Subaru BRZ Concept STI - Amazing!!!

[GoingTooFast]

Advevo,

I really hope you are seeing this... curb weight around 1200kg ONLY!!!

[From Subaru Press Release]

Styling

• By installing the Boxer engine as low as possible, the low hood and sleek roofline together compose a sophisticated form. This is also blended with STI performance touches for a Subaru sporting profile.

• A hexagonal lower front grille, hawk eye headlights and fin-shaped fog lamps make the front face instantly recognizable as Subaru.

• STI-made lower front spoiler and rear wing magnify down-force and aerodynamics performance. They allow stable straight driving and excellent handling at high speeds.

• The rear design with bold rear fender flares, large rear-diffuser, and twin dual tailpipes intensifies the STI performance feel.

• A carbon-fiber roof, already installed in a WRX STI model and highly acclaimed, has been employed by the concept car. With it, extra weight reduction and an even lower center of gravity were achieved, contributing considerably to the ultimate handling performance this concept model aims to offer.

• The lively exterior color “WR Blue Pearl II” is a new generation of the iconic WR blue paint scheme that emphasizes the racing image.

Engine

• The Boxer engine has inherent qualities of light weight, compactness, low center of gravity, and high rigidity – all pointing toward its great potential as a sports car engine. Taking full advantage of these features, a 2.0-liter horizontally-opposed four-cylinder direct fuel-injection gasoline engine has been developed exclusively for BRZ.

• The engine has been designed with a square bore and stroke of 86 X 86 mm. Combined with Toyota’s D-4S direct injection technology (fuel injection system), high output and high environmental standards were both attained, both expected of a new generation sports car.

Chassis and Body

• Compared with other Subaru models, the engine in SUBARU BRZ CONCEPT - STI - sits an impressive 120 mm lower and is positioned 240 mm closer to the center of the chassis. As a result, this car has achieved one of the lowest possible center of gravity in cars on the market today.

• By incorporating lightweight parts such as a carbon-fiber roof, the overall weight has been reduced. Subaru has also succeeded in attaining a body structure that is both lightweight and highly rigid in a striking balance. The concept car is the embodiment of pure driving enjoyment only obtainable with a “Boxer sports car”.

• Its unique handling performance has been remarkably refined by adopting STI’s lightweight 18-inch alloy wheels with performance tires and STI tuned suspension with excellent lateral stiffness.

• Brembo brakes enhance braking performance.

Major Specifications

Overall Length × Width × Height (mm): 4,230 × 1,800 × 1,280
Wheelbase (mm): 2,570
Engine Type: 2.0-liter direct fuel injection naturally-aspirated 4-cylinder
Horizontally-Opposed Boxer engine
Tires: 215/45R18 (Front), 225/45R18 (Rear)

[abisson]

God Damn that is HAWT.

[secretsquirrel]

This car is like a modern day S2000 specs wise. It should be a great car.

I like it. I looks great and should have a starting price around 27k.

[kyleb350]

Aw, I thought the STI was going to be turbocharged. Everything else looks amazing though

[TK-421]

It looks like it's wearing a black sports mouthpiece and I guess the big dumb wing is necessary if it's going to be an STI. I like the rest. It's the Hyundai Genesis' good looking brother.

[Rodzilla]

I like everything but that wing.

[san~man]

I read in one of my car mags that the wing, front and rear diffuser and side skirts would not make it to the production model.

With that curb weight, should be a blast to drive.

[miiipilot]

Mixed emotions. LOVE the back.

Hopefully it will have different wheels and not the STI parts bin special. (Not diggin' on the STI at all) just want different wheels that separate it from it's direct lineage.

Still waiting on the perf specs.

[GoingTooFast]

Besides the low curb weight, they anounce a center of gravity even lower than the Porsche Cayman...

Subaru's center of gravity height = 460mm!!!

Porsche Cayman = 482mm. Even the Cayman R (1,295 kg and 1,320 kg with PDK) which is 20mm lower than the standard Cayman can't fully match the 460mm mark (462mmm).

You can see the values here (which are the same for its Toyota FT86 brother):

[GoingTooFast]

Originally Posted by san~man

With that curb weight, should be a blast to drive.

Yes! Advevo, whom I respect very much and of whom I'm a BIG fan, summarized it very well:

I must say i am dissapointed in bmw.

First they bring a nice drivers car the CSL fantastic but with a price tag on it were you almost get hartattack off. Less weight less luxury is higher price because rich people will pay it anyway.

But were is the bmw for the drivers enthusiast. The e30.

Ok next try the new 1 series coupe. I was looking forward to that i dream about that car. A smaller drivers car with a proper engine in it for a nice price. That could be it. Ok here are the specs first i always look for is the weight. My dream was over in a blink of an eye 1560kg for a smaller car what should be a drivers car.

Every car which is above 1300kg you really feel and it s nimble and agile feeling is gone.

So up to the next dissapointment i quess the M1.

350 hp M1 at 1500 kg plus and again a price on it were you need to sell youre house for.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showp...9&postcount=27

[Robert]

But the cayman is mid engine and this little guy is front.... no turboz? That means it won't be anywhere near the 300hp of existing STI line up

[GoingTooFast]

Originally Posted by Robert

But the cayman is mid engine and this little guy is front....

Robert,

As Jason Barlow said in TopGear Issue 142, June 2011:

Few things in life are as much fun as a properly sorted front-engined, rear-drive car on a familiar road.

Originally Posted by Robert

no turboz? That means it won't be anywhere near the 300hp of existing STI line up

As for yet... Don't forget Walter Röhrl's words though:

But if I have to go on a racetrack I prefer normally aspirated. Because, especially if it's raining it's much more precise with the throttle, you can really make very exact things.

(...)

With a normally aspirated, it is so nice, every touch influence what the car is doing.

Nevertheless, as Advevo has so well put it, the first specs you should always look for in a sports car is the weight.

To which I add... how the weight is distributed and how high is its center of gravity. Then, you can care about the unsprung mass.

That's where your main focus should be!

Finally, if you think about its price tag this Subaru represents, as a true sports car, the best compromise I've come across in a long... long... long time!

Man, I think I have to wait for Spring 2012... this simply seems to be too good to be missed!

[Sylon]

Looks, I like everything but that awful wing.

As for performance, no turbos, no bueno. I don't want to go below 300hp again. Just have to wait and see the official numbers when they come out.

[spanner1751]

Originally Posted by Rodzilla

I like everything but that wing.

+1

[e92ben]

Wow. Just wow.

[aajami]

Nice. I'm glad that some companies still remember how to make a proper sports car. Rear-wheel drive, no turbos, and religiously reduce weight. We get maybe one of these every 5 years. S2000, Elise, Cayman R, Boxster Spyder, and now this.

BMW, where the hell are you?

[Levi]

I have always waited for such a car from BMW, 1 Series CSL, Z2...But nothing came nor is even in the pipeline. THe FT-86/BRZ is in some way the succsessor of the M3 E30. Blesphamy? Maybe, but isn't a 2500 kg AWD M also a blesphamy? THe BRZ even has the BMW style led tubes used for angel eyes.

[GoingTooFast]

Four seater, a decent trunk space that you can even use to carry four R compound tyres to the track (if the back seats are folded down) ... this Subaru shall succeed where Lotus has always failed... everyday practicality!!!





Advevo,

If you are reading this, you know you have to trade one of yours 1M... Just don't spend too much money to transform it into a proper track car... there seems to be one already and cheaper.

[GoingTooFast]

7500rpm redline...

[ibeclueless]

looks pretty nice

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by Levi

I have always waited for such a car from BMW, 1 Series CSL, Z2...But nothing came nor is even in the pipeline. THe FT-86/BRZ is in some way the succsessor of the M3 E30. Blesphamy? Maybe, but isn't a 2500 kg AWD M also a blesphamy? THe BRZ even has the BMW style led tubes used for angel eyes.

Um, no it's not. Maybe the S2000 or Miata, but not the E30.

Those LED tubes are used by multiple manufacturers, too: Ford, SAAB, Volvo, Mercedes, etc.

[GoingTooFast]

Originally Posted by Year's_End

Um, no it's not. Maybe the S2000 or Miata, but not the E30.

But the S2000 and the Miata are not 4 seaters, nor they have a decent boot.

Also, the E30 road version power started at 200PS then 218PS (both with 2.3L four banger) and finally 238PS (with the 2.5L engine version).

I can see the same trend for this Subaru...