Both the BRZ and most WRX options come in at under $29,900 new, and yet both Subarus have exactly what most purist sports car fanatics want in a ride! They might not be fast, but with the new BRZ getting the recent bump in horsepower to match the Toyota GR 86 of the same build, it's now comparable if not better than the WRX as an option. Note that none of this article is about the WRX STI, just the WRX which won't include the Limited or Premium since these cost more and have little performance upgrades.
If you're on the fence about which one to get, we will let you know based on how you want to drive and what you need from a car. We're here to break down all the details of each car because trust us, we've spent over 100 hours shopping for which one we would buy, too, and couldn't decide until we wrote this article. The differences are great enough that by the end of this article you will know beyond any doubt which affordable sports car is right for you, and we will have an opinion about which one is best overall.
10 BRZ: Cheaper and Better To Buy Used
Despite being $500 more for the 2022 BRZ compared to the basic WRX, it's easier and cheaper to find used BRZ's despite the fact that there are none older than 2013. Perhaps this is because the kind of people who buy BRZs do race-like things that make them, on average, lose their value, but the truth is that we've hardly ever seen BRZs that are near as abused or neglected as their WRX counterparts.
The fact is, both cars are made for young sometimes careless demographics, but when it comes down to it we've seen far fewer BRZs with skater stickers and spare tires coming up on 6,000 miles, and far more WRXs with missing bumpers and generally thoughtless wear and tear. A 2014 WRX sedan against a 2014 BRZ? We would pick the BRZ, and odds are it would be $2,00-$4,000 less.
9 BRZ: Gas Mileage and Commuting
The BRZ isn't driving all four wheels at all times like the WRX is. For that reason, even in somewhat snowy environments, it's a much better commuter car. It gets 21 in the city and 30 on the highway compared to the WRX's 20 and 27. It's a close call but it does add up. Seeing how both cars can be automatic or manual brand-new, the deciding factor then would be the highway/freeway experience.
The BRZ sits lower to the ground and has less clearance, and is made to be fun on the track and at higher speeds. Reportedly it is easy to get used to and feels intuitive on the highway, though the WRX isn't much different. What it comes down to is that the BRZ will stay more efficient after mods while the WRX will not, being the bigger and heavier car.
8 BRZ: Aftermarket Support
Any BRZ has a great range of aftermarket support since it shares everything with the Toyota 86 and the late Scion FR-S. While there are about 1/5th as many BRZs as there exists the latest generation of WRX (2014-2021), the nature of the car warrants a lot of aftermarket support.
Very few people buy or own a BRZ and leave it all stock. The car was made to be cheap and ready for modifications, and companies know this. There's plenty of parts for all sorts of bolt-on modifications, and forums are full of plenty of people who have taken their BRZ to the limit. It's hard to imagine any of the 64,000 BRZ/86/FR-S owners haven't hopped on the forums at least once.
7 BRZ: Drift/ RWD
The BRZ has a very low center of gravity with an engine that's mounted lower and further back than the WRX. It was made to drift and even comes with more narrow tires that are in a sweet spot for finding cheap replacements. While some complained about the narrow tires, it's not hard to get wider ones on, or the narrowness allows for better drifting and cheaper practice time on the track.
A WRX cannot easily be made into a drift car at all. In fact, for Baby Driver, they had to convert the iconic red WRX into an RWD car for the stunts to be performed. If drifting on anything but snow is a possibility, a BRZ is the best bet! Though it's not a list option, it bears mentioning that while the BRZ only has two usable seats, its trunk space is enough for four spare tires for track day and skis or even a bike, not far from what the WRX sedan can hold.
6 WRX: 0-60/ Track Speed
In order from slowest to fastest: the old BRZ made 205 horsepower and went 0-60 in 6.2 seconds. The 4th generation WRX (2014-2021) gets 268 horsepower and goes 0-60 in 6.0 seconds. The new 2022 BRZ gets 228 horses which are good for a claimed 5.5 seconds, and the 2022 WRX is said to get 5.6 seconds 0-60 with 271 horsepower. There is a sandwich that sort of levels the playing field, making the numbers game result in a tie.
The advantage for passing speed, however, goes to the WRX. In fact, that's one thing it's known for, seeing how its gears aren't made for 0-60 times but rather for rally and track times. Taking the unofficial Nurburgring lap times by WRX owners vs BRZ owners and the WRX has them by an average of 40 full seconds.
5 WRX: Holds Value
This is a hard thing to map since we don't know how well BRZs will hold their value past the eight-year mark, but we do know that some WRXs have sold for over $300,000 (The Subaru STI 22B). Also, most working or decently-maintained Subarus as old as the turn of the century go for right around $10,000, and some passable but neglected non-STIs will still pull in $5,000 and never seem to dip below.
To put it another way, a 2015 WRX that cost $26,600 will go for $16,600 today (-$10,000) according to Kelly Blue Book. A 2015 BRZ that cost $26,500 will go for $13,784 today (-$12,716) by the same standards. The numbers do not lie. WRXs are both more sought-after and worth more in their later years, and this is despite being more than five times as common as a BRZ.
4 WRX: AWD
Subaru is known for its WRC-winning symmetrical AWD system that has won awards and proven itself to be the best on the market, bar none. Having that right and left balance on the track gives you a Porsche-911-like experience on the track for the cost of a standard sedan. Going beyond 350 horsepower in either car will warrant wanting AWD for the track, stop light pulls, or winter driving.
Trust us, we know firsthand that having Subaru AWD will literally save your life in a snowy canyon. If you live above 40º longitude in the U.S., a WRX will surely offer a strong argument. If you hope to rally or even hit questionable roads, a BRZ will betray you in an instant. For a daily driver and anything but a drift car, a point goes to the WRX.
3 WRX: More Horsepower
More horsepower isn't always the answer and no one believes that more than us, but it does offer some clear advantages over the reportedly underpowered BRZ. The WRX engine up until 2021 has always been bigger than the BRZ in displacement and horsepower. This means fewer modifications are required to get it to where you want, and that it's already a few steps ahead off of the lot.
Daily driving a WRX instead of a BRZ means more passing capability, higher top speeds, and better turn exiting. Frankly, it just has more power than the BRZ and it will act like it. The BRZ is made to be affordable, not powerful, and despite costing about the same brand-new, the WRX offers more for you to work with.
2 WRX: Automatic Option
Even though as of 2022 both the BRZ and the WRX come with an automatic (paddle shifter) option, up until 2021 only the WRX had an automatic, which is both shunned by closed-minded car people and essential for those who don't want to or can't waste time learning a manual. There are some old urban legends about which breaks down less and which costs less to repair, but the truth is that it doesn't matter!
What matters is what you want to drive and how you plan to use your car. Drift, rally, track, or daily driving will all warrant different types for different people, but having the option of an automatic with stick shifters may be appealing to people who want to not worry about shifting technique while they just start at track days, and some of us just never had anyone to teach us how to drive a stick so we don't want to change now. In fact, we'd like to say please stop looking down on automatics and automatic drivers. Car communities should be accepting, and if you could find a Supra for $10,000 less because it "wasn't a manual," who's to say you wouldn't buy that instead?
1 WRX: Ground Clearance
The WRX doesn't have the same low center of gravity, but it does have clearance. That means that it has the ability to be lowered to the owner's heart's content for a similar center of gravity and better performance. At the same time, a stock WRX can actually go into driveways and doesn't suffer much because of its height.
In fact, if you plan to daily drive or rally your car, WRX has the votes, no question. Even if you don't, the AWD manages to keep control of the WRX well enough that you can enjoy the best of both worlds pretty easily. Hitting the trails, going through snow, and going over the Costco parking lot's speed bumps all just became options for you. If you don't know by now which one is best, we would like to offer this: most likely it's a WRX. Additionally, you really ought to try driving at least one of them before you settle down. Find an owner or contact people selling theirs and get a test drive in! Worst case, you buy a car you love second best and still have fun.