Subaru BRZ 2014 News

Details of the refreshed BRZ have been revealed, but it is better news for manual drivers than for those shopping for an automatic.

Toyota Australia has issued a recall notice for nearly almost 15,000 of 17,000 locally delivered 86 two-door coupes to remedy a potential fault that could affect the car's steering.

Flares have never gone out of fashion in Japan and the annual Tokyo Auto Salon shows why.

At the New York motor show, it revealed the STI Performance Concept, a lightweight, race-focused car with a 2.0-litre turbo boxer "Super GT" engine developing 257kW/441Nm — more than the current WRX STI.Expect a lengthy lag before the turbo finds its way into a roadgoing version. The Super GT engine will be used in Japanese races to assess its durability before any decision is made on a production variant.Even in a detuned "street" guise, power would be massively up on the 147kW/205Nm naturally aspirated engine in the road cars and would address one of the few shortcomings of the 2012 CarsGuide Car of the Year winner: the chassis is capable of handling more power.I don't want you to think that this is coming tomorrow because it's notSubaru America CEO Thomas Doll says the concept is a mobile testbed to gauge the feasibility of a forced-induction BRZ production car but warns it will happen later rather than sooner."That's the idea," he says. "We can't tell you exactly when that's going to happen but the concept (is a pointer) to achieving extra horsepower. We know that's one of the issues and that's part of our plan."We are still evaluating how to do all of that. I don't want you to think that this is coming tomorrow because it's not. It could, but we have to do some other engineering and testing," he said.How much can we do that doesn't affect balance, that doesn't affect feel?Subaru America spokesman Michael McHale intervened as journalists started to quiz STI president Yoshio Hirawaka on timing of a turbo BRZ."The BRZ has a very tight, compact engine bay," McHale says, "so how much can we do that doesn't affect balance, that doesn't affect feel? This is Mr Hirakawa's challenge in life."He hears that some people would like more power but ... if we listened to everyone in the world we go bankrupt in 10 minutes."The STI concept was built to promote Subaru's performance division as a stand-alone division responsible for developing performance models, aftermarket accessories and motorsport.Subaru in the US markets itself as a family oriented, safety conscious brand and, according to US journalists, is looking to distance itself from the performance models that don't fit into that ethos.The concept car has a reinforced chassis to improve rigidity, race suspension, upgraded brakes and a massive front spoiler and rear diffuser.Inside there are race-style bucket seats, track-oriented telemetry with G-force monitor and lap-logging capabilities and a steering wheel with LED gearshift indicators built into the rim.

Toyota hosts the second Festival of 86 gathering for fans of Australia’s favourite sports car.Sydney’s Inner West throbbed to the tune of 2.0-litre boxer engines at the weekend, with hundreds of Toyota 86 owners converging for the second running of Toyota’s Festival of 86. Moving to Sydney’s new White Bay Cruise Terminal after last year’s event tested the capacity of Toyota’s NSW headquarters, the 2014 gathering once again encouraged owners from around the nation to gather in celebration of Toyota’s instant cult classic.Australia remains the third-largest market for the 86 behind Japan and the US, and on a per-capita basis, it’s fair to say we love the low-cost rear-driver more than anyone else. Proving his ongoing passion for his creation, 86 chief engineer Tetsuya Tada once again flew from Japan to attend. Helping to justify his trip was a hero’s welcome from the 86 devotees, queuing in their hundreds to meet the Waku Doki master.   Speaking with CarsGuide, Tada-san expressed his delight with Australia’s embrace of the 86. “When I started the 86 project, it was my dream that owners would have such passion for the car,” he said. Among the 400-plus vehicles in attendance, there was a cross-section of standard and modified examples, with a few of the 86’s Subaru BRZ twin and the 86-inspiring Corolla AE86 from the 1980s thrown in for good measure. When I started the 86 project, it was my dream that owners would have such passion for the carAsked what he thought of the many owners who’d dared to modify his pride and joy, Tada-san was surprisingly supportive. “Most manufacturers are against aftermarket modifications. I am happy that 86 owners can grow with their car as their driving improves,” he added. Toyota Australia’s sales and marketing boss Tony Cramb also used the event to confirm plans for an Australian 86 one-make race series, which could happen as soon as 2016. "The concept is a pro-am with amateur drivers from across Australia competing against selected professional drivers," Mr Cramb said.Toyota Australia also used the event to test the waters for possible factory-backed personalisation options, with four uniquely-styled show cars on display. The 2014 Festival of 86 forms part of Toyota’s Oh What a Feeling! Discovery Tour, showcasing several models at events across Australia.

Subaru plans to introduce a limited edition BRZ to help stop a forecast sales slide. The popularity of sports coupes typically fades after the first two years on sale. Although the BRZ is still selling at a steady rate, Subaru predicts sales will peak later this year -- and the new WRX released this week could also dent sales."I think some people will come out of the BRZ (and into a WRX) because at the end of the day it’s a more practical vehicle," said Subaru Australia boss Nick Senior at the launch of the WRX in Tasmania this week (first drive impressions have been embargoed until midnight Thursday)."We’re still selling 90 (BRZs) a month at the moment, it’s holding up well, we’re not flooding the market," said Mr Senior. "But everyone over time realises when you add a couple of years (to) a two door coupe … it will settle down to a number, and (for us) that number’s certainly not going to be 90 (BRZs a month)."Probably this year’s going to be the peak and then it’ll start to settle down a little bit." To stop the sales slide Subaru Australia says it is looking at some limited edition models, but warned not to expect any extra power."There’s a couple of things the (Japanese) domestic market is doing that we’re looking at," said Mr Senior, some of which hasn’t yet been released. "The great thing about BRZ is you can have a bit of fun with it, (there are) things you can throw on it to make it look differently."Sales of the Subaru BRZ are down by 4 per cent so far this year, while sales of the Toyota 86 twin are down by 22 per cent. Despite the slide, the two-door twins are still Australia's most popular sports car. Toyota has attempted to stop the 86 coupe's sales slide by selling about 90 cars into rental companies across Australia to give potential buyers an extended test drive.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

Nissan is stoking up its sports car mojo. It's developing the next-generation GT-R, looking at developing the IDx Concept, and has unveiled a slew of hot variations of the GT-R, Juke and Pulsar from its Nismo tuning arm.So what's happening with the Z car, with the 370Z having been around for six years and starting to now look a little long in the tooth against new rivals like the Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ?Expect to see a departure from the current car, with a smaller vehicle powered by a similarly downsized engine -- a turbo-charged four-cylinder, according to Autocar -- rather than the 3.7-litre V6 carried by the 370Z. Power is likely to slightly rise over the six's 245kW, while torque will likely at the least match its 363Nm, depending on the expected lighter weight of the new Z (the 370Z rings the bell at 1468kg).The design is yet to be signed off but Nissan design boss Shiro Nakamura confirmed to the Britsh site that a plan was already in place and that the coming Z "could be smaller" while product chief Andy Palmer pointed to the turbo four engine, adding that we'll see both a standard version and a Nismo one.With Nissan Australia still working on a business case for the Nismo offerings, there's no certainty we'll see that model here, but we're sure to get the cooking Z, following in the footsteps of the 370Z that arrived first in 2009, and a lineage of 44 years that stretches all the way back to the Datsun 240Z in 1970.This reporter is on Twitter: @KarlaPincott 

The fanfare surrounding Nissan’s IDx and BladeGlider concepts at last year’s Tokyo motor show was such that the Japanese brand has green-lit plans for production versions, according to Autocar.

Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86, the twin coupes that created huge cries of approval worldwide when launched are still selling at rates that make makers of competing coupes green with envy. Though most people think of the Toyota as being the leading model in the terrific twosome, it’s actually the Subaru that should get number one listing. After all, Subaru builds the twins in its factory in Ota, Japan, and the engine has the very distinctive flat-four ‘boxer’ layout used in other Subarus. Yet, thanks to Toyota’s astonishing marketing capability it’s the 86 that leads the image race. Subaru Australia is about to change that situation with a special sports pack for the BRZ, giving it the title of Subaru BRZ S. STYLING The Subaru BRZ S has lowered suspension with a tower bar to further stiffen it up. The 17-inch black alloy wheels have been sourced from the STI parts bin. Complementing the lower look are visual enhancements to make it look even lower; front, side and rear under skirts, a boot-lip spoiler, finished in crystal black mica, and a rear diffuser. Inside, the cabin is enhanced by a gear lever with a Duracon knob on manual boxes; the engine gains a push-button start. It will come as no surprise to those who know Japanese car tuners that the BRZ S pack components are made by Subaru Tecnica International (STI), Subaru’s performance arm. Rest assured that all components in this pack are tested to the same rigorous standards as Subaru’s entire vehicle range. Cleverly, the S pack isn’t only available to new BRZ buyers, owners of existing BRZs can have the sports pack retrofitted, provided the installation is done by an authorised Subaru dealers. VALUE At $7195 including fitment for the automatic BRZ, and $7995 for the manual the sports pack isn’t cheap, but it does offer decent value for money. All Subaru BRZ parts and accessories, not just those in this new pack, that are ordered online at the same time as a new BRZ and fitted prior to delivery to the customer are covered by the three-year/unlimited kilometre factory warranty that comes with the car. Items bought after the car’s delivery come with a two-year factory warranty if fitted by an authorised Subaru retailer. The BRZ S sports pack can be seen in detail at http://subaru.com.au/brz/subarubrz/option As well as being sold through Subaru dealers, the S pack can also be ordered online, with the components being installed before the BRZ is delivered. ENGINE Power for the BRZ comes from an all-new 2.0-litre naturally-aspirated engine with 147kW at 7000 rpm, and 205Nm of torque at 6600 revs. We’ve always loved the throaty sound of the Subaru ‘boxer’ engine and it’s even more noticeable in this car than in the other Subarus. We do remember the ride of the standard BRZ as being quite firm, though it did remain reasonably comfortable on extended trips when we road tested it in late 2012. We haven’t yet been able to sample a new Subaru BRZ S with its even sportier suspension as yet, but will do so as soon as possible and report back to you. National driveaway prices for the Subaru BRZ S are $45,145 (manual) and $46,925 (automatic).  

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