Subaru has revealed a new spec for its BRZ to sit at the top of the sports coupe’s range, the BRZ GT. It has all the bells and whistles that the automaker chooses the furnish the car with along with some performance-enhancing additions to boot.
But here’s the downside: it’s limited to sale in Japan only, at least for now. Previously, BRZs sold there were available with the S variant being the most expensive. But here the car has been endowed with even more niceties to warrant its own new tier.
Looking over the list of improvements, you’ll notice that it’s rather similar to the US-market BRZ’s optional Performance Pack. There are 17-inch gunmetal alloy wheels, larger disc brakes with Brembo callipers, and uprated dampers courtesy of Sachs Performance.
The GT also offers some exterior visual tweaks sourced from the facelifted 2016 BRZ, adding a revised and more aggressive fascia with a U-shaped front lip, LED headlights, LED daytime running lights, LED fog lights, LED tail lights, and a mild fixed rear wing. This particular example here is painted red, which makes us so easily mistake it with its Toyota-badged twin.
Inside, occupants are treated to heated front seats that are upholstered in a leather and Alcantara combination. The smaller diameter multi-function steering wheel is near-identical to the updated Toyota 86, leather trim on the dashboard, and a reoriented instrument cluster which now has a 4.2-inch multifunction colour display. Mind you, all of these are available on the BRZ S as well.
As it’s based on the 2016 update to the BRZ/86, its naturally aspirated 2.0-litre boxer engine has been tuned up to yield 153kW and 214Nm - a slight but welcome increase over the launch version’s output. However, this power bump applies only to units fitted with the six-speed manual transmission. Automatic versions aren’t as fortunate due to the slushbox’s inherent drivetrain power loss.
Also resulting from its updated base specification is the improved suspension that comes from tweaked spring and damper settings, stronger strut tower braces, wheel housings, transmission crossmember plate, and a thicker anti-roll bar to improve in front-end grip and cornering balance.
Additionally, Subaru has taken another look at the BRZ's electronic stability control parameters to give it a sportier character, especially in the new ‘Track’ mode, which used to be called ‘Sport’.
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