For 25th of November 2018
I shopped around and reached out to several different places for an autoshop...I read many reviews and called to find out prices, how long, and what they're schedule is like. The yelps schedule are old and wrong...google reviews knows the autoshop correct schedule. I was looking for an autoshop that has worked on several 86s... I learned a lot of autoshops worked on week days..I can't go to any of them due to how far my job is by the time I come home and try to go to any of the autoshops, its heavy traffic hahaha. I wanted a peace of mind that it will be done right. By pure luck and curiosity, I decided to check on the forum, ftclub86, I saw a post under Norcal and this began a magical moment for my 2013 Asphalt Scion FRS to be refined a bit.
What my car will be worked on;
1. AP Racing Sprint Big Brake Kit.
2. Spiegler SS Brake Lines installed on 4 wheels
3. Change Brake Fluid, RADI-CAL™ R1
4. Oil and Filter Change, Mobil 0W-20 Advanced Fuel Economy and Toyota Filter
We chatted through Yelp and discussed about price and to schedule an appointment on 8th of December. Lucky for me and I'm very grateful that they opened on Sunday to help me out! I appreciate them so yes I'm definitely being baised about it... Plus it made my girlfriend very happy hahaha...Anyways I spoke with Kevin who helped schedule an appointment on Sunday via texting as I was on a light rail heading towards San Francisco to the AT&T Sprint Stadium to do a Spartan Race Sprint in order to earn my Spartan "Trifecta". Which I did finish and got my Spartan Trifecta under 2 months.
We scheduled for 2PM Pacific.
Sunday arrived and I was getting ready to drive to their place. They were few miles away from my home and I got a little bit lost as I was confuse to where they were as I followed google maps. I parked at some spot. There were no signs about them. Lucky for me, a fancy looking mean machine light grey car rolled by and parked few parking spots away from me. Two gentlemen came out of the car. Kevin was the passenger who came by to greet. I was assured, I was at the right spot. Kevin drove my car into their garage and parked on-top of this blue car lift made of steel perhaps? Well..I wish I had that in my own garage! I grabbed the parts out of my car with the help of Kevin and Mike(Mechanic) and Mike who began to organize the parts how he wanted to set up and prepare for the great change!
It was definitely cold, I was still sore from the Spartan Race. Kevin offered me to spend time in the room to play a car racing game in a fancy car like simulator with racing seats and wheel as a controller. However I declined.
I wanted to hang out with the mechanic, Mike, to watch him how he does things and ask few questions to understand and why he does it. I wanted to learn and see. He was all right with me watching. I appreciate, he lets me watch. Mike is definitely passionate about working on cars as he explain since he was little he's been working on them. He passionately talks about driving and gave some advice when he tracked his car. I don't know too much about cars the mechanics and the terms to say or use...I know, I love to drive and I have a fiery passion for it.
Mike, removed the lugnuts on all the weels, removed the tires, remove the front brakes, installed the AP racing Sprint brakes, installed the Spiegler lines on the front and backed, changed the brake fluid, and changed the oil and filter last. Mike made it looked very easy as I watched what tools he used and techniques. I see torque wrench, break wrench, and removing the stock brakes using another screw that the stock brakes for this particular has with the two small holes that help pop the rotors out and not all manufacturers does that. I learned providing some type of lubricant helps prevent it from being stuck so tight like that again, sealers that seals the brake fluids tight, tools that made an oil filter change so magically easy compared to what I did last time using a tool that has a belt to wrap it around and remove the oil filter at a strange angle, last but not least brake fluid change requiring two people one person to pump the the brakes to drain the fluid and the other gathering the fluid and removing any air in the brake fluid lines. Overall, I thought it was fun to watch and a great learning experience.
I met with one other person...Justin maybe? I don't recall he was the one pumping the gas and helped with lifting the boxes back into the trunk filled with car stock parts. It was definitely much more heavier than the Sprint brakes....
From the 1 week of driving the car...I've notice it has a harder bite to it. I was able to reduce speeds so fast with just a little light touch of braking. I notice a significant lightness to my car. I was able to drive fast and hear a lesser dip of power band as I accelerate my car. I was able to get to 60 much more quicker. Maybe its just me, I notice my car stays longer driving constant without slowing down when I'm not braking or accelerating if you know what I mean. I did find one bad side to having aftermarket brakes....I had a high screech squeal in town. I was like oh goodness probably many people are looking at me wondering if my car had issues or something. I knew from reading from the forums and listening to other people's experience that the rotors and brake pads needs to get hot in order not to squeal. I can feel when I brake I can feel the feedback more thanks to the Spiegler. I feel much more confident! hahahah I love it and I'm glad I was able to get a mod that I wanted for a looooong time.
Anyways back to the review, Thank you very much The Driveway for getting out of your way in your busy schedule to help me out I appreciate it a lot and I'm very grateful. Thank you for helping me make a change to one of my many goals for this car! Thank you!
For now I haven't checked my grammar or anything like that..Just wrote it. Forgive me, I hope I got the names right! Maybe I'll come back and fix it. For now I'm done with my review hehe. Sorry I have no photos, I believe Driveway has them.