I'll be doing one, haven't decided whether or not to post it here or in the FI section for other owners though...

Fresh oil change yesterday, full tank of E85, Perrin crank pulleys and resonated catback exhaust installed yesterday has the car driving quite nicely. :thumbup:

Finally installed the STi radiator cap, STi oil cap, and STi battery tie down, as well as the Perrin radiator hoses and, after 2 years this month of having the car, some new Subaru Super Coolant.

I also took care of some front bracing to complement the Cusco front and rear sway bars and strut bars. I installed Cusco Power Brace Engine, Power Brace Front, and Front Lower Arm braces:

http://i.imgur.com/rHchqRb.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/iOCjaLt.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/hWm0MPE.jpg


The front I think is done. I'm going to have a shop tackle the Perrin PSRS.

Not sure when I'll have time to install the driveshaft and I really need to get the Jackson Racing Oil Cooler and a different custom tune. My current tuner apparently stopped replying to any of my e-mails, have no idea why but have no time for bs, lol. Off to a local dyno tune I go, pending some free time of course. :thumbup:

STi badge killed this little hitchhiker. Found him stuck in place:

http://i.imgur.com/UQnViM7.jpg

The rear bracing I'll take care of this weekend ahead of an install of the Cusco LCA's, end links, and trailing arms, which I have yet to purchase.

http://i.imgur.com/s1u4D2Q.jpg

My initial impressions of the front braces, considering I have coilovers and the Cusco front strut tower bar, front sway bar, front lower arms, engine braces, and front powerbrace altogether now is that during hard brakes my front tires have started chirping and the brakes shudder once or twice now, thats with the master cylinder brace, Motul fluid, Stoptech lines, and Stoptech pads on stock rotors. (mentioned fluid and lines although I know those aren't directly related, just for completeness) Maybe its because of all of the increased force going there? Not sure, but the car does feel different when I'm yanking the wheel left or right or carrying a bit of speed in onramps as well. Not sure how that'll play out on the track yet, but I'm not ready for that right now anyway... I imagine that once I get the rest of the rear pieces in there it may be even more pronounced.

Shoutout to @CSG David for coming through on these parts for me. I'm going to swap out my Buddy Club Racing Specs for Cusco Street Zero A's but not sure which type yet, perhaps that will help some. Still going for comfort and not looking to break the bank on my few trips to the track each year.

@CSG Mike any advice?

There are two types of Street Zero As. Both are purely street oriented and biased towards safety and comfort. Glad to hear you like the parts so far. :)

Just drive it more and determine if you like it or not :)

Installs Tonight

Cusco Power Brace Rear Side
Cusco Rear Crossmember Brace
Cusco Rear Differential Brace

Irvine, CA has very smooth roads, I'm thinking that daily driving with the Cusco Rear Differential Brace shouldn't be too bad, but I'll mix it up with some freeway driving from time to time. Work is only ~15 miles roundtrip, but E85 is ~30 miles roundtrip. Rick from RallySportDirect mentioned that he wouldn't use it daily unless you like the raw feeling, but with the road condition here it may be a non-issue for me.

Side Notes

The Perrin cone filter may be too long and the writing will be upside down to boot. I'll probably rotate the writing underneath and out of sight. The brake cozy was sold out, so should be here in a few days. Bought them together to match underhood.

Wondering if the Perrin branded T-bolt clamps will accommodate the JR pipes and couplers.

Trying to find pics for the OLM S-line Carbon Fiber Headlight Eyes I found on FT86speedfactory.

Wondering if the STi battery tie down will fit with the FT86speedfactory lightweight battery kit.

Looking to research the FT86Speedfactory fuel rails some more.

The ZSpec fasteners around the throttle body have gotten significantly lighter in color from the lighter shade of the Cusco-ish blue that they once were. The rest of the fasteners seem to be fine.

Who ended up finishing your flex fuel tune? Everything running peachy?

@dj2020 Noone yet, just haven't had the time. I'm debating between Delicious and Church, possibly both.

I've had good experience with Bill at Delicious, and although I hear "hero tune" thrown around with their tunes, my driveability was fantastic. The tunes were leagues better than the tunes I got when NA on FlexFuel with another tuner, and certainly much better than the ones I'm getting now. The current tunes were done remotely, so no direct access to the vehicle, which would certainly have helped there, but doesn't account for being hard to get in touch with. I'm also a little remiss about the injector purchase that was pushed on me - I already had smaller injectors for a kit that would make even more boost, and those injectors were only at 70%. :bonk:

What I might do is get the "hero tune" at Delicious, and run over for another tune at Church. It would be good to see how my current kit performs against my previous kit, but also to see what the hp difference is between dynos while getting a more track-focused tune. I'm just curious like that. :iono:

postbreak did something similar, just to get a sense of the different tuning styles. As I recall, in the end he liked all of them.

I was thinking of doing the same thing and going with DT for my flex fuel kit, injectors, MAP sensor, and FnG tune. Later on, maybe a custom tune with Church when I'm ready to get a catless header. I would definitely like to hear about the drivability between the two tunes if you end up trying both. Thanks!

I'll definitely let you know :thumbup:

I'm probably going to wind up switching my FF kit for DT's as well - I like the installation better, even if there's really no measureable difference. I'm just planning ahead for when I get reffed again. (I know its going to happen eventually... Again)