Open question - you have $4K to spend
 

I am selling another one of my toys and thinking about dumping the proceeds into the FRS. I'll probably end up with around $4K. I bought the FRS two weeks ago and it is bone stock. I would like to tighten up the handling even more than it is so some wider wheels are in order. I would like to address the torque dip too. I would like to keep any exhaust upgrades in the mellow end of the sound spectrum. Best ways to stiffen up the chassis? Suspension?


What would you do with a $4K budget and a stock FRS?


Jeramie

I got new wheels and tires and re-upholstered my seats. That set me back $3k and I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat. But now the stock tail lamps are starting to bug me...

Best mod I ever did was 4.56 diff final drive upgrade, staying NA and manual trans. 4.88 is what You'd want if you have AT. Would cost about $1k for shop to do it including parts, get gears from weir performance.

Wider wheels have nothing to do with "handling" unless you live on a track. 1500 on suspension, one grand on the OFT package, add E85, done. 1500 in the bank for later on real racecar.

I was thinking in terms of increasing the size of the contact patch and going with a higher quality tire. I don't intend to drift the car and I would like it to be glued to the road at higher cornering speeds. I've already pushed the limits a few times and was thinking that a wider wheel and tire upgrade would help with that.


What is your recommendation on the suspension?

Get rid of the BRZ and put $4K down on a real sports car.










Actually I'd buy a sapre 2014+ engine and put the rest in savings.

I never would have contemplated a gearing change. I'll have to read up about that one.

Pros:
-Car will accelerate faster and feel peppier.
-No more lugging at low RPM.

Cons:
-Have to shift faster/more frequently
-lower top speed
-10% higher rpm while doing highway cruising in 6th gear
-potentially lower mpg, but didn't notice anything myself

I actually did the swap myself using a Lexus IS300 diff, so if you have any questions I can help. I would not recommend doing it yourself, was very much a pain in the ass to get the gears setup correctly.

I'd cover every surface of the interior with leather. Well, not the floor....

Wider wheels/tires will not tighten up the handling (much wider ones will actually have the opposite affect!)...you need lighter weight wheels with a better MOI and stickier stock sized tires to help tighten up handling (read as increased agility.)

I would do this for tightening up the suspension:

1. Replace the factory steering rack bushings with 2 piece solid Delrin ones ~$60. The factory rubber bushings are so soft and have so much slop that the steering rack physically moves around quite a bit, and you feel that weird mid-corner hesitation in turns. Completely cured with a properly stiff bushing with no slop!

2. Grimmspeed Strut tower bar ~$150... really helps with a better ride quality - lessens the harsh impacts from bad road conditions and stiffens the feel of the front end.

3. Nice, lightweight, inexpensive 17x7.5 or 17x8 wheels (15-17lb weights and ~$800 set)

4. Maximum Performance tires in either 205/45-17 for 7.5" width wheels or 215/45-17 for 8" width wheels. (~$400-$500 a set for nice budget friendly brands like Continental, Kumho, or Hankook) 205/45-17 tire with 17x7.5" wheels is my total preference since you get better acceleration, less weight, and actually physically lower the car's CG with zero other changes - resulting in a more planted feel compared to stock size. Tire contact size will be around stock size, yet performance will be greatly improved because tire compound and tread pattern is everything (tire width is hardly anything for adding performance in comparison...compound is what determines how much traction you have, not the width of the tire). Cannot recommend the Kumho Sport LE enough in 205/45-17 size... contact patch wider than stock by .2" and best wet weather tire I've ever run. Turns circles around the stock tires and is absolutely planted in high speed turns (at triple digit speeds...) ... Only lasted about 10k miles for me until worn down to slicks, but well worth it for the performance they give and being as inexpensive as they are (~$80 each at the time, I actually paid $280 for the full set with rebate...). Excellent wet weather performance all the way down to the wear bars...

So ~$1500 for meaningful handling changes.

Exhaust changes for torque dip would mean a very good EL header and tune at a minimum. From what I've seen that would be around $1,500 to 1,800... personally I would not bother with this as I see no issue with "torque dip" but have a much bigger and real issue with the driving ergonomics that I would rather concentrate on.

So I would apply funds to changing out the not so great stock seat for something much better (which I'm currently in the process of doing [custom fabbing the mounting system right now])... Recaro Sportster CS runs ~ $1,500 + rail system and base, so ~$1800. Your butt, thighs, and spine will thank you along with being positioned much more securely "in" the seat for cornering as opposed to being "on" the stock seat and sliding all around. The stock seats, like virtually every other base factory seat, are not the best ergonomically and are made to a lower cost point. Spend the money and get a no-compromises true ergonomic seat...especially in a drivers car such as this, sucks to drive it in discomfort everyday!

With the $700 left over I would get the TRD lightweight flywheel and JPM Coachworks Alcantara shifter and handbrake boots (because it would totally be wrong to install a Leather/'Alcantara' Recaro Sportster CS drivers seat and still have the thin, extremely cheap looking vinyl factory boots!)...

That's how I would spend the $4k.

I read "tighten up the handling" and I feel like pontificating so here it goes.

If banging out the best laptime is your priority you have two primary objectives: maximize traction, increase consistency.

I'm kind of assuming you'll be driving at 10/10ths and not just dodging potholes but I've got a halfway option and a ballsout option.

1. Get the wheels pointed in the proper direction.
A quality alignment at a specialty shop (not Sears or some chain) along with a bare minimum of camber bolts to get the most camber on the front wheels as possible, -1 degree should be a minimum. While lowering car nets you more camber a quality setup may not fit in the budget (entry level setups are $2k-$3k at this point, nobody has a proven budget setup to my knowledge, some good ones but no amazing ones for <$2k) and you may not be even left to right. If you want to go all out camber plates so you can get more than -2 degrees, from what I've seen most people aren't running much more than -3 degrees. Toe can massively affect the feel and agility, zero toe front, a little bit toe-in rear is common for agile "low powered" rwd sports cars, it's stable and responsive.
You can blow thousands of dollars on wheels and tires but what's the point if you're only using ~70% or less of the rubber you just shot your wad on because the tires aren't pointed in the right direction?
$200-$400 for front camber bolts + alignment
$700-$900 for front camber plates + alignment
+~$500 rear lower control arms

2. Brakes.
This is not a big deal if you're doing casual weekend stuff, but even light autocross or a steep windy downhill will exceed the limits of the stock pads and fluid. Without consistent and reliable brakes you will second guess the car and waste valuable seat time preserving equipment instead of driving it and exploring your limits. A hybrid pad is truly a compromise but if you're not hitting the track or cones will probably be more than enough otherwise budget for a true race pad, plenty of threads for research on this topic. I boiled OEM fluid my second track day, again if you're just tooling around on the weekend this is probably overkill.
$200-$300 hybrid pads, ATE Type 200 brake fluid flush (or equivalent)
$400-$500 track pads, track fluid flush

3. Tires
Now I'd be cautious about going too fast with a rubber upgrade, imo put the money in the bank, burn up the stock rubber and learn how to deal with low grip, when you upgrade the tires the same principles and driving style will apply, you'll be doing it at higher speeds with less margin for error (both in terms of your actions and the repurcussions). Now, lighter wheels will definitely be an upgrade but jamming on the fattest rubber will likely be detrimental to laptimes with stock power as you've added drag on the straights.

~$500 for 4 sticky DD-able tires in OEM size mounted
I saw an amazing deal for $1,500 for Enkei RPF1's 17x9 with Dunlop Direzza ZII Star Specs (quality sticky tire, popular choice for autocross and amateur racing, DD capable if you don't deal with snow or lots of water). Typically those wheels would be around $1k, tires up around $700 I think. If kept a little smaller as suggested above the ~$1500 mark is about right for 17x8 (imo 18's are too big a diameter, I'd even consider going to 16 when I go to buy)

There you go, all the budget gone in three areas if you go balls out, these are the biggest improvements you can make when it comes to raw speed in any scenario that isn't a drag strip. These are the biggest deficiencies in the car as it comes from the factory if your intention is to AutoX or HPDE or even bombing down a canyon road.

This is the path I've gone down, increasing camber is next for me as the camber bolts weren't enough, while some of the smaller things like bushings and braces such may help with the feel, the way the car is set up from the factory all those things are more than adequate as in 99% of owners will never see a proven improvement.

Since you don't mention performance driving I'd guess you'll stay on the low side with camber bolts and hybrid pads, along with wheels and tires what I suggest is about $2k. Next would be coilovers for handling by my guess, there are entry level sets like Bilstein with street setups that can be had within budget, lots of options and research to do.

And at the end of the day, putting a smile on your face is important, do whatever feels right, big ol' exhaust, pink wheels, those door latch upgrades that supposedly stiffen the whole chassis.

:burnrubber:

Wheels and Tires - stock size is fine but go sticky,
Camber bolts,
brake pads and steel lines,
Header and overpipe,
OFT for tuning,
Drop in filter,
Cat back or even just an axle back for sound - power is in the header

This would be a pretty nice setup for a bit of everything. Would do light track sessions fair.y well, really good at a local autoX (scca classing would bump you out of street/stock class and you'd be outgunned), and totally great as a DD.

Invest in your retirement or life/health insurance.
Take your wife to a nice place/vacation and buy something expensive for her.
Happy wife, you win

rims/tires
oft/header/exhaust/midpipe/overpipe/drop in filter
springs/shocks/spc camber bolts/spc rca

thats what i did