Here's How The Subaru BRZ Looks As An STI And A Convertible

X-Tomi Design has given us a glimpse at two 2021 BRZ derivatives - one that might well happen, and one that almost certainly won't

Matt Robinson

20 Nov 2020

Here's How The Subaru BRZ Looks As An STI And A Convertible

Reaction to the looks of the 2022 Subaru BRZ has been mixed thus far. There may be a new, stiffer bodyshell, but the roofline and even the glasshouse don’t look to have been altered at all. And while the front and rear ends have been completely restyled, many online were quick to label the new sports car as a weird mash-up between a Lexus RC and a Mazda RX-8. As well as some other, less kind things.

Prolific car renderer X-Tomi Design, on the other hand, decided his comment on the new BRZ’s styling would be image-based. Mere hours after the reveal he’d released a render showing a convertible version (above), and a day on, he posted a ‘BRZ STI’ (below). Fast work!

The convertible isn’t something we’re expecting to happen IRL. In its eight years on sale, neither Toyota nor Subaru has deemed it worthwhile to make a drop-top GT86/BRZ. With the sports car market struggling even more than it was when these cars were launched in 2012, we can’t see that stance changing.

We aren’t expecting an STI either. To be true to the badge, it would need more power via a turbocharger, but Subaru has already said adding one to its 2.4-litre engine would muck up the weight distribution. The Japanese company may produce something that looks similar, though. A few years back Subaru made a ‘BRZ Ts‘, complete with nicer wheels, a high-level rear wing, side skirts and a front splitter. Much like X-Tomi’s ‘STI’, in other words.

It had no more power than the standard BRZ, but it came with a raft of chassis improvements to go with the aero pieces. A few months on, Subaru released a JDM-only ‘STI Sport’, which once again did without a power increase (you’re sensing a theme here, aren’t you?), focusing instead on suspension tweaks.

Something perhaps more useful that the second render provides is an idea of how the new BRZ might look with some tasteful mods. To our eyes, it shapes up very nicely with a drop in ride height, some different wheels and added aero appendages - what do you think?