If you’re one of those people who believes Subaru’s BRZ (nee Toyota GT 86) needs more power, then fear not, it’s already in the pipeline – turbocharging, all-wheel drive and even bigger capacity engines are all on the product team’s to-do list.
Subaru’s Product Planning Chief, Toshio Masuda, has been quite explicit about future plans for the lightweight and punchy new BRZ sports coupe.
Exciting days ahead for BRZ as Chief Planner suggests that turbo, AWD and big power are all on its shopping list.
http://t.co/RTf32HhY— Subaru UK (@subaruuk) June 19, 2012
He is mindful of Subaru’s unique brand values – from its symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, low centre of gravity ‘Boxer’ engines to its experience with turbochargers. “We can mix all of these elements,” he stated in a recent interview, “as they would provide a great synergy, focussing on the best features.”
Independent tuning houses in Japan are already working on both supercharged and turbocharged versions of the BRZ. Yet, with such enthusiasm resident within the company, it is only a matter of time before the UK will benefit from an increased line-up of BRZ variants.
Subaru has already explored and shown the potential of an STI version of the BRZ, which would certainly attract those enthusiasts looking for a more extreme driving experience, and also begin to satisfy Subaru’s core Impreza Turbo owners – who expect something a little more than a 197bhp normally aspirated powerplant can deliver.
Meanwhile, the standard versions are selling like hotcakes, just expect some new flavours and a double-chocolate chip one with some cherries on top..
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Bigger engine seems unlikely, it is already slightly nose heavy (very slightly..but a bigger engine will make that worse). I think AWD would be impossible as the engine lies between the front wheels, putting a traditional Subaru transmission would raise the engine way up, killing the low center of gravity that they focused on. I do think a turbo is likely though…actually kind of obvious as the next generation WRX will be using the same engine.
I agree that a turbo is the most likely (in the short-term), but there's no reason why Subaru couldn't increase the engine capacity by either a longer stroke or wider diameter bore (assuming there's sufficient room in the engine block).
All-wheel drive would be a curious direction to take – it may well be a core brand attribute, but the BRZ/GT86 is supposed to be a back-to-basics driving machine and 4WD wouldn't be much use unless power was north of 400bhp.
I guess Subaru's news is blindingly obvious and they've released these details to combat the growing wave of after-market solutions.
I'm pretty sure the author of this article has no idea what he's talking about. The front axles of an AWD system in the BRZ would have to pass through the engine block, right about where the rear two cylinders are. There's no physical way to make the BRZ AWD and it's readily apparent with one look under the hood. Pure sensationalist journalism to drum up site hits.
You're quite right to question the feasibility of all-wheel drive for the BRZ, but then out of line to start throwing accusations around about " Pure sensationalist journalism to drum up site hits".
If you look (up) at the article above you'll notice that I've now helpfully posted a tweet from Subaru UK which confirms the points made in the article. Subaru has since withdrawn the article they published this morning, so perhaps one of their marketing assistants has been told to stand in the corner and repeat "I must check my facts before speaking to the press.."
Likewise if you had prior experience of SkiddMark you'd know we couldn't care less about site hits or page impressions, none of which earn us any revenue, nor would I car if they did. Never have. This site doesn't exist or need the support of brands and ad agencies, hence we are (uniquely) able to say precisely what we want.
That's my choice and it will forever stay that way, check our 'About' pages and you'll learn some of the reasons why.