Subaru’s WRX and BRZ Anniversary Editions Are A News Story About What Subaru Won’t Give Buyers
Subaru unveiled the 2027 WRX GD25 and BRZ ZC15 at Boxerfest in York, Pennsylvania this weekend, marking 25 years of WRX sales in the US and 15 years of the BRZ. Both are limited-production specials, capped at 350 units for the WRX and 300 for the BRZ, with reservations open now and deliveries starting early next year.
The names borrow from the original chassis codes: GD for the second-generation Impreza sedan that brought WRX to America in 2002, ZC for the first-generation BRZ that arrived in 2012. It’s a nice piece of nomenclature nerdery for people who know their VIN prefixes. But strip away the gold wheels and the rally wing, and neither car gets a single additional horsepower. That’s the real headline here, even if Subaru would rather you focus on the paint.
What The GD25 And ZC15 Actually Get
The WRX GD25 is built off the tS trim and dressed in World Rally Blue with gold-painted 19-inch wheels wrapped in Bridgestone Potenza S007 tires, plus gold-painted Brembo calipers. The standout piece is a dry carbon-fiber swan-neck rear wing supplied by Subaru Tecnica International, the same design used on Travis Pastrana’s ARA25L rally car. Underneath, Subaru added a flexible strut tower brace up front and retuned the suspension with stiffer springs and revised damping. Inside are Recaro seats trimmed in black Ultrasuede with red stitching, an STI shift knob, and a short-throw shifter.
The BRZ ZC15 takes its own path, finished in an exclusive Ceramic White paired with matte bronze wheels and red Brembo calipers, a color combination meant to echo the 2020 BRZ tS. It adds a black decklid spoiler and a flexible V-bar for extra rigidity, with black leather and Bordeaux-red inserts inside plus its own STI short shifter and an anniversary plaque near the shifter. Both cars come exclusively with six-speed manuals, and pricing hasn’t been announced yet, though it’s safe to assume both will land above their respective tS starting points.
Same Engines, Same Numbers, Same Ceiling
Here’s the part that actually matters for anyone hoping this was the STI relaunch: the WRX GD25 keeps the same turbocharged 2.4-liter flat-four making 271 hp and 258 lb-ft of torque, sent through Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel-drive system. The BRZ ZC15 sticks with its naturally aspirated 2.4-liter flat-four at 228 hp, rear-wheel drive only. Neither number has moved from what buyers can already get in a regular tS.
That’s a deliberate choice, not an oversight. Subaru’s car line planning manager, William Stokes, framed the GD25 as “a tribute to our rally-ready sedan and its sports car pedigree,” and the ZC15 as embodying “the best of our long-running, accessible performance sports car.” Notice what’s missing from that language: any mention of more power. These are anniversary trims built to look and handle a little sharper, not to move the performance ceiling.
Where’s The Actual STI?
This lands at an awkward moment for Subaru’s performance lineup. The current WRX generation is five years old and has never gotten a proper STI variant in the US, despite the nameplate’s rally pedigree and a fan base that’s been vocal about wanting one. Reporting ahead of this reveal pointed to a 2027 STI built around the FA24 turbo boxer, potentially making around 300 metric horsepower, which would be a real if modest step up from the WRX’s current 271 hp. Nothing about that car showed up at Boxerfest.
Instead, Subaru gave enthusiasts a wing borrowed from an actual rally car and gold brake calipers, tuned to look the part without the hardware to back it up in a straight line. For a company sitting on 25 years of WRX history and 15 years of BRZ, in a market where the Toyota GR Corolla and Honda Civic Type R keep raising the bar on what a factory hot hatch can do, the GD25 and ZC15 read less like a flex and more like a placeholder.
Both cars are still worth a look for buyers who want the sharpest factory-spec WRX or BRZ money can currently buy, manual gearbox included. Just don’t mistake the wing for a promise. If Subaru is saving real power for a dedicated STI down the line, it didn’t say so this weekend.
Related posts
Latest Post
No Comments