Next-gen Subaru BRZ to be revealed November 18

SUBARU has announced it will reveal its new-generation BRZ sportscar to the world as of November 18 with the Japanese brand promising more thrills and more fun from its compact little coupe.

The announcement came this week when Subaru America launched a dedicated webpage under the ‘Future Vehicles and Concepts’ section of its website, adorned with a full-width image of the new car’s headlight and front wing.

Below the image is a 41-second teaser video giving us a glimpse of the new BRZ’s rolling alloy wheels and side-skirts, with the only feature of note being a thin air duct mounted on the back of the front wheelarch, adding credibility to the leaked prototype images which surfaced last month.

“Get ready for more thrills, more rear-wheel-drive fun, more of everything serious drivers love about the BRZ,” the website reads.

“The all-new 2022 BRZ is completely redesigned to deliver pure sportscar exhilaration, and it's almost here.”

Initially expected to ride on Toyota’s modular TNGA platform, rumours have been swirling for months now as to when the next BRZ and the related Toyota 86 were going to emerge and while neither brand have been overly forthcoming with their launch plans, GoAuto understands the BRZ is on track to arrive Down Under in the third quarter of next year.

Once again the result of industry leaks, it was unofficially revealed in March that Toyota is planning to launch its new 86 in the northern hemisphere summer next year – our winter – or in other words, the third quarter of 2021.

Perhaps the biggest point of speculation however is the engine, and more specifically if it will feature forced induction.

Media outlets from around the world have reported on just about every possibility with the early favourite being the turbocharged 2.4-litre flat four-cylinder as seen in the flagship overseas Liberty and Outback XT variants, developing some 194kW/374Nm.

Earlier this year Toyota Australia senior public affairs specialist Orlando Rodriguez told GoAuto the most common request from 86 owners was for the new model to have more power, but not at the cost of the current model’s balance or dynamics.

Reports then emerged that Subaru was developing a “new downsized turbo engine” which materialised in the form of a force-fed 1.8-litre ‘lean-burn’ four-cylinder for the JDM-spec Levorg wagon, however the next BRZ was inevitably raised as another possible application.

Now however the general consensus is that the BRZ and matching 86 will be powered by a naturally-aspirated version of the aforementioned 2.4-litre Boxer mill from the seventh-gen Legacy.

According to a report by Japanese publication Best Car Web, the new engine should see power outputs rise from the current 152kW/219Nm to around 162kW/240Nm, in keeping with customer demand for more power.

The lack of a turbocharger would also continue the BRZ/86’s legacy of being more about the driving experience rather than all-out performance while the modest power outputs would leave plenty of breathing room between the new coupes and the more upmarket four-cylinder Toyota Supra available overseas.

Subaru has sold 235 new BRZs in Australia so far this year ending September, accounting for 5.4 per cent of the sub-$80,000 sportscar segment.

Toyota meanwhile has fared slightly better with 278 sales of the 86, equating to a 6.4 per cent segment share.