Best Oil Coolers for the BRZ and GR86: 5 Top Picks Compared
An oil cooler is the first serious track-day upgrade for a BRZ or GR86, because sustained high rpm is exactly where the FA24's oil temperatures climb and stay. The best kits for the 2022–2026 cars: the Perrin Oil Cooler Tuner Kit ($463.25) is the budget core-and-lines entry, the Mishimoto Oil Cooler Kit ($696.95) is the complete mainstream kit, its Thermostatic version ($750.95) adds cold-weather manners, the Perrin Oil Cooler Kit ($896.75) is the premium complete option, and the HKS S-Type ($2,180.00) is the Japanese motorsport flagship.
Why These Cars Want One
The second-generation twins make their power high in the rev range, and track sessions hold them there for twenty minutes at a time. Oil is both lubricant and coolant inside the engine, and as its temperature climbs its viscosity and film strength fall — the two things protecting bearings at 7,000 rpm. A front-mounted air-to-oil cooler gives the oil a radiator of its own. Street-only cars driven gently do not need one; cars that see track days, autocross summers or forced induction are the audience, and our BRZ and GR86 modification guide places cooling alongside brakes in the track-prep order for exactly this reason.
1. Perrin Oil Cooler Tuner Kit — $463.25
Perrin [22-25 BRZ/GR86] Oil Cooler Tuner Kit — $463.25. Perrin's tuner format is the value entry: the core hardware at the lowest price in this guide, aimed at owners comfortable completing the install their own way. If your budget is staged across a season, this is where the build starts.
2. Mishimoto Oil Cooler Kit, Silver — $696.95
Mishimoto [22-26 BRZ/GR86] Oil Cooler Kit - Silver — $696.95. The mainstream complete kit for the 2022–2026 cars, also listed in black at the same price. Mishimoto is the volume cooling brand in this catalog — its radiators anchor our WRX guides too — and this is the kit most second-gen owners will land on.
3. Mishimoto Thermostatic Oil Cooler Kit — $750.95
Mishimoto [22-26 BRZ/GR86] Thermostatic Oil Cooler Kit - Silver — $750.95. The same Mishimoto kit with a thermostatic sandwich plate, in silver or black. The thermostat matters for cars that also commute in winter: it lets the oil reach operating temperature promptly instead of being over-cooled on every cold drive, which is its own wear problem. The $54 step over the standard kit is the one to take on a year-round car.
4. Perrin Oil Cooler Kit — $896.75
Perrin [22-26 BRZ, 22-26 GR86] Oil Cooler Kit — $896.75. Perrin's complete-kit tier for the same cars, above its own tuner kit. You are paying for the finished, matched package from a Subaru specialist — the pick for owners who want one brand's engineering through the whole install rather than a parts-bin build.
5. HKS S-Type Oil Cooler Kit — $2,180.00
HKS 22-23 BRZ / 22-23 GR86 S-Type Oil Cooler Kit | 15004-AT014 — $2,180.00. The flagship: HKS's side-mount S-Type, listed for the 2022–2023 cars. HKS prices sit where decades of Japanese motorsport development put them, and this is the kit for built, boosted or competition cars where the cooler is part of a system rather than a single upgrade.
First-Generation Cars
FA20 owners are covered too: our catalog lists the Mishimoto oil cooler kit for the 2013–2020 BRZ, FR-S and 86 at $714.95, the Perrin kit for the same cars at $884.00, and a Cusco water-to-oil cooler at $675.00 for owners who prefer the coolant-coupled approach. The reasoning is identical — sustained rpm is what asks for the cooler, whatever the generation — and the big brake kit guide is the other half of a twin's track-day prep.
Finish the Look
Our own JDMuscle [13-21 FR-S/BRZ/86] Carbon Fiber Mirror Covers — $189.00 are the quick exterior touch for the first-generation cars while the cooler goes on the second-gen.