Suparu’s 2013 Subaru BRZ Turbo build
 

Last updated: 10/23/2020

My previous cars were a heavily modded 1992 Saleen Mustang, stock 1999 Eclipse GS, stock 2004 RX-8 and a 2006 Eclipse that performance-wise was stock but had a body that looked great (custom paint, aftermarket body parts, wheels). I have pics of the previous cars on CarDomain: http://www.cardomain.com/member/needforspeed/

This OP has a timeline of pics and the following pages will have some other pics of it in progress.

Mod List:

Under The Hood & Power Upgrades:
-SBD Stage 1 Version 2 Turbo Kit (52.5mm Inducer w/ 10psi Boost)
-PTP Lava T25/T28 Turbo Blanket
-Invidia Q300 TI Catback Exhaust
-STI Blue Aluminum Oil Filler Cap (OEM cap says 0w20 but I'm running 5w40)

Wheels / Suspension / Chassis:
-Avid.1 AV-20 Wheels [Blue] (18x8.5 +33 front, 18x9.5 +38 rear)
-BF Goodrich g-Force Sport COMP-2 Tires (235/40 front, 255/35 rear)
-Gorilla Black Lugs+Locks
-HKS Hipermax IV GT Coilovers (1.5” drop, -2° front camber, 0° rear camber)
-SPC Adjustable Lower Control Arms (rear)
-Whiteline Adjustable Toe Arms (rear)
-Cusco Type OS Strut Tower Brace (front)
-Cusco Type ALC OS Strut Tower Brace (rear)

Exterior:
-MY17 BRZ OEM Headlights
-Valenti Smoked Black/Gold Edition Sequential Tail Lights
-Valenti Smoked Black/Gold Edition 4th Brake Light
-Gasket Ninjas for the Valenti Tail Lights
-JDM Clear Side Markers w/ Amber Bulbs
-License Plate 6000k 5 LEDs
-2015+ OEM Shark Fin Antenna
-Carbon Fiber Fuel Door (316-Composites)
-Tinted Windows
-STI License Plate Frame (this mod converts the BRZ from RWD to AWD) :D
-Shaved Rear "Subaru BRZ" Badges (increased aerodynamics when reversing) :D

Interior:
-Motorsports Authority A-Pillar Triple Gauge Pod
-Prosport Halo 52mm Boost, Oil Temp, Wideband AFR Gauges
-Noico sound deadening (everywhere except floor + roof)
-Diode Dynamics 6000k Cool White Interior LEDs
-FT Speed Steering Wheel carbon fiber w/ red stitching
-Baruta Paddle Shift Kit red carbon fiber
-TOM’S Carbon Fiber Shift Knob
-FT Speed Carbon Fiber E-brake Handle
-Carbon Fiber Seat Warmer Panel Cover
-2018 tS OEM Carbon Fiber Climate Control Panel
-2018 tS OEM Carbon Fiber Window Switches
-JDM Black Interior Trim, Door Handles + TC/VSC Buttons
-MY17 One-Piece Center Dash black leather w/ red stitching
-MY17 Knee Pads black leather w/ red stitching
-MY17 Speaker Pads black leather w/ red stitching, speaker grills + black rings
-MY17 Gauge Hood black leather w/ red stitching
-EU OEM GT86 Armrest black leather w/ red stitching
-Red Seat Belts (Safety Restore)

Upcoming:
-GReddy x Rocket Bunny v3 Ducktail
-Seibon TS Hood (carbon fiber)
-Full repaint
-2016 tS JDM Dayliner Covers
-2013-16 BRZ OEM Fog Light Covers
-DRL Strip w/o fogs
^ I’m removing my OEM fog lights and replacing it with the fog light cover blanks. I’ll dremel the backing of the passenger-side to make it an air duct for an upcoming oil cooler. Since I’m removing my fog lights, I need to replace my DRL strips for the “w/o fogs” version that come in 13-16 BRZ Premium models. Because the DRL strips on Limited models have wires that are daisy-chained to the fogs.


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Early Timeline Photos:

April 10, 2015:
A local used car dealership tracked down a used low-mileage BRZ. They found a black 2013 BRZ Limited with 15k miles and had it transported from Seattle to Atlanta. The only thing done to it was the windows were tinted. Tinting the windows is always the very first thing I do to a car. They were done properly and were the percentage I’d go for. Score!

https://i.ibb.co/dfg8w06/just-bought2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/Qdj4GMZ/just-bought1.jpg

July 25, 2015:
I'm running forced induction now and the BRZ is ready for pickup. I finally sold my previous car, a 2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse. So I took the money that I got from the Eclipse and went to see Doug @ DBW Motorsports to place an order for a SBD turbo kit. SBD had just started shipping their "version 2" kit, which has 10psi of boost. Once the SBD kit arrived, DBW installed it, dyno-tuned it, and installed the Prosport Halo gauges. On a Mustang dyno it made 275.6 whp and 237.8 lb-ft of torque.

https://i.ibb.co/0XNfgVJ/DBW-alltheboost2-7-24-2015.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/qxK40HV/DBW-alltheboost3-7-25-2015.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/bHZSy4c/DBW-alltheb...-7-24-2015.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/L6tS27s/boost1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/WtMhbzb/boost5.jpg

August 16, 2015:
I took the BRZ to the Tail Of The Dragon with 86 Atlanta.

https://i.ibb.co/2Z8HCsG/BRZ-vs-WRX-vs-Supra-1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/rsp6RPz/BRZ-vs-WRX-vs-Supra-2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/3c2ZTxX/BRZ-vs-Supr...collage-02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/VLpXPw3/BRZ-vs-Supr...collage-01.jpg


==================================================


Photos of the Build:


Under The Hood & Power Upgrades:

https://i.ibb.co/RQJCL0S/3-CAD6-A2-C...0-DA75-ED2.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/SRVZ8m3/EC90-BC8-B-...-E72353-B7.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/xYS6S1X/titanium-catback1.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/kQ0qFLS/titanium-catback2.jpg


Wheels & Suspension:

https://i.ibb.co/YyDT2QM/avid1-av-20.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/pKc6fk0/springs-09-04-2014-02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HC90Jv6/springs-09-04-2014-05.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/7tMdTzR/springs-09-18-2014-02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/b7sThH0/11-08-2019-03.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/0f6vgc7/11-08-2019-04.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/k3zPJLx/11-08-2019-01.jpg


Exterior:

https://i.ibb.co/yy8bswg/45-AA9-ED7-...48-E226-B5.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/9whJxTd/48130379-2-...7-DB065-CA.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/LChWMqP/EC0-B5-A2-B...018-CE7-A5.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/YQHhw6b/1-DF28-BC2-...-B39-DD5-D.jpg


Interior:

https://i.ibb.co/r3DbGfb/D310395-E-B...AF451-A281.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/MGzDknd/9792-B702-8...84-CCE8-EE.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/KW57szt/ED2-C9-DDB-...01405-D7-E.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/P5qM7Ck/0064-EC91-2...8-A0732-F3.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/q0HhL3S/14-B57-E57-...EBDCA21719.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/HDMQQJb/DF50-F943-2...18-A88-F14.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/R0hN1DQ/CF30-ED1-E-...91-F1-D7-C.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/YhsTnjv/B2-ED8-C86-...F7-ADCE4-A.jpg

Good to see another SBD kit on a car!! In for updates!

Nice man! Make sure to pick up a Kate Oil Cooler through Chris Riggs. I love my SBD kit.

The chrome from your intercooler thats peeping out behind your bumper reminds me of viper fangs :lol:

But in all seriousness I really dig the car and I'm subbed for updates:)

Thanks everyone!

My oil temp stays between 200-220F even on hot days with spirited driving. I've never taken it to the track and am unsure if I ever will or not because it's a daily driver and I don't want to put too much strain on the car. Having said that, I shelled out the money for a turbo so I definitely enjoy myself with it. However it wasn't until this past Sunday's mountain run that I saw the oil temp go past 220F. I ran it hard and the turbo got a workout for sure, I started to slow it down and take it easy after the oil temp got to 235F. I let it cool down then it stayed around 220F. I think I'll definitely need to look into a Kate Oil Cooler sometime before next year's mountain run. This is still a fairly new car to me so I'm still learning the platform, when it comes to oil temp - how hot is too hot? I wasn't sure when I should've started to take it easy on the car so I just decided to take it easy when it hit 235F.

================================

FYI for anyone who is considering certain Prosport gauges:
I really like them so far, they seem accurate as far as I can tell and look nice. But my wideband AFR analog gauge has peak detection, so it blinks and beeps annoyingly everytime I let off the throttle and the AFR goes to 20. I have to disable the notification for peak detection everytime I start up the car which is an easy process but is a nuisance. So my advice is to get an AFR gauge that doesn't have peak detection. You can wire it so that it receives a constant from the battery but I don't know how much this gauge would pull and don't want it to drain my battery prematurely. So I just deal with it by disabling the peak notification for the AFR gauge everytime.

I just received my new wheels, updated my original post above.

looks good! with you running heavier weight oil, you're probably not in a terrible position with your oil temps. The problem is high temps with 0w-20 create a low pressure situation. If you daily drive year round it would be best to find an oil cooler kit with a thermostatic sandwich plate.

I just received the RCE Yellows today so those are going on this weekend, then the wheels will go on next week because my tires are on order. Updated my original post above.

Thanks! That oil cooler w/ thermostatic sandwich plate sounds like a good idea for the winter since it's a heavy weight oil, that I want to get warm so it thins out the viscosity somewhat and it gets cold enough in the winter to where warm-up might take awhile during a couple months of the year. I'd never heard of a thermostatic sandwich plate before so I had to Google it, I'm still new to turbos. Sounds like a good winter solution since the oil cooler wouldn't be very helpful during colder months, thanks for the advice.

Is there any difference in the concavity between the 8.5 and the 9.5? Any chance you could post a side by side? I'm considering going to the avid1 because it comes in bronze.

In the pic below - the 8.5" wide wheel is the one on the left, I didn't put the center cap in yet. The 9.5" wide wheel is on the right and has the center cap. The 9.5" doesn't look any more concaved than the 8.5" but this is for the AV-20's so I'm not sure how their other wheels are, whether they offer them concaved as an option or not. The AV-20 has a somewhat concaved look as its design but I know what you mean. I was originally looking at staggered Enkei Kojin's and was going to get the rear wheel concaved, these AV-20's definitely aren't like that.

http://i61.tinypic.com/2myoz1v.jpg

LOVE the choice of wheels as well. I just so happen to have the same wheels haha. Though I am running 17x9. Can't wait to see them on the car!

Very sexy wheel choice

- Renato

It reminds me of toothless...
 

Yeah his car reminds me of toothless from how to train your dragon...

Jaden

^^^ I see it.

Nice choice! I saw your build thread and they look really good on your car, it looks aggressive. My tires just came in today so I'm supposed to get them put on tomorrow. Unfortunately we couldn't get the springs done this past weekend. I bought this car used and the dealership didn't have the key to the wheel locks, we weren't able to break them off either. So I'm going to let the tire place remove the locks tomorrow when they install the new wheels then hopefully we'll try to do the springs this weekend once replacement lugs/locks are on the car. I'll post pics but unfortunately it'll have the factory wheel gap until this weekend :sigh:


:lol: I see it too. My wife was saying I should name the BRZ but I've never named any of my previous cars, so I didn't have any ideas. I think I might snag Toothless for a name LOL.

I just got the wheels put on, updated my original post above.

Got the springs put on last night, so I just updated the original post above with a couple pics. I can't imagine what a difference coilovers would've made because between the new wheels, tires and springs; it handles amazingly well. It feels like a different car, I love it.

Hey, I think I met you at the sweet hut meet a week or so ago. I was thinking RCE's too. Did you put yours on yourself or did you take it somewhere?

Yeah I was there at that 86 Atlanta sweet hut meet. Kevon did the install for my springs. You can shoot him a PM on Facebook or make a post on 86 Atlanta with his name tagged in it and say that Kris mentioned him.

It's a small world, isn't it?

It’s been a few years since I’ve updated. The car’s at 84k miles now and no problems with the SBD turbo kit or anything. Except my Prosport AFR gauge bit the dust after a few cold winters, it didn’t do well with the cold temps.

I just put on a pair of Valenti black/gold sequential smoked tails. I put on a pair of gasket ninjas with the 3M adhesive in hopes of keeping condensation at bay. I’m hoping to pick back up with some more mods over the next year.


https://i.ibb.co/1fNNZPj/CE45-E2-B5-...-CB6-FB4-D.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/7vbPxcg/C45-EDB77-D...FAFA223-BC.jpg

Hey, great thread. Thanks for the current update because as I was going through the first page I was wondering how your SBD kit is holding up these days in 2019!


So, I reckon you haven't had a cracked header like everyone keeps saying about the SBD kit?


If you don't mind me asking, are you sponsored by SBD? How has their customer support been over the years and have you needed any additional parts?


I'm also wondering what type of turbo came with your kit - is it a journal bearing or ball bearing, what size and manufacturer?


Of the 84k miles, how many were boosted miles?


Only wondering since I'm actually interested in the SBD kit due to the value it offers, but always keep turning away because of issues that people keep bringing up with it.

No cracked header over here, how do most ppl crack it?


I’ve never reached out to their customer support before. My tuner installed the kit and dynotuned it. I’ve swapped out the air filter with a generic Greddy mushroom filter twice over the past few years but that’s the only change that’s happened since it was installed.


I’ll have to check my notes and answer back on this one bc tbh I don’t recall lol. I think it was a Mitsubishi turbo but I’ll find out for you. My tuner said at the time of install that it’ll probably last me until ~80k miles on the odometer but so far so good.


I want to say the car was around ~30k miles on the odometer when the turbo kit was installed, so around ~54k miles boosted.

Edit: I almost forgot to add, I’ve had a reoccurring problem with blowing o2 sensors. I’ve gone through 3 of them so every time I have it replaced it only has a 1 year lifespan. Really sucks but I guess I’d rather have that problem than a more serious one. It’s a PITA though.

The turbo’s a Mitsubishi 20G CHRA with a 52.5mm inlet @ 10psi boost

Compressor: 52.5mm inducer/68mm exducer
TX05H Turbine: 49.2mm/55.8mm

I got tired of hearing annoying ticking/creak noises from the rear parcel shelf area. I followed a few posts I found on here plus the TSB. I popped the weld spots, sprayed white lithium grease into all the metal weld gaps. That helped a little bit but I ended up using Great Stuff insulating, expanding, spray polyurethane foam everywhere I had put the white lithium grease. Each step of the way the car would get quieter and I’d hear quieter noises that I didn’t notice before. I put foam weatherstripping under the black wireless receiver box, it’s metal clip and it’s bolt for cushioning cuz it was a big source of noise for me even though it seemed perfectly tightened.

Even those white plastic clips that the pop clips snap into behind the rear seat and for the tools in the trunk were a problem. I filled those up too with gorilla glue around the sides of them in desperation to get rid of the noises. I eventually popped out the white plastic pieces from the metal altogether out of frustration.

Applied Noico sound deadening to the trunk and rear parcel shelf to hopefully absorb any resonance going through the metal that was vibrating the plastics.

Car is tight as a drum now as far as those sounds go.

Update: this took care of the annoying rear parcel shelf noises for a month. Then the noises slowly came back due to bumps/etc flexing the chassis. It seems some extra chassis rigidity is needed to stop it from coming back.

https://i.ibb.co/wg4XJhS/01.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/443v0rL/02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/7vfXMFk/03.jpg

Updated the first post with pics of the new coilovers, courtesy of Atlanta Speed Company. Here’s a couple additional pics of the Whiteline toe arms and HKS coilovers

https://i.ibb.co/71xs2rW/11-08-2019-02.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/khSNZ7z/11-08-2019-05.jpg

Updated the OP with the interior pics.

I applied Noico sound deadening to my window switches to stop bass rattling. I also put a little on my door handles + locks where it makes contact with other parts.

I went ahead and applied it to the doors too since I had the door panels off for replacing the window switches, door handles and speaker pad/grill.

The metal ticking sound from the rear parcel shelf is back *sigh* well the lack of unwanted interior sounds was real nice while it lasted. At least the door area is rattle-free now and the bass response from the factory door speakers is improved.

https://i.ibb.co/pJnkWgc/8-DDBF920-1...D8-CF11-E7.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/4jz94Kn/29504-C4-D-...-DCA3-E055.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/2vGLFc5/20-A46696-6...E807-FB6-E.jpg

I pulled out my seat belts and sent them to Safety Restore (thanks matthiu95) to get them changed to red. While everything was out for the seat belts, I went ahead and used Noico sound deadening. I mainly focused on the outer skin.

https://i.ibb.co/nD5rthP/2-E5-BCF40-...-E97-C0-E7.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/fD03RVd/FAEF2392-19...-B6-A6-D44.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/dDzGd4v/5-D946-BB3-...74-CE2-EE4.jpg

Some extra chassis rigidity seemed like a good idea since the BRZ is an older, 100k mile car now. So I installed a Cusco ALC OS rear strut tower brace. It's hollow aluminum with a dry carbon fiber layer over it. I put a few layers of clearcoat on the carbon fiber the day before I installed it. That was for protection but it improved the look a little by giving some gloss and depth.

On here I read a lot of posts saying this is a waste. But I don’t know what they’re talking about, I could feel the difference immediately on the test drive. I'm not sure if it'd make much difference in a time attack but you definitely feel it and is worthwhile IMO.

https://i.ibb.co/0CNWvy2/B9984-FEF-F...-E5-F001-E.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/t3dTBVM/81210-DBC-6...6047-D93-C.jpg

I picked up a carbon fiber fuel door from 316-Composites on eBay. It's an OEM fuel door with a carbon fiber layer over it, they fabricate the carbon fiber in-house. It looks great in person, it has that 3D look to it. The fuel door is riveted on with 1/4" blind rivets, I've had a hell of a time trying to find a rivet gun that can do 1/4" rivets.

https://i.ibb.co/XYLPQCX/4-D6-DD6-B1...2175656-E5.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/TvVqHky/Fuel-Door-02.jpg

I picked up a pair of 2019 OEM BRZ headlights from eBay. They were in mint condition for $830. I’ve been watching eBay listings and they usually have wear and broken tabs, so I jumped on this listing.

https://i.ibb.co/cQDj4Tt/5-F95-BCAD-...96-B2-ED14.jpg

Nice, is that a straight swap with 13-16 BRZ’s?

On the 2017+ headlights you have to re-pin 2 of the wires for the turn signal to work, swapping the solid green and striped green wires.

I was following this video @7:10
https://youtu.be/W00DV9I9jp8

After that then it’ll work just like the 2013-16 headlights. The boomerang won’t be DRL like 17+ models, it’ll work like a parking light like usual for 13-16. Fingers crossed that the video is right. You’d have to do something like Diode Dynamics Always-On module to get the boomerangs you be a DRL like 17+ models do.

interesting, thanks!

@Diode Dynamics, would your always-on module work with the 2017+ lights on a 13-16 BRZ?

That’s a good question, I’m not sure. I’m just going to leave the boomerangs as parking lights cuz I’m keeping the 13-16 front bumper which has the DRL LED strip. So it’ll be the same functionality as 13-16 headlights (hopefully)

I put in the 2017+ BRZ OEM headlights. Everything functions the same as the 2013 headlights did - boomerangs come on as parking lights etc.

For anyone with a 13-16 BRZ thinking of putting in 17+ headlights, here are the steps:
1. Parked in front of my garage and turned on the headlights. Then used painter’s tape to mark the top and bottom of the light beam on the garage.
2. I followed the YouTube video. On the 2017+ headlights I swapped the solid green and striped white/green wires. The smallest jeweler’s flathead I had was too big to un-pin the green wires. I had to use large, curved pointed tip tweezers from an e-cig coil building kit lol.
3. I removed the front bumper and old headlights.
4. On the back of headlights you’ll have 2 connectors. The 8-pin connector for the headlights and a triangular 3-pin connector for the leveling motor. Near the triangular 3-pin connector, you’ll see a white plastic bolt that’s scored for a flathead in the middle. I used a flathead to adjust the white plastic bolt so it’s in the same position as the old lights. This manually adjusts the level of the headlights.
5. Installed the new lights the same as you’d reinstall the old ones, no difference.
6. Turned on the headlights and made sure the light beam matches up with the painter’s tape on the garage.
7. Tested the leveling motor with the dial in the cabin, running lights, parking lights, low beams, high beams, turn signals. All worked perfectly!

https://i.ibb.co/FhXyH0k/B2977-BD9-D...051-E27638.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/D7hFyZp/AFCC66-DD-9...D0-DDA7-B5.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/ZGvmcrY/B3131160-FB...4-D15177-D.jpg

^ Forgive the yellowish color in the boomerangs, I couldn’t get the photos to come out accurately. They’re actually a bright white with no yellow, the same as when they’re DRLs in the 2017+ BRZ’s.

Overnight parts from Japan!

Well, except for the overnight part. My wife bought me a pair of Baruta red carbon fiber paddle shifters as a fur-ther’s day gift!

https://i.ibb.co/qdHzKRG/2-EE4-E544-...3-F8411276.jpg

Installed the Baruta paddle shifters and steering wheel.

https://i.ibb.co/DCYpp5x/C756-E601-4...F1-C7-BF10.jpg

https://i.ibb.co/wMf0LtX/9-EB3-A325-...7-E6161-FD.jpg

I followed the tutorial below for the steering wheel and paddle shifters. It wasn’t a hard install, you just have to be very careful with the clock spring. Very very careful.

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30631