Southern Breeze - My DGM BRZ Build Thread
 

Having started to make a little bit of progress on my car just past its six month anniversary, probably best to try and start documenting some of the modifications I've been making.

I came to the BRZ from a Lexus and to that Lexus from a Miata. So I went from fun car to boring car and desperately wanted a fun car again. Looked at everything from older 911s to Mustang GTs, and decided that I liked the 911 and Cayman S the best, but was worried about maintenance and repairs on an older Porsche. Found myself at a Subaru dealer and took a new BRZ down the road - immediately I felt the nimble handling and tossability that I missed from my Miata. Handling was reminiscent of the Cayman, power obviously lacking comparatively, but I realized that, much like the Miata, that wasn't what this car was about. Decision made, now the search began.

I looked high and low for over a month, contacting every Subaru dealership in North Carolina, looking for a leftover 2014 in any color besides white or silver. After much haggling, dealers being dealers and a few shenanigans, I finally found my BRZ Limited for a great price ($3k off MSRP) at Modern Subaru in Boone. A couple days before my birthday in September I set off on a warm morning for the mountains, eager to be rid of my Lexus and back in something fun.

Picked it up and was out of the dealer in less than an hour. Made a necessary stop on the way home to get her on the Blue Ridge Parkway with under 100 miles on the odometer (pic below).

Sold as of 6/19/17.

Modifications as of 8/1/16:

Power/Bolt-on:
- Perrin Crank Pulley
- Perrin Inlet Pipe
- K&N Air Filter
- Openflash UEL Header (ceramic coated by JetHot)
- Perrin Overpipe (ceramic coated by JetHot)
- Motiv HFC Frontpipe
- Perrin 3" Catback
- OFT Stage 2 E85 (Summer) 93 (Winter)

Suspension/Chassis/Braking:
- 949 Racing 6UL 17x9 +40
- TRD Springs
- SPC LCAs
- Whiteline Camber Bolts
- Perrin Strut Tower Brace
- Perrin Master Cylinder Brace
- Goodridge Stainless Steel Brake Lines

Exterior:
- TOM'S Clear Taillights
- BlueBatmobile Reverse Light Vinyl Overlay
- BaysonR STi Replica Lip
- Helix Smoked Sidemarkers
- Diode Dynamics LED Turn Signals
- Diode Dynamics LED Foglights
- Intec CHMSL
- BeatSonic Sharkfin
- Grimmspeed Hood Struts
- Modbargains duckbill spoiler
- Driveway Labs Version 2a Rear Diffuser

Interior:
- Raceseng Signatur Shift Knob
- Raceseng R-Lockout
- JPM Coachworks Alcantara Shift Boot
- JPM Coachworks Alcantara E-Brake Boot
- JPM Coachworks Alcantara Gauge Hood
- JPM Coachworks Alcantara Dash Panels

To me, three of the things I liked the least about the BRZ were the RC-look antenna, ugly taillights and the orange sidemarkers. One of those was remedied very quickly! Within about one month of ownership, I ordered a set of the smoked Helix sidemarkers from our friends at FT86SpeedFactory. They came quickly and were easy to install, once I actually watched a video on it!

Next up on the list of three things I didn't like was the RC-car antenna. I ordered the color-matched BeatSonic sharkfin to replace that, and update the exterior of the car a bit to match its 2015 brethren.

Also started meeting up with some other local 86 owners, which has been a lot of fun.

I started going back and forth over a few options of what I wanted to do about the rear taillights. I thought Tom's looked great and loved how the parking light matched the front boomerang. Valentis were very nice too and a slightly more reasonable option. Of course, quite a few people have had a lot of luck with VHT or vinyl overlays to make their tails look awesome.

However, I decided that the clear Tom's would really set off the DGM. I was drooling over a couple other member's cars in the DGM thread and my mind was made up!

At the same time I went a little nuts (for me) and found/ordered a couple other parts: Perrin 3" resonated catback and a BaysonR STi replica lip.

Absolutely love the sound the Perrin provides and the Tom's just look great. Wish the car came this way from the factory. Also debadged the rear end for a cleaner look.

Since I had to install that hellish LED flasher under the dashboard (I still have a scar from jamming my hand up under there) for the Tom's, I went ahead and upgrade my front turn signals to LEDs from Diode Dynamics and wrapped the yellow bases with a little black electrical tape to remove the orange non-lit glow and get the front end completely monochromatic. Very subtle mod, but I think it looks awesome.

Next I bought a Perrin inlet tube from a forum member, mostly to delete the stupid sound tube (which had been long since plugged), a K&N drop-in, some caliper paint (red calipers = 5rwhp, right) and a vinyl overlay for the reverse lights from BlueBatmobile.

My butt dyno initially told me that the Perrin inlet tube and K&N didn't give me anything, but after a bit of time, I think it is making a bit more power, sort of inline with the dynos that have been posted, advertising about 5-8rwhp. Small difference, but it is there. Plus a nicer intake sound.

This spring, a few other local 86s decided to go up to Deal's Gap with Southeast86 and run the Tail of the Dragon. It was an absolute blast and I can't wait to do it again. Met a number of awesome people and got to see some very highly-modded 86's. Totally recommend that to anybody who's thinking about making that trip.

Also recommend running the Cherohala Skyway, which is where the dusk pictures were taken. Beautiful views and a great road.

Now, to bring us completely up to date, one thing that I also started to get a little annoyed with was our stock ride height. Too much wheel gap, so I bought a set of new TRD springs off one of our forum members here. I had already scraped the nose once before, so I figured this would also be a great time to get that BaysonR lip installed too. Took the car over to my buddy Nate's shop and he got me all sorted out.

The look is exactly what I wanted so far - lower and athletic without being slammed. When I eventually upgrade the wheels/tires I think it'll look perfect. Ride is still as good as stock, no chattering and it isn't bouncy in the least. I think I made the right call with the TRD springs.

In the meantime, I also picked up a Raceseng Signatur shiftknob from a forum member and picked up a nice Racequip helmet for autocross. Hopefully more of that coming in the future!

I see you are from Greensboro, my girlfriends goes to UNCG. I am always up there. Tail of the dragon is a bunch of fun as well!

If you're ever up here on a Wednesday, our group has dinner in either Greensboro, High Point or Winston. Tomorrow is 66 Pizzeria in Winston-Salem. Search "Triad86" on Facebook and you should find us, or @triad86 on Twitter. Come on and hang out!

Another small update...

The BRZ had a bit of a busy weekend. On Saturday, the SPC LCAs went on as well as some Whiteline camber bolts, and then it finally got a proper alignment after having the lowering springs on unaligned for about a month.

I also ordered some vinyl overlays for the badges on the car - carbon fiber look with red stars. Not sold on them, so I may end up peeling them back off (I also didn't do the greatest job putting them on, honestly). A buddy of mine and I were discussing the BRZ STI concept and loved that little red highlight in the air dam, so I added that on mine with some 3M pinstriping tape. I like it, but am not sure how well it'll last there.

Lastly - received my alcantara shift boot and e-brake boot from JPM Coachworks. Took a bit to get them, but the quality is worth the wait. Installation of the shift boot was a breeze but the e-brake boot was rather fiddly. Pics don't do them justice.

Installed a few more items over the last few days - Perrin Master Cylinder Brace, Perrin Strut Tower Brace and a Raceseng R-Lockout. The lockout was the fiddliest of the bunch and I was afraid I was going to break something taking out the retaining pin, so I took it to my buddy's shop and let him have a (literal) whack at it. After a while he was able to get it to budge and got the lockout on no problem, but then the damn alcantara boot was too tight to pull up over it!

I took the car back home and took the shift ring trim piece off, pulled the boot up and then slid it back down over and that worked great after lots of fiddling and tugging.

Just yesterday I ordered OFT/OFH, Berk catted frontpipe and the Modbargains duckbill, so looking forward to when all that gets here and gets bolted up!

Took her up to VIR this past weekend with a couple friends for HPDE. Great experience and wonderful hosts with the PCA First Settlers group.

Just added the Forgestar F14s I bought from a forum member! 18x8.5 in the front and 18x9.5 in the back. Wasn't too sure how I'd like the gold, but it looks nice! I'll add a few more pictures after I get the car cleaned up this weekend.

Had to snag a set of McGard spline drive lugs to work with the wheels as the lug holes are super tiny. Stock lugs wouldn't fit at all.

Adding a few more pictures of the new wheels - the first group were snagged during a run with a couple friends through the NC/VA high country up to Rocky Knob, and the second were at a weekly meet-up for dinner with Triad86. Forgot to mention I also installed the OEM splashguards to try and help keep stone chips off the sides of the car.

Also heard back from Openflash today - my header is apparently still at sea, due for port next week :(.