Clean BRZ WRB PP Build
 

I bought my second twin in April (the first was a '15 FRS). I occasionally AutoX and drag race to see how much the performance improvements are making and I plan to do some HPDE's in the future. For the most part, however, it's a fun way to get around.

Heres's the overall plan (most of these items i already have, the ones i need to get have comments).

Exterior:
-20% window tint (installed)
-Full OEM STI body kit minus rear diffuser (installed).
-tS wheels or black Enkei Raijins (depends on which one i get the best deal on, lol).
-All red Valenti's (installed)
-JDM DRL's
-Shave rear emblems or possibly replace with matte black version
-Clear sidemarkers
-Drambeenie spoiler riser

Interior:
-Black OEM door latches (installed)
-Black OEM door handle covers (installed)
-Red tS door handles (installed)
-Red tS seatbelts (installed)
-black OEM vent trim rings (installed)
-Red JDM STI push button start (installed)
-EUDM OEM arm rest (installed)
-black OEM steering wheel trim (Installed. I tried wrapping, then also tried painting my original, wasn't happy with the result, so I bought an OEM black tS unit)
-satin black radio bezel (the gloss one really stands out in a bad way. Another item to try wrapping).
-red stitched black leather shift boot (installed)
-black OEM shifter bezel (installed)
-black OEM traction control buttons (installed. I have the 2013-2016 ones, I don't plan to spend $50 just for one with the newer icon).
-blacked out TRD shift knob (installed)
-OEM blue footwell lighting (installed, but thinking now that red would be better. Let me know if you want to trade the LED part!).

Audio:
Contrary to the prevailing forum opinion, I think the OEM system sound quality is decent, but I believe a bit of sound deadening will make it better.
-sound deaden the doors (butyl/foil & closed cell foam) (installed).
-sound deaden the rear quarter panels (butyl/foil/CC foam). (installed)
-Deaden the trunk area (installed)
-replace the stock 3.5' rear speakers with 6.5" wide range (50hz to 3kHz) speakers in the stock locations using a SLS printed bracket). (installed)

Performance:
-RCE Yellows (haven't got these yet, watching for a good price for a used set).
-JDL front pipe/overpipe combo, 2.5" catted and resonated (installed)
-JDL UEL header (big shout out to @redlined600 for a deal on a used one!). (installed)
-TRD intake (installed)
-Kartboy transmission mount insert
-Shifter bushing
-Whiteline rear subframe bushings
-Whiteline differential inserts

-Once the warranty is expired at 60k miles, I plan to install a supercharger. I have a couple years to figure out which one.


First pic is the car with 9 miles on it.

Second pic is after CQuartz UK 3.0 and detailing

Third pic is Thermal R&D cat back exhaust.

4th pic is of the STI front lip and Enkei PF01's.

Took the inconceivably noisy Dunlop Direzza II's off and installed the stock Michelin Primacies on the Enkei PF01's (the stock wheels will get snow tires installed in a few months). Although the 215 series tire does look a bit narrow on the 8" Enkei rim, according to the manufacturer's specs, it is an acceptable rim width.

Besides the noise I didn't like how heavy the steering felt with the 245's that were originally on the PF01's. Additionally, it had a tendency for tramlining. I'm not thrilled with the 215's on the Enkei's but I'll live with them for now. Once they wear out I'll have to decide what to do.

Today I pulled the interior apart. I'll post completed pics likely tomorrow. For now, here's a couple pics of the chaos.

Here's what I completed tonight:
-black OEM vent trim rings
-Red JDM STI push button start
-EUDM OEM arm rest
-black OEM vertical console garnishes
-red stitched black leather shift boot
-black OEM shifter bezel
-black OEM traction control button
-blacked out TRD shift knob
-OEM blue footwell lighting

I hope to have the radio bezel wrapped in satin black by tomorrow night. I also plan to pull the door cards and begin deadening the doors tomorrow.

Took the door cards off and applied sound deadening.

Finished for now. The radio bezel has some bubbles, if they don't go away, then I'll need rewrap it. The steering wheel trim is the last silver piece that needs to be addressed.

interior looks great! Where'd you get the sound deadening material for the doors? how hard was the install?

I bought a set of OEM red 2019 Toyota 86 TRD seatbelts. They will go in when I install the rear speakers and quarter panel deadening (this'll likely happen over Labor day weekend) since it's the same panel that has to come off. The red seatbelts were locked up due to being in an accident, so I have to transfer them by unspooling then rewinding them onto my existing seatbelt assembly.

The bubbles in the radio bezel did not go away, so I peeled off the viny and reinstalled it. I have to re-evaluate my plan there.

When I was installing the painted steering wheel trim, I scraped it, and overall I'm not happy with the quality of the paint job, so I have ordered the tS unit.

I bought it on Amazon. It's Noico brand (Russian made?).

-80mil butyl/foil 36 sq ft $65
-157 mil closed cell foam 37.5 sq ft $50.

I only used perhaps a third of the the deadening material.

It took about two hours per door to do and I wasn't in a hurry. I had to wait a bit longer than that for the speaker grill bezel paint to cure before reassembly.

Installed a set of OEM STI side skirts. The spats are BaysonR. Replaced the steering wheel trim with a new one from a tS ($155!!!). The interior is looking close to how I imagined it would. I still want to have the glossy radio bezel toned down to the same finish as the rest of the trim. I've got a satin black start button trim ring on the way and I'd like to find a carbon fiber seat heater switch cover that matches the OEM carbon fiber look. Also thinking about those red anodized climate control knob rings... Not sure if they fit on the 17+ versions.

Nice work on the interior, the car looks great. If you are set on removing all the silver, the HVAC rings and toggles switches can be removed and painted.



Do you feel like the door sound deadening was worth it?

I'd prefer an OEM part replacement solution, but I appreciate the suggestion.

As far as the sound deadening, I had hoped for a more dramatic improvement, but it has helped with audio quality. It's a tighter bass, not as loud but cleaner. Also the doors close with a very solid sound. It was worth the effort in my opinion, but i suspect that many others would disagree (cost/time to benefit ratio). I've had more improvement in other cars I've done.

Here's a few more pics of the STI lip install. Goes well with the black Enkei's.

Also, after doing some reading, looks like the RCE SS1's might be the direction I'll go for suspension. Seems like a good choice for light track/autoX/DD duty.

In your first post you were looking for a lot of things I was thinking of selling. I have a set of RCE yellow springs, Tomei equal length headers already wrapped, and an Openflash tablet, all purchased new and now with about 6000 miles of California road and track driving. Maybe we could setup a good deal for both of us?

The RCE yellow springs work great with performance package dampers for track and street driving. I do the Norcal 86 Drive Challenge so I’m at the track monthly and have been really happy with them on GT Radial SX2 tires. Much less body motion and wheel gap than stock, without going so low to affect roll center much and still comfortable and quiet enough for the 3 hour drive to the track. I wouldn’t suggest going stiffer unless you are using tires like NT01s or RE71Rs and trailer your vehicle.

PM sent

I need to attend your vinyl wrapping seminar....

Great! I need to attend your driving seminar!

Since I recently purchased a JDL UEL, I have been rethinking my exhaust plans. Originally, in addition to the JDL UEL, I planned to get a JDL combo OP/FP with resonator and cat. I may still do that but at the moment I still have my high flow catted Depo Racing FP/OP. When I used it with my OEM exhaust manifold in place of the OEM FP & OP it wasn't much louder, so I hope that it won't be unbearable when swapping out the OEM exhaust manifold for the JDL UEL. The Thermal R&D cat back has a Hemholtz resonator, and also a normal 14" resonator was added. The FP/OP has a 200 cell high flow cat so expect that the noise level shouldn't exceed my tolerance threshold, lol.

I also plan to send the JDL UEL to Swain Tech for White Lightning (http://swaintech.com/race-coatings/race-coating-descriptions/white-lightning-exhaust-coatings/) ceramic coating. It will have two benefits:

1) Reduction of underhood heat. I don’t want to worry about cooking coil packs or sway bar bushings. Swain Tech suggests that 50% reductions in temp are likely.
2) Increased exhaust scavenging due to higher exhaust velocity. From my reading, it's worth about 2% improvement in power. For our vehicles, that's 4hp.

Also, since the Depo Racing FP/OP is inexpensive, I plan to heat wrap it to help keep the exhaust velocity as high as possible. I know that exhaust heat retention benefits diminish as you progress further down the exhaust, but the wrap is cheap, so I'll give it a try. I also know that it will trap moisture/salt but that’s not much of a concern to me as the FP/OP is cheap. Also, the wrap might also help with noise reduction to some degree. I'm not expecting much, I'm thinking of it being more of a possible fringe benefit. I plan to wrap the wrap with stainless steel flashing. This should protect/prolong the wrap annd will likely offer further noise reduction.

Sound deadened the trunk today and installed all red Valentis with Ninja gaskets.

Received my used JDL UEL last week. I promptly sent it to Swain Tech for White Lightning ceramic coating, they received it on Friday. From what I've read, the turnaround time is usually 4-5 weeks, so hoepfully I'll be able to install it along with the red seatbelts during the week of Labor Day.

Doin' it right. I'm liking this build a lot! Keep it up :)

I received my White Lighting coated JDL header back only three weeks after i sent it to them. I'm watching for a used 2.5" JDL front pipe/over pipe (i have posted a WTB request), in the meantime, I'll use my catted Depo racing combo pipe.

About to do a bunch of sound deadening. Noticeable sound reduction?? I think I will go a little more overboard though... (@_@)

I didn't notice as much improvement as i expected. I think more deadening would be beneficial for sure.

Powertrain NVH engineer here.. It's not always about adding more deadening, it's about where it's being put and what kind of material it is (absorbing vs. barriers). Realistically, you'd have to run a full transfer path analysis to understand how the sound is travelling to the cabin. Not all NVH treatments (even from the OEM's) are effective.

TLDR: Sometimes it's best to save the time/money and leaves things alone. Proceed wisely.

P.S. Great build so far

I had a stay at home vacation this week. Did some home maintenance stuff (cleaned out, organized and power washed the garage, put in three yards topsoil, five yards of mulch in our flowerbed) and also bought four motorcycles last weekend:

1969 Honda CL350 K0 (this is the one with the red & white tank)
1970 Honda SL350 K1 (the one with the silver frame. Needs total restoration & engine is seized.
1970 Honda CL350 (not pictured. Is a parts bike for the first two)
1971 Honda CB500 (not pictured, eBay part-out)

Finally, yesterday I was able to get some work done on my BRZ. Got the JDL UEL installed along with the high flow catted FP/OP. It sounds great. Very subdued at idle, burbly, and poppy with throttle. Howls at WOT. Fitment is great, installed easily. I still plan to get a JDL FP/OP combo pipe with a high flow cat and resonator, but the depo racing pipe will suffice for now.

Today I was able to install the 6.5" rear speakers using a SLS printed adapter I found a STL file for online. I installed them with a set of speaker baffles with some poly fill inside. 3M VHB was used to bond the baffle to the adapter, then I put a strip of foam along the perimeter to help seal it to the plastic panel. Initial impressions: I don't think Subaru has much power going to the rear speakers, but they'll have to break in to really get a feel for what improvement they may make. Overall, the sound is a bit fuller. The drivers were only $8 each on parts-expess, so I'm not out much if they don't end up making much of a difference.

I removed the red tS webbing from the deployed assemblies I found on eBay for $80, then wound them back onto my original seatbelt assemblies. It's not a difficult job, except you don't want to actually release the spool until you are ready, as rewinding it without any webbing would be a chore. At this point, the interior is finished. I may end up getting an OEM+ sound system later on, but at the moment, I have no further plans.

I also performed my final sound deadening project: the quarter panels. It's easily the most noticable sound deadening improvement by far. I hear virtually no tire noise from the rear. It's well worth the effort.

I love staycations... Looks like yours was very productive. Good work!

On my way home from my first autocross yesterday in my BRZ, I thought the clutch pedal was lower than normal, and also my cruise control would not engage. Turns out the pedal was not fully returning to the uppermost position. Right after I bought the BRZ I swapped in the $10 Rockauto 3/4" slave cylinder I used on my FRS. Between the two cars, it lasted 19,700 miles. Reinstalled the factory slave cylinder and all is well. I plan to buy an OEM 3/4" slave cylinder as I really like the feel of it over the softer stock behavior.

I finally have the last piece of the exhaust, the JDL combo OP/FP with the resonator and high flow cat. I plan to install it in two weeks.

Additionally, regarding the rear speakers; I have not noticed much difference with the 6.5". It might be a touch louder and possibly a fuller mid-range sound, but I would not bother with it unless I was taking it apart for some other purpose.


Regarding the overall sound deadening effort; I suspect that it's helping a lot with exhaust noise. I hardly hear the exhaust unless I'm at WOT. The sound system is improved. If I had to assign a numerical value to the percent improvement, I'd say maybe 15%.