Subaru fans have asked for a turbocharged, all-wheel-drive BRZ for years. Now it’s real, but there’s a catch. The newly formed Sports Vehicle Planning Office has built a lifted, boosted, AWD BRZ designed for rally competition. Revealed during the opening round of the 2026 Super Taikyu series, this rally machine could signal a closer connection between Subaru’s race cars and its street cars.
- The Sports Vehicle Planning Office is building a lifted BRZ to compete in the All Japan Rally Championship, and the rally car is confirmed to be turbocharged with power sent to all four wheels.
- The rally BRZ features revised bodywork with boxy wheel arches, a massive rear wing, a roof scoop, and what appear to be vertical hood vents.
- Don’t expect a production version anytime soon, as the high-riding BRZ is strictly a rally car with no official word from Subaru about a road-going model.
What We Know About the Rally BRZ
Subaru released a single teaser image over the weekend during the opening round of the 2026 Super Taikyu series. And even from one photo, there’s a lot to take in. Although it’s based on the BRZ, the rally car features revised bodywork with boxy wheel arches and a massive rear wing. You can also spot a roof scoop and what appear to be vertical hood vents, while the lifted BRZ boasts generous ground clearance, plenty of suspension travel, and chunky tires at both ends.
Subaru has also redesigned the front bumper. The rear of the car isn’t visible yet, but it looks like the overhangs are much shorter, and the taillights also appear to be different. How much has been retained from the standard car remains unclear, but Subaru confirmed the wheelbase is carried over.
Full specs are still under wraps. Engineering the sports coupe with an AWD setup it was never meant to have brings serious packaging headaches, and adding a turbocharger introduces yet another layer to sort out. The stock BRZ runs a naturally aspirated 2.4-liter Boxer engine with 228 horsepower and rear-wheel drive only. Turning that into a turbo AWD rally weapon is no small feat.
Toyota Already Did Something Similar
It’s been a little over a year since Toyota built a turbocharged GR86 with all-wheel drive, and now Subaru is following suit. Toyota’s GR86 Rally Legacy Concept drew inspiration from the iconic ST185 and ST205 Celica GT-Four rally cars and received a complete powertrain swap using the 3-cylinder turbocharged, GR-FOUR AWD drivetrain from the GR Corolla.
The GR86 Rally makes the same 300 horsepower and 272 pound-feet of torque as the GR Corolla. That build, shown at the 2024 SEMA Show, was strictly a concept and never earmarked for production. But it proved that a turbo AWD version of the 86/BRZ platform could exist, and it clearly got people excited.
Subaru’s approach seems different, though. Instead of a one-off show car, this rally-spec BRZ is actually heading to competition. The rally-spec BRZ with a turbo and all-wheel drive will be introduced at some point during the first half of this season’s All Japan Rally Championship.
The Sports Vehicle Planning Office and What It Means
The Japanese brand says the purpose of its Sports Vehicle Planning Office is to connect the teams working on street cars with those on the motorsport side. That’s a big deal. For years, Subaru’s road car division and its racing teams operated somewhat independently. This new office could bridge that gap and feed lessons learned on rally stages directly into future production models.
Considering the Sports Vehicle Planning Office has just been established, a street-legal product isn’t likely anytime soon, and it might already be too late for the current BRZ, given that the second generation has been around for nearly six years. A third-generation BRZ, though? That could benefit from everything Subaru learns with this turbo AWD rally program.
And there’s history to back this up. You can trace the lineage of the WRX back through 19 rally championships in the U.S. Subaru’s DNA is woven into rally racing, even if recent years have skewed the brand toward crossovers and SUVs. A turbocharged AWD BRZ built under the Subaru BRZ turbo AWD rally banner could remind enthusiasts what Subaru is really about.
Will a Street Version Ever Happen?
That’s the million-dollar question. The high-riding BRZ is strictly a rally car, with no official word from Subaru about a potential road-going model. And the stock BRZ purposely avoids turbocharging. The 2026 Subaru BRZ features a classic rear-wheel-drive sports car layout, balanced chassis, and precision steering, with a 228-horsepower SUBARU BOXER engine. Subaru has long argued that naturally aspirated power gives the BRZ its sharp throttle response and pure driving feel.
Subaru clearly thinks that turbocharging dulls throttle response and leads to more abrupt torque delivery. That philosophy has kept a turbo out of the production BRZ for both generations. But a rally program that pairs forced induction with AWD could change the conversation, especially if the car proves competitive in Japan’s rally series.
Closer collaboration between engineers working on road and race cars should produce some exciting results. Whether that means a turbo AWD street BRZ, or simply a better next-generation sports car, is something we’ll be watching closely.
A Promising Sign for Subaru Enthusiasts
The creation of the Sports Vehicle Planning Office and this rally BRZ project feel like a turning point for the brand. Subaru is investing in motorsport again with real purpose, and even if the turbo AWD BRZ never sees a dealership showroom, the technology and engineering that come out of this program will show up somewhere. For fans who’ve been waiting for Subaru to remember its rally roots, this is the best news in years.
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