Exhaust or Rims - What would you do?
 

Debating on whether to get myself a set of Forgestar F14 rims or a Perrin exhaust. Both are awesome I just can't seem come to a decision on one. Eventually I'll have both. Thoughts on what should come first?

rims will put a smile on your face when you look at it. exhaust will put a smile on your face when you drive it.

you choose

If it was me, I'd do exhaust first. Being on a truck forum (had a truck that I traded for the brz) Exhaust was the first thing I did. Sounds better and on the truck at least it increased mileage so I hope the same results for this car.

I for one don't mind the stock rims on the brz so I feel that could wait...

id say rims. F14 is nice

Exhaust on a brz is MEH. (BUT DONT SKIP THIS, IT FINISHES THE REAR)

If it was a WRX or STI, then you got music to the ears.

I'd do wheels first. I always do wheels, suspension first, then I get onto the exhaust. I tend to think exhaust just on a bone stock car with nothing else seems a bit weird. Go with the wheels first, it'll work with the car better.

I went exhaust first, header and all. If i had a chance to do it again id pick wheels and tires because ive just recently gotten into autocross and would really like to be able to compete. If you plan on normal daily driving use there is no right answer, pick the one you like the most

I would get new wheels if you need to replace stock tires. If not, get the exhaust.

Wheels-tires-coilovers-exhaust-intake is what i did

I'd do wheels and tires. It increases your handling and confidence which is your performance gain but most importantly it's the biggest thing you can do that really says "this car is mine" over all the other BRZs. Your wheels are giving it it's first identity. Exhaust will give you the sound you're looking for but it won't give you really any gains. Lastly get the big wheel purchase out of the way, enjoy the handling and the personality, and later on the exhaust will be easier to do because it's slightly cheaper than the wheels.

exhaust first, get some use out of those stock wheels
thats what im doing

Rimsssss can always find an exhaust in the classifieds

Light travels faster than sound - thus wheels first, then exhaust.

haha this probably doesn't help him, looks like a split decision.

My thing is do wheels/suspension at the same time. Getting rims on stock height always looks a bit off.

I'd go exhaust first, unless you have wheels/suspension ready to go. My progression was Exhaust, Eibach springs (stock rim for a couple days), rims.

Headers :party0030:

Just get that build list squared away, then start buying the parts & stacking them in the garage…

Drive the hell out of the car until it is no longer in warranty (which, if your build list is anything like mine, might take all of that time to get all the parts), then take a few weeks off of work & get to wrenching…!

I love the stock rims, but must say, buy rims you want and grab some JDM tips to hold you over until you fill your coffers back up for the exhaust you want.(Loud exhaust on what everyone knows is a 4 banger is just too rice. - my .02)

if you dont know what you want, wait.

I would do wheels/tires. Exhaust won't get much by itself. Headers and tune will get the most gains.

But when it comes to engine work, I would just do it all at once. No need to lift the car to put an exhaust and header on 3 separate times when you can just wait and buy it all and swap it all at once.

That's just my opinion though.

Dont get rims unless you have money for lowinging it. After market rims on stock hieght looks dumb. So i guess it depends how much money you have to spend. Rims tires and coils will cost atleast 2.5 grand, exhaust will cost you around 800

If you can only afford one...tires. Exhaust and rims are just bling.

Exhaust... It is exactly what I chose. I like a2cpc's suggestion, but I would wait until you NEED tires to upgrade them because it will be more cost effective. As for the exhaust it will improve the look of the rear of the car since the North American tips we were given are embarrassingly small. Also, cost is less, not only will you see the exhaust but you'll hear it, and get a small power bump. Win+win+win+win = Exhaust

Wheels + tires. Mainly for the tires. Arguably the best bang-for-the-buck performance upgrade on this car.

Exhaust is nice too. Looks better, sounds better, and adds a bit of power. But if you like to push your car in corners, I'd go with wheels + tires first.

Thanks for all the input guys!

Yea, it's a hard decision. Thinking of leaning more towards an exhaust now though. The tires are still pretty new with only ~4000 miles on them and after reading some reviews, it'll take about 4 months for Forgestars to get here since they custom make them. Not sure I wanna wait that long right now haha. And since the stock exhaust is shizz, I'll upgrade that first.

:thanks:

Are you dropped yet? I think nice wheels with stock height look horrible.

Well said... This is another reason why I went exhaust first. If I'm going to make the move to 18's then I feel I need to also have something to adjust that hight and rid any hideous amounts of wheel gap/ride hight that exist.

Well, how much do you have? With wheels, you'll need at least a set of springs to complete the look. Wheels alone (especially F14's) should cost you quite a bit more then just the exhaust. That plus springs is a decent amount of change. Definitely changes the look of your car giving it an amazing stance though. Was my first mods on my Mustang. But with My future BRZ I'm already setting money aside for everything I need. So I can do everything I want as soon as I get it.

My opinion for you though, try doing springs and the exhaust. Will give your car a bit better stance and sound better.

I would get exhaust first, thats what i did. Just plasti dip your stock rims they look nice and when most people first look dont think its stock so win-win

Not dropped yet but will be in the near future. Glad I got ya'lls opinion on this as I was going to go with wheels then a drop. Noob mistake :bonk:

Not a bad idea, I'm about to smoke out my taillights so some plasti dipped black rims would be a nice touch to match.

I did exhaust first, and wheels/tires/lowering second. Pretty happy with my decision, and very happy with both!

Eww.

exhaust all the way. I got my 3" inch perrin. Rims are secondary for me. Personal preference of course. Everyone is different.

Different strokes for different folks. It's all a matter of preference IMO especially if they'll be replaced one day. Go tires/wheels if you track the car and want more grip/better handling. Go exhaust if it's a DD?

Personally, Exhaust first because the US version is just laughable to look at plus the instant gratification of noise and improving some performance of the car. I make a list of mods I want for sure and some maybes then break down the list by what's more important to mod because it's necessary or bothersome down to mods purely for no reason but just want. Then, do whatever is top of the list.

It's a daily and I barely have any time to track so will most likely be going exhaust. :thumbup:

Definitely the main reason why I leaned towards exhaust. Since my wheels/tires are practically new, I wear them down a bit before I get some new ones. I'll be making a mod list and build thread soon. Now it's just saving the money part.

Exhaust...Perrin...1st

stock exhaust looks weak and sounds weak.

no wheels until you can afford a drop because your eyes wont even go to the new wheels. they will fixate on the hideously wheel gap that you will swear doubled in size somehow when you got the new wheels. qft

I did wheels first since I never liked the stock wheels. An exhaust was my second big mod. And lowing springs will be number 3.

Exhaust.

Get some use out of the stock tires as they are worthless 2nd hand.

same thing i did. im surprised at how fast i bought everything i wanted

my big mods are
exhaust $950(ordered on monday)
wheel/tire/drop planning on spending 3-4k

then i have these unnecessary mods like tail lights, rear fog, front/rear strut, ect, although i might order tail lights before the wheel/tire
its nice to have the money to throw at the car, but then i gotta remind myself thats its a daily driver right now :bonk: