The vortex brz

[sexyvortex711]

Hello, I currently own a 2015 Brz that is slowly being built up.

So far I have had a 1994 Oldsmobile 88 that drove like a boat and had way too many problems to list. In the end the whole electrical system short circuited and melted most of the wire harnesses but what do you want for a first car .

After my olds I had to hurry to find a car so I could get to work. I got my silver 07 Scion Tc. Initially I was saving up to get a five speed Lexus IS300 but they are few and far between. The main reasons I got the TC were because of the cheap insurance and price. The Scion Tc gained a complete TRD suspension (sway,springs,struts) rims and tires, Dr.Isotope short shifter, Injen intake, Tanabe exhaust and cosmetics. The Tc was fun but never had that sports car feel to me. It was fun and probably way more capable than I am as a driver. Yet it had problems the car; drank gas at about 19 mpg average and ate oil about three quarts every three months. For the lack of power the mpg was terrible and the power mods did very little. You need boost honestly. Here she is.
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I went to a Subaru dealership on a whim and they offered to pay off the remainder of my loan. I looked at the Frs but nearly all of them had some odd accessories and I don't care for the Toyota dealerships in my area. There were no Lexus IS300 and the mpg for them is even worse. . The ecoboost mustangs felt too big to me but they are pretty awesome. Ultimately I got a silver 2015 brz limited for 27000.
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First thing I did was order Valenti tail lights to add some flair I also debadged it to clean the back end. I have had them three months and so far no condensation or led burnout.
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I got a Raceseng knob and reverse lockout. I love the way they look and I prefer a heavy shift knob so its perfect. The knob gets hot as fire and cold as ice but its worth it to me.
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I swapped out the stock rims and tires for my old tires and rims off the Tc. They are Focal F10 rims supposedly 19 pounds and Michelin A/S 3. The sticky tires change the car drastically. The amount of grip makes it even easier to drive harder. However once the tires break traction it is harder to get it back versus stock. I gained more feel and I gained more confidence in my car. I recommend better tires because it makes the car a beast but you lose some of the tail fun. My mpg did not change. I went with the A/S 3 over the PSS due to where I live getting below 32 F in the winter but no snow. I live in Central California. I got burning blue muteki open lugs and painted the calipers blue to mimic the BMW M5 color scheme.
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Last current mod is open flash tablet I will update with a review once I get more time with it.

[sexyvortex711]

I have had the Open flash tablet since the last week of June so I have had a little shy of three months. Installation was simple as plugging it in and following a few given prompts on the tablet. The only issue I ran in to was how short the OBD 2 connector is. I attempted to drive with the tablet to make sure nothing went awry. While driving the connector kept losing connection and made my car lose it's mind it seemed. My air condition went hot, nearly every light was on in the dash and it was not wanting to rev. I have no idea why this happened but after pulling over and redoing the tune all was fine. I have not driven with tablet plugged in and instead use my torque app.

I'm going break this in to two sections I ran E85 for about two months and been on gas since late August.

Your able to run E85 with this tablet so I decided to try it out. It is easy to do and there are great instructions located on this form for it. E85 is fun, there seems to be an upper surge around 5000 rpm to near redline. It made the feel fast, not as fast as Mustang or WRX but similar to Civic Si. That is not to say it feels like Vtec because sadly it dose not, rather there is just more drive in the upper rpms. The way the car stock has the torque dip and than that surge of power is how it feels but minus the dip. I loved running E85 the only downside is the drop in fuel economy. On E85 I averaged 16 mpg if I drove regularly shifting before 4000 and only going past 7000 on those highway curves. If I drove it like I stole I would get 14 mpgs. The difference in price between E85 and 91 (I am in California) makes them near the same price to run. It would cost me 27 roughly to fill up E85 using 11.9 gallons with a range of 190 and 33 roughly to fill up with Shell 91 using 11 with a range of 220. This all with a mix of about 60 city 40 highway. In short E85 makes the car a blast at the cost of your fuel mileage although it is less cost issue but more a inconvenience. I would have to fill up about every 4 to 5 days using E85 where as on gas I can go about a week. There is a lot controversy around E85 claiming it is problematic for the car and worse for the environment than pump gas. In all honesty I don't which is true all I know is that more routine maintenance is required.

I decided to go back to 91 because I am going down to LA and weary of my car running out of fuel. I was worried that the tune would not feel as good as running E85 and just like stock. After the first fill up the car did feel different the top surge is no longer there. The tune did make the car feel more linear, the dip is still there but is not as pronounced as in the stock tune. I feel that this tune is a good compromise because it has a lot of potential and it reduces the dip. The redline is increased on the tunes for the tablet allowing you to hit 60 in second gear. I liked this tune a lot I feel this a great mod it makes the car feel better and adds this mechanical growl at 5000 rpm as did the E85. There is also small little crackles in the exhaust note with a header it should sound vicious. If you want a tune to smooth out the car a tad this should be perfect for you.

Overall the open flash tablet is extremely worth it, whether you are running 91 93 or E85 the added benefits can be felt. Not to mention open flash being active in the forums with answering questions and providing updates on the tunes. There is also support for Vortech supercharger and headers . I recommend this if you are looking for an affordable way to give your car more pep.