Draco-REX's BRZ "Ghost"
 

Index:

"Done" photos, Post 149.

Reviews:
Intro and First impressions, Posts 1-2.
Reverse Impressions, Post 57.
First AutoX with the BRZ, Post 110.
First long road trip from OH to MA and back, Post 122.
AutoX with REAL tires, Post 136.

Interior/Exterior Mods:
WC Lathe Werks Shift Knob, Post 3.
GrimmSpeed front towhook plate bracket, Post 35.
Aftermarket exhaust tips until a new exhaust is available, Post 46.
Tinted windows and side markers, Post 69.
Post-Detail shots, Post 90.
Exterior LED Conversion, Post 134.
Schroth Rally 3 Harnesses, Post 135.
CARSMO duckbll spoiler, Post 147.
Debadged and moved the BRZ, post 148.

Engine/Powertrain:
Accelerated Performance cat-back Exhaust, post 105.

Suspension/Wheels:
WedsSport TC105n Wheels, Post 126.
RCE Yellow Suspension Starter Kit, Post 139.



The NEXT incarnation:
Ghost 2.0: "Wraith"








Intro and first impressions:

Since my friends dubbed my STI "Grip" after the plate I have on it, all of my cars now have names. My CBS 6MT BRZ Limited is named "Ghost" for it's light weight and ability to change direction in supernatural ways. :D

I've been following the FT's development on-and-off since the first rumors of Toyota's interest in a lightweight sportscar. I've been sick of the ever increasing weight of cars these days and the soft vague handling that's permeating all "sportscars" in a misguided attempt to make the more appealing to the average driver.

Some of the most fun I've had driving has been in small, low-powered cars. And my STI has had a LOT of work done to the suspension to get it where I feel it should be. Now, finally, there's a car that meets my expectations (on paper so far) while also being practical enough to be a daily driver.

My current DD is a 2007 Subaru Legacy spec.B. I picked it up, used, because at the time I felt I wanted a car that was fun and comfortable for long drives. The long trips was important because I travel from OH to MA a couple times a year to visit family. So the spec.B seemed to be the best car for the job.

But now, a year and a half later, I've decided that I'm willing to give up a lot of comfort for more fun. And so, I ordered Ghost.

And now, he has arrived!
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These pics were taken pre-PDI and detailing. More to come.

I have plans for Ghost. Rims/tires, exhaust, lots of suspension, tint, clear bra, and more. This will be a fun journey.

Well, finally got to drive the car off the lot around 6:45. I had company waiting for me at home so I didn't get to take all the pictures I wanted. Those will come. But here are a couple I took at the dealership.

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So, initial impressions:

Fantastic. It's unbelievable how well sorted the suspension is for it being a stock car under 30K. It feels like the car is already modded. The low CG means there's barely any body roll, which is surprising considering how soft the springs and sways are.

Let's see if I can organize this.

Steering: A lot heavier than I thought it was going to be considering all the "great, but" reviews regarding the electric steering. I really like the feel.

Shifter: Very nice and precise. The position is good, but the pivot is a LOT higher than in my other Subarus. It will take some getting used to. Gear engagement is positive. But I need to get used to the new gears and clutch to smooth my shifts out.

Clutch: My biggest disappointment. A lot of reviewers like it, which makes me think I must be used to very heavy clutches. The BRZ's clutch is VERY light. When I first stepped on it, the clutch reminded me of the one in my old corolla when the slave was busted. But other than the feel, it's a good clutch. Engagement is mid-high and I adapted to it pretty well for the driving I did today.

Visibility: Excellent out the front and sides. Rear is pretty good. But the sail panels are a bit thick. Looking out the passenger side is good. But looking back over my left shoulder is blocked. I'll need to change my lane-change habits with this car.

Seat: Very supportive. However it's just a touch tight for my fatness. But hey, more incentive to lose some weight. The belt rests against the side of my neck which is mildly annoying. There's a loop on the seat's shoulder, but I'm too big to leave the belt in there. Hopefully the people experimenting with hard seatbelt guides will find oen that works.

Radio: Good, but needs a lot of fiddling. The Bluetooth is good and integrated very easily with my Thunderbolt. The hardest part was finding the Bluetooth device search on my phone. There is a 12V port in the glovebox. So I can connect my phone to a charger and stuff it in the glovebox and let it connect to the stereo via Bluetooth.

GPS: I didn't get to play with this much, but looks a LOT better than the sorry excuse in the spec.B. I'll mess with it more to see if it is at least as good as my old Garmin.

Back Seats: Yeah... Wow.. Small.. This will be interesting trying to get a friend back there with another who's as big as me in the front seat.

Power: The thing you've all been waiting for. I haven't been able to hammer on it due to break in. But I did do a short run through the gears. Since I'm used to turbo cars, I miss the rising tide of torque, so it doesn't feel as aggressive. But we'll see how it is in daily driving. And once I've got it broken in some more I'll do some playing in the upper RPM range.

I can't wait to take this to an AutoX. I've already inadvertently engaged the stability control three times. :)

The very first mod is a WC Lathe Werks shift knob.

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It's a 2" copolymer sphere with two small grooves around the bottom to give some texture to it for my fingertips. This is my 4th sphere shift knob from WC, and probably won't be my last. I'll put it on the car tomorrow when I pick it up and take some installed pics.

I took some crappy installed pics. The sun was fighting me and my phone had trouble dealing with it.

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I love it. It really fits the interior more, IMO. And as with every WC knob I've bought, it feels great.

Better pic:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7224/7...115d545d_c.jpg

The style of the car is I like, it is so cool!

Congrads! I'm interested to see how that shift knob looks, I can tell I'll get tired of mine quickly, haha.

Just noticing now, man that is some crazy wheel gap! Otherwise, great color choice! I'm interested in the further mods as you do them. Also want to hear more driving thoughts.

Congrats!!! Interested to see how the shift knob looks when you swap it with the old one.

Black can distort wheel gap. Here's a pic I took when I picked it up today.
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7233/7...687a8cf4_c.jpg


Initial Impressions and more pictures forthcoming.

congrats! black looks really sexy. Some pics of the shift knob installed would be great!

Black is looking super sexy. Tire dressing was just what the doctor ordered. Any plans for wheels? I'm feeling gunmetal or hyberblack on CBS.

I have to get the pic tomorrow. I had company tonight so I didn't get all the pictures I wanted and now it's too dark to show a black knob in a black interior.

I have plans for wheels. Probably gunmetal. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to narrow it down to one set I like.

Initial impressions in second post.

Congrats.
I was okay with navi in spec.b, after a few updates. At least it didn't show me as driving on the water, lol.

Alright, a CBS member finally. Can't wait to see what wheels you put on your BRZ. :thumbsup:

If you had to choose just one car, wish one would you pick? The STI or the BRZ???

Ive got a CBS on order and your post just got my juices going for when I turn up at the dealers.....happy happy joy joy.

Congrats, sweet ride. Looking forward to seeing what you do with 'Ghost'.

Pretty much agree with everything you said. Clutch is by far the biggest disappoint for me as well. It just feels numb and light. However, it will be nice for DDing I guess.

You have any issue with the bluetooth connection turning on random media apps on your phone when you get in and start it?

The STI, no question. Not only is it my "affordable dream car" it's a lot more versatile. But my STI is going to be buried with me, so I need to have other toys to use on those boring miles. :)

It seems to turn on the basic media player. But I'm used to turning on Pandora whenever I enter the car, so it's no biggie. Soon as I start Pandora, it overrides the media player that auto-started.

One way I like to judge my cars is by using them for the day-to-day stuff. So the usual drive to work was interesting. The car feels peppier. I think it's because I'm getting used to the powerband and using it. I'm also keeping the revs a bit lower. I found myself driving a lot in the 3-4 Valley. Staying out of it seems to help wake the car up.

The center console is a bit uncomfortable against my right knee. I find it kind of funny because I had the exact same issue with my old '86 Corolla. The windowsill is a bit high for my taste, but that's normal for cars these days. I'll get used to it.

Getting on the highway on my usual on-ramp (a long one) is much the same as in my spec.B even when locked out of the revs above 4K. I can't wait to flog this thing.

Lane changing is freakin' telepathic. The off-center steering is immediate and precise. It really drives home my requirement for a responsive tire when I re-shoe this car. Soft sidewalls will do this car an injustice.

So far, I'm very happy with my new DD. More fun awaits!

Some crappy installed pics are up.

how is the exhaust note in daily driving situations? Non-existant?

For the most part, non-existent. I get a short note from the sound tube when I double-clutch, but otherwise, I don't notice it on the highway. Around town, you get a note from the engine when you push it a little that becomes very loud at high revs. But for just driving around town and in neighborhoods it's very quiet.

The good news is that it's not TOO quiet. When I got my spec.B the exhaust and engine were so quiet, I had trouble shifting. In the BRZ, the engine and exhaust are audible enough that driving by ear is very easy to do right off the bat.

If anything the tires are noisy, for being "touring" tires. Maybe if they wear down they might improve, but I think the low-rolling resistance nature makes them hum a little.

Once I nail down a comfortable driving position, the BRZ should be enjoyable for long trips at around 73mph.

The instant mileage I'm seeing is surprisingly high. Unfortunately, I'll have to get through the dealership's tankfull and another to get a good average.

The shift knob looks pretty good! Nice and clean. Also, is that an iPhone that's hooked up to the USB port? I've been looking for a shorter cable and I believe I found one, but I'm at work atm and don't have the link till I get home.

Looks sexy Draco! Loving that shift knob too, just fits nicely with the interior.

Justin

It's an iPod. I thought I'd give it a try and see what the integration is like. Essentially, you just plug it in and the USB button on the HU turns into an iPod button.

I'll be playing with trying music and data on the SD card and thumb drive soon. Not to mention adding a personal start-up screen. :)

Thanks. Your plate bracket should be arriving soon. As soon as I get my plates straightened out it'll go on. :)

Great impressions Draco, I'm particularly interested in your impressions because I have a 2006 spec b so I feel that my impressions will be very similar to yours. Keep the reports coming please!

I never really felt "connected" with my spec.B. It always felt like there was this fuzzy barrier between me and the car. The steering was ok, but the shifter was too smooth, the throttle pedal was laggy, the ride was soft but unresponsive, it leaned in the corners too much, and I was never comfortable with the butt-dragging that the Leggys do.

All of this is gone with the BRZ.

The steering is heavier and much more direct. The shifter is short and precise with just enough mechanical feel, IMO. The throttle was a little soft off the dealership lot, but it was just the usual Subaru blank ECU pedal. It's very responsive now that I've driven it 50 miles (as good if not better than my 07 STI's pedal.) The ride is firm but not harsh, and the suspension is unbelieveable. If I had no other knowledge of the car except that it was a 25K-27K Subaru, I'd swear it had springs and sways done. And NO butt-dragging!

For the driving experience, the interior feels both smaller and of similar size. Left to right the interior feels about the same as the Leggy. But the roof is much lower, making the windshield seem smaller. Your first impression is that forward visibility is less until you realize that it's only vertical height that's missing and it's not that important. The big thing that I love is your seating position relative to the console. In the Leggy, even with the seat all the way down, you got the feeling of a high seating position, as if you were on the car rather than in it. In the BRZ you feel IN the car. Even moreso than the Impreza. Sitting in the BRZ feels more like a ****pit than any other car I've sat in since my '98 Trans Am.

Back seat.. well, that's pretty obvious.

Driving the BRZ, it feels like it's half the weight of the spec.B. It's crisp and responsive and rides the road rather than floats above it. It is exactly the change I wanted from the spec.B.

Now if only my friend who gets stuck in the back seat will forgive me. ;)

Thanks, that really helped me to visualize what it's like! I know you haven't gotten the car broken in yet, but have you found yourself missing the extra power of the spec b, or does it feel like they're about the same?

I don't miss it, though I never really romped on the spec.B all that much since it was a DD. I haven't had a good chance to really get into the powerband much on the BRZ yet due to the break-in. I will say that it does seem very eager and I think keeping it in it's upper rev band sweet spot will be needed to get this car to move out quickly.

It doesn't FEEL as powerful, but it does have a better power/weight ratio. Again, you don't get that surge of power growing as the turbo spools up. But on the flip side, because the powerband is so flat, when you just tip into the throttle, you feel the car want to leap forward instantly. It seems to encourage you to put your foot to the floor. I think it's just going to take a change in driving habits to keep the revs high when accelerating.

I do miss the spec.b power atm, mostly when I go cruising on 1-lane roads. Being limited to 4k rpm really limits passing power. On the hwy around 70mph, if I switch to 5th it pulls about the same as my spec.b does in 6th.

Overall steering effort in the BRZ isn't that much different from the spec.b on good summer rubber (I don't get a feeling of very different steering effort jumping from one car to another). The feel is different though.

P.S. 06 spec.b isn't a real spec.b :evil:

Thanks for the additional impressions...as to the spec b comment, all I can say is ladies love the red leather, and being 1 of 500 is pretty cool too, love my 06 :)

nice shift knob, the round plain ones are the best

Agreed. Shift patterns are for Valets and wimps. ;)

Couple new pics.

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6/13/12

Finally got my paperwork in the mail necessary to get my old plates transferred. They're the old red white and blue plates, so I'll gladly pay extra to keep them instead of getting a set of the "clip-art vomit" plates.

This let me install the GrimmSpeed plate bracket.

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It's a great product. I really recommend it to anyone who wants to stay legal with a front plate but doesn't want to drill the bumper. They've got an on-going group-buy in the Vendor Classifieds HERE. They're selling for $59.99, $20 off regular price but the group buy ends in 7 days (6/20). Hop on the list now!

NICE!
Those GrimmSpeed Front plates do wonders for the front end of a car if you have to run a plate.

Kirill
RallySportDirect.com

pics

edit: oh wait i see your note now :(

I've been wondering, did the owners manual come with a maintenance guide? Like when to change the belts, and fluid/oil change intervals, etc?

Most likely... I would assume it be quite similiar to any other N/A scooby.

OT: Nice car, really digging the black!:happy0180:

Probably. I'll go check in a bit.

Thanks. :)