Carscoop!: Subaru BRZ Black Edition by Prova from the Tokyo Auto Salon [Video]

I have got to say this is one gorgeous car....

Prova, one of the more notable Subaru tuners in the Land of the Rising Sun, teamed up with the Japanese automaker to display a bespoke edition of the new BRZ sports coupe at this past weekend's 2012 Tokyo Auto Salon.

The BRZ Black Edition is supposed to be a more mature tuning take on the rear-wheel drive model that goes on sale worldwide this spring.

The package combines a blacked out body with orange pinstriping and a styling kit that includes a front lip spoiler, side skirts, a different rear diffuser and a (not so mature…) massive rear wing, along with new 19-inch alloy wheels from Enkei shod in beefier rubber.

A high-performance braking system and a sports exhaust system with central mounted tail pipes plus body hugging Recaro bucket seats and a new audio system inside round out the changes on the Black Edition showcar.

Neither Prova nor Subaru said if they have any plans to produce the BRZ Black Edition.

Source;
http://www.carscoop.blogspot.com/2012/01/subaru-brz-black-edition-by-prova-from.html

2011 Tokyo Auto Show: Subaru BR-Z Revealed

We’ve already seen one result of the joint project between Toyota and Subaru, the Toyota GT 86, and now we have the official photos of Subaru’s variant, the BRZ. By now, nothing about the BRZ is much of a surprise even though we anxiously await the world debut at the Tokyo Motor Show.

The rear-wheel-drive BRZ will be powered by a 2.0L Horizontally-Opposed Boxer Engine with 200-hp and 151 lb-ft of torque. Transmission options will be either a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual and the sports car will weigh in at 2,689-lbs. More of the focus of the BRZ however is in its handling capabilities and its lightweight chassis, as Subaru aimed for “Pure Handling Delight” with their new sports car.

Throughout the design, Subaru focused on an ultra-low center of gravity, allowing for a low hood design and a perimeter-type body frame layout. On the inside, Subaru gave the BRZ a fun-to-drive notion, outfitting it with a smaller steering wheel, a tachometer with digitally displayed speedometer in the center of the gauges and bespoke sports car seats.

All BRZ models will come standard with 17-inch wheels and tires and electronic stability control. Stay tuned as AutoGuide will be at the Tokyo Motor Show for the official debut with plenty more photos for you to indulge in.

Source;
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/11/subaru-brz-revealed-2011-tokyo-motor-show-preview.html

Subaru BRZ STI Concept: New Photos Released Ahead of LA Auto Show Debut

Revealed yesterday for the first time, Subaru has since released a selection of photos showing the new BRZ STI Concept from many more angles. The first up-close look at the car won’t come for another two weeks with the reveal set for November 16th at the LA Auto Show.

Taking design cues from the more dramatic FT-86 II Concept, despite the name this STI concept won’t be turbocharged, but will instead use the same 2.0-liter naturally aspirated motor found in the FT-86/FR-S. If leaked specs of the FT-86 are any guess, the car will deliver 197-hp with a curb weight of around 2700 lbs.

Look for full details November 16th, with the start of AutoGuide’s 2011 LA Auto Show coverage here.

Source;
http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/11/subaru-brz-sti-concept-new-photos-released-ahead-of-la-auto-show-debut.html

Subaru BRZ: new tech details

The new Subaru BRZ coupé will have the lowest centre of gravity of any production car when it goes on sale next summer, according to the manufacturer.

The BRZ’s rear-wheel-drive configuration has meant that Subaru's compact 2.0-litre Boxer engine can be mounted even lower in the chassis than would normally be permissible in the manufacturer's conventional four-wheel-drive layout.

Despite being co-developed with Toyota, the vast majority of the engineering work has been undertaken by Subaru; although the company has confirmed that the BRZ's flat-four unit will incorporate a Toyota direct fuel-injection system.

Power outputs, however, will differ with a Subaru-spec ECU liberating the BRZ’s power to “less than 300bhp,” compared with the FT-86’s 200bhp figure.

Details of the car’s final spec remain under wraps - even Subaru's UK new MD admitted to Autocar that he'd only seen a clay model of the finished product - but insiders suggest that the grille and bumpers will differentiate the RBZ from its Toyota-badged sibling.

A roadster version could yet play a part in future model plans, but a topless car is ‘under consideration’ rather than developmental reality.

Subaru insists that no costing strategy has been established, but with the Volkswagen Scirocco confirmed as the main rival, expect the RBZ’s price tag to land somewhere in the current coupé ballpark.

The lack of a final figure - or even an image of the production car - has apparently not dissuaded Subaru fans from already registering their interest with the company's dealership network.

While the new 2+2 coupé is expected to fill a healthy new niche for the manufacturer, Subaru UK has made it clear that it intends to focus much of its energy on 'lifestyle' products, such as the new XV crossover, as it looks to achieve a sales target of 7500 units in 2012.

The Subaru BRZ will be unveiled at the Tokyo show next month.

Nic Cackett

Source;
http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?AR=259739

SPIED: Subaru BRZ Coupe Shows its Face

Upon viewing these pictures of the Subaru BRZ prototype we can hear some of you shouting, "just come out with it already", and we couldn't agree more. The same can be said about for the BRZ's twin sisters, the much-teased global Toyota FT-86 and the North American Scion FR-S.

Anyway, if the current buzz is to be believed, then we should catch our first glimpse of the BRZ in concept form at the upcoming Los Angeles Auto Show in mid-November with the final production model to make its world premiere alongside the FT-86 at the Tokyo Motor Show in December.

If you're having a hard time figuring out the differences between the swirly covered BRZ test car and the FT-86 prototypes, that's because the two models will be almost identical minus some extremely subtle cosmetic differences.

If you compare these pictures with our previous spy shots of the FT-86, you will see that the BRZ seen here features a slightly different nose with a reversed grille (and by that we mean that the upper side is longer than the lower side) and redesigned fog lamp housings.

The mechanics are already known with all three cars featuring a Subaru-sourced, 2.0-liter naturally-aspirated flat-four matched to a standard six-speed manual or an optional (depending on the market) automatic transmission that will power the rear wheels only.

Source;
http://carscoop.blogspot.com/2011/10/spied-subaru-brz-coupe-shows-its-face.html

Subaru Hybrid For 2014 To Echo Honda, GM Mild-Hybrid Approach

Beyond the obvious Toyota, if any other make were to build hybrid cars, you might expect it to be Subaru.

The small Japanese company's cars are revered for durability and standard all-wheel drive, and their drivers are often assumed to be on the liberal side of center.

Subaru owners tend to cluster in mountainous enclaves of progressive politics, and data show their owners skew more Democratic than almost any other brand.

Now, at last, Subaru's hybrid plans are coming clear.

First hybrid in 2013
The company will launch its first hybrid vehicle in Japan within two years. That car will be a model of the Subaru Legacy mid-size sedan, most likely for the 2014 model year.

But according to a Subaru of America executive who briefed GreenCarReports on condition of anonymity, while development of the hybrid-electric drive technology is largely done, the company is still debating which vehicle will debut the hybrid system for the U.S. market.

Candidates include the popular Forester compact crossover utility vehicle, the equally popular Outback mid-size crossover, and perhaps the Legacy sedan as well.

Subaru could choose to put the system in its lowest-mileage vehicles (the larger Legacy and Outback), or increase the mileage of a more fuel efficient vehicle (the Impreza sedan or hatchback) to give the company a gas-mileage champion halo car.

Already the new 2012 Subaru Impreza will get 36 mpg on the highway, a substantial improvement over the 2011 model that gives it the highest gas mileage of any all-wheel drive car.

Mild hybrid a la Honda
The Subaru hybrid system, previewed in the Subaru B5 TPH Concept of 2005 and, at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, in the Subaru Hybrid Tourer concept, is a mild hybrid system very similar to Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) setup.

The General Motors eAssist system is conceptually similar, although the electric motor replaces the alternator rather than sitting between engine and transmission.

In the latest Subaru concept, a 10-kilowatt (13-horsepower) electric motor is sandwiched between a turbocharged 2.0-liter flat-four engine and the company's Lineartronic continuously variable transmission (CVT).

A lithium-ion battery pack, derived from the one used in the now-discontinued Japanese-market Stella EV electric minicar, provides power to the motor, which also recharges the battery during regenerative braking.

But unlike full hybrid systems like those used by Toyota, Ford, Hyundai, and others, the hybrid system is not powerful enough to propel the car on electricity alone.

Instead, it restarts the engine when the car begins to move away from a stop, and it contributes torque to supplement engine power, reducing the load on the engine and hence the fuel it consumes.

Toyota tech? Not so much
Since 2005, when Toyota purchased the share of Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru's parent company) previously owned by General Motors, industry analysts had assumed that the small company would adopt Toyota's Hybrid Synergy Drive system--as Nissan did for its 2008-2011 Altima Hybrid, and Mazda plans to do.

But Subaru is a stubbornly independent company with a strong engineering culture. Aside from Porsche, it's the sole company offering horizontally opposed engines, which are smaller and give vehicles a lower center of gravity than inline engines.

Fitting Toyota's hybrid to a pancake engine might have posed its own challenges, but Subaru's engineers developed their hybrid system internally, along with the lithium-ion battery pack. And so the Subaru hybrid that will launch as a 2014 model will be a mild hybrid--a technology that Toyota doesn't offer.

The two companies are presently cooperating on a two-door sports coupe known as the FT-86. It will be sold as a Scion in the U.S., and the Subaru version--the brand's first rear-wheel drive car for the U.S. in almost 20 years--will be called the BRZ.

Source;
http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1066695_subaru-hybrid-for-2014-to-echo-honda-gm-mild-hybrid-approach

Subaru BRZ Revealed as Name of Subie’s Toyota FT-86

Subaru has announced its name for the joint sports car project developed with Toyota, dubbing the rear-drive coupe the BRZ.



The news comes in a release by the Japanese automaker, announcing it will show a second rendition of the Boxer Sports Car Architecture, cumbersomely named “Subaru BRZ Prologue – Boxer Sports Car Architecture II” at the Frankfurt Auto Show.



The BRZ name stands for “Boxer engine”, “Rear-wheel drive” and “Zenith”. Subaru has also created a teaser webpage for the car which can be viewed here.



Source;

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2011/08/subaru-brz-revealed-as-name-of-subies-toyota-ft-86.html

Hackers break into Subaru Outback via text message

By Christopher Trout posted Aug 4th 2011 5:17PM

We've already seen SCADA systems controlled by Google Search, and now the Black Hat Technical Security Conference is offering up yet another slice of cringe-inducing hacker pie. A pair of pros from iSec Partners security firm was able to unlock and start the engine of a Subaru Outback using an Android phone and a process they call war texting. By setting up their own GSM network, they were able to snatch up password authentication messages being sent from server to car, allowing them the option to ride off in a brand new crossover. Apparently, your car isn't the only thing in danger of a war-texting takeover, however, as the team says there are a slew of devices and systems, accessible over telephone networks, that are vulnerable to similar attacks, including A-GPS tracking devices, 3G security cameras, SCADA sensors -- and thus the power grid and water supply -- home automation, and urban traffic control systems. Somehow this group of otherwise innocent looking New York texters appears a whole lot more sinister now.

Source (via www.autoblog.com);
http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/04/hackers-break-into-subaru-outback-via-text-message/

MotorTrend: Subaru Impreza Going it's Own Way

July 14, 2011 / By Peter Lyon
Illustrator: Holiday Auto Magazine

Remember the drama around removing the "Skyline" prefix from the GT-R when the all-new supercar debuted in late 2007? Well, it looks like nomenclature surgery is about to happen again, only this time Subaru is doing the separating. That's right, the Impreza and famed WRX -- joined at the hip since 1992 -- are going their separate ways.

While the new production Impreza debuted at this year’s New York Auto Show, the next WRX will take a completely different path of development and will not surface until 2014. We know this because Subaru president Ikuo Mori said at a recent shareholder’s meeting: “We will launch a new sporty car in 2014.” The WRX is that car.

In the past week, we have learned from a source just how different the new WRX will be to the Impreza, employing totally different components.

This image, revealing how one artist sees the new WRX, depicts a new coupe model with a shorter wheelbase and heavy-duty bodywork It's important to note that this is just one vision of the new car, it may turn out to look much different. Our source also tells us Subaru bosses haven't decided if the WRX name will survive. For the time being, we'll refer to it as WRX.

“Apart from a few nuts and bolts, every part on the WRX will be unique. Even the engine and body. Obviously the WRX’s platform will be inherited from the new Impreza, but it will be radically modified and significantly shortened,” says our source.

From now on, the Impreza will be the company's core model, boasting a fuel-efficient, naturally aspirated 2.0-liter boxer engine. The car's wheelbase has been slightly lengthened, while the A-pillar has been brought forward to maximize interior space and comfort levels. At this point, it is unclear if Subaru will attempt an Impreza-based performance model to bridge the gap until the new WRX arrives, but it appears unlikely.

"Up until now, the Impreza and WRX used many common parts, which translated into entry-level Imprezas that were over-engineered," the source continued. The basic chassis and suspension had to employ certain parts needed for the WRX. That drove costs up, and many entry-level customers did not want or understand the significance of such high-tech parts, stresses our insider.

The WRX, on the other hand, will employ the very best from Subaru's parts bin, starting with an updated version of the company's rally-proven AWD system and a turbocharged boxer engine.
"The first thing you must understand about our all-new WRX is that we have developed it from the ground up to win in motorsports events. That's why we have focused so heavily on weight issues, not to mention a shorter wheelbase that permits faster, more precise turn-in. Marry that to our proven AWD system, and we think we have a winner," explains our source.

If you look at the Sebastien Loeb's multiple-championship-winning Citroen C4 in the World Rally Championship, you can see where Subaru is coming from -- or going to. They want to build a WRX that can beat the Citroen while still offering driving enthusiasts something special for their garages. The company has pulled out of WRC, but with the new WRX, a return looks possible. Above the WRX, Subaru will still offer a low-production flagship STI, a model our source calls a "race car for the road."

"Obviously the rally model will be based on the top-of-the-line STI car, but unlike previous Impreza WRXs, this new WRX will be more hard-core and less forgiving on bumpy road surfaces," adds our source. Collaboration with Toyota on the FT-86 project also seems to have something to do with the direction of the new WRX and STI. "If the truth be known, we were able to focus so deeply on the motorsports element with the new WRX because we developed a sister car with the Toyota FT-86. Bosses gave us permission to go all out because that car exists," says our insider.

Our source also revealed what is going on in the bowels of Subaru's R&D. On the short list for the WRX’s powerplant is a turbocharged 1.6-liter boxer pumping as much as 270 hp, and a twin-charger system involving a supercharger is being tested as well. The car’s body is rumored to be a little bigger than a Toyota Yaris, while its tread width is said to expand significantly. As for the STI, we are told that the flagship will also employ the WRX’s 1.6-liter boxer turbo, but that the engine will be reworked to generate upwards of 300 hp for motorsport competitiveness.

Subaru bosses see the new WRX initially competing in domestic rallies and gymkhanas, but they are also targeting Europe's World Touring Car Championships as well as the long-awaited return to the WRC.

Bottom line? Get used to saying Subaru WRX (most of us enthusiasts do, anyway). Expect unprecedented levels of AWD handling and performance at a bargain price -- the vehicle should land in showrooms in roughly two years in the $26,000-$29,000 range.
Source;
http://www.motortrend.com/future/future_vehicles/1107_subaru_wrx_to_go_its_own_way/index.html#ixzz1STGTg5Jq