Congrats. BRZs are fun cars. I had a good amount of seat time in one on the track and they handle extremely well and are fun as hell. The advantage you have over the other Subaru DI engines is yours has the Toyota FI which doesn't have the carbon build up issues and is overall the better DI setup.
As a 05, 09, 17 WRX, and now 20 STi owner, ignore all the hate out there and negativity towards the brand.
However, you must:
- Maintain the damn car, do scheduled maintenance, use OEM parts.
- If you decide to do performance mods. Don't go cheap, do your research, get professional tunes from an actual tuner.
- Absolutely do not use an off the shelf tune.
Ringland failure, thrown rods, shot bearings, and blown headgaskets are 99% morons with bolt-ons and no pro-tunes or not maintaining the car. Otherwise, its kids being stupid and literally beating the living shit daily on the car, then crying why its broken. Cause they bought a car they couldn't afford to begin with.
For my STi, I'm perfectly happy with it stock at 315BHP. It's meant for curves. It's AWD drivetrain is real and not some fake as electronic gimmick. Front and Rear LSDs with a center controlled Electromagnetic Center Diff is very analog and with its 6-speed gearbox with direct linkage and a short throw like butter.
For the BRZ and STi, its all about the driving experience. This is what most ppl and manufacturers forget out there. Massive HP is nothing compared to the actual driving experience and input and feel of a car.
This is why the Miata/BRZ driver is having tons of fun on windy backroads with a stock car. They handle like a dream.