Subaru BRZ: the rear-wheel-drive Subaru sports car

The Subaru BRZ is a 2+2 sports coupé with a front-mounted boxer engine and rear-wheel drive, developed jointly with Toyota and built at Subaru’s Gunma plant. The first cars were assembled in February 2012, and the model shares its engineering with the Toyota 86.

Subaru BRZ at a glance

Based on one source; the BRZ is described in the English Wikipedia article it shares with the Toyota 86.

History of the Subaru BRZ

The project began at Toyota, whose first proposal was the FT-HS concept of 2007, a front-engined 2+2 with a hybrid V6. In 2008 Toyota bought 16.5 per cent of Fuji Heavy Industries and, under project leader Tetsuya Tada, invited Subaru to co-develop a new D-4S boxer engine. Subaru first refused, since the rear-wheel-drive concept went against its reputation for four-wheel-drive cars, and the project stopped for six months until Subaru engineers drove a prototype and agreed to join.

The FT-86 concept appeared at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2009, smaller than the FT-HS and with the boxer engine in place of the hybrid V6. Subaru supplied the chassis, modified from the Impreza, while Toyota’s ED2 studio refined the design. Further concepts followed in 2011 — the FT-86 II in Geneva, the Scion FR-S concept in New York and Subaru’s own BRZ Prologue in Frankfurt and BRZ Concept STi in Los Angeles.

Engineering

The production car uses an aluminium bonnet, a fixed roof and a boot lid rather than a hatch to keep weight down. The engine, Toyota code 4U-GSE and Subaru code FA20, is a naturally aspirated flat-four with Toyota’s D-4S direct injection, a 12.5:1 compression ratio and an 86 mm bore and stroke that give 1,998 cc, 200 PS at 7,000 rpm and 205 Nm at 6,400 rpm. Mounting it low and far back produces a 53/47 front-to-rear weight distribution and a low centre of gravity.

Two six-speed gearboxes were offered: Toyota’s TL70 manual, based on the Aisin AI AZ6, and an Aisin-Warner A960E automatic derived from the Lexus IS 250 unit, with Sport, Snow and Normal modes and software written to imitate a dual-clutch gearbox. A Torsen limited-slip differential was standard on most versions, and 16-inch wheels with Yokohama tyres were fitted at launch.

Sales

The car was unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in December 2011, and sales began in March 2012 with deliveries from April. In the first month of production Toyota took 7,000 orders for the 86 and Subaru 3,500 for the BRZ. In the United States Scion was allocated 10,000 cars of the 2013 model year while Subaru was limited to 6,000. A second generation followed, sold by Toyota as the GR86 and by Subaru as the BRZ.

Design and features

• Low boxer engine: a flat-four set low and back for a low centre of gravity.
• 53/47 balance: near-perfect weight distribution for a front-engined car.
• Two gearboxes: a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic with paddle shifts.
• Light body: aluminium bonnet and a boot lid instead of a hatch.
• Shared development: the same car as the Toyota 86, with Subaru chassis engineering.

Subaru BRZ versions

• BRZ (2012–2021): first generation, 2.0-litre 200 PS flat-four.
• BRZ with automatic: six-speed automatic with Sport, Snow and Normal modes.
• BRZ Concept STi (2011): show car prepared with Subaru Tecnica International.
• Second-generation BRZ: the car Toyota sells as the GR86.

The BRZ shares its chassis engineering with the Impreza and sits apart from Subaru’s four-wheel-drive cars such as the WRX. More Subarus are in the Subaru collection.

Video: Tim Schrick tests the new Subaru BRZ

Video by adveojn on YouTube.

Sources

• Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ, English Wikipedia: development, engineering, production, sales