Update: Subaru/Toyota Coupe CONFIRMED!!1!

[Sabre]

No worse than B9

[Mr Kleen]

Look! Over there! 3 brz!



Yes, it is worse than B9.

[complacent]

bear peeking.jpg

did someone say bears? where?!?

[Sabre]

Wait... Do you mean DA BEARS?

[Mr Kleen]

Da Brz...

[boomee]

cant wait for details this may mean I might not get a rwd american muscle car hmmm interesting very interesting indeed

I can't wait for details.
This may mean I might not get a rwd american muscle car.
Hmmm... interesting, very interesting indeed.

[Mr Kleen]

Latest Subaru BRZ prototype comes into view

Our elite squad of highly-trained spy photographers has nabbed a handful of new photos of the soon-to-be-unveiled Subaru BRZ. The front engine, rear-wheel drive sports coupe was spotted out and about on public streets wrapped in suitable camouflage ahead of its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show next week. Subaru says that the BRZ moniker for Boxer engine, Rear-wheel drive Zenith, but it sounds more like a phonetic interpretation of a weedeater to us. Nomenclature aside, we're told to expect good things from the coupe. Word on the web is that Subaru may use the vehicle to unveil a new 2.0-liter direct-injection four-cylinder engine.

Even more interesting is rumors that the coupe will use a similarly new six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Either way, we'll know more when the Japanese automaker pulls back the sheets in Germany next week. Stay tuned.

[Sabre]

OMG, please let this thing be %50 as good as I am hoping.

[Mr Kleen]

Frankfurt motor show: The Subaru BRZ is still invisible

[Sabre]

[Raven]

This is only car I'd give up my mx5 for and it's looking like it'll never be finished.

[boomee]

Well looks like we wait till november VIA AUtoexpress
There will be no turbo version of the Subaru BRZ coupe, the company has confirmed. And all-wheel drive has been ruled out too.
The rear-drive coupe, which was shown at Frankfurt in wireframe guise, will come only with a normally aspirated four-cylinder 2.0-litre boxer engine, with a power output of under 300bhp.
There will be six-speed manual and automatic gearbox options, while Subaru claims the model will have the lowest centre of gravity of any rear-drive sports car on sale.
And despite being launched alongside Toyota’s FT-86, which has already been seen in concept form, Subaru insists it has played the leading role in development.
“The car may initially be branded as a Toyota, but it is a Subaru,” said product planning chief Toshio Masuda.
Both versions will be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in November.Meanwhile, the firm has still not decided whether the next-generation Impreza will be sold in the UK due to its potential price.

[Sabre]

Meanwhile, the firm has still not decided whether the next-generation Impreza will be sold in the UK due to its potential price.

This scares me more than anything...

[Mr Kleen]

Autocar News 1

Subaru’s new BRZ coupe will only be available with a normally aspirated engine and rear-wheel drive, Autocar can reveal.

[It] will go into production alongside its co-developed Toyota FT-86 sibling in spring 2012

Autocar News 2

Power outputs, however, will differ with a Subaru-spec ECU liberating the BRZ’s power to “less than 300bhp,” compared with the FT-86’s 200bhp figure.

[Sabre]

Sounds like we're going to have to wait till November. Also sounds like the Subaru part # will have more power than the Toyota part #. I'm definitely still interested in this car. If the CG is as low as they are claiming, it could be DAMN fun in the curves.

[zaxrex]

The baby is about ready to be birthed.
Confirmed numbers from the Toyota RHD offering.:
2706 LBS
200 hp @ 7000 RPM, 150 ft/lbs @ 6600.


I fear it will gain even more weight when it comes this side of the international date line...
Sad banana.

[Mr Kleen]

turbo or GTFU

[Sabre]

FT86 site translation.

I was REALLY hoping for lower weight, as in, lower than anything else that it was going to be compared to (MX-5, RX8). Unless they put out a turbo, it will probably come in the middle of that pack.

[zaxrex]

Yeah
You drop half the drivetrain, cut out a whole row of seats and doors and it come in at 300 lbs less than an Impreza sedan?
I bet I could knock off 110 lbs just by removing my doors and taking out the seats.
Another 30 from ditching two axles and a differential.
I'm un-engineering something that has already been made and getting to almost the weight they claim for what should be a lighter car.

But then again, maybe that is what it up their sleeves for later. Take out all the weight that the should have from the start to increase performance. Same chassis, better numbers, and coupled with ECU changes, more power from the engine.... Seems like a viable "refresh" that they could market with no cost whatsoever.

[PGT]

a well-optioned MINI is around the same and similar power.

[FreddyG]

looks 100x better than a mini though, and no turbo, cant wait to see what kind of power people make when a turbo is thrown on

[Mr Kleen]

This bright blue backside belongs to the Subaru BRZ, Subie's variant of the Scion FR-S — or Toyota FT-86, depending on where you live. It's the right end to show given it's Subaru's first modern RWD sports car.
But don't expect the car to look like this when it really gets its "real reveal" at the Tokyo Motor Show. Apparently Subaru's stripped away every piece of real sheetmetal from the car and replaced it with tuned, flared and puffed-up concept crap that'll never be seen on the production car.

That said, we know from yesterday's mammoth spec drop that its fellow RWD cars are featherweights at 2662 pounds, powered by a 2.0-liter DOHC boxer four putting out around 200 horsepower.

Expect more from the Subaru BRZ, which for this non-unveiling, is being called the "Subaru BRZ Concept - STI." The we-know-someone-in-Japan-gossip-circle says the dash and extra three-letter nomenclature is good enough for an additional 100 horsepower. Giddy-up.

"Pure Handling Delight" is how Subaru describes the car, owing to its low-low center of gravity and proper RWD layout. The rumored almost 300-hp boxer four also doesn't hurt. It'll debut at the L.A. Auto Show later this month, where we're going to do our best to steal it.

Hear that Subaru? You better bring a battalion of security guards armed with tasers or we're going to Occupy Subaru! Ya hear us?!

[zaxrex]

"Occupy Subaru"
Now that is something I can believe in.

[Sabre]

If it does have near 300HP NA, that might put it's power to weight ratio at something I could believe in...

[PGT]

under $30k, under 14sec 1/4mile, > .90g lateral acceleration, >65mph through the slalom....these are things a winner are made of.

I mean...the 2012 Camry can almost hit those. Surely a focused effort from Toyota and Subaru can nail it too.