I found the GT86 quite a comfortable cruiser when I had one. As a GT car it's good. A lot of the fittings are the same as the Impreza, e.g. the brakes are from a WRX.
There doesn't seem to be a lot which goes wrong with them.
It's not a GT car, a Grand Tourer is a big heavy long coupe designed to waft about fast in luxury and comfort but not handle the best, such as a soarer/supra/6-8 series/front engined v12 ferari's etc etc...
A gt86/brz is a sports car, 1 of VERY few that exist today, hence why it is the size of a 90's sports car and weighs 1236kg when released in 2012-15, vs being massive/heavy like the awful obsese land yachts that exist today...
If you look online at ones for sale even excluding the original 2012-13 recalled engine issue ones, you'll find even to this day they're still spec'ed with the wrong oil which ends up damaging the engines over time.
Regardless of it being a 2L/2.4L
They have 2 major issues, the first being they stupidly didn't use a sump gasket and instead used a stupid amount of sealant, which ends up blocking the oil pickup pipes strainer and those killing the engine, along with constantly circulating around the engine/blocking up oil pathways and other things...
This is then paired with the fact the stock oil pick up pipe is too short and an inferior design, as with all subaru's, so any harsh cornering causes them to run majorly starved of oil, pair that with people drifting them, being rear wheel drive and easy to have fun with even on stock power, and this makes for a nightmare grenade waiting to happen, hence why they're so cheap to buy on 30-60-100k and why most have blown up anywhere between 60-100k.
IF caught early on a low mileage example, this is easily fixed by aftermarket oil pick up/aftermarket baffled sump kit which is not cheap, and you will need to take the sump off twice to check it doesn't have any silicone from the original oil pan still circulating in the engine.
You will also have to be aware as with any boxer be it porsche/subaru etc the 'tins' will leak on either bank and means engine dropped or raised via either a lift or some creative fun with an engine hoist and disconnecting most things for clearance, there is also a seal at the rear that loves to leak oil due to the nature of the design, which IS an engine out/dropped/raised activity...
If you want easy power, for the 2L N/A, delete the secondary cats and get a TOMEI unequal length manifold/up pipe and a proper remap done on a dyno - no silly fake gain numbered 'flash map' junk that never makes what it claims to, get it done properly, with the UEL manifold swapped it will sound correct and like a boxer again, you will make around 210-230bhp with a decent exhaust.
This also solves the torque dip loss around 4.5-5.5-6k you will have experienced. Due to them being 1236kg (the 2012-16 models) depending on spec, makes them very quick for their power once remapped. This has transformed my mates 2016 brz. The handling paired with the obvious handling mods/tyres, makes it awesome to drive for the power to weight it has.
The best option if you want more power is to supercharge them, safety wise, and not go above 280-360bhp, and have it mapped so it doesn't make all the power at the low end, as that is what blows these engines to pieces, they do NOT like extra low end torque, if you turbo them, you will loose the correct sounding engine that the UEL manifold fixes due to the type of turbo manifold runners used, also bare in mind with a turbo again it is very important you don't go mad with something too powerful or that spools below 3.5/4k or you will blow it too pieces very quickly.
Obviously if you have a 2.4L FA24, it'll come turboed out the box, and is lower compression so a lot better, but they still as with all subaru's do not like big power unless forged/many thousands spent, they will do 400-500bhp for a bit but WILL go bang.
The best way to make them handle way better is to bin the awful tyres they come with and fit adjustable fatter anti rollbars, and ideally coilovers - this makes them one of the best modern handling cars there is!
Also bare in mind the brz and gt86 handle completely differently, on purpose due to different anti rollbar sizes/tensions and iirc spring rates/alignment, so it depends on your driving style, which will suit you more, just drive both, see what you like - or just do the aforementioned handling mods and set it up to how best suits your driving style.
I really wanted one of these, but the damage seems to be way too far set in for a 2nd hand one due to the issues i've mentioned, so it is just a matter of time before they go bang...
This was never fixed regardless of generation, it is literally just cost saving/production time speedup that causes this laziness, if they'd spec'ed the correct oil and learnt from the racing/rally heritage of theirs that their pickup pipes/oil strainers always caused these issues and just used a gasket on the sump, this wouldn't be a problem - however as you'll expect the rally engine obviously does use the correct parts to fix this, and often when they don't they'd rather just swap in a new engine per race versus rebuilding it, which is why if you ever look at a impreza race/rally car, you'll see the smash the chassis legs in with hammers so that they can do quick spark plug changes/work on the car easier - next time you see one at a car show/event/in the pits at a racetrack with open pits, go look for yourself
I have literally seen for myself that this issue still exists, even in the newest brz, a lot have died in america for example already, even with the revised 2.4L engine, it still isn't perfect. Such a shame of a wicked chassis.
If it was me, I'd buy an older one, and a spare engine and with the money you save, have it forged/fully built by an engine builder and swap it in when it's done/uprate all the bushings to poly and do the suspension mods, that's what my friends have done, makes for a wicked car then, and you'll have a fair chunk left over from avoiding getting screwed buying a brand new one loosing money as you walk out the door, or buying a newish second hand model...
I know this from personal experience as someone in the motortrade having worked for many manufacturers/workshops... I'm very into restoring classics/track days/drifting/modifying/upgrading/maintaing my own stuff etc etc...
Many of my mates have subarus, one of my best mates has 5 GC8 classic Impreza's (due to the hilarious reliability/glass gearbox/bottom end, and has made 2 out of the 5 that still constantly need to be maintained/babied, his daily is now a 2016 BRZ, he is going to get the baffled sump/oil pick up pipe kit aforementioned due to this, and since getting his on around 36k miles he has already ran it on the now correct oil vs the wrongly recommended oem spec, we are very versed in the motorsport/restoration/track/drift scene and do all our own work, basically all my mates have units/lifts...
Ofcourse the internet will tell you all this if you look in the right places, i.e. people that actually work on their own cars vs pay someone/quote google, but you will find a fair few that have had to pay huge bills to others/had failures to, however the internet will also tell you everythings fine due to ignorance, but that's the difference between someone that actually understands engines/mechanics/cars and maintains their own cars vs pays someone/finances cars and moves them on with zero care or love.
I certainly would not blindly get bent over for a brand new model with no proof of reliablity/years of use/mileage racked up, documenting any failures/faults/recalls... That only ends one way, debt/loss at your expense, then they'll take it in and offer you nothing when it's broken and out of warranty, and sell you something else overpriced, then when you leave laugh at you and fit another engine/parts and put it straight back on the forecourt for a disgusting price! That's why we call them 'main stealers'.
