Yahoo Autos 2017 Subaru BRZ Limited: First Drive
WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THE BRZ? Four years ago, it was an indisputable triumph, the righteous rolling middle finger to parity and progress. Less so now. Subaru's plucky little coupe finds itself caught in a web of critique and contradiction. It's the affordable sports car that's too expensive, the naturally aspirated siren everybody wants to see boosted. Great at friendship, terrible at intimacy. The dramatic anticlimax.
When I met the car's engineers in Japan recently, they seemed ready to call shenanigans. After all, the BRZ is a lightweight, rear-drive four-seater with a manual gearbox, a fire-starter by virtue of existence alone. But sales aren't great. You get the impression that these guys, while brilliant and passionate, aren't quite sure where to go from here. And that Subaru higher-ups aren't opening a line of credit to find out.
For 2017, the car receives cosmetic tweaks (bumpers, wheels, lighting) and a cockpit refresh. Also a bevy of minor mechanical upgrades, seemingly applied via buckshot. Structural reinforcements go onto the rear-wheel housings, transmission tunnel, and front strut brace. Spring rates are slightly stiffer up front, roughly 10 percent softer out back, and there's a larger rear anti-roll bar. Engine work, applied only to manual versions, is similarly granular. Pistons are now shot-peened, valve stems and camshafts, mirror-polished. Intake and exhaust manifolds are redesigned to improve flow. Results are marginal. Manuals get an extra 5 hp and 5 lb-ft of torque and a different final-drive ratio (now 4.30:1 versus 4.10:1), which makes it feel like more.
Fuji Speedway makes it feel like less. The place is massive, a dozen high-speed turns and a mile-long straight, more asphalt than the BRZ has legs. On track, the biggest story is the new Performance package. You'll get half-inch-wider wheels, all-new shocks, and larger rotors with four-pot Brembos from the Japan-only BRZ tS. The setup does wonders, for both chassis stability and braking from triple digits. At $1195, it's a steal.
Other gleanings: The electric-assist steering setup has been retuned for this year, a little heavier and still hyperaccurate. The four-cylinder now makes different noises, few of them enjoyable. As before, the BRZ primarily trades on approachability. Your grandmother could romp around on the bump stops at full lock, banging at the 7400-rpm limiter like a lunatic. It's a riot, but maybe not a revelation. Next to the new Mustang and the new Miata, you can't help but wonder if it's enough.
You also wonder about this car's legacy. The BRZ is important as proof of concept, that the old formula (rear-drive, manual gearbox, balanced chassis) can still yield a good cheap sports car. It's also proof that great cheap sports cars, the ones that stain your gray matter, add something to the formula. They have a tinge of weirdness or danger or secrecy, questions to ask and have answered. Absent that, you're left with this: an involving experience from an excellent machine just barely managing to keep you at arm's length.
Subaru BRZ Limited
Price: $28,465
Powertrain: 2.0-liter H-4, 205 hp, 156 lb-ft; RWD, 6-Speed Manual
Weight: 2800 lb
On sale: Early 2017
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