I'm about to roll over 10k miles on the revworks kit, and i'm pretty sure they're going to be widely available within the next few months, so here's an update as to how it's been working out for me.
As many of you know i had some major tuning issues when the kit was first installed that culminated in my total loss of faith in the tuner and the decision to just do the damn thing myself. That was the best decision i've made in a long time, and now the car runs like a top. It took me a few months of fiddling to figure it all out and get everything dialed in to my liking, but now i have a solid repeatable process and can do the same for my friends relatively quickly and to great effect, so it was worth all the late nights. It's been a great opportunity to gain experience tuning cars, after many years of tuning sportbikes and other powersports-y stuff.
It turned out the problem wasn't the MAF tube, or the fueling components, or anything else. The guy was just applying a fatally flawed process, and frankly had no clue what he was doing with an 86. By all accounts he's a great tuner, but this isn't an Evo and it requires a fundamentally different process to get right. I've looked over the original BRZEdit tune that the car was run on, and it's very clear the guy just didn't take into account the fact that the car has two fuel systems. Even with 6 months of blind flailing it wouldn't have ever been right. But it is now, so with that out of the way....
The kit itself has been nearly flawless. The only issue i've ran into was a coolant line that rubbed against an idler pulley. Fixed with a zip tie, no harm done. Drivability on the gtx2867r is fantastic, spool is instant, and the around-town performance leaves very little to be desired (especially on e85). Absolutely no cooling or overheating issues, even with 100% stock cooling system (not even an oil cooler) in stop-and-go traffic during the hot florida summer. The kit required absolutely no modification whatsoever to the factory crash structure, which was important to me. Fit and finish is fantastic as Scott (their head tech) is pretty damn picky when it comes to that sort of thing, and it shows. They put a lot of time and effort into the work that they do, and they don't cut corners. That's hard to find these days unfortunately. Overall i couldn't be more impressed, and i'm extremely happy that I went the route i did having them prototype the kit on my car.
As far as negatives, there are a couple. First and foremost, the gtx2867r compressor housing doesn't have a proper bung to drill and tap for a high pressure boost source, so fitting a 3-port boost control solenoid requires using a Garrett QuickTap in the coupler attaching the compressor to the first intercooler pipe. Not a huge deal, but it's something i wish it would've had. Also, the intake doesn't have a vacuum nipple. This means that you can't run a recirculated catch can on the breather side. Again not an issue since i never recirculate anyway, and prefer to use a dual-vented catch can (which they are producing now btw). If you wanted to use one you would have to tap one in yourself.
Going forward i'm going to be testing a larger turbo, just because i can :). It'll be a gtx3076r. after tuning @
Sportsguy83's KAB kit with the 3076, my fears of lag have been blown out of the water, so i'm jealous and feel the need to upgrade. Also i plan to build the engine at some point, and the extra overhead will be nice to have.
Once the kit is available i recommend that anyone in the market give it a hard look. It's a great piece of kit, and the quality is as good as anything you can get. If they're able to price it the way they want to, it'll be one hell of a deal too ;).
