size.

This is the retro style TRD GT86.

Featuring vintage style wheels with vintage levels of sidewall…

…and rear window louvres!!

Bringing toy cars to a road near you!

I love rally cars, I love the GT86. You can guess how I feel about this.

Over in the aforementioned Gazoo Racing booth, some of the most extreme versions of the 86 resided. The most publicized of them was the Gazoo Racing designed 86 which was inspired by the last generation of the Toyota Supra. I was a little skeptical when I saw some of the early pictures, but seeing it in person, I feel they pulled it off nicely. You could tell it shared some of the Supra’s design aesthetic, but it was its own car. There was also an 86 modified and painted to look like an old AE86 Levin driven by Keiichi Tsuchiya. This was something rather cool considering that the Option Auto booth had that very AE86 on display as well. The Tom’s V6 GT86 did not ignore style either. It was showcasing some new body work including some very cool carbon fiber fender flares and custom split four spoke wheels. The wheels were shown in black and silver and I assume will be available to consumers soon. The last 86 in the the Gazoo booth was one that received the most radical bodywork short of the Supra inspired 86. It was designed with what I would describe as very classic, European lines. It was very organic and flowing, and I feel that it was quite attractive.

This GT86 was designed to look similar to the final generation Toyota Supra. I think it came out quite well.

This GT86 was designed to look like the AE86 raced by Keiichi Tsuchiya.

This Toyota AE86 was driven by Keiichi Tsuchiya, a top notch racer.

A fairly clean look given some additional muscle from the carbon fiber flares.

While not everyone’s cup of tea, I find four-spoke wheels to be quite cool, and Tom’s did an excellent job with these.

Although the bodywork and wheels on the Tom’s GT86 attracted my attention, it was all overshadowed when I looked under the hood.

Good-bye flat four, hello big V6.

I really rather like the organic, flowing look of this take on the GT86.

Elsewhere, throughout the show, you would find 86s scattered all over the place. From Top Secret, to Abflug, to Project Mu, it really was an 86 invasion. And you could find them in an array of styles from all function track style to just all style. There was even a kit that could make your 86 look like Toyota’s other, substantially faster and more expensive sports car, the Lexus LFA. The 86 even showed up in miniature customized form, with a USDM style model kit catching my eye. The 86 was almost overwhelming. It was very nice to see though that this small, low cost, rear drive sports car is going to get so much support and attention from the aftermarket. Cars like this simply don’t really exist anymore. The lone torch-bearer left in this segment has been the Mazda Miata, and while I love the Miata, I’m glad to see that there is another amazing little sports car out there. And hopefully if the 86 is as successful as it looks like it will be, we may even see a couple other competitors enter the fray.

Top Secret is one of the biggest names in Japanese tuning, and is well known for it’s extremely fast GT-Rs and a V12 Toyota Supra. So of course they had to do a GT86 too.

Budget too small for the $400k Lexus LFA (which is also now sold out). Not to worry, you can now turn your humble GT86 into an LFA. Your friends will probably still know though.

This is a model kit that I assume was a Toyota GT86 since it was right hand drive. However, it has been given a US style treatment with a stickerbombed fender, Yakima bike rack, and Scion FR-S badging.

I don’t know much about this particular GT86, but I do like the Subaru hood scoop.