Rio's Whiteout Tハチロク FR-S
 

On Oct 16, 2013 I decided to trade in my '99 Porsche Carrera Cabriolet for something more economic. Something that would not cost me >$1500 every time it went in to the shop.

I had in mind 2 options: 2013 370Z Nismo and the 2013 Lancer Evo MR. I test drove the 370Z Sport, because they did not have the Nismo in stock, and I was very impressed. It was right there with the Carrera on acceleration but not so much in handling. Still, I asked the dealer to locate me a Nismo in white or GM. 2 weeks went by and nothing from them. In the mean time, there were NO new Evos in the NW for me to test drive. I found out that they don't last long at the dealers.

Then one day, I am driving the Carrera home and I see right around my SE neighborhood an Argento FR-S. That night I went online and found hundreds of reviews, photos, and detailed enthusiast information about it. I test drove one and fell in love with it's simplicity and that it was the perfect car for a driving enthusiast. It was just all FUN!

On Nov 16 I got a text from my the car dealership with the photo of exactly the car I wanted. I came home with it.

Mods:
11/20/13 - TRD Exhaust
12/26/13 - LED (interior, trunk & licPlate)
12/28/13 - APEXI Air Filter
01/16/14 - H&R Super Sport Springs
01/20/14 - Kenwood X500-1 Amp and JBL Sub-woofer with custom trunk enclosure.
01/25/14 - Michelin Pilot Super Sports 225/45RZ17XL 94Y B
03/01/14 - Frame-less Toyota JDM Rear View Mirror
030/9/14 - LED White Sidemarkers
03/14/14 - Perrin eBrake Turn Knob
03/14/14 - Perrin Brake Brace
03/14/14 - Stage 1 EcuTek Tune + Lic and Kit
03/15/14 - Beatrush Type 1 Strut Bar
04/18/14 - Black Winjet Headlights
05/22/14 - Plasti Dipped Scion Badging
06/01/14 - Rally Armor Mud Flaps
06/08/14 - Gas Hood Struts (Genome Tuning Generics)
06/10/14 - Perrin 2.75" Overpipe
06/16/14 - Perrin BigMAF CAI 3" - Sold
07/16/14 - Enkei RPF1s 17x7.5 (Autocross SCCA only) - Sold
07/31/14 - Yokohama Neova AD08R 235/40/17 (Autocross SCCA only) - Sold
08/26/14 - Valenti Tail Lights
10/12/14 - KW V3 Coilovers Springs are 6.1F/7.1R (340/400)
10/12/14 - Mooresport Camber Plates
03/09/15 - Enkei RPF1s 17x9
03/09/15 - BFGoodrich Rival S 255/40/17 (Autocross SCCA Only)
05/24/15 - Tomei Uncatted UEL Header
05/29/15 - DriftOffice Custom Tune
07/15/15 - Whiteline front and rear endlinks
07/15/15 - Perrin front (19mm) and rear (16mm) sway bars
08/16/15 - Berk Catted Front Pipe - Removed
01/19/16 - Hypercoils Spring replacements for KWV3s
01/19/16 - Goodridge G-Stop High Performance Brake line Kit
01/19/16 - SPC LCAs
01/19/16 - Raceseng Revo Crank Pulley Kit
01/19/16 - Carbotech 1521M Brake Pads
02/04/16 - Perrin 2.5" Catted Front Pipe


SCCA SOLO 2014 Season Results: Won STX based on points/attendance due to lack of participation on the class. But on the other hand I learned a lot from the occasional competition and comparing my times to other seasoned drivers. I stayed around the middle of the time pack (45th of about 80) for the season which was quite an accomplishment for me.

SCCCA SOLO 2015 Season Results: This year it was all about a 2015 WRX and a 2014 FR-S in the STX class. I did pretty good and secured the Regional Championship for the second year in a row. Next year I am moving to the Pro Pax run group to co-drive with on the the best drivers in the region. STX is going to need some 86s next year. :-)



http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=7087

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=8172

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...ictureid=10034

Which dealer did you work with?

TRD Exhaust
 

On Nov 20th I had the TRD exhaust installed on the car. It was definitely louder, but the power difference was not that noticeable unless I was above 3500 RPMs.

Royal Moore in Hillsboro. Even though Beaverton Toyota was very close to work, they really low-balled my trade-in.

LED Time
 

I was skeptical about LEDs until I purchased an LED Mini Mag Lite and my engineering brain kicked in. So I looked in the marketplace section in this forum and searched for a reputable LED supplier. Diode Dynamics ended up with my business because of their approach to LED turn signals without the use of additional resistance like most of their competitors do.

I ordered the Stage 2 Dome LED, Stage 1 Lic Plate LED and the Stage 4 Flexlight Trunk LED kit. Like most vendors, Diode Dynamics does not include instructions with their LEDs and that is fine because they are a direct replacement to the existing bulbs. Even the Flexlight connects to the Bulb connector instead of directly to the wiring harness.

NOTE: If you are a Noob to LEDs, please be aware that they do have polarity so if you plug it in and it does not work, flip it (180 degree flip) and they will work. This means that they do have a positive and a negative terminal.

It took me about 10 minutes to install them and take the before and after photos seen below.

All in all, I'm very pleased with the interior lighting since it is not "blueish" just closer to the 5900K color spectrum. A Stage 3 would have been way too bright for my taste. The Lic plate Stage 1 LED washes out the blue on my plates but still looks good. With the trunk, the Toyota/Subaru place the bulb to the drivers side of the trunk and it just does not provide enough lighting. The Flexlight distributes light effectively if centered properly.

Pre Dome LED
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6859

With Dome LED
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6860

Pre Lic Plate LED
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6861

With Lic Plate LED (They may look blue in the photo but it's actually very close to true white)
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6862

Pre Trunk LED
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6863

With Trunk FlexLight LED (They may look blue in the photo but it's actually very close to true white)
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6864

I'm literally in the same boat in choosing a car. Do you feel the 370Z was less fun to drive?

If you are a straight line kind of driver, then yes, it is very fun! 0-60 feeling is awesome! If you are more of a road course kind of person, like me, then the FR-S is the car to own. Take an FR-S with a supercharger and you will take any stock 370 on a track and will cost you much less.

Drive them both and decide based on your style of driving. They are both great cars and IMO better then their American competitors.

Amen to that brother!!! Congrats on the new car and welcome to the club!

Nice writeup with good info, thanks Rio!

As a former owner of 911's, I think FR-S carries over some of their best traits like steering quickness and feel, ergos and the view out the windshield of the sweeping front fenders they were able to design with the low engine placement.

Oh, I demoed a 370Z Track car and what killed it was horrendous road noise. Normal conversation was impossible above 50-60 mph. The sales drone said "people who buy these don't talk, they drive".

Have fun!

A'PEXi Power Intake Panel Filter
 

As you may have already noticed, I believe in informed decision making whenever possible. I do enjoy high risk situations but not when dealing with my family and cars ;-) When I bought my car I had decided to get every "hop up" was going to be TRD but that came to a screeching halt when the first dealership I went to said "Toyota doesn't make TRD intake for that car, only a TRD filter". That day was November 14, 2013 and not 2012. That was only one of the reasons why I decided to go to another dealer, but I digress.

When I purchased the car I wanted both available TRD upgrades but they only had the exhaust in stock. So I past on the intake but went home and started doing some research on other intakes. I was about to go with a Greddy when I stumbled upon a Jun '13 Import Tuner Magazine. Starting on page 72, after the awful photos of model Danielle Ruiz, I found the Scion FR-S Shootout! 17 FR-Ss with different upgrades and their results on a Mustang Dynamometer. Stock FR-S results were 163hp/130tq. A six speed Auto FR-S with stock exhaust w/JDM FT86 tips and the A'PEXi filter came up with 171hp/136tq.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6873

To compare:
Greddy Momentum Intake + TRD Exhaust + Perrin Lightweight Crank Pulley = 168hp/137tq
Injen Tech Intake + Greddy Evo III catback Exhaust + Perrin Lightweight Crank Pulley = 175hp/140tq

If you can find it I would recommend getting that issue of Import Tuner. I have it on my iPad and through Zinio. Zinio offers old issues of most magazines.

I personally thought that these A'PEXi numbers were hog wash but I thought that at $50 what the heck did I have to lose, right?

I ordered one and today I took it out of the box, opened the hood and went to install it. When I say the stock air filter, I almost lost it laughing. It looked like it was made by oompa loompas!
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6876

Opening that air box was easy, but closing it was a bit of a challenge. Specially since this lazy ass didn't feel like disconnecting the hose completely first. The filter came with a nice sticker that states install date and mileage.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/pictu...pictureid=6874

I started the car and immediately it felt like the engine was running smoother and at lower idle. I was not expecting much of an improvement but when I took it around the block I felt it! I felt the slight increase in torque. It just felt better all in all. An hour later I went out to pick up some paint and new wheels for my RC replica of my Whiteout FR-S. I REALLY love the slight increase of power. My Avg MPG is definitely going down from 20.6 mpg LOL! :D

If you take anything away from this write up, please upgrade that dumbass Scion air filter ASAP!!!!!!!!!
Second, for $50 you can get a nice dry filter so we can then exchange stories about how cheap it was to bump a couple HP/TQ.

Later!

^ This is pretty much in line with what I felt with my BRZ as well. It idles way better at stop lights and throttle response seems a bit better. I used to have to down shift on the highway to 5th to pass at a reasonable rate but I can pass easily in 6th with the APEXi filter.

Definitely not dramatic in terms of power but makes the car feel more responsive and eager.

Yeah, I research too and after comparing local dealer (Gresham Toyota) eBay price match decided to keep it factory with the TRD CAI.

Then I had an interesting experience at a Cascade Sports Car Club track day earlier this year running with some other FR-S/BRZ aficionados.

To our surprise, my nearly stock car except TRD CAI and Perrin unresonated catback easily pulled my friend (digital_assassin) Kevin's car with his Perrin CAI, some kind of exhaust I don't recall and expensive aftermarket tune down the straights. He killed me through the curves with his rad brake, suspension, wheel and tire setup, but I think both of us weren't expecting the top end delta.

Glad you're happy with the new filter. Plus, it'll keep you in SCCA Stock class auto-x should you go that route.

He was running Perrin CAI, with a Nameless exhaust setup along with an off the shelf tune from Perrin (ECUTEK?).

That is precisely why I bought that issue of Import Tuner! I was leaning towards Takeda / Greddy!