The 1,998cc boxer four-cylinder engine is extremely durable, even when it's covered high mileages. Toyota was confident enough to supply a five-year warranty, so problems should be rare.
Get a supercharger to make the scenery blur!
A full service record is a must with these cars, whether that's at a dealer or specialist. One point to note is routine maintenance at Toyota dealers tends to be less expensive than using a franchised Subaru outlet.
On a test drive, listen and feel for any misfires that will need a revised ECU map to cure. With the car parked up, look for any signs of oil leaking from the right-hand cylinder head gasket. Another problem to search for is a noisy fuel pump, which will need to be replaced if it's grumbling.
Gearboxes in manual and automatic forms are strong and trouble-free, and the clutch in the manual should last for 40,000 miles easily in normal driving. Tuned cars put more strain on the clutch but the transmissions cope very ably with greater power. However, be sure the manual 'box slots into second without any resistance when it's cold. If it does baulk, a fluid change should help or it could mean the clutch needs to be realigned.
A free flow exhaust and ECU remap are the usual first ports of call to upgrade the BRZ/GT86. They don't offer much in the way of power gains, with around 7-10hp likely, but they help the engine spin more freely and give a little extra low-down urge to the engine. An HKS, Blitz or similar air filter also helps here, but mainly gives the engine a little more induction noise.
Freer-breathing exhaust a popular mod
Some owners have removed the catalytic convertors to help with engine breathing. They report the car still passes the MoT emissions test without any trouble, but it's certainly worth hanging on to these parts to refit if needed and sell with the car.
If you go for a Milltek cat-back exhaust system, you'll get a better sound and, with the above ECU and air filter changes, should see power climb to around 215hp.
For more power, you'll be looking at turbo- or supercharging. There are several bolt-on kits on the market that will take power to 300hp, which is the safe limit with standard engine internals. Beyond that, 500hp is possible, but it comes with a trade-off in usability and engine life.
PHer's view:
"My car was fitted with bits from Fensport when I bought it and it's just about perfect with 220hp. It even returns 35mpg on the commute."
Davey Spence