|
Member's Car Journals Car journals by our members. |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
12-01-2016, 01:45 PM | #1 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Yelsew's BRZ: The Story of Bloo
I decided it was about time to start throwing in some of my updates, modifications, and DIY projects, so here is a little story that I wrote up a couple of months ago.
Obligatory List of Modifications Exterior Lamin-X yellow fog light covers Rexpeed Hood Dampers FT86Club sticker for extra hp *Much more planned* Interior Custom Aluminum Shift Knob *A few more plans* Exhaust Open Flash Headers Zeta Performance Carbon Tip Catback Engine Open Flash Tune Apexi Panel Filter Carbon Fiber inlet tube *several more plans* Suspension/Wheels Enkei RPF1 17x8 +45 Gloss Gunmetal / Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 245/40r17 Stock wheels / Bridegestone Blizzak WS80 205/50r17 *more suspension planned* I have always been fascinated with racing and cars. My background is mechanical and automotive engineering, plus a few years designing, building, and racing with the formula SAE team at my school. My last car was a handed down MINI Cooper S. This one was the twin screw supercharged model, with a charger whine louder than the exhaust note. It was an amazingly fun little car. For about a year and a half, I had been endlessly researching a new daily driver. Towards the end of this process, I was almost certain that I would be sliding my butt into a 2011 WRX hatchback every morning. This excited me! I had found the dream car in my budget; AWD grip and turbo power! I had finally found the one: low miles, no mods, and a beautiful pearl white that I was in love with. Summer on 2014 I went to the local scion dealer and test drove a RS1.0 FRS in automatic and liked the feel of the car, but the dealer did not have a manual for me to look at. Even though he desperately tried to get me to leave with the auto RS1.0, I was holding out for a manual. Then, early in 2015 I drove a manual 2013 BRZ Limited with 20k miles, and went back to pick it up the next day, then joined the forum when I got home! No more guest lurking for me. My friends thought I was nuts for buying a light rwd car in central PA. How are you getting around in the snow? What about hauling more than yourself and a suitcase? Isn’t it as slow as molasses on dry ice in a freezer on Mt Everest in January? No! They all were wrong, because they were missing the point: The Drive. You all know this, right? I’m surely preaching to the choir. Honestly it was no less practical or any less powerful than my previous cars, all coupes with barely more space than the twins, plus I’m a tiny guy, and this car fit me like a bright blue Japanese glove. As of this post, I am about a week away from returning from my rotations, and getting to drive my car again. Hotels and rental cars wear on you when its been almost 6 months, and I can't wait to get back to her.
__________________
Last edited by yelsew; 03-28-2017 at 11:41 AM. Reason: Updates! |
The Following User Says Thank You to yelsew For This Useful Post: | Lonewolf (12-01-2016) |
12-01-2016, 01:46 PM | #2 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
I decided to make a custom shift knob. A boring day in the shop, some scrap aluminum, and a lathe produced this little project. Not perfect, but hey, it’s different right?
After driving for about 8 months, I sought my first new part. From my research here, I was drawn towards the Openflash Header and Tablet. After relieving a couple rolls of wrap and silicon spray from the racecar (she couldn’t use fibrous wrap anymore due to a rules change) I installed the header and flashed the stage 2 tune (plus some cold start and personalization tweaks). I loved the feel and sound from the header and tune. There was only a slight change to sound from the outside so I looked for a catback to round it all out. There are an unbelievable number of catbacks available for this car, and in my search for a subtle but decent looking exhaust that didn’t leave too big of a gap between the rear subframe and bumper cover, and didn’t weigh as much as stock, I found this deeply discounted Zeta Catback with carbon tips. Up on my uncle's lift and ON SHE GOES! Wow I was in love. I couldn't see myself swapping any more exhaust components as the sound is perfect to me. The carbon tips look great up close, and very subtle from a distance. I was thinking of wrapping up with a new inlet pipe with a drop in filter, but a surprise birthday gift left me with a newer generation Injen intake. After taking a look online, and reading up on maf scaling, I though, let’s give it a try! I’ve done a little tuning for the competition car, this should be worlds easier. After about 5 iterations of log and adjust, log and adjust, I think I’m happy with the MAF scaling now. The only thing that still bugs me is the occasional spike plus high IAT’s after long drives or on hot summer days. I’m still thinking of going to a drop in and inlet tube in the near future. That brings everything up to date as of now. Just waiting patiently to get to drive her again.
__________________
Last edited by yelsew; 12-02-2016 at 10:19 AM. |
03-28-2017, 11:03 AM | #3 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Weather finally warmed up around here so off come the Blizzaks and on go something exciting!
17x8 +45 Enkei RPF1 in OAKOS exclusive gloss gunmetal. (Big thanks to @OAKOS Automotive for amazing shipping time and great customer service) Tires are 245/40r17 Firestone Firehawk Indy 500 Steering got a little heavier as expected, but the grip went up, and the instability of the winter tires is gone. The tires respond well, and the car still feels playful at lower speeds, as well as more confident at higher speeds. I was worried that I couldn't break traction in a reasonably safe way, but even after scrubbing the tires in well, pulling on the wheel harder and applying throttle will easily step the rear out. Overall I'm extremely happy with them!
__________________
|
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to yelsew For This Useful Post: | Clipdat (03-28-2017), OAKOS Automotive (03-28-2017) |
03-28-2017, 11:50 AM | #5 | |
Proud of BOXER
Join Date: Dec 2012
Drives: Subaru Boxer
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 8,148
Thanks: 7,073
Thanked 6,846 Times in 3,675 Posts
Mentioned: 199 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Interesting choice of going 245 on a 8" wide wheel, but if you like how it feels then all good. I did not personally care for what I perceived as a soft sidewall on the Indy 500s when I had them, but nice to hear that you are enjoying them so far. You'll have to post up some longer term thoughts about performance and tread life as they wear in.
Nice find on the Zeta catback, haven't seen that name on the forums in a few years, but I remember they were one of the first to market originally with a catback. Looks like maybe the piping flow and path helps tame out the header's sound?
__________________
Quote:
|
|
03-28-2017, 01:05 PM | #6 | |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Yelsew's BRZ: The Story of Bloo
Quote:
As for the Zeta Catback, i still think they can be found new, and they look similar in design to one of the Fujitsubo exhaust which also is pretty tame
__________________
|
|
The Following User Says Thank You to yelsew For This Useful Post: | Clipdat (03-28-2017) |
04-24-2017, 11:52 AM | #7 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
After the fact, but last week I installed RCE Yellow springs along with Whiteline camber bolts and SPC lower control arms. Install went great except that one sway bar link bolt was crazy rusted and took quite a bit of time to get back together.
Then Sunday was the BRZ's first autocross! Event was amazing, and I really enjoyed the course. It was laid out almost more like a road course than an autocross, with long straights and large sweeping turns. I believe I came out second in STX, only to be beat by a Golf R32, who definitely has a leg up on speed with the way this course was set up. Not very forgiving for the low power but agile cars who had a hard time beating out the heavier, high horsepower cars.
__________________
|
The Following User Says Thank You to yelsew For This Useful Post: | Racecomp Engineering (08-20-2018) |
06-02-2017, 01:40 PM | #8 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Drives: 2015 BRZ
Location: Texas
Posts: 693
Thanks: 213
Thanked 336 Times in 254 Posts
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
|
|
06-02-2017, 01:55 PM | #9 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Ill take a picture today. I wanted to wait until after the springs settled which was a day or two, but forgot to post up.
__________________
|
06-02-2017, 08:55 PM | #10 | |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
__________________
|
|
The Following User Says Thank You to yelsew For This Useful Post: | Vital (06-03-2017) |
06-02-2017, 09:13 PM | #11 |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Its a little late, but here are a few photos from the last two autocross events I was at. They are all hosted by the Akron Sports Car Club, and all the photos are credit to their photographer, not me.
The first event was nice and sunny, but my second event was pouring rain the entire morning heat! And event #2
__________________
|
06-03-2017, 09:03 AM | #12 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2016
Drives: 2015 BRZ
Location: Texas
Posts: 693
Thanks: 213
Thanked 336 Times in 254 Posts
Mentioned: 5 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Nice man looks good! Also does 17x8 +45 on a 245/40 fit easily up front? Or did you need to add camber?
|
06-03-2017, 09:50 AM | #13 | |
Little Member
Join Date: Apr 2015
Drives: Bloo - The 13' BRZ
Location: OHIO
Posts: 353
Thanks: 373
Thanked 344 Times in 195 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
Fits just fine, even with no camber. From what I saw, the +45 sits inside and the +35 needs camber to do so. Also, plenty of room between the spring perch and the tire.
__________________
|
|
06-04-2017, 12:00 AM | #14 |
Mountain Runner
Join Date: Jan 2014
Drives: 2013 Subaru BRZ Limited 6MT
Location: Boone, NC and Charlotte area NC
Posts: 714
Thanks: 489
Thanked 142 Times in 105 Posts
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 2 Thread(s)
|
You have a near identical setup to me lol, if you're looking for a great budget swaybar combo to add to it even more, grab the smaller of the front sway bars that Perrin offers, and then grab an OEM Subaru WRX (2008-2014) rear sway bar! The front is adjustable to about 25% stiffer or 75% stiffer than stock, and the rear would be about 45% stiffer than stock. Let's you dial on your handling just a bit while taking out even a bit more roll... for cheap!
__________________
2013 BRZ 6MT Limited: "Quick as Hell, on a Budget" Build • Ceramic Coated Gruppe-S UEL/OP • Konig Hypergrams • RS4 200tw • Koni Yellows, Eibach Springs • Ferodo DS2500's
|
The Following User Says Thank You to Keenercarguy For This Useful Post: | yelsew (06-04-2017) |
|
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
A story for the day | humfrz | Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] | 2 | 05-31-2016 09:57 AM |
An OEMAudio+ story | twag4 | Electronics | Audio | NAV | Infotainment | 4 | 09-16-2015 07:25 PM |
Story | pushrod | Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] | 780 | 05-12-2015 09:41 AM |
The Never-Ending Story | tahdizzle | Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] | 28 | 07-03-2014 01:04 PM |
Another dealership story... | frosty86 | Scion FR-S / Toyota 86 GT86 General Forum | 12 | 10-16-2012 07:27 AM |