Boxer Rally spec Z - How did we get here?

There are two things that Subaru has told us the BRZ will never get from the day that the design was revealed.


1. It will never get a turbocharged engine


2. It will never be All Wheel Drive


But now they have built the Boxer Rally spec.Z which is both.


How did we get to this point?


When we thought that this AWD BRZ Rally Car was just going to be a clone of the Toyota Celica that we have seen testing for the 2027 WRC season, it seemed like this was at least going to be part of Subaru's return to the WRC.   But it seemed like it was going to be using Toyota's engine and drivetrain.


Now we know that the Boxer Rally spec.Z is at least using a Subaru engine (A turbocharged BRZ FA24 from the looks of it), but that also makes it seem like this may not have nearly as much to do with a return to the WRC as we thought.


So why is Subaru building this car?  What are they testing and what do they hope to learn?


After going through a number of videos from the launch of the car, I have a couple of guesses.


Thanks for watching and Stay Tuned!

In this Episode:


00:00 - SubaNews Special Edition Intro
01:06 - What do we know now about the Boxer Rally spec.Z?
02:46 - Who is Toshihiro Arai?
04:14 - Engine and Transmission placement in the BR spec.Z
05:24 - How did we get here with the Boxer Rally spec.Z?
05:59 - Fujinuki Principal - More connection between Production and Motorsport
06:19 - Subaru is targeting a Rally 2 car with the BR spec.Z
08:07 - Subaru is now running the Drivetrain package that Vermont Sports Car developed for ARA
08:43 - The Huckster at the Tokyo Mobility Show - Is this the key?
09:38 - Subaru's two design pillars: The Boxer Engine, Symmetrical AWD
10:37 - Could this be a Paradigm shift for Subaru?
12:10 - Is the small and light BRZ chassis Subaru's Future?
12:56 - The significance of a greater connection between Subaru Japan and Subaru USA/Vermont Sports Car
14:49 - Could this still be part of Subaru's return to the WRC?
17:00 - Does this mean Subaru is giving a lot more hints and clues than they used to?

If you want to check out all of the videos that I referenced in this video, here are links to them: