TMW - The best coupe on the market, the Subaru BRZ, had to beat, easy to love !

The Subaru BRZ is unashamedly a Toyota with new badging, but is it, well, the answer to that question is no, the beating heart of the car is Subaru through and through, the Boxer engine moves the car so far away from Toyota that you might be forgiven for thinking that this is an all new car.

The BRZ is a 2+2, you most definitely not get adults in the back, not unless they have no legs, because once you get the front seats into a decent position there is no leg room at all, the front seats are extremely well made, once you are in place, there is no way you're going anywhere, they cosset you like not many other seats around.

The interior is well made, with decent soft touch plastics and leather trimmed parts, all the buttons and switchgear are placed perfectly for your hands, and you never have to stretch or look away for too long to do, whatever you need too.

The Sat Nav is good, however it can be a little slow at times, but only when you have lots of turns and junctions in quick succession, the steering is really precise and the car goes exactly where you point it, there are loads of toys and info that you can utilise, the display system can be utilised to give you many different pieces of info from mpg, to distance travelled to power output.

The short shift gearbox is great, it changes gear swiftly and precisely, and the power that this brings is also brilliant, the BRZ can pull away like a car with far more power, thats how great the Boxer engine is.

The boxer engine might be powerful, and at 180g/km comes somewhere higher up the scale, it also offers not too bad fuel consumption.

• Urban Cycle - 27.2mpg
• Extra Urban Cycle - 44.8mpg
• Combined - 36.2mpg

The combined figure is nearly achievable, during our time with the car, we came away with an average of about 32mpg, which is a great result for the car, however, we did complete a few long distance motorway journey's, and after these runs, we didn't feel tired or too uncomfortable, a nice touch is the windows dropping slightly on opening and closing so that it makes it less prone to breakage.

The outside of the car, like the inside, gives you an air of sportiness, with the large spoiler, and deep front bumper, the growl of the engine too makes you feel ike you are about to drive something special, and over all you get a lot of kit and technology.

• Automatic Headlights
• LED Headlights
• Satellite Navigation
• Power Folding Door Mirrors
• Rear Diffuser
• Rear Spoiler
• 17" Alloy Wheels
• Leather Wrapped Steering Wheel-Gearshift-Handbrake Lever
• Power Windows
• Remote Control Central Locking
• Dual Zone Air Conditioning
• Subaru Starlink
• 6.2" Touchscreen

And these are just a small amount of the bits and pieces you get, they all go together to make a great sports car, one thats hard to eat.

CONCLUSION

The Subaru BRZ is a great car, there really is no getting away from it, it does everything you ask of it, and far more, however, it is compromised, its only a two seater, you just can not get anyone else in the back, it is very cramped with no leg room at all.

It has enough boot space, plenty of cubby holes and lot of toys and tech, goes like stink and performs really well, however, this is a weekend car really, and a car for a "couple" rather than a family, or a wealthy family that wants a second car. The Boxer engine performs like only a Boxer engine can, it's am amazing power-plant, and the car is great, who cares if it is based upon a Toyota, for this is a SUBARU plain and simple.

Our time with the Subaru BRZ is up, but as we say goodbye to the sporty coupé, we can also welcome back one of the brand’s most famous nameplates to the UK: the WRX STi.

Favourable exchange rates and strong customer demand have meant that the latest STi, which wasn’t previously destined for our shores, has now gone on sale. At £28,995, it’s £5,000 more than the BRZ, but aside from the paint, are there any similarities between the two?

Both cars have boxer engines, but it’s a 2.0-litre four-cylinder in the BRZ and a 2.5-litre turbo in the STi. Power delivery is surprisingly similar – both seem a bit lacking in torque low down in the revs, doing their best work near the red line.