No safety rating for new Subaru BRZ

Subaru Australia has confirmed its just-launched 2022 Subaru BRZ will be sold without a safety rating, but the company insists that missing key driver assist safety equipment in manual variants is not behind the decision.

The second-generation sports car launched in Australia this week has received significant changes to its body structure and is fitted standard with seven airbags and active safety features such as vehicle dynamic control and electronic stability and traction control.

However, manual versions of the BRZ miss out on Subaru’s EyeSight suite of driver assist safety technology, which bundles autonomous emergency braking (AEB), adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane sway warning and lead vehicle start alert.

The first-generation BRZ was awarded a five-star ANCAP safety rating in 2012, with crash tests conducted under the safety authority’s ‘niche vehicle policy’.

This time, however, Subaru Australia has no plans to submit the BRZ for testing under much more stringent protocols introduced by ANCAP in 2020 that include a strong emphasis on the Safety Assist category, which assesses AEB.

A Subaru spokesperson told carsales that the new BRZ would not be put up for safety testing because it was not a volume-selling model – irrespective of the asterisk on manual transmission models.

“There’s no current plans to crash test the BRZ,” the spokesperson said. “The cars remain as an untested status until they are tested.

“It’s not an option [EyeSight suite on manual variants] that is available from the factory, but it is definitely something we keep discussing with them to see if it is possible.”

Sixty per cent of BRZ sports cars sold in Australia since 2012 were fitted with a manual transmission, which puts a spotlight on the safety performance of the new models.

ANCAP chief executive Carla Hoorweg declined to comment on whether the lack of AEB and other safety equipment on manual versions of the BRZ would rule out a maximum five-star safety rating.

However, she didn’t rule out ANCAP conducting its own independent test of the new BRZ.

“Models not yet tested and rated by ANCAP are ‘unrated’. The safety performance of unrated vehicles is unknown, until such time as the full suite of destructive crash testing and collision avoidance performance testing is complete and an ANCAP safety rating is published,” said Hoorweg.

“The Australian government has mandated the inclusion of AEB systems in newly-introduced vehicle models from March 2023, and all models on sale in Australia from March 2025.

“While it is not always possible for ANCAP to test and rate every vehicle model on the market, unrated vehicles are eligible for testing by ANCAP and can be tested and rated by ANCAP at any time.”

At the launch of the BRZ this week, Subaru Australia defended the safety inclusions across the entire BRZ range.

“There have been significant advancements in specification compared to the previous generation,” a spokesperson said.

“Autonomous emergency braking is not available in the manual in this specification, but it’s something we continue to talk to head office about for future vehicles.”

Similar questions are expected to be asked of Toyota Australia when it launches the 2022 Toyota GR 86, which is a twin-under-the-skin with the BRZ.