Mistople's 2017 BRZ PP Track Build

[Lantanafrs2]

So much for na? Lol

[mistople]

With the rainy season upon us here in Seattle, track days are unfortunately on hold till March. Not to worry, however. That leaves plenty of time to go hunting for great country roads and to install new goodies on the car while we wait for the cold weather to pass.

I found some time to install the Perrin Steering Rack Lockdowns. It was a quick install at around an hour start to finish; I didn't run into any major issues or roadblocks.

Installation Notes

Installing the lockdowns requires you to unbolt the fiberglass transmission/steering rack cover and put it aside. From there, you use a breaker bar on the 17mm bolts on the two steering rack mounting points, remove the bolts, and then thread them back through the Perrin pieces into the original mounting points.

From there, you torque the bolts down to 65 ft-lb and then thread in some very small set screws with a bit of loctite on the outside of the lockdowns. Threading the screws in is a pain, but only takes about 10 minutes once you get the hang of it. Overall, it was a simple and enjoyable install



Excuses the potato quality photos under the car. I hastily snapped a few using my headlamp as a light source. Not exactly my finest photography work.





Driving Impressions

I took the car out immediately after buttoning everything up and took it for a spin around the neighborhood. I didn't notice any additional NVH at idle post-installation. I tried to be hyper aware of any additional vibration or bumps felt through the steering wheel, but so far the difference seems surprisingly small. I noticed that I could feel larger impacts like speed bumps with greater fidelity, and small bumps and imperfections in the road came through the wheel with slightly more feedback.

Turn in felt slightly more immediate, but not revolutionary. This felt like the sort of modification that is more of a nice-to-have. It didn't transform the steering feel, but I didn't expect it to. Like all of my favorite mods, its the slight improvements on an already great car that can really make the car come alive.

And just one more thing...

A little preview of what's to come. This is 1/2 of an order I've been looking forward to for a long time. More updates to come when everything arrives.

[mistople]

I've swapped to stock PP wheels back on and eyeballed the front camber to around -1.5 until I can get a proper alignment done by Chase Race next week. Ride height was raised about 0.5" to reduce some camber in the rear until I have some proper adjustable LCAs.

Even without a proper alignment, I was shocked at how different the car felt with the stock wheels/tires. It's so much more nimble at lower speeds, but so much less planted at higher speeds. I can assume some of that can be attributed to the higher ride height. I don't have the same confidence when diving into turns anymore. That said, the car is still fantastic.

I'll likely go for a more conservative alignment until the track season starts up again. Without adjustable LCAs, I'm unfortunately stuck with the higher ride height for the time being. If I decide to go for some SPL or similar, I'll drop it back down to the recommended height and perhaps even stick some 10mm spacers on.

Back to the sleeper look for now. I need to wash this thing.

[mistople]

And so it begins...

After much deliberation and countless hours of research, I pulled the trigger on a JRSC C30-94 TIY kit with a ACE A350 w/ CSG Double Ceramic setup.

I can't thank @CounterSpace Garage enough for their endless patience with my seemingly infinite emails discussing the most ideal setup for my car and its use. I probably bounced around between four different setups over as many months, but ultimately settled on the JRSC + ACE given its proven performance and reliability.

I opted to continue with Delicious Tuning and will be running their FNG tune. Zack at Delicious did a great job with my JDL UEL tune, and I expect their unmatched experience with the JRSC and ACE products will yield a great tune.

The kit was delivered yesterday. This is the second shipment I've received from Jackson Racing—the first being their NA track oil cooler. A first glance at the JRSC kit's boxes proves once again that they truly put great care into ensuring their products are exceptionally well packaged. It speaks volumes about JR as a company. Each box is clean, clearly labeled, and in perfect condition.

JRSC C30-94 TIY















The Rotrex C30-49 unit is a thing of beauty. It oozes quality. Definitely heavier than I thought it would be, but its clearly the majority of the weight of the kit. The intercooler, hoses, and filter are all surprisingly light.













ACE A350 Type-A w/ CSG Double Ceramic

I've been happy with my JDL UEL, but I couldn't help but jump on an A350 after seeing how well they perform with a good supercharger. I also need all the help I can get in the low/mid range given the tradeoffs of a centrifugal setup.

The killer bottom/midrange of the A350 combined with the screaming top end of the JRSC kit should ultimately make for a predictable and linear track monster. It won't have that crazy wall of torque like a proper turbo setup, but that's perfectly fine for my use. I'd prefer to preserve the character of the engine that likes (and needs) to be revved out. Not having to deal with the insane heat of a turbo setup is a huge plus for me as well.



















I'll be running the A350 by itself for a month or two before installing the JRSC. I'm also considering doing some dyno comparisons between stock, JDL, and the A350 (NA and w/ the JRSC) as well.

Anything you guys would want to see?

[86TOYO2k17]

Pretty awesome. Congrats on the setup! I just picked up a intetcooled sprintex 210 today from Bahn Brenner in monroe. I have the ace 250. Will be interesting to see how these setups compare.

Are you going to have custom ACE tune for the ace vs jdl comparison? Or JRSC with jdl vs ace or stock vs ace to see the real difference?

Also where are you planning on getting it Dynod? Wouldn’t mind getting mine dynod just to see numbers after I get everything setup and dialed in.

[mistople]

Originally Posted by 86TOYO2k17

Pretty awesome. Congrats on the setup! I just picked up a intetcooled sprintex 210 today from Bahn Brenner in monroe. I have the ace 250. Will be interesting to see how these setups compare.

Are you going to have custom ACE tune for the ace vs jdl comparison? Or JRSC with jdl vs ace or stock vs ace to see the real difference?

Also where are you planning on getting it Dynod? Wouldn’t mind getting mine dynod just to see numbers after I get everything setup and dialed in.

Nice! That will be a fun setup too.

I will have a custom Delicious A350 NA tune to stack up against the JDL. I'll also have the FNG tune for the ACE+350, but no JDL+JRSC tune to compare FI setups.

Dyno location TBD.

[kch]

Originally Posted by mistople

And so it begins...

After much deliberation and countless hours of research, I pulled the trigger on a JRSC C30-94 TIY kit with a ACE A350 w/ CSG Double Ceramic setup.

Cheater.

JK I'm slightly jealous.

[mistople]

Originally Posted by kch

Cheater.

JK I'm slightly jealous.

Ha. I told myself that I don't get to install it until I hit 2'03". Need your help to shave off two more seconds!

[kch]

Originally Posted by mistople

Ha. I told myself that I don't get to install it until I hit 2'03". Need your help to shave off two more seconds!

Heck, I barely got that myself! But hopefully I'll be able to drop a bit more next year with more experience at RMP.

[MrSkubi]

Originally Posted by mistople

I'll be running the A350 by itself for a month or two before installing the JRSC. I'm also considering doing some dyno comparisons between stock, JDL, and the A350 (NA and w/ the JRSC) as well.

I'm really curious about those dyno comparisons. Please keep us informed. Also love how detailed your writeup is on this build !

[mistople]

I installed my A350!

Installation

Swapping out the JDL headers for the A350 was generally straightforward. I didn’t run into any major problems spare scratching the Ace overpipe up a bit while attempting to snake it between the engine and frame.

I had to jack the engine up an inch or so to fit the overripe through. It’s as simple as taking off a few bolts and placing a toll block of wood between the jack and engine. No major challenges here. I really appreciate Ace including all the necessary hardware and gaskets. Saves me one more trip to the hardware store.

Video + Sound

I recorded a quick jaunt through one of my favorite roads to help give you guys an idea of what the A350 -> Stock FP -> Perrin 2.5” sounds like. These are public roads, so I can’t really stomp on it as much as I’d like, but hopefully it gives you an idea of the sound under various conditions.

That Macan driving ahead of me was clearing having a laugh. They were really driving that thing!

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_s511vDIZvo[/ame]

Driving Impressions

This thing rips. I admit that I didn’t expect such a large difference in bottom/midrange power. Even before I had refreshed to the A350-specific tune, the A350 made gobs more power from 2k-5k. The car literally just jumps towards redline now. It feels so much happier with this header overall. This is no honeymoon period review—I’ve put 500 miles on the A350 now. It absolutely blows the JDL away.

The sound is absolutely addicting! There’s a real sizzle to the sound of this header. I was initially hesitant to go equal length given how nice the JDL -> Stock OP/FP -> Perrin 2.5” setup sounded. Idle and lower rpms still have a nice smooth rumble. I initially actually didn’t find it that much different than the JDL down low. Simply a smoother tone. The Perrin obviously is contributing to the sound quite a lot at lower rpms.

The car now sounds so much throatier and SO much more intense from 4000 to 7800 rpm. It really sings like a real race car in higher rpms. I admit that it really feels like this is how the car should sound. I could never go back to UEL after hearing the A350 at redline. It’s an incredible sound for what isn’t usually considered a very good sounding engine. Crossing VVT makes the sound come alive. I’m hooked.

My perception the car is about 5-10% louder compared to the JDL setup even if it technically isn’t. Cold starts and idle are a tiny bit louder as well.

I’m still on the first version of a 92 A350 tune from Delicious, but I’m super happy already. I’m looking forward to feeling the minor improvements going forward. I do recall the JDL tune getting significantly better after 3 revisions, so hopefully the same is true with the Ace.

[mistople]

I finally caved and have started doing some work to the exterior to the car. I found some decent deals on some STi & OEM pieces that I've wanted for some time now and decided to jump on them.

Although eventually I'll shoot for some proper aero, I'm a ways away from really benefitting from it on track. I have more skills to work on before changing the balance of the car. The OEM bits feel like a nice way to make the car look more aggressive without going overboard until then.

Here's what I've done so far:

• STi Front Lip
• STi Rear Quarter Under Spoilers
• OEM Crystal Black Silica Mirror Caps
• OEM Front Mud Guards

[tehShirt]

Your car looks great! Love the build.


Where did you get the painted mirror caps?

[mistople]

Originally Posted by tehShirt

Your car looks great! Love the build.


Where did you get the painted mirror caps?

Thanks! I bought them from japanparts.com