Wednesday 30th November 2011

PH Blog: The power of a press photo

Subaru might be a minnow compared with Toyota but the BRZ's winning the PR battle

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We should start a campaign. A campaign to make pedestrians look where they're going so we can have good looking sports cars again. OK, it could use a snappier strapline but when I saw the first pics of the Toyota GT 86 earlier in the week it was, yet again, a case of the reality not quite living up to the concept hype.

Scion FR-S concept looked lovely...

One of the things that struck me about the GT 86 concept, badged as a Scion when I saw it in LA a few weeks back, was how low the bonnet was. Ah! That'll be because of the boxer engine I thought. The wings actually stood proud, tightly wrapped over the wheels and giving a really lithe, sleek profile.

And then I saw the press pics. Admittedly, they are awful. Toyota may have bagged the right to go first with the official pics - I guess that's a case of pulling rank over Subaru - but what an awful set of shots. And where was that nice, low bonnet line? Curse you pedestrian crash regs! Awkward angles and a weird airbrushed effect that a modern day games designer would reject for being too synthetic really didn't help either. And then there was the colour. Ew.

...production GT 86? Not so much.

Subaru may have had to defer to Toyota for first dibs at getting the car out in public but it's clearly learned fast and the pictures released overnight show the BRZ in a much more flattering light. No overly photoshopped nonsense for Subaru. Real car, test track, regular photos and, boom, the car all of a sudden looks much more cohesive. Hadn't spotted the slight Z4 coupe-ness to the rear arches before either. But it looks taut, compact and all of a sudden a hell of a lot more resolved.

There will be more information about the BRZ as the day progresses and we'll be updating our story accordingly. Suffice to say, both cars are likely to be more or less identical in terms of their performance and mechanical spec. Which you prefer will come down to badge loyalty, pricing and other factors but in terms of the PR battle I'm going to say David beats Goliath in round one and Subaru scores the first hit. And after that first sucker punch here comes another - the BRZ race car. Watch this space on the latter.

Dan

[vintageracer01]

Slightly better than the strange Toyota but still very blend and boring.
There is nothing exciting about this design.
And it is certainly NOT modern...

What a missed chance for both Subaru & Toyota.

[pSyCoSiS]

Better than the previous photos, still not that exciting though.

Hate those chavved-up rear light clusters.

[smaybury]

Based purely on those two shots of the Toyota version, it's a touch harsh to say it's gone from 'lovely' to 'not so much'...

It's more a case of 'spot the difference' - and if anything, at least they've canned the godawful basking shark front end.

But yes, opportunity missed all over the shop. That rasping noise you can hear is the entire motoring community's feeling of deflation.

[ArosaMike]

Still looks rubbish...

[TheBigUnit]

vintageracer01 said:

And it is certainly NOT modern...

You are right, thank God. If it was modern, it would look like a squashed hatchback, or have four doors, and still be called a coupe.

Whether or not you agree with the looks, I think the key ingredients in this mixture are low weight (by modern standards), rear wheel drive and natural aspiration, all of which will become rarer and rarer during the lifetime of this car.

[bicycleshorts]

TheBigUnit said:

You are right, thank God. If it was modern, it would look like a squashed hatchback, or have four doors, and still be called a coupe.

Whether or not you agree with the looks, I think the key ingredients in this mixture are low weight (by modern standards), rear wheel drive and natural aspiration, all of which will become rarer and rarer during the lifetime of this car.

Someone on here described it as a RX8 with a piston engine.

[The Danimal]

Most disappointing bodywork reveal since those beach photos of Kate Moss.

[djt100]

In all the leaked photo's these have both looked like a good looking car, but those real life photo's. bah, how boring, the last gen Celica was a much better looking car to either of these. What has happened to Toyota in recent years. MR2 gone, Celica Gone, Supra Gone. Nothing interesting on the horizon.

[FWDRacer]

pSyCoSiS said:

Better than the previous photos, still not that exciting though.

Hate those chavved-up rear light clusters.

Perhaps there will be some decent aftermarket light clusters for this car

That would be a first for the aftermarket lighting industry. I don't want all that chrome rubbish in my rear lights. Am I making myself clear (and not tinted)?

[RichB]

I'm not a Japanese car person nor a Subaru fan so forgive the naive question but are these the same car being offered as a badge engineering exercise?

[SSCooperS]

It's not a particulary original design. There are design cues nicked from the Hyundai Coupe, RX-8 and BMW Z4 and somehow with an added veil of dullness.

[JohnoVR6]

Interesting point of view on the design of the FT-86/ 86/ GT86/ FR-S/ BRZ by a colleague out in Tokyo:

http://cdnlive.cardesignnews.com/tokyo/index.php/2...

[stanza]

SSCooperS said:

It's not a particulary original design. There are design cues nicked from the Hyundai Coupe, RX-8 and BMW Z4 and somehow with an added veil of dullness.

There is even some Aston Martin DB9 from the side with that small vent on the front quarter, also the back quarter haunches around the wheels.
The back end is a car crash of angles.
It needs to more rounded, without those sharp edges and awful lights. The twin pipes are nice nut the plastic diffuser needs to be half the size, it looks too much like an aftermarket add on.

[stanza]

SSCooperS said:

It's not a particulary original design. There are design cues nicked from the Hyundai Coupe, RX-8 and BMW Z4 and somehow with an added veil of dullness.

There is even some Aston Martin DB9 from the side with that small vent on the front quarter, also the back quarter haunches around the wheels.
The back end is a car crash of angles.
It needs to more rounded, without those sharp edges and awful lights. The twin pipes are nice nut the plastic diffuser needs to be half the size, it looks too much like an aftermarket add on.

[y2blade]

I like that..apart from the rear lights .

might look better on a silver or white car though

[Rusty-C]

Is it not a case of function over form, though? It looks rubbish, yes, but if underneath lurks a well sorted chassis and characterful engine, the car's lent an air of cool? like old Imprezas, Evos and Type-R bread vans. Or am I setting myself up for a massive fall?

[Ali_T]

The only difference is the bumpers. Subaru put their grill on upside down!

[Munich]

I find it surprising that Toyota and Subaru both use the same wheel design. I would have through that at least they could have changed that from one another.

[IrrElephant]

Would have been nice for the Subaru to have nicer wheels, some big Brembos and a spoiler.

[BigWithey]

Looks nothing like the Hyundai.....