My 1st BRZ, 1st week of use, and 1st post here

[TC996]

Hello all,

This is my first post here. Been reading the very useful info here in this forum for the last couple months. Thank you all for the contribution of the good info! It has led me to the purchase of a Crystal White 2018 BRZ Limited w/Performance Package and the entry-level prep for track use.

A little about me, I have worked in the automotive industry for 25 years. Started as an mechanic's helper and worked my way to crew chief and then race team manager of a Daytona 24-hour Porsche racing team. Now I manage a race car/development shop. My personal track vehicle for the last 5 years has been a modified 997 GT3 that I use in HPDE advanced run group. I came to realize that driving a GT3 on Hoosiers in HPDE traffic environment where there are cars with varying capabilities I have became too reliant on the performance of the car and has loss some of my car control skills. So, my thinking is a BRZ will help with getting reacquainted with the control skills(at a different pace than the GT3), and it'll be A LOT fun! The first time I drove a BRZ was in DirtFish Rally School in 2016. It was an absolute blast to drive this car in a low grip environment so I really looking forward to driving a BRZ on asphalt!

Driving a BRZ for the first time at DirtFish 2016. The guy before me knocked that cone. LOL
DirtFish (3) by Tom Chan, on Flickr


Last Thursday I took a one-way flight to Tindol Subaru in NC to drive this '18 Crsytal White BRZ straight back to MD before the next snow fall.
001 by Tom Chan, on Flickr

002 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


The staff at Tindol Subaru are very hospitable and a pleasure to work with. (which unfortunately I can't say that about all car dealers).
003 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


The "break-in" was the 8-hour drive home, mostly in 6th gear, at varying rpm and throttle load between 3-4K rpm. Stopped twice only for fuel/restroom.
004 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


I have read that most BRZ owners prefer to do their first oil change at the factory recommendation of 7500 miles. My personal preference is on a new car is under 1000 miles. Also, I am taking this car to the track this Saturday so it makes sense to me to change the oil sooner rather than later.
005 by Tom Chan, on Flickr



Basic track prep as recommended by the experienced forum members. The brake fluid and clutch fluid flush took almost two 500mL bottles.
006 by Tom Chan, on Flickr

009 by Tom Chan, on Flickr

I happened to have two bottle of AP R3 fluid from another project and its amber color making it easy to distinguish from the OEM yellow-ish color during the flush.
008 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


Installing SPC front camber bolts.
010 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


I have read that the OEM front upper strut bolt is 16mm, and the lower strut bolt is 14mm. By swapping the lower 14mm bolt to the upper strut hole can gain more negative camber.
On this particular car, and perhaps on this production year the OEM upper bolt is already 14mm so swapping the bolts with the lower won't change the camber. As recommended, I did loosen the upper bolt and push the the spindle all the way inward. It was approximate 1mm of movement pushing the spindle inward.
011 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


Most of my career is working on later-model(water-cooled) Porsche cars. On these cars we add shims and/or camber plates to increase negative camber. For example, on a Porsche GT3 adding 1mm of shim usually adds 0.1 degree of camber. The ratio of course depends on where the distance is added relative to the wheel axle centerline. Anyway, this is my first rodeo using camber bolts. I think its a clever approach. Here's images of before and after the camber bolt in the lower strut hole.

Before.
012 by Tom Chan, on Flickr

After.
013 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


Close up of the difference between OEM lower bolt and SPC camber bolt at Max negative position.
014 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


I didn't find a video of the range of adjustment so I made one showing Min to Max range of movement.

I put the camber bolts in the lower strut hole in the Max negative position and drove home without alignment the car. I should have done an alignment check for the OEM numbers before I changed anything but I did this work in a time constraint at night on the garage floor after the shop closed. Visually the front wheels looked pretty "cambered out" compared to how I remember to look before the change. And I didn't change the toe that night. On the drive home and the next morning driving to work the car felt "lazy" in turn entry.


On the next day I had an opportunity to use the alignment machine at the shop.
016 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


The front camber bolts didn't change as much as I thought but I'll take it. My guess is the OEM front camber was -0.7 deg. The camber bolts doubled that number to -1.4 deg. The lazy turn-in that I felts was from camber bolt installation that resulted in almost 2.0mm of total front toe-in. Some cars aren't that sensitive but the BRZ is very sensitive toe changes. Added a touch of rear toe-in that should put the power down a little better on exit.
Here's the before and after alignment numbers.
018 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


Lastly, a local parts store supplied me with the wrong part # oil filter. It fit fine so I went on with the oil change that night. But something like this just bugs me to no end because I have OCD. So the next day I purchased a correct part # oil filter thinking it was going to take one minute to replace...NO!...without draining the oil from the pan screwing the filter makes a total mess from the residual oil! I know better next time.
019 by Tom Chan, on Flickr


That's my story. Today is one week with the BRZ. Going to the track this Saturday.

[Stang70Fastback]

Originally Posted by TC996

So the next day I purchased a correct part # oil filter thinking it was going to take one minute to replace...NO!...without draining the oil from the pan screwing the filter makes a total mess from the residual oil! I know better next time.

Glad you're enjoying the car! Just wanted to point out that this shouldn't have been an issue unless you had, like, literally just turned the car off a few moments earlier. Let the car sit for a few minutes after shutting it off, and you can change the filter with no mess whatsoever. I change my oil filter twice as frequently as I do my 10,000 mile oil changes, and it's simply a matter of letting the car sit for a minute before swapping the old filter with a new one.

[NeverInTime]

Welcome to the community, and congrats on your new BRZ! As a side note, you may want to create a new thread in the Member's Car Journals section of the forum if you want to continue posting your experiences. I found everything you posted really interesting, but this format does belong more over in that area than it does in the BRZ General forum.

I also highly recommend swapping tires as soon as you can off of the stock Michelins. The stock tires are great for skidding around and having some fun, but not so great in situations where stopping distance and grip are more important.

EDIT: Welp, scratch that part about creating a new thread in the Member's Car Journals section, looks like the thread was moved anyways.

[James H]

Congrats! BRZ looks cool in white. Curious as to whether the engine need to have a break in period before going to the track? There seems to be different opinions and also when to switch to full synthetic oil. I heard that regular oil should be used for the break in period?

[Williampreza]

On this particular car, and perhaps on this production year the OEM upper bolt is already 14mm...

The threads on the top and bottom strut bolts are the same, but the top bolt has a larger 16mm barrel that necks down to the threads. Not sure why they did it that way, but if you pull the top bolt, you'll see what I mean. Unless they did change it, in which case that'll be useful news.

Nice car! Welcome!

[TC996]

Originally Posted by Stang70Fastback

Glad you're enjoying the car! Just wanted to point out that this shouldn't have been an issue unless you had, like, literally just turned the car off a few moments earlier. Let the car sit for a few minutes after shutting it off, and you can change the filter with no mess whatsoever. I change my oil filter twice as frequently as I do my 10,000 mile oil changes, and it's simply a matter of letting the car sit for a minute before swapping the old filter with a new one.

Thank you for the info. You are 100% correct, Sir. I was impatient swapping the filter outside in a parking lot just before getting dark.

[TC996]

Originally Posted by NeverInTime

Welcome to the community, and congrats on your new BRZ! As a side note, you may want to create a new thread in the Member's Car Journals section of the forum if you want to continue posting your experiences. I found everything you posted really interesting, but this format does belong more over in that area than it does in the BRZ General forum.

I also highly recommend swapping tires as soon as you can off of the stock Michelins. The stock tires are great for skidding around and having some fun, but not so great in situations where stopping distance and grip are more important.

EDIT: Welp, scratch that part about creating a new thread in the Member's Car Journals section, looks like the thread was moved anyways.

Thank you, Sir.
I will replace the OEM tires right after having some fun with them!

[TC996]

Originally Posted by James H

Congrats! BRZ looks cool in white. Curious as to whether the engine need to have a break in period before going to the track? There seems to be different opinions and also when to switch to full synthetic oil. I heard that regular oil should be used for the break in period?

Thanks!

In my opinion the break in period on modern cars is subjective. I'm good to taking it to the track with ~800 miles on the odometer after 1st oil change.

Just for reference, the shop that I work at works on a lot of factory-built race cars. These cars are not street legal. They go right from the trailer to the track. The first track day is the break in. When change oil after day one and they're good to go.

[TC996]

Originally Posted by Williampreza

The threads on the top and bottom strut bolts are the same, but the top bolt has a larger 16mm barrel that necks down to the threads. Not sure why they did it that way, but if you pull the top bolt, you'll see what I mean. Unless they did change it, in which case that'll be useful news.

Nice car! Welcome!

Ah! Thanks! I didn't realize that the upper bolt is a shoulder bolt. I'll have to pull upper bolt for more camber.

[Williampreza]

Originally Posted by TC996

Ah! Thanks! I didn't realize that the upper bolt is a shoulder bolt. I'll have to pull upper bolt for more camber.

That's the word I was wracking my brain for last night! Thx!

[JeremyR]

Congrats on the car man! I'm really interested in your fluid change method. I'm guessing it's so you don't need someone to pump the pedals, right?

[TC996]

Originally Posted by JeremyR

Congrats on the car man! I'm really interested in your fluid change method. I'm guessing it's so you don't need someone to pump the pedals, right?

Thanks!
You're correct, I was changing the fluid by myself. I normally use a Motive PowerBleeder at the shop(which pressurizes the reservoir and pushes the fluid out) but I don't have an adapter to fit the BRZ reservoir. A vacuum pump served just as well, it did take more time than a PowerBleeder, and I had sore hand from working the pump!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Welcome! I'm hoping to do a Dirtfish class this year. What type of session did you do?

- Andrew

[TC996]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Welcome! I'm hoping to do a Dirtfish class this year. What type of session did you do?

- Andrew

Hi Andrew. Thanks!
I did the one-day course at DirtFish. It was an adventure...took a flight after work on a Friday from BWI to SEA, landed after midnight, hopped in a rental car and drove for hour and a half, slept in a motel for 3 hours and the fun-filled begun. Drove back to the airport right after the course ended to make the last flight out. It was worth every minute! You must go if you can. Try not to rush like I did though.
Please tell Myles Tom@TPC said hi.