Subaru BRZ practicality and boot space

• No Euro NCAP rating
• Lack of autonomous tech
• Plenty of airbags, though

The BRZ hasn’t been tested by Euro NCAP (neither has the Toyota GT86) so it’s hard to say with any authority how it’d fare in a crash, although Subaru says the body is highly rigid thanks to the use of high-tensile steel.

You do get a pretty comprehensive set of airbags (front, front side, curtain and knee) plus the usual stability control, ABS and Isofix seat mounts in the rear.

Subaru’s Vehicle Dynamics Control monitors steering angle, speed, gear and braking to maximise traction, but what you don’t get access to is Subaru’s comprehensive EyeSight driver assistance technology, including things like lane-keep assist or emergency braking, even as an option, and that seems a shame.

• Compact boot space accessed via a small lid
• Rear seats are really for display purposes only
• Solve both problems by using back seats as storage 

The rear seats are certainly not for sitting in, unless you have detachable feet. Even then you’d have to move the front seats forward very far indeed for an adult to squeeze their legs behind.

It does offer a bit of extra storage space though, which may come in useful, so it’s best to think of the Toyota as a two-seater with a very occasional pair of seats and instead use them as additional boot space.

The Subaru BRZ has teeny tiny proportions, which means you don’t get much of a boot or back seat, but on the flip-side it’s easy to park and feels right at home on a narrow B-road.

The Subaru BRZ is a rear-wheel drive, two-door coupe – two factors that mean it has less boot space than a comparative hot hatchback.

That means you’ll have to make do with a 237-litre boot, which expands to 1,270 litres when you fold down the rear seats. Better to use them for storage – the bucket shape is great for holding a shopping bag.

You have to access the boot via a reasonably small lid. Still, there is a silver lining - the fact the BRZ has a proper roof means it at least beats the Mazda MX-5’s boot, which measures 130 litres.