Sometimes a car comes along and you can’t deny how much of a treat it is to drive. That’s what you’ll feel when you get behind the wheel of a 2015 Subaru BRZ Aozora Edition.
Engine, mechanicals
Saying you own a rear-wheel-drive Subaru would have elicited strange looks up until two years ago. The six-star automaker and staunch all-wheel drive specialist brought the BRZ to market with the engine turning only two wheels, and that was enough to turn heads. Going even further against Subaru type, this light, low-slung two-door coupe isn’t anybody’s choice of winter-driving vehicle. (I’m glad Subaru went against type, at least on this one occasion.)
The 2.0L 4-cylinder DOHC boxer puts out 200 hp at 7000 rpm, achieving 151 lb-ft of torque at 6400-6600 rpm. Coupled with the six-speed manual transmission (there’s no automatic in Aozora Edition), I had no issues accelerating, though I never touched the 221 km/h top speed Subaru claims for this little rocket.
I’d discuss fuel economy, but if you buy this car I doubt you’ll drive conservatively. You’ll get 50 litres of premium-grade fun between fill-ups. Let’s leave it at that.
A little discretion should keep you out of trouble. Well, that and the BRZ’s ample grip on the road thanks to its performance-tuned suspension. You’ll feel bumps in the road, but this car is for people who like to feel the road, bumps and all.
Disc brakes all round feel firm and bring you quickly to a stop. The red calipers really pop from under the 17″ x 7″ STI black alloy, 15-spoke wheels.
Exterior
I’ll praise the car’s looks enough later on, but I have to mention one beef: the trunk. I know this is a sports coupe, but why not enable better access to the cargo area by making the BRZ a hatchback? My hockey bag fit (are you happy, @Capn_Subaru?), but I had to press down on it several times to squeeze it into the trunk opening.
I’m glad the rear deck doesn’t hold speakers suspended into the cargo area. Otherwise, I might have ruined them when I shoved the bag in there. To repeat: the BRZ offers adequate cargo room. My gripe is with the difficulty of accessing that space.
Another slight quirk: the whole rear seat folds down. It isn’t a 60-40 split.
Now, on to the pretty stuff in this crystal white pearl BRZ. (Subaru also provides the Aozora in world rally blue pearl.) There’s more than enough detail on this car to turn heads. The dual, stainless steel polished exhaust tips flank brake and backup lights that Subaru mounted under the bumper. Humps over each front add to the car’s aggressive stance. What Subaru refers to in its marketing literature as a “pagoda-style” roof runs down the longitudinal middle of the roof, from windshield to rear glass. The look reminds me of the Dodge Viper’s roof. Inside the car, the ceiling dips an inch or two between driver and passenger.
The aluminum hood felt much lighter than the hoods of other cars, reinforcing my notion of this as a lightweight rocket.
The aerodynamic package as a whole lowers the drag coefficient to 0.28, though I disregarded the number and just gazed at the design, particularly how low the car sits to the ground. It’s lovely to contemplate but nerve-wracking when you’re trying to negotiate city roads that seem perpetually under construction.
Interior
The cabin will please any sports-car aficionado.
photo courtesy Subaru
Kudos to the designer who thought up the five metal-look climate control switches that sit just beyond the shift lever. They brought back memories of decades-old roadsters.
The climate control switches are “darkly” visible behind the shifter (photo courtesy Subaru)
STI (i.e. Subaru Tecnica International) motorsports branding is most prominent on the start/stop engine button under the climate controls. It looks great there, but it’s used sparingly elsewhere on the car – pity.
Black and blue Alcantara® with blue leather and blue stitching and the BRZ monogram on the seat backs pleasingly highlight a cabin otherwise devoted to the business of driving. Leather coats the gearshift, shift boot, parking brake and the three-spoke steering wheel.
There no steering-wheel-mounted controls. I like them since they may encourage more drivers to keep their hands on the wheel at the 9 and 3 o’clock positions.
Actually, there is one control, mounted just behind the wheel – cruise control. It seems to be a nod to commuters who may want a little more fun on their daily drives, but I can’t picture myself using cruise control when my feet make contact with aluminum alloy pedals and my hands grip a leather-wrapped steering wheel and 6-speed stick. (I’m showing my biases here…)
The black headliner comes down in tiers towards the middle of the car, matching the previously mentioned pagoda-style roof. It’s part of what appears in the stylish frameless rear-view mirror.
No matter what I did with the six-way adjustable seat, my hair still brushed against the ceiling. Blame that on my 6’5″ frame.
Instruments
The needles in the sport-designed gauges did a full sweep on start-up. In a nod to racing purists, the tachometer is in the centre. The speedo’s numbers are so small in comparison that Subaru wisely put a digital speed readout just under the tach’s 9,000 rpm mark.
Audio and technology
All the mod cons you would want are here – Bluetooth and USB connections to a voice-activated multimedia system featuring a 6.1-inch touchscreen. The music comes out of eight speakers, two of which will shake the door-side pant legs of the driver and front seat passenger should they decide their hearing doesn’t matter. Music wasn’t much on my mind, though. I preferred the sonorous notes coming from the engine, something Subaru engineers designed to thrill drivers.
Safety and security
Subaru didn’t go off-type on security. Elements like a full complement of airbags and collapsible steering column and brake pedal protect drivers who can’t avoid trouble using the BRZ’s vehicle stability control system, ABS and so forth.
Subaru is putting rearview backup cameras in all its models, so I was surprised this BRZ had no camera. After all, it has a screen.
That the BRZ would sport a child safety rear seat anchor system in both rear seats is … odd. I look forward to the day when more automakers get honest and scrap impossibly tiny rear seats for better uses.
Conclusion
I know one better use for that rear seat space, but first let’s cover availability. The Aozora Edition, priced at $31,395 MSRP, won’t be a common sight, and that’s a shame. Subaru is only making 200 available in Canada. It’s a great step in the evolution of a capable sports coupe.
The next evolutionary step: a convertible. The BRZ would be a stunner if the top dropped into that inadequate back seat. Subaru isn’t known for convertibles, but then again rear-wheel-drive hasn’t been in the company’s vocabulary for quite a while either. Why not hope for another welcome surprise?