Aussie allocation of anniversary BRZ sold out

YOU’RE too late if you wanted to get hold of a Subaru BRZ 10th Anniversary Edition as the Australian allocation is sold out.

Just 150 examples of the commemorative coupe are to be assembled for Australia, with eager enthusiasts quickly snapping up the cars in just over a week.

Since the new-generation Subaru BRZ was launched in Australia it has attracted keen interest with a wide range of customers keen to get their hands on one of these sleek sports coupes, especially as its Toyota GR86 twin lobbed nearly a year later.

It resulted in a complete sell-out of first allocation of the new BRZ before any vehicles had arrived in the country.

This trend has continued with the limited-run BRZ 10th Anniversary Edition.

Subaru Australia managing director Blair Read said: "This is an incredible and well-deserved reception for this special model that celebrates 10 wonderful years of Subaru BRZ."

Buyers will have to cool their heels as first deliveries of the anniversary model are anticipated to commence from February 2023.

On another less happy note, some owners of the BRZ and GR86 in the United States have run into troubled waters with their cars potentially suffering catastrophic engine failure due to the ingestion of RTV silicone that appears to have been used too liberally when sealing the oil sump at the factory.

According to publication Road and Track (R&T), a number of US owners of the two cars are “turning to independent workshops to fix this potentially engine-blowing RTV issue”.

R&T says a workshop that specializes in the “Toyobaru” platform has found several cars with the same excessive RTV silicone problem. 

The Toyota-Subaru twins are as popular in the US as they are here due to a number of factors, not the least being their ability to drive to a track, run competitively at a track day then drive home.

But according to R&T, more and more owners are discovering a potential flaw in the manufacturing process that could grenade their engines, especially if they’re used on track, as both manufacturers advertise.

R&T says it all started in July when a 2022 Toyota GR86 owner published a lengthy text post detailing an engine failure on his car. A breakdown of the engine revealed a rod bearing had failed due to oil starvation caused by excessive gasket sealant, otherwise known as RTV (room temperature vulcanizing) silicone, clogging the oil pickup tube at the bottom of the engine.

The owner’s local dealership network denied a warranty claim on the engine, refusing to rebuild or replace the motor because a representative found a photo of the car drifting online, says R&T.

But the GR86 is advertised as a car that could be taken to the track and driven at and beyond the limit, so the decision by Toyota not to cover the owner’s engine claim unsurprisingly “set the internet ablaze,” says R&T.

Toyota relented and eventually replaced the engine but the highly publicised incident highlighted what turned out to be a potential issue in the manufacturing process with the GR86 and its mechanically similar sibling, the Subaru BRZ, says R&T’s report.

The factory uses RTV silicone in place of traditional gaskets in places like the timing cover, cam carriers, and the oil pan. Apparently the problem is that the factory could be using an excessive amount of silicone when assembling the engine, allowing dried chunks to separate from the mating surfaces and make their way through the engine.

While most of these chunks are small enough to be circulated through the engine and caught by the oil filter, bigger chunks can get caught in the oil pickup tube strainer, cause blockage, and starve the engine of oil – causing catastrophic engine failure.

A number of US automotive repair shops have reported “more than 20” instances of BRZ and GR86 engines with RTV blockages in the oil pickup, according to R&T.

Ways to check for the problem include inserting a borescope into the bottom of the engine to inspect the pickup tube for blockage or and cutting open the engine’s oil filter to inspect for excessive chunks of RTV silicone.

According to R&T, this excessive RTV silicone issue is not exactly a new thing. There has been documentation of original BRZ and 86 owners experiencing the same or similar issues with their cars going back years.

R&T says: “Judging by these latest discoveries, it’s likely Subaru and Toyota didn’t do enough to address the potential problems while developing the new car’s assembly process, and now more of the Toyobaru community is aware of the dangers.”