2022 Subaru BRZ S automatic review

We get behind the wheel of the 2022 Subaru BRZ automatic to see what it’s like touring on country roads and around town.

What we love

Still as engaging as ever

Strikes the ideal balance of ride comfort and outright handling

Auto’s new comprehensive safety suite

What we don’t

Cabin noise is atrocious

Small back seat and boot

Availability

Introduction

In January 2022, we drove the new Subaru BRZ at Sydney Motorsport Park.

We experienced it back-to-back with the outgoing car in varied situations, including on-track, in a motorkhana, and over a short road loop. Given the road component was short and sweet, the review focused more on how the car felt on the limit, as opposed to around town.

As a follow-up, we’ve decided to try the 2022 Subaru BRZ automatic first in the real world, and for good reason. If you’re unlike me, and care not for the transmission – or simply prefer the auto – there’s lots to be happy about.

The first thing is that automatic BRZs now come with great driving aids that make commuting easier and safer. We’re talking autonomous emergency braking both forward and backward, adaptive cruise control, and an unintrusive lane-keeping system, among others.

On top of fancy technology, there’s also more performance and better hardware on offer. The driveline has been tuned and tweaked, with its engine’s displacement increased from 2.0 to 2.4 litres and six-speed auto slightly revised too.

So, as something fun to putt around town, also commute in, and maybe enjoy occasionally on the weekends, the automatic version appears to be significantly better than the outgoing one, at least on paper.

Does that mean you should now consider a 2022 Subaru BRZ or even upgrade your current one? Let’s find out.

Inside

If you’ve sat in an old one, the seating position will feel familiar. If you’ve owned the old one, you’ll be struggling to discern if you’re actually sitting any differently.

To answer your suspicions, it’s close to identical, as the seats inside the new BRZs have moved 7mm more inbound than before. If you guessed that, you’re welcome to work here.

On the other hand, the dashboard is an all-new affair, with a cool 7.0-inch digital display now replacing the traditional pair of dials. I understand that some prefer things analogue for stylistic and legibility reasons, but the set-up in the new BRZ is at least well thought out and not simply vanity-skewed.

For example, when you flick the thing in sport mode, its digital instrument display turns into a large rev counter that starts from 4000rpm and totally discards the other half. Reflecting on the ‘ideal’ operating parameters for the engine, it also gives you better visibility of the engine speed during those spicy situations.  

Our particular car is the BRZ S automatic, which means it receives a pair of Ultrasuede, leather-clad and heated seats. Given that’s all the S model receives, I wonder if Subaru should’ve thrown more gear at the trim level? Either way, they’re comfortable, supportive, and look great in the cabin.

The rest is as before but nicer. The air-conditioning controls have matured and taken a leaf from the Audi TT’s book along the way, and the cool toggle switches remain, albeit fatter and lower on the dash. Like the old car, there’s Ultrasuede everywhere, with the top of the doors inside and the instrument binnacle both finished in the furry stuff.

The steering wheel is the same one used in the outgoing car for the latter third of its life, so those coming from an earlier 2014-era car will love the improvement. It’s thin-rimmed, spot-on in terms of diameter, and shod with only a minimal array of small buttons.

A new cupholder has found its way on the centre armrest as a nice touch, and the armrest now has a butterfly-folding lid on top, as well as USB ports buried inside.

As expected, the back seats are as useless as ever. You know the drill – if you want people in the back, the people in the front must sacrifice all possible legroom. A child seat is doable, but at least wait until they’re climbing in themselves before making a BRZ your fun daily driver.

The boot is both small and awkward. Not only is it paltry-sized at 201L, it’s also dominated by a full-size spare wheel. I guess it doubles as a good storage device for your bag or groceries?

You’ll fit in a fortnight’s shop, but you’ll have to bend your back and shove things in deep against the back seat. If you want to carry golf clubs, it’s doable, but the spare wheel will need to be removed.

On the flip side, you’ll fit two kid’s sports bags easily with the spare tyre, in case you want to take the fun car to the weekend’s game. It can work depending on your situation. My biggest gripe is the small opening to load through.

Infotainment and Connectivity

Although it features a relatively small 8.0-inch screen, the Subaru BRZ’s infotainment system thankfully packs the latest hardware and software.

It means that tasks like smartphone mirroring with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are handled easily. The system responds quickly without delay, and is quick to boot up and enter CarPlay if you’ve plugged your phone in first.

Subjectively, I find no issue with the screen size. It feels in scale with the cabin, and to be honest, any bigger would likely be a distraction from the main event – driving.

Other features include DAB+, FM and AM radio, alongside an inbuilt satellite navigation system. The six-speaker stereo is just okay, but given how loud the tyres can be, it does need to be cranked hard. It’s also another sign that the sound system lacks clarity.

Safety and Technology

The 2022 Subaru BRZ has not been tested by Australian crash-test authority ANCAP.

However, all models feature blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. Automatic models – like our test car – go one step further featuring autonomous emergency braking forward and backward, adaptive cruise control, automatic high beams, and lane-departure warning.

It makes the automatic a far safer vehicle in a public space, which even if you’re not driving one is a good thing.

Value for Money

The 2022 Subaru BRZ auto costs $42,790 before on-roads, or about $46,000 on the road. If you want the fancy ‘S’ for seats model, the car costs $43,990 before on-roads, or just over $47,000-ish on the road depending on your location.

The other most obvious actor is the 2022 Mazda MX-5 RF, which costs just under $49,000 drive-away with an auto. If you don’t mind a base-model rag top, however, the MX-5 can sneak in under $44,000 on the road.

However, we all know convertibles are highly divisive, and it’s also a two-seater. In turns of bona-fide rear-drive sports cars, it’s slim pickings at this price point.

You have to move over to hot hatches to get something as enjoyable and performance-laden, and the best in that class with an auto would be the 2022 Hyundai i30 N.

I mean, if you’re going for something front-wheel drive, it has to be at the apex. The eight-speed dual-clutch model starts from $51,828 (in Sydney) including on-road costs, but bear in mind it also has a boot, a usable second row, and even four doors.

Being a rear-drive proposition – and one that’s priced in the $40,000 bracket – the BRZ is absolutely value for money. I know sports cars fall under the ‘pay to play’ mantra, but it’s worth doing the adult math on what it’ll cost to run too.

Subaru expects you to return a BRZ back to the service centre every 15,000km or 12 months. The first three services cost $344.62, $563.62 and $431.16 respectively, or $1339 for three years. Pricey. Years four and five cost $783.33 and $351.52, meaning over five years it costs $2474.

Fuel-wise, over mixed conditions including dynamic driving and more subdued commuting, the trip returned 9.4L/100km. The official combined-cycle claim is 8.8L/100km, so a good result overall.

However, it does require 98RON fuel. What’s that saying again, pay to play?

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Driving

In our launch review, we focused on circuit driving in a motorsport environment.

For this one, we’re going to focus on what it’s like on the road. We’ll begin with the worst first, and that’s the heinous amounts of tyre noise heard inside the cabin from the new-for-2022 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres.

As good as they are, they’re grippy – and in turn noisy. The natural approach would’ve been to throw kilos of sound-deadening at the wheel arches and bulk the car up, but we all know that’s an awful thing for Subaru to do.

As a fellow Drive editor commented, “it’s the cost of doing business unfortunately”, and I tend to agree. My solution would be trying a good but more touring-focused tyre, as honestly the noise at 110km/h on a coarse-chip freeway can be intrusive.

Bad points aside, the ride quality and suspension tune are spot-on. The car has benefitted from small structural improvements and better adhesives to stick it together (yes, it makes a difference), which means it feels even more direct and alert than the old car.

There’s literally zero play in the steering, the brake pedal’s immediacy and accuracy ironically make commuting easier, and it’s hard not to feel comfortable behind the wheel within minutes.

The only thing causing some initial anxiety is the reminder of how low your vantage point is – noted by looking underneath lifted dual-cabs and also the towbars of SUVS constantly – but you soon learn to focus and get over it.

It’s still an involving experience, with the 2022 Subaru BRZ’s firm suspension creating some fidgeting over crap sections of road, but almost in a way that’s graceful. Most important here is the fact its inherent sports car traits of firmness and stiffness are not intrusive on the day-to-day.

It’s really liveable around town, and doesn’t feel like you’re holding back something fierce, or like you’re breaking every bush and ball joint going to the shops. What’s great, too, is that it rewards once the road becomes flowing.

Through the inevitable corner you’re always going to encounter – regardless of whether it’s one, five or 50 – the experience is still second-to-none for the money.

On the tighter and slower routes the car feels more composed, easier to thread and quick to learn, and on the faster-flowing stuff more dependable and with way more grip than before. How its steering is calibrated is another marvel, as it feels razor-sharp yet still lengthy lock-to-lock, and loads up in a way that’s honestly best described as natural.

It’s pretty much the old car dialled up to 11, or as some have put it, how it should’ve been from the start. Getting a product so refined to its core audience and application does take time, though, and in this case the brand has spent over a decade refining the platform.

The 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine is a surprise treat, especially after the lacklustre and flat-feeling 2.0-litre found in the old car. The engine will now rev hard from 3500rpm – around where its torque now peaks – and loves spinning to 7500-odd.

It now features a pleasant, linear and progressive mid-range power curve that amazingly remains bright up top. The six-speed auto feels awfully similar to the outgoing car, if not a little swifter to change gears and quieter in operation.

That means it’s still a good transmission, as it shifts up and down via the paddles quick enough to keep you engaged, and also feels tight when the converter is locked at lower RPM. Other than a few hundred millilitres more fluid in its torque converter, and minor tweaks to internal gears, it’s technically the same anyway.

Overall, the new driveline was just what the doctor ordered for the BRZ, and after driving the new bigger engine, I’m thankful they didn’t opt for forced induction. It would make a totally different beast out of the car, but in its current state, the naturally aspirated engine supports the notion of the overall car being totally transparent and honest.

Conclusion

As car enthusiasts, we often speak of this subjective and highly elusive feel. Whether it’s a car’s light weight, its transmission, rear-wheel-drive layout – or a combination or some, all, or even none of the above – it’s hard to deny how fun the 2022 Subaru BRZ is.

Even with the auto, the BRZ maintains the hallmarks of good driving, which is a communicative chassis that offers clarity on what it’s doing, and in turn helps you make the right input. It’s a simple recipe, but still one of the best.

As cliché as it sounds, I’ll add that it’s also engaging at low speed, fun in all situations, and worthwhile to own as a daily driver if it fits in with your lifestyle.

If you can make it work, go for it.

Keyword: 2022 Subaru BRZ S automatic review