Our 2023 Subaru BRZ Survived Its First Winter
10,000-Mile Update
Our long-term test vehicles lead arduous lives in Michigan, with stray wildlife, poorly maintained roads, and treacherous weather conditions all posing very real threats. Fortunately, we have no calamities to report regarding our 2023 Subaru BRZ, which survived its first winter virtually unscathed.
Credit for that triumph largely goes to our car being on appropriate winter tires. Specifically, last fall we swapped out our Limited model’s original-equipment Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer rubber for narrower 205/55R-16 Michelin X-Ice Snow tires mounted on 16-inch steel wheels, which together set us back $1226 from TireRack. Along with alleviating worries about errant potholes and curb strikes damaging our car’s stock 18-inch wheels, we all agreed that Subaru’s low-slung sports coupe looks cool on black steelies. Most important, the winter tires allowed us to keep enjoying the BRZ’s rear-wheel-drive goodness even when it was plowing through inches of white stuff.
Though the Detroit area’s winters have grown milder in recent years, the snowfalls we did receive would’ve challenged any lightweight rear-drive performance machine. But our BRZ trudged through most of it surprisingly well, the bite of its winter Michelins providing enough grip and stability for us to get around without our knuckles turning the color of the surrounding landscape. Granted, building speed while keeping our Subaru pointed straight required carefully working its controls and paying close attention to what it communicated to us through its steering wheel and seatback. But that’s what this car is all about. “I love how even with all the electronic nannies on, the BRZ will let you get a bit sideways before the stability control steps in,” associate news editor Caleb Miller wrote. “This is a car that will coax you out for a two-hour drive with no destination, just driving for the pure joy of it.”
Indeed, despite the suboptimal conditions, praise for our Subaru remains abundant. “This thing is just so fun and easy to steer,” noted one driver. “Dynamically, the BRZ is superb,” wrote another. Others called it “endearing,” “delightful,” and “engaging.” In short, the BRZ is a blast to drive, even if some pilots still find that its somewhat touchy clutch pedal takes some practice to operate smoothly.
Michael Simari|Car and Driver
There have been some shortcomings related to our car’s winter footwear, namely how the squishy tread blocks and taller sidewalls degrade the BRZ’s straight-ahead tracking at highway speeds. And the tires’ reduced dry-pavement traction means that even this modestly powerful coupe can spin its rear tires all the way through second gear. But if anything, the reduced handling limits make this car even more entertaining to drive around town. Nor were those drawbacks enough to prevent one driver from road tripping to Virginia and back over the holidays, which helped the BRZ maintain a respectable 25-mpg average fuel economy.
Maintenance has been straightforward thus far, consisting of one routine service (oil-and-filter change, tire rotation, and inspection) at around 7000 miles that relieved us of $124. More ominous is the thought that testing director Dave VanderWerp presented in our Subaru’s logbook: “With the influx of EVs, I’m most worried about losing cars like the BRZ—lightweight, pure, direct, and affordable. Will there ever be an EV in this category?” That has yet to be seen, but we’ll come back to it later. We just reinstalled our BRZ’s summer tires and need to go for a drive.
Months in Fleet: 6 months Current Mileage: 10,710 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 25 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 13.2 gal Observed Fuel Range: 330 miles
Service: $124 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $
Arrow pointing downArrow pointing down
Specifications
Specifications
2023 Subaru BRZ Limited
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $32,115/$32,115
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection
Displacement: 146 in3, 2387 cm3
Power: 228 hp @ 7000 rpm
Torque: 184 lb-ft @ 3700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 11.6-in vented disc/11.4-in vented disc
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4
215/40R-18 85Y
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 101.4 in
Length: 167.9 in
Width: 69.9 in
Height: 51.6 in
Passenger Volume: 77 ft3
Cargo Volume: 6 ft3
Curb Weight: 2839 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS: NEW
60 mph: 5.4 sec
100 mph: 13.3 sec
1/4-Mile: 13.9 sec @ 102 mph
130 mph: 25.9 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.6 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 8.9 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 8.0 sec
Top Speed (C/D est): 140 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 162 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 318 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.95 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 25 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 31 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 400 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 22/20/27 mpg
WARRANTY
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection
3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Introduction
This was a given. Redesigned for the 2022 model year and already carrying around a 10Best trophy, the new Subaru BRZ was a shoo-in for a long-term visit, especially now that it’s imbued with more power and refinement than the 2013 BRZ we last subjected to a 40,000-mile test. This is 2839 pounds of affordable rear-wheel-drive fun. Meat-and-potatoes driving enjoyment. Why’d we pick the BRZ over its also-fresh Toyota GR86 counterpart? That’s a tougher call, but this platform is still the Subaru engineering team’s baby. That the BRZ also rides better on crappy Midwestern roads than the Toyota and is slightly less tail-happy in corners should make it that much easier for us to enjoy over the next year or so.
Subaru makes it simple for drivers to configure their BRZ. All versions feature a considerably stiffer chassis and a 2.4-liter flat-four good for 228 horsepower—a 23-hp increase over the previous 2.0-liter mill. More importantly, the new engine’s meatier 184 pound-feet of torque now peaks at a lower 3700 rpm, resulting in smoother power delivery. A Torsen limited-slip differential is standard, as is one of the most satisfying six-speed manual setups available. Fine by us.
Michael Simari|Car and Driver
The BRZ’s Premium trim level starts at $29,615, underscoring this car’s budget-conscious positioning. An intuitive 8.0-inch touchscreen, a 7.0-inch digital instrument cluster, dual-zone automatic climate control, keyless entry, a push-button ignition, and other niceties are all included. But we would’ve been foolish not to step up to the $32,115 Limited, if only for the 18-inch Michelin Pilot Sport 4 summer tires that replace the base car’s 17-inch Michelin Primacy HP rubber. The heated front seats, blind-spot monitoring, and microsuede upholstery with red contrast stitching that the Limited also adds are a welcome bonus. The BRZ’s optional six-speed automatic transmission, which comes with a suite of Subaru EyeSight driver aids, was never considered, though we did decide to tempt fate with roadside tax collectors by opting for bright Ignition Red paint (at no cost).
An early road trip from Michigan to Virginia International Raceway (VIR) in support of our Lightning Lap event knocked out our car’s 1000-mile break-in period and helped establish its current 26-mpg average fuel economy—4 mpg better than its EPA combined estimate. We also ran it on our 75-mph highway route, where its 31-mpg result topped its federal rating by a similar amount.
Upon its initial visit to the test track, a tire-spinning launch punted the BRZ to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds and through the quarter-mile in 13.9 seconds at 102 mph, making it about a second quicker than its predecessor in both measures. It also posted a solid 0.95 g of grip around the skidpad and stopped from 70 mph in 162 feet and from 100 mph in 318 feet. We’re more than pleased with this updated car’s bang for the buck. “It only took five miles to reconvince me that this is a fantastic sports coupe,” said senior technical editor Dave Beard, who added that he “110 percent would buy one.”
Some familiar nits have already cropped up in the BRZ’s logbook. Though it is nicer and more comfortable inside than before, this updated car’s steering column still doesn’t telescope as far as some taller drivers would like. And the intimate cabin—while pleasantly straightforward when hunting apexes—is stingy on useful places to stash our stuff during commutes. At least folding down the rear seats should help it swallow an extra set of tires and wheels for track days, which we look forward to confirming.
Michael Simari|Car and Driver
Substantial road and engine noise inside the car—91 decibels at full throttle, 74 decibels at 70 mph—also are a part of life with the BRZ. While the song that the new 2.4-liter engine sings is easy enough on our ears, those sound measurements are even louder than what we recorded in our previous-gen long-termer, which we said was “100 pounds of sound deadening material away from greatness.” A chunk of that increased noise stems from the fake engine note the new car plays through its stereo speakers—a feature Subaru doesn’t let you control, though the owner’s manual does note that your dealer can deactivate the added sounds upon request. A quick internet search reveals a more practical solution: Simply unplug the system’s control module via an access panel on the far-right side of the dashboard. Voilà, no more flat-four backing track.
We won’t know precisely how much that fix has muffled our Subaru’s voice until its return visit to the test track. But our initial impression is that we’ve merely toned down the racket inside the car rather than altered its tone. Trundle down the highway and you can barely hear the engine. Drive it hard, though, and plenty of flat-four growl can still be heard through the firewall. And we can always plug the system back in when it suits us. Next up is fitting a set of winter tires, which will not only help our BRZ survive Michigan’s annual snowpocalypse but make its rear-wheel-drive goodness even more exploitable.
Months in Fleet: 1 month Current Mileage: 3097 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 26 mpg
Fuel Tank Size: 13.2 gal Observed Fuel Range: 340 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0
Damage and Destruction: $0
Arrow pointing downArrow pointing down
Specifications
Specifications
2023 Subaru BRZ Limited
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 2-door coupe
PRICE
Base/As Tested: $32,115/$32,115
ENGINE
DOHC 16-valve flat-4, aluminum block and heads, port and direct fuel injection
Displacement: 146 in3, 2387 cm3
Power: 228 hp @ 7000 rpm
Torque: 184 lb-ft @ 3700 rpm
TRANSMISSION
6-speed manual
CHASSIS
Suspension, F/R: struts/multilink
Brakes, F/R: 11.6-in vented disc/11.4-in vented disc
Tires: Michelin Pilot Sport 4
215/40R-18 85Y
DIMENSIONS
Wheelbase: 101.4 in
Length: 167.9 in
Width: 69.9 in
Height: 51.6 in
Passenger Volume: 77 ft3
Cargo Volume: 6 ft3
Curb Weight: 2839 lb
C/D TEST RESULTS: NEW
60 mph: 5.4 sec
100 mph: 13.3 sec
1/4-Mile: 13.9 sec @ 102 mph
130 mph: 25.9 sec
Results above omit 1-ft rollout of 0.2 sec.
Rolling Start, 5–60 mph: 6.6 sec
Top Gear, 30–50 mph: 8.9 sec
Top Gear, 50–70 mph: 8.0 sec
Top Speed (C/D est): 140 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 162 ft
Braking, 100–0 mph: 318 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft Skidpad: 0.95 g
C/D FUEL ECONOMY
Observed: 25 mpg
75-mph Highway Driving: 31 mpg
75-mph Highway Range: 400 mi
EPA FUEL ECONOMY
Combined/City/Highway: 22/20/27 mpg
WARRANTY
3 years/36,000 miles bumper to bumper
5 years/60,000 miles powertrain
5 years/unlimited miles corrosion protection
3 years/36,000 miles roadside assistance
C/D TESTING EXPLAINED
Technical Editor
Mike Sutton is an editor, writer, test driver, and general car nerd who has contributed to Car and Driver’s reverent and irreverent passion for the automobile since 2008. A native Michigander from suburban Detroit, he enjoys the outdoors and complaining about the weather, has an affection for off-road vehicles, and believes in federal protection for naturally aspirated engines.
