Autoblog.com Review - 2013 Subaru BRZ

[poormans_LFA]

Last December, our wandering man of intrigue Jonathan Ramsey drove a Subaru BRZ prototype at Japan's Tochigi circuit under somewhat controlled conditions and was nonetheless very impressed. Then, in that same month, SoCal lad Michael Harley – he who knows a thing or two about hot-footing it on closed circuits – took the practically identical Scion FR-S for many unfettered laps on the island's short and sweet Sodegaura Forest Raceway. He, too, was left extremely enthused by the experience.

My turn now. We needed a real road test of the Subaru BRZ just to see if this car really does merit the "zenith" part of its name represented by its final letter. Can the stellar handling and light weight we've already raved about translate into something you could happily drive every day?

The roads on which Subaru sent me with their new star pupil could not be more appropriate: the ominous Route Napoleon in southern France. This is perfect, because the number of new car drives following the Geneva Motor Show has been mind numbing, and I frankly needed a spectacular car-and-road pairing to recharge my enthusiasm. I can think of no better combo for this than a promising sports car and this insanely technical French two-lane. I am here to find out if, in the real sporting car world, 200 horsepower and 151 pound-feet of torque are enough to keep the fire burning in me.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/03/26/2...-review-video/

[powertrip]

More talk of turbo in the future there.

[poormans_LFA]

Originally Posted by powertrip

More talk of turbo in the future there.

pretty explicit too:

I asked Masuda-san point-blank if indeed there will be an STI-style turbocharged BRZ by the time this generation reaches the middle of its life in two-and-a-half or three years. A number came out of his mouth that raised my eyebrows. "In future, there is the thought to have as much as 280 horsepower." Well, uh, gosh, that's even a bit more than I was gambling for. "And we are," he went on, "thinking very much about the possibility of a turbocharger." So, could we be digging on somewhere around 250 pound-feet of torque? The master would not confirm or deny, but he did say that such a model would probably not use the acronym STI.

[S2kphile]

The people in the comments section are too funny. Paper performance must seriously be important to people; even though, in the review it isn't about paper performance. *rolleyes*

Do people not like to have fun driving cars?

[switchlanez]

"Long story short – and to all doubters who have only numbers on paper or computer to go by – the Subaru BRZ is one hell of a real sports car and, on roads like these, will beat the tar out of all legitimate comers selling for anywhere near the Subie's estimated $25,500, and many selling on up to $45,000."



Also, "Masuda-san was commendably forthcoming on the post-drive questions I had lined up. First off, the standard 17-inch wheel/tire combo can get as large as 18 inches..." *Hope the 18" wheels look better than the 17s.

[blk]

I wonder why they talk about 1:1 in 4th like it's a bad thing.

[brillo]

I wish C&D would come out with their review, I'm curious to see where their numbers are. I think if more people see a mid 6 0-60 (which is likely the case), all this underpowered crap will die down a bit.

[Sasquachulator]

Originally Posted by brillo

I wish C&D would come out with their review, I'm curious to see where their numbers are. I think if more people see a mid 6 0-60 (which is likely the case), all this underpowered crap will die down a bit.

Nahh, its still slow.
it needs to be like 5.5 seconds to be considered "not slow"

People are far too obsessed by hp nowadays. When your typical family sedan has 268hp......

[Double4Free]

I doubt itll be 280 hp :| even if they do come out with it itll be like 250 hp max. And thats in like 2 - 3 years. Not waiting for that :[

[poormans_LFA]

i had a lot more fun driving an R56 MCS than a did a 5th Gen Camaro SS.

[slimjoe]

After reading that review, my original plan of waiting until sometime next year and picking up a used BRZ is going to be tough to follow through with.

[brillo]

Originally Posted by Sasquachulator

Nahh, its still slow.
it needs to be like 5.5 seconds to be considered "not slow"

People are far too obsessed by hp nowadays. When your typical family sedan has 268hp......

no one in their right mind should have thought this car was going to be a mid 5 second car. All the early press indicated a mid 6 sec vehicle and when insideline came out and says 7.0 due to the rev limiter people suddenly felt like they were let down.

There are going to be midsize cars (weighing 800 lbs more) with huge V6 engines that are faster to 60 but none will be as engaging to drive. I'll say again, given the price, if speed is your thing, the aftermarket will have many options to make the car go faster at all kinds of reasonable price points.

[Tainen]

hmm, interesting, his pricing info seems good and accurate- north of 25k a little bit for the premium, north of 27k a little bit for the limited.

that seems like 25,400-25,600 and 27,400-27,600 for prem/lim.

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by Double4Free

I doubt itll be 280 hp :| even if they do come out with it itll be like 250 hp max. And thats in like 2 - 3 years. Not waiting for that :[

If all these reports are true, coming from the lead engineer as well, I could definitely see them put the new FA turbo engine in the BRZ. That engine has rumors of being around 270-300hp.

Originally Posted by Tainen

hmm, interesting, his pricing info seems good and accurate- north of 25k a little bit for the premium, north of 27k a little bit for the limited.

that seems like 25,400-25,600 and 27,400-27,600 for prem/lim.

KevinDuMa was at the Dallas auto show and told the pricing would be $25,500 for the BRZ Premium. Just not sure if that is with or w/o dest. Seems like that number is coming up more and more. Hopefully that is with dest.