Even if the Subaru BRZ/Toyota GR86 twins weren’t as good as they are–and they are, indeed, exactly as good as they are–they’d still be popular cars in our orbit. They’re some of the last of a dying breed of rear-drive, performance-oriented, stick-shifted sports cars that still manage to be relatively affordable and accessible to a large segment of our market. …
Let’s tS It Up
Until things changed with the tS, that is (and, to be fair, Toyota’s mostly equivalent Trueno Edition GR86). The tS addresses and mostly solves the BRZ’s most glaring issue–the comically under-capacity 11.6-inch front brakes–as well as tweaks a host of other systems for optimal function.
Those brakes make up the bulk of our glowing praise for the tS package. Four-piston front Brembo calipers squeeze 12.8-inch vented discs, while dual-piston Brembo rears pinch 12.4-inch solid rotors. Enough can’t be said about the upgrades in confidence and drivability they bring to the table.
Indeed, the base brakes weren’t horrible–once. They have decent feel and decent bite on initial application, but only in the most mild sort of applications and only the first time you hit them. To get a fast lap with the base brakes on our test track at the Florida International Rally & Motorsport Park, for example, we basically had to sell out a couple cooldown laps before a single flyer of the relatively short 1.6-mile circuit.
Even then, the hardest braking application at the FIRM is entering the final corner right before the timing stripe, so it wasn’t unusual to take a slightly less aggressive braking approach to the next-to-last corner to ensure we had brake capacity for the last application.
The big story on the tS is the brakes: Brembo calipers and larger rotors give the car a serious boost right where it needed it.
With the tS, no such gamesmanship is necessary. Brakes are confidence-inspiring even over multiple back-to-back hot laps, with exceptional application and release and excellent trail-braking characteristics. Remember that we’re talking about as-delivered brakes, down to the factory fluid fill and OEM pads. A set of more track-focused pads and a proper high-temp fluid fill would create even more capacity to augment that great base feel and…
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