2025 Subaru BRZ Gets a Sport Mode That Bumps the Volume on Fake Engine Noise

Don’t get me wrong, the Subaru BRZ and its sister the Toyota GR86 are delightful. Among the better new cars to buy, even. But some minor updates to the Japanese domestic market variants just came out, and the addition of a “Sport Mode” for the BRZ that tweaks the pedal response and turns up the volume on fake engine noise just made me chuckle. There’s also some suspension tuning that might actually be worthwhile, though.

I mean, does a 230ish-horsepower, rear-wheel-drive sports car need a Sport Mode? The BRZ has been on sale for a good while now—have any owners cried out for such a setting? Besides, I’d go so far as to say most experienced drivers can probably handle the earth-rumbling full force of the BRZ’s throttle pedal in everyday driving.

Subaru’s exact explanation of the new Sport Mode’s functionality, as translated from Japanese by my web browser, is this:

This new improvement features a new “SPORT mode” for MT vehicles, which was born from the knowledge gained through the efforts of Team SDA Engineering, which competes in the Super Taikyu Series. In SPORT mode, accelerator control has been improved by using a throttle setting that faithfully responds to accelerator operations throughout the entire rpm range. In addition, the volume of the active sound control is switched to add to the driver’s elation.

In a nutshell, the Sport Mode will make throttle response more linear and enhances the coupe’s “active sound control” on throttle, which Subaru apparently believes will add to your “elation” behind the wheel. The automaker also shares that damper tuning across the model range is being tweaked alongside electric power steering settings, while manual-shift mode on automatic cars has been expanded to allow for more aggressive downshifting.

I dropped my contact at Subaru a line to ask about U.S. market availability and I’m sure he’ll say he can’t comment on future product. But, if you already own a current-gen BRZ, it might be worth doing some parts-number research to see if the struts from these newer cars are worth installing. The power steering calibration might be harder to port, but, it may still be possible.

Toyota also dropped a Japanese-language announcement regarding 2025 JDM GR86 upgrades. It didn’t specify a Sport Mode of its own, but it states that the cars are receiving throttle-response calibration tweaks and steering adjustments that upgrade “the GR86 for improved turning performance and easier upper-limit handling, deepening the unique driving feel.”

There’s also a sweet green color option, Ridge Green Limited, that Toyota’s cruelty restricting to 200 cars—in Japan. Turns out we’ll get this classy GR86 on our side of the Pacific as well, where Toyota North America has fittingly dubbed it the Hakone Special Edition, just like the prior-gen 86 had. The U.S. market will receive 860 examples for the upcoming model year, and they’ll begin reaching dealers in the fall for an undisclosed sum.

It’s likely that all of these tweaks will make their way West in time—at least, it certainly appears they will for the Toyota side of the family, at this stage. In any case, we’d advise existing BRZ owners not to sweat missing out on that Sport button. Isn’t that supposed to just be the gas pedal in these cars, anyway?

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