Subaru BRZ (ZC6) 2012-

[Dino Scuderia]

Only 6,000 BRZ's coming to USA in 2013...wonder how much the dealers will be gouging for them.

[NSXType-R]

They sure do know how to do business!

[Ecnelis]

Subaru BRZ #5

A special ceremony held today at Subaru’s Gunma factory in Ota-city, Japan, marked the start of production of one of this year’s most anticipated new models, the Subaru BRZ and Toyota GT 86.

The landmark event in the collaborative agreement between Subaru’s parent company Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd (FHI) and Toyota Motor Corporation (TMC) was attended by the presidents of both corporations.

Subaru’s Gunma Main Plant, which will produce both the Subaru and Toyota versions, has undergone a significant re-fitting to cope with the extra capacity. Subaru plans to produce the Impreza at the same plant by March 2013.

FHI President Yasuyuki Yoshinaga commented: “This car symbolises our corporate strategy in two significant aspects: good progress in our alliance and advancement of our ‘select and focus’ approach. The start of production today made a huge step for us, but it is not our end goal. By constantly refining both models, FHI and TMC hope to nourish each model to be loved by customers all over the world for a long time to come.”

TMC President Akio Toyoda said: “The Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 could not have been successfully developed without collaboration between FHI and TMC. We started the alliance for mutual growth in 2005. Now I’m delighted to see that our alliance bore fruit.”

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Subaru BRZ #6

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Subaru BRZ #7

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Subaru BRZ #8

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Subaru BRZ #9

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Subaru BRZ #10

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Subaru BRZ #11

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Subaru BRZ #12

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Subaru BRZ #13

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Subaru BRZ #14

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Subaru BRZ #15

[Dino Scuderia]

Fuel mileage not rated all that great for a car just a smidge larger than a Miata. Also auto box get better mileage? I get the same mileage in my heavy auto box Element daily driver which is shaped like a brick.

"Small, rear-wheel drive, manually shifted coupes can be exciting, no? Fun and zippy to drive, and because of their tighter dimensions and lower weight, they tend to be easy on the gas, right?

Well, in the case of the Subaru BRZ and the Scion FR-S, maybe not as much as we'd have hoped. Sure, they have smallish 2.0-liter four-cylinders and six-speed manual transmissions, but their hunger for gasoline is just average. Official EPA fuel efficiency numbers are in, and the BRZ and FR-S with manual transmissions net 22 miles per gallon city and 30 highway on premium fuel. Still, that's about the same as the 2013 Hyundai Genesis Coupe with the four-cylinder and manual tranny which gets 21/30 on premium, and it's better than the aging Mazda MX-5 Miata which returns 21/28.

The BRZ and FR-S chug less fuel if you outfit them with the optional automatic transmission. They probably won't be as much fun, but they will return numbers close to 25 city/34 highway."

Autoblog

[NSXType-R]

Seems like there are farther upspec JDM versions of the car- check out #7, picture #2- there's a F1 style tail light between the exhaust pipes that we probably aren't getting.

It certainly isn't AWD, but Rally Blue Mica looks mighty appropriate on it.