2022 Subaru BRZ | Something For Everyone

Aug 11, 2023

2022 Subaru BRZ | Something For Everyone

We review the new 2022 Subaru BRZ, a clone of the Toyota GR86. We compare the two cars, discuss the technical changes, and put the car on the dyno. This affordable sports car is one of the few on the planet to offer a connected driving experience that is now reserved for expensive products. As always, we cover the good and the bad of the vehicle. Would you choose this over the Mazda Miata, Honda S2000, Golf R, Civic Type R, or Subaru WRX?

#subaru #brz #gr86

Index:
00:00 Intro
00:30 Interior and Exterior Impressions
3:29 Mechanical Impressions and Differences
8:12 Dyno Automatic vs Manual
9:53 Driving Impressions
17:53 Final Thoughts

Content

1.38 -> [Music]

10.37 -> [Music]

30.4 -> welcome to part two we're talking about

32.719 -> the brand new brz we've already done the

35.04 -> gr86 so if you want details on that

37.68 -> check it out because they are almost

39.76 -> identical in most ways

41.84 -> with the exception of individual

43.84 -> personalization for the brands the

45.68 -> exterior the front and the rear is

47.68 -> different however aerodynamically they

49.92 -> are both equally impressive compared to

52.239 -> anything else in their price point and

53.52 -> really this is one of the cheapest

56.399 -> performance cars are cheapest sports

57.92 -> cars on the planet that is

59.199 -> driver-centric

60.719 -> so when you get on the inside compared

62.16 -> to the gr86 this is the cheaper trim

64.879 -> level which they call premium here and

67.439 -> toyota calls their upper trim level

69.119 -> premium so you get the premium which is

71.04 -> the cheap one and the limited on the

73.2 -> subaru so what does that mean well look

75.439 -> at the doors you have this fabric that

77.439 -> looks like it's out of my grandpa's lawn

79.2 -> chair you have pleather on the door

81.119 -> cards instead of alcantara the seats are

84 -> all fabric although they breathe way

85.92 -> better than the alcantara seats and they

88.4 -> feel super grippy they're going to be

90.079 -> great in the winter but they

92.479 -> you're not going to be impressed by the

93.92 -> way they look but it's one of the most

95.439 -> functional most purposeful interior

97.52 -> layouts for driving in existence there

100.4 -> is

101.28 -> zero in here and i'm not

102.96 -> kidding you everything is set up so

105.439 -> you're not distracted from the road and

107.92 -> the enjoyment factor

109.84 -> there are some things that i don't like

113.119 -> and i said this on the 86 video there's

115.439 -> some lexusness to this like the

118 -> rc the dashboard upper part is very

120.399 -> reminiscent of that and they've carried

121.92 -> over

122.799 -> these horrible digital turn signals they

125.2 -> have no detent they don't click into

126.64 -> place so i'm constantly hitting it and

128.72 -> then i you know i forget that i clicked

130.56 -> it all the way and then you got to click

131.68 -> it back it's just the stupidest thing

133.44 -> the only thing i can think that they put

134.72 -> it here for is for tuners that want to

136.8 -> use this as some type of map selector

139.04 -> switch

140.16 -> i don't know

141.2 -> everything else feels and looks good the

143.28 -> dual zone climate controls all those

144.8 -> buttons are simple the shifter although

146.879 -> this is an automatic it still has a a

148.959 -> great clicky mechanical feel to it you

150.879 -> have a manual parking brake here still

153.599 -> the sport and drive mode selectors are

155.599 -> basic

156.64 -> everything is as simple as you can

158.239 -> possibly get including the gauge cluster

160.239 -> everything is super readable the

162 -> infotainment is very basic it's way

164.239 -> better than the last gen easy to use

166.72 -> however you still can't defeat the fake

168.48 -> engine noise here you have to go to the

169.68 -> dealership or tune it out or code it out

172.8 -> and the audio system or at least the

174.319 -> base audio system in here is not good

176.959 -> and i know you're not expecting great

178.48 -> things but it really tests poorly and it

180.56 -> doesn't sound the best the only thing

182.56 -> you can do is turn off all of the eq

184.48 -> effects all the special equalizer

186.319 -> effects and get it neutralized that

187.599 -> sounds way better that way in the glove

189.599 -> box

190.56 -> there's some special switch here for you

193.12 -> so you can change between your summer

194.879 -> and winter tire modes for pressures and

197.519 -> that might be helpful if you're

198.56 -> switching from track tires or wheels as

200.48 -> well everything else is the same as the

202.48 -> gr86 so i'm not going to run it into the

204.319 -> ground because there's some technical

205.68 -> differences between the cars that we're

207.04 -> going to cover

210.84 -> now it's about time

213.44 -> back under uh the subaru brz there's

216.56 -> some differences from the brz to the

218.799 -> gr86 not completely apparent on the

222.4 -> surface aside from two things which

224 -> we'll point out but tell me what is

226.959 -> subaru's game plan here the brz has a

230 -> younger buying demographic than the gr86

233.36 -> despite originally being more money

236.56 -> and in this car's case more people use

239.2 -> the brz as a single family vehicle or

242.48 -> it's their only car is basically what

243.76 -> i'm getting at versus the gr86 so when

246.879 -> subaru was designing this car they

248.72 -> prioritized making it a better daily

251.12 -> driver a better all-around car before

253.04 -> they decrease nvh

254.72 -> made a little bit more livable inside

256.16 -> the cabin they also did their best to

258.32 -> make this a little bit more approachable

259.84 -> and that was the design philosophy and

261.44 -> tuning philosophy behind this car so

263.919 -> essentially it has higher speed

265.68 -> stability meaning it's less prone to

267.84 -> oversteer and they baked in more safety

270.72 -> features from the in this car from the

272.32 -> get-go they've also gone as far as and

274.88 -> this is universal of this vehicle the

276.8 -> gr86 is the same way due to their design

279.36 -> improvements they also lowered the

280.639 -> center of gravity by doing some subtle

282.4 -> things like moving the seats closer

284.639 -> together lowering the hood sorry the

286.56 -> roof of this car and

288.639 -> the way they mount the motor as well the

290.4 -> car the whole cg of this vehicle is

292.56 -> reduced by four millimeters which isn't

295.04 -> a lot but it is

297.44 -> what is that going to do all i could

299.28 -> lower the center of gravity by packing

301.12 -> on about 250 pounds too so

304.08 -> i mean

305.28 -> okay it's it's all really what this is

307.52 -> it's about making subtle improvements to

309.52 -> the body and some of it's probably

311.6 -> packaging that just happened to make

313.44 -> those improvements for them um

316 -> but what else do we have jack so in the

318.56 -> front and this is the big thing when

319.919 -> you're looking at these cars right away

321.44 -> you're going to notice this car has an

323.28 -> aluminum set of front knuckles

325.44 -> where the

327.12 -> toyota has steel and it is actually more

330.4 -> noticeable than we originally thought

332 -> well it's not a big piece and that's why

333.759 -> i'm saying the gr86 if you're somebody

335.84 -> that buys a toyota product you could

337.919 -> literally buy this and just swap the

340.4 -> knuckle out you know it's easy to do and

343.44 -> again this is to reduce unsprung mass

346.24 -> yes it's a little bit lighter it's

347.84 -> supposed to be stronger maybe arguably

350.24 -> who knows

351.919 -> i mean it's such a small piece and then

353.759 -> in the front you also have a different

355.52 -> style front sway bar

357.6 -> so in the gr86 you have an 18 millimeter

362.08 -> solid front sway bar where in this car

364.24 -> you have an 18.3

366.319 -> hollow from 18.6 don't cheat me on

369.52 -> inches it is

371.639 -> 18.3 millimeters oh my god this guy is a

374.639 -> genius yes see i'm always trying to pack

377.12 -> on a couple extra inches you're trying

378.56 -> to take them away from me but okay so

380.639 -> what does that do so because you have a

383.36 -> larger front sway bar

385.44 -> you have theoretically less front

388.319 -> mechanical grip it'll introduce a little

390.479 -> bit more under serum they've also

392.479 -> reduced the size of the

395.039 -> solid rear sway bar obviously the chain

397.199 -> the mounting location is also different

399.199 -> from 15 millimeters to 14 millimeters

402 -> and now it is

403.28 -> body mounted versus

405.44 -> a rear subframe mount well we could

407.759 -> argue that because when you look at the

409.36 -> two bars

410.72 -> they so the subframe is different

412.72 -> because there's a welded on bracket for

414.639 -> the sway bar on the gr86 this does not

417.36 -> have that welded on bracket it has a

419.12 -> completely separate piece to mount the

422.08 -> sway bar mount is forward facing the 86

425.599 -> is rearward facing and then you have a

427.199 -> brace that's here on this one that you

429.039 -> don't get on the 86 and subaru claims

431.36 -> that they did it mounted it this way

433.199 -> because that's how they do it on their

434.88 -> other cars with the subaru subaru global

437.36 -> platform that's how they do it going

439.44 -> forward so they just carried it over

440.88 -> here like we saw in our forester video

442.479 -> yes although this is not on the subaru

445.039 -> global platform they took bits and

446.8 -> pieces of it from the improvements that

448.88 -> they got from all of that to here oh so

451.599 -> you have different damper tuning and

453.28 -> they did not get into specifics but they

455.199 -> did talk about spring rates the front

457.68 -> spring rate in the brz is higher and the

460.16 -> rear spring rate is lower and 10 to 1

462.16 -> every single year this is gonna change

463.919 -> again and again because they're

465.44 -> constantly retuning they might even get

467.44 -> a different supplier where the spring

468.879 -> rates change on them so these are small

471.759 -> minute numbers that are gonna be not

473.919 -> noticeable to anybody unless you're

475.68 -> doing back-to-back lapping where you're

477.599 -> timing it on you know in similar days

479.52 -> with similar weather and on top of that

480.96 -> as well they have even more minor

482.96 -> changes to eps tuning for the brz versus

486.08 -> the 86 and supposedly they have

489.52 -> different engine tuning and we dyno this

491.599 -> car and i will acknowledge it's not

493.599 -> apples to apples it's not the same day

495.759 -> this is an automatic but it is the same

497.759 -> temperature in almost the same humidity

499.52 -> running the same shell 93 octane gas

502.08 -> with minimal ethanol content and we got

504.56 -> complaints on the 86

506.4 -> that we faked it they did the dyno wrong

509.44 -> the dinos broken and this was at king

512.159 -> motorsports

513.44 -> tuning cars all the time and they've

515.76 -> been tuning for 57 years they've been

519.12 -> around and just because it's not in

520.959 -> california doesn't mean it's not true

523.039 -> yeah this made the identical torque

525.6 -> which is impressive

527.519 -> and it made after some of the heat soak

530.16 -> set in like we did for the manual car

532 -> and made 204 horsepower at the wheels

534.64 -> and 209 horsepower peak which is

536.72 -> identical to what the 86 made with a

539.44 -> manual transmission but the horsepower

541.6 -> dropped off more dramatically when i say

543.279 -> dramatically it dropped up too yeah

545.36 -> it dropped up two extra horsepower from

547.279 -> the manual transmission so there's not a

548.959 -> ton of drivetrain loss and based on this

551.6 -> dyno you would assume that they are

553.6 -> underrating the power numbers for this

555.839 -> car unless we have ringers yeah don't

558.24 -> know

558.959 -> wait till the production cars get dyno

560.56 -> which i am buying one i am buying a

562.88 -> manual gr86 in 15 years one production

566.399 -> ship and i know that car again and

568.72 -> people say it's fake

570.32 -> is there anything else jack here that's

572 -> very important

573.2 -> other than the fact that we have the

574.48 -> wrong gearbox mark it is an azing

576.88 -> gearbox six speed they've improved the

579.36 -> torque converter and the clutch backs

581.2 -> for the torque converter and retuned it

582.959 -> for this generation so it's not a

584.399 -> carryover completely it's supposed to

586.32 -> shift faster it's supposed to be more

587.6 -> responsive and jack's going to tear me a

590.08 -> new one about it in the drive so let's

591.839 -> get out there

593.2 -> [Music]

598.32 -> jack

599.279 -> the automatic brz it's everybody's dream

602.24 -> oh boy i can't wait let's see how this

604.24 -> gets off the line

607.44 -> not bad

608.96 -> [Music]

617.279 -> this even an automatic form is

620.399 -> instantaneously way quicker than the old

622.56 -> car and i know that's going to be the

624.16 -> overwhelming sentiment

626.64 -> i mean it now does 60 in the low to mid

629.76 -> 6s which is much faster than the prior

632.32 -> generation vehicle which i believe was

633.6 -> like in the mid to high sevens yeah yeah

636.32 -> this just it really it's quick and it's

638.399 -> deceivingly fast because it's way

640.24 -> smoother too the way that it builds

642.16 -> power the engine builds power where you

644 -> don't feel like a huge dip and then it

645.92 -> pulls at the high end without feeling

647.839 -> like wheezy yeah we've driven this car

649.76 -> now mark on the track twice

653.12 -> both both gr86s but at the original

655.519 -> monticello event and then at audubon

657.68 -> country club where we compared it to

658.88 -> some other vehicles we've never really

660.56 -> spent time with this car on the street

662.24 -> so that's what i want to focus on in

663.68 -> this brz and besides as we talked about

665.839 -> in the shop segment they really tuned

667.92 -> the brz to be a little bit more

669.76 -> forgiving easier to drive with the limit

672 -> so

673.04 -> let's talk about it what do you think i

675.04 -> think we need to talk about the

676.16 -> transmission first

677.76 -> yeah okay all right uh so it's trash

681.92 -> it it is it's total

684.56 -> trash it's not trash you drive all right

687.36 -> so we argued a long time off camera

691.12 -> about this car says 70 of these vehicles

693.44 -> are sold as automatics which means 70 of

696.079 -> the owners unless they have a physical

697.44 -> disability

699.279 -> this car is a thousand times better as a

702.24 -> manual this gearbox feels about a decade

704.64 -> old which oh jack it's reliable it's

707.12 -> never gonna break i don't care if you

710 -> want reliable get a corolla or a camry

713.04 -> you're buying a rear wheel drive sports

714.8 -> car with a limited slip differential and

716.72 -> it'll go sideways and it looks cool i

719.279 -> want more than reliable i want a gearbox

721.68 -> that responds i want it to downshift

725.04 -> when i want it to and there are other

726.88 -> cars in this price segment but yes

729.12 -> they're front wheel drive okay tell me

730.639 -> what tell me what gear boxes are better

732.48 -> veloster end we both admit it's better

734.8 -> in that car the veloster end is better

736.56 -> as a dct and it's a good gearbox okay

738.639 -> let me counter point you there the dual

741.04 -> clutch and all the hyundai's and kias

742.8 -> were blowing up for six years until they

744.8 -> got it right it was absolutely

746.079 -> attractive

748.24 -> one that we don't even know it's brand

750.32 -> new so you okay rule that one gli the

752.959 -> car and the gti it's front wheel drive

755.76 -> and it's not that responsive it's better

758.24 -> than that it is better than this but

760.88 -> it's it's not like oh my god i have to

763.76 -> have it it's not life-changing but it is

766 -> still better than like the sundial cell

768.639 -> gearbox you have in this car which takes

770.399 -> so forever

772.72 -> the miata transmission the automatic i

774.56 -> will also i'll raise you mustang

776.48 -> ecoboost okay that's a better

778.399 -> transmission 10-speed automatic it is it

780.56 -> is similarly priced i'm not saying it's

782.639 -> a better car

783.839 -> but automatic to automatic this feels

787.04 -> old

787.92 -> okay uh the only other one is the miata

790.639 -> and i think the miata automatic is very

792.56 -> comparable to this car

794.24 -> it's certainly not

796.32 -> i think the automatic and the miata is a

797.92 -> little bit smoother

799.44 -> it's smoother to downshift

801.68 -> but

803.04 -> they're very simple they're very so

804.959 -> they're very very similar if you're

807.2 -> looking this purely against the miata

809.279 -> right which is uh to be honest if you're

811.76 -> buying this as a sports car and this is

813.36 -> what you want as your daily driver

815.2 -> that's what you're going to cross shot

816.16 -> this right well hold on a second let me

818.399 -> let me launch this before we get pulled

820.079 -> over

823.59 -> [Music]

829.36 -> now i'm gonna downshift

831.76 -> that to me is the biggest annoyance of

833.519 -> this it is reluctant to downshift into

836 -> second gear and absolutely will not

837.76 -> downshift into first gear unless you're

839.68 -> really at a low rpm that is where this

842.16 -> cripples the fun of the car and we

843.6 -> noticed it on track however i will tell

846.16 -> you this it's nowhere near as bad as you

849.12 -> make it out to be because one thing is

851.199 -> i'm coming from a place of perspective

853.12 -> of coming from sportier cars that had

855.92 -> automatic transmissions from the late

857.6 -> 90s early 2000s that were so bad that

860.88 -> everybody had to have a manual

862.399 -> transmission this is not like that it's

864.959 -> not like that at all

866.639 -> you can you can have a ton of fun with

868.8 -> it it's still quick to respond it

871.04 -> reminds me a lot of the eight speed

873.6 -> automatic and the lexus f-sport products

876.959 -> like that that's kind of the shift

878.959 -> quality it's it's consistent

882.24 -> the only problem is it's not super fast

884.399 -> like a dual clutch and it doesn't want

886.24 -> to downshift as eagerly it's still

888.079 -> smooth in regular driving

890.24 -> it does everything you ask it to do my

892.079 -> counterpoint is this is no longer the

893.839 -> late 90s early 2000s okay so what do you

897.199 -> want a porsche pdk no i don't want a

899.36 -> porsche pdk i want something that is

901.92 -> equivalent to cars that this is being

904.32 -> cross-shopped against

905.92 -> i know plenty of people who've bought

907.839 -> civic sis gtx

910.72 -> you want the subaru cbt or you want the

913.199 -> honda cbt because that's the other

915.12 -> alternative here i think it's totally

916.959 -> fine and people are going to enjoy it

918.56 -> and it's proven and it's reliable and

921.279 -> i'm right

923.36 -> okay but you you make a great point i i

925.92 -> will give you that it's not the it could

927.92 -> be better all right so let's get back to

929.92 -> the dynamics before you inject me out of

931.759 -> this car

933.12 -> when you brake you feel more dive when

935.519 -> you turn in there's more understeer

937.44 -> initially

939.04 -> but it still will go from under to

941.199 -> oversteer like the gr86 it's just a

943.279 -> little bit slower to do that and i think

945.04 -> from my driving what i've noticed it's

947.12 -> more comfortable it's more compliant

948.72 -> than the last car you could drive this

950.72 -> every day on the street and it does not

952.639 -> beat you up there's not this over

954.88 -> reliance on rebound to make it feel

956.88 -> sporty and the dambers it's a perfect

958.959 -> setup for a street car the problem is is

963.199 -> if you start driving it harder it is

964.959 -> soft and there is a disconnect between

966.8 -> the front and the rear end and i noticed

968.399 -> it more in the wet you feel nothing in

970.88 -> the back end you feel no transition and

973.36 -> the steering now to me

975.92 -> feels a little bit more numb and it

977.839 -> could be the tires it could be that

979.759 -> softness we're on the premises

984.639 -> the cheapest variant of the brz which is

986.639 -> the smaller we uh smaller wheels same

989.12 -> size tires but they are less sticky and

991.519 -> i think though if you're just coming

993.36 -> from the prior generation vehicle the

994.88 -> last car was not the best long distance

998 -> gt car was very noisy didn't ride that

1000.8 -> great this fixes most of those problems

1003.04 -> this is way better and every regard is a

1005.44 -> street car from the old

1007.279 -> 86 and brz they're just hands down

1009.92 -> there's no argument about that the

1012.16 -> sacrifice is it's softer it's a little

1014.8 -> bit more vague the front to the rear

1016.56 -> feels more disconnected because it's

1018.16 -> soft and my other complaint is braking

1021.839 -> and i've noticed this on the 86 and the

1023.92 -> brz

1025.039 -> you have to get a lot of a lot of pedal

1026.959 -> pressure to get this thing to stop and i

1028.48 -> feel like there's a high level of pad

1030.16 -> compressibility which i haven't noticed

1031.76 -> on a lot of cars and i don't know if

1033.039 -> it's the pad compound but there's the

1034.72 -> initial build up of hydraulic force and

1037.199 -> then that last bit there's this

1038.799 -> squishiness before you get bite and i

1041.6 -> don't like that i feel like it could

1043.679 -> have a harder pad it could have a more

1045.76 -> instantaneous bite i'm not talking about

1047.52 -> on and off switch but it's a little bit

1049.039 -> on the slower side you can fix that with

1050.799 -> an aftermarket set of pads most

1052.4 -> everything we're complaining about is

1054 -> going to be fixed nobody's buying this

1056.16 -> really i'm going to keep it stock all of

1058.16 -> it can be corrected and we talked about

1060 -> a lot of the changes in the shop jack

1062.24 -> and we're just kind of beating a dead

1063.679 -> horse at this point well mark i think

1065.44 -> with that then it's time for us to get

1067.039 -> into the final thoughts yes please get

1069.28 -> out

1075.52 -> final thoughts on the new brz much like

1077.84 -> the gr86

1079.6 -> everything that was good there is good

1081.039 -> here there's minimal differences aside

1083.12 -> from aesthetics there are some

1084.88 -> mechanical differences with suspension

1086.799 -> like the last car and

1088.72 -> typical subaru fashion they want this to

1090.64 -> feel a little bit more safe which means

1093.52 -> a little bit more understeer and when i

1095.2 -> say understeer we're talking about like

1096.48 -> five to ten percent it's so minimal

1098.4 -> you're not going to notice it on street

1100 -> driving speaking of which we put this on

1102.24 -> the street and it is amazing

1104.799 -> it rides softer than the old car it is

1108 -> more compliant

1109.36 -> and it is way quieter which means you

1111.679 -> can drive this every single day and not

1113.76 -> feel like you want to drop it off and

1115.28 -> get into something else the interior

1117.12 -> storage is excellent the door panels

1119.12 -> hold a bottle you have

1121.28 -> space on the center stack to put things

1123.039 -> it's not a completely compromised car

1125.919 -> when you think sports car you think okay

1127.36 -> there's no place to put anything like a

1128.72 -> miata or even some of these weird coupe

1130.72 -> suvs that we're seeing this is more

1132.4 -> practical in many ways than those now

1135.36 -> yes it's a two-door car so your back

1137.28 -> passengers are going to be suffering a

1138.88 -> bit but the trunk is amazing you can

1140.88 -> still fit a ton of things in there

1142.559 -> that's what i love about this car price

1145.28 -> usability and now there's more

1147.12 -> refinement and it still maintains that

1148.96 -> fun to drive character

1150.88 -> the fake engine noise i'd be curious to

1152.799 -> see what it sounds like without that but

1155.12 -> you know it's way quicker the manual

1157.2 -> transmission is one of the best in the

1159.36 -> price segment and the automatic

1160.96 -> transmission despite what jack says is

1163.36 -> really not all that bad could it be

1165.44 -> better yes but what do you expect here

1168.72 -> there's nothing else like this anymore

1170.64 -> so i'm not going to complain

1173.12 -> it's up to you to get behind the wheel

1174.72 -> of this thing and make your own decision

1176.24 -> if you want to slap down 30 plus

1178.559 -> thousand dollars and probably a dealer

1180.16 -> markup thanks for watching i'll see you

1181.76 -> next time

1185.38 -> [Music]

1196.559 -> you

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RKBMUXcxCQ