Brenda the Blue (BRZ)

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by Mr.Impreza

Yeah, I heard they made it so you have to pay right?

Anyways, an alternative that you can use is http://postimage.io/

That's what I use. Not sure if you'll like it or not.

I'll definitely check it out. I've also got my own webhosting that I could toss the images on too but that's a bit more difficult to manage than a proper image hosting site.

[v1beeee]

hey do you winter drive your car with the HKS Coilovers?If so, how do they hold up in the harsh GTA winters?

I'm looking to pick up a set and read your review on them so I'm just wondering if they've held up in the winter.

[Lynxis]

Originally Posted by v1beeee

hey do you winter drive your car with the HKS Coilovers?If so, how do they hold up in the harsh GTA winters?

I'm looking to pick up a set and read your review on them so I'm just wondering if they've held up in the winter.

Only 1 winter on them so far so it's hard to give a good idea of how they're doing. No rust on the struts or the springs themselves but there was some corrosion build-up on the collars although it cleaned off easily enough so it's nothing serious. You will need to clean them after winter is over if you want to adjust them again for sure.

[Lynxis]

I know I haven't updated this thread lately, been very busy lately where finding 20 minutes to rub together for a post has been impossible. I also still haven't gotten around to updating my image links yet either although I still intend to. Hopefully things will slow down now that track season is over although this time of year normally means more yard work.

Here is the last pic I took of her in track stance for 2017:



So in terms of mods, nothing has changed this year due to lack of funds. I felt my money was better spent on seat time and it paid off big this year. My personal best last year at my local full track was a very high 2:12:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQFZO0U1Lfg"]5 5 2016 212 lap - YouTube[/ame]

And this year, I did a low 2:06:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzuA0WYRU8w"]Shannonville lapping Full Track Oct 1 2017 2 06 - YouTube[/ame]

The only changes are going from Wilwood BP10 front pads and EBC Yellowstuff rear brake pads to Winmax W5 all around. Also was running on old BFG Rivals 245/40r17 and upgraded to new Hankook RS3 225/45r17 for this year. Most of the time difference is an increase in skill on my part. I can feel that I'm starting to reach the limits of the car in it's current configuration. In my cars current configuration, I think a high 2:04 is possible but I don't think a 2:03 is realistic without making changes to the car.

For reference, Alpha Motorsports was at this track in their Time Attack FRS for CSCS this year and did a 1:59. While still NA, that car has slicks, ECU, and aero plus who knows what else.

In terms of consumables for this year, I had 3 full track days and 8 autocross events. I ran the Winmax W5 with the Hankook RS3 for track and autocross. They were 100% new at the beginning of the year and I ran 3 track days and 8 autocross events on them plus maybe 1000kms of daily driving when I was lazy to swap them out due to back-to-back events. Now the W5s have about 75% pad material remaining on the front and 60% remaining on the rear. The RS3s are at about 4-5/32nds tread remaining. Everything will last about 2 more seasons at the current wear rate with the front W5s maybe lasting another year after that.

Brakes when I took them off for the year:


Tires when they came off:


The Hankook RS3s were also great on track this year. I've noticed some camber wear on the outside edges of both drivers side tires. The passenger side tires show no notable camber wear. This is somewhat expected due to the fact that my local track is clockwise and the majority of the corners are right handers. I guess I'm not running enough camber on the drivers side so I'm going to try increasing it a bit in the spring, finances allowing.

In terms of autoslalom competition, I started the year off a bit weak. I got 2nd place in class at my first local autocross event of the season and got middle of the pack in STX at regionals. I did an HPDE after this with MCO and it was well worth my time and money because my local lap time improved significantly and I shut out all other local autoslalom events in class, losing overall only to a 2015 WRX and a Cayman GT4 which I don't feel too bad about. I'm interested to see how I do in STX at Regionals next year!

[Lynxis]

Wanted to talk a bit about my future plans but ran out of time earlier.

Now that I live in a house with a huge drive-way, I'm considering going to a 2 car setup, 1 car for fun and another for daily driving. Unfortunately, if I did that, I can't afford to keep the BRZ while I'm still paying for it so I'd have to sell it. If I do that, then I'd look at replacing it with a cheap/reliable daily driver and something like either a Miata or perhaps a 350z if I could find something in decent shape for cheap.

I love my BRZ but part of the reasoning for this mindset is because there isn't much further that I can take it without impacting reliability or daily drivability. Having a dedicated track car will mean that I can take the car a lot further without worrying about having to drive it to work the next day.

All that said, I still love this car and it would be hard to give it up. I'm not going to decide anything for sure until Spring but if I do decide to sell it, I'll probably return it to stock and part-out.

[Lynxis]

I should note that I'm keeping the BRZ for now and will probably do so until I don't owe on it any longer.

Because I am financing it, there are certain rules around letting it go that make it difficult to make a private sale. Basically the buyer would have to agree to take over the existing loan on the car, qualify for said loan and exchange money for the difference to the sale value of the car. Alternatively, I can trade it in and take a big hit on the value.

I'm not keen on either of these ideas and it's not like I want to part with the car anyways so I'll hang onto it at least until I own it.

This year, I've participated in local auto slalom with Driver Dynamics and I also went to the 2018 Picton National Auto Slalom Championship. Unfortunately, my skills seriously rusted over the winter so I got slower. I did a track day at Shannonville and fell 3 seconds short of my previous personal best. I also fell from winning the Driver Dynamics series overall to 3rd place and I'm only that high because most of the other faster people don't show up consistently. I'm losing pretty handily to a stock BRZ on RE71rs but he got 3rd at the Canadian Nationals in DS.

I can also tell the Hankook RS3s are showing their age. They are down to 2/32nds tread and grip is starting to seriously fall off. Unfortunately, my finances insist that I drive them down to the cords before I replace them so I'll have to make them last this year. For now, I only have the remaining Driver Dynamics auto slalom events lined up and then I'll probably get one last track day in to finish the tires off.

The big question now is what tire to run next year. Go all in and get whatever the top autocross tire is or pick something that will perform well and last longer? Current options for each are RE71r or RS4. I guess if I want to start winning stuff, I have to get RE71r but that is a poor decision financially for me who is pinched financially at the moment. I'm expecting a promotion at work soon but could be a ways off and I have no idea what to expect in terms of a raise.. but probably not enough...

The Canadian Nationals have also humbled me pretty seriously. I got last place in STX and 72nd overall out of ~95 entrants. Even the twins in DS ate my raw times for lunch. I can make all the excuses about my tires and prep level that I want but even on a competitive tire, it is unlikely that I'd do better than mid-pack at my current level. Unfortunately, Nationals are a hard bargain for me so even if they are local again next year, I don't think I will attempt them again unless I am fully prepped for the class. $200 for 8 autocross runs is just too much money for a guy who isn't there yet in terms of prep or ability to compete.

My best run on Sunday, day 2 of the nationals:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCBom6eMUEo[/ame]

[Lynxis]

Well it's been a while since my last update. None of my images or links work anymore because I didn't maintain my image hosting account and I closed my youtube account because I wasn't using it anymore.

I still have my car although there has been some excitement with it last year.

I still managed to win overall first place at the 2018 Driver Dynamics autoslalom championship, again because the faster people were inconsistent about showing up. Unfortunately, I have been having issues sleeping properly lately and on my last run of the last day, I missed a heel-toe, locked up the rear tires and went off course and sent my car into a wire fence. I'm fine but damage was moderate; destroyed front bumper and fender, slightly dented door and slightly bent hood that no longer sits flush. Quoted $6000 by the shop to fix all of it but I can't pay that. I bought a new bumper and fender from Subaru and painted them myself with a borrowed tools from my brother-in-law. Cost me $1300 all said and done for those 2 pieces and I'll live with the dented door and bent hood for now until I can afford to fix them.

A month after the accident at the track, my sleep problems caused me issues again. I started reversing in a parking lot and passed out with my foot pressed on the throttle and ended up reversing into a concrete wall pretty hard. Basically obliterated the rear end and quoted $13000 to repair it. I was sure it was going to be written off but insurance wanted to fix it and I was happy they wanted to so I didn't argue. I know I talked previously about selling it to go a different direction but I'm really attached to my car.

I finally got promoted at work which earned me a modest raise but my new role demands I can always get to work so I bought a Forester for a winter car. Unfortunately, between the additional costs of running that and the fact that I need new tires next year I won't be able to do much fun stuff. I'm selling my BBK and coilovers and one of my sets of wheels to offset costs this year. I hope to participate in the regional autoslaloms but I don't think I'll be able to attend anything else fun next year. The following year, I should be done paying off the BRZ and the Forester and I'll have the finances to start doing real track stuff again.

[Lynxis]

Guess I'll give a status update 'cuz it's been a long time. Sleep issues mentioned previously were related to undiagnosed diabetes. I'm on Metformin, adjusted diet and a mild exercise plan and it's under control now. It's a bit odd because I don't fit the description of a typical type 2 diabetic, I'm a bit too young at 36 when diagnosed, I was also never overweight (170lbs at my heaviest) although my eating habits probably had more to do with it...

The rear end was repaired by insurance. I'm done paying off financing for both the BRZ and the Forester I've finally been able to save some money for work that the car needs.

1. The bumper and fender and I had painted turned out pretty good at first but the paint started peeling last winter. I spent $600 just on primer, paint and clear and I don't have enough left over to repaint.

2. I couldn't get the new fender and my hood to line up and my alignment guy advised he could only get -0.8 degrees of camber on the damaged side, while the other side can get -2.4. I've definitely got frame damage. I'm booked to take the car to the shop next week for quotes on fixing the frame damage and repainting the bumper and fender.

3. The shifter has been sticking and won't re-center anymore. At first, spraying grease at the place where the linkage shaft connects to the transmission housing would ease the problem for a few weeks but it does nothing now. I think the bushing is bad and fixing it will involve dropping the transmission and if I'm going to do that, then I want to do the clutch while I'm at it so I'm probably looking at nearly $2k for this unless I do it myself. I'll investigate this in more detail once the front end is repaired and I've got a bit more money saved up.

4. My HKS coilovers broke before I could sell them. A crack developed in the housing at the eye on both rear coils. The OEM suspension is back on the car. Yay monster truck wheel gap!

As for my long term plans for the car, I think it's track and autocross days are largely over. Once I've repaired the problems, I think I'm going to throw some 1 inch lowering springs on it and call it my permanent daily driver like that. It's just too good as a daily to give up. Good on fuel, comfortable and engaging to drive and more than meets my space requirements.

I'm no longer interested in having to make compromises between a comfortable daily driver and something that performs well at the track so I'm planning to keep an eye out for good sports car deals in the fall for something that I can convert into a dedicated track toy. I'm leaning towards an MX5, RX8 or 350Z but I'll consider a cheap BMW too, if only because a clean 328i can be had for as low as 2k around here, cheap enough that writing it off isn't a huge loss. I'd also consider another 86 chassis car if I could work out the right deal but I'm hesitant because the car and the parts are very expensive if you smash something.

Hard to say what I'll do but I'll post here again when I remember to.

[wagonicfolding]

Personally, I think it's a pretty good deal, especially considering how much Subaru is charging for each individual piece for normal BRZs. Let me know if anyone has anymore questions about price and what not.

[Lynxis]

It's been a couple years since I updated this thread. There was a whole pandemic between my last post and today so this is gonna be a pretty long one.

I still have my BRZ. I finished paying it off a few years ago now. Cool that it's mine but being that it's been in some nasty accidents, it will never be worth what it should, so I feel kind of married to it now.

To discuss the prior mentioned issues that I haven't followed up on yet:

I took the car to a transmission specialist. He had to drop the transmission and found the shift rod was bent where it enters the transmission housing, which was causing it to rub. He was able to shim it so it no longer contacts and it shifts like normal again. He did not believe the condition of the clutch warranted replacing it so we just did that and called it a day. ~$350.

I also took the car to a body shop to look at the front-end damage. After some discussions, we settled on just adjusting body panels and the hood and stripping and repainting the fender and front bumper. This was ~$1200.

There are still some issues which I've decided to just live with, largely because fixing them would be too expensive to justify.

1: Dent in the hood. This is the only remaining "visible at-a-glance" damage. Paintless dent repair isn't possible due to the location. Estimate was $800 which was close enough to a new carbon fibre hood that I couldn't justify it.

2: Wrinkle in passenger side door. Paintless dent repair might actually be possible but wouldn't know until they tried. This is not visible at all unless you look at the car at a very specific angle so I just left it.

3: Scratches on the passenger side headlight. Could be fixed with refinishing. Thought I'd do it myself but never got around to it. It's wear and tear and doesn't look much worse than the drivers side so meh.

4: Frame damage, bent/damaged lower rad support. Saved the best for last. Quoted at 4k with a warning it could be higher. The issues caused by this aren't visible at a glance, nor functional, so I left it. Close inspection will reveal the hood to fender panel gap is slightly wider on one side than the other and the radiator sits slightly uneven. This also affects camber alignment but correct wheel alignment is still possible, I'm just limited to -3deg on the damaged side while undamaged side is capable of more than -4.

With the money I didn't spend on the BRZ, I paid off the Forester instead and started saving up. I drove the Forester in the winter and the BRZ in the summer because even though it takes premium gas, the BRZ is still cheaper than the Forester.

Just last week, while the Forester was still worth some money, I traded it in for a 2019 Subaru Impreza hatch 5MT. With similar fuel economy to the BRZ but taking regular, it will be notably cheaper to daily drive so the BRZ will become exclusive toy status going forward.

Regarding the BRZ in recent times, performance wise, she's back to the state she was in before the accident, if not a bit better. Current mod list:

RCE SS1 coilovers
Konig Hypergram 17x9 +40 /w 245/40r17 Falken RT660
CSG Spec Brembo BM4
Raceng weighted shift knob
OFT

I've got the OFT, but no access to E85 and no headers yet so there is no measurable improvement in performance. Fuel economy on track seems to be better, but economy while street driving is a bit worse, so it seems to be a wash overall, although now that it's going full track toy, running OFT will probably be a bigger benefit.

I sold the silver TC105N copies I had. They don't fit over the Brembos without spacers and the tires were shot and I won't be daily driving the car anymore anyways.

The unknown gold 6 spoke wheels are my winter set for the BRZ although they also don't fit over the Brembos without spacers. It looks like these wheels will fit the Impreza so I plan to put them on it next winter and the Konigs will be the only wheels for the BRZ going forward.

For my next upgrade, I'd like to get headers but finances are tight because I just dropped all of my savings on the Impreza and the RT660s are bald so I need a new set of tires. I'm planning to run something a bit more economical this time so I'm looking at getting a set of RS4s which will probably be all the BRZ gets this year.


Headers next year. Maybe.