BRZ STI Tweaks Give The Latest Subaru Coupe A (Non-Turbo) Boost

Ever since the Subaru BRZ was hatched a rumour mill has been churning out speculation that there’s a turbocharged STI variant in development. Subaru even revealed a concept version in the ‘States back in 2015, but the factory has so far resisted the temptation to build a production BRZ STI in spite of the obvious pent-up demand among legions of fans.

Meanwhile, the second-gen BRZ was revealed back in November 2020 - now joined by its Toyota GR 86 sister-model - and as you’d expect the STI crew have been dabbling with a few go-faster goodies for the domestic market.

This first wave of STI parts for Japanese owners include an in-your-face carbon rear wing for the rear deck, a set of 18-inch BBS alloys, and a performance exhaust system which presumably will bring a few extra decibels and/or bhp to the BRZ party - details on either front are yet to be confirmed.

There are other exterior upgrades too, including front and rear splitters, wheel arch winglets and a roof-mounted vortex generator.

The STI team have also confirmed the continuing availability of a flexible V bar engine bay strut brace, which it also offers for the first-gen BRZ. On the old car it’s said to increase steering response and average vehicle speed through a slalom by 1.4 per cent, while providing at least a 30 per cent increase in your under-bonnet drool factor. (We made the last bit up.)

Either way, we reckon the latest BRZ definitely benefits from the added visual impact of the bigger wheels and aero upgrades. But there’s still room for Subaru to go a lot further to give its latest BRZ a bit more STI spice, and we guess there’ll be plenty more to come in terms of style and performance upgrades for the latest coupe.

Sadly, the next BRZ won’t be sold officially in Europe due to emissions considerations - although Toyota will let us get our hands on the GR 86.