Subaru and Toyota only confirmed a year ago that they were working together on successors for their respective BRZ and 86 sports cars.
Little did we know then that development was already at a late stage, as an advanced a prototype for the redesigned BRZ was spotted in August. Now we have confirmation from Subaru that the reveal of its sports car will take place November 18. The new BRZ will go on sale sometime next year as a 2022 model.
Timing for the new BRZ's arrival was confirmed on Subaru's website, where the automaker also has a short teaser video. Timing for the redesigned Toyota 86 is yet to be announced.
2022 Subaru BRZ spy shots - Photo credit: S. Baldauf/SB-Medien
What also hasn't been announced are any technical details, though the BRZ prototype points to the new sports cars getting the same rear-wheel-drive platform found in the current generation. It would mean a repeat of a naturally aspirated flat-4 engine, though hopefully with a bit more power thrown in. Peak output of the current BRZ is a measly 205 horsepower with the manual transmission and 200 hp with the automatic.
The prototype and teaser shots also point to evolutionary styling in the cards, at least for the BRZ. Key differences look to be cleaner lines front and rear, and a much larger grille.
There aren't many affordable rear-wheel-drive sports cars left in the market, so we're glad to see Subaru and Toyota retain their offerings. Hopefully there's a sales boost as the BRZ's total sales in the United States for 2019 came in at only 2,334 units. The 86 fared only slightly better with 3,398 units.