While we already have a clear look at the 2022 Subaru BRZ, Toyota unveiled the game of version of the box-powered, lightweight rear-wheel-drive sports coupe. Thursday, thanks again to Australia’s patent office, we can at least look at the front bumper.
IP Australia has published design documents that Toyota has submitted for the front bumper of a car, and that is quite a death knell for the upcoming 86, which according to some insiders will call the GR86 forward. According to the government department, the draft was submitted on October 30 and formally registered on January 18.
The general shape of the headlights – or the underside thereof – in any case looks identical between both models, so the primary changes are reserved for the grille and side channels.
You could always distinguish the first generation BRZ from the 86 at a distance based on the orientation of the grille. If the car grinned and had a mustache, you looked at a Subaru; if it looked frowning or slightly anxious, it was the Toyota. For what it’s worth, it seems that this mental shortcut will also apply to the GR86 – except for the ‘stache part’. None of them will have a mustache this time.
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Since these cars have historically been pretty much identical, except for their license plates, I find it interesting how some enthusiasts prefer to consider them exclusively as Subarus or Toyota. When both originally came out, my friends in high school and college tended to fall into the BRZ camp because many of them were WRX dudes anyway. (Of course they were. They are almost always at that age.)
To me, the “true” ancestor of the Toyobaru is the AE86 Corolla, so I first see the car as a Toyota. In the end, it probably has more to do with what brand you like, and the fact that Toyota originally chose to give its version a Scion probably did not help the credibility of certain sectors of the automotive community. But that’s all in the past!
Although we do not have the GR86 numbers, you should expect it to fall in line with the BRZ’s 228 horsepower and 184 lb of torque from the 2.4-liter quad that both cars will share. There may be slight weight differences – the first generation BRZ was slightly heavier than the 86 – and the new BRZ weighs 2,815 pounds in its lightest finish. Both cars have a lower center of gravity and a firmer chassis, which helps them swing around as they are known.