This Almost Definitely Isn't a High-Power BRZ STI

From Road & Track

Yesterday on Twitter, Subaru of America teased a BRZ sporting a big carbon fiber rear wing with the iconic STI logo emblazoned on the side. The natural assumption is that, finally, Subaru is responding to those who accuse the BRZ of being underpowered with a higher-performance BRZ STI. It's probably not that, though.

We're fairly certain that the car teased is the BRZ tS, an STI-tuned BRZ previously sold only in Japan. The tS didn't get any additional power over the standard BRZ, but it did receive a number of chassis and aerodynamic improvements that refined the car's already-excellent handling. When we drove a Japanese-spec BRZ tS back in 2015, we reported that it would eventually reach the US, and Subaru has previously said that the next version of the tS would reach out shores. It seems like that's finally happening.

Our colleagues at Car and Driver recently published spy shots of a big-winged, STI-badged BRZ testing in the US, and it looks quite a lot like the Japanese-spec tS.

So no, it doesn't seem like Subaru will bless us with the turbocharged BRZ everyone's been asking for, but we don't think there's reason to be upset. The Japanese-spec BRZ tS made significant improvements to a great car, and hey, there's always the aftermarket if you need more power.

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