In a world where competition is fierce and human resources are paramount, it makes me feel warm to see automakers cooperating to make cars. However, when you consider the sometimes diametrically opposite corporate culture and design concepts, you must adjust and compromise them to achieve one or two new cars. Sometimes this kind of cooperation can work really amazing.
However, when the magic happens, it is like a hodgepodge of tastes and textures, bridging the cultural gap, such as steak with wasabi and soy sauce, or sushi rolls with avocado and mayonnaise.
The new rear-wheel-drive Toyota GR86 and Subaru BRZ may be Japanese brands, but they live on both ends of the automaker’s cultural axis.
Recently, we saw Mazda and Fiat use the popular MX-5 transmission to jointly develop the current generation MX-5 and Fiat 124 Spider, while Toyota and BMW chose to focus on BMW chassis and engines to produce the new Supra and Z4 sports cars.
In 2012, Toyota cooperated with Subaru to build Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ using its chassis and horizontally opposed engine. Now, about 9 years later, Toyota and Subaru have not only joined forces to build the first electric vehicles of these two brands (Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra), but they have also taken the newly named "GR86" and BRZ to new heights. , With a new Subaru procurement platform, a new sportier body and a larger and more powerful 2.4-liter horizontally opposed engine.
Once again attracted by the achievements of these two very different automakers, I once again participated in the "GR86 and BRZ test drive" near Mount Fuji in early November to check whether we finally compared with Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde Situation or comparison between Bruce Lee and Jet Li. After driving, I had to lean towards the latter. The twins have the same agility, talent and strength, just like Li and Li, but perform slightly differently when pushing hard to the maximum.
In this cooperation, Toyota is responsible for product planning and design, while Subaru is responsible for hardware development including chassis and powertrain.
Given that these cars have the same platform, engine, brakes, and transmission, it is clear that they will choose to differentiate their coupe by using some customized cosmetic surgery on the interior and exterior, while adjusting their suspension to provide a slightly different The handling and ride quality. And this is exactly what they did.
The exterior styling may be very subjective, but both automakers have adopted their new designs to bring the sheet metal parts where they are needed. Both cars may have maintained the overall aesthetic ratio of the previous model, but this time the designer adopted a more avant-garde and sculptural appearance, with larger grilles and more efficient air intakes and vents for cooling. brake. Other outstanding features are the subtle lip-shaped spoiler on the lips, stylish side door sills, flared rear wheel arches, neater taillight treatment and dual chrome exhaust pipes.
When I sat down to chat with the designer after driving, I gave an interview, which I have little experience in car writing for more than 30 years. Given the competition among most car manufacturers, I can count the number of times I have sat down to discuss a car or cars with designers from two different car manufacturers. A designer from Subaru and another designer from Toyota sat in front of me, and I asked them about their design process. Unsurprisingly, their answers were completely opposite.
The Subaru designer smiled and told me that his team still likes to work with clay models, covering their hands in a silky muddy substance, while Toyota's stylists prefer to design on a computer. Subaru's stylists still like to work with clay models when possible, and carefully scrape small pieces of soft clay from the prototype design until the desired effect is achieved. Although as our Subaru stylist pointed out, "A lot of clay contours are now done by automated computers."
When I asked the Toyota designer what he thought of Subaru’s clay modeling, he smiled and said that his team enjoyed the experience of touching clay outside the body (from Toyota), and the Subaru designer said that he learned more advanced methods in CAD Draw contours from Toyota on the computer.
However, when listening to the two designers discussing the design process, what I really felt was the obvious friendship they developed together. Honestly, this feeling is obvious in the cars they produce. I have checked the new Toyota bZ4X and Subaru Solterra electric vehicles that use the same Subaru platform and Toyota electric vehicle power system. It is obvious that although these two automakers started manufacturing the first generation 86 and BRZ nearly ten years ago, they have many fears. Learned how to accept each other's differences and make meaningful things out of them.
Almost the same body is a design feature shared by both cars. So how are they distinguished? It goes without saying that the most significant difference is the grille. The BRZ incorporates the hexagonal grille design DNA from other Subaru models such as Crosstrek and Outback, while the GR86 draws its grille design inspiration from the award-winning GR Yaris and strategically retains its styling DNA in the GR series middle. Other subtle design deviations include the brake ducts on both sides of the grille. Compared with the more avant-garde GR86 ducts, the Subaru vents have a sportier and more contoured appearance.
Therefore, as expected, the difference in exterior design is subtle and does not really explain how cars are distinguished. To understand this fact, we only need to open the driver's door. Only then did we see the different styling paths taken by the two automakers. For starters, Toyota with black trim, bright red carpet and doorplates, doors, handbrake, red stitching on the shift lever and steering wheel, custom GR badges on the start button, and two-tone seats are far better than it. Shiny and sportier. The milder and more mature BRZ. Both have a 9-inch touch screen with clear graphics and easy-to-use interface, compatible with Apple and Android.
To be honest, BRZ can have a little more color in it. Even its iconic STI deep pink is an improvement. In addition, from the perspective of the cockpit of a sports car, I think the tachometer is always located in the center of the dashboard, just like the Porsche 911. As the engine rises and falls, its numbers may be larger, more eye-catching, and more colorful. The all-white tachometer used in the new car seems to be unfinished. Fortunately, this car is also equipped with a more suitable second-level racing-style bar tachometer, which can be accessed by switching the knob on the steering wheel.
We will see later that the GR86's suspension settings give the car a more interesting essence, except for its obvious interior ornate, which is the design direction of Toyota's GR (by the way, GR stands for Gazoo Racing — Toyota's racing car). And custom arm) department wants to get GR86. The car is driven and manipulated as if it is inside. Avant-garde and interesting, while BRZ is more mature and refined.
As mentioned above, these models are on the newly adjusted version of the Subaru platform, and designers continue to challenge the limits to minimize weight gain. Of course, most new cars need to strengthen structural integrity for better crash safety, stronger rigidity, more luxurious, more gadgets, and, like the new GR86 and BRZ, a larger and higher capacity For the new engine, adding some extra weight is the same as the course. According to a Subaru designer, depending on the grade, the new model is 30 to 40 kg heavier than the previous model, and is equipped with a reduced weight aluminum roof and hood.
As for the new engine, this is the most strategic upgrade in the entire process so far. The new horizontal opposed engine from Subaru has increased from the 2.0-liter outgoing model to 20% of the 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. "But what about turbo?" I hear you. No, sorry, guys, there is no turbocharging. Even without turbocharging, what excites sports car fans is that the new engine provides 26 horsepower over the previous generation, from 205 horsepower to 231 horsepower. The 12% power increase may not sound like much, but when you consider that the torque has jumped from 212-Nm to 250-Nm, and the red line spins frantically to 7500 rpm, then your power unit can guarantee some giggles And sideways pranks.
Therefore, in order to respect a large number of Toyota and Subaru enthusiasts, they begged to install a turbocharger on this new horizontally opposed engine. When I said "the engineer did the right thing", I put my hands on my heart, no Add a turbine. The new car offers significantly faster acceleration, and the 6-speed manual version now accelerates from zero to 60 mph in 6.2 seconds, which is less than 7.4 seconds. As a Subaru engineer said, "If you add a turbocharger, you will definitely have more powerful throttle response, but you will also have more horsepower, which requires more structural integrity and collision safety. , More suspension adjustments, and larger, more expensive brakes. Compared to where we need to be price-wise on these cars, this stupidity will make us farther north."
What the new GR86 and BRZ now offer, especially the increase in power and bottom-end torque, coupled with the new stronger chassis and more compliant suspension settings, can provide the car you expect. The extra power is not only obvious at the start, but also really comes into play when you leave the corners of the mountain road or race track. These cars are now real sports cars. Whether you are driving a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic, your enjoyment level will increase logarithmically compared to the upcoming models.
But as we expected, although these cars are almost exactly the same when driving at normal speeds on normal streets, the more you push, you will notice that their behavior is significantly different.
We have explained that the interior of GR86 is more colorful and playful. Its suspension settings are also set to be more colorful when entering and exiting corners at high speed. Compared with BRZ, GR86's rear suspension is slightly harder, and the front part is slightly softer, which makes the car have greater rear stability at high speeds and helps it to pull out the tail faster and easier than BRZ. Yes, Toyota wants its GR86 to be the "drifter" of the two, so it adjusted the car's settings so that the driver can easily use its power sliding function.
This is not to say that the speed of GR86 is unstable. Quite the opposite. On uneven terrain, Toyota is actually more stable than BRZ. Subaru’s engineers decided to set the rear suspension of their car to be softer than the GR86, but give it more rigidity at the front end, making it not like a drift machine, but more like a mature station wagon, with better The ride quality and more refinement. So you can say that GR86 is the more avant-garde and shiny Bruce Lee, and BRZ is the talented but not so flamboyant Jet Li.
So which one do you choose? The bottom line for these two rear-wheel drive coupes is twofold: how do you plan to use your coupe; what kind of street presence do you seek? Toyota’s current sales are about ten to one higher than that of Subaru, which means that the GR86 is a bigger seller because of Toyota’s popularity and the original 86’s connection with the legendary "Drift King" Tsuchiya Keiichi, who was in three years. Made drifting famous more than ten years ago. However, if you want a more refined, less boy racing, softer tones and a softer demeanor, then BRZ may be for you. The 6-speed manual starts at approximately 3.34 million yen (@ 29,000 USD) for both cars, and the 6-speed automatic starts at 3.51 million yen (@ 30,700 USD).
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