Why Subaru went with rear-wheel drive for its BRZ coupe
09-19-11, 09:03 PM
#1
Why Subaru went with rear-wheel drive for its BRZ coupe
Why Subaru went with rear-wheel drive for its BRZ coupe
Some of the Subaru faithful are up in arms over the automaker's decision to go with a rear-wheel-drive setup for the upcoming BRZ. Why did the engineers opt to send power out back when they could have utilized the company's signature symmetrical all-wheel-drive system? You would expect the answer to lie firmly on the backs of Toyota, which is the other half of this joint venture. MotorAuthority looked into it, and according to them, that's not exactly the case.
Toyota has been adamant that a rear-wheel drive sports car was to be the ultimate product of this sports coupe joint-venture. More surprisingly, Subaru officials say they were interested in creating just such a vehicle from the very beginning. To hear them tell it, they aren't just all-wheel drive experts. Subaru produces front-wheel drive vehicles for markets outside of the States, and rear-wheel drive allows them to show off just how far Subaru engineers can push handling and traction levels regardless of which wheels drive the car.
Be it the front wheels, rear wheels or all four wheels, Subaru engineers are clearly eager to prove that they're accomplished at making grippy cars. So... do you buy the explanation, or do you think it's just spin? More importantly, do you think a RWD Subaru is a good idea?
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/09/19/w...its-brz-coupe/
09-19-11, 09:27 PM
#3
Lexus Test Driver
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09-20-11, 11:24 AM
#8
Lexus Fanatic
It's obvious why it's going to be RWD. Toyota owns a share of Subaru (not the other way around). Toyota designers oversaw the project, which was to be shared with Subaru and Scion (Scion doesn't do AWD vehicles).
So....the guys at the top of the pecking order call the shots.
So....the guys at the top of the pecking order call the shots.
09-20-11, 12:18 PM
#9
Lexus Champion
I'm with mmarshall. Toyota probably called the shots. Toyota has the RWD version. If Subaru had the AWD version, it would be the preferred version. I hate it when companies cripple products for the sake of public perception.
09-20-11, 06:07 PM
#12
It's obvious why it's going to be RWD. Toyota owns a share of Subaru (not the other way around). Toyota designers oversaw the project, which was to be shared with Subaru and Scion (Scion doesn't do AWD vehicles).
So....the guys at the top of the pecking order call the shots.
So....the guys at the top of the pecking order call the shots.
Truth is simple:
Chief Engineer on FT-86 is Tetsuya Tada, Toyota.
Subaru will produce its own version, probably called the BRZ. Both companies also developed the car together, and that must have been an interesting exercise. Recalls Tada:
“The first year was actually quite tough. The character and processes of the two companies are quite different. In the beginning, we sat down and decided who does what. That didn’t work out very well, because of the cultural differences between the companies. When people started to become more interested in the car itself, people from both sides ended up becoming one team. In the end, it wasn’t so much Toyota doing this and Subaru doing that, but people working together with one goal.”
In the maniac, well, enthusiast scene, it is pretty much gospel that the cars use Subaru’s flat four “D4-S” boxer engine. Depending on whom you believe, the production engine ranges from a tried & true to a refined & modified D4-S. That elicits protests from Tada, as loud as the softspoken man can manage:
“No,no, no – it is a completely new engine. The engine is still a boxer. The technology, even the engine block are completely new. Everything is new. The only thing that remained are the mounting points.”
“The first year was actually quite tough. The character and processes of the two companies are quite different. In the beginning, we sat down and decided who does what. That didn’t work out very well, because of the cultural differences between the companies. When people started to become more interested in the car itself, people from both sides ended up becoming one team. In the end, it wasn’t so much Toyota doing this and Subaru doing that, but people working together with one goal.”
In the maniac, well, enthusiast scene, it is pretty much gospel that the cars use Subaru’s flat four “D4-S” boxer engine. Depending on whom you believe, the production engine ranges from a tried & true to a refined & modified D4-S. That elicits protests from Tada, as loud as the softspoken man can manage:
“No,no, no – it is a completely new engine. The engine is still a boxer. The technology, even the engine block are completely new. Everything is new. The only thing that remained are the mounting points.”
09-20-11, 06:18 PM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
Subaru's real problem with mileage is that they are still using antiquated automatic transmissions in many of their models. A number still use 4-speed automatics, and even top-line H6 Outback/Tribeca models have a 5-speed automatic.....Subaru has yet to introduce a 6-speed automatic. A few non-turbo four-cylinder models currently use the CVT...the new Impreza will soon join them.
Last edited by mmarshall; 09-20-11 at 06:33 PM.
09-20-11, 06:28 PM
#14
The new 2012 AWD Impreza debuting later this fall in CVT versions, will get 36 highway MPG. Subaru, as you note, could go the FWD/AWD route and maybe get a few more MPG overall, but probably will not have to if they (finally) bring their Euro-diesels over here. They are (supposedly) also working on a boxer-engine hybrids.
Subaru's real problem with mileage is that they are still using antiquated automatic transmissions in many of their models. A number still use 4-speed automatics, and even top-line H6 Outback/Tribeca models have a 5-speed automatic.....Subaru has yet to introduce a 6-speed automatic. A few non-turbo four-cylinder models currently use the CVT...the new Impreza will soon join them.
Subaru's real problem with mileage is that they are still using antiquated automatic transmissions in many of their models. A number still use 4-speed automatics, and even top-line H6 Outback/Tribeca models have a 5-speed automatic.....Subaru has yet to introduce a 6-speed automatic. A few non-turbo four-cylinder models currently use the CVT...the new Impreza will soon join them.
They dont sell it in many european countries because their production costs are sky high.
09-20-11, 10:43 PM
#15
Pole Position
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Its RWD cause otherwise they would have to completely redesign the front of the car to accommodate the AWD system. The engine would have to sit higher and the wheels would have to be farther back for the front differential to line up with the front wheels, its just that simple.
The fact that a few loud people are whining about it (and really, its only a handful) just shows how well Subaru's AWD advertising campaign worked over the last decade or so.
Oh, and the SVX had a FWD version for a few years. The Impreza had FWD up to 96 as well.
The fact that a few loud people are whining about it (and really, its only a handful) just shows how well Subaru's AWD advertising campaign worked over the last decade or so.
Oh, and the SVX had a FWD version for a few years. The Impreza had FWD up to 96 as well.