More Power, More Gear, More Fuel
Toyotas like our test car with the standard six-speed manual transmission (a six-speed automatic is a $720 option) receive the smallest of boosts in performance for the 2.0-liter flat-four engine, gaining 5 horsepower and 5 lb-ft of torque for totals of 205 and 156. Automatic cars go without the engine updates, which include freer-flowing intake and exhaust systems, beefier pistons and crankshaft bearings, and reduced valvetrain friction. While the engine does rev a touch more smoothly to its 7500-rpm redline, the net effects are negligible; this is still a coarse and uninspired powerplant to work hard, with a pronounced sag in its torque curve around 4000 rpm—characteristics we became all too familiar with during a long-term test of a 2013 Subaru BRZ.