If you remember, Motor Image Pilipinas went on ahead of Toyota to introduce the BRZ. Of note, this is one-half of the BRZ-86 duo, and Subaru Philippines debuted it locally at this year’s Manila International Auto Show (MIAS) months ago. More recently though, the marque has decided to up the pricing of the BRZ 2.4 MT and the BRZ 2.4 EyeSight 2.4 AT.
The Philippine-spec 2023 Subaru BRZ was launched at the 2022 MIAS
Specifically, the automatic variant now has a retail price of Php 2,619,000. The manual variant’s price meanwhile, was upped to Php 2,519,000. Back when it was released in MIAS 2022, the automatic and manual variant had a price Php 2,499,000 and Php 2,399,000 respectively. That’s a Php 120,000 increase for both trims.
With that said, we and many other publications have speculated that this is a sign that Toyota’s GR 86 launch might be happening soon. With the increase in the BRZ’s price, Toyota can position their own coupe model as a differently priced option.
Remember, Toyota took great pains to make the GR 86 different from its Subaru-branded platform sibling. For one thing, it does have a number of different exterior bits, and it also gets its own suspension settings.
Of note, the Toyota model’s dampers provide a lower spring rate on its front, and a higher spring rate compared to the Subaru BRZ. Furthermore, the GR 86 gets a solid and thicker front sway bar. The Toyota even features cast iron suspension knuckles, while the Subaru has aluminum knuckles.
The 2023 Toyota GR 86
As a result of these, the Subaru BRZ was designed to be grippier, and more precise. In turn, the Toyota GR 86 was made to be a tail-happy and easily driftable missile.
Speaking of the Toyota GR 86, Toyota Motor Philippines has invited Philkotse to an event at the Clark International Speedway this week. So if we put two-and-two together, the all-new coupe might actually debut during the event. Then again, we aren’t totally sure just yet, so keep it here on Philkotse for more updates on this.