Video: Subaru Breaks Down the BRZ
Short videos show the development behind Subaru's new lightweight, tight-handling sports coupe.
There's been lots of buzz around the new Subaru BRZ and its mechanical siblings, the Scion FR-S and Toyota GT-86 -- and with good reason. It's not every day an automaker says, "Screw focus groups, we're going to make us a relatively inexpensive rear-wheel-drive sports coupe that eschews top horsepower dominance in favor of light weight, pinpoint handling and a ton of fun."To further connect fans with the car, Subaru has put out a short documentary on the BRZ's development. The video is split into two YouTube clips and dissects how the vehicle was conceived and developed. Everything from the lightweight platform to the double-wishbone suspension, steering, low center of gravity and the naturally aspirated 2.0-liter 200-horsepower 4-banger engine are discussed.
The videos are in Japanese with English subtitles, but are well worth your 20 minutes. Check them out, below.
[Video 1]
[Video 2]
The BRZ will never be AWD. If you watch the first video, the engineers emphasize that they put the engine back as far as they can. This was done for the car's balance. This eliminated the possibility of an AWD system being put in. I have read elsewhere that this is also a reason a factory turbo will most likely not be offered. There is no space for it. You have to know that this car was designed to be lightweight and a superb handler, not a power monster. It was a car that Toyota and Subaru built to follow the legacy of the Toyota AE-86 "HachiRoku" (therefore the Toyota version is called the GT-86). The AE-86 was a low HP RWD that handled superbly and became legendary in Japan.
Many may say that this isn't a real Subaru, but their tradition of symmetrical AWD wasn't the goal for this car. This car is about handling and RWD. It's clear that Subaru did the heavy lifting for the engineering, but it's a 1980's era Toyota that was the inspiration for the BRZ/GT-86/Scion FR-S.
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