xxBrun0xx's long term DD
 

Alright, so I'll be putting about 30k/year on my BRZ, plan on keeping the car pretty close to stock, and plan on driving it until the wheels fall off. As an engineer, I tend to do a LOT of research on things before making any big changes, so don't expect to see things like turbos, coilovers, or big heavy wheels on this car. I am anal about detailing. Car gets ONR washes every week and is garage kept. For anyone looking for good detail info, start here and here. If you prefer videos, The Junkman is great.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x..._071154287.jpg

History:
Feb 2, 2014 - Car purchased
500 miles - Opticoat Pro + Optiglass
3,500 - OFT Stage 1, Clutch height adjustment
5,000 - TRD Quickshifter, Clutch spring delete
7,320 - Oil change 1 (OEM Idemitsu 0w20 oil, OEM black filter)
8,000 - Removed cotton ball from sound tube
9,300 - OFT Stage 1 v2.0
13,000 - TRD Springs
13,700 - Alignment
14,950 - Oil change 2 (OEM Idemitsu 0w20 oil, OEM black filter), swap snow tires, inspect air filter
22,500 - Oil change 3 (OEM Idemitsu 0w20 oil, OEM black filter), swap summer tires, inspect air filter
25,000 - Replace air filter w/ K&N Drop-in

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-a..._112339358.jpg
If you have any questions about anything I've done, feel free to ask! :)

This past weekend I debadged the rear. Did it primarily because the area around the letters was tough to wash. Still on the fence about if the looks are better or not.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-f...-no/2014-07-21

Other random thoughts:
Crickets - No fix currently, but don't bother me too much. Have any 86's NOT gotten these?
Stage 1 - Power feels very smooth on v1.5. From 4500 to redline, pulls like a train. Will be interesting to see what Shiv comes up with for 1.6 (or 2.x, as there's been talk about jumping directly to that)
Sound Tube Mod - Stage 1 gave the car a new growl from 3500-5k rpm. Recently removed the cotton ball in the sound tube and growl now continues all the way to redline and no longer sounds raspy. Sounds great!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6...219620_HDR.jpg

Flashed the 2.0 update for Shiv's Stage 1 tune. Initially, throttle felt limp, but after about 10 minutes, everything was back to normal. Not a huge difference, but power delivery does feel smoother from 4000-5000 rpms. Definitely don't get the surge in power you got on v1.5x. Drivetrain noise seems to be about the same, but tough to tell due to modified sound tube. Noise is still very good!

Also, been noticing difficult to remove bug guts on hood and front bumper. Don't want to scratch up paint by scraping them. Will try some bug+tar remover from home depot a friend recommended and report back.

Also have noticed windshield has what looks like thousands of little rock chips. Became really obvious after detailing both interior and exterior this weekend. Not a huge deal, but makes windshield always look dirty. Still repels water very well, so do not want to replace/patch at this point.
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-T..._195003595.jpg

The rear does look better debadged! Much cleaner and easier to clean...

We have similar tastes in cars. :) Mine just has one rock chip in the windshield but I have a ton on the bumper, including a bad one near the Subaru badge. I just touch them up as they happen.

I've had good luck keeping bugs off just by hitting it with a quick detailer every morning (I use ONR at QD dilution). Keeps them from building up. I have a sealant on the car and I cover it with a spray wax after washes.

My current BRZ is at 5K miles and it idles nicely. My last one had crickets.

I'll have to give that a shot! So what, you just dilute the onr at qd level into a spray bottle, spray on, then wipe off? The guts have been really bugging me :P

Yup. I always keep the spray bottle and microfibers in the trunk (along with way too much other detail stuff, lol) and every morning when I get ready to leave for work I spray it down, let it rest for a few minutes, and wipe everything off.

I love that. OEM black filter. Congrats on the car!

Look forward to your results!

Just passed 10k. Have noticed the past few days that the car shakes a bit after cold start if I let it sit with the ac on. If I turn the ac off, the shakes are reduced, but still there. Not too concerned, no codes or anything and doesn't sound like any knock to me, but I'll use the Tactrix to log it when this happens soon.

Crickets are back and am louder than ever. Luckily, I have a stereo. That's what I get for not filing up with shell last tank.

Other than that, car still running great. Haven't rotated tires yet, since I swap between seasons. Starting to think I should do a mid season swap due to how many miles I put on the tires. Rears have more wear than fronts because wheelspin in way too much fun :) Still undecided on what I'll replace the stock tires with once they're shot. Probably another set of primacies, but we'll see.

Hit 11k today. Been looking into a set of springs, still undecided on it. Less wheel gap would be okay, but really would prefer stiffer springs to rid the car of bounciness over rough roads. Been looking at TRD and RCE's. I'm hesitant for fear they would be bouncier than stock, bottom out more often, lower clearance during winter, cost, void warranty on springs/struts, reduced tail-happiness, tougher to get in/out of car, and the fact that I would not be able to compete in stock class autocross (would love to get started next spring).

Anyone with aftermarket springs have any thoughts? Been reading as much as I can on the subject, but seems opinions vary quite a bit.

At about 13.5k at this point. Swapped out TRD springs last weekend and absolutely love them. Way less body roll, barely any harsher than stock over rough roads, and feel very confidence inspiring in the corners. Know I need an alignment, but putting it off until I get a chance to do a bit more research to figure out exactly what I can and can't do to qualify for stock AutoX class. Will have to get more pics once springs have settled.

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-x..._071154287.jpg

Also, got married two weeks ago! :D

Edit: Also tried on a friend's WRX wheels before lowering. Not bad!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-8...2014-09-01.jpg

The WRX wheels look really good actually!

Renato
Team TWM Performance

Got my alignment done today. Didn't bother with camber bolts, since I'm not entirely sure what stock class autocross allows. Did it at my local Lexus dealership and damn was that place nice.

After the alignment, car handles noticeably better, breaking loose much less easily, but still easily compared to most cars. Ride also feels less darty on the highway, I'd say steering feel and overall comfort are pretty damn close to stock, which is a good thing. Loving these springs! :D

Currently sitting at just over 17k miles. Fixed my window button rattle using this epic mod: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...6&postcount=38

Does look a bit silly, but the stereo sounds so much better, I don't care at all!

Have noticed the Blizzack WS70s slip very easily on wet pavement if you give even a little gas while turning from a dead stop. Supposed to get a snow storm tomorrow, should be interesting to see how she holds up!

Speaking of snow, been thinking about selling the snows and picking up an old Subaru for the winter. The paint on the BRZ is damn near flawless and I'm not sure I want to ruin it by DDing in the winter. Then again, hate making payments on something that sits in the garage for 1/3 of the year. Test drove a 15 WRX and was very disappointed, so definitely keeping the 86.

I'm in the same exact boat as you for DD in the winter. 13' WRB BRZ. I'm on WRX wheels and winter tires but it does pain me to think about the paint and the possible damage over the winter. But I also hate the idea of making payments on a car sitting in the garage.

I'm on stock suspension and i'll be putting back on my KW in the spring. Unless I sell them in favor for the RCE's due to ride comfort.

Haven't updated this in a while, but figured it's about time. Threw in a K&N drop in air filter the other day. For those who want one locally without having to order, pick up a Toyota Matrix 2005 filter, which is 100% identical to the BRZ/FRS filter, except it's cheaper.

Fits great, but no difference in throttle response, power, or noise. Big surprise there :P


I've been giving some thought to what direction I want to go with the car. Did my first autocross few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun! Thinking I'm going to go Stage 2 in the near future, and then after I save up for a while, go with the Vortech from the Openflash guys. If it wasn't for their awesome Stage 1 tune, I would have gotten rid of this car already. Will be interesting to see how the OFH does with the stock exhaust.

Can you provide pics about the cotton ball in the sound tube? Any videos/sound clip?

40k mile update:
-I've continued oil changes @ 7500, and she has not burned any between changes so far. Last change I switched from OEM to Castrol Long-Life Synthetic 0w20 + K&N oil filter. Still planning on changing @ 7500, will be interesting to see how it holds up.
-I've switched from Valvoline tranny fluid to Motul Gear 300. On stock fluid and Valvoline, I had a tough time getting into 2nd when the car was cold and car would grind into 5th when transmission was hot and I didn't rev-match perfectly when the lever went into gear. Since switching to the Motul, both problems have completely gone away. The hype is real!
-I switched to a Kartboy shifter from the TRD Quickshift kit. Kartboy feels much more solid and having the lever a bit lower is nice. With the TRD shifter, shifts were much more notchy and there was some free play while in gear that the Kartboy has gotten rid of. My only complaint with the Kartboy is the rattle at higher RPMs that no one seems to have any idea how to fix. I've given up and just accepted it, and I still much prefer it to stock. It's worth noting that the TRD shifter did exactly the same thing.
-After having the Openflash header and Openflash stage 2 93 octane tune for 15k miles, I still love it. I really think people should go this route before considering boost, this really wakes the car up!
-Added a TRD catback about 10k miles ago. Love the sound, but at times I miss how quiet stock + OFT header was. That being said, it has a lot of tone and very little drone on the highway, one of the best setups I've heard, especially if you're looking for something just a little louder than stock but not obnoxious.
-I've taken apart my doors and fixed a few rattles, but I've got one on the driver side near the bottom of the door that's been driving me nuts. Sounds like a screw rolling around when the car is cold, but can't hear it at all when the car is warm. Going to pull the carpet out when it warms up and find it.
-I originally bought a spare set of tails, cut them open, and painted them. After putting them on the car, I really didn't like the way they looked, although I imagine on any other color, they'd look great. This is a PAIN IN THE ASS and I wouldn't recommend this project unless you are very good at painting, have a LOT of free time, and have at LEAST 1 set of spare tail lights. Cutting them is tough, but sealing them back up and keeping the lenses clean and not scratching them at all during the process is VERY hard.
-Got a set of Continental Extreme Contact D/W's from a friend right before winter. The difference between those and stock was night and day. Steering feel was better, grip in the wet was MUCH better, they're just as quiet on the highway, and dry grip was really impressive. I was a big supporter of stock tires, but after driving on those for a week, I wish I had swapped tires much sooner. I'm a fan.


Overall, still loving the car. I looked pretty seriously at a 15 mustang gt, but the amount I would have had to spend to get decent seats with heat and nav was insane, and the dealership I was talking with offered me $5500 less than blue book trade in on a fair condition car. No thanks! Think at this point the car is worth more to me than anyone would be willing to pay and I honestly don't know what I would get if I had to get something else. There aren't a lot of cars for $25k that come with suede heated seats, nav, hids, rwd, lsd, <2800 lbs, auto climate control, direct 6 speed manual, look like they cost $60k, sound great, are reliable, and get 30 mpg. I bet, inflation adjusted, it's actually the cheapest sports car of all time, and you really get a lot for the money.

hm I've been changing out my oil around every 4k miles during the summer when I'm driving aggressively, i might stretch it out to 7500 like you for the winter. I'm thinking about getting a set of Pirelli P Zero all seasons for my stock wheels just to battle seattle winter(rain season) and michelin pilot super sport for the TE37sl for the summer/racing season.

I've been really impressed with the conti's wet traction. How cold does Seattle get, you might be better off just having one set that's great in the wet. The conti's are definitely better than the pilot super sports in the wet, but they don't have quite as much dry grip. Way more than enough for street driving, though.

New wheels + tires + camber bolts this weekend!
Sparco Assetto Gara 18x8 wheels
225/40R18 Michelin Pilot Super Sports
OEM Subaru Camber Bolts (which are identical to the bottom strut bolt, if anyone's curious)
Initial impressions: Car turns in much quicker and grip is unbelievable. Was cold and wet this morning on my way to work and car still seemed to have lots of grip. Getting an alignment after work today, so will update after that.

Also sound deadened the trunk and doors using some stuff I picked up from Lowes. Cost me $18 to do the trunk and another $18 to do both doors. The car is only slightly quieter, but completely rattle free and the stock speakers sound unbelievable. Still pulling things apart and fixing rattles as they pop up, but the car is already much more pleasant on long drives. I finally got the passenger side door 100% rattle free last night after almost a week of trial and error. Currently chasing a rattle in driver side B-pillar.


I also fixed my Kartboy rattles this weekend. I found that the stock washer between the retainer clip and the lever arm is not thick enough. I did not have a washer with a large enough hole that was thicker, so I did some drilling and ended up working perfectly. No more rattles at any RPM! Very pleased with how this turned out.


If anyone wants pictures of what I used for Sound deadening, let me know!

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/oj...84-h5124-rw-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/uq...84-h5124-rw-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/zG...84-h5124-rw-no
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/fM...84-h5124-rw-no

So figured it's probably time to update this. Currently @ 48,500 miles. Since the last update I've done:

-Backup camera (Rydeen Duo)
-4th brake light (ijdmtoy)
-3rd brake light delete (no holes, had to re-wrap the rear deck with felt from fabric store)
-Bilstein B14 Coilovers (these struts are AMAZING for the price)
-Swift linear springs for front on Bilstein B14s (helped a lot with the slow turn-in these coils have thanks to the progressive springs)
-KW V3 w/ 350/400 lb/in springs (definitely firmer than the B14s, large bumps are harsher, but less bumpy over little stuff. I also LOVE the linear springs front and rear. I bought used. I wouldn't mind these being a little softer for a daily, but they aren't bad. They also go REALLY low. I have height as high as KW recommends and car is probably an inch and a half lower than stock.)
-New windshield (Safelite did a great job, but they did throw away my homelink mirror clip, not realizing the clip that came with the new mirror was NOT the same. Rattled like crazy! Brought it back yesterday, they bent the clip until the silver piece inside didn't have any play and used thread tape on the screws. We'll see how long that holds up... That being said, windshield looks identical to OEM, they were careful not to scratch paint, and no more rock chips! woo!)
-MANY alignments (got unlimited alignments for 3 years from Goodyear. I've had over a dozen so far, since every time you change height with coils, have to re-align. Had a bad rattle with the B14s I spent the better part of 2 months troubleshooting, so lots of alignments. Eventually gave up and sold to get KW V3's. After taking them out, figured out the noise was most likely a missing washer on top of the OEM top hat...)
-Fixed my seat belt rattle (made a clicking sound whenever the female part moved. WD-40 and it's been gone for over a month!)
-Fixed lots of other rattles
-Adjustable whiteline front end links (didn't think they would make a difference, but they really did! Front end was noticeably softer. I was very surprised!)
-Fixed Kartboy rattle 90% (needed to add the included O-Rings to the shaft inside the boot you get to from under the car. That's not in any install guides I've seen!)


I'll post pics of how she sits this afternoon.