All-New 2022 Subaru BRZ Makes Global Debut

[Red-86]

Originally Posted by ermax

Personally pearl and flake have no place on sports cars. The Twins would look so good in pure white, especially the 2nd gen.

Completely disagree. Plain white is the definition of ‘whitegoods on wheels’ and base models in rental fleets. Might as well go with unpainted black bumpers and black painted steel wheels whilst at it to maximise the cheap look.

A nice pearlescent white is much more upmarket. Toyota and Subaru understand this, and understand what most customers want, which is why they use a pearlescent white on their sports cars rather than ‘rental white.’

[Red-86]

Originally Posted by Transport3r

Yes I’m not a fan of breadvan white. Pearl white is where it’s at.

Yep, plain ‘delivery van white’ does not belong on any modern sports car. Can look OK on older cars but modern design doesn’t suit it.

[Quentin]

Originally Posted by HKz

The twins have been the most sold sports car toyota have ever sold, so yes it is quite popular in Japan..even my mom who is in Hokkaido at the moment has said she has seen many hachiroku lol. but this isn't any different than first gen release, lots of pics and vids came out in Japan before we started seeing them here in the states..

Yup, they are all over the place in Japan. I think that is what most people forget about the twins. They are a sports coupe designed for Japan. I’m curious how the displacement bump - and the requisite tax increase - will impact them.


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[SUB-FT86]

Plain white just doesn't look as nice as a pearl white. I had a tafetta white RSX and I hated how plain it was

[HKz]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Yup, they are all over the place in Japan. I think that is what most people forget about the twins. They are a sports coupe designed for Japan. I’m curious how the displacement bump - and the requisite tax increase - will impact them.


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The difference between 2.0 & 2.4 tax is negligible, an extra 6000 yen or roughly 60 bucks. Not sure if that makes much of a difference..

[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Quentin

Yup, they are all over the place in Japan. I think that is what most people forget about the twins. They are a sports coupe designed for Japan. I’m curious how the displacement bump - and the requisite tax increase - will impact them.


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Initial BRZ release was in the U.S. and not in Japan. This generation is not designed that much for Japan. Subaru was marketing for decades their 2 L motors (NA and turbo) in domestic market, while in U.S. they were promoting their 2.5 L motors. Main reason first generation is 2.0 L, is because Toyota was involved more in the engine choice and they have a more global presence. If they wanted to focus more in domestic market with the new model, then they would go with a 2.2 L motor at most or with a smaller turbo engine.

[ermax]

Originally Posted by Red-86

Completely disagree. Plain white is the definition of ‘whitegoods on wheels’ and base models in rental fleets. Might as well go with unpainted black bumpers and black painted steel wheels whilst at it to maximise the cheap look.

A nice pearlescent white is much more upmarket. Toyota and Subaru understand this, and understand what most customers want, which is why they use a pearlescent white on their sports cars rather than ‘rental white.’

If Toyota understands this then why isn’t the Supra grandma pearl white? There are tons of pure white sports cars that are WAY more expensive than the Twins. Pearl is appropriate on a Lexus sedan, not a sports car. Although I did just see a brand new IS300 in white and it looks like they dropped the pearl. Even the Camry XSE has a more sporty white that isn’t loaded with pearl.

[soundman98]

i like shiney

[ermax]

Originally Posted by soundman98

i like shiney

Are people confusing clear coat with pearl because it’s not the same thing. I’m not suggesting matte white.

[JD001]

Originally Posted by ermax

If Toyota understands this then why isn’t the Supra grandma pearl white? There are tons of pure white sports cars that are WAY more expensive than the Twins. Pearl is appropriate on a Lexus sedan, not a sports car. Although I did just see a brand new IS300 in white and it looks like they dropped the pearl. Even the Camry XSE has a more sporty white that isn’t loaded with pearl.

I don't like the pearl white, BMW's solid white is nice. White in my eyes is for racing/rally cars and Police cars, solid makes more sense for both applications.

[nikitopo]

Plain white is used in racing, because teams badge the cars with sponsor promotions. So, paint is not that visible and it doesn't really matter. Pearl white or other metallic color is better for normal usage cars.

[Quentin]

Originally Posted by HKz

The difference between 2.0 & 2.4 tax is negligible, an extra 6000 yen or roughly 60 bucks. Not sure if that makes much of a difference..

I didn’t know the gap was so small. I always figured it was more considering how much it was discussed.

Originally Posted by nikitopo

Initial BRZ release was in the U.S. and not in Japan. This generation is not designed that much for Japan. Subaru was marketing for decades their 2 L motors (NA and turbo) in domestic market, while in U.S. they were promoting their 2.5 L motors. Main reason first generation is 2.0 L, is because Toyota was involved more in the engine choice and they have a more global presence. If they wanted to focus more in domestic market with the new model, then they would go with a 2.2 L motor at most or with a smaller turbo engine.

The BRZ and 86 have had numerous press events in Japan while the US got 1 event. At the US event, journalists got to look at the car and some were able to ride along with Subaru’s driver. On paper, the twins still present poorly against the L4/V6 pony cars. I still believe that these cars were very much designed for the Japanese market first and foremost.


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[nikitopo]

Originally Posted by Quentin

The BRZ and 86 have had numerous press events in Japan while the US got 1 event. At the US event, journalists got to look at the car and some were able to ride along with Subaru’s driver. On paper, the twins still present poorly against the L4/V6 pony cars. I still believe that these cars were very much designed for the Japanese market first and foremost.

I'll tell it to you again. Subaru's priority is basically the U.S. market. You might got 1 event, but many months before the official release in Japan. In fact in Japan there were thoughts initially to not sell the BRZ at all in a same manner they will do in Europe, but they changed minds the last time. They are so dependent from the U.S. sales department, that if they tell them to dance they'll do it. It has been like this for some time and their biggest displacement motors were always targeted for that market. You can see attached the latest financial results. In '19 they sold 105k passenger cars in Japan and 700k cars in U.S. Can you do the math? It was x6.6 more cars in the U.S. Even if you include the minicar market, which does not exist in U.S., it didn't go more than 131k cars in Japan. In '20 they sold 84k in Japan and 612k cars in U.S. Meaning x7.2 more cars in the U.S.! Which market is more important for them?

The reason twins still present poorly against the L4/V6 pony cars is because they are focusing on handling performance and not that much on raw engine performance. It might seem to you a dump move for the U.S. market, but at least to them it was a sales success according to their targets. It seems to be a smart move, because they don't have much competition in this area and on specific price levels. So, they are playing alone.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by nikitopo

I'll tell it to you again. Subaru's priority is basically the U.S. market. You might got 1 event, but many months before the official release in Japan. In fact in Japan there were thoughts initially to not sell the BRZ at all in a same manner they will do in Europe, but they changed minds the last time. They are so dependent from the U.S. sales department, that if they tell them to dance they'll do it. It has been like this for some time and their biggest displacement motors were always targeted for that market. You can see attached the latest financial results. In '19 they sold 105k passenger cars in Japan and 700k cars in U.S. Can you do the math? It was x6.6 more cars in the U.S. Even if you include the minicar market, which does not exist in U.S., it didn't go more than 131k cars in Japan. In '20 they sold 84k in Japan and 612k cars in U.S. Meaning x7.2 more cars in the U.S.! Which market is more important for them?

The reason twins still present poorly against the L4/V6 pony cars is because they are focusing on handling performance and not that much on raw engine performance. It might seem to you a dump move for the U.S. market, but at least to them it was a sales success according to their targets. It seems to be a smart move, because they don't have much competition in this area and on specific price levels. So, they are playing alone.

Subaru is so North American oriented that the vast bulk of their cars are now built in the US. All of the biggest sellers (Outback, Ascent, Impreza, and Legacy) are built at the Subaru plant in Lafayette, Indiana. That doesn't leave much production in Japan.