Terra- Lady In Red Superbuild
 

Hey all!

My name is James, and I am the owner of an asphalt grey Scion FR-S, with the car and the project affectionately named Terra! This is my first car, and I've owned her since October 2014, and in the year since, I've met and made many friends at meets and of course, broken tons of necks in the meantime.

But, enough of the background. Here's the details of the build.
I'll be honest, this car is inspired by the Concept One from Bulletproof Automotive. I love the car, but I feel like the company could have done a few more steps to make it weigh less, and put out more power, and still maintain (or keep close to) their original goals of keeping the car daily drive-able, as well as having a great time on the track. I intend to keep the FA20 in the car, as I find no reason to offset the balance of the car with an LS or coyote or 2JZ swap. I also don't intend to cut any corners with the car as well, so the ultimate goal is to get the car as light and powerful as possible for time attack and possible auto cross. To that end, that means no skimping out, and quality parts. Which also means I really have no budget for the car either.

Short term, I am getting everything supporting mod ready, then I'll be working my up to an engine rebuild, turbocharger, and a widebody kit.

To that end, I present Terra, The Lady In Red, the daily driving, show and track car superbuild!

Dates for Milestones will go here once I dig out my binder... I do everything via paper and not digitally...

The photo shown is that of my car only a few weeks after I bought it.
Thanks for checking out my build and stay tuned for more! Cheers!

Mod List and Mod Reviews:

Raceseng Rally Hooks: Installed November 2014

So this being one of the first things I did to my car, I have to say I was super nervous. At this point, I think my car was about three weeks old but just looking at forums and reading a tad, installation seemed easy enough. So I ordered them because I live and love New England but snow and winter were coming. With these thoughts in mind, I clicked "Accept Order."

First thoughts upon opening the box was, "Holy shit. These look beautiful." The hooks were (key word, were) annodized solid red, and both came with the bars to mount into the stock tow hook locations. The hardest part of the installation was actually slowly dremeling the plastic covers so they fit cleanly without the need to have the caps (and ugly gap) on. I highly recommend to anyone that gets rally hooks to use locktite once you get the set screws right. All in all, it took about an hour to install, and looked amazing. (Insert winter photos) Instructions were easy to follow and nothing was left to guessing.

Performance wise, I used them twice to get removed from large snow drifts that piled up. Winter was brutal with several large blizzards. They gave no issues and tow straps hooked right in with no worries. However, a year and 20k miles on, and the red is now pink. If you flip my hooks over, you can see the original red. Not that I mind, but if you are going to daily drive the car, get some painted ones, or get them in silver. If show is what you're going for and you can keep the car out of the sun for long periods of time, these are completely the hooks you should get.

All in all, I'm satisfied with them except for the fading, which I plan to get a second set for when it comes to showing the vehicle. Would I recommend these to others? Absolutely. Cheers to Raceseng for an amazing product.

Password:JDM Engine Bay Dress Kit: Installed April/May 2015

When I saw these product online, I didn't look twice, and while I was at it, a friend tagged on to save on shipping. I get the kit in red, while she got it in purple to put on her black BRZ. My first impression was that the screws and red anodized fasteners were going to look amazing while pulling out what I felt were inferior OEM bolts and replaced them with stainless steel. At first I thought it would be a simple task but it turned out that Password:JDM didn't provide instructions with the kit, so I had to dig online for photos to tell which screws to replace. Along with no instructions, I also had to dig through my manual for all the torque specs for all the bolts to get it right. That actually took more time then anything else... including actually installing one kit and then doing it again on a separate occasion.

As for the installation itself, it was simply a matter of having the right hex key to undo the OEM part and replace it with the fastener followed by torque to the proper spec. Extremely easy except for a few bolts which were hard to reach and or at weird angles. By following a picture, i was able to eventually locate and change them all out and then use my own car as a template for my friend's.

But along with that though, the kit does look goregous, and when I went to various meets and showed my stock car, the clean look of the engine bay got numerous compliments on how the fasteners were "nice but not visually overpowering" and also the words, "I can't believe he is using authentic Password:JDM parts... I would have gone with a cheap knock off brand." were said a few times. Almost a year later, the red anodizing on the fasteners remains as the hood is closed

All in all, I love the kit, and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for that extra touch and splash of color to their engine bay... as long as they don't mind shelling out some serious cash for the kit itself which runs about 120-150 dollars. Cheers to Password:JDM for the cool fastener kit!

Cusco Power Braces, Front and Rear Strut Bars: Installed October 2015

After the engine bay dress kit, i was looking for more options to get color into my engine bay and to set my car apart from other builds, so without hesitation, I went to Bulletproof Automotive and asked them for help, and one of the first things they recommended was to have my OEM braces upgraded to Cusco and to add in the front and rear strut bars. I said, wicked, let's do it. I had seen other FRS/BRZ owners in my car group do the front bar only, and the one thing I did hate about the bar was the silver and blue color since my car was grey. Sorry, but the color scheme had to go. In the end, Bulletproof Automotive had the power braces and strut bars colored in PG, the same color as the 2015 Ford Mustang- I also chose that color to pay homage to my grandfather who recently restored a '93 Foxbody and had it resprayed PG.

Installation was extremely simple. Instructions were clear and even included torque specs. The hardest and longest part of installing the ones in the engine bay were actually just getting the long bolts out on the OEM power braces. Once that was done and the beefier bars were installed, the front strut bar was done with no issues while on a level surface. In this case, before assembling and warnings from others, we got everything together hand tight then worked on tightening the bolts. Almost instantly, I could see the strut bar do its work and become the brace it was supposed to be. In the rear, it was an easy affair to bolt up the bar and tighten it down, but it took a bit longer to actually cut the carpet so that the install looked clean. While Cusco provided measurements to trim the carpet, I did it my own way that is a bit less trimming but in order to access emergency parts, I have to loosen/remove the rear bar. However, my way was also cleaner. To each their own, I guess. In this case, I did sacrifice a bit of functionality for cleanliness.

Just those three parts alone made a word of difference. The car cornered better and it just felt cleaner to drive in general. In fact, I am glad I made the move to replace the OEM power braces as the Cusco ones are a tad beefier without a ton of added weight. All in all, Bulletproof did an amazing job of getting these and delivering them in a timely fashion, and the paint was amazingly well done. Top quality work. To anyone getting an FRS/BRZ, I would make these one of the top things to get right away.

Varis Euro GT Wing (All Carbon), Lightweight Trunk, and Reinforcement Plate: Installed October 2015

So, despite it being three items, I'm going to review them all as one.

So, about six months after owning the car, I immediately wanted a wing. And it took me that long to find one that I liked, mainly because I didn't like rocket bunny's wing (though it was alright) but I didn't like the wide set of the posts. Then I came across this thing by accident. Honestly, this is where my relationship with Bulletproof Automotive first started, back in March 2015 when I ordered it. After some research, I found that Varis was widely considered to be one of the most popular, but also one of the more expensive brands to go with, but I didn't care. Their attention to detail and handmade carbon fiber pieces drew me in. So I ordered.

As a heads up, lead times on Varis parts are long. Like, really long. It was advertised as 3-4 months, but after a delay due to getting backed up with orders and shipping, it was almost 6 months by the time I got the wing in. And speaking of shipping, Pilot did an amazing job 3 day shipping the piece from California to me, and delivering it 9pm at night to my brother who waited up for the box before going out. They do good work.

When I got to the wing and trunk, I was immediately impressed. The wing was light and looked amazing, and the trunk was ready to mount. I took the liberty to have it clear coated before it was shipped to save on having to get it done by dodgy shops out by where I live. Because all of Varis' items are hand made, there are minor imperfections. There's a few spots where the resin isn't smooth, or a fiber wasn't trimmed, so you have what appears to be a string. All in all, minor things that I think add to the uniqueness.

Removing the old trunk and removing the bezel was a snap, and all that remained was transferring the old bezel to the new trunk, and remounting it, which didn't take too long at all. After verifying the fit, it was a quick matter of bolting the wing to the trunk which took two attempts because I flipped the posts (one is left, the other was right... they weren't marked) And because this item is from Japan... I had to drill holes in my license plate in order to get it to fit due to hole spacing. I also Put rubber stoppers under the license plate to save the metal from scratching the carbon fiber itself. That also helps with dampening the license plate if it vibrates.

Installation wasn't hard, and the sparse directions that were given were in Japanese, so I more or less had to wing it (no pun intended) with a bit of help from one of my guys, Caulin, and a tad bit of coaching from the guys over at the facebook 86One page. Cheers for the help. Once Installed, well. The result speaks for itself. I can't wait to get more Varis products on my car. Period.

Willans/Bulletproof Automotive 4-Point Harnesses: Installed November 2015

I'll be honest, these came as a surprise to me. I was looking over harness options when my car part hookup guy sent me a message about these. So I said, why the hell not. I ordered a pair, waited three weeks, and got them in.

So, let's squash the debate now. Yes, I know the dangers of 4 points. But I also hated the 3 piece system in my car that comes with it, and I was very meh about a 5 or 6 point system. So I swapped. Honestly, installation for this car was super easy. The first anchor point goes to where the OEM anchor point was, the other two go to the rear where you bolt in the baby seat, and I had to make the last anchor point by drilling into the transmission tunnel, and bolting an eye bolt in place. All it took was a lock washer, a bit of locktite, and a flat washer. All can be found at your local hardware store. Once the hole was made and everything was bolted in place, actually clipping the harnesses to the anchor point was extremely easy and only took a few minutes.

I like the cam lock on the front, and despite it taking my passengers forever to actually get in and get themselves settled, their feeling of "being trapped" is eased by the fact it takes two seconds to pop the lock and it literally just falls apart. All in all, the harnesses reduce your ability to turn (I like to head check lanes clear before changing lanes like I would on a motorcycle) but other then that, they work as intended and I have no issues strapping in and coming around corners. On that note, the straps are rough, i don't mind that but I do have pads for passengers who may or may not like/care to have their neck chaffed a bit. Cheers to Bulletproof Automotive for pairing up with Willans for these custom harnesses, and if I ever need another set, I'm deff. going to them to order.

Photos of the car.

Photo 1 is of the plan prior to some mods being added. The excel sheet is constantly evolving.
Photo 2 is of a beautiful model.
Photo 3 is a picture of the engine bay from one of the meets, you can see the red of the Cusco Strut bars and power braces, as well as the engine bay dress kit.
Photo 4 is a front shot from a meet.
Photo 5 is a rear shot of the car with the wing and carbon fiber bits on the back.

Breaking necks with a stock car? Damn that's impressive.

Had me a lady in red, and superbuild.
Lost me at stock car that isn't red at all.

http://furball.smugmug.com/Autocross...25_HyrTd-M.jpg

May want to get up to speed on classing rules first, since in new england this will be your scca autox competition with that level of mods.

How did it take you an hour to install a damn tow hook?

The photo I have is from the car a year ago... let me get everything up to speed here haha

She's grey. Red accents. Still posting up stuff.

I am not mechanically inclined, it was litterally freezing outside, there was snow on the ground, and as I wrote under the mod review post, I was nervous about fucking it up.

Yup. If it's one thing I've seen it's that people think tech is easy. But it isn't. At least not in my opinion.

Fucking what up? popping a panel off with a screwdriver and screwing something in?

What does this even mean

http://us.res.keymedia.com/files/ima...fused-meme.jpg.

On the contrary sir.

I think this thread perfectly demonstrates the need for proper precautions when screwing.

QFT, brb dying over here.

A few more photos I dug up.

In the top one, you can easily see the difference between the stock (black) and Cusco (Red) Power braces. I don't know if there was a huge weight difference, but I wasn't exactly worried about that. I like how they are beefier and actually look/are functional.
Middle photo: Another shot of the engine bay, peeped by Agent Scarface. Aka Phil aka KANC Fuck with him. aka KLM fo' Lyfe. Seriously amazing shot from one of the 86One meets we went to.
Left Bottom: Custom decal work done by Chris. It's the official symbol for the project. Shout out to Brittany Ames (aka the infamous) for cutting the decals!
Right Bottom: Terribad photo of the harnesses I installed. I love them.

Ok better question, who's the girl in the picture?

Elise Pipsqueak.

https://www.facebook.com/ModelPipsqueak/?fref=ts

Alright buddy, sit down and strap in. You're building a show car, not a race car.

You obviously aren't serious about time attack or being competitive in autocross with this car based on your planned mods and that dining room table you have on the trunk of the car. For one thing, having a competitive car for either of those things is mutually exclusive unless you're spending shit tons of money (talking 80 grand here).

-Widebody kit + carbon hood+ bulletproof carbon fiber rear seat are show things, not race things. Rear diffuser could someday be functional but they don't do much to cars that aren't fully built purpose racecars.
-Cusco bolt in roll cage? Won't pass any safety inspection at any respectable club, likely to kill you in a crash. If you seriously wanted a roll cage for safety and not show then you'd be talking about gutting the interior and having a respected cage builder put one in the car for you, welding everywhere NOT bolting it in.
-R888 are great tires, but not competitive tires for the classes that they're approved to be in both in autocross and time attack.
-why the fuck do you need your oil cap to lock? are you worried about someone stealing it? You probably just want one extra step to change your oil.
-Your motor build is all well and good for the turbo, but a lot of it makes it ineligible for the classes that you'd be in.
-aftermarket strut tower braces do exactly nothing for these cars, it's been tested.
-Running wheel spacers to convert to a different bolt pattern? why?
-You don't have sway bars listed at all on here, those do way more than some engine bay weight addition/bling.
-4 point seat belts? Completely unsafe in a crash. Not only will they compress your spine because they're mounted below where they should be to be safe, but they'll also allow you to submarine in the seat during a crash. Actual racing seat belts have a 5th or 6th strap that goes between your crotch to prevent that from happening.

TL;DR - you're building a show car, not a race car. You would be much better off spending a fraction of this money on bringing your car out in stock form to an autocross and learning how to drive it.

I implore you to do some research on Bulletproof's Concept One FR-S. Seriously, look into the mods, and their arguments for them. You don't have a world class company build a car and then run it in AutoX, Track Events, and rallies and show it and be a daily driver for nothing. As for the Cusco Bolt in cage, I think I said somewhere that my plan and that mod list is constantly changing. I can't update everything at the speed I think, react, and act. So, yes, it is a little outdated. I'm in the process of trying to get everything together and despite my best efforts I still get pulled three directions at once from different places as they get replies back to me.

80 Grand you say? That's about where I'm thinking this will all land. Worth it in my opinion.

Yes, I understand the risks of a 4 point system. Also stated above. NEXT.

Locking oilcap is for those times I want to show with the hood open. I've seriously had someone try to walk away with my OEM shifter. Luckily I was there and saw them unthreading it.

Wheel spacers for the change in bolt pattern will be for the widebody, as well as the wheels themselves. Last I checked, I can't get a set of G25s or Gramlights in a 5x100.

I like that dining table. All I need a a tablecloth and I can serve lunch on it. /multipurpose

In all honesty dude, if you don't like what I'm doing don't come to this thread. Simple as that. I'm using this as a place to share my build, how it goes, my installs that I do, reviews and progress on the car (since I don't have a digital place to put it all and I use an actual binder) I appreciate you showing up though.

/endreply

Id strongly suggest some seat time before anything else.

That asshole ginger is right.

Plus when a shop car breaks fancy fenders racing thats a budgeted write off.

When you break fancy things its called ramens for 6 months.

That and just becaise the bulletproof car does everything doesnt mean it is good at everything.

You know what that bulletproof car is? A marketing tool. That is a car built to sell things. Looks like it's doing that job very well.

If you talk to anyone who does actual time attack though, they go out there with the mindset that if they put that thing into a wall they can just walk away from it. Do you think you could do that with your car once it's done? Can you throw 110 grand down the toilet?

Ah, so you're trying to jump start your fan club?
Good luck with that, and the car.

http://static4.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/...479b746406.gif

are you somewhere between 16-18yrs old? cuz i was EXACTLY like that when i was that age with my first car hahah. i had a fucking long ass laundry list of shit i wanted to do to my show and race car and daily driver to school to pimp all the girls. more than half the shit never happened... partly because it wasnt even logical to do in the first place lol

Gentlemen, many of you today will be facing this trial:

http://i.imgur.com/rmCCr5R.jpg

do not dissapoint @Tcoat.

If everyone is a ****, then he gets to sell the car because the "community sucked and wasn't supportive" and move onto another "project" (very loose airquotes there).

I'm 23. And this is my first car. Aaaaaand I put this mod list together and we'll see how it goes. I'm not worried about impressing girls or anything like that. I'm sharing this because I want to and can, and so others can see what I'm doing with it.

Like I said. Take it as you will.

Pump the metaphorical brakes.

Sign up for some autox or hpde and then start modding the car when the parts become the limiting factor to you going faster. Ride with other people and have experienced drivers ride with you.

Driver mod is the best mod you can do.

And building just for the sake of throwing money at a car is all well and good, but if you build with purpose you'll be more satisfied with the result and spend less money to boot.

A super dee duper build

Exactly this.

Seriously. Come out to devens in ayer next season (the venues in ct and ri are garbage).

We dont bite. 86 wise find the ultramarine with stickers and give its owner the secret kgb handshake (tickle his palm with your pinky) that car is a fantastic example of a touring class 86 (suspension, exhaust, tune). Or find the red frs with grey wheels its owner may want to fuck you in the mouth. But its worth the price of admission to see what a stockish frs (struts, tires and a frs trd spring loophole) can do.

Or find me. I'll likely be driving a miata and walking around in a gimp mask.

Well now we let let the forum decide by voting with their thanks.


Not a **** - Slow down and review your plans again. If the $50 to $80K that it is going to cost you is worth it then ya go for it but be very careful you don't overstep your abilities. Also keep in mind that the race team cars have budgets and operating costs that can exceed the annual income of the typical 23 year old. There are guys here that very successfully track their car with a header, a tune, different tires and brake upgrades.


Please see next post.

Be a **** - Big freakin' wing, carbon fiber trunk and permanent mounted tow hook are priorities CUZ R A C E C A R YO.
Will be watching for the "I blew my engine these cars suck", "Moving to a WRX. Car for sale $95K firm" or "Some idiot cut me off while I was doing 102 and I went in the ditch. Is this a write off?" followup thread.

Is it just me, or did he mention he put in the "rally" tow hooks to help him tow his car in unfavorable road conditions. They gave you one in the trunk that works for that purpose... bro...

Edit: If you're gonna be a d1ck @Tcoat I think you can do better. But my thanks has been cast lol

Nah, OP hasn't been a **** so my heart wasn't in it.
Now if he turns...

Play nice and be constructive please.

marky mark

do you want to buy an frs?

Now I know that's Mark...

... Ouch.

Love the wing. What's the dimensions on the wing part ?

Sent from my SM-N900V using Tapatalk

Enjoy yourself @thatfrskid, but use your time and money wisely. @bucko3the7man and others are providing sound advice: driving schools, autox, and track days are more important than mods.

Whatever you decide, good luck and drive safely.

FRS? :scared0016: