Subaru BRZ Coupe named

By Jack Rix

23rd August 2011

Subaru has confirmed that a 'technology concept' of its 2+2 coupe – co-developed with the Toyota FT-86 – will debut at Frankfurt. And the firm has revealed that the production car will be called BRZ.

The letters BRZ stand for Boxer engine, Rear-wheel drive and Zenith - which confirms serveral facts. Firstly that, just like the Toyota FT-86, it will be rear-wheel drive not four-wheel drive and secondly it will feature a Boxer engine under the bonnet.

There are no precise engine details at the moment, but it's expected to use the same 200bhp 2.0-litre four-cylinder powerplant as the Toyota FT-86, which shoud mean a 0-62mph time of around seven seconds and a top speed of 140mph. Higher performance versions are expected further down the line.

The technology concept in Frankfurt will be called the Subaru BRZ Prologue - Boxer Sports Car Architecture II. The II refers to the fact that a wire frame model and the image shown here were already revealed at the Geneva show earlier this year.

Subaru claims production is sheduled to begin in Spring 2012, just a few months after its Toyota stablemate is slated to hit showrooms.