Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 named Wheels COTY

The Subaru BRZ/Toyota 86 twins have been awarded the Wheels Car of the Year award. It joins a host of other awards collected by the Toybaru, including the Carsguide top honour.

Wheels editor Stephen Corby acknowledged the success of the Subaru–Toyota partnership, “Seldom do joint projects produce something remarkable like this.”

The magazine went on to describe some of the key attributes for the winning pair: “Never before has pure driving pleasure been so accessible. Affordable, remarkably rewarding to drive, efficient and safe, the collaboration between Toyota and Subaru left the competition behind and drove—with just a dab of oppo—onto the Wheels COTY podium.”

BRZ is Wheels Car of the Year

17 December 2012

Subaru’s BRZ sports car is the 2012 Wheels Car of the Year on the 50th anniversary of the prestigious award.

BRZ won the motoring magazine award together with its Toyota 86 “twin” – both cars are made by Subaru at its Gunma factory near Tokyo.

It was BRZ’s second major Australian award in the last three days – on Friday it was named the News Limited CarsGuide 2012 Car of the Year, together with the 86.

Nick Senior, Managing Director, Subaru Australia, said: “This win is testament to the fantastic engineering skills of Fuji Heavy Industries, the maker of Subaru vehicles.

“BRZ has captured motoring enthusiasts’ attention in every market in which it has been launched and has received multiple awards worldwide, with the general impression being that it offers one of the most thrilling drives around at a fraction of the cost of its sports car competitors.

“It’s amazing value and fantastic fun and that’s the reason we’re sold out well into next year.”

BRZ’s win gives Subaru its fourth Wheels COTY in 18 years – during that period it has won more times than any other brand.

Impreza won in 2000, Liberty wagon in 1998 and Liberty in 1994.

“Seldom do joint projects produce something remarkable like this,” notes Wheels editor Stephen Corby.

The magazine sums it up: “Never before has pure driving pleasure been so accessible. Affordable, remarkably rewarding to drive, efficient and safe, the collaboration between Toyota and Subaru left the competition behind and drove – with just a dab of oppo – onto the Wheels COTY podium.”

Among BRZ’s other awards this year:

• News Limited/CarsGuide Car of the Year 2012
• Carsales Australia network’s People’s Choice Best Performance Car Under $100,000 (with the Toyota 86).
• 2013 Sports Car of the Year by Canadian website Auto123.com.
• 2012-2013 Japan Car of the Year “Special Award” (with the Toyota 86).
• 2012 Sports Car of the Year in French car magazine, Echappement.

Subaru’s initial allocation of 201 BRZs to the end of 2012 sold-out after just three hours of going “live” on the web in July.

BRZ continues to be sold exclusively online in Australia at www.buybrzonline.subaru.com.au

Among the features that distinguish BRZ from the 86 in Australia are:

• An independent five-star rating for occupant safety from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP)
• A full-size spare wheel as standard equipment
• Firmer suspension setting
• Three-year/unlimited kilometre warranty
• Free metallic paint
• Driveaway pricing that includes a three-year/60,000 kilometre service plan.

BRZ has a National Driveaway Price* starting at $37,150, and includes a three-year/60,000 kilometre scheduled service plan** and a five-star ANCAP occupant safety rating.

* The National Driveaway Price includes the vehicle price, 12 months private registration, stamp duty, CTP insurance cost estimate (based on private purchaser with good driving record), and the BRZ three-year/60,000 km Service plan** and is not applicable to business or government buyers.

** The BRZ three-year/60,000 km service plan covers all items specified under the standard “Maintenance for Normal Operating Conditions” schedule detailed in the Warranty and Service Logbook. This includes inspection and adjustment of all items listed, genuine parts, labour and fluids required for each standard schedule service. For full service plan terms and conditions go to subaru.com.au.

 

Toyota 86 wins Carsguide Car of the Year

14 December 2012

Toyota’s 86 sports coupé has been named the best new car in Australia by motoring experts from Australia’s News Limited media group.

Judges of the Carsguide Car of the Year award said the 86 was a “ground-breaking car” and the best affordable sports car in decades.

Six of the nine judges, representing leading newspapers and motoring websites around the country, cast their first vote to the sports car after 6000km of testing over three days.

Toyota’s executive director sales and marketing Matthew Callachor said the Carsguide victory is a tribute to the passionate people who developed an affordable, fun-to-drive sports car aimed at enthusiasts.

“Carsguide has confirmed the 86 is all about maximum driving pleasure – lively, accessible performance and highly engaging dynamic abilities that really get your heart pumping,” Mr Callachor said.

He praised the vision of Toyota’s global president Akio Toyoda and the skill and passion of the car’s chief engineer, Tetsuya Tada.

“Mr Toyoda is driving Toyota to produce more emotionally engaging cars, giving his full support to Mr Tada’s focused development of a car aimed at driving enthusiasts.

“As a result, the 86 is a compact, light, basic sports car with balance and handling rated in the same league as some legendary sports cars.

“It is a worthy successor to some exciting, driver-focused Toyota sports cars that have proven popular with the public and successful in competition, such as the Supra, MR2 and Celica GT-Four.”

The 86 has been a runaway success in Australia with 1,700 sold in less than six months, and a strong order bank.

Carsguide editor Paul Pottinger said the judges had decided the 86 should share the award with the Subaru BRZ as the two cars were developed jointly.

“Ultimately, the judging panel agreed the sports-car collaboration resulted in a ground-breaking car, regardless of the badges it wears,” Mr Pottinger said.

It is the second time a Toyota has won the News Ltd Carsguide Car of the Year in the 16-year history of the award.

The first was the Toyota Echo in 1999.