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PMok's WRB BRZ Premium 6MT "Stitch"
This is going to be a mildly modded car, with a few cosmetic tweaks and maybe a few performance upgrades. So if you're looking for big boosted turbo kits and hellaflush stance, well, hit the backspace button now. :D I like driving and I like photography so I will probably be sharing pictures and stories for the most part.
Last Monday I completed the paperwork and officially became an owner of a WR Blue BRZ Premium 6MT. But I've actually not driven the car yet! I'm in Northern California and the car is in Colorado Springs, CO. I bought the car from Heuberger Motors in COS because Subaru dealerships are still price gouging like mad in California. Heuberger is one of the largest volume Subie dealers in America (perhaps the largest) so they move a lot of cars and are offering their cars for sale at below MSRP. So even with the cost of shipping the car to CA I am still saving money over what the typical buyer in NorCal is paying (a select early few were lucky enough to get pre-orders at MSRP). Anyways the car is officially mine but won't be on its way to me until early next week, when the truck is ready to pick it up and bring it to me. That hasn't stopped me from having the first few mods done to it though! :D And thus herein begins my car journal... Since the car was going to be waiting around for a week or so before it got picked up, I figured I would get some things out of the way. 3M clear bra was applied to the front bumper, and window tint to the sides and back. The sales mgr at the tint place was nice enough to snap a shot of the car for me after the tints were done: http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...brz_tinted.jpg They used Llumar CTX nano-ceramic tint, 15% in the back and 30% on the doors. ok that's it for now, stay tuned for next week when I actually receive the car, then I will probably have more pics to share... |
Very nice! Congrats! Hope you enjoy it soon.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk |
quick question for fellow BRZ owners...
are the tire valve caps supposed to be green? I just noticed that in the pic above. Just wanted to make sure those are normal or see if it's something like a reminder to do something for PDI like check the pressures, then replace with black caps? |
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And to the O.P. Car looks great!! Congrats. :) Thanks, Rick |
The green caps means that the tires were inflated with nitrogen
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Neat, did not know that! I presume not every car came that way then, is it up to the dealership?
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Thanks, Rick |
I've been playing GT5 quite a bit lately, to kill time while waiting for the car...
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...BRZ_Bought.jpg But now the wait is over! My BRZ arrived at my door today! :happyanim: http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...21002-1317.jpg Here's the delivery truck outside my house. Nice, the color of the truck even matches... http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...21002-1301.jpg Car was very dirty from the trip, but had only 15 miles on the odo. :thumbup: http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...21002-1322.jpg I did not take too many pics due to the car being so dirty and I had to head off to work right after the car arrived. But the WR Blue paint really stands out in the sun, even through the dirt it is amazingly bright. I will have to find some time to get her cleaned up and then take some nice shots. Here she is in her new parking spot, which my wife so graciously gave up for my new baby, next to the other baby... as she said, "ohoh! here comes the new mistress!" :wub: http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...21002-1341.jpg |
Congrats!! Finally yous is arrived!
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Dirty or not she's beautiful! Congrats :happy0180:
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Warning, long winded writing ahead...
Here are some thoughts after only 2 days driving the car. A lot of this is going to be duplicative or obvious to other BRZ owners, but this is kind of a personal log of my impressions. Perhaps it will be useful to future owners or people considering this car, who have similar automotive backgrounds to mine. Day 1 impressions. Exterior. Car is very low to the ground, and the overall look is aggressive. Very classic GT-car proportions. A poor-man's Aston Martin Vantage. Even when dirty the WR Blue paint is very shiny and eye-catching. In photos I feel the BRZ looks a little awkward, the big "mustache" bumper in front and the the rear trunk lid/tail lights were in my mind weak points in the design. In person these things seem to fade away as the overall look is very handsome. I had been previously considering all kinds of cosmetic mods to improve the look, but now that I see it in person I'm not so sure I feel so strongly about needing to modify these things. It looks fine the way it is. Interior. Getting into the car the seat sort of embraces you and it feels a little weird compared to most other car seats but it's still comfortable. As everyone has said the basic controls are right where you want them to be and everything falls into place. I was able to get in and just drive the car with minimal adjustment. Move the mirrors, adjust the seat, ready to go. Having driven mostly Toyotas all my life there was very little confusion about what does what in the Subaru, all the controls felt very familiar. The interior style is very basic, subdued, functional. I like that. No fancy wood trim or excessive chrome/metal to distract your eye from the pure function of driving. I might replace the shift knob with something a little heavier (and a little more flash), and call it a day. Driving feel. I have not really pushed the car much in my limited time in it, but am very pleased with how the controls feel. The steering is tight and well-proportioned. The brake pedal has the perfect firmness and responsiveness. I feel the throttle is a touch sensitive but I probably just need to adjust to that. Clutch as many have noted, has a very high engagement point. I know it can be adjusted but I will leave it alone for now, starts were a little unsmooth to begin with but I think I am getting accustomed quickly. Day 2 impressions. Commuting with the car is very comfortable. Ride is decent, certainly smoother than my MR2 Spyder which is on Eibach Pro Kit springs and Koni shocks. Sound of the car is fairly mellow, especially since I am upshifting at 4K. I imagine it will get louder above that, but for now it's definitely one of my quieter cars. All my other cars have aftermarket exhausts on so I am probably used to more sound and enjoy it. I went ahead and programmed my shift light/buzzer to come on at 3800 RPM to help keep me in line during the break-in period. Took a coworker and a friend out for rides in the car, both commented on how low the car is. When you are sitting in the car with the door open, it's easy to just reach over and touch the ground. That is a huge component of how this is a sports car, the low center of gravity design is key to the handling and driving feel. I haven't really thrown the car into a corner at speed yet, but so far it feels very sure-footed and stable. Cruising on the freeway seems easy and uneventful, the car needs nowhere near the amount of attention and correction that my MR2 does. I'm no audiophile, but the sound system in the car seems decent, I have listened to music via FM, HD Radio, Satellite radio, and through an iPhone via USB. A fair amount of bass coming from the door speakers, enough to feel the vibration hitting my left leg which is a little annoying. I managed to pair my phone to the head unit, but haven't made a call yet. I have a fairly old-school basic phone, the LG Chocolate 2, so the pairing seems to be a little wonky. I think I have to hit OK on my phone everytime I get in the car to allow it to pair to the car. A little lame but I have an iPhone 5 coming and that should pair without issue. I've noticed a few weird ergonomic issues. Visibility seems compromised by the left side mirror when I'm making a left turn. And the pointy triangle window on the forward part of the doors that remains in place when you have the window down, seems like a safety hazard when getting in and out of the car, my face seems to get uncomfortably close to that pointy piece on the way in or out. My old SW20 MR2 had a similar window piece but I don't think I ever had issues with it. Maybe I have to train myself to move differently. Or roll the window all the way back up first. This is my first 6-speed manual, and I've been driving my old MR2 5-speed for over 12 years so I've gotten pretty used to driving it and this is a bit of a change. For the most part the shifting is straightforward, but I do occasionally stumble on a shift due to the spacing on the shift pattern being a little wider on the BRZ. The 5-6 shift is easier to get used to than I thought. But one thing I tripped up on a few times already is thinking that R is where it was on the MR2, namely where 6th now is. I have caught myself shifting into 6, then remembering that I have to lift the reverse lockout and shift back into where 1 is to get to R. I feel like it's a little bizarre that you back up in R, then you have to pop it back into neutral, the lockout ring pops back down, and then you put it right back into the same spot to get to 1. Will just take some getting used to I guess. Also, I woke up extra early so I could wash the car before work and was able to inspect all the exterior of the car more closely. Cosmetically I'd say the car arrived in 9.5/10 condition. Most of the cosmetic issues are actually with the clear bra and tint that I had installed -- there are a few small bubbles here and there, or some imperfections in the bra install. Minor issues really, and I am not going to worry too much about it. I'm still really glad I got them installed, the benefits outweigh the minor downsides. One thing that kind of caught my eye though was the rear bumper film installed at the port, part of the Pop1B package, there seems to be a small fleck of something (dirt or sand or whatever) underneath the film. A little disappointing that they flubbed that little detail on the install. I am pleased that the bumper film does not have a big honkin' SUBARU lettering across it, there is only a very small discreet Subaru logo on one end to let you know it's a genuine Subaru part/add-on. Also being really nit-picky here, but for some reason the wheel locks on each wheel (also part of the Pop1B) had some kind of white paint or residue on the face of the lock, that I had to scrape off of each one. Passed 100 miles on the odo on the way home from work... 900 miles to go on the break-in! reward for reading through all that. Parked in a row of all blue cars at work today, including my friend's Fiat 500 that came by for a visit. Interestingly they are all different shades of blue, no two are really alike when you see them in the sunlight. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...003-1302-1.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...003-1302-1.jpg |
Me jelly.
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I've been driving the BRZ for a week now, and here are my first week impressions:
Driving with a 4K RPM limit (during the break-in period) is a real bummer... I'd forgotten how difficult it is to baby a car in its early age. This car revs really quickly and trying to stick between 2K and 4K all the time is not easy. Thankfully the car has a programmable rev limit light that I set to 3800 and it reminds me when I hit that to upshift. It really does feel like driving with one hand tied behind my back, knowing that the car should be revving up to 7400 RPM for the full experience. Can't wait until the first 1000 miles are through with. I can't really comment on performance and handling yet, as I haven't really pushed the car's limits very much... it's pretty much been just commuting to and from work. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9127.jpg Still getting used to the clutch and transmission. Getting better with the clutch now but the 1-2 shift is still a little unsmooth. All the other shifts seem fine. Drove a few days sitting in stop-and-go traffic which is fantastic practice I guess. I took the shift knob off to try some others I had available to put on there, and it is remarkable how heavy the stock shift knob is. The Voodoo knob from my Spyder that I tried on there is pretty hefty but I think the stock one is pretty comparable. The Voodoo doesn't fit perfectly due to the reverse lockout, so I am not going to use that one, but I might order another Voodoo knob specifically for the BRZ. I do wonder if I need a substantially heavier knob though to feel an appreciable difference from the stock one. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ps55733566.jpg The GPS/navigation is a bit of a letdown compared to the one in my Lexus. The unit loses GPS signal often and it takes several minutes before it locks on again. The voice sounds a lot more robotic than the Lexus lady's voice. And the interface just isn't as smooth as the Lexus's. You'd think after 6 years any ol' navi would be as good as a 2006-era Lexus navi. But I guess it's not so. Same with the phone/bluetooth function. Maybe it's the old phone I'm using, but there is a 4-5 second pause when I get incoming calls and press answer, before the radio stops playing and I can start talking. It's just a little unpolished and I expected a bit more from the 2012 technology. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9093.jpg Don't get me wrong, I think this car is pretty fantastic and it's definitely a step up from the basic feature set of the MR2 Spyder which it more or less is a replacement for. Better seats, better stereo, better ride quality than what I remember the MR2 had before I modified the suspension. Better information display and controls, better interior materials. And more storage which is not hard to accomplish when you're comparing to the MR2. So you could say the BRZ is right there in between the Lexus and the MR2 in most respects. One bummer I've found though is, my rifle case won't fit in the trunk without folding the seats down. That could have some security implications, as I might not want to take this car out if I'm stopping anywhere else before or after the range. |
Beautiful BRZ! I too have ordered a BRZ from Colorado! Not heuberger however, Mike Shaw Subaru. It is intransit and has an ETA of Oct. 27th.
Glad to hear the car got to you safe and sound. Loving the blue!! |
PMok, your user name sounds familiar.
I'm Marco with the 2GR 3.5L V6 swapped Spyder (now sold). Nice to see another BRZ in the Bay Area. |
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Haven't updated here for a while, so time for a major long-winded post... :D
I've decided to name my BRZ Stitch, after the blue Disney character. He's blue and has a big smile. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...mr2/stitch.jpg Saturday was quite a day! First of all I was approaching 1000 miles on the odometer, so I took Stitch out for a nice long drive through some of my favorite roads. Here is the odometer just as I was about to break 1000 miles. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...88bee50a5b.jpg It was very hard for me to keep the motor under 4000 RPM during the break-in period. But once I passed the magical 1000 mark, it was finally time to let 'er rip! I took it down Palomares Rd, which I think of as my own personal backyard test track, and then out past the wine country vineyards of Livermore, to Mines Rd. Mines Rd is one of my most enjoyable driving routes. It goes out to the middle of nowhere and then runs up Mt. Hamilton to the Lick Observatory above San Jose. If you're an Initial D fan, Mt. Hamilton is like Bay Area's version of Akina. It's a beautiful mountain road but an incredibly twisty and challenging drive. Pretty unforgiving too -- if you make a mistake and go off the edge of the road, you're going off a cliff and down a long ways. So you have to keep it safe and sane here. I didn't switch the traction control all the way off, but did go to VSC Sport mode to have a little more fun. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...7b1b56f09d.jpg And oh man, what fun it was! This was my first real opportunity to see what this car is all about, rev it like it was meant to be driven, and push it a little in the corners to see just how crappy the tires are. To my surprise, they gripped the road fairly well. I like to drive with the windows down so I can hear the tires and they gave very good audible feedback. A little scrubbing sound as you start to turn in, gradually increasing in sound as you push it harder. On a few tight hairpins I got on the gas a little more aggressively at exit and got some wheelspin but as everyone has noted, nothing too dramatic and very easy to modulate. The whole package was very confidence-inspiring and I was able to drive the car harder than I did the first few times I drove my MR2 there. With an MR-layout you really have to watch for snap-oversteer if you get too aggressive, but the BRZ's FR layout is much more forgiving and predictable. The suspension soaked up most bumps very well and I found it much more comfortable to drive than my fairly harsh-riding MR2. And it offers fairly comparable levels of responsiveness and balance. I was very pleased with the performance of the car, bone stock -- so I'm not sure I even need to do much upgrading for now, if my main usage of the car is for the mountain twisties I don't want to ruin the comfort and balance it currently has. If I start heading to the track frequently, then that is another story. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...43a6e8c7cf.jpg On the way to Mt. Hamilton I stopped by a popular rest point for bikers and cyclists -- The Junction. Got a few compliments from bikers as I rolled through, but I didn't stay long. I was having too much fun driving! When I got to the Observatory at the top of the mountain, there were no other cars there, just a few bicyclists. The view up there is fantastic on a clear day. Again, after a brief stop to take a few pictures, it was time to head back down and tear up the roads some more... http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...39bd221be3.jpg Panoramic shots: Click to see fullsize. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...9821849cf5.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...372698249c.jpg That wasn't the end of my day though. I also had to take Stitch in to get smogged, so I could register it at the DMV this week. So I stopped by my local smog test place in Hayward, the guy there is cool and we talked about the car for a while and he even snapped a pic of it after the test. Of course, Stitch passed with flying colors! http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...3ae2fc943c.jpg Then it was back home and time to give Stitch a much-deserved bath. My wife was nice enough to help me clean the interior while I dried the exterior. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...5b30dc6ee1.jpg Then I spent the rest of the evening applying the 3-stage Meguiar's Deep Crystal Shine system. Paint cleaner, polish, then wax. My back is a little sore and my arms a little tired, but man the shine on the car is so impressive, like a mirror. This morning I will take the car out and get some more shots of it in its oh-so-clean glory. |
I forgot to mention, while I was waxing I also debadged the SUBARU lettering. I left the BRZ on the right side for now, it does look a little lopsided so I might take it off as well.
Here are some pics I just took of my all cleaned and waxed ride! http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9160.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9163.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9164.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9165.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9166.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9171.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9190.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9195.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9206.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9215.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...u/DSC_9209.jpg |
Here is a video of my smog test on the rollers... not that exciting as he only drives it up to about 25mph and holds it there, and it's a stock exhaust, so not much to see or hear. But here you go.
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S70JTB1FZyk&feature=plcp"]Subaru BRZ getting smogged - YouTube[/ame] |
I picked up some oil and filter yesterday at the local Subaru dealer... wow that OEM Subaru Synthetic oil is not cheap. About $9/qt. So the package total was about $71. I asked how much an oil change is at the service department and they said about $88. So I'm not saving that much by doing it myself, however for peace of mind I will probably do the first few oil changes myself.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...DE9E08B6A5.jpg I also bought a [ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003VCCUJI/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957& creativeASIN=B003VCCUJI&linkCode=as2&tag=whatsgoin on02-20"]Fumoto F108 oil drain valve [/ame]on Amazon that I will install at the first oil change. The mild cosmetic modding will probably start soon as well... ordered some tail light redouts and side marker blackouts from BlueBatmobile that should arrive in a day or so. |
1300 miles... I went to change the factory oil filter and it was on way too tight to remove by hand thanks to the industrially trained gorillas in Gunma... started the ol' "hammer a screwdriver into the filter to torque it off" trick. Hammering wasn't working well so I pulled out the electric drill, made a big ol' hole, inserted said screwdriver and got that mutha off. :mad0260:
Then went to lift the car from the front and found that my large heavy duty floor jack (family heirloom from my dad) won't fit under the front ... will scrape the underside by about 0.25". So I didn't change the oil yet, decided to go look at ramps and/or a low profile floor jack. Then later in the day found a few scrap pieces of 2x4 wood that should help me raise the front just enough to get the jack under there. Getting late so I guess I will do the oil change tomorrow... |
1350 miles... finished doing the oil change and installed the Fumoto F108 oil drain valve. That should make future oil changes easy as pie.
I also got some smoked vinyls from BlueBatmobile to cover up the orange sidemarkers, so I installed those tonight using the recommended soapy water method. Mod cost: $10 for smoked sidemarker vinyls. before and after http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...E47C20BED1.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...E489F9EA8B.jpg It didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, I tried my best to tuck them in around the lights but there was a bit more vinyl material than was necessary and that made tucking them a little difficult. I ended up cutting about 2mm off the bottom edge and my technique was a little weak, so some of the cut edge is a little jagged. After I smoothed it out as much as I could I heated it with a small hairdryer for a few minutes to help it shrink and adhere better. All in all though I think it will look passable until I change out the lights to clears or something else. I also received the smoke redouts package for the tail lights but I am going to look for a professional installer who can do those for me... after my difficulties with the fairly flat, simple sidemarkers, I am not sure I can do a decent job with the tails myself. |
looking good!
cant wait to see this out of state car on saturday |
congrats! Looking good!
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Looks great!
You must be one of the rare owners on here who has kept their car fairly stock. I have to say that's impressive! I always felt that the stock set up on the BRZ/86 would teach a driver about car dynamics and be more enjoyable than going for all out grip straight away, so congrats for keeping the tyres/suspension stock. |
Thanks! Yeah I am taking my time, I feel a lot of people rush into mods without appreciating the car the way it came from the factory. Tires and suspension (good ones) cost money so I see no point in changing them out so soon when they work perfectly fine. Perhaps as I get "bored" with them I wll change my tune. For the moment the car is a daily driver and also my weekend canyon carver, so to me the setup is near perfect as is. Bigger wheels and lower profile tires and lowered suspension will get me what, 5mph faster cornering speed? At the cost of ride comfort and practicality. Don't need it for the roads I drive, I can scare myself plenty in stock configuration. :)
So for now I am focusing on fixing the few cosmetic things I don't like about the car. Tail lights, exhaust tips, that sort of thing. If I start feeling like I need more performance, then I will eventually go for an ECU flash tune, and an exhaust. |
Installed a pair of DC Sports tips that I picked up used from a fellow 86er... Took more time polishing them than bolting them on haha. Fills in the exhaust cutouts much better than the OEM tips. Mod cost: $36 for 2nd-hand tips.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...2E66E53CCC.jpg |
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whats that towel for on the jacks?
to prevent from scratching? use blocks or hockey puck! |
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yeah I've definitely done that before, I like to look around and make use of whatever I happen to have laying around. :bonk:
Anyways this is what I was up to... Plastidip, best $6 mod ever. :D http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ppedwheels.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...ADED00B6BB.jpg |
This past Saturday I attended my first BRZ/FR-S/86 meet with Stitch! It was an early morning to get over to the park where we were all meeting. I only had time to spray the car down and not properly wash it, and there was a chance of rain so I didn't put too much effort into it. However it looked very pretty with all the water beaded up on the hood.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10075332.jpg There were some sweetly modded cars at the meet, and I got to see and hear quite a few different exhausts, and check out the different spoilers in person - I've now seen the TRD, Carsmo, and Five Axis spoilers in person and it's got me even more confused about what I should get. In photos I really liked the Five Axis but seeing the TRD and Carsmo in person I really like them more than when I was judging them solely by the pictures. http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10092143.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10114822.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10092226.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10121617.jpg A fellow in a red FR-S "GT86" won a free Carsmo spoiler at the meet! I was a little bummed I didn't win anything in the raffle. But I was totally eyeing a set of red painted tails one of the other guys had up for sale. I had made plans to get red vinyl installed on my tails next week, but the installers had told me they might have difficulty getting the vinyl properly onto the little fin parts on the side of the tails, and it would require 3 separate pieces on the tail lights. I wasn't too thrilled with the sound of that. In the end I literally emptied my wallet and made a deal to swap the lights for my stock ones, he was even nice enough to do the swap and install the lights for me. I went home with some red tails and only $1 left in my wallet. :) http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10133211.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...tDrivePano.jpg The meet concluded with some group photos and a nice scenic drive down Hwy 1. Some of us got a little lost but it was a nice day and even just cruising slowly down the coast was pretty sweet. I just tuned the XM radio to the Chill station and enjoyed the ride. http://i1053.photobucket.com/albums/.../FRS_BRZ07.jpg photo credit: sid67jp http://i.imgur.com/bx7kA.jpg?1 photo credit: zygrene Here's some in-car video of us cruising Hwy1 .... [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pWI0CDvX_Vk&hd=1"]Hwy 1 drive - FT86Club NorCal 86/BRZ owners club - YouTube[/ame] sorry for the weird format, it's the way my cellphone holder mounts the phone. And due to the traffic on Hwy1 there's no dramatic chases, no awesome drift angles, etc. Just some solid scenery and chilled cruising mode. :happy0180: After the meet, everyone went their separate ways and I went to pay a visit to WORKS Motorsport at Sonoma Raceway - figured I was in the area and heard they were developing some cool stuff. I spent a good amount of time chatting with Peter, who even though they had "closed" and had some real racing R&D work to turn to, took the time to chat with me about all kinds of things, from the exhaust design on the FR-S/BRZ to Dyno/ECU tunes, to MR2s, to Lexuses, and to Audi TT-RS's ... he is very excited about our cars and has plans to roll out some new products very soon. He was very cool and I look forward to seeing what they put out. By the time I left there it was pitch black outside... http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10174835.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10175401.jpg When I finally got home I was pretty tired... but Stitch looked like he still wanted to go for more driving! http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...1-10192834.jpg |
Today I took my BRZ over to Vinyl Styles, a local vinyl car wraps place (http://www.vinylstyles.com) and had Lyle rewrap the lower front lip in matte black. The clearbra under the front lip was all scraped up from a few unfriendly driveways so I figured it would be nice to re-cover the bottom with maybe a more durable surface that would be easy to repatch later if I scrape some more. My BRZ is still at stock height, so it's kind of crazy how easily it seems to scrape even without lowering. And that's probably the main reason I won't lower the car any or install any front lip extensions. So I did the next best thing, which is to add some black vinyl along the crease at the front lip, it kind of gives the same look as the STI or Koru/HT style lip but without bringing the edge of the car any lower. I kind of like it and may consider doing a similar under-edge strip along the sides, to kind of mimic the subtle look that for instance the ChargeSpeed kit offers, but at much lower cost. Lyle did my lip for $80 but said if I need replacement vinyl later it would cost a lot less. So here are the pics, it's a litle hard to see the matte black piece under the car, so I juiced up the brightness a little for the first pic.
http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...p-brighter.jpg http://i78.photobucket.com/albums/j1...8A1A9D6724.jpg |
PMok, your username sounds really familiar. Where you on ClubLexus, S2ki or NSXprime forums?
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Do you find any time for the Spyder now that you have the BRZ? I consider the cars to be too close in character and intent to have both. I opted to keep the Spyder.
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