The EZ30 / EZ36 H6 Powered 86 / BRZ [ZN6] Guide

This engine was completely off our radar until mid 2025 while researching a swap for our ZN6 Drift Car. Our E36 has a 2JZ so we didn't want to just do the same thing and more importantly didn't want a 1JZ/2JZ to throw off the balance of the ZN6 chassis with the light and low engine. In googling various H4 and H6 engines (considered a Porsche H6!) we found the Subaru H6 which is called the EZ30 / EZ36 in this video: LINK. Assuming you've watched the first few seconds, you can see why we're hooked just by sound and NA power alone. Looking up the cost got us more excited as they're $1,000 - $1,500 for the entire engine. We also see the FA24 swap is growing in popularity and as much as we love the FA24 and use it in our GR86 endurance car, they are a $5,000 dollar engine. We can get you more power and WAY better exhaust note for around the same amount of money and as seamless as the FA24 goes in.

• Engine Mounts (ALL EZ30/EZ36 H6 engine mounts line up with 86/BRZ subframe NO CUTTING)
• Transmission, Driveshaft, and Shifter
• Clutch / Flywheel
• Heater Hoses
• Radiator (different radiator hoses, we will have a product for this)
• AC Compressor (if 03-09 Phase 2 EZ30R is used)
• Engine Harness to Chassis Connector (the large square one above starter, wires do not line up...of course we have solution)

The items we're developing to make this beautifully plug and play:
• Fuel System (ALL 6AN, Filter, FPR, Flex Fuel, Stays, etc)
• Wiring / Stand Alone Link ECU
• Radiator Hoses
• Header(s)
• Swirl Pot & Coolant Overflow
• Forward Facing Intake Manifold (Optional, allows for OE airbox and trimmed intake arm / elbow of your choice)
• Plus a ton of other products we'll talk about shortly to make this swap Motorsport ready (Drift, Track, Rally...)

Now that you mostly grasp the ease and awesomeness all around let's talk basic power numbers. Quick engine option rundown:

Phase 1 EZ30D - 00-02 Subaru Legacy / Outback / Lancaster 3.0
(Do not use)
• No VVTi / AVCS
• Single Exhaust Ports
• Throttle Cable & Aluminum Intake Manifold (better plastic intake manifold bolts up)
• Bore: 89.2mm ... Stroke: 80mm... CR: 10.7:1

Phase 2 EZ30R - 03-09 Subaru Legacy / Outback / Tribeca 3.0R
• VVTi / AVCS
• 3 Exhaust Ports per side
• DBW & Plastic Intake Manifold
• Bore: 89.2mm ... Stroke: 80mm ... CR: 10.7:1

EZ36 - 08-14 Subaru Legacy / Outback / Tribeca 3.6R
• VVTi / AVCS
• 3 Exhaust Ports per side
• DBW & Plastic Intake Manifold
• Bore: 92mm ... Stroke: 91mm... CR: 10.5:1

Intake, Header, Exhaust, and Tune NA RWD approximate numbers (aka I/H/E/T). Don't forget 15-20% drivetrain loss when looking at AWD dyno #'s.
Phase 1 EZ30D - 200hp / 200tq
Phase 2 EZ30R - 255hp / 240tq
EZ36 - 265hp / 260tq

This is all the average of dozens of dyno graphs and 91-93 pump gas, there has been little to no ethanol tuning done. With the good compression ratio Chase Bays will be able to show the capability of ethanol and stand alone tuning. Can we break the 280hp mark on EZ36?!

We will make a long form video to explain the exact differences between each. For now I will keep it simple. The Phase 2 EZ30R should be and will be the engine we are catering to and will be the most popular. The engine is balanced, great timing chain design, great AVCS to get more hp/tq in the right places, and has the most runway for expansion into turbo w/ stock internals or built. The EZ36, as beastly as it seems, has asymmetrical  connecting rods to achieve 3.6 and one timing chain guide has been known to be problematic. We have this engine in our ZN6 and we are going to develop and make some fixes for it but looking back we should have done EZ30R (and are in another chassis). I wouldn't turbo it and expect it to take the abuse we give but we believe if left simple with I/H/E/T and the timing chain guide brace we're developing...this could be a good track / road race option. Again NO turbo. People put EZ30 crank & rods in to make it 3.2 but the EZ30 has the simpler chain design and it's always going to be better for boost abuse!

Turbo Hp/TQ #'s is a different approach, it's more of how much boost can it take and approximately how much will it make. Something that is extremely frustrating to me is when companies overstate the capability of an engine when selling engine swap products. This was a MASSIVE issue with the K24 RWD platform, companies were saying 400hp stock internals no problem and as a Honda guy I was saying nooo don't do it! The next few years all I saw was blown K24's over and over. Not cool. There is nothing wrong with saying they were happiest at 350hp that's still great power. So it's important you know we are not going to do that here.

The Phase 2 EZ30's at 10psi are making approx. 450hp/440tq RWD...which is extremely impressive. In our research we have found the head lifts over time with hard driving at 12psi and above. So let's stay safe with 10psi stock internals and ethanol...still very impressive and extremely usable power. WAY more than FA20 can do obviously, my built FA20 made 410hp at 22psi and blew up because the engine just cannot supply oil at the power number. We are also currently building a ZN6 Drift Car that will be Garrett G30-900 0.82AR turbo'd Phase 2 EZ30 with stock internals and just ARP head studs. I drive drift cars hard as heck so we will develop and find its true boundaries. Build thread on that soon.

Last stop before we build, engine weights. This will blow your mind.

FA20 / FA24 Engine Weight - 320 lbs
EZ36 Engine Weight - 344 lbs
2JZGTE Engine Weight - 496 lbs
Stock 86/BRZ Transmission - 92 lbs
R154 Transmission - 112 lbs

Engine stand weighs 57 lbs and pallet weighs 29lbs

EZ30/EZ36 Dimensions:
25” height bottom of oil pan to top of intake manifold
18.5” height bottom of oil pan to top of block
32.125” width at timing chain cover
30” width center of VCs
18.5” Center length (front to back)
17.25” back of cyl head to timing chain cover

FA20/FA24 Dimensions:
24” height bottom of oil pan to top of intake manifold
19” height bottom of oil pan to top of block
32” width at timing chain cover
30” width center of VCs
17.25” Center length (front to back)
15.25” back of cyl head to timing chain cover

EZ30 is only 2" longer, so you won't mess up the front weight or balance like a JZ or LS would.

Now that we've done the swap and developed the kit, we can provide pricing to show how much of a rip off the K24 swap is and be even CHEAPER than the FA24 swap with more runway for growth. We'll let the infographics do the talking:

Now, finally time to build! We are building two ZN6's. First one is NA with I/H/E plus E90 ethanol as an easy track car. We're developing all the swap parts on this one, tuning it, then taking it to Barber Motorsports Park and Polecat Training Center to track the crap out of it and get lap times. Then another ZN6 as mentioned before that will be a Garrett G30-900 Turbo with stock block and head studs and drifting it just to prove its capability. OF COURSE we have a vision board for the turbo version:

Now you'll install the new heater core hose connection, in our kits we provide a 5/8 - 16mm Barb Joiner. The production piece will be welded with an M8 hole instead of clamped as shown.

As far as the oil filter proximity. Initially the header design was so close we had to consider an Oil Filter Relocation Kit with the swap package. But after a few iterations we got it far enough away to make no difference in relocation plus we'll include an Oil Filter Heat Shield. They are this close on Subaru EJ engines so it's somewhat standard. We do what we can!