[Jordan Silveira]

I'm back my FT86Club comrades and you read it right! BRZ3N has finally hit the big 3-0! As it sits now I'm a little over 30,000 on the odometer. With that said, I'm back to tell you what's going on with BRZ3N! Last time I mentioned I picked up the STI Performance Sports Muffler, I figured I should let you know that I still love it and it is easily one of my favorite things I've done to BRZ3N. What I've done since then is quite the laundry list as per usual on this build thread. No worries though as I'll be sure to cover everything that's been altered and changed since the last update. First, I added the OEM black housing tail lights that I previously referred to. I also added the Diode Dynamics Tail as Turn Module to them for the more modern look with the revolver acting as the turn signal.







Overall, I'm really happy with the look of these lights as I believe they fit perfectly with the black secondary color scheme that Subaru intended for the Series.HyperBlue vehicles. Next up, I took BRZ3N down to AutoTuned for the bulk of the updates done to BRZ3N in this post. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again but if you live in the Southern California region or even the Central Coast, AutoTuned is what I would consider the best shop for anything 86 or twin related. Young Tea is truly a savant when it comes to our cars and if you can get some time in and around him you'll leave with nothing but the best work and service around! I strongly urge you check out AutoTuned if you haven't already. I can personally say BRZ3N as it sits right now would not resemble anything close to what it looks like now without the help of Young and his team at AutoTuned.

Regarding the work done at AutoTuned, here's the long list of what was done.

• Driveshaft Shop Carbon Fiber 1-Piece Driveshaft

• MTEC Shift Springs

• STI Flexible Draw Stiffener

• TRD Shifter Bushing

• STI Short Shifter

• Fumoto F108S Oil Drain Valve

• Motul Gear 300 Oil Swap

First up let's talk about the driveshaft! I will be the first to admit I questioned whether or not this would make any significant difference. I comprehend the idea of rotational mass and that it's half the weight of the stock one. The idea that the power can be almost consolidated by not having to independently spin a second piece of the driveshaft seems to be a clear advantage. That being said, let me say that I completely underestimated this alteration. Could the following be a placebo from my butt dyno? 100% but regardless let me tell you that BRZ3N has never felt lighter on it's feet! It's more eager and peppy now than I can recall in all of the time that I've owned it. I want to add that I've heard one too many times the "header, tune, E85" method to getting the most out of this car while remaining naturally aspirated. That may very well be true as I admit I am on a stock tune and don't run with E85 as of yet. Nonetheless, I added a quality header on BRZ3N and I felt it was a bit more eager and unleashed on the top end of the power band. I also recall the TRD Performance Air Intake being a noticeable difference maker in the early portions of the power band, mainly in the department of throttle response. Furthermore, I mention all this to say that the driveshaft in my opinion has had a bigger effect at least in the immediate presence than those other two additions to the car. I feel not only a more instant throttle response but also a more free and eager range when I'm rowing through the gears under acceleration.



Now that we've talked about the driveshaft, let's talk about the entirety of the shifting experience in BRZ3N! Looking to before and now after, I believe my shifting experience has been completely overhauled and is a mostly complete project at this point in time. Before doing anything I think you'll find my impressions to be like many others. The shifting in a stock 86 is pretty fantastic from the start. There's not much to be desired as it strikes a great balance between just notchy enough, but still smooth and precise. The only thing I feel was a bit noticeable was the wiggle room or play in the shifter both in and out of gear. Now whether that's due to the shifter springs or the shifter bushing, I'm not quite sure. However, I can say that switching both out has pretty much eliminated the play in the shifter. As such, this has resulted in a much tighter and notchy experience overall. My impressions regarding the MTEC shift springs is that they eliminate most of the left and right play in the shifter and tighten it up when rowing through your shift gates. Overall, a pretty solid and worthy modification. Moreover, to discuss the TRD shifter bushing I have to do a deep dive into the crazy story of the STI short shifter and the role it played in my time at AutoTuned.





This may be a convoluted story but I'll try to be detailed on the account of the moving pieces here to ensure comprehension of the situation. To start, I had the grand idea of combining the DSS Driveshaft, the TRD quickshifter and the STI short shifter. I presumed this setup to be the trifecta of shifting perfection! However, perception is not always reality and life is not always what it seems. I want to give a disclaimer to note that I was aware that the TRD quickshifter sometimes had fitment issues with aftermarket driveshafts. Either way, I still figured let's give it a shot and see if we can't get all three to take to each other. Here is where Young and by extension myself came to realize the first issue in the plan. The TRD quickshifter has an adapter that fits the bearing at the bottom of the stock shifter. I assumed the stock shifter and STI short shifter had identical bearings where the linkage connects at the bottom of each shifter. BOY WAS I WRONG! For some odd reason, the STI short shifter has a significantly bigger, wider, and thicker bearing than the stock one. This means that the TRD quickshifter isn't compatible with the STI short shifter. However, I said before that Young Tea is a savant and I wasn't kidding. Young took it as somewhat of a challenge and went to work finding a way to make these two shifters compatible. What was required was extensive grinding down of the STI short shifter bearing to resemble what the stock one looks like. Moreover, after a decent amount of time and hard effort grinding away, Young got the two shifters to work together and be compatible. I told you all he's pretty amazing! The result were absolutely tremendous! The shifts were both incredibly short and precise! The best comparison I can draw from is that it felt like what you get from an IRP short shifter without the obnoxious shift lever. Think of it as a stealth IRP setup. Vic, one of Young's apprentices has an IRP short shifter in his BRZ and said this felt pretty much identical to his setup. I myself have shifted a couple times with the IRP so I can second this notion. I do want to say however, that this setup while being as short as IRP is just as notchy if not more than the IRP. I also should note though that while I am not a fan of the IRP shift lever and find it far too obnoxious for my liking, it does serve a purpose! The purpose being leverage, the STI and TRD mating lacked any leverage beyond the stock shift knob and as such, the notchy shifting felt more much more dramatic. I mean it was short but also very stiff! I do want to say that at the time of trying this setup, the car had the MTEC shift springs, TRD shifter bushing, TRD quickshifter, and STI short shifter added on. The story isn't over though as here's the heartbreaker .





I pretty much adorned this shifting setup but as Young came to find out, it wouldn't fit or be compatible with the DSS driveshaft . The three combined meant the driveshaft would hit the shifter assembly . Ultimately, this resulted in a choice between both shifters OR one shifter (TRD or STI) and the DSS driveshaft. What I chose was the STI short shifter and the DSS driveshaft. As much as it pains me to admit, I went this way in large part due to members expressing concerns in the durability of the TRD quickshifter kit with issues being reported that the adapter bolt routinely loosens up over time. I will say however, that I kept the TRD quickshifter in case sometime in the future I ever decide to get out of the DSS driveshaft and go back to the stock one. Nonetheless, for all those who want the IRP short shifter, this may or may not be an appealing route to go. Keeping all things considered.



Finally, as always I try my best to always be here to answer any questions, comments, concerns, issues, quandaries, etc. Please always feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to address it. Looking ahead for BRZ3N, I am very pleased with the progress I've made thus far but I'm far from completion or stopping anytime soon. In the immediate, I am working on something with the TRD Aero Stabilizing Trunk Cover and the STI fender blades I recently acquired! I'm also planning on getting some rubber soon so I can mount the 18 inch STI Enkei wheels I've had in waiting for a few years now. I also still need to powder coat the Brembos I have, in order to prepare those for BRZ3N! As always, I still have quite a bit to do but I try to be open and transparent with my build when and where I can be. Anyway, much love and gratitude for taking the time to stop by and continuing to follow my build journey! I hope you stick around and are enjoing this adventure as much as I am. As per usual, there’s always more to come. See you on the flipside! Bless'm!