Subaru BRZ review: Why a car that shouldn’t exist is so great

Yahoo Finance's Rick Newman and Pras Subramanian test the all-new Subaru BRZ, and old-school sports car that still delivers in a time when everyone is going electric.

Video transcript

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So we are in the 2022 brand-new Subaru BRZ, you know, really hyper-focused sports car that Subaru and Toyota have been making for a while now, since I think 2013. It's the all-new, updated version. A lot going on here.

And I know you, being a Subaru owner and a fan, I wanted to get your thoughts on it. Maybe restart the "Two Dudes in a Car"? I don't know. We'll talk about that later. But basically--

RICK NEWMAN: We're going to do better than "Two Dudes."

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: "Two Dudes," two years later.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So let me give you a couple quick things on this car. So the brand-new, updated engine here, right? Still the boxer four cylinder, naturally aspirated. But now, it's up to 228 horsepower.

RICK NEWMAN: What did it used to be?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Around 180-ish, I believe.

RICK NEWMAN: Oh, that's a meaningful--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'm sorry, around 200.

RICK NEWMAN: In this car?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: The old version.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, around 200, I believe.

RICK NEWMAN: OK, that's a meaningful boost.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And more-- more torque. It actually corrected a torque dip the car used to have, which people didn't like. So it's a better overall engine. Revs to 7,000 RPM.

Among other things, stiffer chassis, upgraded suspension, all those types of things. So a lot going on here. And I'm-- I want to get your thoughts in the car when you hop in. But from my point of view--

RICK NEWMAN: Can you imagine if-- you know, this is always the game when they update an existing model, right?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: It has to be not just incrementally better in all these categories, it has to be more-- like, just a little bit more than incrementally better. I mean, it's very hard to squeeze anything-- any more performance out of what-- now, we call them ICE vehicles, right?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Right.

RICK NEWMAN: Internal Combustion Engine-- ICE, it's just really hard to squeeze more out. And of course, nobody really wants to invest in it anymore. Imagine if they came out with the new model, and they're like, no, nothing's really new. It just looks different. [LAUGHS]

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, they couldn't do that, right? And you're right about the fact that this is still an ICE car. And this is probably going to be the last hurrah for this car. And I think Toyota and Subaru wanted to actually do good by the owners and fans. There's just a lot of fans of this car too, right?

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah. So--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's cheap, and it's hyper-focused, and it's performance. And you know, so they had to actually kind of-- and I think the head of Toyota is a big fan of this car.

RICK NEWMAN: Toyoda.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: Mr. Toyoda.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah. So they, you know, championing this car. And this is the last ICE iteration, right?

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: We can't see this car continuing as a gas-powered car in the future.

RICK NEWMAN: Well, in fact--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: If it continues.

RICK NEWMAN: --assuming we're back on the track and we're going to be doing some more car reviews, we're going to get-- we're now entering the final lap for every model of gasoline-powered car. So every type of gas-powered car that's coming out now--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: --it's probably the last gas powered car they're going to make. Now, they're going to take the same model and turn it into an electric. But we're going-- we're not going to see-- we're going to see a declining pace of new model-- new ICE models. And this is going to be a collector's item in 20 years.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: All right, Rick, so this is-- this is an old-school car. It's very-- everything's bolted on. It's a little-- basically a steel-- a steel chassis, right? And we have this naturally aspirated, not turbocharged engine that is-- it's still kind of odd that they want to do that, but fine, OK.

But-- you know, and it has 220 horsepower and all sort of stuff. It still gets 30 miles per gallon, you know? Like, it's still that magical figure, so--

And it feels great. It's got that-- we say this cliche, it's very go-karty, but that's sort of how it feels to me. I feel--

RICK NEWMAN: But go-karty is good.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's good. It's good. It's great. It's low--

RICK NEWMAN: I mean, you never get tired of go-karts.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You never do. And Rick, this go-kart actually has two small seats in the back for your gear and maybe a small child.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, you sit back there.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS] Maybe a small child. So you know, this car is like--

RICK NEWMAN: So it's a family-- you're saying it's a nice family car?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I'll say this-- it's a good daily driver, Rick.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah. But your daily driver is supposed to be electric.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS]

RICK NEWMAN: You know, there's more than one kind of fun you can have in a car. And we've talked a lot about-- tight, tight curve coming up. I mean, you just want to blast through it, go for it, but--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, we-- we got a Mazda in front of us here, so I've got to be careful.

RICK NEWMAN: I mean, when we've driven some electrics, we've talked about how fun they are and how quick they move off the line. But there's more than-- here's the curve I don't want you to--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Oh.

RICK NEWMAN: --kill me on.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You're a young man, Rick. We've-- you've got a lot of years ahead of you, so let's-- let's be careful up here. We're going to do a little switch-- switcheroo right here?

RICK NEWMAN: I think so, yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Let's do that. Let's do that, yeah. I endorse-- I endorse a car that you can wring out and not break the speed limit.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, I--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know?

RICK NEWMAN: --I'm down with that. I'm down with that.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: You know what I mean? Like, it's like these cars, there's so much overkill now. And you can easily go 0 to 60 in like, less than four seconds. And it's like, what are we doing here on the public roads with that, right?

So my point of view-- I'm a big fan of this car, Rick. I know we just drove it briefly here. And you're going to hop in.

But I love the package. And for $31,000, I think you can't go wrong. Well, let's get your take on it, too.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, I'm-- we need more cheap, fun cars.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yep.

RICK NEWMAN: 31 is not that cheap, by the way. But for a new car, that's below the average these days.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, so Rick, you're in the seat now. And I want to mention this because I think-- this is what we're talking about here with this car, is--

RICK NEWMAN: This is the way it ought to be, Pras-- me at the wheel, you over there.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Fine, fine. But you brought up that rearview camera. And this is where this car is cutting corners. How do you get to $31,000 for this car in this day and age? The average car costs $46,000, right?

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So how do you get to 31? You have a low res, crappy rearview camera. And do you need a better one? It'd be nice, but you don't have to have one.

RICK NEWMAN: This is meh.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I know. I've got to say, infotainment--

RICK NEWMAN: So we're pointing to the touchscreen here.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Infotainment, yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: It is a touchscreen.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: But before we got in this car, we sat in my-- excuse me-- we sat in my 2018 Subaru Impreza, which has a better interface than this.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: We thought it had not only a better interface, a bit more updated, but it seemed to have higher resolution.

RICK NEWMAN: And that was from four years ago, same parts bin.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: But here's the thing--

RICK NEWMAN: This is cheap. This is cheap-looking.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And-- and there's a reason why. You're paying for it to be cheap because you want-- this car is about driving and being focused driving, right? Like, you don't want the super high res screen. And I mean, you do, but you don't need it, right? I mean, this is-- these are the corners you're talking about that have been cut.

RICK NEWMAN: Who cares?

[ACCELERATING]

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: This, exactly.

RICK NEWMAN: Who cares?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Wow. What do you think? This-- it's nice, right? I mean--

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: It's not bottomless power. And-- but you know, you've got to work it. That's what-- that's what the stick shift is for.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yes, close ratio--

RICK NEWMAN: Stick shift actually gives you-- it gives you more power in your own mind.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: I mean, I know that these days, the electronic transmissions are technically faster. But you get to control it.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Your brain is the transmission. And-- and you get to keep it in gear longer. And you get more power. Because this car, Rick--

RICK NEWMAN: Right.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --it revs high. And you actually get power higher up the band. So you want to go high. You want to rev it up high. That's where the power is. And that's what makes it fun and sporty.

RICK NEWMAN: Test it.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: There you go.

[ACCELERATING]

RICK NEWMAN: Nice sound.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: Did they build that sound, or is--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: OK, there's another--

RICK NEWMAN: Is that an artificial sound?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, they're piping it in. This is a complaint people have had, is they're piping in the sound. You might be able to--

RICK NEWMAN: So we don't know what it really sounds like?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: No. I think, you know, you could probably code that out with some-- plugging in the ODB thing, and you can try and take it out. But-- so that's a little knock on the car, because-- but I think they want to give it a bit more of a sporty kind of feel. But I don't like the piping in nonsense.

RICK NEWMAN: Well, there would be a sound. I mean, it's not going to be-- there is a sound while revving. They're just-- they're just amplifying it--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, they're giving you more thrills, more thrills for that $31,000, Rick. So what do you think?

RICK NEWMAN: I mean, you know what? I like the fact that there's really not that much to talk about here. There's not much gizmo-ology.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: It's just a great driver. It's got-- now, what do you call the smaller steering wheel they-- gives you a little more tactile feedback.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I love this wheel because it's thinner and it's smaller diameter. And it's also got a quicker steering ratio. So it's-- it's really dialed in. I like its--

RICK NEWMAN: What do you call it?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Like, a thinner diameter steering wheel? It's, like, a thin rims wheel.

RICK NEWMAN: OK.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Look, I hate when it's so thick, race car-like--

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --and you, like, drive it like a ship or something. Like, I like this thing where it's nice and-- nice, tactile, and you can really kind of yank the car by the scruff of its neck, Rick, you know?

RICK NEWMAN: I love that. That's a great analogy.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's not what I--

RICK NEWMAN: Yank the car by the scruff of its neck. Really?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS] But you know, I like what you said, Rick.

RICK NEWMAN: Who came up with that?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: What do you say here, Rick? Because the car is so dialed in-- great seats, right? I love the seats in this car.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah. Now-- yeah, I mean, they're just good sport seats.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Nice pedal box, metal pedals there.

RICK NEWMAN: Yep. Now, you do-- we do have to tell people that this is bumpy--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yes.

RICK NEWMAN: --as any low, sporty car is and should be. It's not-- it's not--

[INTERPOSING VOICES]

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I mean, we're on a really rough road here. And it's not that bad.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, but you're going feel the road. But that's the point. That's just-- it's not for old people.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I think Subaru and Toyota did a good job here with this-- the dialing in of the suspension. Sporty feel, but you-- we're in-- up near New York City. And the roads are horrible. And--

RICK NEWMAN: They are horrible. And it's coming out of winter.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --my back hasn't been destroyed yet.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, same.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: Well, that's where the good seats come in.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So you know, Rick, I want to add-- just say a couple of things about this car. When you talk about some performance things, for $31,000, you're getting a limited slip differential, too. You're getting an aluminum hood. They did-- they picked and chose--

RICK NEWMAN: Those are performance-- so they emphasize performance over niceties--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Where they could, where they could. Still got a lot of hard plastic in here that's not great, but--

RICK NEWMAN: What are we sitting on, leather? Leatherette? Fake leather?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's like a-- it's like a type of-- like, almost like a fake Alcantara suede.

RICK NEWMAN: Is this real suede, or--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: No, it's-- it's like this-- I actually think it is, like, an Alcantara. It's an artificial suede, right?

RICK NEWMAN: What is Alcantara?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: It's an artificial race material-type suede that kind of, like, keeps you glued to the seat, you know?

RICK NEWMAN: OK.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So they put a bit up here, too.

RICK NEWMAN: Oh, yeah, so you don't fall off. Although look at how flimsy this is.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: [LAUGHS] So they-- they put money where they really wanted to kind of give you that sportiness. And I like the digital dash. That's all-new for this model. It's very simple.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah, it is.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: And some have noted, it's the same schematic of the boxer engine, right, where it's--

[ACCELERATING]

--it's the cylinders sort of going like that.

RICK NEWMAN: Now, that's not explosive, but it's fun.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah. Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: And again, you get to control it. Don't wimp out and buy the automatic transmission.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah. So there is a six-speed automatic transmission that-- don't get it. [INAUDIBLE] it's fine, but this is way more fun.

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah. [INAUDIBLE].

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Not even-- not even close. If you got the automatic, it'd be a horrible-- I don't know.

RICK NEWMAN: Are these real-- is this real stitching?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So Rick, I'm going to tell you right now. So this brake thing is leather.

RICK NEWMAN: Wow!

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: But this is vinyl on the shifter. Leather brake, leather brake, and it says--

RICK NEWMAN: How do you explain that?

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Hey, you got to cut-- you got to cut costs.

RICK NEWMAN: Why not just do vinyl everywhere? I mean--

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I don't know, man. I don't know. We're in a Limited trim, Rick, so maybe that's what it is. Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: Limited leather. We're in the limited leather trim.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: So Rick, it does say that the steering wheel is leather, leather-wrapped, red stitching. A couple of things here and there, yeah, yeah, yeah. Aluminum pedal covers, aluminum hood, front fenders, and roof.

RICK NEWMAN: Which is for weight. I mean, we should point out that keeps the weight down, which improves performance.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah, and it's-- exactly. And the weight we're talking about is 2,800 pounds.

RICK NEWMAN: That's light.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Yeah.

RICK NEWMAN: This is a featherweight.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: We're talking about Miata-style weight here--

RICK NEWMAN: Yeah.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: --with a coupe. And I think that that's the secret sauce, Rick, right? It's the low weight, high-revving engine. This engine revs higher than the last one. And I think-- and I think it's snappier.

So Rick, you're a fan, right? It's like--

RICK NEWMAN: Sure. I'm a fan of anything that's quick, fun, and affordable.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: I think that's it.

RICK NEWMAN: And legal.

PRAS SUBRAMANIAN: Quick-- I think that's right. Quick, fun, and affordable-- right now, you can still get that with the BRZ. Thank you guys for watching. Next time, whatever that car will be, Rick, it will be some sort of space-aged, hydrogen-powered rocket. Who knows? We'll see. We'll see.

RICK NEWMAN: Stay tuned.