Thursday 22nd August 2013

Subaru BRZ tS full spec

STI goes to work on the BRZ at last, seemingly forgets the most important bit

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Delightful as the base BRZ may be if you were looking for STI to put its mark on it what would you expect? Probably a) blue paint b) liberal appearance of pink STI logos around the cabin and bodywork c) some meaningful upgrades to brakes and suspension and d) a significant turbocharged power boost to the flat-four motor.

If your answer to the question is 'all of the above' then, congratulations, you're a Subaru fan with your appetite suitably whetted and quite possibly money waiting. If your answer is a), b), c) ... oh, damn, we ran out of money/Toyota wouldn't let us then you probably work for Subaru.

Time was a limited edition JDM STI model was the kind of thing Subaru fans would be chasing the nearest grey importer for. Given that this new Japanese market BRZ tS has all the STI goodness APART from the turbo many have been craving it's likely all 500 of the limited production run will remain in the home market, even with the optional GT Package. Limited to half that total run it adds a carbon rear wing, black BBS wheels and a set of Recaro seats. But still no turbo.

Sad really because everything - and we mean pretty much everything - you'd need to make the most of a significant power boost has been added. Sure, there's the usual pink logo frenzy. But the chassis revisions - listed in full below - are extensive and amid all the STI branded fripperies include Brembo brakes, poly-bushed STI suspension linkages, beefed up driveshafts, strut braces and more besides. You half expect all the necessary plumbing for a turbo to be in place with a Post-It note on top of the engine with a speed dial to Turbos-R-Us, this seemingly being a proper STI in all but name and power output.

For now though this is the best we, or at least the Japanese, get, turbocharged SuperGT racer aside. Look at what you could've won, and all that.

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BRZ tS details, verbatim from Subaru's spec sheet:

225/40ZR18 (92Y) tires (Michelin Pilot Super Sport)
STI designed 18-inch x 7 1/2J aluminum wheels (silver)
Brembo front 17-inch opposed 4-pot ventilated disc brake with "STI" logo
Brembo rear 17-inch opposed 2-pot ventilated disc brake with "STI" logo
STI designed rear suspension link with pillow ball bush (trailing link front, lateral link front inside & rear inside)
STI tuned strut and STI coil springs for front suspension
STI tuned damper and STI coil springs for rear suspension
STI designed flexible tower bar, front
STI designed flexible draw stiffener, front
STI designed large-diameter driveshaft
Exclusively-tuned VDC (Vehicle Dynamics Control)
Exclusively-tuned filter for Sound Creator®*2
-Exterior-
STI designed front under spoiler
STI designed front fender garnish with "STI" logo
Exclusively-made "STI" ornament (front & rear), "tS" ornament (rear)
-Interior-
Exclusively-made front seat with "STI" logo and red stitch
[Alcantara®*3 (gray punching) / leather (gray), "STI" logo, gray stitch, front seat heater, SRS side airbag]
Exclusively-made leather lapped steering wheel (with "STI" ornament and red stitch)
STI designed leather shift knob (manual transmission) / select lever (automatic transmission) with "STI" logo
Exclusively-made speedometer with "STI" logo
Exclusively-made speedometer visor [Alcantara® (black), black stitch]
Carbon tone instrument panel
STI designed push engine switch with "STI" logo (red)
Exclusively-made aluminum side sill plate with "tS" logo
STI designed leather access key cover (red)
-Equipments for GT PACKAGE-
STI designed 18-inch x 7 1/2J aluminum wheels (black)
STI designed dry carbon rear spoiler (2 angle adjustable)
Recaro designed front bucket seat
[Alcantara® (gray punching) / leather (gray), "STI" logo, gray stitch, SRS side airbag]
*2: Sound Creator® is the registered trademark of MAHLE Filter S

[yellowstreak]

Can anyone explain their strategy with this? I just don't get it...

[TNH]

What does STi stand for?

I thought the "T" stood for turbo...?

[KMB]

Subaru Technica International

[KMB]

Interwebs are slow today lol

[krisdelta]

yellowstreak said:

Can anyone explain their strategy with this? I just don't get it...

To sell as few as possible it would seem, so far it's working a treat. They've likely got such a tightly worded agreement that neither firm can make a more fun version of the car. Shame really as it promised far more than it's delivered.

[VeeFource]

Pahh! Good luck selling them then.

Such a wasted opportunity to address what the car really needs (and yes I have driven one)

[Tomatogti]

Playing Devil's advocate for a moment. Perhaps they want to keep the purity/throttle response of an n/a engine in a light rwd car and aim for a different market to all the 2.0T cars out there? This is just a more track orientated/harder edged version of the original?

[V8 FOU]

Tomatogti said:

Playing Devil's advocate for a moment. Perhaps they want to keep the purity/throttle response of an n/a engine in a light rwd car and aim for a different market to all the 2.0T cars out there? This is just a more track orientated/harder edged version of the original?

Indeed.

S'funny how the E30 M3 Object of Desire with around 200bhp is sooo wonderful etc. But the Toybaru with similar performance is in dire need of more power apparently. Don't understand.

[VeeFource]

Tomatogti said:

Playing Devil's advocate for a moment. Perhaps they want to keep the purity/throttle response of an n/a engine in a light rwd car and aim for a different market to all the 2.0T cars out there? This is just a more track orientated/harder edged version of the original?

That's what the BRZ should be for though. The BRZ's not left wanting for much in the first place so if you're going to change anything then at least start with the most controversial aspect which is the power.

[Cotic]

krisdelta said:

To sell as few as possible it would seem, so far it's working a treat.

Really? I thought these (standard car, anyway) were flying off the shelves?

[BUG4LIFE]

V8 FOU said:

Tomatogti said:

Playing Devil's advocate for a moment. Perhaps they want to keep the purity/throttle response of an n/a engine in a light rwd car and aim for a different market to all the 2.0T cars out there? This is just a more track orientated/harder edged version of the original?

Indeed.

S'funny how the E30 M3 Object of Desire with around 200bhp is sooo wonderful etc. But the Toybaru with similar performance is in dire need of more power apparently. Don't understand.

Progress...

[Rawwr]

BUG4LIFE said:

Progress

!= more power

[VeeFource]

V8 FOU said:

Tomatogti said:

Playing Devil's advocate for a moment. Perhaps they want to keep the purity/throttle response of an n/a engine in a light rwd car and aim for a different market to all the 2.0T cars out there? This is just a more track orientated/harder edged version of the original?

Indeed.

S'funny how the E30 M3 Object of Desire with around 200bhp is sooo wonderful etc. But the Toybaru with similar performance is in dire need of more power apparently. Don't understand.

It's not so much the power, it's the torque and the way it's delivered. I don't like to go on about performance times but when I look at the figures for my 328 which is supposed to be 197bhp and compare the times with the BRZ which is significantly lighter then you start to question the BRZ's claimed power. One thing you can definitely put it down to though is the fact it'd struggle to pull the skin off a rice pudding at lower revs which is where you spend most of your time anyway. It would get quite tedious when you just want to make progress on the commute home after a long day at work.

The BRZ/GT86 certainly have their place, I'm not arguing that. But it does lack in the power delivery department for a significant few, me included.

[LankyPaddy]

Swing... and a miss.


Manufacturer forced induction will come at some point. Maybe.

[kambites]

Cotic said:

krisdelta said:

To sell as few as possible it would seem, so far it's working a treat.

Really? I thought these (standard car, anyway) were flying off the shelves?

There's certainly loads of GT86s around here. Haven't seen many BRZs.

[LasseV]

No, it doesn't lack power. It is just that what it was designed for. Cheap to run and drive hard. 200+hp hot hatches for example are quite expensive to drive properly.

[StottyZr]

Just from the title I knew they hadn't upped the power.

Very dissapointing.

[SrMoreno]

kambites said:

There's certainly loads of GT86s around here. Haven't seen many BRZs.

I haven't seen a single BRZ. Subaru seem to have given up on the UK market.

[VeeFource]

kambites said:

There's certainly loads of GT86s around here. Haven't seen many BRZs.

I take it you're in the South East? Seen quite a few GT86s around London, about 5 or 6 elsewhere but never seen a BRZ either.

[kambites]

VeeFource said:

kambites said:

There's certainly loads of GT86s around here. Haven't seen many BRZs.

I take it you're in the South East? Seen quite a few GT86s around London, about 5 or 6 elsewhere but never seen a BRZ either.

More south-central; Hampshire.