Scubaru's Whiteout FR-S

[Scubaru]

This has been long overdue for me, so I figured since I'm doing some pretty serious modding here lately, this was the perfect time to start a journal!



I bought my car back in March 2014 from the dealership I work at. The very first thing on my mind even before I purchased the car was to get the infamous subaru boxer rumble out of the car. My very first purchase was a JDL UEL catless header, Perrin overpipe, Invidia catless resonated front pipe, and an Invidia N1 catback exhaust, followed closely behind with a purchase of a OFT with some Vishnu tuned goodness!



New exhaust system in the foreground, stock exhaust in the background



My first start up video I did won't upload for whatever reason. I've posted this video before (sorry for the redundancy) but it's all I have for now.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAOCl3jF2uE"]2013 FR-S Full Exhaust/93 tune - YouTube[/ame]


*Edit - Almost forgot I changed my tranny and diff fluid about a month ago. I drained both the tranny and diff fluid. I had only planned on changing the tranny fluid due to some notchy shifting into 2nd, but figured I might as well change the diff fluid. After seeing the drain plugs, I'm glad I did. Ended up swapping for some Motul gear 300.

Transmission drain plug:


...and the diff drain plug:


Obviously, I highly recommend anyone to change out their stock fluids ASAP. I feel it's the best preventative maintenance procedure I've done on the car so far. Motul gear 300 is worth the dollar!

Anyways, I took a hiatus from the mod scene for a while to sort of catch my breath from purchasing a car, and an exhaust system/OFT so I could work on paying a few bills. The way I work it's either I don't purchase anything for months (or even years), or when I do purchase it's an all or nothing type mentality.

That being said, here's what I've recently purchased:

17x8 Rota Titan's from Wheeldude wrapped in Falken Azenis FK453's:



Almost forgot about ordering hub rings. Good thing I had Zoeb @wheeldude on the line to remind me. Thanks dude!



And last but definitely not least, I got these free cardboard inserts with the Rota insignia posted on them. Badass.



I also have these items on order:
TRD springs/sway bars from my dealership (can't beat the discount!)
Sprintex S/C and a big thanks to Dewey @ THmotorsports for helping me make the decision!

I currently have my wheels/tires on the vehicle, but I'll post some pics after I get the springs/sway bars installed.

The S/C will be here mid next week, but will probably take some time for the installation due to a need to schedule an appointment to have it tuned.

This car is mainly going to be DD'd on the street, with minimal track time. Not trying to do anything massively crazy to it, just trying to make it how I want it to be!

Stay tuned!

[Scubaru]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the forum. Between the car, work, and things in my personal life going on, I haven't had the opportunity to catch up!

Just a heads up- If you only want to see visuals of the car before and after the mods, look at the picture and skip to the video at the bottom. If you want a more thorough review of my experience and impressions, continue reading!

I left off the last post with getting my wheels that day, and waiting for the TRD springs/sway bars to arrive.

I installed everything within a 3 day period of each other. The TRD springs give it a stock like ride quality, which I really wanted to retain. I love the looks from the drop with the Rota wheels. It really made the exterior sharp!



Considering I did the springs/sway bars and wheel/tire combo together, I can't say if I gained any benefit from the TRD sway bars. I assumed it to be a good idea considering I'm running the same brand spring with a stickier tire, (I also got an outstanding deal for them). I will say the car feels very neutral pushing the car through a corner under aggressive driving, but have no data to say the sway bars were beneficial to this setup. It hasn't negatively impacted the drivability of the car on the street, so I'll just keep telling myself it was a good purchase and move on!

About a week or so after the install, my Sprintex S/C arrived! I got a great deal from Dewey @ THMotorsports on Cyber Monday, and I was very pleased with the packaging and overall support from him. I look forward to shop with him in the future!

P.S. - I would have more pictures, but my phone can't hold much data. Whomp.

I made an appointment with Dan @ Mach V Motorsports to have them do the install and tune my car. I would've installed the supercharger myself, but with very little tuning experience under my belt, I figured it was best to let the professionals just take care of everything considering I live 4 hours away from his shop.

I stayed the night in Sterling, and arrived at their shop at 9 A.M. for the install/tune. Install was completed around 12:30, and the rest was spent tuning the car on the dyno until about 6 P.M. I highly recommend Dan's shop. Extremely knowledgeable, extraordinary customer service (always checked on me to make sure I was okay while I waited), and very friendly staff. It was a pleasure to spend my whole day there!

Now, about the supercharger. WOW!

Of course I expected a power increase, but the initial feel of the pedal is what caught me off guard. Working the throttle pedal @ about 10% with the S/C feels about how 75% would had on the old setup in a higher gear as low as 2k rpms. This was super important to me considering this is my DD. Fuel mileage was the least of my concern, but anyone who might be wondering, I got 37.4 MPG on the way there, and 34.5 on the way back straight interstate. A sufficient sacrifice.

After getting used to the new pedal feel, I decided to run it on a few mountain roads. As expected, the car retained its original character! Any type of oversteer that was encountered was easily corrected. The only major difference being I can hold a higher gear going through the corners without having to downshift entering the corner to stay in the powerband. Even in a lower gear at a higher point in the RPM range, the power is not overwhelming at all. It feels as if the power/chassis combo has finally balanced itself out!

Mission accomplished.

If you're looking for a big increase in power without ruining what this car was initially built to do, then I highly recommend this supercharger!

Now, dat power doe...

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg_yQRLoTI8"]Sprintex Supercharged FR-S - YouTube[/ame]



I will be sure to post some more pictures!





03/08/2015

I was finally able to get the car out and get her cleaned up considering February had some crazy cold/snowy weather.

Here's some updated pics! The car just turned over 14k miles. I've had the supercharger on for a little over 1k miles, and I've had zero issues with it so far. Couldn't be happier!

Just had my 2nd Scion Service Boost completed. I'm putting some money to the side for a clutch and, if I have some left over cash, a Perrin intake but haven't quite decided on that. For now, it's just regular maintenance and enjoying the car!

[Eski]

+1 me likey. looks good going to add fi or stay na?

[Scubaru]

Originally Posted by Eski

+1 me likey. looks good going to add fi or stay na?

I had originally planned to stay N/A. The full exhaust/tune is more than sufficient enough considering the added power increase, but more importantly it drastically reduces the torque dip, which is really IMO that gives the car the "powerless" feeling.

I'm now going for the Sprintex S/C for 4 reasons in order from most important to least important.

1. This may sound ridiculous, but I love the sound of the supercharger mixed with my exhaust system. I can put 100% full blame on Moto-East tuning for spoiling me with this video!

(skip to 1:00 and you'll see what I mean)
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN9oltJNzeY"]Subaru BRZ with JDL Header, Perrin Front/Overpipe, Moto-East catback, Innovate SC In-car Sound - YouTube[/ame]

2. Drivability - The S/C is much more ideal for me going F/I on this car over the whistling snail. The Sprintex positive displacement S/C gives an instant response just like the car would N/A, which is a trait I wanted to keep on the car considering I do a lot of mountain driving. Low end torque is essential for me to have to push the car out of a corner.

3. Power - speaks for itself.

4. $$$ - Not only is the upfront cost cheaper for the Sprintex, but I already have the exhaust I want on my car. Changing to a turbo setup would mean I would have to re-configure my exhaust piping, and that's not something I was really feeling up to changing. I feel maintenance will be easier as well considering the S/C is easily accessible.

All in all, it was worth the money and a no brainer in my situation.

[lp87]

did the tranny/diff fluid help the shifting noticeably? I have a clunk into second gear when my car's cold and sometimes when its warm that I'm trying to get rid of.

[Scubaru]

Originally Posted by lp87

did the tranny/diff fluid help the shifting noticeably? I have a clunk into second gear when my car's cold and sometimes when its warm that I'm trying to get rid of.

Absolutely. There's still some resistance on a cold start with the first few engagements into 2nd gear, but it's as smooth as butter after it warms up (I notice the difference about 3-4 minutes after the car has been running in 30-40F weather).

I strongly recommend changing the fluids if you haven't done so already. You will more than thank yourself for it later!

[Eski]

very nice. video was giving me the itch to go with a similar set up. fully stock on mine so far. trying to lay out a full plan before i start diving into mods. ideally i would like to get up to 275/300 whp

[Scubaru]

Originally Posted by Eski

very nice. video was giving me the itch to go with a similar set up. fully stock on mine so far. trying to lay out a full plan before i start diving into mods. ideally i would like to get up to 275/300 whp

That's the type of plan you need with these cars!

[Scubaru]

Bump for updated information! 2nd box for the wheels/tires, springs/sway bars, and supercharger review is up!

[Speed2th]

how miles did you have when you were changing the transmission fluid? that looks horrible

[Scubaru]

Originally Posted by Speed2th

how miles did you have when you were changing the transmission fluid? that looks horrible

I had about 9,500 miles on the car before I changed both the tranny and diff fluid. I'm happy to report I haven't had any issues at all since the change, so I'm hoping I caught it early enough to where it's not going to effect it in the long run.

[Bergen23]

Looks great. Those TRD springs look like they lower a perfect amount to balance between handling and comfort.

[Scubaru]

Originally Posted by Bergen23

Looks great. Those TRD springs look like they lower a perfect amount to balance between handling and comfort.

Yep! If you're doing about 98-99% street driving, I feel these springs are the way to go.

[Scubaru]

Bump for the update!