The New Subaru BRZ Super GT Race Car Is a Proper Firecracker
The long-awaited second-gen BRZ looks even better with full aero.
Subaru cooked up its first BRZ for the Japanese Super GT series' GT300 class back in 2012, which was a silhouette racer powered by the STI-tuned EJ20 engine instead of the BRZ's naturally-aspirated FA20, turbocharged to around 300 horsepower. Now there's a new Subaru BRZ in town, and while it still doesn't get the STI treatment for the street, the domestic racing scene can already look forward to seeing it in GT300 tune, complete with a carbon fiber widebody and a top-hang rear wing.
The new GT300-spec BRZ was revealed as part of a Subaru Motorsport live stream for the fans, and starting at the 1:54:48 mark, you can even hear STI's latest and greatest start up and drive out for a full-speed lap around the circuit. For Gymkhana 11, Travis Pastrana may have got the wildest aero package ever put on a WRX STI, yet the rear diffuser on the new BRZ GT300 looks like it could accelerate the velocity of the airflow underneath the car into the next time and space continuum. Good for team STI.
As well as against various European GT3 cars, the "proud of boxer" BRZ GT300 will have to compete against such oddballs in Japan's premier endurance racing series as Toyota's Prius PHV GR Sport GT300, which is running a Lexus RC F GT3-sourced 5.4-liter V8 engine mated to a supercapacitor system. While wondering how that's fair, Subaru's R&D Sport team finished the 2020 championship at fifth place with the current generation BRZ GT300.
The 2022 Subaru BRZ weighs under 2,900 pounds and comes with a limited-slip differential regardless of your transmission choice, which includes a six-speed manual and a six-speed automatic with a new Sport mode that allows for quicker automated downshifts and higher revs when the car's yaw sensors detect hard cornering.
h/t: Car and Driver
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