Alex's 2013 WRB Subaru BRZ Limited
 

Hello and welcome! My name as you've probably already guessed, is Alex, and this is my member's journal for my 2013 WRB BRZ Limited.

Current Mods:

Engine/Power:
- GReddy Evo3 Cat-back Exhaust
- HKS Super Hybrid Filter

Interior:
- Cusco Spin Turn Knob
- 35% Window Tint

Exterior:
- JDM Clear Side Lens
- Perrin Front License Plate Relocate Kit
- Perrin 2'' Shorty Antenna
- HT Autos Front Lip Spoiler
- DistantXtremes Chrome Head Light Bulbs
- DistantXtremes Chrome Tail Light Bulbs

Wheels/Tires/Brakes:
- BBS Forged '02-04 WRX Optional Rims 5x100 17x7(+55)

Current Picture:

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...45349955_n.jpg

I'll start off with a bit of my background story and what this car means to me. First off, before I could drive, my brother modded and drifted a 1985 AE86 Corolla GT-S. He currently has 2, one hatch and one coupe. I would always attend the events and by the time I was old enough to drive, I was ready to get into racing as well. I was fond of the AE86, but it wasn't the car for me. I had a thing for Subarus. So in 2008, I found my very first car, a completely stock Rally Blue Pearl 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Coupe. I've had the Impreza for four years and have been modding and autocrossing it since I got it in 2008. I love it and still own it today and very active in autocross with the Impreza.

My 1998 Subaru Impreza 2.5RS(as it sits today).
http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1350883309

Me and my brother learned of the Toyota/Subaru concept way back in 2009 and knew something awesome would come of it. We've followed it through the years and excited to see it finally here! I like to think of this car as a combination of the AE86 and GC8. Mine being N/A and a 2 door Subaru, while the AE86 having the design and RWD. You may be getting flash backs of Initial-D right now, but needless to say, he will be going with the FR-S, while I stick to the BRZ! I pre-ordered my BRZ Limited in February after seeing one in person at the Washington D.C. Auto show. I was #1 on my dealers list, RK SUBARU in Virginia Beach. Order went in March 1st, and a few months later on May 29th, it had finally arrived! I purchased the car and finished all the paperwork on the 28th of May, so all I had to do was pick it up. So thus begins the journey of the first BRZ delivered in southern Virginia.

The day my BRZ arrived:
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Literally right after we finished paperwork and I was handed the keys to my BRZ, we went straight to the Toyota/Scion dealership were my brother picked up his Whiteout Scion FR-S 6MT. All the workers at the Toyota dealership came out to check out the BRZ and FR-S side by side to see the differences and admire a truly spectacular car. They even moved one of their cars so I could park right in front of the FR-S, haha! Got a quick shot with my iPhone at the Toyota dealership.

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After owning it and driving it for a few days, I love it. It's everything the reviews say it is. The handling is superb right out the box and everything just feels right about the car. The only problem I had was the blind spot, but what do you expect from a small sports car. I'm a small enough person to fit my head out the window, so it's not a huge problem. Here are a few photos of me with the BRZ! I love it!

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My 2013 Subaru BRZ First Impressions:

Drive - This car is a feather on wheels! Just like the reviews in the major magazines, this car is a real drivers car. The handling right out the box is spot on and doesn't feel a bit out of control, even if you get the tail loose a bit, which I've gotten it loose a couple times. Step on the gas and the car just goes. It's so light that it feels like a feather, even though it only has 200hp. The best thing is that the car is so low, that there is hardly any body roll in tight turns. I love it! It's very smooth on the roads and very nimble. You can definitely feel the difference between the RS and the BRZ, but both handle great. If I were to choose which is better comparing both cars as stock, then the BRZ would of course be better. It would take a lot of mods for an RS to compare with the BRZ's out of the box performance. But enough comparing it to the RS, what this car really feels like is a 1970's Datsun/Nissan 240Z. Having owned a restored 240Z for a year in 2010, I can say this accurately. Again, not a lot of power, but both being lightweight, which makes up for the power loss. Both fairly easy to launch and not difficult to toss loose, while still being able to control the car the way you would want it to. Seeing the fender lines while behind the passenger is nostalgic to the 240Z, because you would always know where your front tires were. This is the very same with the BRZ and I love it!

Now onto how the BRZ feels during some aggressive driving. After taking it to my local autocross, I finally was able to test out this car without any holding back! First off, the car was surprisingly quicker than I had expected on the faster straight parts of the course and the car handled like a champ. With the VSC Sport mode on, the car is a bit squirmy coming out of corners, that is if you are pushing the car, but the entire time the car still feels and is in the control of the driver. Good right?! Yes, very good. It was incredibly fun to drive this car and put a smile to my face the second I took of from the start. Taking the turns with very to little body roll on stock suspension is simply amazing! The only downside I saw was the lack of acceleration from 2nd gear coming out of a sharp sweeper. I know people talked about a dead zone and this is were it's at. I almost feel that if I had drifted the turn, it would have been quicker. I didn't want to throw it into first though as it would put it into high RPMs and cause it to loose while already committed into the turn. All in all though, this car was a blast to drive and I enjoyed the car very much! With a good set of tires, this car will become a very popular competitor at any event.

Interior - I really like the interior a lot on the BRZ. The seats sit low and hold you in just right. The steering wheel is good, but not the greatest. The diameter is small which I like, but the thickness when putting your hands around is a bit too thick. You can still get a full grip, but maybe not as firm as some might like in certain spots of the wheel. The layout of all your buttons are easy to reach and to turn on in the center console. The gauge display is very well done, easy to read and find all your indications. The navigation is a pretty cool feature. You can use bluetooth with your phone and save all your contacts to the car's system. GPS is standard and has a slot for an SD card to update new maps. I like that the car comes with four months free of XM radio too, haha! Pedals aren't bad, took a while to get used to at first, but easy once you've gotten used to it. Shifter is awesome. Already feels like it has super short shifts even for stock, which makes it a blast to drive. The view from the windshield is pretty cool. I love looking at the pumped up fenders from the inside since they can really show you where your tires line up. The only bad thing about the interior is the driver's side blind spot. Trust me...you won't see shit unless you stick your head out the window or have your mirrors set up just right. Oh...did you say something about the backseat? I don't know what you're talking about...I personally don't think I will have any use for the back seat as far as passengers go, but who knows, I may find use for it someday. The fact that you can fold them down though, is fantastic for those who can haul all their track equipment around.

During my seat time at autocross I was again very pleased with this car. My helmet fit fine in the car as well as my passengers who requested ride alongs. Visibility was excellent and I could clearly see everything in front of me, letting me get very close to the cones and shaving off time. In the sharper turns the seats held me in great. I hardly moved at all. Next thing, the steering wheel felt awesome as well. The grip and the diameter of the wheel are spot on in the BRZ. I really don't have any complaints or concerns about the Interior at all during aggressive driving. Nice job Subaru/Toyota!

Exterior - Whats not to like? The exterior is very clean with smooth line all over the car. Toyota did a good job with the design of the car I think and the front end does seem to fit more like a Subaru-like car, opposed to the FR-S's more aggressive looking front. I won't say a lot about the exterior, because the pictures of the design speak for them selves(although the car looks much lower in person), but the fender piece on the BRZ is a little lame I think, since it's not an actual vent, but a cheap plastic cover. It doesn't look bad, but I wish it had some function. The HID headlights are very cool, with adjustable settings from the interior. Daytime runners are another cool feature to have on the car as well, giving it a more higher end look. I wish the kept the clear side markers over the USDM amber ones those, but they are easy to swap out for the clears if you have $100 to blow. Driving on the roads is fun, lol! People break there necks to check it out, haha. I'm scared it may cause an accident soon if people aren't careful looking where they are going at the same time! I'm being dead serious too there.

Engine/Power - The engine compartment is pretty nice. You can pop the aluminum hood with one finger it's that light. Everything seems to be pretty easy to reach and the oil filter is right on top! The only thing I can really say about the engine is that it's kinda noisy, lol. The stock exhaust tone isn't too bad at higher RPMs, but an aftermarket exhaust down the road will really make this baby scream! One cool thing is the sound tube located in the engine bay. This is something new to me and I have to say I quite like it. It gives the driver a reminder they again, they are in a true sports car when they hear the sound of the engine leading into the interior when put into higher RPMs. As mentioned above, during aggressive driving this motor is pretty preppy. It is surprisingly pretty quick on the straight parts of the track, but coming out of a hard corner in 2nd gear, the car lacks the power to get back up to speed which was a bit disappointing. But overall the car is still a blast to drive purely on the handling capabilities alone.
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That's cool that you and your brother own the twins...:thumbsup:

What else do you have planned after tint?

Well I use my Impreza to autocross, so I'm not sure just yet as to how many performance parts I am going to put on. But I do plan for lowering springs and an exhaust once more have been released so I can explore my options. I want the clear side markers...I'll get those if I get some cash to just toss towards them. I've already ordered a license plate re locator for the front plate, so that's one thing on it's way!

I am thinking about autocrossing the BRZ later this month to get the feel of it's true capabilities with a friend who owns a Firestorm FR-S. Other than that, I'm just going to enjoy the car for now, keep it as clean as possible, and try to stay out of trouble with it, haha.

Congrats to you and your brother!!! Is he on the forum?

Thanks! And yes, his username is JDMrolla.

Ahhh, I think I recognize that name! Tell him to post up his impressions!! If he hasn't already, that is.

Nice review & pics... Congrats!

Here is a shot with the 35% window tint that was just finished. I have the Perrin License Plate bracket on pre-order and I may get the clear turn signals, because the amber ones are just ugly looking since that's the only orange on the car. But I've been thinking about getting the Nameless axle back exhaust too. So maybe more updates soon!

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Congrats on the car! I'm still waiting for my VIN from RK. :( I guess the GBS is just a little too rare of a color. haha Is 35% the max allowable tint in VA?

Think so. It definitely is in Maryland.

I figured it would be. I know some states are VERY picky about tint and others don't care. I know Montana doesn't care but then again, they didn't have a speed limit until 1999. haha

Actually it's not. You won't get a receipt if it's all the way around. I'm not sure what the minimum is for VA, but 35% is legal in the rear, but not on the driver and passenger door windows. Hopefully you'll have a VIN soon. I'm sure Lynn will let you know asap when she gets it.

Love the World Rally Blue, I hear it's hard to locate this colour compared to others because the allocation of WRB is reserved for alot of corporate activities and events.

Nice ride bro!

Got my Perrin license plate relocate kit the other day and put it on shorty after. I love the look of it. I prefer no plates, but it adds some cool factor then having no plates on the front. Plus at least I won't get hassled by the cops here in VA, even though I don't have front plates on my Impreza(due to the JDM sports bumper, I won't drill into it and there is no tow hook piece for it like this). I like this one over the Grimmspeed kit. My brother has the Grimmspeed on his FR-S, but I like the back of the plate for Perrin where you can see the logo just from walking around the car and not like Grimmspeeds. Easy to install. I used one of the eight washers it comes with and it fits pretty flush to the bumper. The kit also includes 2 Perrin decals and 2 license plate frames. :thumbsup:

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Looks great! I wish there was a mod for those damn yellow stickers Virginia makes you run on the front windscreen. They could at least make them more aesthetically pleasing.

Looks great with the tint!

How would you compare the power to your RS?

I have an 01 RS and a 99 miata. The RS is my daily, but it's up to 120k miles now, and I'm thinking about selling my miata and buying a new car to DD, and keeping the RS for snow/rain, and possibly a future STi swap/repaint/restoration.

I'm happy with the power of the RS. The miata is great fun to drive, but is too gutless for a DD. I haven't been able to test drive a BRZ yet, and you may be the first person I've seen on a forum with an RS as well.

edit - Also, how's the quality of the WRB paint. I saw a WRB at a dealer, and it looked like there was some pretty serious orange peel all over. It was in the showroom, so it may have just been a weird lighting thing. I saw a Galaxy Blue outside at another dealer, and didn't notice any orange peel.

Oh I know...I hate those stickers too, but no way around it :( I just try to ignore that it's there, haha...but sometimes you can't.


Hey thanks for the question, I'll try to answer it as best I can for you. I would say that the RS definitely accelerates faster then the BRZ and mostly due to AWD and it does seem to rev faster too. The BRZ is pretty preppy too, don't get me wrong. When you get on the BRZ it almost feels like a feather and just goes. While it doesn't rev as fast as the RS, I think the BRZ is faster in top speed. I'd say they are pretty even though for the most part. RS is 165hp@6,500 and the BRZ is 200hp@7000, so that's not too far off if you think about it.

Also, with some tuning the BRZ can definitely shine over the RS greatly. And the only true way for the RS to blow the BRZ out of the water is with a swap, which you and I both someday have done to ours!

Since you're coming from a RS and Miata, I think you can truly appreciate an NA engine and it's capabilities. Where as the handling matters more then the power. So if you like both of those cars, I think you will love the BRZ. It's weird switching from BRZ to RS some weeks, because the clutch in the RS is much heavier then the BRZ. Not only that, but the RS will feel like a go-kart when you're driving it after you've gotten used to the BRZ. :lol:

Oh and as for the paint...I think the paint is pretty good on it. Haven't found any flaws in mine(yet...). I picked it up from the dealer and looked it over, and looked fine. Had it for about 2 weeks and simply washing it, it still looked great. But around week 3 of owning it, we took the BRZ and FR-S to a professional detail shop, who did a prep which would protect the paint better then what the dealer prep.

8/21/12: Received my HT Autos front lip spoiler today from Koru. Quick and easy install and transforms the BRZ's front end to something more aggressive looking. Couldn't be more happier with this purchase. Looks fantastic to me. Here are a few pics of the lip on to maybe help those who are considering picking one of theses up. Enjoy!

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Better go get a beer.. This read is gonna take a while lol...

Yes...It took a while, but I finally reached the 1,000 mile break in point with my BRZ today!

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I only really drove it to work and back, and around on the weekends. I could have driven it a lot if I wanted to sooner, but I felt there wasn't any point of wasting gas trying to reach 1,000 miles faster. With this achievement for my BRZ, I can finally open it up and explore the car a lot more. I will be adding to my review after the break in point and try to make a video for it as well. I've also put the Impreza aside for the next autocross event to have a go with the BRZ. I want to see how well this car does first hand, as everyone else says it's a blast. I'm looking forward to it!

Looks great!

Just a few minor things I did over the weekend. I put on my DC Sports exhaust tips. You might say, why just tips? Well that reason is I still haven't quite found an exhaust I'm set on. There are a lot of good options out there, and I want to see and hear some in person before I stick to one. These tips will hold me over until then. They look a lot better than stock and fairly close to the JDM tips. They even sound a bit better than stock when idling, lol.

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The next thing I got was the Perrin 2'' Shorty Antenna. It's pretty dang small, works just as well as the stock one, but again, looks a lot better over the long stock antenna. I wasn't much of a fan of the shark fin antenna style so I went with this and I am pretty pleased with it.

http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...60939039_n.jpg

Good looking car! Your mods are very interesting, exhaust tips, front spoiler and shoty antenna. The following are a wheels (haha).

DAMN front lip looks NICE!

Wish they had one for the FRS

Thanks and yes I have wheels planned as my next thing. I plan to buy 17'' BBS rims, the optional ones from the 2002-2004 WRX....But I think I'm going to paint them a gloss black when I do get them.

Very clean well thought out car/mods :) Love it! Let us know if we can help you with your future mods :)

Love the lip. If I didn't have the Five:AD on my FR-S I'd go with the Grazio lip which looks really similar to this.

So yesterday was quite a fun day. It was my first autocross with the BRZ. It was a lot of fun, but a huge change for me since I've been used to AWD at autocross with my Impreza for the past 4 years. Much different than the Impreza obviously, and this being my first time autocross a RWD car, I think I did alright. There is room for improvement on my part on being able to learning how to drive RWD better, and with a good set of tires on the BRZ, this car could be a pretty fast car for autocross. With VSC sport mode, it's a bit squirmy and likes to get loose, but the best part is that it doesn't feel a bit out of YOUR control. Now if you took traction/stability control completely off(holding down the button for 5 seconds), then I would tell you that you'd be drifting every turn and knocking out cones, lol. But man, this car is fun. It was faster then I thought, but it did have a dead zone when coming out of the second sweeper and the last two boxes in 2nd gear. I felt that if I threw it into first I would be to high in the RPMs and it would get loose on me, so I didn't try it. One thing I love though is that this car felt planted. There was very little body roll from what I could tell. That's fantastic for stock suspension! I love it even more now!

Pictures:

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Video:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJbHurmy4zE&feature=player_embedded"]2013 Subaru BRZ Limited - ODR-SCCA Autocross 9/2/12 - YouTube[/ame]


I'll be adding to my thoughts/review of the car in my first post with updates on how I feel about the car now after getting to push it and test the car out more from this experience yesterday at the autocross. So check back there to get my updated review on the BRZ! More coming soon...

Hey man, great looking BRZ, I like the mods you chose. Where did you order the tips from/what kind of price range were they?

Thanks, and you should be able to find them at a local Pep-boys for around $40. It beats paying $160 for JDM tips and they look just as good.

That lip looks pretty aggressive.

Nice driving! Keep it smooth.

- Andrew

So a few small updates for today. Last weekend I debaged the "Subaru" letters on the trunk for the JDM look. And I have a set of JDM clear parking light on the way. OH! and I also got this!!

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This is a Cusco Spin Turn Knob, or also known as a drift button. Some of you drifters already know what this does, but if you don't I recommend checking out this link here http://www.club4ag.com/faq_and_tech_..._turn_knob.htm

Of course I had to get blue to match the paint of the car and I think it looks great. It gives the interior a small but coolness touch to it. Plus the function of this will allow me to have a bit more fun with the BRZ.

http://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphoto...65565675_n.jpg

I did a small video on this I worked on it. It's not the best install video as I was by myself and only using one hand to film and demonstrate. But here it is if you are looking at getting one and a bit confused on how to install it.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-qMbSLr8Zw&feature=g-upl"]DIY Cusco "Drift Button" Installation for 2013 Subaru BRZ & Scion FR-S - YouTube[/ame]

Update: 10/19/2012. I installed a GReddy Evo3 Cat-back exhaust on the car that I bought off a member here. Previous owner had only put around 500 miles on it, so it's practically brand new almost. What can I say? I love this exhaust! I'm one of those guys who loves a loud exhaust, which is way I will not be using the silencers. Also one of the complaints people have with this exhaust is the 'drone' inside the cabin. I'm actually not bothered by it surprisingly, although it causes my spin turn knob to rattle because it's so loud, lol. It does feel like it's a bit faster then before. Definitely in the first few gears, maybe not so much in 5th and 6th though. It's pretty quite after you hit 5000rpms also. Fitment is great, easy to install and fills the exhaust gap space pretty nice. As you've read earlier in my journal I had the DC sports tips, while they looked good over stock, they weren't cutting it for me and I did want an aftermarket exhaust for a while.

Here are a couple of pics of the exhaust installed and a sound clip for those who are interested.

http://i631.photobucket.com/albums/u...g?t=1350884581

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And finally for the sound clip!

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-4gVmAw6TU&feature=g-upl"]2013 Subaru BRZ GReddy Evo3 Catback Exhaust - YouTube[/ame]

New rims came in last week. I got a set of '02-04 WRX Optional BBS Rims. They are 17x7 and 5x100 with +55 offset. Forged and weigh 15lbs each. Debating whether or not I should paint them black, similar to the BRZ GT300, but the original silver color is starting to grow on me! I also added a HKS air filter. Anyways here are some photos I took with the new rims on!

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looks very good :thumbup:
dont paint it black, better in bronze.

Hey where did you get those rims from?

nice wheels. is there a lot of brake clearance due to the +55 offset?

yeah, the wheels look nice! but seems like +55 offset is a (small) move in the wrong direction. :(