Brenda the Blue (BRZ)
 

I've changed the format a bit. I'll update this first post with the current state of my car and subsequent posts. This is how my car sits currently:

Summer street setup: http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psdqrtlngq.jpg

Winter/track wheel setup: http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psmfttv6nu.jpg

Modifications:
HKS Hipermax GT 4 coilovers (f/r rates 6k/4k)
Whiteline adjustable swaybar end links
SPC RLCAs
RR Racing Sport Performance front big brake kit with Winmax W5 at all 4 corners and Castrol SRF brake fluid.
SS exhaust tips
Phatfux Ballzy 17x8 +35 with 225/45r17 Hankook RS3 (Track)
Phatfux Ballzy 17x8 +35 with 225/45r17 Pirelli Sottozero Winter 210 Serie II (Winter daily)
Unknown gold 6 spoke wheels 17x7 +48 with generic 215/45r17 all season tires(Summer daily)
Stoptech Stainless steel rear brake lines

Notes: Final ride height is now set at 1 inch lower than stock and my alignment is done. My camber is -2.2f/-1.7r and 0 toe.

Here is how I got Brenda from the dealer:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9daaia8a.jpg

Original first post below the line:

--------------------------------------------

My WRB base model BRZ named Brenda the Blue, shortened to just Brenda.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7b01911c.jpg

This picture was taken right before the snow fell recently but this is how she sits in the parking lot right now. I've taken her drifting in the snow once this year so far. Had more snow fall so I might go again tomorrow if I can find a decent empty lot to do it in.

I'm still paying for her. While the payment and insurance are fine, I think it's best to get her paid off ASAP instead of spending money on mods. At the current pace, she will be paid off in about 3 years. Once she's paid off, I plan to get a mortgage and enough space that I can park her in the winter and drive something else. Until then, she is my only vehicle and winter driving will be a fact of life.

That said, I will be taking her to the track a few times a year so she will get a handful of mods to support that.

Stuff that is definitely happening:

Wheels and tires: Definitely getting silver TSW Interlagos 17x8 +35. Stock wheels are ugly and I love the look of these wheels. They're 2lbs lighter than stock but I'm putting larger rubber on them so it will probably even out. Probably do 225/45 but still debating what tires I want. MPSS seems to be the best overall but they're a bit expensive. If anyone has any suggestions on lower priced alternatives, let me know. I won't be tracking in the rain so my preferences are for dry performance first, longevity second, noise third and wet performance last.

Brake upgrade. I know the stock fluid and pads aren't good for lapping sessions. I see most people suggesting upgrading fluid, pads and SS lines. I need to do more research on pads and fluid before I buy anything.

Exhaust tips. I'm fine with the stock exhaust but the tips are embarrassing in those huge cut-outs. I'll just do the tips because it's a cheap and easy cosmetic modification.

Stuff that might happen before I can park her in the winter:

Oil Cooler. I'm not sure if this is required here in Canada. We usually only get a few days a year with temps above 90f/32c and I'd have to bypass it in the winter. Not a big deal but it's another thing to do to the car twice a year. Basically, this will happen if it's required, I'm just not sure.

Catch can. Not the end of the world if I don't get one but a good idea all the same.

Ride height adjustment. I'd like to lower the car an inch for dat wheel gap. I'll probably just get RCE Yellows but I need stock height in the winter. I could get coils but good ones are expensive and I'm cheap. I can add swapping springs to the list of changes that happen twice a year but that would be a pain in the ass.

Stuff I want to do once I can afford to park her in the winter:

Everything listed above that didn't already get done.

Big Brake Kit.

Aero. Underspoilers, side skirts and a big ass wing to be specific. Mostly for looks because I'm immature like that. I'll look at my options when I get closer to actually doing this.

That rounds out the list of stuff that I'll realistically do to the car.

You'll notice there are no power mods listed. Adding power will be the very last thing I'll do but if I did, I'd love to add forced induction.

Goal is 300whp. Would prefer to supercharge but E85 isn't available here and it seems difficult to hit 300whp supercharged without it. I can run Ultra94 here but I'm not sure how good that is or how close it will get me to my goal. I guess I can turbo.

Update 1
 

So I've got an update. A package arrived on Friday:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psipe7ookn.jpg

What's inside?

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7lzmkhdi.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psm8mznazp.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psfn7b18lp.jpg

So I'm ready for the warm weather.

Went outside, saw this:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps8hnhtah6.jpg

Decided I'm not going anywhere today and family is all out for the day so I'll stay in and do other stuff. I had been planning to buy TSW Interlagos or Enkei Fujin wheels but it's poor timing right now financially so I can't justify spending that type of money right now, especially when the stock tires still have a lot of life left. That said, I'm not a fan of the stock wheels silver on black color scheme and part of the reason I wanted to buy something else was because I curbed one about a month after I got the car.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psyoecopx3.jpg

So I was thinking I'd try doing some DIY wheel repair and paint them silver myself. I have no experience with this so I practiced using body filler on a tin can that I dented on purpose. I sanded it down and thought it looked ok and couldn't feel any obvious high spots.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psjoxtsdbz.jpg

I bought Duplicolor Hyper Silver Wheel Paint from Canadian Tire and tested it over my body filler job in 3 light coats of color plus 2 light coats of clear.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psafrajfdb.jpg

Some valuable lessons learned. First, my sanding job was poor and this was very evident after putting the paint on. Second, primer is probably a good idea. Finally, I'm not sure that I like the color of the hyper silver. I'll have to take it outside and see how it looks but inside, I find it a bit dull. I was hoping for something brighter, closer to the silver accents on the wheels.

Still, I'm going to go forward with painting them once I figure out the color so I went ahead and filed and sanded the rashed spots down. Started with some files and then used 80grit sandpaper and then went to 180grit.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pssrgvjeif.jpg

Camera flash reflects heavily now so I went and applied some body filler.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psyuexogba.jpg

Let the filler sit for about half an hour then sanded it down until it's completely smooth. Started with 80 grit, then went to 120 grit, finally did 180 grit to finish. Had to take this one without the flash otherwise it would just come out an overexposed mess.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pspezgsx79.jpg

This is where I've stopped for now. I really can't take on a major painting job in my apartment anyway but when warmer weather comes, I can get the painting done in my friends garage.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pswtof7k0m.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5ixw7irq.jpg

I've been busy this weekend. Finally got around to painting my wheels hyper silver. I'm impressed with the result. Although you can't see it in the picture, they sparkle in the sun a bit now.

When I was testing the hyper silver color on the tin can, the can was black which resulted in a very deep silver color which wasn't what I was looking for. I added a light gray filler primer and tested again and got a nice light shade instead so I made it a point to add the primer to the wheels. This was probably required anyway to make the wheels a solid color or you'd still be able to see the accents through the paint.

Regarding the curb damaged rim that I repaired, the damage is all but invisible now but if you know where to look and look closely enough, you can still see it which annoys me a bit but not enough to spend any more time on it. You can't see it unless you know where to look for it anyway.

I also bought some cheap aftermarket 4 inch exhaust tips that I'll try to put on the car today. I'll take photos when I get around to this.

Bravo, excellent job on the rims.

And I don't see any snow in the last pictures... nice!

Stock wheels look so much better as one color :w00t:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pstghveann.jpg

Got the tips on and took the car to the wash, it was a bit overdue.

Been warm enough this last week for most of the snow to melt. There is still a pretty large snow bank built up in the corner of the parking lot that isn't visible in this photo. That said, it IS a lot smaller than it was a week ago! Good sign!

+1 They look much much better.

Can't wait for warm enough weather to put the summers back on and see how they really look on the car. Thinking I'll paint the calipers black so they stand out from the wheels better. Got a friend going to Shannonville for the lapping day on April 20th. Trying to get the day off work so I can go too. I'm asking early enough that it shouldn't be a problem but you never know. :iono:

Thinking I'll get the wheels, brake fluid, caliper painting and brake pads all done shortly before track day.

So I got the wheels put on the car:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psal3sompu.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psyj3fghhf.jpg

Car was due for an oil change and the 20000km service anyway so I had Subaru do it. They didn't charge me extra for anythng except for the brake fluid bleed. I'm not experienced at bleeding lines so I'd rather pay someone to ensure its done properly until I'm confident to do it myself.

Braking has been improved all around. There is no longer any dead travel in the brake pedal, it has more resistance, the bite is improved and I'm finding the pads easier to modulate too. The OEM shims were moved to the Hawks and this seems like it was a good idea because the pads are silent. I've seen a lot of people complain that the HP+ make a lot of noise so this is a happy development. I never felt the OEM pads were wanting for regular driving but these are definitely a step up.

I'm signed up for my first lapping day at Shannonville Motorsport Park for Monday April 20th. Following the lapping day, I'll be putting the OEM pads back in the car and I'll paint the calipers when I do that and I'll take some more pics then.

Thought people would appreciate how the painted wheels look with a good side profile shot so I took a snap as I was leaving work.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psypvkhshd.jpg

It looks lowered in this photo but it's not, this is just because my winter wheels were sitting in the back when this pic was taken.

I agree that the stock wheels are ugly, but they dont look 1/2 bad when they're all 1 color.

I agree - the silver looks great against the blue, good choice !

So a quick update. Did a track day at Shannonville Motorsport Park yesterday. Had tons of fun! Very happy I upgraded brake pads and fluid because I had no fade issues the entire day, even after extended hot lapping sessions. It was only a high of 15c/59f so that may have helped too. We will see when I go again later in the summer when it's actually hot out.

It was a small turn out, only 4 cars on the track and by 4pm, I was the only person left so I had the track to myself for the last hour which was amazing!

It was raining for the first half of the day and the brake dust from the Hawks HP+ ate the paint on the wheels and combined with the rain in the morning, the silver has been washed out and they almost look gunmetal grey now in addition to some chipping paint.

Edit: Adding photos

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psow7s4622.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psoqbi2f9u.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psksofewwj.jpg

I won't use Duplicolor Hyper Silver wheel paint again though, I'll try to find something that lasts longer.

My first track day ever. Shannonville Motorsport Park April 20 2015.

Found out after the fact that I only managed to record one session on my GoPro and it was my 2nd session of the day which just displays embarrassingly poor skill but I'll post it anyway. Watch in Chrome for 60fps.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLaDKdVBFGo[/ame]

Unfortunately this is the only session that turned out. Some GoPro user error on my part had me recording during breaks between sessions and then stopping recording for the run. :bonk: Then I loaned the camera to a friend so he could record a session and after his session, the battery died before I was rolling on my next session.

It dried out later in the day and I got some tutoring from an extremely experienced driver which really helped some of my bad lines and poor technique. I'm really frustrated knowing that I improved a lot by the end of the day but wasn't able to record any of it and don't have any lap times.

So I'm planning to go again next month and get some proper recordings! :party0030:

Some more videos from recent event's I've attended.


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlXPMpoL_uU[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSZ_5fhahsY[/ame]


[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0tOe5mQkrY[/ame]

Great, you are doing with car basically everything that I wish to do as well :thumbsup:

Bad news.

Got the CEL+stability control light, likely related to TSB 11-130-13R.

When it happened, I was parked in front of Best Buy to pick up some stuff. The drive there was fine and when I came back out and got in the car, there was no obvious issue as I started it. As I pulled away though, I felt some vibration from the back wheels. I checked my mirrors to see if I ran over anything but there was nothing that I could see so I shrugged it off. Shortly after, I pulled onto the road and started accelerating and noticed it seemed to have less power than usual, looked down and saw the lights.

Regarding idle stumble, I have gotten it since I got the car but it would only happen if the heat or AC were running and it never stalled. I did mention it to Subaru but they said the behavior was normal when the AC compressor kicked in and if the car didn't stall to not worry about it.

The car is still drivable so I'm taking it over to Subaru first thing tomorrow morning to have it checked out.

Hope all is well with the CEL light, love your journal so far!

Thanks for the compliments!

I dropped my car off at Subaru this morning and they called me back by 1pm today, very impressed with the time frame. They weren't expecting me at all when I dropped it off either. Anyways, when they called, they confirmed it is related to that TSB and replaced a bad cam sensor and swapped the sensors between the cam banks and cleared the fault code. They have asked me to drive the car for a while and see if the CEL comes back on so that is it for now. Here's hoping it doesn't come back.

Wow the stock rims actually look good when they are just all silver. Nice job on the repair too! now it just needs more low, lol.

More Picton autocross, this time CASC regional events 1 and 2. These are large courses that use all 3 runways compared to just a runway and a half on the other Picton events I've attended.

Day 1
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmdNNxWCWbg[/ame]

Day 2
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqoujtEOCag[/ame]

Suppose it's time for an update.

Took the Hawks HP+ off and returned to the stock pads. Hawks don't have much pad material remaining. I think they might survive another track day but my tires are pretty worn now too at 3/32 front, 4/32 rear so my track season is officially over for this year. I don't have budget this year for new rubber but I should be able to afford it next year. While I replaced the pads, I also decided to try bleeding my brake fluid myself after watching some video guides. Made a mistake the first time I tried because the tubing was too large, it wasn't air tight so when the brake pedal was released air was getting sucked back in. A friend of mine has a one man bleeder kit and loaned it to me which worked well and now my brake pedal feels good again. After the frustration though, I broke down and ordered some speedbleeders so I won't have to think about it again. They will go in when I go to bleed the lines next time.

I had some autocross today with St Lawrence Auto Club at Shannonville Motorsport Park. Here is my best run of the day:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08iFqmD0gg4&"]23-07-2015 Shannonville Autocross 5 - YouTube[/ame]

Looks like it's 80 seconds. At this stage, the car is 100% stock because I'm back on the stock brake pads. I am definitely improving, especially my shifting technique but I see a lot of other mistakes that cost me time like blown apexes, turning in too early, braking more than required for certain areas and not accelerating as much as I could in others. There is no reason I couldn't be in the 70 second range, I just need more seat time.

So a package arrived from Japan today...

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psgsmjbzof.jpg

Wonder what's inside...

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psyjunvuim.jpg

Oh what's this?

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pslj0p01jr.jpg

It's a 1/24 scale model of a WRB BRZ.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4xtabi7q.jpg

All of the parts seem to be there. I haven't built something like this since I was around 10 years old I think. Used to make model planes and trains. Don't think this will take me too long considering some of the planes I made had twice as many parts and still only took me a week. Planning to assemble it in the late fall/early winter when I get bored and have lots of free time. Might get done sooner if I run into a fit of boredom before that.

And don't worry, more interesting stuff is in the mail :thumbup:

So another package arrived earlier this week.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psjqomhfxj.jpg

22kgs! It's a bit heavy. Lets cut open the box!

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pszrhnxe8i.jpg

Wonder what's inside...

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psodkzapzy.jpg

Oh, my coils are here!

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psxn5uamzv.jpg

Got them used from a forum member who has upgraded to something better for a good deal. I gave them a once over and they all appear to be in good shape and everything promised is present.

At the very least they aren't going on until I get some rear LCAs but we are getting late into the summer now so it will probably wait until next spring. We shall see.

I have more autocross tomorrow evening so expect some videos of that soon. Also, a friend of mine might be able to get me some cheap or possibly even free lapping time mid Sept. I don't have a lot of tread left and I'm back on stock brakes so I'll have to take it easy but I think it would be a good chance to record a few hot laps with the car still 100% stock before the mods begin.

So I completed the autocross on Thursday. Unfortunately there was some user error with my GoPro on my part and it didn't record anything so there is no video and this is all I've got of me from the event:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psrqpzvpdb.jpg

Turnout was small, only 7 people total. It was short notice and the weather didn't look great so only the die-hards made it out. I was 2/3 in class and 6/7 overall. Don't let the poor placement fool you, I was only 3 seconds from 3rd place overall.

54s Toyota WSR (modified)
57s '94 Camaro (modified)
61s Cobalt SS (prepared)
62s 1st gen Forester (stock)
63s S2000 (prepared)
64s Me (stock)
72s Series Blue BRZ (stock)

Regarding the course, the layout was extremely tight and technical. There was one point where going to third was an option but I wasn't confident it would be faster to do so and so I stayed in 2nd.

Happy about dominating the Series Blue but to be fair, I think this is only his 3rd autocross event where this is my 7th now.

The Forester driver is pretty much the only person who can objectively say he's got a slower car than me yet he's still faster so I thought something could be gained by sitting with him for some fun runs and he was happy to oblige. Unfortunately, his AWD and intense body roll doesn't really carry too much over to the pure RWD BRZ but I did notice that he brakes later and more aggressively than I do.

Regarding my own performance, there is definitely time to be made with more aggressive braking and I still don't think I'm going full speed through the slaloms yet either. I think with more seat time in the cars current form, I could be in competition for 3rd place overall on a course like this. At the very least, I know my ability is still not being limited by the car.

Next autocross is Sept 6th.

Sept 6th autocross was cancelled but I did get some lapping at Shannonville on the Nelson today instead. My best lap of the day:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWMTco_PHzg"]12-09-2015 Shannonville Nelson best lap - YouTube[/ame]

The time was 1:20:25 determined by using frame advance and frame numbers in the video. I'll try uploading the entire session later.

It was raining all day long and so the track was very greasy. For example, in the dry, the first right hand sweeper could be taken at 110km/h easily but none of us could take it faster than 90km/h today. It was also difficult to put the power down coming out of corners without breaking loose. I kept the traction control on all day and was rewarded by being the only RWD vehicle without an off all day. My friend in his RX-8 even ended up spinning out into the tire wall shortly after passing me, even got it on video:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2QmUvQcDOA"]shannonville rx8 wipeout - YouTube[/ame]

Thankfully he wasn't hurt but his front bumper was dented up and his undertray was smashed. He was able to remove the undertray, snip some loose pieces and he was back on the track for the majority of the last session although he took it easy from then on.

This is the full video from my final session:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZH4I6nq4-ag"]Shannonville Nelson lapping 12-09-2015 full session - YouTube[/ame]

It's boring because the course is short and my session lasts nearly 50 minutes. I've got video from the other sessions but they were all washed out and not really any different anyway. My best lap starts at 38:44 but you can just watch the video in my previous post to see that.

During this session, I was experimenting with downshifting at various parts of the course and trying slightly different lines for the hairpin. My fastest laps were ones where I didn't downshift except for the hairpin. I think this is because when it's wet, 2nd gear causes the rear to step out when trying to apply throttle out of a corner. At least in 3rd I can get some power down. I don't think the story would change any if it was dry because then I can take all of the corners fast enough to stay in the power band in 3rd gear.

This is my last lapping event of the year. Looking forward to next year when I get the coils and some good rubber on the car. I've still got a few other events this month before I'm done so expect some more videos soon!

CASC-OR regional event 6 was at Picton today hosted by PMSC so I was there. Here is my best run of the day:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRRrci1eSVM"]20 09 2015 casc or picton autocross 4 - YouTube[/ame]

Most of my videos have been 720p60 but I decided to try 1080p30 for this one instead. Anyone have a preference for this or think the higher framerate is better? Let me know what you think.

1:51:93 was official time on that run. 4th slowest RAW, 6th slowest PAX. The fastest stock twin I saw had a 1:47. Competition was very tight but I need a lot of improvement still.

After competitive runs were done, I had two of my very fast friends drive my car with me in it for some fun runs to see what I could learn from them. They were both a lot faster than me, putting down times competitive to the other stock twins within a run or two which is pretty amazing considering neither of them have experience driving a twin. Anyways, I did learn a lot from sitting with them and I'm going to try to apply it at a local event next weekend. Let's see how I do.

At Picton airfield for autocross again this past weekend. This time just a small club event so we don't use the entire venue. My best run of the day:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxVwWEPL-jE"]27 09 2015 st lac picton autocross 6 - YouTube[/ame]

Taking what I learned sitting with my friends last weekend and applying it this time, you can see that I'm handling the car differently than before. This put me up to 5/11 overall, 4/7 in class with a best time a 1:24.

Had a fun run with a friend (best in class driver) and he decided to see how drifting was in my car halfway through the run. Was hilarious fun and I feel like I learned something from it.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLjE9cMBGnY"]27 09 2015 st lac picton autocross fun 1 - YouTube[/ame]

The club leader ran the timer for the fun runs so we could see where we all sat time wise easily. My friend went again by himself and put down a 1:20 in my car proving that there is still quite a bit of time left on the table for me. Unfortunately there is no in-car video from his run.

I'm planning to attend the last autocross event of the season at Picton next weekend. I noticed that my tires are now legally bald so I'll be putting my winters on once we have a nice enough day outside to do it. One of the event organizers offered to loan me an set of WRX take offs he has that will fit so it sounds like I'll be using those for the event. Someone has expressed interest in my stock wheels for a drift event so this timing works well.

I finally swapped to the winters last night.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pslsj2hfhm.jpg


I killed the Primacy's pretty badly:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psohukhfmd.jpg

Both fronts look like this but the rears are still usable with 4/32 tread remaining:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pst4dvssed.jpg

I don't expect I'll ever put the stock wheels and tires on the car again so I'll be selling them. I have a buyer lined up but if that falls through, I'll post in the classifieds. I've been looking closely at the 17inch 6UL to replace it but I'm still debating. Either way, I won't be buying anything until spring. I want to do a write up on my experience with the stock wheels and tires this season but I'll post that in the wheels and tires section when I have more time to sit and write it.

Winter tires already...lol!! I enjoyed your track videos..hopefully next year would be more fun with some better tire package!!

Yeah. It wasn't because I wanted to put them on this early but because the stockers were getting sketchy to drive on like that. I'm not upset though, it would only have been a few more weeks tops anyway.

Had my last autocross event last weekend. I was only able to participate due to a friend lending me his spare take-offs for the event. Gotta say, I really like how they look on my car:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pswabwaasc.jpg

Running on Toyo T1s. As a 240TW tire, they had comparable grip to the Primacy's but they snapped loose really suddenly all the time and didn't make nearly as much noise when pushed to the limit. A photo of me spinning out during one of my early runs:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psycxwkicx.jpg

I started them with similar pressures I ran my Primacy's which is 31psi square cold which would go up to 36psi square hot but found that didn't work for these, I was fighting oversteer the entire way. The first 2 runs, I was trying to adjust pressures square but didn't get any improvement until after the 3rd run when someone else suggested lowering rear pressure. I lowered only rear pressures 2 psi and finally found an improvement. I kept lowering rear pressure until I ended up with hot pressures of 35 front, 32 rear for my best and last run:

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9XbnheWoIU"]04 10 2015 picton casc or autocross 6 - YouTube[/ame]

1:47, placed me at 29/37 for the day.

I'm not satisfied with my performance because I've got some excuses this time. I wouldn't be upset if I ran and that was just my time but I'm running on unfamiliar rubber and wasted my first 3 runs completely distracted trying to counter excessive oversteer that wasn't dialed out until my last run so I didn't spend enough time focusing on the course. Mentally, I was coming into my final run at the point I'd usually be at for my 3rd run.

They gave me some time to run a few fun runs where on my very next run I found a few places to make time. The most obvious ones are that I should have come into the boxed corner on runway 1 (0:22 in the video) wider for a faster exit. Also, the offset slalom towards the end of runway 2 (1:09 in the video) can be taken faster making my shift to 3rd right after that element instead of on the other side of runway 3 like it is in this video. There are other small things too that combined with these make me think I would have made about 2 seconds, which would have moved me from 29th to 24th overall, a bit more respectable.

A frustrating way to end the year.

With the Canadian dollar dropping like a stone lately and financial forecasts are saying it will continue to drop, I've decided to order parts that I can store now that I'm planning to get in the spring. Some of the parts just came in:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psfingqema.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psjuu3ttjk.jpg

Got these through ft86motorsports.com, the cheapest way to get them that I could find. Took them about 2 weeks to get here from when I placed the order which is perfectly reasonable.

More stuff came in the mail today.

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psi9wbmn2n.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psfesfb11h.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psoecwf8yy.jpg

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pshpuuoiic.jpg

RR Racings Front Sport kit with the Wilwood black anodized caliper.

Also decided to compare against the Hawks HP+ that I ran for track and autocross earlier this year:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pscibyqhpb.jpg

This is 3 track days, 4-5 autocross and a bunch of daily driving worth of wear. This has a 0.4 inch friction puck when new, it looks like these are only down to about 0.34 now, so they have held up exceptionally well. I think a large part of this is that I'm a novice driver with a conservative braking style on stock tires in Canada where the hottest track day was 30c/86f at tracks with relatively easy braking requirements.

Obviously not going to make further use of these so I'll probably sell them. They are fairly squeaky and dust terribly but they are definitely great for track/autocross, especially around here where our tracks are good on brakes and ambient temperatures don't get very high.

Will be an exciting spring!

More excitement, bought some used wheels from someone on Kijiji:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3t6mgr13.jpg

These are Phatfux Ballzy (Another TC105N knock off? I think @Slick uses the 18x9 version of these.) 17x8 +35 offset at 17lbs per rim with silver color which is exactly what I wanted in a wheel. Rims in excellent condition, no chips, rash or bends of any sort on any of the wheels, they are just a little dirty and have some packing material stuck to them. I stuck a template for my BBK in before I picked them up and confirmed they fit the RR Racing Sport kit with plenty of clearance. They came with 245/40/17 BFG Rival tires, tread depth at 4/32 but for the price I paid, I basically got the tires for free. They're good enough that I'll use them in the spring until they're completely worn down then I'll switch to new tires.

Last of the stuff I've ordered arrived in the mail this week.

EBC Yellowstuff brake pads for the front BBK and stock rear of my car:
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pslabknfot.jpg

The fronts for my BBK were cheaper than the yellows for the stock rear calipers and you can see the size difference in the photo. EBC markets these as a streetable track pad and they seem to be in the same class as the Hawks HP+ (which I ran last year without issue) but are supposedly silent, have a higher temperature threshold and may have less cold bite. I've read some mixed reviews on these but figure I'll try them out. I'll be driving on them exclusively in the summer and will review them after I've done a few HPDE events on them. I'll be checking them frequently to keep an eye out for any problems and keep the BP10 and stock rear pads on me as backup if I ever notice anything wrong.

Also ordered Stoptech SS brake lines for the rear calipers:
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9gnamd3a.jpg

Didn't think it made much sense to run SS lines in the front and still run rubber in the back. Not much else to say about these.

Finally, I also ordered some Gorilla lugs:
http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...pspzjn8jqe.jpg

When I ordered them, I thought I was just getting some regular black lugs but these use a key which is kind of cool as long as I don't lose the key. Not sure who would want to rip off some Weds TC105N replicas but I'm sure stranger things have happened.

I was in Ottawa this weekend for some karting and came back with another set of wheels I bought off someone on Kijiji:

http://i1299.photobucket.com/albums/...psum1okgz2.jpg

They are just some cheap Dai Alloys that I bought for a set of winters that will clear my brake kit but found out that I referenced an incorrectly printed template when I bought them that made it look like I had sufficient clearance. I checked again with a proper template and it looks like the caliper might scrape slightly on the inner edge of the spokes. When I cut the template square, it just barely scrapes but when I trimmed the edges, it clears so it's hard to tell if it will actually clear. Even if they do clear, it looks like it will be uncomfortably tight unless the template is really conservative. I'll test fit these when the brake kit actually goes on but it looks like I may need a small spacer.

It's actually amazing what those brakes will fit under:
https://scontent-ord1-1.xx.fbcdn.net...0a&oe=573E5D22

Build Looks good. Looking forward to updates.

Thanks, really looking forward to April/May when I get everything on the car!

Awesome you found some 16's that fit! Do you have any balancing weights on those? The 17s I checked with the template have really good barrel clearance so I wondered if any 16s would fit but didn't look at any.