Subaru WRX vs Subaru BRZ

What's the difference?

The Subaru WRX – do we even need to introduce this iconic beastie at all? With its rally winning roots to being a legend in its own suburb, the ‘Rex’ is a sports car that’s affordable and fun – although the one we’re testing here is one of the pricier versions: the WRX tS Spec B.  

So what is a tS Spec B? Well, the old king of the WRX world – the STI – was retired at the end of the previous generation. Now this new grade – the tS Spec B – is the new WRX monarch. 

So does this mean the tS Spec B has more superpower than the rest of the line-up? Does it have a bigger engine? How much more does it cost? Does it have a manual gearbox? So many questions – the answers are below.

 

 

 

 

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Subaru struck gold when it first launched the BRZ in 2011.

It, alongside the related Toyota 86 (now GR86), has been the standard for budget two-door sports cars for 15 years now. Nothing besides the MX-5 convertible is in the same class.

However, buyer’s preferences have changed dramatically over the years and sports cars are at risk of becoming more mundane and vanilla to please the general public. It’s great that Subaru continues to offer the BRZ, importantly with the availability of a manual gearbox. Hallelujah.

Last year Subaru made some slight tweaks to the BRZ, including adding active safety tech and a ‘Sport’ mode to the manual trims, plus a full-size spare wheel on the top-spec tS grade.

Speaking of, we’ve got the BRZ tS manual on test here, so let’s see how it fares in 2026.