Subaru BRZ undergoes STI tuning, limited to 300 units in Japan

Ever since Subaru announced the “hiatus” of the WRX STI model a few years ago, fans of the brand have been wondering what it is Subaru Technica International (STI) will do in the meantime. While they haven’t exactly been pushing out full-bred STI models, there have been some STI edition cars here and there.

It seems that they’ve been given more to work with this time, in the form of the BRZ.

Subaru BRZ STI SPORT TYPE RA

The BRZ itself is already quite the capable 2-door sports coupe, but Subaru decided to let its tuning department go at it by incorporating mods and features inspired by the brand’s motorsport experience, giving us the BRZ STI Sport Type RA. The first main highlight is a more balanced engine, with the FA24 of the BRZ taking inspiration from the balanced nature of the brand’s legendary WRX STI EJ20 boxer engine.

To be able to chase the balance they seek, STI lessened the weight of the connecting rods and clutch cover by 50%, the flywheel by 67%, and the crankshaft by 80%. While these don’t result in an increase in stock power figures, the engine should feel much more like a race-type engine, with minimal vibration all the way up to the redline. Backing up the powertrain upgrades are 2 new engine features/modes, Rev Sync automatically adjusts the RPM during downshifting of the manual transmission (essentially rev matching), so the driver can just focus purely on braking, without heel-and-toe getting in the way.

Flat Shift allows the driver to shift gears with the throttle wide open by eliminating the over-revs that occur when depressing the clutch during an upshift. It instead uses the RPMs to optimize the next gear, ensuring smoother and faster acceleration.

Handling is just as important as speed, and with a name like RA (Record Attempt), STI needed to make sure this BRZ could handle the twisty stuff. There are the ZF front and rear dampers, tuned to ensure a high level of road contact for each tire, capitalizing on the inherent grip of the tires. Bigger Brembo brakes have been added as well, along with STI performance parts such as flexible V-bars, a sport exhaust, and newly designed 18-inch forged rims. And should you feel the need for additional downforce, a carbon rear wing is also available.

While we would all love this STI BRZ to make its way to our shores, this will be a Japan exclusive with only 300 units sold through a lottery system.