Asking the question that I already know the answer to. Are the engines the same?
 

Was ordering some parts at the local Subaru spare parts dealer and got talking. Parts guy asked what my DD was and I got around to saying I had an 86 on order and that the BRZ had a longer wait list so went with the Toyota.

He said that the BRZ had a forged bottom end. I replied that it was not the case.

He called the factory trained guy over who confirmed that he had been told at the training that the Subaru BRZ had a forged bottom end which the Toyota did not. This would be to handle the STI forced induction that would come.
He also stated that this was why all the tuners were developing turbo kits on the Subaru models.

Just told him I thought he was wrong but it's been bugging me. I don't like to give out wrong information and don't like it when others do either.

So.......Am I wrong or is he? I don't have a problem admitting when I am incorrect. :happy0180:

I believe that is all bull
No one in a dealership will have a damn clue of what's to come .. Most of these dealerships didn't even know anything about the FRS/BRZ until they got their hands on one ..

I-Tapatalk

Factory trained guy? Trained in being stupid I suppose.

The first sales guy I talked to said they hard parts in stock that could be installed before delivery that would bring the hp up to 300... I wouldn't trust what most dealership people tell you, most can be way out to lunch.

The first clue that he's wrong is that most people haven't been developing turbo kits on just BRZ's, it's split pretty evenly between the models.

It is possible that some of the stock internals are forged, but they would be identical regardless of what badge the car wears.

Had a good chat with my local Subaru dealer parts guy today when I bought an oil filter. Subaru Australia don't have much of an idea what's going on yet. The parts guys only have listings on consumables like belts and filters etc. He also asked me how many parts were interchangeable between the two...
As it happens my 86 has a different oilfilter to the batch of BRZs delivered to Aus. Apparently after a certain engine number the filter swaps from a 15208AA130 to a 15208AA160. But this has to do with when it was produced rather than whether its a Subaru or Toyota badged car.

Never put much stock into anything a dealer/mechanic/sales/parts guy says - the dealers in most cases are no more in the loop than anybody else. Sadly, there is no actual direct line of insider information that they have - their sources of information are the same as ours. Hell, our Japanese office is a Subaru Dealer in Japan, but we get no real information out of the dealer. Most of our advance info comes from other sources.

And to answer the question, absolutely no difference between the motors - or the rest of the drivetrain for that matter. Same engines come off the same line.

I know most of them are pretty awful but there are some good ones out there, i've got some awards to prove it.

Oh and please don't group salesmen in with the rest of us, they are so freaking stupid sometimes.

Always remember the *majority* see you as just a sales number.

There are *some* dealerships that employ auto enthusiasts. Those are the places your best chance of not having your warranty voided due to a forced induction upgrade.

Do your research, don't trust hearsay.

I remember being a little kid and correcting people at the dealer.

Not all salesmen/techs are the same. It depends on the person. Some are just salespeople/techs there collecting a check, and then there are the enthusiasts that actually know their stuff.

Most of my dealership connections are with those enthusiasts.

hi turdinator - nice name lol,

with regards to the 130 to 160 change in part number, ive been doing some research on this myself, and the reason why earlier 86/brzs came with the 130 filter was that the 160 wasnt ready yet, so the 86/brzs that came off the line were fitted with the 130.

the correct filter is the 160, so all new filters fitted should be the 160.

in america there was a TSB that the 130 will be replaced by the 15A (equiv to the 160), which in terms of diameter and valve specifications is the same as the 160, however the 160 is specified in japan and made by tokyo roki, where as the 15A is made by FRAM for America and is not as well built as the 160.

as a side note, The Tokyo Roki 130 also has a FRAM equivalent which is the 12A (i think you can see the part numbe rpattern), again similar in diameter, and is used in America.

SO to summarize, the 15A/160 is the correct filter for our FA20 engines, and its also used on the FB20 subaru engines. I believe the change from 130 to 160 is to do with the 160 filter being able to fill the crank journals earlier on restarting the car, where as the larger volume 130s arent as good at doing this - though I wasnt able to confirm this fact entirely from the person who posted this rationale.