Subaru Sees BRZ Start of More Collaboration With Toyota

TOCHIGI, JAPAN – Subaru’s BRZ rear-wheel-drive coupe unveiled at the Tokyo auto show this week is just the first of the new vehicles to be jointly developed with Toyota, which owns a share in the auto maker.

“We feel the need to expand collaboration projects in the future, because we’re already invested in (our) Ohta (assembly plant),” Toshio Masuda, senior project general manager-BRZ, tells WardsAuto during a media preview of the car here.

Subaru BRZ sports coupe on sale in U.S. next spring.

Toyota styled both the BRZ and its own versions, the FT-86 and Scion’s FR-S. Subaru led the engineering of the vehicles and will produce all three at its Ohta facility.

A Subaru official denies cost-savings is the primary motivator behind the tie-up with Toyota, although he admits it’s expensive to solely develop a low-volume vehicle. “We would like to cultivate the opportunity and the possibility for the people waiting” for variants of the car, says Atsushi Atake, manager-Subaru global marketing.

Subaru already is hinting at coming variants, saying a turbocharged model is not feasible in the “first iteration” of the BRZ and that a convertible is a “possibility.”

The BRZ goes on sale in the U.S. in about May with pricing expected to start at $25,000.

Toyota is collaborating on a sports car with Subaru because of its interest in the brand’s boxer engine, Atake says, noting Toyota contributed its port- and direct-injection system.

Using Toyota’s system should equate to a smoother cold-weather starts, Subaru says. The injection system also calls for premium fuel, which allows the BRZ to achieve 200 hp, 10 hp more than with regular gasoline.

The BRZ uses Aisin-supplied 6-speed manual and automatic transmissions. The automatic has triple-cone synchronizers on the first through third gears. Subaru says it switched out many of the automatic’s parts to achieve a manual-shift feel.

The horizontally opposed 2.0L 4-cyl. reaches 197 hp at 7,000 rpm, just short of 7,400-rpm redline. Peak torque of 150 lb.-ft. (203 Nm) comes at 6,400-6,600 rpm, but there is a bump in the otherwise flat torque curve in the 3,000-rpm range.

Both Premium and Limited trim levels come standard with a navigation system, high-intensity discharge headlamps, 17-in. wheels, limited-slip rear differential, heated exterior mirrors and tilt-and-telescopic steering. Paddle shifters are standard with the automatic transmission.

Subaru expects to sell at least 5,000 BRZs annually in the U.S., says spokesman Michael McHale. While the auto maker is known for its customer loyalty, it expects the BRZ to attract new buyers to the brand.

“We expect a fair amount of conquest because it’s a sector we haven’t played in before; it’s a whole new market,” McHale says, adding the car may appeal to Subaru’s WRX performance-car owners who have a similar mindset.

The target BRZ buyer is a 38-year-old, well-educated, married male, with an annual household income of $89,000.

The demographic runs contrary to the type of customer Toyota’s Scion youth brand will be chasing with its version of the sports coupe.

“Young people are not buying cars,” McHale says. “This is not a $15,000 car, this is a $25,000 car, (and) we think probably people in their 30s are going to be buying this, not people in their 20s.” Targeting a different buyer than Scion helps Subaru distance the BRZ from the FR-S, he adds.

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