First Drive: 2017 Subaru BRZ Limited Performance Pack, U.S. Spec
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PT KONTAK PERKASA - The fun but dodgy roads crossing southern Spain’s
hilly countryside are hardly an appropriate venue for a dynamic
evaluation of the updated 2017 Subaru BRZ.
Fortunately, we were taking the car to one that is: Circuito Mike G
Guadix, a private test track roughly 50 miles outside of Grenada. The
circuit has plenty of runoff room and a brilliant as well as challenging
layout with a variety of corner types. And it sits at an altitude of
about 3,000 feet, adding to the challenge. No wonder the likes of McLaren and BMW M come here to test their wares.
A
snapshot of what’s different about the BRZ for 2017: updated front end
with LED headlights and fog lamps, LED taillights, new wheels, new
fender accent, new aluminum rear spoiler, new steering wheel, updated
gauge cluster with a color multi-function display, retuned suspension,
reworked engine internals and accessories that add 5 horsepower and 5
lb-ft of torque to the 2.0-liter flat-four, a new final-drive ratio for
manual models (4.3:1 vs. 4.1:1 for 2016), a stiffer body, and less
aggressive stability control that includes a new Track mode. Track
replaces the 2016’s Sport mode and raises the intervention threshold
even further.
That’s
a decent list of iterative changes fitting of a mild freshening. The
Performance Package, offered only on Limited models equipped with the
six-speed manual (as well as the limited edition “Series. Yellow”), adds
Brembo brakes with four-piston calipers up front and twin-piston
calipers in the rear, larger and thicker rotors (12.8-inch front,
12.4-inch rear), wider wheels (17 x 7.5 versus 17 x 7.0), and Sachs ZF
dampers for a mere $1,195.
What it all amounts to, in short, is
“quite good.” The long version is that the car feels exquisitely
balanced and poised, only getting squirrely when inputs are made
improperly by a driver who needs to work on heel-toe downshifting skills
— and the BRZ has pedal positioning to make this an easy task.
Steering is quick and responsive, though some likely would prefer it
to have more weight; correcting out of an unwanted slide requires, for
example, just a simple adjustment. The brakes resisted fade well during
our aggressive but relatively short track sessions. The pedal feels like
mush unless you bury it in the carpet, but the pressure gradient is
predicable and requires only a couple of warm-up laps to get familiar
with.
In fact, the chassis has plenty of pace left in it, but the
Michelin Primacy HP tires don’t have nearly enough grip, with the rear
breaking loose long before the suspension began to think about crying
uncle. A set of Michelin Pilot Sports or similar would do wonders for
the car’s track agility. Despite the grip shortage and occasional
inadvertent attempt at drifting, stability control never seemed to
intervene in Track mode, earning Subaru another feather in its cap.
Without a back-to-back test against a 2016 BRZ, it’s impossible to
gauge just how improved the 2017 version is. The same goes for the
regular 2017 BRZ versus the Performance Pack. That said, when looked at
in a vacuum, the 2017 BRZ with Performance Pack is easily the most
fun-to-drive car on the market for less than $30,000 with the possible
exception of Mazda’s Miata,
which forces the owner to sacrifice even more practicality (a fact at
least partially responsible for the Miata’s geriatric median buyer age
of 60, according to data from Maritz Research’s 2016 New Vehicle
Customer Study; the BRZ’s, meanwhile, is a youthful 36).
You’d be
silly to skip the Performance Pack if you’re already looking at a BRZ
Limited. Now, if only there was a performance-tire package. Or, and we
know we get to keep dreaming, the availability of a turbo. Subaru hinted
something special is coming for 2018, but if you’re keen on acquiring a
BRZ this year, there’s no reason to hold off your purchase. Tires are
easy to change, after all, and as for the turbo, you may end up waiting
for a day that never comes.
