Looks like there’s definitely going to be a successor to the Subaru BRZ after all. Earlier this week, we had a little hand in spreading to the English-speaking world the rumor that the next-generation Toyota 86 and Subaru BRZ had been axed. We were wrong, and that’s reason to rejoice.
The report that the Toyobaru twins would have no heir originated from Japan’s automotive tabloid Best Car. After the article spread like wildfire, Carscoops was able to receive confirmation from both Toyota and Subaru that the rumors were false.
They quoted Toyota spokesperson Nancy Hubbell as saying, “The 86 has been in the Toyota family since 2013 and the plan is that it will continue to be a part of Toyota’s sports car line-up.” Not that this statement didn’t definitively say there would be a next generation.
Subaru spokesperson Ron Kinno responded much more firmly. “We do not endorse this report coming from Japan’s Best Car… We are moving ahead with a next-generation Subaru BRZ, but have no further details at this time.”
So there you have it. The 86/BRZ will live on after all. Perhaps this older report from the Japan Times, which suspects a 2.4-liter boxer engine to be the powerplant, will prove accurate after all.
Regardless, sometimes it takes a completely false rumor to bring out the truth, and at least we now know. This is great news for fans of lightweight Japanese sports coupes. The 86 and BRZ are two of the last remaining holdouts in a world increasingly dominated by ill-handling crossovers.
Sure glad there are people in the world who recognize a desire for small light weight small engine sports cars… Kudo’s to Toyota and Subaru for not completely buying into the SUV trend.
Great news! I’m not a prospective buyer (I don’t think as of right now. 🙂 but it does harken to the fact that there are still some sports car enthusiasts in the corporate ranks.
Now – and pardon the digression – The Nissan Z34 is a good follow on to the heavier Z33 but c’mon, it’s in it’s 11th evolutionary iteration of essentially the same car intro’d in MY ’09. If only Nissan would follow suit with a purist, good power-to-weight ratio, and high-smiles-per-dollar successor to the aged Z34… Sigh…..
”This is great news for fans of lightweight Japanese sports coupes. The 86 and BRZ are two of the last remaining holdouts in a world increasingly dominated by ill-handling crossovers.”
At a time when the market share of passenger cars in general is being quickly overtaken by trucks, SUVs and crossovers, I agree this is good news. Having owned a Miata, and currently with two roadsters (S2000, Alfa Romeo Duetto) in my garage, there’s no hiding my bias for lightweight sports cars.
However, to assume that an AT-equipped crossover is “ill-handling” is to ignore what has happened in that market segment over the past several years. My daily driver is a Macan S, and it will outperform my former 6MT equipped G35 that it replaced. Similarly, the Stelvio Quadrifoglio will handily beat 99% of passenger cars sold today, both in handling and acceleration.
While I applaud Akio Toyoda for bringing out cars like the 86 and the new Supra, I wish he would also focus on high performance crossovers, which are currently dominated by the Europeans. We forget that Nissan pioneered the sports crossover segment with the original FX45 design, only to allow it to grow long in the tooth. When I’m not driving my roadsters, I want a capable yet functional vehicle to haul my family and gear.
I agree that the Macan S and Stelvio QF can perform, but those are not the crossovers that are dominating the roads. That title is held by Rogue, RAV4, Ford Escape, etc.
I really hope that automaker will wake up when/if all the childless millennials (like myself) finally pay off their mountains of student debt and demand something more exciting than their 05 Chevy Aveo. I’m not going to make myself car-poor, but if there were literally more than 2-3 options for exciting, affordable, small cars, I would at least consider buying a new car.