{"id":13284,"date":"2026-07-11T18:05:05","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:05:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/?p=13284"},"modified":"2026-07-11T18:05:05","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T22:05:05","slug":"i-spent-days-driving-the-subaru-brz-and-it-captures-almost-everything-that-makes-driving-great-then-you-touch-the-reversing-camera-the-usb-ports-and-the-infotainment-and-its-ten-years-ou","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/i-spent-days-driving-the-subaru-brz-and-it-captures-almost-everything-that-makes-driving-great-then-you-touch-the-reversing-camera-the-usb-ports-and-the-infotainment-and-its-ten-years-ou\/","title":{"rendered":"I spent days driving the Subaru BRZ and it captures almost everything that makes driving great \u2014 then you touch the reversing camera, the USB ports and the infotainment, and it’s ten years out of date on every one"},"content":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I wrote a piece comparing the Subaru BRZ to a Porsche.<\/a> I highlighted the similarities, namely the boxer engine, the RWD configuration, and the manual transmission.<\/p>\n

It was obviously a bit tongue in cheek, and any real comparison between the two vehicles would be a bit farcical. The BRZ is a fraction of the price for a start, even if that price did recently increase.<\/a><\/p>\n

With that being said, I recently spent a few days testing out a Subaru BRZ, and it definitely does have its place.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a lot closer to a Miata than anything else<\/h2>\n
\"Side
Credit: Dave McQuilling\/Autonotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It didn\u2019t take much time behind the wheel of the BRZ for an obvious comparison to spring to mind. The engine isn\u2019t particularly powerful, but it is loud enough to add a little excitement. The handling is brilliant, capturing that nippy go-kart like feeling you want from a not-too powerful sports car.<\/p>\n

Factor in the size, and Subaru\u2019s little sports coupe is an obvious alternative to a Mazda Miata. I\u2019d even risk a salty message from Olivia in the group chat and say it\u2019s better looking than the Miata too.<\/p>\n

Another easy comparison is the Toyota GR86, as they\u2019re essentially the same vehicle. The Toyota may have more of a track focus and firmer suspension than its Subaru-badged sibling. But there\u2019s not a lot of actual difference between the two.<\/p>\n

In short, if you want a not-too practical two-seater sports car that won\u2019t bankrupt you, a BRZ is a solid option. The five second plus 0-60 time feels a lot quicker than it is as you\u2019re pretty close to the ground. The firm suspension and low stance mean you\u2019ll feel every bit of the road too. It captures a lot of what makes driving great.<\/p>\n

It has my favorite interior of any Subaru<\/h2>\n
\"Interior
Credit: Dave McQuilling\/Autonotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I\u2019ve called out Subaru for its interiors before. The Japanese company is pretty fond of pleather, even when the budgets involve limit it to the most godawful plastic imaginable. But the interior of the BRZ is absolutely fantastic.<\/p>\n

It looks like how a 1980s sci-fi writer would describe the controls of a small space ship. There\u2019s a lot of pictures and dials, along with pretty retro-looking graphics on the driver\u2019s display and the dials themselves.<\/p>\n

It would be nice if the switches controlled things like the drive mode instead of micro-managing things like the HVAC system. As it is, sport mode is activated via a button on the center console and the switches just mess around with the air circulation.<\/p>\n

However, despite how it looks on the outside, everything underneath that cool looking facade is a bit of an issue.<\/p>\n

The BRZ really, really, needs an update<\/h2>\n
\"Rear
Credit: Dave McQuilling\/Autonotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The word on the street is the Subaru BRZ is due an update. I genuinely hope they keep the retro aesthetic, but beyond that the vehicle really does need an overhaul. Here\u2019s a list, in no particular order, of everything in the BRZ that seems about ten years out of date.<\/p>\n

The infotainment system itself needs an overhaul. The menus are awful. It isn\u2019t Mazda levels of bad, but the screen itself is very cheap looking and navigating to what you want is a pain. There doesn\u2019t seem to be an easily accessible navigation system. Android Auto and Apple Car Play are both present, but you need to connect your device via a USB cable to use them.<\/p>\n

If you only have a USB C to C cable, You\u2019re out of luck. The BRZ, from what I could see, only has USB type A ports. Which adds to the ten years out of date aesthetic. Most modern vehicles have the opposite problem, having ditched USB A entirely.<\/p>\n

Then there\u2019s the reversing camera, which is awful. It works, but it\u2019s on par with something you\u2019d nab on Temu for $20. There isn\u2019t any kind of surround view, nor is there a front view. So you\u2019ll have to be extra careful not to run that very low front end into a kerb.<\/p>\n

Beyond that, there\u2019s some standard \u201cracing\u201d jank. You don\u2019t get electric seats, instead you\u2019re reaching under your seat for a bar and dragging yourself forwards or backwards to adjust it. Because the coupe is tiny, the seats and B pillars completely obscure your view of the blind spot. Luckily you do have blind spot monitors on the wing mirrors, but if they go wrong you\u2019re in trouble.<\/p>\n

How does the stick shift perform<\/h2>\n
\"The
Credit: Dave McQuilling\/Autonotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I quite like the stick shift in the BRZ. Reverse has a lock out so you\u2019re not accidentally sending it backwards instead of dropping it into first. Each gear selection has a satisfying \u201cclunk\u201d to it without adding any jank. And a six speed seems plenty for something like a BRZ. If anything, it\u2019s a little underpowered and I often found myself revving the hell out of it to stop it struggling to move on from a dead stop.<\/p>\n

But the little two door sports car has a lot of charm, and when you\u2019re going it\u2019s a ton of fun. \u201cSports Mode\u201d is also handy, and the more aggressive throttle mapping papers over a lot of the cracks when it comes to performance. As \u201cSports Mode\u201d often does.<\/p>\n

The clutch isn\u2019t great. While the bite is easy enough to find, you really do need to give it some oomph to keep things smooth. I found the lack of torque (the BRZ boasts 184 lb-ft) a bit of an issue too and often found myself shifting around the 4,000 RPM mark to keep things smooth. Incidentally, the fuel economy is pretty terrible as well. I averaged around 20 MPG, despite doing a lot of highway driving. Which seems rough on a tiny little coupe with a 2.5 liter engine.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve never driven a manual before, this might be a little rough to learn on. But equally, if you get good in a BRZ, you should be able to drive anything. If you\u2019re a seasoned stick shift operator, it should only take you a few hours to get comfortable with the Subaru.<\/p>\n

Should you buy a Subaru BRZ?<\/h2>\n
\"Front
Credit: Dave McQuilling\/Autonotion<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So, should you buy a Subaru BRZ? It\u2019s not a high-performance sports car, despite the fact it\u2019s the size of a tennis shoe and 228 horsepower should have that thing flying. But it is fun to drive, and a solid option when it comes to affordable, stylish, third cars.<\/p>\n

I can see people having a great time with this on a track or an autocross course. Equally, it looks pretty good too. Both inside and out. And with a new generation on the way, the slightly outdated BRZ might be on the market at a tempting discount.<\/p>\n

If you look at it like we look at the Miata, things like infotainment, raw power, and tech don\u2019t matter. You just want a pure, entertaining, connected, driving experience for a reasonable price. The BRZ definitely offers that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Earlier this year, I wrote a piece comparing the Subaru BRZ to a Porsche. I highlighted the similarities, namely the … <\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":13287,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-reviews","category-cars","resize-featured-image"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13284"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13405,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13284\/revisions\/13405"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13287"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.autonocion.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}