6 Things I've Learnt About The Subaru BRZ After 4 Months Of Ownership

After years of driving an underpowered and incredibly boring 1.4-litre Peugeot 207, my insurance finally lowered enough for me to purchase my very first sportscar. After countless hours of watching video reviews, trawling through the classifieds and working out what my ideal first performance car would be, I settled on the Subaru BRZ. It was the perfect mix of practicality, reliability and hoontastic fun that I was after. Six thousand miles and four months of ownership later I’ve learned some interesting things about the little boxer.

1. “It’s a nice sportscar, shame it only has 200bhp”

First things first, if you decide to buy a BRZ, be prepared to face the same comments every time you go to a car meet. “That’s a great sportscar”, “I’ve heard it has a great chassis”, “shame it’s so underpowered”. I’ve honestly lost count of the number of times this criticism has been levelled at the BRZ.

However, somewhat surprisingly, these comments don’t bother me, because let’s face it, for a performance car the BRZ is fairly underpowered. But for where I live, the low power/low grip ethos works perfectly. North Yorkshire’s roads are tight, technical and undulating - perfect territory for a lightweight sportscar. And even though the lack of torque can be irritating at times, it just encourages you to work harder.

The 2.0-litre flat-four only comes alive from 4500rpm onwards, but when it does the little Subaru is a riot. Granted, it’s not going to excite anyone driving on a wide American interstate, but on small B-roads with jumps, blind crests and challenging cambers, the BRZ feels truly at home. And unlike some of its more powerful rivals like the 370Z, the Subaru likes to be driven at ten tenths. Second and third gear slides are slow and controllable (thanks to the fairly long 2570mm wheelbase) and the pedals are perfectly spaced for heel and toeing. As an entry-level sports car, the little Subie ticks all my boxes. Well, almost…

2. I'll be replacing the 'Prius tyres'

The BRZ comes as standard with Michelin Primacys (yes, the famous Prius tyres). Now, I understand the premise of fitting this kind of rubber - it makes the car easy to slide, lets it move around on fast country roads and ultimately makes the low powered machine a lot more fun - but in reality, things are quite different.

In most circumstances the ‘eco’ tyres actually detract from the driving experience. One example is under heavy braking. On country roads with various undulations, the front wheels have a propensity to lock which causes the overly aggressive ABS to kick in - not very confidence inspiring. It’s also all too easy to lock the rear wheels on downshifts, which is why heel and toeing is an absolute must if you’re going to drive the car quickly.

The tyres are also pretty hopeless when the weather turns nasty, which is a common occurrence when you live in the UK. Even breathing on the throttle is enough to get the traction control light triggering like a mad man in wet conditions. The only solution is to turn all the assists off, but then you’re left with a car which is pretty spiky on the limit. Various magazine long term tests have confirmed that I’m not the only one with a dislike for the standard Michelins, so come 2016 I’m definitely on the look out for some new rubber.

3. It's a three seater...

At first glance you’d think that the BRZ is strictly a two-seater, and to be honest, that’s how I’ve treated it. When anybody has asked for a lift, I’ve told them not to even bother trying to fit into the rear seats (unless they want to saw off their own legs). But Christmas time can present certain challenges, and one of those is the need to visit family members.

On a recent visit to my Grandma, I perhaps foolishly thought that she would enjoy a ride in the Subaru. However, I didn’t really think that far ahead; cue five minutes of trying to get my dad to fit in the back while my Grandma clambered into the very low (for her) passenger seat. Smooth it was not. However, somewhat surprisingly, both passengers, once in, fitted quite comfortably. You obviously wouldn’t want to drive down to the south of France like that, but for a quick trip into town for the Christmas shop, it wasn’t that bad - who said sportscars weren’t practical?

4. Nice interior with brilliant ergonomics

If you’re looking to move from a BMW, Audi or Mercedes to a BRZ, you’re going to be fairly disappointed. The interior plastics are not of the highest quality and certain features like the digital clock are parts bin specials. However the worst offender is the Subaru head unit.

I’m not exactly sure where the unit was sourced from, but it certainly wasn’t designed in this century. It just doesn’t look like it fits in with the rest of the sporty interior and the green lights contrast horribly with the red dials at night. The only benefit is that the system is very easy to use and the sound system is fairly powerful. I’m planning to upgrade the system with an Apple CarPlay unit in the new year. Subaru does have its own Pioneer system but it’s very expensive and the reviews haven’t been very complimentary.

The interior does have its positives however. The key touch points are wrapped in either leather or higher quality plastic and the basic ergonomics are brilliant. The seating position is just about perfect and the bolstering is also very supportive. The red stitching also makes the cabin feel like a special place to be. The central rev counter with its programmable shift light is also very easy to use and reminds you of what the car was really designed for: driving.

5. "What type of car is that?"

The BRZ is one of the most recognisable cars in the automotive world, I mean, it even features on the front of the new Need For Speed game. So the one thing I didn’t expect was the amount of people coming up to me to ask what make the car is. I’ve had guesses ranging from Toyota (which is kinda right) to Maserati (which is really kinda wrong). I think the reason for this is twofold. One, compared to the GT86, there are hardly any BRZs on UK roads (4590 registered Toyotas vs 446 registered BRZs); I’ve been driving my car for four months and have yet to see another example on the road.

The second, is that the car isn’t Subaru World Rally blue. In fact, the car is painted in Lightning red, which is very rare in the UK. So rare in fact, that when I took the car along to my local Subaru dealer, it left one of the managers completely befuddled.

“It can’t be a UK car, because we specially ordered ours in red, it took six months to arrive, and it’s the only one we know of in Britain”.

The salesman was actually spot on because my car was specially ordered for the Isle of Man. Now this doesn’t actually add any value to the car, but it does make it stand out as something a little different; which in turn probably explains why the general public have no idea what it is.

6. So much potential...

The base Subaru BRZ is a brilliant beginners’ sportscar, but if anything, it’s an even better tuning platform. It only takes a few quick drives before you subconsciously start identifying areas where the car could be improved; wider tyres would cure the mild understeer, a new exhaust would let the boxer breathe a little better and a supercharger would fill the torque gaps. Don’t get me wrong, the car doesn’t need these modifications, but it is so tempting…

All this was made worse by a recent visit to my local Subaru dealer. When booking my car in for its 10k service, I spotted another BRZ lurking in the corner, but this one had a Cosworth badge on it. I know I shouldn’t have looked, but before I knew it I’d already asked for the keys. The car was one of the salesmen’s pet projects and featured a Cosworth Supercharger, Nameless Performance cat-back exhaust, 18-inch Speedline wheels, an Eibach Spring Kit and an STi Front Splitter.

The car was putting out around 280bhp at the rear wheels and the level of fit and finish of the Cosworth kit was absolutely incredible. I hate to say it but the car looked and sounded like it should have when it came out of the factory - a proper M3 rival. All those thoughts of the car being perfect in stock form went straight out the window and I’ve been looking for a supercharger ever since.

I’m looking forward to slowly modifying my BRZ over the next few years, and before any CTzens ask, no, I won’t be purchasing an M3 anytime soon. Someone at CT needs to represent the JDM contingent, and I’m more than happy to do so!