The sports car market in America isn't exactly flourishing, especially if you want a compact, engaging, rear-wheel-drive machine that offers a manual transmission and costs less than $40,000. It's essentially just the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Subaru BRZ, and the Toyota GR86 from which to choose. And, given the latter two are basically the same car, that's not much choice.
Thankfully, Subaru is adding another flavor with the return of the BRZ tS. This edition of the company's little 2-seater is named for its "Tuned by STI" suspension, bringing a few other subtle physical and visual tweaks to the party. As far as special editions go, this one's not pushing the envelope, but when that envelope is as good as the base BRZ, does it matter?
I headed to the island of Sicily, home to some of the most challenging and beautiful roads on the planet, to find out.
Photo: Tim Stevens
The 2024 Subaru BRZ has a starting price of $31,315 for the base Premium trim, which is exclusively available with a manual transmission. That price includes the $1,120 destination charge. The Limited trim steps up to $33,815 for a manual transmission or $34,765 with the automatic.
Meanwhile, the 2024 BRZ tS, based on the Limited trim and exclusively available as a manual, starts at $36,465. What do you get for your roughly $2,500 premium? The most significant talking point is a revised suspension—a set of Hitachi Sensitive Frequency Response dampers (SFRD) at the front. These dampers offer both high-speed and low-speed damping, which is a nuanced concept but an important one, especially on the track.
In suspension, the damper must resist the springs' motion. Remove the dampers (sometimes called shocks or struts, depending on the car's configuration) from the vehicle, and you're left with a thing that would just endlessly bounce down the road. Dampers minimize that excessive movement.
These Hitachi dampers offer different resistance to high-speed compression and rebound than slow-speed compression and rebound. In other words, they'll act soft when you hit a bump or a curb on the racetrack. But, when you turn into a corner, they're stiffer, creating a sharper, more connected feel for the driver.
That's what these Hitachi dampers provide, though unfortunately, the gurus at STI, Subaru's performance division, were only given enough budget to fit them at the front. Subaru re-tuned the rear dampers on the 2024 BRZ tS to match the fronts, but they are of a more basic variety.
The BRZ tS also offers Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires wrapped around new 18-inch wheels, giving the car more grip to match the new suspension. You’ll also find bigger brakes within, up to 12.8 inches at the front and 12.4 at the rear, from 11.6 and 11.4 inches, respectively, on the base BRZ.
And, from a performance standpoint, that's about it. Power still comes from the same 2.4-liter flat-4 with 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque.
The 2024 BRZ tS hits dealers in early 2024. Though in Italy, the cars I drove were of American specification, costing $36,465, including the $1,120 destination charge.
Photo: Tim Stevens
This isn't the first time Subaru has offered a BRZ tS. Still, where the earlier edition offered a tall wing to differentiate it from the regular version, the tweaks here are far more subtle. In fact, outside of a crimson "tS" emblem on the nose and tail, plus a little red "BRZ" decal on the headlights, that's about it for tweaks.
The visual clues continue on the inside, but curiously, where the exterior highlights are red, the interior flare is primarily blue. A cerulean strip bisects the bottom of the seats, while blue stitching runs around the upholstery and elsewhere in the interior. You can also find a few cherry STI logos here and there.
And that's it. But, honestly, that's fine. The BRZ is still only two years out from its first major redesign and still looks fresh and appealing to my eye. A big wing hanging off the back or dozens of decals aren't needed, though a sportier exhaust or a bit of custom bodywork wouldn't have hurt.
The good news is that the core comfort and usability of the BRZ haven't been compromised, such as it is. Front seats are still comfortable and grippy, while the coupe’s shape offers surprising headroom up front. Longer-legged drivers may struggle to fit though.
The 6.3-cubic-foot trunk is on the petite side but is livable, aided by folding the rear seats. Materials and fit and finish on the interior are a mixed bag. Key touchpoints like the seats, steering wheel, and shifter are a pleasure to hold and use.
However, some higher-quality switchgear and a more cohesive design to the center stack would go a long way toward making the BRZ feel more like a premium car and less built to a cost.
Photo: Tim Stevens
Infotainment duties are handled by a now somewhat dated feeling flavor of Subaru's Starlink system, running on a 7-inch touchscreen high on the dashboard. It is basic but does at least offer both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. However, where the new WRX now supports them wirelessly, in the BRZ, you'll still need to pull out that USB cable.
On the safety front, the big news is the addition of EyeSight for 2024 BRZs with a manual transmission, which, thankfully, includes the tS. Previously, EyeSight was only available on cars with an automatic transmission—a small percentage of overall BRZ sales for Subaru.
This finally negates one of the most painful losses that previous BRZ buyers had to live with when choosing a 6-speed.
Photo: Tim Stevens
Although the Subaru BRZ and WRX have a fair few architectural similarities under the skin, they couldn't feel more different when situating yourself down low into the driver's seat of the coupe. Thanks to that seating position and the flat shape of that 2.4-liter engine, the BRZ tS‘s center of gravity is just 17.95 inches. That's remarkably low to the ground.
Yet getting in and out is easier than many other small sports cars that have inspired this machine, and once you're in, you feel free, too. There's good visibility in all four directions, and all the controls are exactly where you want them.
The clutch has the same light action as on the regular BRZ, which made it easy to inch through Sicily's narrow town streets filled with all manner of manic pedestrians, some two-legged and some four. The brake pedal feel is likewise sharp and firm, while the shifter has a precise, short action that isn't up to par with the finest short-shifters in the land but is quite good for a stock system.
The biggest story, though, is the power delivery. Again, the 2024 BRZ tS doesn't feature any performance updates from a power standpoint over the standard BRZ, which, on the one hand, is a bit disappointing. On the other hand, this has never been a car about big power. Again, we're still only two years into the BRZ's complete redesign, which didn’t add much power but changed the delivery substantially.
The older BRZ had excellent torque and accelerated nicely out of sharper corners, but the higher you went in the rev range, the more reluctant that motor seemed to get. That made it an occasionally unrewarding car to drive, particularly on high-speed tracks and roads where you want a car that can stretch its legs.
In the 2024 BRZ tS, the power curve offers a much more rewarding feel, and while the car isn't exactly a high-rev screamer with its 7,500-rpm redline, it does make you smile as you approach that limit.
That said, I must admit there was little chance to threaten those limits on my drive around Sicily's wet, slippery, treacherous roads. Caution was the name of the game, with the BRZ tS understeering or oversteering at the slightest over-exuberance of throttle or steering. There simply wasn't enough grip to test that new suspension. That it was still easy to drive and thoroughly composed throughout, though, is a testament to how fundamentally good this car is.
And, though I surmounted some almighty bumps and cracks in the asphalt in my time behind the wheel, that front suspension never felt harsh. The rear, though, felt notably less composed, which again made me wish for four of those trick Hitachi dampers instead of two.
The 2024 BRZ tS doesn't radically change the base BRZ formula, which is as good as ever. However, the revised suspension does add more feel and sophistication to the front, while the up-rated tires add more grip. Add a few subtle visual tweaks that will earn you a nod and smile from more knowledgeable enthusiasts at your next Cars & Coffee gathering, and you have a desirable package in a still-great car.
Tim Stevens is a veteran automotive and technology journalist with over 25 years of experience covering everything from smartphones to supercars. In addition to JDPower.com, his expert perspectives have appeared in numerous national and international outlets, including print, online, and broadcast television.
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