Test Drive: 2013 Subaru BRZ

2013 Subaru BRZ. Click image to enlarge

The BRZ’s ride is also very harsh. Yes, a sports car will have a rough ride, but this is one of the roughest out there, harder than a Mazda MX-5 or a Mini Cooper JCW. Despite this harsh ride, the suspension itself is quiet, and the car is rattle-free. It will be interesting to see how the interior of the BRZ holds up after 50,000 km of hammering down on roads and tracks.

Many people ask what the differences between the Subaru BRZ and FR-S are. Aside from some minor suspension calibrations, it has to do with content. For the extra $1,300, I personally would take the base BRZ featured in this review over the FR-S. Granted it isn’t available in as many colours, but the front end treatment with the standard manual leveling HID headlights, daytime running LED lighting system and standard GPS navigation wins me over.

While on the topic of options and pricing, take note that the $27,295 Subaru BRZ tested here achieves that price point by omitting some luxuries people may expect in a brand new 2013 model car approaching $30K. There are no steering wheel mounted buttons, the HVAC controls feature basic operation, there are no heated seats and, with the a touchscreen radio that looks like an afterthought not properly integrated into the dash, the interior is devoid of buttons and controls in general. What we have here is a purpose-built sports car.

Now, that is not to say the interior is a Spartan wasteland you would not want to spend any time in. The black front seats feature red stitching and are both comfortable as well as very supportive for spirited driving. The rest of the interior is finished with hard and soft touch materials with some looking great and others that are plain ugly. The Pioneer in-dash touchscreen navigation and audio is easy enough to use, once I figured it out, but still frustrating in its operation. Those not technologically savvy will hate it and never figure it out. I had to give Jonathan a five-minute tutorial just so he could find a radio station and connect his Bluetooth, even though he claims to be tech-savvy (with an abacus, maybe). He did say that once instructed in the basic premise of the system, it became fairly easy to operate.

The basically useless rear seats can have their seatback folded down, which reveals a true flat loading floor. This transforms the small 196 L trunk into a massive storage facility into which I fit: an 8-person tent, 2 coolers, a 10-foot pop-up tent, a queen-size air mattress, overnight bags, computer bags, and various other odds and ends in with room to spare.

The final trick up the BRZ’s wheel well is impressive fuel economy. Despite turning a high 3,250 rpm at 120 km/h and 2,700 rpm at 100 km/h, the BRZ manual is officially rated at 9.6 L/100 km city and 6.6 L/100 km highway. I averaged 9.1 L/100 km during my week with the car with a balanced mix of highway, city, and ‘spirited’ driving. Two interesting nuances to note about this little Subaru are that the air conditioner temporarily blows out warm air if you are hard on the gas and that the speedometer has been calibrated to be bang on (as opposed to slightly higher than the actual speed as found in most vehicles).

After seven days with the vehicle, the question I got asked the most about the BRZ was, “What does it drive like?” To me, the BRZ is a mix of the Mazda MX-5, Honda S2000, and Mazda RX-8. It has taken good traits from those three vehicles, and stuffed them into an efficient, affordable package. Many people talk about the best bang for the buck, or the most pounds per dollar when discussing vehicles. I have a third measure I like to use; the most smiles per dollar. For years the MX-5 has held this crown, but no longer. Nothing on sale today provides more smiles per dollar than the Subaru BRZ; and it is good on gas as well—even more smiles. If I were in the market for a new car, without question, this would be my purchase right now.