Erics Autos: 2024 Subaru BRZ

The Mazda Miata roadster has been very popular since Mazda first began selling Miatas back in the late 1980s.

But not everyone wants a roadster with a soft top and just two seats. And some people want an affordable sports car that's otherwise very much like a Miata.

While also being its own very different thing.

Enter the BRZ.

What It Is

The BRZ is Subaru's alternative to the Miata.

Both are small, two-door sports cars, but the BRZ is a little larger, with four seats rather than just two -- and a hard rather than soft top.

It also has a different kind of four-cylinder engine; instead of four in a row, four laid flat, with each pair "boxing" the other from the opposite side of the crankshaft.

Both are also two of the last vehicles made by their respective manufacturers that are rear-wheel drive and come standard with manual transmissions.

The BRZ's base price -- $30,195 for the Premium trim -- is slightly higher than the Miata's base price of $28,985 but not enough to make much difference in terms of what your monthly payment will be.

It's even less of a difference when you move up a notch to the $32,695 Limited trim, which comes standard with heated leather seats, an upgraded, eight-speaker audio system and a more aggressive, 18-inch wheel/tire package (17s are standard with the base trim).

The mid-trim Miata with a similar roster of equipment lists for $32,485.

A top-of-the-line tS trim lists for $35,345. This version of the BRZ gets upgraded Brembo brakes and an STi-tuned suspension with Hitachi dampers, plus special blue interior contrast stitching, an upgraded digital instrument cluster and 18-inch, gray metallic wheels with the same high-performance "summer" tires that are standard with the Limited.

What's New for 2024

The tS is a new addition to the BRZ trim lineup.

What's Good

-- A hardtop for those who want a sports car without the soft top.

-- An extra pair of seats to make up for what won't fit in the trunk.

-- Like the Miata but also not a Miata.

What's Not So Good

-- Back seats can't be sat in.

-- LCD touch-screen audio interface is easy to accidentally touch and swipe.

-- BRZ is significantly thirstier than the Miata.

Under the Hood

The BRZ and the Miata share a traditional rear-wheel-drive/short-wheelbase sports car layout, but each has a very different kind of engine, even though both have four-cylinder engines.

Powering the Subaru is a larger, 2.4-liter boxer engine that makes more horsepower (228) versus the Miata's 2.0-liter, in-line, four-cylinder engine (181) and more torque . Sooner. The larger-displacement boxer four produces 184 foot-pounds at 3,700 rpm vs. 151 foot-pounds at 4,000 rpm.

This probably accounts for the difference in gas mileage -- and range.

The BRZ's city mileage is just 20 mpg. This is why it can only take you about 264 miles on a full tank of gas in stop-and-go city driving. The Miata can travel 26 mpg on the same gallon of gas in city driving -- and so can take you 309 miles on a full tank. There's a similar disparity on the highway. The BRZ's 27 mpg is 7 mpg less than the Miata's almost-economy-car 34 mpg, and that accounts for the Mazda's longer highway legs. It can travel 404 miles on a full tank -- 12 gallons -- vs. 356 highway miles on 13 gallons of gas for the BRZ.

On the other hand, both engines are the same in one way: They are available with or without automatic transmission, which is an interesting difference versus almost everything else that's available that comes standard (and often only) with an automatic.

On the Road

There is a big difference in driving feel, hardtop versus soft top. Especially with the top down, something you can't do (or experience) in a BRZ. You will not feel the wind in your hair.

But you will feel more inside .

The BRZ feels tighter. Less "in the wind" -- because you are less "in the wind."

Mazda does an excellent job insulating and fitting the Miata's soft top, which doesn't leak (as many soft tops do). But it is still a soft top, and there is a certain feeling different from the feeling you get with something more substantial than cloth above your head.

You'll also see better -- versus the Miata with its top up. Because the Miata was designed to be driven with its top down. People put the top up because they have to, on account of the weather and such. The BRZ, on the other hand, was designed to be driven with its top on . So being able to see around the structure of the top was given more consideration. The Soobie's rear glass area is probably twice as much as the Miata's, and that's a difference you can literally see -- from the inside.

None of the above is necessarily better -- or worse.

The point is the difference .

At the Curb

The BRZ (167.9 inches) is about a foot longer than the Miata (154.1 inches), and that allows for the rear seats the two-seater Mazda lacks, which is one of the things that makes the BRZ a more practical Miata. The backseats aren't so much for passengers as they are to make up for the lack of space in the trunk, which isn't much in either car (5.1 cubic feet in the BRZ, 4.6 cubic feet in the Miata).

There's also more in-between room in the BRZ. In the Miata, the driver and passenger sit very close to each other, and if either is a bigger-than-average person, they may be rubbing shoulders. The BRZ has about 1.4 inches more shoulder room for the driver/front-seat passenger (53.6 inches vs. 52.2 inches), and if you think that's a small difference, sit beside someone else in both cars and see what a difference it makes.

The Rest

A feature unique to the BRZ (and its Toyota-badged twin, the GR86) is an oil filter reachable just by popping the hood; it can also be removed and installed by hand without tools.

The Bottom Line

If you have always wanted a sports car -- but not a roadster -- the BRZ might just be the right sports car for you.

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Eric's latest book, "Doomed: Good Cars Gone Wrong!" will be available soon. To find out more about Eric and read his past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.