[xxBrun0xx]

40k mile update:
-I've continued oil changes @ 7500, and she has not burned any between changes so far. Last change I switched from OEM to Castrol Long-Life Synthetic 0w20 + K&N oil filter. Still planning on changing @ 7500, will be interesting to see how it holds up.
-I've switched from Valvoline tranny fluid to Motul Gear 300. On stock fluid and Valvoline, I had a tough time getting into 2nd when the car was cold and car would grind into 5th when transmission was hot and I didn't rev-match perfectly when the lever went into gear. Since switching to the Motul, both problems have completely gone away. The hype is real!
-I switched to a Kartboy shifter from the TRD Quickshift kit. Kartboy feels much more solid and having the lever a bit lower is nice. With the TRD shifter, shifts were much more notchy and there was some free play while in gear that the Kartboy has gotten rid of. My only complaint with the Kartboy is the rattle at higher RPMs that no one seems to have any idea how to fix. I've given up and just accepted it, and I still much prefer it to stock. It's worth noting that the TRD shifter did exactly the same thing.
-After having the Openflash header and Openflash stage 2 93 octane tune for 15k miles, I still love it. I really think people should go this route before considering boost, this really wakes the car up!
-Added a TRD catback about 10k miles ago. Love the sound, but at times I miss how quiet stock + OFT header was. That being said, it has a lot of tone and very little drone on the highway, one of the best setups I've heard, especially if you're looking for something just a little louder than stock but not obnoxious.
-I've taken apart my doors and fixed a few rattles, but I've got one on the driver side near the bottom of the door that's been driving me nuts. Sounds like a screw rolling around when the car is cold, but can't hear it at all when the car is warm. Going to pull the carpet out when it warms up and find it.
-I originally bought a spare set of tails, cut them open, and painted them. After putting them on the car, I really didn't like the way they looked, although I imagine on any other color, they'd look great. This is a PAIN IN THE ASS and I wouldn't recommend this project unless you are very good at painting, have a LOT of free time, and have at LEAST 1 set of spare tail lights. Cutting them is tough, but sealing them back up and keeping the lenses clean and not scratching them at all during the process is VERY hard.
-Got a set of Continental Extreme Contact D/W's from a friend right before winter. The difference between those and stock was night and day. Steering feel was better, grip in the wet was MUCH better, they're just as quiet on the highway, and dry grip was really impressive. I was a big supporter of stock tires, but after driving on those for a week, I wish I had swapped tires much sooner. I'm a fan.


Overall, still loving the car. I looked pretty seriously at a 15 mustang gt, but the amount I would have had to spend to get decent seats with heat and nav was insane, and the dealership I was talking with offered me $5500 less than blue book trade in on a fair condition car. No thanks! Think at this point the car is worth more to me than anyone would be willing to pay and I honestly don't know what I would get if I had to get something else. There aren't a lot of cars for $25k that come with suede heated seats, nav, hids, rwd, lsd, <2800 lbs, auto climate control, direct 6 speed manual, look like they cost $60k, sound great, are reliable, and get 30 mpg. I bet, inflation adjusted, it's actually the cheapest sports car of all time, and you really get a lot for the money.