Subaru BRZ 2014 News

The Japanese coupe beat the Toyota 86 to a coveted five-star ANCAP score, thanks to an early test in Japan as part of Subaru's long-term commitment to Australia's crash-test rating program. Subaru was the first to trumpet a five-star ANCAP result, at a time when other makers shunned the system, and it is happy to have beaten the Toyota 86 as the two coupes shape up around the world. "Five stars are central to our safety story and commitment. The testing was done in Japan, but it is a five star ANCAP rating," says Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia. Toyota admits it has been trumped this time but expects a similar five-star tick for the 86. "The car will be tested in the fullness of time and we're confident it will be five stars," says Mike Breen, spokesman for Toyota Australia. The BRZ's success comes as the Holden Colorado ute and the new Hyundai i30 hatchback also pick up a five-star rating. The Colorado joins the Ford Ranger-Mazda BT50 twins, which were the first utes in the world to rate five stars, while the i30 continues Hyundai's recent crash-test successes and repeats the five-star score of the previous i30. "It's satisfying to see manufacturers lifting the safety of light-commercial vehicles. Manufacturers have been incorporating greater levels of safety into passenger vehicles for some time now, yet the safety of LCVs has trailed," says ANCAP chairman, Lauchlan McIntosh. “Pressure not only from ANCAP, but now big business, is encouraging manufacturers to elevate safety as a priority in the design and construction of new LCVs, and consumers are the winners." For Subaru, the ANCAP result is part of a push that has created a six-month waiting list for the BRZ. The company is also taking a new approach to selling with the BRZ, trialing an online selling system for the hot coupe. "We don't see this is as fundamentally changing the nature of automative retailing overnight but it is a learning experience for us and we'll trial it for six months while we have this very,very low stock," says Senior. “Our online initiative offers a fantastic level of transparency for BRZ customers. They will know exactly what the price is going to be and vehicle availability. They can choose their delivering dealership and can even arrange a trade-in valuation. “We knew that we wouldn’t have sufficient BRZs to supply our entire network immediately following the launch.The online approach allows us to place demonstrator BRZs with selected dealerships, from which customers can arrange test drives via subaru.com.au and also select their preferred delivering dealer." But Senior still cannot predict the Australian arrival of Subaru's next performance headliner, the all-new WRX. "That's still about a couple of years away before we see an all-new WRX and STi," he admits. "There's the halo effect of BRZ but WRX is still selling about 150 a month. We have about two months back-orders on WRX since the wide-body shape came in just on two years ago." But one thing is certain, the WRX and STi will not follow the BRZ down the rear-wheel drive path. "BRZ is a unique departure. There is nothing in the product planning charts for another rear-wheel drive, or a front-wheel drive car. This is a one-off for us and I don't expect to see another," Senior says.  

The new Subaru BRZ sports car -- a highly sought after version of the same Toyota 86 sports car -- goes on sale this Monday at noon. With supply of just 201 cars available until 2013, Subaru expect their version of the car to sell out almost immediately. The waiting list for the Toyota version already stretches into the new year. "We believe this is a world first," Subaru spokesman David Rowley said. "Essentially it is being sold online because supply is so limited at the present time that we do not have enough cars to give even one to all of our dealers. By going online buyers will be able to specify colour and equipments levels, and take care of insurance." The BRZ has a national drive-away price of $37,150 for the manual and $39,730 for the automatic. It comes with free servicing for three years or 60,000km. The jointly-developed Toyota 86/Subaru BRZ has been hailed as the best affordable sports car since 1989's original Mazda MX-5. Toyota planning chief Yoshi Sasaki has called it an antidote for "boring modern sports cars that do everything for the driver". Even with Toyota limiting supply of its version of the car to 250 a month and sales beginning only last month, the 86/BRZ is expected to become Australia's best selling sports car in 2012. In the UK the first year’s allocation of 4000 is understood to be almost sold out. Though not as fast as some hatchbacks - it takes more than seven seconds for the manual version the 86/BRZ to reach 100kmh from standing - it is winning acclaim for exciting dynamics.  

Virtually all stock of the hot rear-drive coupe is sold ahead of its official July launch - an event that is shaping up to be a very quiet affair for motoring journalists - and it may take months for the pent-up demand to ease. Subaru has sacrificed part of its own marketing strategy with the BRZ. It ceased production of its broad-brush mini-car range - sold predominantly into the Japanese domestic market - and converted the factory to make the BRZ. Toyota, the majority shareholder in Subaru's parent Fuji Heavy Industries, has taken over some of the minicar production. The BRZ is expected to be sold in the $40,000 range, slightly higher than the Toyota GT 86 clone that goes on sale a month earlier. The July launch date for the BRZ coincides with the release of the far less thrilling - unless you're a parent - seven-seat Exiga wagon. This wagon was originally launched as a six seater but was re-configured to broaden its market. It retains the 2.5-litre engine of its sister car, the Liberty. Subaru Australia's managing director Nick Senior says feedback from Exiga customers showed they wanted the size and flexibility of the cabin "but some felt a seventh seat would be the icing on the cake''. "So that's exactly what Fuji Heavy Industries has now delivered,'' he says. Minor cosmetic changes will come with the seven seats, including a new-look 17-inch alloy wheel design for the Premium model and changes to the door mirrors. The model was upgraded in January with standard reversing camera, dusk-sensing headlights (Premium model) and steering wheel controls for Bluetooth, voice command, audio streaming, USB connectivity and iPod jack.  

The Japanese sports car is finally confirmed for local owners in the first half of 2012 with a promise that it will deliver the real-world enjoyment of the best computer driving games. "We want to take kids from Gran Turismo simulation to grand turismo reality," Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia, tells Carsguide. He is promising a breakthrough sports car that - despite being shared with Toyota as the 86 - will deliver on Subaru's strengths and satisfy the early adopter in Adelaide who was first with a local deposit. "This is a chance for us to appeal to younger people, the 25-35 year-olds, and people who might not have considered a Subaru in the past. It's also for people who might not have been able to afford a WRX," Senior says. He refuses to be drawn on price but admits Subaru will only have a single, full-loaded BRZ with just one option - most likely a sunroof. With Toyota planning a sub-$35,000 starting sticker for the 86, that points to a BRZ at less than $40,000. "It's all about the offering to the customer. We will only get one specification. We won't have a base model and there will be only one option," Senior says. "We haven't even talked pricing with the factory yet. I'll do that in February." Senior says Subaru will not go head-to-head with the Toyota 86, even though the cars are virtually identical from their Subaru chassis and the 147 kiloWatt engine package to the Toyota-styled coupe body. "That's the challenge. Part of the whole decision making process was that we have to think about doing things differently. Being a bit innovative," he says. "We'll be looking at the whole-of-life benefits to our customers. That's where the focus has been, and continues to be." Subaru took months to finally commit to the BRZ and Senior says the decision was influenced by everything from the car's Subaru DNA to the response from Australian buyers. "We have been overwhelmed by the response to the BRZ since its unveiling in Tokyo. People have been pleading for us to bring the BRZ into the country." The BRZ will take a new place in the Subaru Australia range, without the company's signature all-wheel drive or the turbocharged engine - it's a naturally-aspirated 2.0-litre four - fitted to the WRX and STI hero cars. “It’s a driver’s car, so is in keeping with our fun to drive philosophy. But the STI will always be the pinnacle," Senior says. "As the factory has said, the next generation of WRX and STI is going to be a standalone nameplate. For performance, STI will be the pinnacle. So the BRZ is like a taster, or a sampler plate at a restaurant. It's a precursor to getting a WRX or an STI later on. We hope to get a younger audience. And traditionally WRX has been over 35. So we would like to get an under-35 audience. There will be an older group too, and they are likely to be the 'weekend warriors' who like to enjoy their cars, maybe occasionally with some laps on a track."

Subaru says it is the creator of the two all-new sports cars which will be sold simultaneously as its BRZ and the Toyota 86. The smaller of the two Japanese makers, who are partners in the project, says it is responsible for all the important stuff in the BRZ-86 and Toyota only added the froth and bubble once the hard work was done.  Subaru did the engine, chassis, suspension and brakes in the project, and the 86 even has a signature Subaru exhaust note from its flat-four engine. The car definitely looks like a Toyota, and is missing the all-wheel drive that has become a Subaru signature in Australia, but company chief Nick Senior says there is no doubt about who was responsible for the car. "It is, at the end of the day, a Subaru," Senior says bluntly to Carsguide. "Toyota input, at the end of the day, was design and product planning." His claim is sure to spark a stoush as the doors are thrown open this morning at the Tokyo Motor Show and people can decide for themselves as the two production cars can be assessed side-by-side for the first time.  Toyota has already given journalists a first drive experience in its 86 - and it's a terrific car - while Subaru will follow soon with the BRZ. Senior says anyone who drives the 86 or the BRZ will know that it's a Subaru at heart.  "They have poured a lot of Subaru into this car. it is a driver's car," he says. "The car, the drivetrain and the driving experience is all Subaru. That's one of the things that's given us a real cause for discussion and debate about this car and whether it comes to Australia." Subaru is also worried that it might not be able to match Toyota's plan for a starting price in the low $30,000s, perhaps as little as $32,000. "We are studying. We won't make a decision until later in December," Senior says. But he seems to be wavering from his previous assertion that the BRZ was unlikely for Australia because two of the brand's local pillars are all-wheel drive and turbocharging for its performance cars, both missing from the BRZ. "It's a process that started several years ago. It is great, at last, that the car breaks cover," he says. "More people have seen it now ... and I think that it ticks off a lot of boxes. "What Fuji has said for some time is they would like to consider it, and take it. But the final decision is up to us."

The basic shape of the Subaru is identical to the Toyota FT-86 but Subaru is likely to differentiate its car with a unique bumper and LED daytime running lamps.

This is the car that has been developed in conjunction with Toyota. The latter's version is known as the FT-86. The jury is still out on BRZ as a name, but Subaru is planning to exhibit another, nearer to reality concept at the Frankfurt motor show in a few weeks. The acronym has apparently been taken from B for Boxer engine, R for rear-wheel drive, and Z in the word Zenith. Zenith I hear you ask? Let's just say if you fired a rocket into the air the highest point that it reached before plunging back to Earth would be the zenith. Let's hope Subaru's new BRZ doesn't crash and burn. Subaru says the name embodies ultimate passion for the new sports car and confidence in its distinctive constellation trademark and core technology the horizontally opposed Boxer engine. Production of the new sports car is due to start in the northern spring of 2012, but a decision has not yet been made on whether the BRZ will be coming to Australia. That's expected sometime later this year. Subaru is making plenty of noises about the car not being all about power and speed, suggesting that it's going to be no WRX. Think Peugeot RCZ and you are probably going to be closer to the mark _ a car that's fun to drive but that's not going to win any races? The concept shown has a third generation, naturally aspirated, direct injection version of the 2.0-litre four cylinder boxer engine that is found in the Impreza. We're told considerable work has gone into the chassis development. Subaru said rather than simply developing a frame and body that focuses purely on speed, development has produced a chassis that delivers a sporty driving experience and ride, and stable driveability, offering driver confidence. The Boxer sports car architecture does not depend solely on engine power output instead it achieves the fundamental characteristics of a rear-wheel drive sports car, delivering sporty performance and agile response from its short wheelbase. Subaru's distinctive suspension setup has been used, incorporating struts at the front, and a double-wishbone layout at the rear, to provide outstanding stability and control. Short front and rear overhangs reduce any yaw moment of inertia and provide a higher level of stability, control and handling. The finished product is expected to be unveiled at the Tokyo motor show in December.