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ryoma's CWP 2015 Subaru BRZ Limited
https://i.imgur.com/UEKtGaT.jpg
Just picked up my BRZ from the dealer today and wow, I'm in love with the car. It took me some getting used to, but now I like it 100%. At first, the interior and gauges seemed really small compared to all the pictures I have seen. It's so quiet at times that I forget to shift. I have to catch myself to shift before 4k RPM during the break in, otherwise I want to rev it higher. I'm also surprised how much vibrations there are in the shift lever... like wow. I also love the shifting feel. way better than my MR2. My previous car was a 1986 Toyota MR2 with an ST205 3SGTE engine swap. it was putting out 280whp and was fun to drive but problems one after another started coming up. Recently, it was rear-ended and I took this as an opportunity to move on and get rid of the wallet-sucking vampire that is the MR2. The BRZ and the MR2 are in two different worlds. The main thing was that my MR2 didn't have AC and damn! It's so nice to have AC again. Today was 90F and I was cruising around with AC on, such a nice feeling. https://i.imgur.com/8I8dYFu.jpg https://i.imgur.com/msndrx7.jpg I'll include this mod list for mods that I do to the car through this journey. I want to be able to look back a few years later and see how much the car has changed. Mod list: Powertrain: Brakes: Suspension/wheels/etc: Interior: Exterior: Misc: |
Rear debadging & shift knob
As soon as I brought the car back, I adjusted the clutch pedal since it was WAAAAY too high up to engage the clutch. It is so light compared to my MR2 that I feel like I might snap the pedal since I'm not used to it. I got the engagement point down but I still bog whenever I shift into 2nd... gonna try different methods out and see what it takes to drive smoothly. Seems like I need to slip the clutch and add power at the same time to go into 2nd smoothly. I only do that for take offs, but I'm gonna add it into the 2nd gear change to see if it helps. The clutch isn't as bad as everything says it is IMO.
After adjusting the clutch, I immediately threw on my titanium shift knob. It's counter-sunk and feels really nice. I expected to have to put a nut under it to make the reverse lockout work, but there was no need since the reverse lockout just slide right into the knob. I was surprised about that and pretty pleased. https://i.imgur.com/u4bfvVs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2FzfcDv.jpg After adding in the shift knob, I went to take off the rear Subaru and BRZ badge. I think this makes it look a lot cleaner. https://i.imgur.com/msndrx7.jpg Gonna go get the windows tinted tomorrow. |
Nice congrats!
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Very nice. Beautiful car, i'd love to see what you will be doing to it.
I am picking u mine Tuesday, same color, same specs. The window tint is planned for Wednesday. |
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I really love the way the car drives. I'm surprised that the stock suspension was so stiff. way different than my mom's highlander or my dad's camry. if only I could get a stiffer clutch pedal, but that is only a small gripe since I'm already used to it. I really need to get used to the extra width of the car. it feels so big after coming from my small MR2. and I have never relied on my side mirrors so much as I have today when I was driving and parking the car, haha. I can't see behind the right portion of the car at all without the mirrors |
Congrats on the BRZ! Just got mine in the same exact specs last week and I love it, CWP is such a great color.
The 1>2 shift gets me all the time so if you find out how to make it a smooth shift let me know. What's been working for me is just taking an extra second to let the revs fall before releasing the clutch but then I feel like a snail. |
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Took the words right outta my mouth for 1>2.. I've been letting revs drop too before I start releasing the clutch and it does feel way too slow. Then again, it's fine for commuting and daily driving cuz you're up to speed with everyone else but this car doesn't feel right sometimes when it's that slow. I've heard revving past 4k RPM does the trick or rev much lower, it seems the 3k range isn't good for quick shifting. |
Window Tint
Got the tinting done today. Went with 18% suntek CXP. looks nice, but kind of dark. I didn't know that the 18% of the CXP actually looks more like 16% while 18% of the regular carbon was 18%. I based it off the regular values and the CXP is a bit darker... didn't realize it until the tint was already on. Oh well, just gotta be careful I guess.
https://i.imgur.com/YCQrTjV.jpg https://i.imgur.com/wsDHyVM.jpg |
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I agree with the tint, I've had 10-15% on all my cars in the past and this one will be no different. Quote:
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Tint looks excellent! :w00t:
I have 18% on my other vehicles and ordered it for my BRZ too. I have no complaints looking out, even at night. My guess is that it looks darker because the interior of the BRZ is black too. |
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Tint looks great, they only offer 5 and 30% here at that low of a %, I thought 30% was asking for trouble in California lol. |
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Radar Detector Hardwire & RA Mudflaps
Hardwired my radar detector in today. I'm still unsure if I want to keep it mounted on the bottom or use a blendmount and mount it under my rear-view.
https://i.imgur.com/rRnqt6O.jpg (I ended up going with Blendmount) Also installed a set of Rally Armor mudflaps. I think it'll look even better after lowering the car a little bit and with a new set of rims. I hate the stock wheels so much lol https://i.imgur.com/1Nhv3Vu.jpg |
Grimmspeed Brake Master Cylinder Brace
Easiest install of my life. It took 10 minutes, including the time wasted taking pictures and opening the package lol. I helped with this install on a friend's STI a while back and it was way worse with no finger room. It probably took us an hour by trying to wiggle the bolts in and stuff...
https://i.imgur.com/dJDe9JU.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yc9LtEx.jpg I have yet to drive the car, but I had a similar brace on my MR2 and it helped a lot with the firm pedal feel. I can imagine this would be the same. |
TOM'S Taillights and 4th Brake Light
Got my TOM'S taillights in and they look great. Also added a 4th brake light.
https://i.imgur.com/2eGHi3W.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Xjj5WDZ.jpg Also, look what came in today :) https://i.imgur.com/rImbHnt.jpg https://i.imgur.com/zTS2ToM.jpg Now all I need to wait for are my RPF1's in matte bronze. |
Mini Photoshoot
Also did a mini photoshoot since my brother came over with his nice camera.
https://i.imgur.com/w3a0Vp7.jpg https://i.imgur.com/iJygsfR.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vDtWctT.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yT9ZgYr.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1Nhv3Vu.jpg https://i.imgur.com/jHGvAfa.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XCOunoS.jpg |
Nice photos.
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Loving the way those toms look on CWP! Great photos by the way.
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Enkei RPF1 17x8 +45
Wheels came in today and got them mounted. Gonna get an alignment on Monday morning. These wheels look nice! Just the center caps look kind of cheap... and it was $100 for the set of 4. Bought the wheels and caps from Oakos Automotive. I love the bronze look and it looks pretty good on white. I was debating whether to go gold or bronze, but gold stood out way too much. It would probably be a pain to keep cleaning the brake dust off too.
My only gripe is that the lug nuts are recessed into the hole slightly so it makes it look weird. And there's a pretty huge gap too haha. I'll get to fixing it eventually with some suspension mods, though those are at the back of my list right now. The tires are Dunlop Direzza ZII 235/45R17. https://i.imgur.com/2sTYhh6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yqaurl7.jpg |
LED Interior Conversion
Did a simple interior LED conversion today. A pretty cheap mod but works pretty well. Definitely like the door LED's though since they are way brighter than OEM and lights up the floor pretty well. This will probably be the last thing I do to the car for a while as I save up my money for either coilovers or a catback. I am still undecided.
https://i.imgur.com/T7bRAMs.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XI3Exs2.jpg https://i.imgur.com/raNghNy.jpg https://i.imgur.com/bDt9BrQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/vDtWctT.jpg EDIT: rest of the pictures are held hostage by Photobucket |
added a to-do list for the car... who knows how long it will take for the next 10 mods... maybe a year or two. I need to calm down on mods to make it easier on my wallet
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Lovely mods.
Can you please help me do the 4th brake light? hahaha Good stuff man. Will look so much better with the coilovers! :) |
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LED Blinkers + Reverse Light
Almost got everything converted to LED's. Only thing left are the side markers, which I don't know if I want to use amber or clear, or an aftermarket side marker. I took these pics during the day so you can't really see any difference in brightness, not to mention it was hard to time the blinkers haha. The reverse light is a nice white though instead of that yellowish white. Couldn't get any good night pictures without the light overpowering everything.
Stock: LED: *No pictures due to photobucket being greedy* |
Some new things
Got some things in today. Ready for my first fluid change this weekend.
https://i.imgur.com/ajxCoTG.jpg I plan on doing the transmission fluid later, maybe around 2000-3000 miles. Also got the OEM Forester oil cooler from NED, taps into the throttle body coolant line. https://i.imgur.com/PfwiTqC.jpg Trying to get my car ready for a track day on May 23. I need opinions; should I do a full brake upgrade (rotors, pads, lines, fluid) or just fluid and pads for my track day? I heard the stock brakes were insufficient for track use and overheat easily. |
Did the reverse LED make it brighter? I find it hard to see out the back in mine reversing
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Awesome progress man.
I've been to about 8 track days in my BRZ. two were with the stock brake pads and stock brake fluid. It wasn't fun. Since then, I've switched to Project Mu Club Racer pads and Motul brake fluid. The brakes are SO MUCH BETTER at the track. It's really up to your capability at the track. I know plenty of FRS/BRZ guys at the track with stock rotors and track pads/fluid/lines having success out there. Which track are you going? Oh by the way, which LED blinker did you get for the headlight? |
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The blinkers are the HP11's. They're in the middle of the 3 options at 310 lumens and slightly brighter than OEM. I didn't opt for the brightest option since it was more expensive and too bright is sometimes a bad thing haha EDIT: did some quick looking into pads and EBC redstuff seems to be what I want... good performance and not so much brake dust. will probably just go pads, lines, and fluid though. rotors are so expensive! Is there actually a noticeable difference between stock rotors and the speed factory t2/t3 rotors? Cant really say if 400+ for just rotors is worth it |
My very first track day was at SOW. It's super fun with our cars. You will have plenty of fun!
Brakes: You should most definitely change out the brake pads for the track day. The stock pads will fade super quickly with those tires.. they fade with the stock tires as well, so yes, please change them! My Project Mu CR pads squeak a lot. I believe these are very track oriented brake pads. I've been DDing and tracking on these pads for more than a year now, so I don't mind the noise, but some will dislike it. I thought about switching to the stock pads between the track days, but I do go up to Angeles Crest Highway once every week, so I've on these brake pads forever. I would recommend Winmax W4 for you. That's what a lot of people who DD and track their FRS/BRZs use. Winmax is also a main sponsor for our 86CUP in SoCal. You can get a pretty good deal on them. You should be totally fine with the stock rotors. I'm still on my stock ones, and they are still good. People usually just change out the brake pads, not rotors. If you really want to go hardcore on track regularly, you should just upgrade them to AP Racing brake kits. I would just recommend getting the pads and try them out for a year thought. |
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NED OEM Forester Oil Cooler + Intake
I recently got the Forester oil cooler from Never Ending Details. They claim it is a direct plug and play kit, which is true for the most part. It connects to the throttle body nipples. However, the supplied hose diameter fits the oil cooler but not the throttle body nipples and is a size too large. They supplied 4 OEM quick clamps, two of which were not useful at all. The quick clamps worked for the oil cooler but did not have enough pressure to clamp onto the smaller diameter throttle body nipples. I went out to the store and bought a pack of worm clamps and tightened the shit out of them. I am still worried that coolant might work its way through since there is still some play in the hose even though I have the clamp as tight as it can go. Here's some pictures of the items:
https://i.imgur.com/PfwiTqC.jpg https://i.imgur.com/1Pcy5nE.jpg The hardest part was taking off the original U-shaped loop from the throttle body nipples. That was a pain in the ass and cut my fingers up hard. Next, I had bought a GrimmSpeed intake off a forum member a while back and never got to installing it. I thought that this was a great time to install it since I had to take off the intake anyways. It was an easy process. https://i.imgur.com/XqQrKSX.jpg https://i.imgur.com/p7pqOZx.jpg I also changed my oil too and installed a Fumoto quick valve. I kind of warped the hex on it when tightening with a wrench so it might be sketchy if I need to ever take it off. I'll be on the look out for leaks too since I didn't tighten to what I felt I needed to, but is still on there tight. http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...ps8pa3xkx9.jpg Then burped the coolant and took it for a drive. No leaks so far! https://i.imgur.com/EdQW89U.jpg |
MXP Catback
I recently got a good deal on an MXP catback from a buddy, only catch was that the resonator was a little scratched due to his car being too low. only the finish though and there was nothing wrong. I wasn't going to get an exhaust until later, but I couldn't pass this up.
I love the sound of the exhaust. it's very deep from 1k-4k then it starts getting louder from there on up. at idle, you can barely hear it with the windows down. with the windows up, I can't hear the exhaust at all at idle. this is a very nice sounding exhaust. I didn't want anything too loud but still wanted a deep sounding tone, and this met my requirements. I like it. I do have to say though, installing the catback solo was a pain. I was like holding the mufflers up with my knee while trying to get the hangers on lol. took me about 2 hours. here's some pictures of the exhaust: https://i.imgur.com/MrfIWZ6.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Cn2mvqQ.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2eGHi3W.jpg |
Mini 0806
got a Mini 0806 dashcam a few days ago and put it in. the quality of the video is pretty good (using 2304x1296, also has 2560x1080) and the dashcam is extremely small, even with a screen. it has GPS too, but I don't have the speed overlay on. I hid it behind the rear view mirror and I can't see it at all from the driver's side. wired it into the glovebox adapter, through the A pillar, and through the headliner to above the rear view mirror.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...psqgvome3v.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...psynog0994.jpg http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y10...psauyli4w9.jpg here's a quick video showing the quality of the dashcam video: [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilQ66BL8YuY"]dashcam test - YouTube[/ame] youtube compresses their videos so the quality isn't as good as the original. daytime is pretty good, but night time lights overpower the camera kind of. not bad for a $120 camera though. |
Kartboy Short Shifter + rear shifter bushing, Whiteline trans bushing, MTEC springs
https://i.imgur.com/fLWSFYM.jpg
I recently had the short shifter done with a transmission/diff flush. I have to say, the throws are much shorter, but the shifter feels extremely tight. I'll see if it loosens up over time or not. The only gripe I have with the short shifter is that reverse is impossible to get to with one hand. It's so tight that I have to use both hands to bring it all the way over to the left and then push it up, otherwise it just hits the plate and goes into 1st gear. I had it done at Evasive and they told me that it's just how the Kartboy SS is designed, making it hard to get past the reverse plate (either make reverse really hard to get to, or make it easy but have 1st and 2nd gear hard to get to). I haven't heard anyone else having this problem so I'm gonna be checking it out myself later and possibly make it better by shifting the reverse plate a little bit. I still like the short shifter though, it feels really good. a lot of vibrations come through it as well. with the whiteline transmission bushing and the short shifter, it sounds like I have a SC now with that gear whine lol. it gets audible at freeway speeds around 3.5k to 4k RPM but doesn't bother me that much. The MTEC springs are good as well. it makes everything slightly tighter, but doesn't bother me much. it was a cheap thing too, but I didn't notice a big difference like everyone claims. however, I did do everything at once so my shifter is drastically different from stock. |
You have to use two hands to put it in reverse!?? Omg
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Winmax W5 Pads, Spiegler SS Lines, Torque RT700 Fluid
https://i.imgur.com/fLWSFYM.jpg
After installing the W5 pads, SS lines, and RT700 fluid, the brakes are much more firmer. the stopping power is extreme too. I have stomped on them hard when bedding in the pads and the bite is incredible. It has good bite too when cold, which you don't really expect from a set of "track" pads. the only thing is that they are a bit squeaky, but I assume it's because I haven't fully bedded them in yet since I have heard that they're supposed to be quiet, even if not up to temperature once properly bedded in. I have a track event on the 23rd and will see how well they hold up on a hot day and getting worked good. |
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