2024 Subaru BRZ - Still a Savvy Choice?

Subaru updated the BRZ for 2024 model year with extra performance for the range-topping Ts. By performance, Subaru means tasty Brembos front and back which stop the 1235kg coupé quicker than cat on carpet. There is nothing extra for the engine, not even the tiniest of turbos.

The sweet little flat four is screaming for a tiny turbo, but Subaru has held out just as with the previous generation. Modders go mad for finely-finned spinners to breathe force-fed fun, turning up the heat on the relatively modest 174kw/250Nm output. Subaru has a host of tasty turbo options in its parts bin, but none has been deemed fit for the feisty track-packer. Unlike the other BRZ models, Ts doesn’t have a spare tyre, but that did not dampen the day.

The audio unit has CarPlay which needs a USB A cable and has a satisfyingly full sound that should keep the pickiest audiophile happy.

ABOVE: 2024 Subaru BRZ Ts

The crowning glory of the BRZ Ts is the option of a fabulously smooth 6-speed manual. Not only is it a grand cheaper than the auto, but the automatic, as silky as it is, is also a 6-speed. In the days where 8 cogs are the bare minimum, 6 seems a trifle mean.

Flat-fours have a distinctive sound, and firing up the BRZ always brings a smile to your face. Eyesight has been added to the manual BRZs but does not add active steering intervention for the lane keeping/blind spot warnings. While some may sound the gongs of doom upon hearing about such omissions, others will cheer a modern motor minus the minions of safety.

You feel every undulation of the tarmac, but far from being traumatic, it is a gentle reminder that your carriage is a sports car not a laptop, HOORAH!

The joy of pointing a car where you want to go, and the car going that way, cannot be overstated. It all comes together like a hand in a glove. Accommodation wraps the front passengers in the gentle bosom of all the wisdom that talented engineers can muster. So closely styled to the generation before it, BRZ looks and feels like a gentle development intended to bring back old customers while tempting new buyers into the fold.

Ride is firm but fair, and corners are something the driver sill sick out in order to take at warp 9.99. Each and every bend is a joyous celebration of brilliant Japanese design that harkens back to the halcyon days of motoring. That feeling is now so rare as to be unique.

2024 BRZ has lost none of the boyish charm that made us fall in love with the original, and updates have only enhanced the trackside fun. We threw BRZ Ts into the twisty Pacific Highway which it spanked with glee. Everything stayed tidy, just the way it should.

Beware: BRZ only drinks the good stuff so fill up when its cheap. She is a bit thirsty around town at 13L/100k (9.5 combined) but like everything else BRZ does, it flips that on its head for automatic models with a combined figure of 8.8L/100k.

Brochure HERE: Subaru-BRZ-brochure

STI badges abound. They are absolutely everywhere on the BRZ Ts, but the STI version of WRX was the only model worthy of the moniker. It has been discontinued, and that is all I’ll say on the matter

Conclusion:

Brilliant BRZ Ts is as tasty as ever. There is a bit of tyre noise at speed, but it only adds to the all-enveloping BRZ experience.

If you want a real thrill, go for a hot lap with a race driver. Brute force is not the only way to have fun. Rear seats down, BRZ is still able to swallow 4 track wheels whole.

Price: $48,690