Okay so last Thursday night I was deep down that YouTube rabbit hole again, scrolling through old car meet clips, right? And bam, this pristine silver BRZ zooms past the camera. Looked slick. Made me pause. Then another clip, different angle, same color maybe? But something felt… off. Was it the light, or did that silver look different?
My “Oh Crap” Moment
I brew a stupid-strong coffee and drag my laptop into the garage. My own BRZ sits there – a 2013 launch model. Pearl White, yeah, but I know it inside out. I fire up search engines, hitting every forum I know: FT86Club, Reddit, even weird FB groups. Typing frantically: “BRZ silver changes”, “silvercoat BRZ years”, “silver BRZ differences”. You know the drill.
Instant Headache.
Finding consistent info? Like pulling teeth. One post swears all silver is identical. Another guy rants his ’17 looks “more grey”. Subaru’s own brochures online? Old ones missing, specs vague. Typical. This wasn’t gonna be clean specs. Time for boots-on-the-ground checking.
My Garage Became The Lab
Sunday = car spotting day. Hit up three different meets across town, notebook in hand like a dork.
- Target Acquired: Spotted a clean ’15 Silver Ignition Silver BRZ. Walked right up. “Mind if I snap a few pics? Comparing paints!” Most guys were cool.
- Hold Up… Parked mine beside it later. Garage lights on full blast. My 2013 Silver Ignition Silver (yes, same name!) just… popped different. More shimmer? Deeper? Hard to pin. The ’15 looked flatter, maybe slightly colder. Very subtle. You’d miss it parked apart.
- Another Data Point: Found a sharp ’19 * BRZ (which is basically metallic charcoal-silver). THAT was obviously different – way darker, way more grey.
- The Real Confusion: Some owners swore their 2013 looked like the 2017s. Others said no way. Clearcoat fading? Sun damage? Detailing products? Total mess. Pictures online under different lighting? Useless.
What I Figured Out (Sort Of)
- Early Years (2013-2016?): This “Silver Ignition Silver” seemed to have maybe more pearl/metal flake? Brighter in direct sun. Least consistent info though.
- Middle Years (Maybe 2017-2020?): Same name, “Silver Ignition Silver”, but looked possibly slightly less vibrant? More of a standard metallic silver. Less pearl pop? Maybe a formula tweak?
- Later Show (* 2019): This is NOT the same silver. “*” was a special launch paint on Performance Pack cars. Darker, smokier grey-silver. Unique code. No confusion there.
So, mostly just the Silver Ignition Silver playing games. That subtle shift somewhere around the middle. Was it 2017? 2018? No solid proof, just vibes and owner reports.
Why It Drives Me Nuts
This is why forums are chaos. People yell “THEY’RE ALL THE SAME!” or “TOTALLY DIFFERENT!” Truth is somewhere boring in between. Tiny paint formulation tweaks over years, aging effects on existing cars, crap lighting… it makes finding a perfect match paint touch-up a nightmare. Looking for consistent pics? Forget it. You gotta see cars side-by-side in real sun to even have a chance.
Bottom line? The regular silver changed enough to make eagle-eyed owners argue, but not enough for Subaru to bother announcing it. Classic. Still love the dang car though.