The 2024 Subaru BRZ STI Sport makes its Japanese debut, showcasing enhanced hardware

After the North American debut of the 2024 BRZ tS in July, its Japanese counterpart has now been officially introduced, albeit with a different moniker: the STI Sport. This new trim level is available in Japan and offers nearly the same features as its American counterpart. The STI Sport is equipped with four-piston Brembo brakes featuring front and rear ventilated discs adorned with a distinctive gold color, all tucked behind 18-inch dark metallic wheels wrapped in high-performance Michelin Pilot Sport 4 215/40 R18 tires.

Subaru has made suspension improvements by fitting an STI-tuned Hitachi Astemo sensitive frequency response damper (SFRD) to the front axle, along with a distinct rear damper that has also been fine-tuned by Subaru Tecnica International. Cosmetic enhancements are minimal and include black side mirror caps, a roof antenna, and a BRZ logo in the headlights, now sporting a cherry red finish. Inside the BRZ STI Sport, you'll find burgundy and black suede/leather seats, dark metallic accents, and an STI-branded red start/stop button.

In other news, the JDM-spec 2024 Subaru BRZ now comes with the EyeSight driver assistance system, even for models equipped with a manual gearbox, aligning it with the US-spec version. The Japanese model also features an updated vehicle dynamics control (VDC) system and different tires for the base R trim level.

Under the hood, there have been no changes to report. The 2024 BRZ available in Japan continues to be powered by the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter boxer gasoline engine making 228 hp and 249 Nm of torque, delivering power exclusively to the rear wheels.

The STI Sport is set to make its local debut on September 24 at the FUJI 86/BRZ STYLE 2023 event, to be hosted at the Fuji Speedway. In the Philippines, there is no word yet if there is an imminent release of the STI Sport BRZ or even the North American Spec BRZ tS, but it is realistic to expect an EyeSight-equipped manual transmission BRZ to be available in the near future.