Rooting for the underdog is practically a national pastime. And in the automotive world, the Subaru BRZ is an underdog, though it doesn’t quite have the Cinderella story charm – yet. It’s special for a few reasons. For starters, it’s one of the few cars left in its segment, and it’s Subaru’s only rear-wheel-drive offering, not to mention its only two-door car.
But just being rare doesn’t automatically make a car a winner. What really matters is how it performs on the road and, more importantly, how it makes you feel behind the wheel and the emotions it stirs up.
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So, can a vehicle with just 228 horsepower (170 kW) and 184 lb-ft (249 Nm) of torque make you fall in love with driving? After a week of testing this car on back roads, in the city, and over long stretches of highway, we say… yes. In fact, this might be the perfect car for young drivers just getting the ropes. And that doesn’t stop it from being an absolute blast for drivers of any age given the right setting.
Our test car is a BRZ tS. Consider it the best of the BRZ bunch with a total price, including destination and delivery, of $36,465. Yes, that’s expensive for a kid’s first car but the vast majority of what makes it so good for anyone applies to the lower trims as well. That includes the base trim that costs $32,380 after d&d. Considering that we’re talking about a $4,000 price difference, go for whatever package you prefer.
They all come with the same engine and power output. They all feature rear-wheel drive and are available with either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Our BRZ tS is supposed to get up to 20 mpg in the city, 27 on the highway, and 22 overall. It also comes with a few nice additions from Subaru’s STI performance arm. That includes bigger Brembo brakes up front, 18-inch dark gray wheels, and a revised suspension with Hitachi dampers.
Quick Facts
Notably, we drove a 2024 model, but the 2025 version remains largely unchanged. The key differences are a sport button for manual-equipped cars, a few subtle updates to the interior accents in the Limited trim, and retuned synthetic exhaust noise pumped into the cabin. While these updates might catch the eye of some, they don’t really alter the driving experience.
Something else worth mentioning is that the North American market won’t be receiving the suspension upgrades seen in the Japanese-market BRZ for 2025. Since the overall design and performance are very similar to the 2024 model, this review provides a solid preview of what to expect if you’re considering buying or leasing a BRZ.
Styling
The exterior is attractive and overall, the car is small and compact in a way so few are today. In terms of styling, there is a lot going on with the BRZ. Just about every square foot of this exterior has a crease, a duct, a beltline, or something else to break up the monotony of a soulless flat panel of sheet metal. The tail lights are especially interesting as the upper outer edges jut far away from the body and help to form the air curtain flowing along the end of the car.
For the most part, the design really looks good in person. It’s pleasing to the eye without being overly styled or boring. The front end seems to avoid more aggressive design styles to imbue a playful attitude. That’s a good way to look at the BRZ too. Don’t take it too seriously because it simply doesn’t take itself too seriously. This little car is all about fun and the exterior design translates that well in person.
A Cozy Cabin
The BRZ’s cabin is cozy, focused, but with a few strange decisions along the way. The steering wheel looks like a bit of a hodgepodge and the leather finish on it isn’t as tactically satisfying as an Alcantara or faux suede might be.
That said, it’s easy to get past small grips with a car laid out as well as this one. The shift knob is positioned well, the pedals feel natural underfoot, and the seats are very balanced. They’re not too stiff and sporty and at the same time not overly flat. They’re well cushioned too so long drives are as comfortable as short ones.
The dash layout is good too, though we can’t understand why Subaru chose to put an Alcantara upholstery on just the gauge cluster or the very strange glove box proportioning. They just seem strange. Despite that, the controls are logically placed and easy to become familiar with.
Subaru’s 8-inch infotainment system is a bit clunky and slow and frankly, looks very outdated, but this car isn’t all about the latest and greatest tech anyway. At least it allows for Android Auto and Apple CarPlay connectivity.
Physical buttons and knobs make up the climate control system and look good while doing it too. We even like the way they react to engagement. In addition, Subaru includes physical buttons for things like volume, track seeking, and some of the infotainment navigation.
The gauge cluster is a high note here as it offers several useful modes, crisp clear graphics, and manages to avoid being overly fussy. Again, it won’t look as fancy as something one might get in a sports car priced at $50,000 or $60,000, but that’s sort of the point here. I especially like how the center pod in the cluster doubles as a shift light. There’s one more thing that makes it good for a young driver.
Taller folks will fit just fine too, which was a nice surprise. That can’t be said of the back seats though which are basically built for toddlers only. Could a very short person also fit back there? Yes – but not for very long without circulation getting cut off somewhere. That said, they do serve as an additional storage space quite nicely. On top of that, they fold down so owners can transport quite a lot via the trunk passthrough. That’s good since the trunk itself only offers about six cubic feet of space.
Drive Impressions
Every day the BRZ was here I’d find really silly reasons to go drive it, whether that was just to my local abandoned windy roads or to the corner store. And ultimately I did so because it is genuinely fun and engaging at a high level. And that’s despite the fact that it only makes 228 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque.
Pushing it hard, especially on the standard Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires resulted in a feeling of deep engagement. The pedal feedback is so clear that there’s no question about what the car is doing based on your inputs. The manual gearbox is a creampuff in that it’s so easy to use and at the same time is somewhat hard to get wrong. Consider that another good thing for a young driver.
If there’s something that everyone agrees small sports cars like this need, it’s more power. We certainly won’t go against the grain to say that the BRZ offers perfectly adequate oomph. It definitely could be better, but what it already has is nothing to be disappointed by. Don’t forget that this BRZ weighs just 17 lbs (7.7 kg) more than the first generation it replaced. On the other hand, it gained an additional 23 horsepower and 28 lb-ft of torque.
That’s a significant improvement over the old car and on top of that, it’s an improvement that every driver can take full advantage of. Young or old, drivers of the BRZ get to experience what it’s like to push a car to the edge of its performance envelope without having to do triple the speed limit. In fact, it’s part of what makes the BRZ so fun.
It also helps that we achieved 24.3 mpg over the week, which is great in this class. Some of that figure came down to lots of miles on the highway where the BRZ is noticeably lighter than most cars. In part, that makes it feel good when it comes to inputs, but it also allows a lot of road noise into the cabin. That said, the ride is generally good at high speeds.
The overall experience of driving the BRZ is one of playfulness and enjoyment, and there’s really only one problem: the steering isn’t as sharp as I’d like. The car turns in well, but it doesn’t communicate as clearly through the wheel as it does through the pedals and chassis. That said, it’s far from numb.
We should also note that the Michelin tires grip so much that some hardcore BRZ and GR86 fans might actually prefer something with less grip. Getting the tires to break free is absolutely possible with this car, but on less sticky tires it could be even more playful at the cost of grip.
Finally, we should discuss safety because Subaru’s EyeSight tech is finally available in manually-equipped cars and it’s a mixed bag. For confident and focused drivers it’s a bit overbearing. On the flip side, it’s good at alerting when a driver might be less attentive or focused.
Competition: A Tight Field
The engagement on offer here is similar to what you can get in the Toyota GR86 and the Mazda MX-5 but at this price, those are really the only two other options. One might throw the Ford Mustang Ecoboost in here, but since it’s not available with a manual gearbox, it’s off the table. All three offer something a bit unique.
The MX-5 will always be celebrated and appreciated, but it can be far more expensive than the BRZ. The Toyota will cost a bit less than the Subaru and both of these twins match up well for those who want to modify their cars. Some of it then will come down to looks as much as anything.
For $35,000, the choices are slim but not a single one of them is bad or disappointing. That includes the Mustang which, while limited to an automatic gearbox, is at least the only car in the group available with 300+ horsepower and up to 350 lb-ft of torque.
Final Thoughts
The BRZ tS is genuinely fun. It’s engaging and playful and it hits all the right notes for a car at this price point. It’s not perfect though. It could sound better. It could be more powerful. And it could be a little sharper in terms of steering feel. That said, no car is going to beat it in terms of pure performance value by much, if at all.
Frankly, the way that it blends performance, safety technology, and a huge focus on driver engagement makes it feel like the perfect car for a young driver. Irrespective of age or experience, though, anyone who gets behind the wheel will get a better feeling for how inputs create specific behaviors in the car and how much pleasure can come from being focused on the drive and not much else.
In a world full of cars that prioritize tech over engagement and fun, the BRZ tS stands out as a reminder that driving enjoyment doesn’t need to come at a luxury price.
