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Sports car fans rejoice: The 2022 Subaru BRZ is nearly here and it’s likely packing the one thing you’ve all been asking for, a turbocharged engine.
Here’s the Scoop
2020 Subaru BRZ – subaru.com | Shop new Subaru BRZ on Carsforsale.com
When the Subaru BRZ and Toyota sub-brand Scion FR-S arrived in 2012, sports car fans the world over rejoiced at the combination of exceptional balance, classic good looks, and a rev-happy powertrain. Now, nearly a decade later it’s high time for a replacement and we’re all excited to see what Subaru, with the help of Toyota, has been cooking up behind closed doors. After confirming that they would skip the 2021 model year, it seems clear that some big things must be in the works for the 2022 offering. Recently, reports have suggested some fascinating details about updates to the platform as well as to the powertrain of the coupe. Testing mules have also been spotted with some more intriguing details on display. Here’s what we’re expecting from the 2022 Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86.
2020 Toyota 86 – toyota.com | Shop new Toyota 86 on Carsforsale.com
Upgrading A Classic Format
Front-engined, rear-wheel-drive coupes have been a mainstay of the automotive enthusiast world for over half a century. Subaru and Toyota were highly respectful of that provenance when building the original BRZ and FR-S. The styling was met with near-universal praise and despite most everyone begging for more power within an hour or so of its release, the car is considered one of the best pure driving experiences available on the market today.
In terms of the overall design aesthetic for the upcoming model, test mules seem to clearly show off a more elegant and refined outer shell. The rear of the vehicle is more muscular and pronounced while the entire cabin slants forward into a sharper nose. The sides of the vehicle will now feature slits that are highly reminiscent of the Supra. Overall, from what we can see, the new car seems to have matured slightly and leveraged more modern design cues to evolve the brand. While the outside looks like a marked move into the 2020s, it’s the inside where most fans wanted additional attention paid.
Many critics have bemoaned the cheap feeling of the materials in the car, the odd interior and engine noises, and the lack of modern technology in the small sports car, so we fully expect to see each of these aspects addressed and improved. Additionally, it seems likely the car will be built on Toyota’s new TNGA platform. This would provide ample space and flexibility for this little car to potentially be sold with something fans have been wanting since the very beginning, a turbocharger.
A Turbocharged Engine Seems Like The Perfect Fit
All signs are pointing to the next BRZ and 86 coming available with Subaru’s FA24 turbocharged boxer engine. While some have balked at this claim, employing a turbocharged engine benefits the next generation greatly. Currently used in the Ascent SUV, the engine motor in question produces some 260 horsepower and 277 lb.-ft. of torque. Critics of this idea point to the current Toyota Supra GR rated at 255 horsepower as the reason they doubt the validity of this speculation, but we think there’s a clear solution to keep the 86 from stealing Supra sales. Subaru is well known for conservatively tuning its engines and we expect to see more of the same here. Understanding that the majority of customers buying the sports car will drive it enthusiastically, it would be reasonable to reduce boost till the power output for the 2022 Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 is around 225 horsepower.
2020 Subaru BRZ – subaru.com | Shop new Subaru BRZ on Carsforsale.com
That number is nearly perfect for many reasons. First, keeping the figure below the Supra keeps Toyota from cannibalizing sales and at the same time gives the bean counters at Subaru a little more comfort in knowing that the engine is under-stressed even when at its rev-limiter. In addition, it would also provide a large enough bump in power to make it noticeably faster than the outgoing model. Finally, since overall boost targets would be low, spool up time would be very fast. That means that instead of feeling like the BRZ was missing some grunt down low, it would still have a nearly naturally aspirated response for the pilot behind the wheel.
Moving On Up
Ultimately if all of these whispers proved to be accurate, it seems certain that the next generation of the Subaru BRZ and the Toyota 86 will move the platform into a whole new automotive weight-class. The two companies have reportedly been benchmarking the car against the Porsche Cayman and Boxster which only fans the flames of a possible move to forced induction. Furthermore, the boss at Toyota’s Gazoo Racing performance division has made public his interest in seeing the brand build a following through the use of high-performance vehicles. One thing is certain, no matter what form the 2022 Subaru BRZ arrives in, we can’t wait to drive it.
OMG! This is my dream car!
We love it too!