Subaru BRZ S adds STI goodies

A new BRZ S has been added to pump up the sports car line, tapping the STI genes from Subaru's go-faster division in Japan.

The pack puts another $7995 on the bottom line for a BRZ - which currently stands at $37,150 - but Subaru is expecting a sellout success with the new deal, which is the first change to the company's radical sales plan - one model, online orders only - to step its car away from the near-identical Toyota 86.

The S pack combines 11 individual items from STI's BRZ catalogue into a single deal, with the upgrading work done as cars land in Australia from Japan.

“We've had a lot of interest from day one in individualising the BRZ. The STI accessories allow that,” Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia, tells Carsguide. He admits there is nothing to make the car quicker, which is why it does not carry an STI badge.

“There has to be a performance upgrade for a car to be called an STI. Like the WRX.” But Senior says the S pack is intended to tap the demand for extra personality on the BRZ and add some spark after the first flush of Australian sales.

“There is an obvious benefit now if people buy the whole package, which costs $7995,” he says. “Buyers can still get the individual parts but there is a benefit if they take the lot.”

The STI parts have only become available in the past month and the S pack runs from front and rear spoilers to a suspension tower bar and coil springs, 17-inch STI alloys and a rear diffuser to a manual shift kit with Duracon knob and a push-button start switch.

Senior says the STI parts are produced in Japan before being shipped to Australia. They cannot be fitted in Japan because there is no capacity at the factory, which also builds the Toyota 86 and is running at full speed.

“There would be extra costs and complications if the work was done in Japan, including shipping to an additional compound with those transport costs. So we are doing it as a port fit here.

“At the end of the day it's better to do it here. The quality, either here or there, would be the same.” Senior expects up to 10 per cent of BRZ buyers to go for the S pack, although it could go higher.

“What we're finding is that the BRZ has an attractive entry price and people are looking at personalising their car.” He does not expect the S to create any extra demand for the BRZ, which is currently rated at a four-month wait time at the online site created for all local orders.

“It's actually about three months at the moment. It got out to 14 months at one stage,” says Senior. But there is good news with the wait falling steadily and supplies improving from Japan.

“We are coming off our best-ever sales for BRZ, which was 187 in May. We also did 129 in April.

“So we have been able to eat into that order bank significantly. The factory has been able to supply us with more cars and that's helping.”

This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover