2024 Subaru BRZ tS First Look: Blessed by STI

As soon as the Subaru BRZ made its debut, enthusiasts—including, of course, us—have hounded the automaker with one question: When will there be a turbocharged STI version? It’s not an invalid question to ask considering the history of the WRX and its place in the pantheon of Japanese sports car gods. As we got to know the BRZ better, we learned that slapping a turbo on it might do more harm than good. For Subaru, the BRZ is the rear-wheel-drive sports coupe, democratized: fun and accessible in price and manageable in performance. A turbocharger might ruin that careful balance. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to play with the BRZ formula a little bit.

That is where the BRZ tS comes in. The “tS” stands for “Tuned by STi,” so this isn’t a “full STI” variant. The tS originally broke cover back in 2018, and we had a great time with it. But that was a limited release of only 500 units. This time, things are a little different. The 2024 Subaru BRZ tS is a trim level, with no production limits. It will come with everything found on the Limited trim plus features that are exclusive to the tS.

Improvements start off with a new wheel, tire, and Brembo brake package. The new BRZ tS has four-piston calipers up front and two-piston calipers in the rear, all of which are sprayed in a trim-exclusive gold color. The brakes sit behind a set of exclusive 18-inch aluminum wheels finished in Dark Grey Metallic and wrapped with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tires.

One of the biggest upgrades on the 2024 Subaru BRZ tS is its suspension package. The 2018 BRZ tS had dampers supplied by German supplier Sachs, but for 2024 Subaru has made the switch to Hitachi units built to specifications from the STI team. Subaru considers the suspension to be the marquee feature of the tS trim, so expect this version of the BRZ to feel more capable during spirited driving and weekend track days.

Major mechanical upgrades stop there. As we’ve already mentioned, Subaru isn’t interested in boosting the BRZ—yet—so the tS is all about honing what the BRZ is already good at, improving its great handling while matching it to the BRZ’s power output.

Finally, the BRZ tS will be the first manual BRZ to come with Subaru’s EyeSight driver assistance feature suite. In fact, all manual transmission equipped BRZs will come with EyeSight standard for 2024.

At first glance you might be hard-pressed to tell the 2024 Subaru BRZ tS from other trims. Beyond the exclusive wheels and Brembo brakes, the exterior upgrades to the tS trim require a trained eye to spot. You may notice that the side mirror caps and the “shark fin” antenna are both gloss black, exclusive to the tS. To see the other changes, you’ll have to get up close and personal.

There are of course the obligatory “tS” badges on the bottom right of the front air dam and rear decklid. Additionally, in what we can only describe as a quirk, you’ll find that the tiny “BRZ” logo on the LED headlights have been painted in the same shade of red as the “S” on the tS badge. That about does it for exterior visual upgrades. For the rest, you’ll have to open the door and get inside the cabin.

Once there, the first thing you’ll notice is the blue stitching and stripe accent on the seats, which are normally red on other trims. Again this treatment is exclusive to the tS trim. Furthermore, the stitching and seat accent will always be blue regardless of what exterior color the buyer chooses for their BRZ tS. Besides the seats, other interior additions could arguably fall under the “Easter egg” category rather than “features.” For starters, a small STI logo can be found on the start/stop button, something that would be easy to miss if you didn’t already know it was there. Finally, upon pressing said button, the driver will be greeted with a exclusive STI-themed start up animation in the digital dash display.

Subaru tells us that we can expect the new BRZ tS to hit dealerships in the first quarter of 2024. At the moment pricing isn’t available but we suspect that the BRZ tS trim will come in around $36,000. Despite being a feature-loaded, range-topping trim, we think Subaru wants to keep the BRZ as affordable as possible to stay true to the spirit of the model.

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