For once, a new Japanese car has been updated in the US before an update at home. Safety-focused Subaru is putting the priority on a new camera that it hasn’t used on a stick-shift car before, and it announced that for the US last month. But there is another change that manual transmission drivers are a lot more likely to notice that the American market won’t get.
The manual BRZ will get a new shifter, and dare we say, it sounds more racy than the one we currently get. We mean that figuratively and literally.
Racing Lessons Could Help Shift More Units Of The BRZ
2027 Subaru BRZ JDMSubaru
Subaru isn’t saying much about that new shifter, even though it could be a big deal. That’s because it takes its design from Subaru’s entries into the Super Taikyu racing series. It is the biggest touring car series in the country, and Japan’s automakers take it very seriously. The BRZ competes in the ST-Q class along with Toyota’s hydrogen Corolla, the Honda Civic Type R, and the Nissan Z.
Automakers use the series to test new tech like hydrogen combustion and carbon capture, but they are also serious about winning the endurance events. Subaru says the new shifter is smoother than the one it replaces, and the BRZ’s shifter wasn’t exactly an imprecise, notchy lump to begin with. Strangely, Subaru hasn’t changed the shift knob. So it looks the same as last year, even if it feels different.
It sounds like Subaru is giving the full BRZ lineup the shifter that it introduced with the STI Sport Type RA last year. That ultra-low-volume special edition was a Japanese exclusive that came with a whole crate of Super Taikyu-related parts. From a balanced and blueprinted engine to the Flat Shift function and extra cooling for the rear differential, that was a very serious car.
Why Isn’t The US Getting This Shifter?
Subaru GT300 BRZSubaru
The question then is: is Subaru giving Japan and the US a different gearshift, or does the US just not deem it worthy of a mention. When the only changes for the US-spec model announced for 2027 were the new safety system cameras, rear parking sensors for the tS trim, and a higher price, it seems like the company would want to talk about anything of interest to drivers.
We’ve reached out to Subaru to ask more about this shifter. It’s too early to pull up parts diagrams and look for a difference there, but if you’re looking for something different, then Subaru offers an STI-branded short throw shifter with a surprisingly low MSRP of just under $400.
Subaru’s other big update is probably not the kind of update that will pull anyone into a dealership, but that doesn’t make it less useful. It’s also one the US market did get.
Subaru first added its EyeSight driver assist system to the manual transmission BRZ in 2024, several years after it was added to the automatic. This year, it gets the wide-angle monocular camera that was introduced with the 2023 Outback wagon. This is an extra camera for the system that can see a wider view than the stereo camera already present.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
2027 Subaru BRZ JDMSubaru
The BRZ is one of the only affordable manual-transmission coupes on the market, so Subaru could put in the shifter from a 1980s Ford F-150 and we’d still be at least a little bit happy. Still, it’s frustrating that Japan will get a lever that’s even a tiny bit better than the US-market version. If you really want one, though, you can always get it overnighted from you know where.
The US-spec 2027 Subaru hits dealers this fall, starting from $37,385 including $1,245 delivery.
