iLaw's 2015 Subaru BRZ, Aozora Edition (Updated Jun 14, 2016)

[iLaw]

Originally Posted by akahenry

That's awesome! Thanks for the in depth reply and I'm glad that you're enjoying your set up!

Would you reckon that it's necessary for me to get the lower control arms and camber bolts, if I were to buy and install the Eibach Sportlines and sway bars? In other words, how necessary are they, in regards to the stock wheels (I'll be using my stock wheels until they literally fall apart lol), if I'm looking to maximize the handling given my limited budget. Would the alignment be that bad that I must install lower control arms and camber bolts? I know I'll be needing to get an alignment no matter what, after the installation of the springs, but I'm not sure if I need the camber bolts and lower control arms, given that I pretty much daily drive my car and do spirited canyon runs (weekly). I mean, I of course, want to maximize my suspension's potential, but given if I the camber bolts and lower control arms aren't necessary, then I'd rather save the extra dollar on something else.

I see a few other members that run similar springs, also run lower control arms with the stock wheel set up, but without the camber bolts, any suggestion to why they do that? I'll most likely copy your suspension set up, but I just need to do a little bit more research before fully committing.

Oh and where did you purchase your suspension parts, if you don't mind sharing.

If you plan on using any spring that drops your car more than an inch, you should seriously consider lower control arms and camber bolts. Without them, you probably can't bring your camber above -2 degrees in the rear. Depending on what stance you want that may be OK, but I wanted something a bit more aggressive than stock, but not kill my tires.

For reference, my front wheels wouldn't camber more than -0.6 without the camber bolts, and the back wouldn't go above -2.4 without the LCA's. With both camber bolts and LCA's installed, all four wheels are now aligned to -1.5.

If you want to avoid the LCA's you can go with a spring that lowers your car by 1" instead of the 1.4" the Sportlines give. With a 1" drop your camber in the rear will probably fall around -1.8 to -2.3 I'm guessing.

The camber bolts in the front may not be necessary, but to achieve the alignment I wanted I bought them. Honestly, camber bolts are about $25/set... if you are planning on buying springs, sways and LCA's, the camber bolts add a small cost to the whole setup but allow you to achieve the alignment you want and give you more adjustability in the front.

I bought all my suspension parts from Circuit Motorsports in Florida. Link to them is in the first post of this thread.

[iLaw]

Front Pipe Ordered! Can't wait to get it and install!

[iLaw]

Time to update!

Not too much has changed, but I've done some cosmetic stuff.

Firstly, I decided to try to replicate the little red pinstripe from the tS. I went to Canadian Tire and bought some red pin striping vinyl. I figured, if it looked like crap, I could just peel it off. Thanks to an OCD friend of mine who installed it, it actually came out pretty good.



And then we went for a bit of a photo shoot...



And the pinstripe, overall, looks fantastic...



So, after contemplating a while, I pulled the trigger on some STI tS fender garnishes. I was hesitant to buy them because they were only available for the 02C (pre-2015) paint code. Since my BRZ has the new 07X paint code, I was hoping that the paint colour wasn't too off.


When I got them I was delighted to find that the silver STI piece was only held on by a screw and double sided tape. Using a heat gun to warm the tape up, I removed the silver piece.


I mounted them to my existing fender garnish (that came with the car) and it turned out pretty damn good.

[R N M]

Originally Posted by iLaw

Time to update!

And then we went for a bit of a photo shoot...

Car looks amazing in this pic!

[Agent 86]

Originally Posted by iLaw

Time to update!

Not too much has changed, but I've done some cosmetic stuff.

Firstly, I decided to try to replicate the little red pinstripe from the tS. I went to Canadian Tire and bought some red pin striping vinyl. I figured, if it looked like crap, I could just peel it off. Thanks to an OCD friend of mine who installed it, it actually came out pretty good.

And then we went for a bit of a photo shoot...

Great shot, and "Thanks for the Memories". My wife and I spent a week in Toronto last year for our Anniversary. We took photos in that very same location.

[Metabrz]

Your car is dope. Nice build.

[iLaw]

Its been a while, so its time for an update!

September 28, 2015 - Osram Xenarc 66440CBI HID Bulbs

As great as the OEM HIDs are, they looked yellow compared to the Morimoto LED fogs. I started researching which was the highest quality, brightest, 5000-6000K HID bulb on the market. Everywhere I looked pointed me to the Osram Xenarc 66440CBI bulbs. These were the only bulbs to have a 5000K temperature, but still maintain the output of their 4300k bulbs. I installed these and now the colour matches perfectly.



I tried to take pictures comparing the two colours, but my camera couldn’t properly capture the colour difference. To most people you wouldn’t notice the difference… until it was compared to a stock HID bulb. When parked beside another BRZ, the difference is actually quite astonishing.


October 25, 2015 - Wilwood/RR Racing Big Stage II Brake Kit

The summer of 2015 is a season in which I really started to understand how the car will act on a track. As such, I felt the stock brakes, specifically the pads, where terrible at the track. Although the calipers were fine, I wanted a bit more stopping power and longevity. Enter the RR Racing Stage II Big Brake Kit. Originally I was just going to buy new pads and rotors, but at the price I got the RR Racing BBK, I couldn’t really resist. Designed by Wilwood, then tuned by RR Racing, they arrived at the end of October. They will be installed in Spring 2016, seeing that my snow tires, which have one more season on them, are on 16” rims (which would not clear the BBK).




Although I have nothing against RR Racing, I didn’t like their logo on the caliper. Thankfully it was just a vinyl sticker, so I peeled it off…





December 25, 2015 - Christmas Presents!
Over the last few months of 2015, learning a lot at the track, I started compiling a list of things that I wanted for my car. Thankfully, Santa (and myself… mostly myself) decided to get some of the items I’ve been wanting for Christmas.

These items included everything I needed to upgrade the rear brakes (since I was upgrading the front ones, I wanted some minor things for the back), and Bilstein struts to match the springs I got last spring.




The Christmas Haul:


Not pictured here are also the front and rear Whiteline end links.

[iLaw]

UPDATE!

April 10, 2016 - Brakes & Struts

Now that winter is over (officially, but not realistically, as I write this it is snowing outside of my window) I have had the opportunity to install some of the goodies I got during Christmas.

First the Bilstein B8’s and the Whiteline Endlinks.




And finally the BBK:




I have new rims and rubber but the rubber is back ordered. I am waiting until the tires come in. Then I will take my car on a well deserved photo shoot.

[kuczynskika]

Originally Posted by iLaw

UPDATE!


First the Bilstein B8’s and the Whiteline Endlinks.

I wanna know how those B8's feel compared to the stock suspension. Looking good!

[ottoyu34]

Nicely done sir!

[btune]

Nice build, love the shots in front of Square One and Distillery.
Keep up the good work!

[iLaw]

April 15, 2016 - Rims and Rubber



I have always wanted to get wider rims and rubber for this car. I love the Primacy tires for how much fun they were, but I wanted more grip in my car. I decided to go with 17x9" 720form GTF1 rims:





However, I did not like the matte black and silver combo. Since I have an Aozora, I liked the look of gloss black. I visited Brightside Customs, and got them powder coated gloss black with a little sparkle:









They are now wrapped in 245/40/17 Michelin Pilot Super Sport Tires. Here are some pics of the final product:

[D_Thissen]

Nice wheels. I think I saw them in my parents shop a while back. (Mike brings a lot of stuff to my parents shop to get sandblasted before he powdercoats them)

[DuMa]

great choice on wheels. and great job powdercoating them. However, rather than the 245/35 tires, i think you're better off getting 245/40/17 tires. the entire tire circumference is closely matched with the stock 215/45/17 tires, so your speedo is close to correct. Also because 40 series sidewall gives it a better meatier look