Why Have One When You Can Have Both?
What’s rear-wheel drive, got a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated Subaru ‘Boxer’ motor in it, and has the motoring media worldwide yapping? Nup. The other one, the Subaru BRZ, but close.
A straight-up comparo was the plan for the day with the sister cars going head to head. Toyota 86 Vs. Subaru BRZ. One red, one silver, both autos (I know, I know). Would there be a clear winner? Would there be any differences at all? Would I bin a car off a mountain again?
The good stuff is that the BRZ is identical to the 86 in all the good ways: sharp response from the steering and chassis and sweet overall balance (if a little prone to some initial understeer).
Oddly enough, and I’m not really sure why, the BRZ does seem a little less polished than the 86. More engine noise in the cabin, more road noise, and possibly a little less civilised compared to the 86, which feels more GT cruiser than road-racer.
Exterior differences are mostly made up of different headlights, front bumper, side vent trims and the badges – that’s about it. Inside, same wheel but with stars in the middle of it, slightly different gauge-backing design, some silver trim touches instead of the 86’s black faux-carbon inserts, and no sat-nav.
The BRZ we drove was silver and looks pretty good, I think better than the 86, but then I snapped a white 86 and that does look terribly neat.
I’m sure the Kia/Bob Jane-style black and shadow-chrome rims have something to do with it.
Colours aside, there really isn’t a lot to differentiate the two cars and that’s not a bad thing as both offer buyers the basis to a solid smile machine regardless of manufacturer badging.
I still want to see if a manual transmission will prove a more engaging drive as automatic transmissions in cars like these are just pointless and provoke punchy reactions.
Stay tuned.
Dave
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