I'm sorry, homie! I'm not excited to see the supposed black BRZ that's on its way up here, although it should be here by now. I doubt it's being driven in the winter like mine, so come Spring/Summer, I won't be alone. :brokenheart:

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Nice pictures man! You manage to keep your car cleaner than mine... in the snow :) lol.

Thanks! Snow and cold are actually preferred because kicking up ice crystals still keeps the car looking clean! Unfortunately Alaska has actually been WARM this winter, so it's been overly muddy and ugly. Lots of rain this winter. So I have to obsessively wash the car like a pack-a-day smoker!

I just applied for my passport yesterday. I plan on driving the BRZ down to a family reunion on May 11th in Ukiah, CA. My current job's headquarters is in Seattle, WA, so I plan on stopping in there for at least a day. My co-worker owns a 2005 STI, so I'm hoping to meet some of you guys while I'm down there if you're down to meet.

I'll make a new thread when it gets closer to that time. I hope to be in Seattle around May 6th & 7th. I MIGHT stop in Portland, OR to see a friend, too. That would be May 7th & 8th, most likely, maybe the 9th.

I was driving in snow recently, Im sure some winter tires would help but I was hesitant to go over 30 in standing snow.

The BRZ becomes more composed the faster you go. I actually prefer to make it up to 45-50 mph in standing snow. It sucks trying to merge with traffic from a street covered in fresh snow.

im actually pretty surprised on how well it handles in the snow. granted its my first rwd ... i see plenty of other rwd having a hard time driving in the snow while i dont.

I saw you downtown on Saturday! I was at Sullivan's. Just got done with a buddy's wedding, having the best day of my life. Your car was so cleeaaan!!!

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Hood struts are a must-have, before I (or someone else) folds my hood in half. Subaru needs to make them standard.

On another note... Nothing like a foot of fresh April snow to remind me my car did come two months early, and I have been blessed to get almost 700 miles on her already! :thumbsup:

Hey! Another Alaskan! Are you on NASIOC in the AKIC Chapter? Mostly drama there, but there are more cars there. I would love to make this spot more of a hangout for us. I'll try to get the other guys to convert. So far it's just been @Furtive and myself. How are you enjoying your ride? The name's Chano, btw.

I forgot to share in this thread my recent mods. Too many threads to keep track of!

Cusco Twist Turn Drift Knob and STI Duracon Shift Knob:

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GT-86 Knee Pads:

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Yospeed Door Sill Plates:

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Phastek Performance Footwell Illumination (Red):

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I also have Sutty's armrest from Australia just chilling in my back seat. Then auto-dimming mirror (OEM) and LED turn signals:

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I'll get nicer pictures now that I have the Nikon.

omg another Alaskan:confused0068::happyanim:!! 86x86 .. I ran into a GBS like a few weeks ago going into Alaska laser carwash near subaru. was that you?


Chano,

All your small mods are awesome!!!:clap: I cant wait till i get my materials from ebay to make my on floor lights haha.... ugh your HUD makes me jelly.. shoulda went with limited XD.

For the price you paid, maybe you should've, but then you would've paid around $31k for it, which is most likely the highest anyone in Alaska would've paid for one. All of the other cars were either sold to employees during the height of the hype or were too good of deals to pass up after they had been sitting there a while. You did good. Your car looks SUPER clean without having to worry about the rear spoiler.

@86X86, are you the one I've waved to that frequents Debarr?

haha thanks.. ugh yeah dont remind me how much more i paid then anyone else XD.. price you pay to get the first ones lol.

Hey, just realize that I still have never driven my BRZ in warm weather... by the time my road trip comes up on May 3rd it'll still be wet from all the snow melting. I'm gonna try my best to not get buckwild while I'm down in Cali (or Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana or Canada), but it's going to be TOUGH! hahahaha

haha geeze better get that clear bra son!

Hey guys-- doubt that was me, Furtive-- I'm in the Valley (first BRZ I've seen out there is my own), but I do work on DeBarr. And yes, Chano's mods are an inspiration! :thumbsup:

I'm still on the stock Primacy's, so she's been garaged on snow days. I did get her in to CCA's last week for a full front end clear (they did the door edges too!). Andrew was great, and they did awesome work. Thanks to Andrew's wifey for the ride from work back to the shop!
The only other mods I've done so far are fr-s mud flaps (rear only), Perrin exhaust tips and shorty antenna, de-badge, and front plate re-locator (cops frequent my workplace parking lot). Still wondering where the stuff I ordered from 86_ZN6 is...
Think I'll be doing the clutch pedal adjustment today-- I have a hard time with 1st-2nd shift (over-rev followed by wheel spin).

Anyway, good to have a place to share with fellow local enthusiasts... NASIOC is great (esp AKIC), but it's not BRZ specific.

Cheers! :happy0180:

Oh, and the obligatory cell phone pic...

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BRZ turns 1 year old! https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphot...70258661_n.jpg

Select pics from the epic road trip:

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It's great to see that there are a few owners of BRZ/FRS in Alaska!

We've had a great weather here in Juneau and I just wanted to share a pic of my BRZ! I've owned it for about a month now and I'm loving it. :burnrubber:
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Furtive, I believe we have mutual friends, would you know Jon and Ji from Juneau??

I love your Jesus Light! haha

I got the shark fin! Such a cute mod!

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I think I'm done with mods for the rest of the summer. Gonna start saving up money and parts throughout the winter and hit you guys with the heat next summer.

....who uses cute to describe their car mod.......bad chano!!

I do! I do! *waves hand excitedly*

I guess you're right, though. It's more "badass" than "cute".

Met a Mugen yesterday, it was clean!

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Blue zip ties!

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@OrbitalEllipses sent me here, said I would like the 86 touches on your BRZ. Love it, and love all the driving through various types of weather. Miles are memories, looks like you're racking them up! :happy0180:

About to get some tires for the first winter with the BRZ. Any recommendations? Studded vs. not? I haven't driven a RWD car in the snow before, so I'm a bit nervous about it, but it's coming...

Word! Thanks! I do what I can to keep it cleanish! I've decided on an even more OEM-looking path, so stay tuned!

It's fun! I used standard General Altimax studded snow tires and got around great. Alaska gets a lot of ice and deep snow. Just today I picked up a set of used Hankook iPikes because I seem to have misplaced my General Altimax... I was originally planned on getting Blizzaks for my STI wheels, but $300 for 17" vs. $700+ for Blizzaks seemed like a no-brainer for me since I don't plan on sticking around here one more winter after this. Original plan was Nokians, but that's about $1200 new and the used set I found online I haven't been able to grab because the owner stopped communicating. For shame.

Anyways, to get down to it: Studded is a nice peace of mind when you're not familiar with the car's driving dynamics. They're heavier and much louder. Studless requires a bit more confidence in the car, your skills, your weather patterns, but they much, much quieter and lighter. In my experience, having had Blizzak, Hankook and Nokian tires on my WRX, STI and FSXT, studless tires felt just as confidence-inspiring as studded, but only when you were driving like a sane person. Stopping distance and grip felt about the same on sheer ice as studded.

That's my input for whatever it's worth. I REALLY wanted to try studless this winter, but I've had to shift my priorities. If I do find a good deal on a set for my STI wheels and mount them I'll let you know!

Thanks, Chanomatik. I decided to go with studded, just for the added peace of mind. Got some Nokians put on on Saturday - obviously we don't need them just yet, but I guess it could snow at any time.

Anyhow, I didn't drive it much this weekend, but initial impressions on wet / dry, non-snow, non-ice roads are that they feel very floaty, have removed any sense of direct connection to the road. They're quieter than I expected. You hear the signature sound of studded tires at low speeds, but that goes away above 30mph or so. At about 40-45mph they start singing/whining a bit. Not bad, but noticeable. Above 65 (not that I would know... ha) they don't make a lot of noise. But the floaty feeling is pretty distinct - feels like an older car where you would have constant steering corrections, but without great effect.

I'm really looking forward to see how they do on snow/ice. I hope they're awesome enough to justify the expense.

Nice! I'm glad you found a good set. I was looking at Nokians all year long, but have debated some long-term life goals and didn't feel like investing in a brand new set of winter tires. So I settled on used Hankook iPikes 245/45R18 for my STI wheels. Very good condition, they were on a Suzuki Kazashi driven by an older woman that traded it in for an Outback. I haven't put them on yet because someone needed to borrow my STI wheels, so for now I'm borrowing these wheels:

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Recent cruise to Eklutna with STI wheels.
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Yeah, snow tires on the dry/wet road are no bueno. They truly come to life on ice and in the snow. Night and day difference. I've never been bothered much by road noise.

Yo chano when you coming down again.