Can we really review a new colour? We can try. Meet the Subaru BRZ tS Kiiro, a special version of the Japanese maker’s sports coupe that’s being sold in New Zealand in a limited run of just 10 cars. Australia is getting exactly the same thing, in a numbered production of 95.
So yeah… it’s yellow. Sunrise Yellow to be precise. And that’s about it from the product side. A BRZ tS in a leery colour, no mechanical changes whatsoever.
But there is a bit more to the story; there are a couple of other things going on here.
The first is straight from the Subaru of NZ marketing playbook, an extremely limited run of a niche model that’s pretty much standard-factory specification but with a few local touches to make it feel a bit spesh. The “Kiiro” bootlid badge (derived from the Japanese kanji script for yellow), numbered keybox and engraved keyring you get with this car are all Australasia-specific.
Subaru of NZ did a similar thing with last year’s BRZ Tsubasa, not to mention a bunch of WRX editions including Todoroki (2024), Aka (2023), Saigo (STI in 2021 and standard in 2020), Blizzard, Nemesis (both 2013), Crouching Tiger and Ace of Spades (both 2012). Turns out making specials is not as special as you’d think.
Can we really review a new colour? We can try.
But the second thing about the new BRZ Kiiro is that it’s also notable from the factory perspective. Sunrise Yellow is not a standard colour (although it has been used on special-editions in the past, including the previous BRZ in 2015), so this car is part of a special series to be sold in a variety of markets. It even has yellow stitching in the cabin and subtle flecks of yellow on the front seats.
There are 350 of these being sold in the US as the Series.Yellow for example, or 300 as the STI Sport Yellow Edition in Japan (which is where ours come in we assume, right-hand drive and all that).
Kiiro comes only in manual and only in tS specification, an option package that brings sportier suspension, Brembo brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres.
Given that the BRZ and Toyota GR86 are sister cars and Subaru builds both, it would make sense for the T-brand to get in on the Sunrise action. And so it has, with a GR86 called the RZ Yellow Limited also offered in Japan last year. No sign of that one for NZ (we did get the green Hakone last year, though), but perhaps it’s coming to a used-import yard near you in the near-future.
The Kiiro comes only in manual and only in tS (“tuned by STI”) specification, which is an option package that brings sportier suspension, Brembo brakes and Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres. But all previous BRZs have been in this spec, as is the GR86 sold new in NZ.
This might sound weird, but the yellow-themed interior is a whole lot more classy than the slightly garish red-and-black combo in the standard car.
It’s a bold colour, but we love it. Suits the car, which is a particularly cheerful sports coupe. As previously tested, the 2.4-litre engine fixes all the erratic torque issues of the previous model’s 2.0-litre and sounds brilliant past 5000rpm.
The chassis is playful at sensible speeds, making it a fun commuter; but it’s lithe and grippy enough to deliver when things get a bit more serious. Or a lot more serious.
This might sound weird, but the yellow-themed interior is a whole lot more classy than the slightly garish red-and-black combo in the standard car… mostly because the yellow bits are more elegantly integrated.
A lovely little thing that can truly be enjoyed in all conditions then, and the good thing about this Kiwi special-edition BRZ is that it's a little more special than the other special-edition Subarus that have come before it.