My new WRB BRZ

[chadstyle]

OK, I finally had some time this morning to take some pics of the car after the mods I have done. I just drove down to the end of our street after I washed the car so I will have to take some in a better location later.

First, the suspension...I can't speak highly enough about Eibach and their parts. I ordered the Sportline kit with the front and rear sway bars and installed them immediately as I hated the nasty wheel gap from the factory. I considered the Pro Street kit but 1" drop just isn't enough for this car so I went with the Sportlines which is a 1.4" drop. It looks perfect with 18" wheels and tires in my opinion. Here is the kit I installed.



After installing the suspension I bolted up the Cusco Strut OS Braces front and rear. The front brace has the Master Cylinder Brace built in and its a very simple, straight forward installation just like the Eibach kit. The combination of these products has kept the factory handling characteristics while maintaining a solid ride quality and majorly improving the look and stance of the vehicle.

I also added the Beatsonic shark fin antenna cover and Carsmo Spoiler to the exterior. I had a few issues with each of these products. The Shark Fin antenna cover fit perfect and installed great but the color is off just a little bit and it drives me crazy. I have to say that the customer support has been great and they are working out a solution for me as I type. I may wrap the roof with gloss black vinyl and then install a gloss black Shark Fin antenna to match so I don't have to deal with matching the blue perfectly. I think the black roof with the tinted windows and black wheels will tie everything together nicely and look very sporty so thats next on my list of mods for exterior as well as smoking the rear tail lights and side markers. The Carsmo spoiler fits great but the bodyshop had to rework the entire thing as it was wavy and would've looked horrible if I just scuffed and sprayed it. It doubled the price I had to pay but they matched the color perfectly and once it was done the installation went as smooth as can be.

Tomorrow I get my first shipment from Perrin Performance and I can't tell you how excited I am. Jeff and Chris are some of the nicest, coolest guys you will ever deal with and the parts they develop are the best of the best. Almost all of my exhaust is coming tomorrow with the exception of the Black Resonated Catback which is still a week or two out. They are having it powdercoated and when their new intake setup is ready to ship I will have both parts on the way. These guys are not only "car guys" but also very personable and provide the best customer support I've found so far. If you're on the fence about ordering from them, don't be. Just do it...make the call and get the best parts on the market for the FR-S and BRZ today!!

Ok, after all that here are the pics. I am loving this car and every day I look forward to driving it. We have a place up in NC just outside of Asheville so as soon as its spring time I'm taking it up for some real roads and corners but at least I have the Florida winter to get the car dialed in first.

[6-Shift]

looks sick dude! Those side shots make it look like an exotic car. Good work with it so far.

[chadstyle]

Originally Posted by Missourifornian

looks sick dude! Those side shots make it look like an exotic car. Good work with it so far.

Thanks man!!! The car has beautiful lines and I don't want to take away from the original design. I aim to compliment the lines with subtle but sporty mods such as the Carsmo spoiler and I'm still debating which carbon lip kit to add with a factory style rear diffuser. I don't want anything huge..I've got it narrowed down to 2 kits that I think will look perfect with this setup. I'm gonna wait until after the holidays to do the kit but I will def keep this thread updated.

[chadstyle]

Just a quick update on the car.. I reached 1,000 miles and as hard as it was not to rev past 4k I managed to do so. I've been reading about this car daily since it was in the early prototyping stages (a good friend of mine actually built the prototype and kept me informed along the way) and I've been
Lurking in the forums since they actually hit the street. The point of all this is the "slow" story...almost every owner complains of it being miserably slow.

To safeguard myself I started ordering performance parts the day I ordered the car. The suspension I knew I couldn't live with so that changed along with the wheels with 17 miles on the odometer on day 1 owning the car. That made her pretty and handle amazing. The first week was a little stiff but everything has settled in nicely and its s very predictable and controlled ride. I've worked with Eibach for many years on many vehicles and my source there tells me I can bolt up some full coil overs in a few months but for the majority of the time its a street car, not a track car and I'm overall happy with the ride and performance so we'll see if I choose to throw them on...

The motor performance...this "slow pig" that others complain about... I hit 1k and swapped motor oil but stuck with the Subaru synthetic the car calls for with the intentions of doing another swap at 3500 for motul and pentosin in the gearbox. I've noticed that the 1-2 "crunch" is disappearing and 2-3 "notchiness" has improved over time. The Perrin shift guide and trans mount def improved the feel as well. But back to the motor...

I was really surprised by how great it feels from 4500-7400!! It's not fast but its quick. I've owned an 02 M3 (seriously modded), a 01 CLK 55 (also modded), an infinity M35 (really modded), and now have a Panamera in the family for hauling the kids around when the X5 isn't needed.. All these cars were, and still are for the ones I own, much faster in a straight line. Some may think I'm crazy but out of the group I had the most fun with the Infiniti and the Porsche..the M3 seriously disappointed me and had a drive by wire issue that scared me to death on a few occasions. The CLK was sharp in its day but fun in straight line only. The Infiniti was a blast all the time...less power than the previous two but I helped that out and I loved the handling for a large 4 door that I could still throw the kids in and give them some car sickness on the twistys. The only 4 cylinder car I ever owned was a 02 Civic Si in electric blue. My ex wife's brother had her co sign then a year later couldn't make the payment. I did some work to it thinking I'd make it fast and fun but it never was fast OR fun...the power only came on in the VTEC range and had no torque at all down low. It sucked, plain and simple. I added header and full exhaust, intake, tuning, suspension, every little go fast part short of nitrous or FI and the car was still a POS and not fun to drive. When I got the BRZ I already had it in my head that the only way it would be fast enough for me would be supercharged. (Don't want to ruin the linear power delivery and balance of the car with a turbo altho I do love turbos)

At 850 miles I installed the pulley and front pipe and Overpipe from Perrin. They tell me a few weeks for the intake and for fresh black catbacks to be in stock ready to ship...Borla UEL header is a month out also. So I was expecting to be disappointed once I got to open her up. I did notice a little added torque down low from the few mods but my expectations were low until the rest of the parts are installed. After the oil swap I warmed her up on a nice and easy 10 mile drive. I came to a light with no one in sight and open, clear roads and decided it was time to see what she could do. I only engaged the clutch at 1500 rpm and then pedal to the floor through 4 gears straight. It really builds revs fast after 4500!! I shifted at redline to second and got an audible chirp of the rear tires (255/35/18s) and pushed back into the seat through second and third. By fourth gear I started getting high in RPMs and let off as it felt like I was moving along pretty quickly..I was barely past 100mph but felt so much faster!! I love how low to the ground you sit in this car as it gives a much greater sense of speed. I was actually impressed, not disappointed! When kept in the sweet spot this car is a blast to drive. It has way more torque than the POS Si we had a long time ago and really is fun to drive hard. The harder you drive the car, the more rewarding the car becomes. The point of all this is that I am starting to doubt I'll ever "need" the supercharger. I think that completing the exhaust with the Catback and header and bolting up the intake and getting a great dyno tune might just land me right where I want to be. Maybe a lighter flywheel and clutch and add the CF driveshaft just to help build the revs a little faster too but I don't know if a SC would be justified.

What I like the most about this car is that I can use ALL of it. My CLK was a monster and wasn't much fun because I could break every speed limit in 2nd gear and never let her stretch her legs and run. I also felt disconnected from the road after the scary M3. The Infiniti and Porsche are still favs of mine as well but for different reasons..those are my family cars that I can still have fun in. The X5...well I don't know how else to say it but its pure shit, plain and simple. I will NEVER own another BMW. I've had horrible experiences with them and they're way over rated.

So am I crazy?? Does anyone else here think that the BRZ/FR-S is so close to greatness already that it doesn't need FI? I guess I'll finish up the motor mods and see how it feels...if I'm still having this much fun then there's no way I'm adding the SC. If I get bored in a year and its starting to feel slow then I'll be most likely going the Vortech route as its the cleanest and easiest setup to date with reliable gains across the board but every day I'm leaning more towards a really well tuned NA machine..

What do you guys think? Am I a mad man? Sorry for the long post but I want you to know where I'm coming from and past cars in the stable that I'm comparing to. Hope everyone is having a great holiday season and Merry Christmas Eve to all!!

Chad

[OrbitalEllipses]

The engine feels VERY lively at the upper RPMs for sure!You can really feel it over 5K RPM and I'm always sad when I hit redline and have to shift. Kinda wish it just kept revving! I love ripping through 4 gears and not being that much over the speed limit, but I recently came into a situation where I needed to pass and I just couldn't. It was frustrating and never would have happened in my WRX. The BRZ a great car for sure, but that lack of torque really shows. I mean the WRX wasn't blistering fast, but it had passing power when I needed it. This car is so much livelier, more interesting, and connected...but I struggle with wanting more power.

I haven't decided on FI yet and it's likely I won't do anything until the 3 year warranty is up if I haven't moved on to a different platform. One part of me wants a balls to the wall N/A build while another wants to save some money and just do FI.

[Turbowned]

Car looks great! Keep up the good work!

[Superhatch]

Chad,

I was just thinking about posting something similar to what you did about really enjoying the car right out of the box. The only mods I currently have are the whiteline transmission mount, perrin shifter mount and perrin drop in filter and I have a blast with this car on a daily basis. I've owned a 300hp Civic Si, 250hp SR20 swapped 240sx, and a 250 hp MCS (to name a few) and this car, in nearly stock trim, is leagues above those in terms of how enjoyable it is to drive. The seating position, the road feel and feedback are just incredible. I feel like people are often talking about their disappointments with the car but overall I'm way on the positive side of the scale whenever I talk about it with people. The BRZ is my 18th car...and by far my favorite. I often purchased cars thinking it would be something I would keep for the rest of my life...but then 6 months to a year later sell them for something else because I would get bored. I could feel that inkling to sell creeping in even when I was still in the honeymoon phase with some of my previous cars/finished projects, but the only thing that happens when I see this car in the morning is a big smile on my face knowing I'm about to go for a drive. I'm with you all the way.

-Jacob

[chadstyle]

Jacob,

I agree whole heartedly. I think a few little things are all it really needs to be an awesome street machine. If you're building for track use I can understand the need for more power and if you're building it for the quarter mile you're an idiot and should purchase something built for straight line speed. The ONLY problem I'm having is Florida has no good roads to drive on (banked corners, elevation changes, etc) but when the spring is here our place just outside of Asheville, NC is full of great roads so I have a few months to get her dialed in 100%.

Thanks for the feedback guys!!

[Sportsguy83]

Keep up the amazing work!

[chadstyle]

My shift knob arrived today from WC Lathe Werks..it came out great. Chris does amazing work. Here's a pic I snapped with my iPhone after install today...I'll take some high res photos later.

[chadstyle]

I got the cargo liner in the mail today. Had to cut a few small slits in it for the rear strut bar mounts but it fits perfect and looks super clean. I can't wait until the front molded floor mats are available. I'm using some charcoal rubber mats that I cut to fit but are actually pretty good up front for now. I realized how cheap all the factory carpet and mats are and have read about others wearing holes in the drivers side mat after a few thousand miles so hopefully these keep my factory mats looking new for a long time. Here is a quick pic from the iPhone..

[chadstyle]

My chick is awesome..she really is. Every time I'm doing something new she comes out and jumps right in. She was already in her PJ's when I went out to start pulling my tail lamps and reverse lights and side markers so I can tint them tomorrow. I snapped a couple pics of her and if she knew I was posting them for everyone to see she'd probably kill me...


Like I said..no filter, no makeup, in PJs but one AWESOME woman!! I'm a lucky guy.

[chadstyle]

Tinted my tails, reverse lights, and side marker lights. Looks WAY better now with my Blue/Black color theme. The tail lights and brake lights still shine through nice and bright but my reverse lights are pretty much useless now. I have brighter LED's in there but I was looking at my back up camera picture last night when it was really dark and I couldn't see a thing. As long as people can see the tail lights and brake lights clearly, that's all that matters to me.

[chadstyle]

I put the car up on the lift today so I could install the HT Auto Lip kit..I really like it. For the money I think its the best one available. I was going to go carbon but I'm glad I didn't as I've already scraped the bottom of the front lip and I was going real slow at an angle over the bump and it still got me.

Anyways, here's the pics. Beautiful sunny, cool day in South Florida.


I'll wash the car and take better pics from all angles. I installed the OEM Subaru diffuser as well...