2022 BRZ, Scargod's Mod's and Track Upgrades
 

Purchased a new WRB 2022 Limited BRZ on Dec 30, 2021.
My goal with the car is to improve the handling, braking and overall performance with the goal of keeping it street legal and domesticated enough to enjoy for extended driving while also making it my main track day car. Previously I have been playing in a 2008 STI, dedicated track car, that weights 2800 pounds and has 470 AWDHP. That is 6.4: 1 Power to Weight ratio. The BRZ will be about 12! Still, I'm sure it will put a smile on my face and be easier to maintain.

With less than 800 miles on the BRZ I've changed to an IRP shifter, added a Velox throttle pedal spacer kit for better heel-toe action, changed to a K&N air filter and put a APR Performance GTC 200 wing on the car. I've made a splitter of 6mm Alumalite and made carbon fiber struts to stiffen it from fluttering.
NOTE: The wing is lowered and less aggressive. See later pics.

I have fitted 17" winter wheels on it right now.
I have ready to go, 245/40ZR17 Toyo Proxes R888R on Apex ARC8 17 x 9 +42 wheels for track use. They fit beautifully with no effort.
The spindles have ARP 100-7717 Wheel Studs, M12 x 1.5 medium length studs with a coarser thread than Subaru's. They are meant for a 2002-2006 Mitsubishi Lancer. The reason is that they are more common thread size so lug nuts are easier to find/more standard.

A big Setrab 25-Row, Series 6 oil cooler, Part #50-625-7612, is mounted in the grille area, hung from the crash beam. A GReddy 12401126 Oil Cooler Sandwich Plate will make the transition and I'm using flexible and light Aeroquip -10 Startlite Race Hose. Seven quart capacity system.
A TRUST/GREDDY OIL PAN BAFFLE PLATE 13515902 is to be installed when I next pull the pan.

I'm waiting on Cygnus' specification, Fortune Auto, Performance X-1 Motorsport Edition Coilovers with high caster Cas/Cam plates, digressive valving and 7K Hyperco Springs.
I'm also waiting on the coilovers to install Voodoo 13 Rear LCA’s and RacerX adjustable, bump steer correcting, rear toe links at the same time.
The car will be lowered about an inch.
I will install stainless steel braided brake lines and bleed the brakes (changing to Motul 600).
A RacerX master cylinder brace is on order.
I'm working on a custom design trapezoidal vent for the front area of the hood.
I'm looking at Wilwood BBK's from RR Racing for the car.
Sway bars may be in the car's future.

For a start I will just put track pads on the stock crappy sliders.
I have a first track day scheduled for March 26th at Lime Rock Pak, CT with SCDA.

I found a used Nameless/Cosworth long runner header to 2.5" mid-pipe. It will likely go on once I have the suspension components and handling sorted.

Link to my STI track car Journal on IWSTI Car will be for sale shortly.

IRP shifter install in Gen II car
 

Here's one of the only two tricky things about the install of the IRP shifter.
The picture shows where it needs to be notched. The notch allows the pin to move back so reverse can be engaged. I used an X-Acto knife.
I drilled two holes directly above the two screws holding the shifter trim piece in. This allowed me to reach the screws below without removing more of the center console.
Lastly, I did not drop the transmission way down. I left the two rear bolts to the mount engaged and I was still able to work the aluminum frame around and get it out!
All the rest is pretty straightforward and there are videos that document the basic process.

Thanks for the IRP v3 on Gen2 post, friend was asking me about it and now I can point him your way!

In the process of routing my oil cooler hoses I took my washer tank out.
It was almost full and I thought, this is heavy!
It holds almost exactly five quarts, which is 10.4 pounds.

I've purchased plastic fittings so I can drain the reservoir when I track the car. At least on the Gen II cars there is a large plug on the tank that fits in a metal bracket. It stabilizes the bottom of the tank. I'm drilling and tapping it for 3/8" NPT threads and I'll be using a 2.5 inch nipple with a coupling on the end so I can screw a hex drive pipe plug into it (as a drain plug).
The parts will be epoxied together so hopefully the drain plug will be what unscrews. I will have a little of the coupler sticking out below the splitter that I can hang onto it.
McMaster-Carr parts:
4882K212 Thick-Wall Dark Gray PVC Pipe Nipple for Water, Threaded on Both Ends, 3/8 NPT, 2-1/2" Long
3736K186 Plastic Pipe Fitting for Oil, Straight Connector, 3/8 NPT Female Threaded Pipe

You can laugh, but that weight is in a terrible place. Just like the weight of the battery in my STI that I downsized and relocated.
UPDATE: I did the mod and it is going to work out. I' haven't glued it all together yet. Drilling and tapping the tank was not that simple. Internal ribbing goes into the area and leaves a lot of burrs to clean up inside. They are a bit hard to get to. I used a wood carving tool with a shaped end and was able to get most of it removed. It also doesn't leave as much thread as I would have liked. A better solution would be to weld on a poly fitting and go with a 1/4" NPT size.
The suggestion was made to use a valve, but with my using a plug the drain only sticks down below the splitter by 1/4" when finished and I don't have to make an access to a valve lever in the splitter.

Alumalite Splitter Ready to Mount
 

Here's the finished 6mm Alumalite splitter I've made. It projects 5 to 5.5 inches beyond the front lip of the fascia. The front edge is sealed with Permatex ULTRA GREY gasket maker. A rubber trim will form a small dam where the splitter meets the fascia. I bonded in nutserts to the plastic piece in the fascial that stiffens the bottom. One custom bracket in the center of the rear edge and it is supported.
It weights next to nothing!

I also picked up a WRB BRZ on December 30 haha
And when I was there another guy was picking up his grey BRZ.
What a coincidence

I have nothing to say really other than I really like these updates. Very nice ongoing build, keep us posted !

Caster and camber plates from Cygnus Performance. Below are Cygnus' Performance X-1 Motorsport Edition Coilovers. I'll show them when I get the height set.
The el cheapo master cylinder brace cost me $29.25 on Ebay. It's good quality and does the job. I did chose to use better mounting bolts with washers.

The other pic is the Voodoo LCA and RacerX toe link rods.
Attachment 210405

Attachment 210406

Loved your build over on iwsti, super excited to see this here!

Do you intend to adjust caster? If so, what makes you want to do that? I'm very new to suspension tuning.

Caster is something you almost can't get enough of. The "caster/camber" plates give me about 1.5° of additional positive caster that is non-adjustable. You could start slotting holes or reworking the shock tower.
I've been doing a rough alignment on the car since I've added a lot of new parts. Previously, I have always done my own alignments. This week I'll take it to a shop and see what they can do. A lot of alignment shops don't want to do race cars...
I couldn't get over, roughly, -2° camber on the front, left side. I was easily able to get -3.5° on the right! Tomorrow I'll put in a smaller diameter bolt up top on the knuckle.
I'm down to 3.5 inches of clearance in the front. That's about a 2" drop. I'm going to back it off to four inches. I wonder how high most speed bumps are?

First Track Day!
 

My first outing with the BRZ. I did a car control clinic. That was interesting. I got some rear end movement out of it but mostly the front end wanted to plow, so it was self-defeating, in that it made noise (the Michelins are noisy!) yet it was not the fast way around the course.
The car did do better on the race track, even though it was wet. Of five laps I timed, my average speed was 75. This was at Lime Rock, a 1.5 mile course. Still, on slower turns it understeered.
I'm running G-Loc R12 pads front and rear. They were fine in the rain! Very predictable and consistent. A little noisy on the road as I drove to and from the track with them.
There were two other new BRZ's there! One was in my advanced group, but he was hindered by tires that weren't great in the wet.
Attachment 210615

Are these splitter rods mounted to the flimsy plastic of your grille or is there more going on that tie it to your chassis that we cannot see?

The CF rod is attached to the steel crash beam with this McMaster-Carr ball joint linkage. I drilled it out to 5/16" so I could epoxy the rod into it. The only issue with my design is that you have to figure out the length exactly unless you slot the beam or make a special bracket to attach to the beam.
The grille is slotted a little, but you do not see it from above. When the splitter is on, the rod is positioned more forward in the notch I cut in the grille.
You can also see one of my Setrab oil cooler mount brackets attached to the beam.
Attachment 210684
I did a track day and there was no issue with any of it.
I think I will add a threaded end to the upper end of the rods so I can unscrew them from the top mount once I have removed the splitter. Then I won't have to remove the fascia to get at them.

2022 BRZ, Scargod's Mod's and Track Upgrades
 

Your wing is pretty high with a lot of AOA. That wing can handle being mounted below the roof line a bit. I run mine with the risers removed with less AOA, it was far too much with the standard riser setup and the car was considerably less drag limited on the straights.

Here is how mine sits. I’m not advocating running it as low as I do, but I believe reducing the height should help some.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...6c4f72f403.jpg

Agreed! I'm in the process of lowering the wing. Learned it's not very efficient up there in clean air since it's a 3D wing. It is meant to match the airflow of the roofline and at the ends match the cleaner air at the sides of the car.
This (by APR) explains it pretty well. See the 3D airfoil section in this tech article..
Last you will see of the high wing!

Attachment 210759

:thumbsup: That is a good article. That much riser is also leveraging the car more. A good test when deciding wing height is to tape a bunch of string to the the rear window, if it flows mostly straight behind the car, the airflow is attached. It stays pretty well attached at most speeds most of the way down the back glass. I didn't see it mentioned in the article, but I believe the effective AOA is higher than the wings static AOA due to the airflow path. But I could be wrong on that. I typically run about 3 degrees static measured at the center profile.

Really like you splitter. I ordered a bunch of allumilite but never received it. Though for classing I wouldn't be allowed to run the fences on the ends.

Blox Sway Bars and More
 

Attachment 211060
Installed the Blox "set" of sway bars. They come only with the Teflon lined bushings but the quality is excellent and the price from RCA Garage was great. The powdercoat finish is very good. The only negative is the odd 11mm adjustment holes.
I had to make bushings with my links and ream the holes slightly to get the paint out and bushings in.
Nice front links came with the Cygnus coilovers.
I made rear end links from McMaster-Carr pieces. I ordered M10 x 1.5 lubrication-free High-Load Ball Joint Rod End, with Nylon/PTFE Inserts from McMaster-Carr along with dust covers and high-strength bolts (Alloy Steel Shoulder Screws, 10 mm, 35 mm Shoulder Length, M8 x 1.25 mm Thread). These male to female rod ends are just the right length for my lowered car and the solid rod end Voodoo rear lower control arms (since they have a built in 18mm drop drop).The high-strength precision shoulder bolts and adapter bushings (sleeves) I made make for a perfect 10mm bolt fit into the Blox sway bar's oddball 11mm holes. I have very little slop in my connections before tightening!
I spent $150 and my links are equivalent to name brand links, or better, and they have dust seals.

Attachment 211120

Attachment 211121
For those interested, because of the Cygnus Performance high camber/caster plates in the front I have an additional 1.2° of caster and run -3.5° camber in the front and -2.5° in the rear.
The Blox sway bars, with more emphasis on making the rear bar stiffer, has improved handling and lessened understeer.

First Track Day on Dry Track and Toyo 888R's!
 

Friday, 5-6-2022: Did almost two hours at Thompson Speedway in NE CT.
My best lap was a 1:24.6. 102 or more on the straight.
This is with a new car that still needs some sorting, me being rusty and driving a RWD car on a track for the first time in 26 years.
I was also running my new "Wilwood Superlite 6" BBK on the front. I'm pleased with the brakes, though the BP-20's were smoking. I've ordered Hawk DTC-70's.

I was overdriving the 245x17 888R tires quite a bit till I settled down. I lowered the pressure to 33 PSI hot. It was a 65° day.
I had my first off in six events at Thompson when the car snapped on me at the very end of turn six. I caught it and then it snapped around the other way, doing a complete 360 in grass. I thought for a second I was gonna drive away unscathed when I bumped the wall in the rear. Looked like a NASCAR spin and mow event.
I was almost on empty. Filled the tank with gas and let a little air out of the rear tires. Seemed composed and fine after that...
All I can think of is that someone kicked up dirt on the track from the pothole at the end of the rumble strip. I was hard on the power at that point.
I think I've read that if you up the stiffness of the rear sway bar that you risk reducing the amount of forgiveness when the car oversteers.
Any input is welcome! I'm going to try softening it for my next track day at Palmer Motorsports Park (MA).Attachment 211744

New uprights for wing
 

Here are the brackets I made so I could get the wing down where I want it.
The bottom of the wing is now 7.5 inches above the trunk, just in front of the spoiler.
I'll machine this some more and beautify it as I get comfortable with the angle and performance.
I guess that what I'm using is some style of universal trunk bracket made by APR. Because I bought everything used I don't know what the GTC 200 wing was on before I got it.
I made now larger end plates for the wing. I felt like the stock ones were too small and letting air spill over and around them, reducing the wings efficiency. These are 200mm x 300 mm in size.
Attachment 211750

Attachment 211751

Once in a while I hear about an 86 "snapping", or having snap oversteer. I don't understand why, though. This car is so predictable, easy to drive at the limit, and friendly to recover when the rear loses traction.
You and I are not of the younger generation, but so often when I hear of younger (i.e. under 35) drivers talking about oversteer, they automatically include the word "snap" in front of it. I don't understand why, though. Maybe they should try driving a 930 Turbo or something.
(old guy thoughts)

Why are your splitter supports loose cables?

Seems there are various ways to support a splitter.
When the splitter gets good loading the cables will be tight and the splitter lip is pressed down below level. It's how I designed it, with a little flex. The front edge drops about a half inch and the rear edge rises and bottoms out against the cross brace.
I think a lot of cables have some slack.

As to snapping, I think you have to suddenly lose traction somehow. I know that a radial tire will reach a threshold and then more suddenly "let go" than a bias ply tire will. I've never experience the rear of a car letting go in an uncontrollable fashion as I just experienced. Was like I hit a puddle of water or oil.

Have to wonder if a simple siphon to empty the tank would not be easier?

The weight balance is already forward, so not laughing. Would have been cool if the engineers had gone to a transaxle (ala Porsche 944) to get even better balance, but I'm sure this was way beyond the budget for this project, and would have made the sales price to high to be viable.

Call me crazy, but the least they could have done was moved the battery to the trunk, and the washer tank up near the firewall where the battery currently is..

Thanks for the advice. I think I have it at a good height now. The picture does not truly reflect its height. The turned-up high point of the wing (not including the end plates) is three inches lower than the roof peak.
I also reduced the AOA considerably. I was able to do 115 in fifth gear at Palmer and had a best lap of 1:56. I was very happy with the car's handling. I felt its handling was on par with the best cars in the Advanced/Instructor group. There was one BMW race car, on slicks that cornered better.
Attachment 212122

First outing at Palmer Motorsports Park
 

I had an hour and a half on track at Palmer on 5-20 and the BRZ was flawless!
We ran counterclockwise and my best lap was a respectable 1:56. With the aero I managed 115 on the straight. Brakes worked great with the Girodisc two-piece rotors and Hawk DTC 70's up front. I ran PowerStop “Track Day Spec” pads on the rear. I was able to get into the ABS if I tried.
With the 245-17", 888's and all my mods I was able to corner with everyone except a BMW race car with big slicks.
Attachment 212182

That is a Nice Shot!

I had another great day at Thompson on the fourth.
I did at least 110.5 MPH on the straightaway (up from 102) but then started having issues with the Harry's timer app. I'm going to put my AIM Evo 4s in the car.
I can't say what my best lap was but I know I got a lot faster.
Car's handling is just amazing. Driver needs consistency!
Five BRZ's at the event! The 2017's belong to my track buddies.
Attachment 212459

Nice! I see we have the same track buddies, was with them at Tamworth the week before.

They are a really great bunch of guys! If I could have taken off that many days I would have been there. It's one of my fav tracks!

Racing mirrors with my custom aluminum mounts
 

I made my own mounting brackets for some Lifeline GT Racing Mirrors with Flat Lens. Lost four pounds and have better aero. Plus I think they suit the car.

Attachment 212660

Attachment 212892

Attachment 212893

Next I will be fabricating a small Alumalite splitter for street use. It will give me a smooth bottom area in the front.

So much downforce you can park upside down, nice.

Why do pictures post upside down?
 

I've had this issue before and even my flipping the image and reposting didn't fix it. It's also a rarity that it does this. Pics were from my iPhone. Others from my phone have been fine...
If you know how to fix this I will repost them! FIXED!

New Street Splitter
 

Made a smaller splitter from leftover Alumalite. The big one drags the ground too much on its leading edge.
It also closed of the gap between the front fascia and the metal plate under the engine. Makes for a nice, smooth bottom and keeps crap out.
Attachment 213055

Had two days at Club Motorsports with SCDA, 8-1 and 2. YouTube video here. The guy in the white 2017 BRZ with PP and $8K shocks is a friend and he runs 255 Kumho V730's. I had difficulty staying with him in some turns, but I was slightly faster on straights. He has no aero and is tuned to 190.
My best lap was a 1:51. I had a theoretical 1:49. I tried out a Garmin Catalyst. My laps were fairly consistent but the Toyo 888R were disappointing in how fast they went away. They are also 245's. I could have used more tire. Brakes were good and performed consistently and I went as deep into corners as anyone. I was staying with a stock GT4 everywhere, as far as cornering (like turns 7 through 10). The GT4 just has Continental Extreme Contact Force performance street tires and is driven by a track buddy and he is and instructor and a good driver.
Pretty satisfied with the car. I ran the downsized gargoyle splitter this time. There's not much I would change except for better 245's and the front sticking better in lower-speed corners.
Another friend, with a Yellow Special Edition with lots of suspension work and tuned to 186, said he thought the rear aero, in particular, was helping me stick the rear better than he could (in his stock aero form). I gather from this that the bigger aero costs me in top speed and brings me down more to their level of acceleration, and that I need better tires to use all of what aero advantage I have. Before the 888R's started going away it was faster, even though a final eight session lap was my fastest. Still, I was continually losing the front or running out of track.
For the 85-88° day I found that the tire's sweet spot was 32 hot. YMMV.

Just ordered a set of 245/40ZR17 Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3R tires. These are 200 TW rated tires, but more like 100 TW tires.
I know they will not last many track days but their price is not crazy. I paid $1,029 for the set, including high CT taxes.
I'm excited about how much lighter they are than some tires on the various track day lists. Should be a lot like a Hoosier R7 slick.
Going to Watkin's Glen on the 28th for two days on the track and will be running with instructors!245/40ZR17,
Follow-up: Check out Grassroots Motorsports article on tires!

Saw your post on SuperCar 3R, did a bit of research, 1hr later I bought a set. Haha, thanks!

I found a really good deal, came out to $844 after taxes, rebates and installed.

Watkins Glen on 8-29 and 30 was a blast. Turned consistent 2:20's and a rolling lap of 2:18. That's with my stock engine and exhaust. I figure it weights 2,850 with me in it. That's 13:1 W/P ratio.
Loved the tires. Car handled great. Now I'm jonesing for a OSG racing diff and at least 4.3:1 ring and pinion.
Will have video up soon of me chasing a 2017 PP, Special Yellow.

:eyebulge:

These look great!

Two days at Club Motorsports with SCDA
 

VIDEOS: RACING IN THE DRY.
RACING IN THE RAIN.

Pic from Club Motorsports with SCDA on 9-20. Steve Hanford in the Yellow. Great fun with (at times) four BRZ's on the track in our Instructor/Advanced run group.

Car really did great! Turning 1:46~1:48 laps when dry. Think I could use a bit more negative camber than the -3°/-2° I'm running.

I'm getting nervous... I know of a '22 BRZ that just seized up while being tracked and I heard Gary Wu's GR86 just blew up. He thinks his was due to oil starvation.
I've got eleven track days and 4,600 miles on my BRZ with no issues so far.
I don't want to void the engine warranty. So far I'm stock.
I'm contemplating installing a KB pan, baffle plate and pickup. I'm thinking this would not void my warranty.
What does anyone know of as far as engine issues in the 2nd Gen cars? I'd rather not track it till it blows, even if it's covered...

As far as installing an oil pickup, pan, baffling, etc, if anything were to go wrong engine-wise, the dealer can just blame those parts. IE, spin a bearing due to some other reason, maybe a defect, but not oiling or anything related? They likely won't cover it.

On the 2022's blowing up, it likely has something to do with the RTV issue. It seems like all of them have some silicone clogging the pickup. The question is how much silicone and even how is it stuck in there.

Out on track, you're at high RPMs, high loads, and that's when oiling is key. It's possible to have oil starvation when there's no silicone if you're really pushing crazy hard and for longer sweepers, so my guess is the silicone blockages aren't helping.