Subaru Teases All-New BRZ, 2022 Model Debuts November 18th

The rear-wheel-drive sports car with a free-breathing boxer engine also happens to feature a sleeker hood, LED signature lighting, and a couple of air vents in the front fenders.

Subaru of America also wants us to "get ready to fall in love," which is either marketing mumbo-jumbo or indicates the qualities of a great-handling chassis. Speaking of the car's capability in the twisties, the BRZ won't get forced induction because straight-line performance was never a priority for the Japanese manufacturer.

As opposed to the 2.0-liter engine of the outgoing model, the next generation is leveling up to 2.4 liters and 217 horsepower (220 PS). Torque is estimated to peak at 177 pound-feet (240 Nm), and as ever, a six-speed manual will be joined by a torque-converter automatic to please those customers who don't really understand sports cars.

This engine – the FA24 – can trace its roots back to 2018 for the 2019 model year Ascent three-row crossover. In that application, a turbocharger is responsible for extracting 260 horsepower and 277 pound-feet of torque from 2,000 to 4,800 rpm. The free-breathing boxer in the BRZ will need quite a few more revs to unlock its full potential, but then again, that's what makes driving a BRZ so much fun.

A rakish windshield complements a streamlined body shell and vertical intakes on the extremities of the front bumper, and the pre-production prototypes spied until now all share a honeycomb mesh grille. The rear end soldiers on with a regular trunk instead of a liftback, and the four-cylinder boxer exhales through a dual-pipe exhaust.

Being the first top-to-bottom redesign in eight years, the BRZ and Toyota GR 86 will further sweeten the deal with better materials for the interior, more safety kit as standard, and all that jazz. Starlink infotainment with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay should be in the pipeline as well, but we don't know if the 11.6-inch touchscreen in the all-new Legacy and Outback will be offered in such as small car and cabin.