Where each one leads
Porsche Boxster
- Against cars of the same year, the Porsche Boxster comes out better in New York safety inspections (fails 68% less often than average) than the Subaru BRZ (fails 31% less often than average).
- New Porsche Boxster cars registered in Europe in 2022 average 19 g/km of CO₂ on the WLTP test, against 160 for the Subaru BRZ in 2022.
Subaru BRZ
Ahead on none of the like-for-like measures.
Too close to call: official combined fuel use, Canada (l/100 km).
Only measures that do not depend on how many cars were sold: pass and failure rates against cars of the same age, ratings, fuel use and CO₂. How we compare
At a glance
| Porsche Boxster | Subaru BRZ | |
|---|---|---|
| Model years in the US safety record | 1989–2015 | 2013–2024 |
| New cars registered in Europe | 16,534 (2010–2022) | 3,134 (2012–2022) |
| Licensed in the United Kingdom | 21,689 | 856 |
| On the road in the Netherlands | 2,783 | — |
| In traffic in Finland | 283 | — |
EEA new-car registrations (CC BY 4.0) · DVLA licensed vehicles (OGL v3.0) · RDW (CC0) · Traficom (CC BY 4.0) · generations: Wikidata (CC0).
Reliability and problems
| Porsche Boxster | Subaru BRZ | |
|---|---|---|
| UK MOT first-time pass rate | 82% | — |
| … against cars of the same age | +29% | — |
| New York safety inspections failed | 0.7% | 1.1% |
| … against cars of the same year | −68% | −31% |
| Illogical odometer records (NL) | 7.0% | — |
| US owner complaints | 164 | 101 |
| Most complaints about | Engine and engine cooling | Engine |
| Model year with most complaints | 1998 (32) | 2013 (64) |
| US recall campaigns | 8 | 5 |
| Manufacturer service bulletins | 3,068 | 1,824 |
| NHTSA defect investigations | 1 | — |
Complaint, recall and bulletin counts grow with the number of cars sold and are not adjusted for it. UK MOT: DVSA anonymised MOT results (OGL v3.0); New York: DMV inspections; complaints, recalls, bulletins and investigations: NHTSA (public domain); odometer: RDW (CC0).
Safety
| Porsche Boxster | Subaru BRZ | |
|---|---|---|
| NHTSA overall rating | — | 5★ (2016) |
NHTSA New Car Assessment Program, most recent rated model year (public domain).
Fuel, emissions and price
| Porsche Boxster | Subaru BRZ | |
|---|---|---|
| Official combined fuel use, Canada | 9.4 l/100 km (2019) | 9.6 l/100 km (2026) |
| Official CO₂ of new cars in Europe | 19 g/km | 160 g/km |
| Average power of new cars in Europe | 347 kW (466 hp) | 159 kW (213 hp) |
| Average mass in running order | 1,812 kg | 1,301 kg |
| Dutch list price when new (median) | €88,144 | — |
| Average odometer in Finland | 140,000 km | — |
Canada: NRCan Fuel Consumption Ratings, most frugal version of the latest year (OGL Canada). Europe: EEA monitoring of new-car CO₂ and on-board fuel meters (OBFCM), CC BY 4.0. Price: RDW catalogue price (CC0). Finland: Traficom (CC BY 4.0).