[kaisen]

The asterisk is because we still don't know pricing, which we were told should come sometime around next February's Chicago Auto Show, and we think price will play an exceptionally heavy role in this car's fate. We heard every number from $22,000 to "somewhere around the WRX," which is $25,595, to $28,000. Of the broad competitive set Subaru listed, a 210-hp Genesis 2.0T Coupe starts at $22,250, a 300-hp V6 Mustang is $23,105, the Mazda Miata is $23,190 and the RX-8 is $26,795.

There is no doubt about whether the car does what it was built to do – it handles terrifically, it sounds great especially if you're a fan of high-revving fours, it's a solid shifter with either transmission and a pleasant cabin. Yet Subaru hasn't played in this space before and they're expecting this to be a conquest vehicle. We think in order to give it the attention it deserves it needs to have a price that makes it impossible to ignore, at least for a test drive and serious think. Having not driven its biggest competitor and close twin yet, the Scion FR-S, we'll say for now that if Subaru can put a good sticker on the BRZ's window, then – as the engineer suggested to us – it needs nothing else.

Except maybe a little more power, because we're greedy like that.