NVH was livable, but obviously I would not recommend these bushings...

I'll reach out to them, show them the pic and see what they say.

Another HPDE weekend, this time at Barber.

The track is smooth compared to Road Atlanta so I started stiffening the coilovers from 5/5 clicks and worked up to 11/9 clicks. Wife says the car feels better like this on the street. :D

This was the 3rd weekend on V730 tires and they were past their peak but lots of fun with more slip than usual.

The driver front temps were horrible, for example, 195 202 215/220 (in, middle, out). Driver rear had a similar pattern, although not as bad as the front. Need more camber front and rear. Rear is easy, for the front I need to see if the inserts on MCS coilovers are flipped already. Will check this weekend as I perform the usual post-track checks and maintenance.

Hope the heat wrap in the front stayed intact, if not, will use wire to make sure the wrap stays in place.

First finding is a slipped axle nut on the passenger side... Looks like someone at the factory half-assed their job. Driver side for comparison.

so here's what Whiteline said after seeing your pics:

"wow, ive not seen photos like this before. we have supplied this bushing to car using the 86 race series here in AU. I do not think this is a common issue."

I don't track the car so fingers crossed they'll be okay for me

Started working on the rear today.

I did not like the way the rear rotors were poking over the OEM heat shield/backing plate. I do not have heat shields in the front, so let's yank the rear heat shields. They can be removed without touching the parking brake mechanism.

The backing plate is sandwiched between the knuckle and hub so the first step is to remove the hub so the backing plate is just hanging there on the e-brake cable. Support the backing plate and using a dremel or something similar, remove the spot weld that is on the narrow part/strip of the heat shield close the the wide part (I used a coarse 60-grit sanding band). You can use pliers and bend the wide corner out of the way so it is easier to work the dremel.

Once the spot weld is broken, grab the freed wide part with pliers and rock it up and down until the next spot weld brakes loose, then repeat this process as you go around the backing plate. You should be able to reach the spot weld on the narrow strip on the other side. Dremel out the remaining two spot welds on the narrow strip and you are done.

If you are like me and want to do a clean job, grind down all the spot welds and rough areas, degrease, and spray with high heat paint. I used the Rust-Oleum High Heat Ultra spray good to 648 C/1200 F, there is also a Rust-Oleum Automotive High Heat primer and paint good to 1093 C/2000 F. Let it dry and bolt the backing plates back on.

I applied heat tape on the rubber boot and the e-brake cable. Will finish tomorrow and wrap the speed sensor and brake line too.

Cool build.


Is there enough radiant heat from your brakes to melt the boot and cable housing?


I like the underbody panels. Are they standard equipment on 2nd gens?

No idea how much radiant heat there will be, probably not much, but better safe than sorry. In the front, you definitely want to wrap the two boots that are close to the rotor.

The underbody panels are standard on 2nd gens.

Flipped the MCS inserts and got another alignment. May be a little too much for Road Atlanta but should be ok for Barber, we'll see. With so much camber in front, the turn in is already quick so toe is set to zero.

After two weekends at Road Atlanta and one at Barber, it is time for another oil change. 2,231 miles on the car. Last 3 cans of Motul 5w30 300V that I have as a carryover from the previous gen before I switch to 5w40. Opened up the oil filter, no evidence of any gunk.

You clearly get out to more serious tracks than I do but I find the need for an immediate bbk kit surprising. Were the oem calipers/rotors with more aggressive pads not enough to immediately overpower the tires?

Also curious as to how you came up with the sway bar balance. Stock fsb with rsb removed felt like an improvement for you but would it not have been a better balance to replace the rsb once you'd gone more stiff up front?

Are you considering an oil pan baffle?
What else were you considering for suspension besides mcs?

For folks just starting their track day adventure, the usual advice applies: start with a stock-ish car and upgrade as your skills develop. I have been tracking since 2012 and instructing since 2016 so I am well past this stage. Coming from a 2017 BRZ, I already know where I want the car to be so there is no need to mod bit by bit.

The suspension is done for now although a need for spherical bushings may arise in the future. There is no aftermarket RSB yet and I will most likely try one once it becomes available.

The brakes are done. OEM setup will of course overpower tires, but how well it will last doing 30 minutes with slicks, 4-5 sessions a day, 12-16 HPDE weekends per year?

Wheel/tire setup is not done yet. 18x9's and slicks coming soon. An oil pan baffle is going in soon as well.

Installed ARP wheel studs in front and rear, OEM length, and KYO-EI Project Kics Spacers 15mm in front.

Looks just like mine will early next year

After a 4-month wait the new wheels finally arrived, Advan Racing RS III, 18x9 +50. Will be a few weeks until I get tires mounted but they easily clear the brake calipers. :)

That's the stuff. Excellent choice in wheels!

Great Build! What are you using to wrap the boots?

DEI Cool Tape, radiant heat resistance 2000 degrees F.

Great, thank you!

Installed a GSpeed bolt-in roll bar, it does fit gen 2 perfectly. :) The only disadvantage is that you lose some rear-view mirror visibility as the top of the hoop blocks the view, that's the tradeoff if you want to have a bar and keep the headliner.

The roll bar will be paired with OMP HTE-R 400 seats on PCI seat rails and Schroth 6-point harnesses. To have the driver seat centered on the steering wheel, you need to mount the side mounts closest to the transmission tunnel (same on the passenger side). Do not get the optional sub-strap mount, the opening is so tight you cannot feed the harness through it, I will be doing with eye bolts.

Still need to figure out how to trim the quarter panel plastic pieces so I can have a full interior in the back.

Mounting the sub-strap eye bolts on the driver side. There is no good place to drill because there is shit in the way right when you want to drill holes (hard lines and frame rail). If you drill in an oblong opening on the frame rail, you cannot fit a proper backing plate in there, can only use a washer, which is a big no-no for me. In any case, any way you drill, the sub-strap mounting points will most likely not be centered on the seat. I chose to cut slits in the frame rail so I can slide the backing plates in. :) Now waiting for the touch up paint to dry.

Moved one of the sub-strap bolts toward the transmission tunnel, much better now. Mocked up the seat and the harness, will finalize sometime next week when my schedule allows.

Have you removed the active sound speaker and control unit? Just wondering if you knew the weight.

No, active sound system was disabled by the dealer and I unplugged the speaker in the instrument cluster.

Dropped off the BRZ at the Atlanta Speed Company to have the Tomei oil baffle installed. Here's a picture of the oil pickup, good Lord!

I bought my wheels from ASC.

Got the car back, you can just see the baffle sandwiched between the block and the oil pan.

Switched to Motul 5W-40 300V and also got the transmission fluid changed with Red Line 75W90.

Got the header studs out and switched to bolts so any future header removal should not involve loosening the overpipe on the other side.

:eyebulge: WOW, that's Scary.. How many Miles?

3,603 miles, 6 hpde weekends.

Got a baggie with RTV pieces, they are so tiny!

Going back to the OEM 4.1 rear diff, with 4.3 gears I am running out of 4th or 5th in the most inconvenient places at Road Atlanta and Barber.

wow, awesome build. I'm really interested in the breaks and oil baffle. I may do this in the spring. Love the wheels!

The breaks- Any cutting or grinding? I wanted to get OEM 2018-2020 STI front breaks. When I had my 2019 STI the breaks were phenomenal and I miss that breaking performance. I want to replicate that performance.

Your car would RIP at limerock. Lol

nice job.

No cutting or grinding, sometimes you get a little bit of a whoosh sound when driving, probably the wind hitting the rotors at some specific angle.

Bled the brakes yesterday as well and will be testing wheel fitment later today.

Some quick pictures from the garage. It looks like the rear will not require shaving but we will see.

Took the car out on a test drive, drove all over the shitty roads in the neighborhood and very spiritedly over speed bumps. Looks like there should be no rubbing whatsoever in the rear, the picture is with the wheel on a 4x4 and the other one on the ground.

Cool Build!

The fronts are rubbing the wheel liner at full lock, especially on driver side so switched to 20mm spacers and replaced the wheel liner with a new one, still plenty of clearance on the fender side.

https://www.verus-engineering.com/sh...pra-1042#attr=

That is my remedy for liner rub.

The rubbing is normal and expected at full lock.

2nd oil analysis.

Not much to update. Finished my HPDE season the Thanksgiving weekend. Did a total of 9 HPDE weekends, May-November: 5 weekends at Road Atlanta, 3 weekends at Barber, 1 weekend at VIR.

A bit over 5,000 miles on the car. Another oil change is due but will wait until late February as the car will not be driven much until then.

Looks like 2023 will be quite eventful, probably close to 15 HPDE weekends.

Planning on swapping the OS Giken from the 4.3 diff into the 4.1 diff over the winter.