2013 Subaru BRZ: Motoramic Drives

My in-laws are a family of upscale, professional, WASPs who dress sensibly, vote Democrat, and spend their weekends hiking, biking, and canoeing. As such, when we get together for holidays, my BMW is often the only vehicle present that is not a Subaru. My partner's family is not ashamed of this lemming-like confluence. Rather, like many Subaru owners, they see the cars from Fuji Heavy Industries as the sole modest and utilitarian option in a vehicular landscape crowded with flashy Europeans, trashy Americans and blandly inoffensive Asian models.

This heritage creates an interesting challenge for Subaru with the release of the BRZ coupe, which is, in contrast to every other car in the manufacturer's lineup, sporty, attractive, impractical, and not available with a roof rack, a dog cage, or all-wheel drive. Yes, the WRX STI has muddy cred with a small sub-segment of rallyistas. And the graying among us may recall FHI's past efforts at "performance" vehicles: the isoscelean XT of the 1980s, the Gallic SVX of the 1990s. But the BRZ—jointly developed with Toyota—is intended to be a true, affordable, RWD sports car, akin to the original Datsun Zs: a segment in which the brand has no real experience.

Yet, with modest first year sales goals (6,000 U.S. vehicles), a slim field of real competitors, a commitment to low weight (2762 lbs) and decent power (200 hp, 150 lb-ft), and a swoopily embellished design that's just this side of overwrought, after seeing the car in person, I thought it stood a decent chance. A full day behind the wheel negotiating narrow roads that plaited around French mountain villages, blasting along sweepers that bisected alpine fields, and attempting to avoid transcending flimsy guard rails and becoming a 1,250-kg outcropping in the Gorge du Verdon, made me certain of three things: This car is very, very, very good.

Much of the credit goes to the new, 4-cylinder boxer engine, not because it makes 100 horsepower-per-liter, has a flat torque curve, delivers up to 34 mpg with the intuitive 6-speed automatic, or speaks with a maundering susurration, amplified—particularly on the passenger side—by the brand's patented Sound Creator noise tube. Rather, glory and gratitude goes to motor for the advantages rendered by its intentional design and placement, which, like that randy aunt doing the limbo at your bar mitzvah, followed Subaru's engineers' challenge to go as low as it could go.