 2013 Subaru BRZ. Click image to enlarge |
| First Drive: 2013 Subaru BRZ First Drive: 2013 Scion FR-S Test Drive: 2013 Subaru BRZ Test Drive: 2013 Scion FR-S DBDR: 2013 Subaru BRZ Comparison Test: Subaru BRZ vs. Hyundai Genesis Coupe Manufacturer’s website |
Originally Published on September 26, 2012
Review and photos by Grant Yoxon
Photo Gallery:
2013 Subaru BRZ
When I was a kid, a soccer coach told me, “Keep your eye on the goal!” This, after I missed the open net. I took him literally, though. I went home, cut out a picture of a beautiful green CCM bicycle from the Canadian Tire catalogue and stuck it to the wall above my bed. That way I would be reminded of what the goal really was. And every day I looked at that bike and dreamed of the day I would ride it. And every day I took one little step toward obtaining it; I drove my parents crazy about it until they gave up.
When I was fifteen, and in anticipation of my 16th birthday, I bought a beat up old ’60 VW Beetle for $75 and set about making it road worthy, all the while keeping a picture of a Baja Beetle (trimmed fenders, bumpers deleted, chrome reverse wheels, trumpet exhaust) taped to the rear view mirror to remind me of what the Beetle might eventually look like. I also kept a picture of a 1982 Ford Mustang GT under the clear plastic cover on my desk for five years after I sold the vehicle, searching every day for a replacement, and only removing it after the goal had been reached.
   2013 Subaru BRZ. Click image to enlarge |
Now I’ve done it again, only this time with a full screen photo on my desktop rather than a photo under the blotter. The object of my desire? The 2013 Subaru BRZ.
By now, probably everything that can be said about the Subaru BRZ—and its step twin, the Scion FR-S—has probably been said. If you read even infrequently about sports cars, you’ve probably read more than you want about these new coupes. Even in our own pages (see the links below), we’ve published six (SIX!) articles on the BRZ and FR-S, not counting stories from our daily news files and the auto shows.
But someone else (probably my Mom) told me that it is better to speak up. “If you like something, say so; if you don’t, say so.”
It would be easy, if the Subaru BRZ wasn’t such a darn good car, to just let it go—if you can’t say something nice, say nothing at all—but that’s not me. And that’s not the BRZ. After a really fun week driving the BRZ in town and out, I would be remiss not to add my few cents to the swelling bank of accolades that Subaru and Toyota have received for designing and building what enthusiasts have yearned for, a sports coupe that looks, drives, and communicates like a sports car should—at an affordable price.
It has all the right stuff: a low weight coupled with a well-balanced 53/47 front-to-rear weight bias and a low, low, low centre of gravity, a new Subaru 2.0-litre boxer engine with enough power (200 hp) to entertain but not enough to overwhelm, an interior that is all business and designed for driving, with snug seats and intuitive switch gear, and a sound that only a Subaru boxer engine makes, a sound that is music to my ears.
