DarkSunrise 2022 BRZ
 

Well after 10 fun years with my 2013 FR-S, it's time to start a new chapter with a 2022 BRZ. Since I don't have as much time for track days as before, I'm not in a rush to move all the mods over from the old car. Will probably take it slow and see what I really need.

Current Mods:
- STI fender vents
- JDM 151R lightweight battery (carryover)

Mods Planned:
- OEM front crash bolts & whiteline camber bolts (carryover, -2 degrees)
- Whiteline trans bushing (carryover)
- 17x8 +42 Wedssport TC105N (carryover)
- 17x9 +42 Apex ARC-8 (carryover)
- Carbotech XP10 pads (carryover)

Undecided:
- Perrin CBE (carryover)
- 400#/400# RCE T2 coilovers (carryover)
- Pedders camber tophats (-3.6 degrees front)
- RR Racing Stage 2 BBK (carryover)
- Perrin oil cooler (carryover)

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Some pictures with my 2013 FR-S:

Added STI fender vents. Purely an appearance mod but I love how these look.

Swapped over the battery from my old FR-S (JDM 151R battery mod). This saves between 6-10 lbs from the OEM group 35 battery, while retaining use of a cheap lead acid battery. Battery specs

CCA: 340
RC: 55 min
Weight: 22.4 lbs

Everything fits (same mounting points remain on the 2nd gen), although the wiring on the positive terminal is stretched a little compared with fitment on the 1st gen. No functional issues though.

Subbed just like the previous thread:happyanim:

Having driven my 2nd gen for 500 miles, I thought I'd post some thoughts on how it differs from my 2013 FR-S which is now back to stock. Putting aside the power bump, a lot of the changes for the 2nd gen (higher quality interior, lighter steering, less notchy gearshift, softer damped suspension, softer cushioned seats, less thrashy engine sound) seem designed to make the 2nd gen more refined and premium. It's like the 1st gen was built to feel like an old-school Japanese sports car (think S2000 or Miata), whereas the 2nd gen is trying to crib off Porsche. The added low-end torque only adds to the sensation of refinement. Driving around town, this 2nd gen gives me a similar vibe to my old 987.2 Boxster S or mk6 GTI. I'm honestly impressed that Subaru/Toyota were able to add this level of refinement and power to the 2nd gen with minimal weight gain (57 lbs over my 2013 FR-S). These changes significantly increase the versatility/bandwidth of the 2nd gen with minimal downsides. It's a lot more enjoyable driving around town at a relaxed pace and I find myself driving just to relax and check out nice views. The 2nd gen does a good job playing the role of a GT car in a way that my FR-S never could.

That said, I see why 1st gen owners feel the 2nd gen has lost some character. I think it has as well. A lot of the 2nd gen changes follow the evolution of modern sports cars (refinement, insulation, torque). The 1st gen offers more of a unique driving experience given that it's 10 years old now and even when new tried to impart the feel of a bygone era in Japanese cars (fun but torqueless tincans).

Anyway both platforms are great and I wish I could keep them both.

Bought a little pocket to hold my cell phone. Works great and was cheap! It’s held on by a Velcro backing.

Where did you find this? I've been hoping to find something similar for my car.

This is the one I bought

https://www.amazon.com/Organizer-Poc...64279101&psc=1

Thought this was a funny picture. Did a semi-aggressive canyon run but still in my break-in period. 50% throttle, 5k rev limit, 50% braking.

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Since I increased my rev limit to 5000 RPM, I finally heard the amplified intake noise in person. I honestly think it sounds great. Sort of howls through the midrange. Very smooth. I think it fits the character of this 2nd gen. Admittedly I might have strange taste. I also liked the sound of VW's soundaktor device on my mk6 GTI. I'm going to leave ASC on and will probably skip an exhaust (similar to how if I owned an S2000 I wouldn't want an exhaust to mask the intake noise).

Great day for a drive btw. Love this red color.

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Changed the oil with break-in over. It's interesting coming from a 1st gen discovering the changes Subaru/Toyota made, like how the skid plate cover is no longer sealed where the primary cat is. I'm guessing they saw from the 1st gen how much heat was getting trapped in that area (and causing coilpack failures) and decided to vent that area a bit. They seem to have re-used the same skidplate so there's just an empty hole where the plastic push clip used to be haha.

While changing the oil, I installed a Fumoto valve, nipple-less design to maximize clearance with the skidplate. Unlike a lot of the install videos I saw, I had to remove the skidplate to get adequate clearance with my crescent wrench to get a full 1/8 turn tightening the valve but YMMV. I also opted not to use the plastic locking clip since it just reduces clearance with the skidplate and is unnecessary with the way the revised skidplate protects that area on the 2nd gen.

Lastly gave the car its first carwash. It's depressing how fragile the paint on these cars is. I saw a handful of rock chips and the car is only at 1000 miles. It's not going to be pretty after a few years.

Oh almost forgot, father's day present from the wife.

Nice! @ what mileage did you start to open it up to 5k revs/half throttle?

Thanks! With the warning that I'm not recommending anyone deviate from the owner's manual, personally I didn't want to wait until 1000 miles to seat the rings and I also didn't want to just flip a switch at 1000 miles and suddenly start ripping to 7400 RPM at full throttle. So this was my break-in:

500 miles: 4500 RPM, 1/2 throttle
600 miles: 5000 RPM, 1/2 throttle
700 miles: 6000 RPM, 2/3 throttle*
800 miles: 6500 RPM, full throttle*
900 miles: 7000 RPM, full throttle*
1000 miles: 7400 RPM, full throttle*

*When I went 2/3 throttle and up, it was only at 3000+ ft elevation where cylinder pressures are lower due to decreased air density.

Lastly I also using engine braking at around 600 miles to try to seat the rings. So I'd gently rev to 6000 or 6500 RPM and then engine brake back down to 2000 RPM.

Thank you. I was thinking the same thing of not going from sedated driving style to full ham @ 1k miles hence i wanted to slowly increase the revs with partial throttle. I am @ 530miles and have slowly opened her up to 4500rpm on light loads (mostly 1st and 2nd gear). I think i will follow something similar to what you are doing.

When you changed your oil, did you also replace the oil filter? Or a drain and fill? What oil weight did you use? I quickly skimmed the manual but didn't recall seeing a note like the gen1 where 5W-30 can be used for harder driving conditions. What about the trans and diff?

Awesome! I just got back from opening it up a bit. I'm at 925miles. My G meter looks very similar. lol.

I'll go out again at some point and bring it up to 5k. My oil change is scheduled for Thursday, my 1st track day is the 25th.

Yeah I would definitely change the filter since the filter medium should have picked up a lot of the metal particles and shavings from break-in. I changed mine out with a fresh Subaru black filter.

For oil, I went with Mobil 1 0w20 AFE, but will probably switch to a 30 weight before my next track day. I think the manual still states a conventional 5w30 can be used if a synthetic 0w20 is not available, same as the 1st gen. FWIW that Mobil 1 oil is actually pretty stout for a 0w20 with a KV100 value of 8.8. The only 0w20 oil I've found that's thicker at high temp is Redline 0w20.

I'm planning to change out the trans and diff oil this winter.

Nice, I can't wait to hit the track with this car too. Have fun!

I did notice the reference of 5-30 in lieu of 0-20 syn. However I thought the literature from the manual of the Gen1 mentioned that 5-30 can be substituted for extreme driving conditions? I can be wrong though as it's been a while since I visited the manual of a Gen1.

At 939 miles, I drive down to the dealer and got my oil changed today. Ripped it around this afternoon. This thing is a blast, can't wait for Saturday.

Oh actually yeah the 1st gen manual did mention that you could use an oil with higher viscosity if the car was being operated at higher speeds or extreme loads. The 2nd gen manual only mentions that a higher viscosity oil is necessary to keep the engine properly lubricated in hot weather. Slight difference in language, but at least for me the takeaway is the same. I'll use a 30 weight oil at the track and the thickest cheap 0w20 or 5w20 for everywhere else. In normal conditions, the majority of engine wear happens on cold starts so I think for non-track driving it's important to have good cold start protection.

Which track and organizer are you running with?

I got tired of all the paint damage and tried Meguiar's hybrid ceramic wax on my car. I honestly just wanted the longest lasting, easiest paint protection but was not expecting it to shine this much. Combined with the ignition red color, my car was getting so much attention just going out for lunch down the street. Very eye-popping and not recommended at all if you're trying to fly under the radar lol. It's hard to describe how shiny it came out, but here's my attempt at showing it with a picture:

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Yeah, i have been using PUP (pennzoil ultra platinum) 5-30 on the gen1 and will likely continue to do so with the FA24. Project farm did an engine oil shoot out a while back and it barely came 2nd behind amsoil. The UAO which came back after 2 track days were spectacular. Thread is here if you are interested:

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=146810

I just don't want to void the warranty if 5-30 is not spec'd for the engine.

Nice, thanks for the data point. That UOA does look very solid. Out of curiosity, how many track days had the engine seen at that point?

I think the only thing that concerns me about PUP 5w30 is its KV 100 value is lower than most other 30 weight oils I've looked at:

PUP 5w30: 10.3
Castrol Edge 5w30 EP: 10.8 (2.9 HTHS)
M1 5w30: 11.1
M1 0w30 AFE: 11.5
Castrol Edge 5w30 LL: 11.6 (3.5 HTHS)
Pennzoil Euro L 5w30: 12.6 (3.5 HTHS)

I'd bet any quality synthetic 30 weight oil would be fine though. BTW I get the sense that Subaru is much more likely to void the warranty for track use than for using a 30 weight oil.

The engine was fairly young, it was low mileage (about 18k miles) and has only seen 3 track days. That sample was taken after the last track day.

Yeah, the PUP is a bit thinner but the results are there. I have regularly got the oil temp to about 110C even when i am hooning hwy ramps. In my opinion, i don't think oil temp is as a big factor as the internet makes it out to be. I am sure there are added benefits if you run cooler oil during track use but you are also running other risks outside of track (longer oil warm ups, over cooling, leaks) which can also destroy your engine. It really depends on your usage case. In any case, don't want to turn this into oil/cooler discussion as there are already too many horses killed in this discussion. :)

Good point about tracking/warranty. I wonder our ECU logs anything that can indicate how the car was driven.

So, ZDan has recruited another disciple I see :D Haha just kidding. Yeah I totally get why people might choose not to use an oil cooler. I'm undecided on this new car personally. It has the OEM style cooler which is better than nothing. I'll look at my own data from the track and decide from there. I'll probably only add one if I start doing 10+ track days/year again and if I can find an oil cooler with a layout I like.

I doubt in the ECU logs that they'd record a long enough period of data to prove track use but they could probably make an educated guess based on time stamps, RPM/engine load, and oil temps/pressures. Maybe g-meter values on this new gen? I wouldn't hide from it anyway. Pay to play kind of deal, just my personal take.

haha, ZDan is vocal of his opinion on oil coolers but I tend to agree with his view. And my oil analysis will agree with me as well. Again, not saying it isn't beneficial to have cooler oil temps during track conditions, if my car lived on a race track, I will be adding one in a heart beat. But for my use case, I don't think I will benefit much from one.

LimeRock Park- FCP Euro Proving grounds AutoX lappping day. Can't wait.

Nice always wanted to try Lime Rock. Seems like it'd be fun with the elevation changes. Have fun, post some pictures :)

Neat, I did nearly exactly the same thing when I first bought mine. 500 more RPM per 100 miles and I started going up at 500 miles as well. Didn't think anyone else would do something this specific like me, but it's nice to know I wasn't the only one!

I also use PUP as after a ton of research and calculations, I determined this to be the best bang for the buck with great specs. One thing I wanted to note which I'm sure you understand - that lower KV value is so insignificant, it really doesn't matter. The difference between 10.3 and 12.6 even out of the list you gave is completely insignificant. It's not a 19% difference in flow, it's just a difference in 2.3 cSt which is practically meaningless. Don't forget, when you start your car in freezing temps, you're sitting in the 500-1000 cSt range. Now THAT's a difference.

But I do have to admit if you're tracking or reaching very high temps often, I can see why the absolute lowest KV100 value (out of your list) will be unfavorable.

Yeah you kind of answered it in that bolded part above. In extreme conditions like the track, I’d prefer having every ounce of protection I can give the engine. Other factors like TBN and cold start protection matter less (again for that narrow usage case and short drain interval). It may not be a huge difference, but why not go for the oil that will give you that extra bit of protection?

That said, I’m not a huge oil zealot for any specific brand or formulation. I stated this earlier but I think any quality 30 weight would offer sufficient protection in most track usage, including PUP 5w30. I’d happily run any of the oils I listed above for the track.

Absolutely.

Took the BRZ up to ACH today and decided to have some fun now that it's finally out of break-in. I encountered an older base 911 (I think 997 C2) wearing track numbers. The driver seemed pretty good and kept a good canyon pace so I decided to chase him a bit. Couple of thoughts.

• This new BRZ has noticeably more midrange torque than my old FR-S on E85. Coming out of corners at ~5000 RPM, this car will push you into the seat more. That more than anything else makes this 2nd gen feel stronger than the 1st gen. It kept up with the 911 pretty well exiting corners and on the straights.

• There is a fair amount of entry and mid-corner understeer compared to my FR-S on RCE T2's. It takes more throttle to induce rotation. Overall balance is definitely skewed towards understeer. I'm hoping a decent alignment with camber bolts (say -2.2 degrees front camber, 0 front toe, 1/16" rear toe in) will neutralize the handling a bit and lessen some of the front shoulder wear I'm seeing. There's also more body roll, but that's probably the price for the fantastic street compliance with this OEM suspension.

• I know Subaru/Toyota claim to have upgraded the pads, but the OEM pads still can't take much heat. I was getting pad fade halfway through my latter runs. I may try some old Stoptech 309 pads I have laying around from my FR-S and see if that helps any.

• Steering feel is about the same as the 1st gen. It's definitely lighter, but the actual feedback through the wheel is close. Both gens have good feedback compared to most other EPS units. The only time I noticed less feedback through the wheel was this one corner where there's a dip before a turn. The steering on the 1st gen typically loads up heavily in those situations (and with sticky tires on the track will actually cause the EPS to cut out) whereas this 2nd gen doesn't load up like that.

• Oil temps got hot. It's hard to tell with the bar display (wish the BRZ had the GR86 digital oil temp readout) but looked to be around 250 F. It's not too surprising given I would hit north of 240F in the canyons with my FR-S w/Perrin oil cooler, but I'll need to decide whether to add an aftermarket one to this BRZ.

Overall I'm loving the balance between comfort, performance and responsiveness on this 2nd gen.

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Threw on my track wheels last week and gave it a proper shake down in the canyons. Wheels are Apex ARC-8 in 17x9 +42. Tires are 235/40/17 sx2’s. Stock suspension and alignment.

I was 50/50 whether this setup would rub based on what others have said, but happy to report I haven’t seen any so far. Pretty sure that would change with 245’s though, especially wider ones like the rt660’s. This setup pokes slightly all around. Clearance to the front strut is tight, probably 9-10mm. Not a lot of room to add camber at the hub. I think these will work well with coilovers and a track alignment.

Steering feel improves with this setup as it did on my gen 1. Turn in is noticeably sharper and there’s more feedback through the steering wheel. Overall balance remains skewed towards understeer. I can actually hear my front tires scrubbing under power on exit and visually the outer front tire tread blocks reflect that. Definitely different than how my FR-S was setup, but I think a proper alignment will do wonders for the front end.

Pretty happy with how these wheels look, even with the 4x4 stock suspension. Was set on selling these wheels, but now am undecided, especially since they don’t seem to rub. Hmm.

Another set of wheels. These are 17x8 +42 Wedssport tc105n. Tires are 235/40/17 Federal ss595. Haven’t seen these wheels in this size on a gen 2 yet. The size and offset of the these is great for gen 2, and they are of course light/strong, but aesthetically I prefer the ARC-8’s (which I didn’t like as much on the FR-S).

This looks really good actually, a nice OEM+ setup. Just need to lower it a tad. I have a set of TC105X in 18x8.5, +43 that i have yet to mount.

Thanks yeah they definitely look pretty good in their own right. I might just keep them, not sure. Can never have too many wheels lol. Post some pictures when you mount your 105x's!

Been driving this car in the canyons on the weekends. Figure with the RTV issue, best to test the engine a bit in the canyons before tracking it. Still really enjoying this new BRZ for canyon and daily driving use.

Today on the way back from the canyons, my traction control light came on. Seemed to happen when holding light constant throttle (15-20 percent) gently accelerating in 5th or 6th on the highway. It would turn off on its own once I let off the throttle. Happened about 3-4 times. Definitely no wheel slip. First time it’s ever happened so I’ll keep an eye on it and see if it happens again.

Some pictures from today:

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Had some Lasfit LEDs laying around so threw them in the reverse lights. These are t10 replacements. They still seem about 40-50 percent brighter than the OEM t15’s, but could pass for OEM which is what I wanted.

I threw on my old Perrin 2.5” resonated exhaust over the weekend. I haven’t seen many people using this on the 2nd gens. Fitment was absolutely perfect. I would describe the sound as OEM+. I wanted an exhaust that would fill in the low end before ASC kicks in where the FA24 can sound a little thrashy/agricultural. This is that exhaust. It’s bassy and smooth, but blends seamlessly with ASC towards the top end. Zero drone. Cold starts are a little loud, probably just quiet enough to be neighbor friendly at 5 am on a weekend.

Overall this could be the OEM sport exhaust. Perfect fitment, no drone, blends well with ASC and gives the car a bassy, smooth sound through the rev range. Highly recommend if you want a “mature sounding” exhaust.

Sound clips (best through headphones/audio system):

http://youtu.be/Y2_QgWEAf7U
http://youtube.com/watch?v=PhMZCuoCwM0?

Tunnel, windows open
http://youtu.be/6Z5I6Qaprsk

Threw on SPC 81305 camber bolts last weekend. Swapped the lower bolts into the top holes for additional camber. Couple of notes:

- The SPC bolts I used were brand new but I couldn’t seat the nuts by hand. There was a ton of resistance in the first 1/3 of the thread (estimate around 10 ft-lbs to spin it through with a socket wrench). It took so much force the nuts actually heated up. It loosened up progressively after that towards the middle of the thread and took the full 97 ft-lbs so I’m not too worried. I had a set of SPC upper bolts on my 1st gen and didn’t run into this issue. Strange.

- I used a 3mm spacer in the front to try to clear my Apex ARC-8’s (17x9 +42; 235/40/17) on stock suspension. Clearance was fine but I only got 4.5 full turns on the lug nuts. I tried my Wedssport TC105n (17x8 +42; 235/40/17) and got 7.5 turns on the nuts. I guess the Apex wheels have a thicker center plate, not sure. Given this, I’ll probably switch to a single camber bolt + Pedders camber top hat in the future to fit my Apex wheels.

-Spacers were from Stancemagic (don’t laugh). Only ~$20 on Amazon and they’re hubcentric. Pretty good quality, no vibrations I could feel up to around 85 mph.

- The amount of camber from this setup is pretty impressive. Visually it looks close to the -2.8 degrees I was running on my 1st gen. I’d estimate somewhere between -2 to -2.5 degrees. My understanding is that toe doesn’t change in the front much with camber, so will probably drive like this for a while and see how it feel before aligning it.

Driving impressions in next post.