2025 Subaru BRZ Review

As the sports car market has evolved, there aren’t many affordable models left.

These days, if you want a small and nimble coupe that doesn’t break the bank, with power going to the rear wheels and a focus on driving pleasure above all else, there are only three left: the Subaru BRZ, along with its twin from Toyota, the GR86, and the Mazda Miata convertible. That’s it.

Unchanged except for the Murasaki Edition tested here, the 2025 Subaru BRZ has all the right ingredients for a sports car. It’s lightweight, has a naturally-aspirated engine sending power to the rear wheels, and is the type of car that you feel compelled to turn around and look at after you’ve parked it and walked away.

Features 6 / 10

A lack of features is exactly the point in a car like the BRZ. Everything it’s equipped with is designed to enhance the driving experience, which means you won’t find frills like ventilated seats or even a sunroof here. Although you can get it with an automatic transmission, the one tested here comes with a close-ratio six-speed manual — another classic sports car characteristic.

The Murasaki, which translates to “purple” in Japanese, is based on the BRZ tS, which gets standard Brembo brakes with gold-painted calipers, steering-responsive headlights, and special dampers. The Murasaki comes only in Galaxy Purple — hence the name — and gets silver 18-inch wheels and a BRZ decal package on the doors. There’s also a strut tower brace under the hood and a gloss-black rear spoiler. Only 100 of these will be available in Canada, and each one has a special badge on the centre console.

Driving Feel 10 / 10

The BRZ is about as pure a sports car as you can get today. Power is sent to the rear wheels, and it features one of the most responsive and talkative steering racks this side of a Porsche 911. Because the BRZ is a relative featherweight compared to most new cars, it doesn’t need a lot of power to get it going. Once at speed, there’s so much confidence to be found in the chassis that you can use it as a training tool to sharpen your skills on the track.

Steering inputs immediately translate into a change of direction as the front and rear suspension works in harmony. The BRZ is tuned to be easy to rotate and even easier to catch if something should go wrong.

Power 7.5 / 10

One of the biggest complaints about the previous BRZ was its lack of torque, which was corrected when the new one arrived a few years ago. The revised powerplant also fixed the infamous torque dip that made it feel like it was running out of breath when powering out of a corner.

The 2025 BRZ still makes 228 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque from its 2.5L flat four-cylinder, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s enough to propel this lightweight coupe from zero to 100 km/h in just 6.1 seconds. The manual gearbox is fun to row through the gates but not as good as what you get in the Miata — in fairness, most manuals aren’t — and the clutch take-up point takes a little getting used to.

Comfort 6.5 / 10

The Murasaki Edition is equipped with excellent sport seats that are supportive through fast corners, and not overly firm. A stiff ride is to be expected, and while that is the case here, it’s not nearly as bad as its stablemate, the WRX tS. There are rear seats, but they aren’t a place for adults (or anyone older than preschool age).

Styling 9 / 10

The BRZ’s design is textbook sports car with a long, low hood, low roofline, steeply raked rear glass, and voluptuous rear fenders that wrap neatly around the wheels. The cherry on the top is the duckbill trunk lid capped with a glossy black spoiler on the Murasaki Edition. Galaxy Purple, exclusive to the Murasaki, is a deep and dark hue that almost looks black under certain lighting conditions.

Inside, it’s all about driver focus, with a small-diameter steering wheel and a stubby gear lever poking out of the centre console. The Murasaki Edition has grey accents on the seats and door panels that are trimmed with microsuede, including on top of the instrument hood.

User-Friendliness 7.5 / 10

The BRZ is one of the few cars on the market with an abundance of physical controls for the climate and radio, which are easy to get familiar with. The infotainment system is also easy to use, but it’s rather basic and doesn’t feature a native navigation system; and while there’s both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, they’re wired connections through a USB-A port.

Other than that, this is about as simple as a car gets today. Controls are all close at hand, perfectly placed and meant to keep you focused on driving. However, half a point was deducted for the cup holders that render the armrest unusable when occupied with drinks. You also have to reach back to get at them. There are sizable bottle holders in the door pocket if you want to have a drink and an armrest at the same time, although they won’t accommodate a cup of coffee.

Fuel Economy 7.5 / 10

The BRZ should burn less gas than it does based on the simple fact that it doesn’t weigh very much, and it has a small, naturally-aspirated engine that doesn’t make a lot of power relative to the figures many middling new cars produce today. If you drive it carefully and don’t let the revs fly too high, you can get below 8.0 L/100 km quite easily, especially on the highway. Drive like it was intended to be driven, however, and that figure quickly climbs into the 10s and beyond. The problem is, that it isn’t easy to drive this car slowly.

Practicality 7 / 10

There’s not much to compare the BRZ to, except for the Miata, which is much less practical as a daily driver. Even so, the BRZ isn’t going to be a good family car. The 178-L trunk is shallow, and the door pockets are small. The rear seats are also vestigial at best, but they can be folded down to greatly expand the cargo space. For such a small car, and considering its intended use case, the BRZ is more practical than expected.

Safety 8 / 10

The BRZ gets Subaru’s full suite of driver assistance systems, including manual-equipped models like this one. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gave it a “Good” rating in all categories except for ease of use of the child seat anchors, which might not be the biggest issue for most people buying a sports car like this.

Value 9 / 10

The BRZ would get a perfect score for value because the driving experience it provides is easily worth five times the price tag, but as nice as the Murasaki Edition is, it isn’t cheap. It rings in at $41,590 before tax but including freight ($2,095), whereas the base version is just $34,790. Sure, it doesn’t have all the performance enhancers found here, but the BRZ tS does, and it’s $2,300 cheaper than this one.

The Verdict

The 2025 Subaru BRZ — and its twin, the GR86 — remains among the best sports cars you can buy today at any price. With its excellent steering feel, a sublimely controllable chassis, and just enough power to have fun without getting into trouble, the BRZ is an instant classic.