smbstyle's SWP BRZ

[Deep Six]

Love that picture ! And very impressed with that lap....hauling!!!

[TWMPerformance]

Serious driving sir! Car looks great with the new wheels and mild drop. Keep up the content and build quality

Renato
Team TWM Performance

[smbstyle]

Made it into print; Randy Pobst liked the BRZ so much he wrote an article about it in SportsCar magazine; "Best Handling Car I've Ever Driven".

[Pat]

Originally Posted by smbstyle

Made it into print; Randy Pobst liked the BRZ so much he wrote an article about it in SportsCar magazine; "Best Handling Car I've Ever Driven".

Anyone have a copy of that article they can post here? I'd love to see it.

[ATL BRZ]

That's awesome!

[philooo]

can you post the exact setup of the car that randy drove ?
I see your part list on page 1 of your journal but I think you should immortalize the setting considering such praise
... and I may ... may want to copy it LOL

[zeppy]

Originally Posted by smbstyle

So a few updates, did another night event in February and ended up getting my new personal best lap-time, a 2:35.9 (in the dark!)

And also got a killer hi-res shot from a recent Road Atlanta event at turn 3 with the right side up in the air over the apex curb:



Then got a 2 boxes of goodies in from Essex Parts..... pics soon.

Can't get over this shot! It's my new wallpaper!

[ka-t_240]

Also wanting to see an update on the current set up. Are you still on stock sway bars? Did you ever install an oil cooler?

[smbstyle]

Thanks guys.

Here's my setup as it was driven by Randy Pobst:

Motegi MR125 wheels 17x7.5 with 215/45R17 Nitto NT-01 tires
RCE T2's w/ their recommended "out-of-the-box" settings
Stock top hats
Crash bolts
-2.0* camber up front with -2.2* in the rear
Alignment with a little toe out front and slight toe in rear
Corner balanced / aligned by Sick Sideways of Sebring, FL
OpenFlash Tablet custom tuned by Doug of DBW Motorsports in Georgia
HKS Drop-in Filter w/ snorkel mod
RevWorks UEL Header
Stock Overpipe
DC Catless Front pipe
Stock Midpipe
Stock Muffler
Agency Power harness bar
Schroth Profi II ASM 4 point belts
Cobalt Friction XR2 pads (all corners)
Togue Factory Brake Cooling Kit


NO aftermarket sway bars and NO oil cooler.

[smbstyle]

BBK, finally!!

Bit the bullet and went with the AP Sprint Kit BBK from Essex Parts

http://www.essexparts.com/shop/compl...86-bundle.html

After the first weekend, I don't know why I didn't do this sooner.

First off, great customer service from Essex Parts. Jeff and his team did a great job taking care of me, putting the package together and very straight forward installation guide with photos as well. Also after the sale, following up to see how the kit was performing. I'd recommend them to anyone. They are truly passionate about the products they sell and really care about your experience with them and the performance of the products.

The installation was a breeze, the only additional difficulty I had was having to remove the TF Brake Cooling kit for the OEM setup. The TF brake cooling kit will not work with the AP kit, as the backing plate for the TF kit will offset the rotor from where it is intended to be in relationship to the caliper.

My biggest gripe with the OEM brakes not really with the braking performance overall, but the fact that I was going through a set of pads every 3 track days, and a set of rotors every 7 days. It was killing me on consumables. Also, having to rebuild the calipers every 6 months sucked, and was having severe pad knockback issues when exiting a corner and getting on the curbing at track out. Also, during the hot days at Sebring with a passenger in the car, I was getting a soft pedal, which we determined to be the brake fluid compressing.

Now that we've put 8 track days on the car, and approximately 25 heat cycles on the current setup, I must say I am impressed by the AP Sprint Kit. The pads (Cobalt Friction XR2) are literally on the backing plate (whoops!) but I'm hardly seeing any heat checking at all on the rotors; the AP rotors look like the OEM ones did after 1 or 2 sessions. If we were on the OEM rotors, by 8 days, they'd be heat checked to death, with some major cracks. The best part is how much we've extended the life of a set of pads by more than double. We went from 3 days to 7.5 days on a set of pads. I also found that we could hardly get the Cobalt XR2 pads up to temperature, which goes to show you how efficient the AP kit is vs. OEM, where we were able to get the XR2 pads up to temp on our out-lap by the first corner. We'll be going to a lower temp pad up front next time around (XR3's), which also means it'll be even friendlier to the rotors. Very consistent pedal feel, NO knockback which is comforting, and noticeable increase in braking performance.

[smbstyle]

Also tried to beat my personal best (2:35.9 @ Sebring) which was done at night in very cool conditions on a corded set of NT01s, but it was just too damn hot.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cZ248hh9IWU"]BRZ at Sebring with Chin Motorsports - 2:36 Lap - YouTube[/ame]

[smbstyle]

Made the Essex blog, now I'm famous(er):

http://www.essexpartsblog.com/news/c...-sprint-review

[philooo]

quick question, so you have no more cooling duct with your ap racing spring setup ?
and you still want pads that works at lower temperature XR3 instead of XR5...
do I get this right the kit is so good not only you don't need the ducts, you are even going to a lower temperature pad

[gatorac]

Just for the record, this pic was taken before my brake upgrade (notice the stock wheels). That's the primary reason I'm not in front........