Better late than never, the second-generation BRZ has finally landed in Italy. To celebrate the long overdue sports car, Subaru Italy is introducing a Touge special edition with several goodies. Named after the Japanese word for a mountain pass, the performance coupe is capped at 60 units and costs a steep €49,500 or $52,200 at current exchange rates. That’s a lot of dough considering the BRZ starts at $28,595 in the United States.
Sold strictly with a six-speed manual gearbox and a limited-slip differential, the 2024 Subaru BRZ Touge gets 18-inch OZ Racing Ultraleggera Race Gold wheels with special Touge logos and wrapped in Michelin Pilot Sport 4 215/40 tires. These striking wheels only weigh 8.7 kilograms (19 pounds) each and can be alternatively replaced with regular 18-inch wheels that have a Dark Gray finish, in which case the tires are a Yokohama BluEarth Winter V905 set.
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The special variant also gets a minor STI kit with front and rear spoilers and side skirts to complement the Blue Pearl body. At the back, the dual exhaust tips belong to an Italian-made Supersprint setup with special finishers featuring “Subaru BRZ Touge” lettering and the Japanese spelling of mountain pass.
At the heart of the BRZ Touge is the same naturally aspirated 2.4-liter gasoline engine producing 231 horsepower (172 kilowatts) and 184 pound-feet (250 Newton-meters) of torque. In the US, the boxer engine is good for a slightly lower 228 hp (170 kW) and the same 184 lb-ft (250 Nm) torque.
Italy’s special edition follows the BRZ STI Sport launched last month in Japan and the BRZ tS introduced in the United States back in July. Its sister model, the GR86, is no stranger to special editions, having received an AE86 40th Anniversary Edition in the Land of the Rising Sun in September to echo the US-spec Trueno Edition.
While GR86 and BRZ availability is not a problem in the United States and Japan, the “Toyobaru” is a rare sight on the Old Continent as these models are available only in select markets and typically in limited quantities. It’s mainly because of stricter emissions regulations in Europe. However, Mazda will happily sell you an MX-5 Miata with no restrictions.