New Subaru BRZ coming next year
Leaked info confirms Subaru BRZ production to commence early 2021; Aussie debut expected mid-2021The highly-anticipated second-generation Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 are now less than 12 months away from showrooms.
Both compact rear-wheel drive sports cars are expected to bring a fresh new look and a bigger, more powerful boxer engine, while retaining the engaging driving experience and affordable sub-$35,000-ish starting price of their predecessors.
According to the latest intel, which comes via a leaked official product rollout slide from a US Subaru dealer conference posted on the GR86.org forum, production of the new Subaru BRZ will begin in the northern spring, so around April 2021.
The news follows previously leaked product planning slides that confirmed the new Toyota 86 would reach showrooms by mid-2021.
Neither Toyota nor Subaru have come clean with any details on the new-generation sports cars, which may be revealed before the end of this year, but reports from Japan suggest both vehicles will powered by Subaru’s FA24 boxer engine, a 2.4-litre four-cylinder powerplant.
The bigger engine will likely be offered with manual and automatic transmissions and should be good for around 162kW and 240Nm, representing modest increases of 10kW and 38Nm.
It's also possible the current 2.0-litre four-cylinder boxer engine could be carried-over and upgraded.
Subaru Australia wouldn’t comment on the leaked timelines for the new BRZ, but the company’s corporate affairs manager David Rowley said the brand was eagerly awaiting the next-gen sports car.
“We are delighted by the success of BRZ in Australia and while we don’t have a timeline or local specifications for next generation, it’s an exciting prospect.
“BRZ has more than proven there’s a market for a fun, great handling sports car and in many ways it’s a reminder of the essence of feel-good motoring,” he said.
There was speculation the next Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 would adopt turbocharged engines, but sources close to Toyota recently poured cold water on those rumours, and the latest spy pics show no sign of an intercooler, all but confirming the car will adhere to its pure (read: naturally-aspirated engine) and affordable ethos.
It’s not clear what platform will underpin the new models but Japanese website
reckons the move to Toyota’s TNGA platform has been scrapped, with the original platform from Subaru to soldier on. That would mean the new cars will use a platform architecture that dates back to the 2012.
It would also explain why these spy photos of test mules look exactly like the current model – only with updated headlights and brakelights.
Although the Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 – or GR 86, as the new model may be called – are essentially rivals, they’re again likely to be priced and specced slightly differently in Australia to ensure minimal overlap. Another rival for the cheap sports cars is the Mazda MX-5.
Japan has traditionally been the biggest market for both budget sports cars, with the BRZ and 86 expected to go on sale there in the first half of 2021. North America is the second-biggest market, with the US launch to take place by mid-2021.
Australia has regularly been the third largest market for the Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ, and we understand Australian sales for the Subaru BRZ will commence between mid-2021 and the third quarter of next year, which would put it around July or August – global pandemic issues notwithstanding.
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