Even though there is already a four month wait for people who have ordered one of Subaru’s BRZ vehicles, the car mogul has already announced a 2013 upgrade to the model – the BRZ S – which allows purchasers to customize it. It utilizes STI technology from Subaru’s ‘go-faster’ division, which is located in Japan where the cars are made. For an extra $7995 – on top of the $37,150 that the car costs – purchasers can inject a little personality into the vehicle.
Nick Senior, managing director of Subaru Australia, says that “(the company) has had a lot of interest from day one in individualizing the BRZ. The STI accessories allow just that.” He also says that there is nothing in the catalogue that will make the car go faster, which is why the vehicle doesn’t carry an STI badge – “there has to be a performance upgrade for the car to be called an STI.” Instead, the S pack is intended to meet the demand of extra personality.
This S pack allows purchasers to combine 11 individual items from the STI BRZ catalogue into a single deal, providing them with a wholly unique vehicle. Some of the items that purchasers can choose from include: front and rear spoilers, suspension tow bars, coil springs, 17-inch STI alloys, a rear diffuser, a manual shift kit with Duracon knob, and a push-button start switch. This upgrade work is undertaken once the car lands in Australia.
Whether the upgrade work is undertaken in Japan or Australia, the result and the quality would still be the same. The STI parts are actually produced in Japan, but the added costs and complications of having them fitted there has made it more productive to have the work undertaken as a port fit here, in Australia. Subaru does not expect the S to create any extra demand for the BRZ, which is already popular in its own right – they sold 187 models in May alone.
