It is a good choice for those who want to avoid crashes.
The Subaru BRZ is hard to fault. The Subaru BRZ is a small, fun-to-drive sports car that was redesigned in 2022. It’s also affordable and comes with a manual transmission, allowing enthusiasts to go crazy rowing. The car has enough power to make it exciting. Now, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has awarded it a Top Safety Pick+ rating.
The driver-side overlap crash video above shows that the BRZ takes a severe hit, but the passenger compartment is still strong. The IIHS notes on the aftermath indicate that “the driver’s survival area was maintained very well”. The risk of injury from an intrusion into the footwell or head was also very low. The video shows that the windshield appears to have remained largely intact, which suggests minimal flex in the cabin structure.
The 2022 BRZ was awarded good ratings by the IIHS in all crash metrics. This includes the small driver overlap test as seen in the video, as well as moderate overlap, side impacts, roof strength and seats/head restraints. Vehicles must be rated well with crash avoidance and headlights in order to earn a Top Safety Pick+ rating. The BRZ’s headlights garnered a good rating, while vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian crash prevention systems earned superior ratings.
The Subaru ranked at the top in only two metrics. Side-impact evaluation criteria revealed that torso injuries received an acceptable rating. The overall rating for this category was good because everything else was acceptable. The child seat anchors received an acceptable rating by the IIHS. They are too deep to allow the seat to latch or unlatch easily.
The BRZ is widely regarded today as one of the most desirable sports cars. It sends power to the rear wheels. It is small, but it’s still very enjoyable to know that safety has not been compromised for the sake of having fun.