The Subaru BRZ returns to sports-car basics with a small size, a coupe body style, light weight, and waterbug handling. It takes on its sister vehicle, the Toyota GR86, as well as the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GR Supra.
2026 Subaru BRZ Pricing, Specs, and Release Date
- What’s New for the 2026 Subaru BRZ
- Design
- Powertrain
- Interior
- Technology
- Safety
- Pricing and Release Date
- Further Research
What’s New for the 2026 Subaru BRZ
For 2026, Subaru drops the base BRZ Premium trim level, thus increasing the base price by almost $4,000. It also adds a limited production of just 350 new Series.Yellow models. Based on the tS trim, the 2026 BRZ Series.Yellow gets Sunrise Yellow paint and interior accents, but otherwise has no additional performance features.
Design
The BRZ wears a traditional sports-car profile, with a long hood, low stance, and a fastback-style roof that tapers into a short deck with an integrated spoiler. The nose features a low-set and wide grille bracketed by tall air intakes. The hood dips down to the grille, and squinting headlights above the air intakes lead to rounded front fenders. Air vents behind the front wheels lead into lower side skirts that kick up before the rear wheels. At the rear, taillights take on a shape inverse to the headlights, with dual exhaust outlets peeking out below. It’s all set on 18-inch alloy wheels that are big enough to fill out the wheel wells of such a small car.
Inside, Subaru trims the Limited with red accents, the tS with blue accents, and the Series.Yellow with, you guessed it, yellow accents.
Powertrain
The BRZ doesn’t go big on power, but it has enough pep to move briskly given its small size and light weight. The 2.0-liter flat-four-cylinder engine sits low in the chassis and produces 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. Power flows through a six-speed manual transmission or a six-speed automatic exclusively to the rear wheels, like it should in a sports car. The automatic has downshift rev-matching and steering wheel shift paddles, and a limited-slip rear differential comes standard. With the manual transmission, EPA fuel economy ratings are 20 mpg city, 27 mpg highway, and 22 mpg combined. With the automatic, those numbers rise to 21/30/25 mpg.
Subaru adds more performance equipment to the BRZ tS and Series.Yellow. Those features include stiffer struts and dampers, and larger brake discs with four-piston Brembo front and two-piston rear calipers, instead of two-piston front and single-piston rear calipers. The tS also features appearance items, including red accents on the gauge cluster, blue interior accents, and black exterior trim.
Interior
The BRZ is a 2+2 (four-passenger) fastback coupe with a rear seat that’s better suited for storage than occupants. However, the hatchback design and folding rear seats expand the small trunk’s 6.3 cubic feet to a more useful cargo area. Standard sport seats with manual adjustments and synthetic suede and real leather upholstery are up front. The tS model adds synthetic leather on the door armrest, manual transmission shift boot, and parking brake handle. Dual-zone automatic climate control comes standard.
Technology
The BRZ has a standard 7-inch digital instrument cluster and an 8-inch touchscreen for infotainment. Wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto come standard, as does a four-month SiriusXM Travel Link trial that provides real-time traffic, weather, fuel prices, and sports scores. A Wi-Fi hotspot is available with a subscription. Subaru Concierge is also offered with a subscription; it is an in-vehicle assistant that can book hotel and restaurant reservations, help you buy event tickets, and locate points of interest.
