Although we have already clearly seen the 2022 Subaru BRZToyota has been shy about revealing anything about its version of the light sports rear-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive. Thursday, Thanks again for the Australian patent office, we can at least look at the front bumper.
IP Australia published design documents submitted by Toyota for the front bumper of a car, and is practically an idiot for the upcoming 86, which some experts believe will be dubbed the GR86 going forward. The project was filed on October 30, according to the government secretariat, and formally registered on January 18.
The overall shape of the headlights – or the bottom of them, at least – appears to be identical between the two models, so the main changes are reserved for the grille and side ducts.
You have always been able to distinguish the first generation BRZ from the 86 at a distance based on the grid orientation. If the car was smiling and had a mustache, you were looking at a Subaru; if he was frowning or looking a little distressed, it was the Toyota. For what it’s worth, it looks like this mental shortcut will apply to the GR86 as well – except for the ‘stache’ part. Neither of them will have a mustache this time.
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Given that these cars have historically been virtually identical, except for their emblems, I find it interesting how some enthusiasts prefer to think of them exclusively as Subarus or Toyotas. At the time when both were originally released, my friends in high school and college tended to fall on the BRZ field, because many of them were WRX guys anyway. (Of course they are. They are almost always that age.)
For me, the “real” ancestor of Toyobaru is the AE86 Corolla, so I see the car as a Toyota first. Ultimately, it probably has more to do with the brand you like, and the fact that Toyota originally chose the emblem for its version of Scion probably didn’t help your credibility with certain sects in the automotive community. But this is all in the past!
While we don’t have numbers for the GR86, we expect it to fall in line with the BRZ’s 228 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque from the 2.4-liter flat-four that both cars will share. There may be slight differences in weight – the first generation BRZ was slightly heavier than the 86 – and the new BRZ weighs 2,815 pounds in its lightest finish. Both cars will have a lower center of gravity and a stiffer chassis, helping them to fly as they usually do.