BRZ "Limited" STX build

[xDanger_208x]

I've been a Ford Focus enthusiast for almost 12 years now. Between simple mods, stance and racing.. I've owned 6 of them since 02'. In December 2012 I special ordered a 13' Focus ST and patiently waited for 94 days. I loved the car, the power.. and with a few mods I was able to clinch a 2013 Regional STX title.
But after only owning her for 7 months, 7,300 miles... I had realized my passion for fwd hatchbacks had fizzled out and I was long overdue for something different and exciting. Something with a strong aftermarket support. And most importantly.. something with the potential to be nationally competitive in grassroots racing.
So.. I traded in a 13' Ford Focus ST back in September for my brand new off the showroom floor 2013 BRZ Limited in World Rally Blue... with only 6 miles on the odo.

I've only had the chance to drive 986 miles so far before the lousy winter weather hit here in Idaho, but I've been busy regardless with getting her ready for the 14' season.

Completed mods:
- JDM side markers
- JDM blue manifold cover
- GrimmSpeed hood struts
- Tomei titanium 60s catback w/Cusco hangers
- Race Comp Engineering Tarmac 2 coilovers w/400lb springs front & rear
- MSI camber plates
- Kartboy rear tranny bushing
- Mtec tranny springs
- Whiteline tranny, rear subframe, diff cradle and steering rack bushings
- Custom tranny mount bushing insert machined by myself
- ARP wheel studs
- Password JDM lug nuts

Parts on order:
- JDL equal length manifold w/Vband clamp
- JDL overpipe w/Vband clamp
- JDL catted frontpipe w/Vband clamp on the front only
^^^^
Patiently waiting for 8 weeks now...

Parts waiting to be ordered:
- EcuTek programming from Moto-East
- Enkei RPF1's in 17x9 et35 matte bronze finish

I'm still debating on tires. I know I'll be using 245-40's, but I'm still researching my tire of choice. I'm seriously considering the Toyo R1R's due to their lightweight and the option for a 245-35-17.

Ok! Now for pictures!

Custom sleeve I machined to take the "slop" out of the factory part









Ran with a muffler delete for a short period of time before the Tomei was ordered









Whiteline bushings





RCE Tarmac 2 w/MSI camber plates









Much.. much more to come!!

[tbertran]

Thanks for sharing. Will definitely keep up with your build...

[RallySport Direct]

I'm liking where this is going! I will keep checking back

Thanks,
Rick

[SubiePig]

Welcome to the club!

How competitive are you shooting to be in STX? The trans mount mod, though a cool idea I don't think would be considered legal. Mounts can not have more metal in them than the standard unit and must weight equal or greater than the stock unit. The sleeve modifying the mount would fall into that the more metal than stock. Machine it out of Delrin and you are all good.

[hanabie]

your garage is amazing...

[xDanger_208x]

Originally Posted by SubiePig

Welcome to the club!

How competitive are you shooting to be in STX? The trans mount mod, though a cool idea I don't think would be considered legal. Mounts can not have more metal in them than the standard unit and must weight equal or greater than the stock unit. The sleeve modifying the mount would fall into that the more metal than stock. Machine it out of Delrin and you are all good.

Wow I hate the SCCA sometimes! You're right.. they would look at that as adding more metal.
I'll get some delrin ordered up and do it again. Thanks for bringing this to my attention as I take autox very serious as well as my integrity. It's a ridiculous rule, but it's a rule all the same.

All of the mounts I've done so far have really made a nice difference though. The diff bushings produce a very mean transmission whine inside the cabin.

[SubiePig]

No problem! Didn't want you to run into any issues down the line.
Car looks great though, keep up the good work!

[xDanger_208x]

Originally Posted by hanabie

your garage is amazing...

Thanks! I just have a 2 car garage, but I make it work. The lathe is at our engine machine shop.. along with 9 CNC mills and countless other nice things to have at my disposal ;-)

[xDanger_208x]

Quick update...
Wider is better





I know they look gold in the 2nd picture, but I assure you they're bronze.
17x9 et35

I was all set to order a set of RS3's in 245-40-17 but everyone is sold out. Tire Rack claims it could be 6-9 weeks until they're shipped to them... so I might have to decide on a different tire.

I'll have more updates on Tuesday when a couple packages from JDL show up

[xDanger_208x]

I finally received 2 packages from JDL today

- V3 equal length header w/Vband
- Overpipe w/Vband
- Catted frontpipe w/Vband on front, 2 bolt flange on the back

I almost have it installed. There's a slight issue with the hanger that connects the front pipe to the transmission, but it's nothing I cant fix. It'll be all done tomorrow.

[xDanger_208x]

Now I just need to figure out which intake inlet pipe I want to purchase:
- Perrin
- HPS
- SuperTek

Unless we see results from GrimmSpeed and/or RacerX... I'm just going to stick with the factory airbox with a drop in filter and inlet tube.

[Turkish]

Your BRZ is looking good! Excited to hear about your exploits and conquerings! Also interested in how your JDL (with special guest Tomei) exhaust sounds.

[xDanger_208x]

Originally Posted by Turkish

Your BRZ is looking good! Excited to hear about your exploits and conquerings! Also interested in how your JDL (with special guest Tomei) exhaust sounds.

Yeah... about that hahaha

JDL is working with me to make the car more bearable. Let me just say the EL header w/catted front pipe and Tomei 60s brings these words to mind:
- ridiculous
- insane
- awful
It is soooo unbelievably loud and raspy I hated it in less than 300 feet.
Jesse tells me the unequal length will help with the rasp and high pitched ridiculousness, so they're building one with a Vband for me.

I'm fairly certain it's also the fault of the Tomei exhaust. Only problem is I'm not too fond of any other options out there currently, so I may just sell the Tomei and go back to stock catback for a while.
Even with the silencer installed I would have been redflagged at autox without question.

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by xDanger_208x

Yeah... about that hahaha

JDL is working with me to make the car more bearable. Let me just say the EL header w/catted front pipe and Tomei 60s brings these words to mind:
- ridiculous
- insane
- awful
It is soooo unbelievably loud and raspy I hated it in less than 300 feet.
Jesse tells me the unequal length will help with the rasp and high pitched ridiculousness, so they're building one with a Vband for me.

I'm fairly certain it's also the fault of the Tomei exhaust. Only problem is I'm not too fond of any other options out there currently, so I may just sell the Tomei and go back to stock catback for a while.
Even with the silencer installed I would have been redflagged at autox without question.

rofl, I hate to laugh, but a local 86er here had a similar setup but with Nameless... loud was how you would describe idling. Glad they're working with you to get things figured out. You may want to go with a resonated catback; the fellow that had the nameless setup switched to JDL headers and Invidia Q300 catback and it is a lot more reasonable.