Subaru BRZ vs Toyota 86

What's the difference?

The Subaru BRZ S has so much going for it. Smile-inducing dynamics combined with a noticeable power boost relative to the first-gen version, as well as impressive economy for a car of this type, good value and sleek design. But even in the typically confined world of sports cars, practicality is a negative. The 2+2 layout doesn’t offer a whole lot of flexibility, and in-cabin storage is less than ideal. However, the biggest mark-down goes against the baffling omission of the EyeSight safety suite on this manual version.  

The Toyota 86 might be a bit of a blast from the past in 2020, especially considering there is a new-generation version just around the corner, but that doesn’t mean it’s a bad car.

In fact, it serves up a fun and visceral driving experience seldom seen in anything other than the most focussed of sports cars, but packaged up with an attainable price.

If you value practicality and straight-line pace, a hot hatch will be the easy choice, but if the driving experience is the most important aspect of a car to you, it’s hard to pass up the Toyota 86.

The original Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 design wasn’t broken, so, how do you freshen up a winning formula without spoiling it in the process?

That was the challenge facing Project Chief Designer, Koichi Matsumoto and his team at Toyota. As was the case with the first-gen car, Subaru is responsible for engineering and manufacturing, while Toyota took care of the car’s design.

And the result is a smooth evolution of the original BRZ’s look and feel, using confident, simplified lines to create a more substantial, mature presence.

Large, angular LED headlights, defined by LED DRLs around their perimeter, deep gills feeding air to the front brakes, and a protruding chin spoiler contribute to an intense, focused expression at the front.

There’s no denying Toyota’s 86 boasts classic sports car proportions thanks to a long bonnet, short overhangs and a sleek coupe body-style.

Though some things have changed since the model first came to market in 2012, such as revised bumpers and lights, the 86 is just as recognisable today as it was back then.

From the front, the 86 gives off a purposeful and aggressive stance thanks to its angled headlights, gaping intake and bulging arches.

Practicality was never going to sit near the top of the design and engineering priority list for this car, But that said, it’s a ‘2+2’, meaning there’s enough room for adults to sit comfortably up front, and nowhere near enough room for that to happen in the rear.

Skilled contortionists or pre-teenage kids are the only realistic +2 candidates. Headroom is laughable, legroom is non-existent, and if, for whatever reason, you do need to squash a couple of grown-ups back there, be prepared to slide the front seats forward to an uncomfortable, borderline unsafe degree. And stand-by for the chiropractor bills! 

Aside from that, storage is more often than not an ‘either-or’ proposition. There are two cupholders in the centre console, but they’re inside the lidded bin between the front seats. So, space for keys, a wallet and phone… or a couple of cups.

Same with what Subaru cheekily calls “door pockets with integrated bottle storage”. Yeah, nah, there’s a recess large enough for a bottle, and a small slot beside the armrest. 

The glove box is okay, but it’s chock-full of a small phone book-sized (remember those) owner’s manual set. Maybe best to set that aside somewhere. But the good news is there’s a 12V socket in there.

Speaking of power and connectivity, there are also two USB-A sockets and an ‘aux-in’ jack in the centre console box.

When it comes to the boot, there’s good news and bad news. Good news is there’s a full-size alloy spare in there. Bad news is it sits flat in the floor and takes up a lot of the already tight 201-litre space. Practical when you have a flat. Not so much when you’re trying to fit the groceries in.

An unlikely side benefit is the dish of the alloy spare helps keep small items under control once you’re underway. Which is extra handy because there aren’t any tie-down anchors included.

Measuring 4240mm long, 1775mm wide, 1320mm tall and with a 2570mm wheelbase, the 86 coupe is dimensionally smaller in every measure to its Corolla hatchback sibling.

Despite this, Toyota says there is enough seating for four, but the 86 is much closer to a 2+2 than it is to a proper four-seater.

Front occupant space is ample enough, with plenty of adjustable in the seat and steering column for drivers to get into the perfect position.

There’s cupholders in the centre console, storage and the door pockets will even take a water bottle.

Front occupants also have access to a very, very small tray just in front of the shifter, though what it could accommodate is unknown.

We will also mention that when in odd-numbered gears, it can get tricky to use the climate controls, though it wouldn’t be a problem in auto-equipped cars.

Flick the front seats forward, contort yourself into the rear and, well, its more akin to a medieval torture device than passenger-friendly seating.

Headroom is especially limited, though we were surprised with the better-than-expected legroom due to the bucket-shape of the rear seats.

Don’t expect any mod-cons in the rear though, as the only thing to keep yourself entertained back there is the seat belt.

The boot accommodates just 237 litres of volume, which is just about enough to fit a large suitcase, though because of the short space, it will have to go in sideways leaving not a lot of room for much else.

Boot floor is also quite high, meaning tall objects will struggle to fit, but the rear seats can be folded flat to accommodate longer items.

While early versions of the 86 came with a spare wheel, in 2020, all new cars come with a puncture-repair kit.

The Toyota 86 kicks off at $31,440 before on-road costs for the base GT manual, while the GTS version starts at $36,640.

An automatic transmission adds $2300 to the asking price.

Our test car, a top-spec GTS with all the options, rings the till up to $39,590 thanks to the Dynamic Performance Pack and Apollo Blue paint adding $2950.

The BRZ is powered by a naturally aspirated, 2.4-litre, horizontally-opposed four-cylinder petrol engine.

This all-alloy (FA24) unit features a combination of port- and direct-injection, as well as ‘Dual AVCS’ variable (inlet and exhaust) valve timing to produce 174kW at 7000rpm and 250Nm at 3700rpm.

It’s a derivative of the previous car’s ‘FA20’ engine, with the cylinder bores increased from 86mm to 90mm, to bring capacity up from 2.0 litres to 2.4 litres.

Drive goes to the rear wheels through either a six-speed automatic transmission, or as tested here, a six-speed manual gearbox.

Worth noting this package addresses one of the most common criticisms of the superceded, first-generation BRZ. That is, it needed more power.

While some owners were happy with the power-to-weight balance of the original 2.0-litre car, others turned to various tweaks, including forced-induction, to up the ante.

But the second-gen car adds an extra 389 ccs, 22kW and 38Nm in an attempt to satisfy those with a need for extra speed.

Powering all Toyota 86s is a 2.0-litre four-cylinder Boxer petrol engine, outputting 152kW/212Nm when paired to a the six-speed manual gearbox.

Automatic transmission versions are downgraded to 147kW/205Nm.

Peak power comes in at a heady 7000rpm, while maximum torque is available from 6400-6600rpm for both manual and automatic versions.

Tipping the scales at around 1258kg means the manual 86 can accelerate from zero to 100km/h in 7.6 seconds, while the automatic version is 0.6s slower to the landmark time.

Subaru’s official fuel economy number for the combined (ADR 81/02 - urban, extra-urban) cycle for the six-speed manual BRZ is 9.5L/100km (six-speed auto - 8.8L/100km), the 2.4-litre four emitting 217g/km of CO2 in the process.

Over a week of city, suburban, and some freeway running we saw a dash-indicated average of, you guessed it, 9.5L/100km. And doing the arithmetic after filling up at the bowser we arrived at an average of 9.1L/100 for the same period. Not bad for a sporty coupe like this. 

Pricey 98 RON premium unleaded is required, though, and you’ll need 50 litres of it to fill the tank.

Using the official number that translates to a range of 526km, which rises to just under 550km using our real-world (at the pump) number.

Official fuel-consumption figures for the 86 is 8.4 litres per 100km with the six-speed manual.

However, we managed an 8.3L/100km figure after a week’s worth of driving, which is especially impressive given most of our time was spent in Melbourne’s inner-city.

Of note, the 86 requires 98 RON petrol.

The sports experience begins the moment your backside hits the driver’s seat. And to get to that point in the BRZ you have to be fairly athletic and flexible.

At just 1.3m tall this car is something of a low-rider, and you find yourself grabbing the A-pillar with your right hand, and adopting a ‘swing-down-and-in’ entry technique, bookended by a ‘grab-and-lift’ approach on the way out.

And that’s if you can open the door all the way. Sporty coupes look sleek, but those lengthy doors mean when you're parked next to another car in the shopping centre you have to fold yourself up like an origami crane for exit or entry. Literally, a pain.

But once settled behind the wheel, the BRZ is all business, with a simple, logical layout for all major controls and the heavily bolstered sports seat enhancing the cockpit feel. 

The flip side is you’ll need to be prepared for a firm ride over typically pock-marked Aussie roads. It’s just part of the deal when you sign on for a sports car at this price point.

The horizontally-opposed engine’s characteristically choppy sound adds to the fun, but bear in mind part of that is Subaru’s ‘Active Sound Control’ system using a speaker behind the dash to enhance it. You might not care, but I always feel short-changed when synthetic sound is brought into play.

Braking is by vented rotors front and rear (294 fr / 290mm rr), with two piston calipers at the front and singles at the rear. They’re great, and the pedal set is ideal for a bit of old-school heal-and-toe shifting on the down changes.

Front engine, rear-wheel drive, it’s a tried-and-true formula for an engaging driving experience and the Toyota 86 certainly doesn’t disappoint its spiritual predecessors in this regard.

Sure, the engine is a little underpowered, but the free-revving 2.0-litre will happily be wrung out until the 7600pm cut off.

The slick six-speed shifter is also an absolute joy to move, offering satisfying ‘snicks’ with every gear change, and a positive and natural throw that makes it hard to mis-shift.

Pedal placement, a crucial element in a manual car, is equally excellent, with just the right amount of spacing between the clutch, brake and throttle.

Our test car was also fitted with the up-rated Brembo brakes and Sachs-branded dampers that are designed to improve stopping power and handling respectively.

However, without driving this car and an 86 without the Dynamic Performance Pack fitted, it’s hard to make comment on how much the handling characteristics have changed.

We can say that the Brembo brakes are excellent at scrubbing speed from the perky Toyota coupe, thanks to larger callipers and rotors.

The Toyota 86 carries a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating and was crash-tested in 2012.

It scored 34.4 points out of a maximum of 37, with excellent 94 and 96 per cent results in the frontal offset and side impact tests respectively.

However, ANCAP standards have since moved on, and mandates the standard inclusion of driving assistance technologies such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB) for a five-star result.

The Toyota 86 is not fitted with AEB as standard, nor is it available as an option, but does come fitted with cruise control, reversing camera, hill-start assist and seven airbags.

Subaru covers its Australian line-up with a five-year/100,000km warranty, which is now cost-of-entry in the local new car market, and 12 months roadside assistance is included.

Service intervals are 12 months/15,000km, and a ‘Capped Price Servicing Program’ is available over five years/75,000km.

A one month health check is free with annual maintenance averaging $478 per service over the five years. Not outrageous, but not amazing, either. 

Like all new Toyota vehicles, the 86 comes with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is also accompanied by a seven-year anti-corrosion assurance.

The first service is due in the first month of ownership and is free, while scheduled servicing is usually every 15,000km/nine months, which every comes first.

Each of the next four services covering up to 36 months/60,000km is capped at $200 per servicing, while the next service rises to $391, $1860 and $391

Therefore, the first 63 months/105,000km of ownership will set buyers back $3051 in servicing.