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Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
7/17/23 3:31 p.m.
feature_image

Subaru of America, Inc. today announced a sharper and more focused BRZ will debut at Subiefest California on July 23.

That’s it. That’s the whole press release.

Does this mean we’re getting a BRZ with more horsepower? Forced induction? Trick suspension? All or none of the above?

Looks like we’ll find out come July 23.

Read the rest of the story

Colin Wood
Colin Wood Associate Editor
7/17/23 3:32 p.m.

I predict a new version of the tS:

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 3:36 p.m.

I'm with you,  I suspect a "sport" version or whatever with Brembo's and different shocks. Just like the first gen. 

 

For a second, I thought you were reposting the drivel about the next-gen Twin with the Corolla engine that has been making the rounds. 

kanaric
kanaric SuperDork
7/17/23 4:15 p.m.

Your prediction is probably exactly on point

crankwalk (Forum Supporter)
crankwalk (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
7/17/23 4:21 p.m.

The last time they promised a hotter one it was pretty dang mild. 

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter)
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) PowerDork
7/17/23 4:35 p.m.

There should be a more powerful version.  

ConiglioRampante
ConiglioRampante New Reader
7/17/23 4:39 p.m.

Maybe it's a Superleggera Edition that features a couple grams less RTV?  devil

ClearWaterMS
ClearWaterMS Reader
7/17/23 4:51 p.m.
z31maniac said:

For a second, I thought you were reposting the drivel about the next-gen Twin with the Corolla engine that has been making the rounds. 

3 cyl. GR Corolla engine in a RWD light weight chassis sounds pretty awesome to me :)

dps214
dps214 SuperDork
7/17/23 5:10 p.m.
ConiglioRampante said:

Maybe it's a Superleggera Edition that features a couple grams less RTV?  devil

No, handling package so that the engine can oil starve more and more often. Actually that might be good, if the engines start failing on test drives Subaru might have to actually do something about it.

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 5:56 p.m.
ClearWaterMS said:
z31maniac said:

For a second, I thought you were reposting the drivel about the next-gen Twin with the Corolla engine that has been making the rounds. 

3 cyl. GR Corolla engine in a RWD light weight chassis sounds pretty awesome to me :)

Of course it sounds awesome, but no one is buying a $40k+ BRZ/GR. And the speculation always comes from magazines with no credibility (that's why you don't see it here). Certain crappy magz have been speculating about boost, etc, since the first gen was released more than 10 years ago. 

 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 6:01 p.m.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

There should be a more powerful version.  

Have you driven a 2nd gen? They are plenty powerful for a street and/or track car, dyno's show they are underrated from published numbers. Even a FBO+E85 1st gen is down on power compared to the 2nd gens. 

And if tuning is your fancy, they have 2nd gens to nearly 250whp on E85 with a header. 

 

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/17/23 6:57 p.m.

In reply to z31maniac :

Weren't they making as much power at the wheels as an M3 of the E36 variety?  That is no slouch, unless you expect to do a burnout in 4th gear from an idle or something.

dps214
dps214 SuperDork
7/17/23 7:02 p.m.
z31maniac said:
ClearWaterMS said:
z31maniac said:

For a second, I thought you were reposting the drivel about the next-gen Twin with the Corolla engine that has been making the rounds. 

3 cyl. GR Corolla engine in a RWD light weight chassis sounds pretty awesome to me :)

Of course it sounds awesome, but no one is buying a $40k+ BRZ/GR. And the speculation always comes from magazines with no credibility (that's why you don't see it here). Certain crappy magz have been speculating about boost, etc, since the first gen was released more than 10 years ago.

The four cylinder supra is $45k. A GR86 with the GR Corolla engine would have the same torque and more power than the supra, in a smaller lighter package. There's no way those two vehicles can coexist. At $35-40k nobody would ever buy the supra over the GR86. At >$45k nobody would ever buy a GR86 unless the rest of the car gets a whole lot nicer too. And then we'd be back to nobody ever buying the supra.

The other option is detuning the crap out of the three cylinder turbo, but then you've got basically a lateral move in performance from the current GR86, (probably) better reliability but worse driving dynamics, still with at least a bit more cost.

VolvoHeretic
VolvoHeretic GRM+ Memberand Dork
7/17/23 7:12 p.m.

I can't believe that the Subaru BRZ isn't Subaru's flagship model with their best forced induction engine. Screw Toyota. Has anybody stuffed an LS into one yet?

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 7:14 p.m.
Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to z31maniac :

Weren't they making as much power at the wheels as an M3 of the E36 variety?  That is no slouch, unless you expect to do a burnout in 4th gear from an idle or something.

Not completely sure on that one, my S52 swapped E30 put down 240/240 at the wheels, but that was with the OBD-I intake manifold, 3.5" Porsche MAF, Turner Equal-length headers and a tune. 

The current twins are putting down around 210whp, about 45 more on average than the first gen even though only being rated 23-28hp more at the crank. And a much fatter midrange than the first gens. 

As far as the RTV/oil starvation, I think it's being made a bigger deal than it is. We've seen a handful of failures on 20k+ sold. 

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 7:15 p.m.
VolvoHeretic said:

I can't believe that the Subaru BRZ isn't their flagship model with their best forced induction engine. Screw Toyota. Has anybody stuffed an LS into one yet?

You can buy kits to put an LS in the first gen. 

AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter)
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) PowerDork
7/17/23 7:51 p.m.
z31maniac said:
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

There should be a more powerful version.  

Have you driven a 2nd gen? They are plenty powerful for a street and/or track car, dyno's show they are underrated from published numbers. Even a FBO+E85 1st gen is down on power compared to the 2nd gens. 

And if tuning is your fancy, they have 2nd gens to nearly 250whp on E85 with a header. 

 

Actually no and let me explain why.  30 mpg for that level of power doesn't really interest me.  I will admit your post intrigues me a bit though.  I may have to get one sent to my local Carmax for a closer look.  The soft top on a Miata will not work for my DD and I dislike the look of the RF.  If I'm going to upgrade to the price and go down to get a Civic Type R in fuel economy a lot of American built V8 cars come into play.  The twins might be the only car that is affordable that is as much or more fun to drive than my Si.  

Pete. (l33t FS)
Pete. (l33t FS) GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
7/17/23 8:26 p.m.
z31maniac said:
Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to z31maniac :

Weren't they making as much power at the wheels as an M3 of the E36 variety?  That is no slouch, unless you expect to do a burnout in 4th gear from an idle or something.

Not completely sure on that one, my S52 swapped E30 put down 240/240 at the wheels, but that was with the OBD-I intake manifold, 3.5" Porsche MAF, Turner Equal-length headers and a tune. 

The current twins are putting down around 210whp, about 45 more on average than the first gen even though only being rated 23-28hp more at the crank. And a much fatter midrange than the first gens. 

A stock M3 made about that much, no?

As far as the RTV/oil starvation, I think it's being made a bigger deal than it is. We've seen a handful of failures on 20k+ sold. 

The starvation in right hand turns is compelling.  If it is a timing chain climb issue, which makes sense when analyzing how the chains move, I can't really see a good way to solve that.  You can't exactly put a wiper on a chain. Maybe a baffle behind the chain to keep the slung oil from getting into the valve cover space?

Time to go look at what is behind the front cover, instead of editing videos, I suppose smiley

MyMiatas
MyMiatas HalfDork
7/17/23 9:21 p.m.

Will there be a Subaru BRZ 2024?

"The Subaru BRZ continues to be one of the few affordable sports cars on sale. The second generation of the sports car was introduced in 2022, so we don't expect to see any major changes for the upcoming 2024 model year. The current BRZ features an aggressive, but stylish design that should go unchanged for 2024.Mar 22, 2023"

z31maniac
z31maniac MegaDork
7/17/23 10:40 p.m.
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:
z31maniac said:
AnthonyGS (Forum Supporter) said:

There should be a more powerful version.  

Have you driven a 2nd gen? They are plenty powerful for a street and/or track car, dyno's show they are underrated from published numbers. Even a FBO+E85 1st gen is down on power compared to the 2nd gens. 

And if tuning is your fancy, they have 2nd gens to nearly 250whp on E85 with a header. 

 

Actually no and let me explain why.  30 mpg for that level of power doesn't really interest me.  I will admit your post intrigues me a bit though.  I may have to get one sent to my local Carmax for a closer look.  The soft top on a Miata will not work for my DD and I dislike the look of the RF.  If I'm going to upgrade to the price and go down to get a Civic Type R in fuel economy a lot of American built V8 cars come into play.  The twins might be the only car that is affordable that is as much or more fun to drive than my Si.  

I think they are actually rated less than that. I think 26-27mph on the highway, even though I've seen better than that at higher speeds with wider/stickier tires. They are definitely fun though. My 'Speed 3 was a blast, but man did it have crazy tq steer. 

In reply to Pete:
I think there is a company working on a baffle to help keep oil from the timing area. I'm curious to see Terry Fair's oil psi testing. 

 

NOHOME
NOHOME MegaDork
7/17/23 11:22 p.m.
z31maniac said:
VolvoHeretic said:

I can't believe that the Subaru BRZ isn't their flagship model with their best forced induction engine. Screw Toyota. Has anybody stuffed an LS into one yet?

You can buy kits to put an LS in the first gen. 

Funny, I have a spare L33 sitting in the corner, a 2013 FRS that I bought when they first came out, and no project. So the idea has occurred to me.

Thing is, swapping an LS into the twins is not an easy thing to  do if you want to keep all the CanBus goodness. And I would. I like the AC. I like the cruise. I like the radio and even the traction control. It all goes away if you do an LS swap and don't spend a big dollar and a lot of learning to try and keep that stuff.

There is not a lot of market room for a more powerful BRZ/FRS. It would have to gain weight to support the extra power and that would run it right into the Toyota Supra that will kick its ass at the game.

As is, the twins are nimble daily drivers that owns a niche. ( DD, RWD, under 3000 lb, with awesome suspension)  Its just not a very big niche for changes or sales increases. 

I would be happy if they put a real engine in the damn thing; not a boxer fan.

VolvoHeretic
VolvoHeretic GRM+ Memberand Dork
7/18/23 1:51 a.m.

In reply to NOHOME :

so, some Toyota? You're taking the fun out of it.

Jerry
Jerry PowerDork
7/18/23 8:49 a.m.
z31maniac said:
VolvoHeretic said:

I can't believe that the Subaru BRZ isn't their flagship model with their best forced induction engine. Screw Toyota. Has anybody stuffed an LS into one yet?

You can buy kits to put an LS in the first gen. 

I have a local AX friend with an LS in his Toyota.  Selling for $45K or somewhere around there.  It's very nice and quite a handful out on course.

maschinenbau
maschinenbau GRM+ Memberand UberDork
7/18/23 9:01 a.m.
NOHOME said:
 

I would be happy if they put a real engine in the damn thing; not a boxer fan.

2AR would have been cool. It's quickly becoming Toyota's K-swap in the MR2 world.

theruleslawyer
theruleslawyer New Reader
7/18/23 9:57 a.m.

Subaru will instead put the "performance" CVT from the WRX in it. Tada! Performance car.

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