Subaru BRZ by CB Motorsports review-What we always needed?

8000 rpm. That is the maximum engine speed that the 2.4L flat four will go. 433 horsepower. That is the total output from a free breathing wasp’s nest under the carbon fiber hood. It has much in common with the Subaru BRZ upon which it’s based but it doesn’t feel like a BRZ. The BRZ is an approachable, easy car to drive to the limit. This is anything but. It’s ferocious, raw and untamed, like a lion in the wild waiting for unassuming prey and then go for the kill.

Lemme give you a run down of what CB Motorsports did to this rather unassuming sports car. They started off by boring and stroking the 2 liter flat four to 2.4, the pistons and connecting rods are now titanium, the exhaust is reworked to let out a better noise, then there’s the smaller things. A beefier radiator, better oil pump, fuel injectors, you name it. All of this results in a 233 horsepower and 149 lb-ft increase over the normal BRZ that it’s based on. To put all of that power to the floor are Michelin Pilot Super Sports measuring 275mm in the back and 255mm in the front. 19 inch aluminum wheels are included at no extra cost.

Now you’d expect all this kit to not come cheap and you wouldn’t be mistaken. The car I tested tacked on about $25,000 worth of modifications on top of a $30,000 Subaru BRZ. However, CB Motorsports will be more than willing to help track down a BRZ for you (the second hand market is the way to go) and the changes will be done. “We want to give the best experience possible for BRZ and 86 owners.” said Bill Madrio, founder and CEO of CB Motorsports. “It’s the closest thing to a modern day Honda S2000 as one can get, it’s just a lot faster.”

How much faster? Well I clocked a 0-60 in 3.3 seconds (all wheel drive will become an option later, lifted right off the WRX but that car was still being built when I visited) which will drop the 0-60 in 2.8 seconds according to Madrio.

With all of these differences to a normal BRZ, you’d assume it’s a completely different animal to drive. But that’s not necessarily the case. Obviously in a straight line this could keep up with damn near anything, but in the twisties, it’s much the same car we’ve come to know and love but with a ton more power and with those grippier, wider tires, it is able to achieve higher lateral acceleration than the BRZ could ever dream of. But there are a few problems. First, there is hardly any torque at the low side, the clutch isn’t very friendly, the ride is stiffer than rollerblading over a gravel road, the tire noise is deafening, and the engine sounds good but can get irritating after a while.

Ever since Toyota and Subaru came up with the idea that “hey let’s make a fun, rear drive sports car” people have complained about how it needs a turbo and more power, etc but what CB Motorsports has done to it is fix that problem with no forced induction anywhere on the horizon. And for that reason, it’s the BRZ that we needed all along.