Tatsu333's 2020 BRZ Sport Tech RS

[Boccaccio]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

For now, I'm sticking with the plan to try the headers and overpipe with the stock cat-back first, and then look at exhaust options only if the resulting sound is unpleasant or if I feel that there's more power to be gained (knowing that a cat-back is likely to only gain a few hp at best) or I've run out of other things to spend money on...LOL.

Hey, Tatsu333

Another option to consider is the Aros exhaust.

Also from Italy and extremely popular among the IT 86/BRZ community.

You can mount the stock tips onto the catback, no issue.

https://www-arosmarmitte-it.translat...l&_x_tr_pto=sc

[Tatsu333]

My wife surprised me with a set of H&R Sport springs for Christmas, and I had already picked up a set of Pedders caster/camber top mounts. I was just waiting on a friend of mine to have time to do the install at his shop...and then my business (personal training, which I run out of my garage gym at home) got shut down again due to COVID restrictions.

So, I found myself with more time than money (again) and my garage was available, so I decided to tackle the install myself.

I combined the info from a couple of DIY's (this one and this one) to do the install without using spring compressors, and I also did both front and rear without unbolting the bottom end of the struts / shocks, just tilting them outward to remove the springs.

I had nothing else to do today, so I took my time, finishing the job in about 3-1/2 hours. I did the front end first, then the rear (because for some reason jacking up the rear while the front is on jackstands freaks me out).

A couple of small details that I don't recall from the DIY's were that I had to undo the mounting bracket for the headlight leveling sensor on the left rear control arm, and I swapped over the coil spring isolators / sleeves from the stock rear springs onto the H&R's to help prevent any creaking / squeaking. H&R also doesn't include shorter bump stops, so you have to trim 0.75" off the stock ones front and rear. A SHARP, brand-new exacto knife blade made quick work of those.

Measured drop immediately after install was 1.0" drop in front and 0.5" in rear, though I expect it will settle in a bit lower (based on my previous experience with H&R springs on my old car). My jack just barely cleared the front lip with the front wheels sitting on 2x8 blocks, so I think I'll pick up some low-profile ramps like these from Amazon at some point this year.

I'll update on the measured drop after the springs have settled and will give some driving impressions after I've taken it in for an alignment in a couple of weeks time.

Here are some pics:

New springs and top mounts in their boxes:




H&R front spring vs. stock (I think the stock one is upside down):




H&R front spring installed:




H&R rear spring vs. stock:




H&R rear spring installed (with factory coil spring insulators / sleeves):




Front 3/4 view after install:




Side view after install:




Rear 3/4 view after install:




Front corner shot to show additional negative camber:



The top mounts are supposed to add about 0.75 degrees negative camber and 0.75 degrees caster - looks about right to me.

So - it's a mild drop, as expected. The car doesn't look like a 4x4 anymore, which is really all that I was after.

Hopefully the ride and handling is improved, or at least not made any worse! H&R doesn't publish their spring rates, but I would expect that they're similar to Eibach's.

[Tatsu333]

OK - springs have settled, and drop currently measures 1.25" front and rear.

"Before" measurement from hub to fender lip was 14.5" front and rear, and now it's 13.25". A bit more drop than I anticipated (since the springs are spec'd at a 0.85" drop), but I do like how it looks...

Ride is still pretty decent - definitely firmer than stock, but not teeth-rattling stiff. Handling feels a bit better overall (I have an appointment for an alignment (and a baseline dyno!) in a couple of weeks, so I'm still not really pushing it). A very noticeable (and a bit unexpected) difference was how much less movement there seems to be when accelerating / shifting up. I didn't feel like it was oscillating front/rear on the stock springs and thought it was just driveline slop because the motor mounts were too soft (it was sloppy enough to trigger the traction control at times), but it is a VERY noticeable improvement in this behaviour, so perhaps it was a bit more suspension-related than I thought. Might make me rethink whether to spend the money on the STI motor and transmission mounts...

Needs a wash, but here are some pics since it was a nice sunny day today!

Front 3/4 view:



Rear 3/4 view:



Side View:

[Tatsu333]

Finally got my alignment done following the install of the H&R springs. I asked that they get the camber even side to side, and the fronts equal to or slightly more negative than the rear, with zero toe in front and just a tiny bit of toe-in in the rear.

Final settings were zero toe, -2.2 degrees camber both sides in the front, and -0.05" toe each side and -2.1 degrees camber both sides in the rear.

Caster is slightly different from left to right (same as it was before), with 6.4 degrees left / 6.6 degrees right.

This is all with a 1.25" drop from the springs, plus Pedders caster/camber front top mounts and 14mm camber bolts in the bottom holes on the stock struts.

Here's the before:




...and here's the after:

[Tatsu333]

While at Evolution Auto Performance for the alignment this morning, I also had them do a baseline (all stock) dyno run.

This is on Shell V-Power Nitro+ 93 octane pump gas, with NO power mods.



Their tuner said this is on the higher end for a stock BRZ on their dyno, and that he was pretty impressed with how flat the torque curve after the dip was. The cooler weather might have played a bit of a role in that number, but I'll take it .

Interesting to note the peak torque at 3200 rpm, and as noted, a nearly flat torque curve from 4700-6700. It clearly illustrates that this car was optimized for two distinct power curves, with the notorious dip really being a valley between two peaks.

Now to save for my next few mods...

[DiscoQuinn]

I'm jealous of the peddars tops!

[botbs]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

My first pick, of course, would be the STI axle-back, but at $1700 CAD + shipping from Japan? I'll live with something else...LOL.

I'm probably between the CSG/MXP Touring86 cat back or the HKS Legamax Premium cat back if I don't stay with the stock cat-back. Not sure I love the super-large tips on either of those options though. I've inquired with CSG if the JDM OEM tips can be used on the Touring86.

Hey Buddy,

I live in Richmond and see if you are interested in my CSG / MXP Touring 86. I only used for 200km (half tank) and is off my car, see if you are interested. I paid about $1500 CAD with duty, tax, brokerage from CSG.

Throw me a reasonable offer and I will let it go.

https://www.counterspacegarage.com/c...tition-exhaust

Cheers!

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by DiscoQuinn

I'm jealous of the peddars tops!

LOL - yeah, I had been stalking all of the vendors' sites to see when they came back in stock, and as soon as they did I jumped on them, even without any other suspension upgrades to pair them with! I had them for at least a couple of months before my wife surprised me with my springs for Christmas.

I had come to the conclusion that I was either going with just springs on my stock dampers, springs with Koni dampers, or KW/ST coilovers that used the stock top mounts, so I figured I'd make use of them eventually.

Originally Posted by botbs

Hey Buddy,

I live in Richmond and see if you are interested in my CSG / MXP Touring 86. I only used for 200km (half tank) and is off my car, see if you are interested. I paid about $1500 CAD with duty, tax, brokerage from CSG.

Throw me a reasonable offer and I will let it go.

Thanks for the heads-up! Unfortunately, I'm not in a position to be able to pay what it's probably worth right now. Still trying to recover from the effects of the most recent COVID shutdown on my business.

Once my cashflow situation improves, I'll reach out to see if you still have it!

[Xed32]

"Shell V-Power NiTRO+ 93 premium gasoline is only available in Metro Vancouver right now." Booo. Petrocanada 94 it remains for me then. Also, I bit the bullet on a '22 before putting on my pedders and MCA track mod. Those will be going on soon ( do want to feel the car before the change...but this damn snow). I can say though, the tail "kick out" is currently still there but not as bad as in the gen1. It still feels dangerous, and the rear trailing arm appears to be the same. I will definitely know for sure if it is the same soon.

[Tatsu333]

Not a super-exciting mod, but since Costco had them on sale, I've ordered the snow tires for my BRZ for next winter. Michelin X-Ice Snow in 225/45R17 to be mounted on the stock Sport-Tech RS / Performance Pack 17x7.5" wheels.

[Tatsu333]

OK - next mod has been ordered...

ECUTEK tuning kit and license so that I can do my own tuning, including the RaceROM BRZ add-on (so that I can use multiple maps to test changes back-to-back, and *maybe* go to pure speed-density for tuning).

I road-tuned my last car myself on a Nemesis/Hydra standalone ECU with really good results over the course of a couple years of refinement, and I really enjoyed the process, so I've decided to go ahead with it again on this car.

The variable cam timing and port/direct injection combo add some other wrinkles to this beyond what I'm used to, and trying to minimize the torque dip poses an interesting challenge. At least with this car, I'm starting with a known good base for day-to-day drivability (the OEM tune) rather than a blank slate like I did with the Hydra.

My plan for the first bit is just to do some logging to understand what's going on in stock form, and then to experiment with small changes and continue to tweak as I add other NA mods (BPB, headers, etc.) to see how far I can take it myself.

Once I feel like I've gone as far as I can, I might turn it over to a professional to see what more they can do with it - we'll see...

[Tatsu333]

It's been a good day for my BRZ today!

I bought the full ECUTEK kit with the RaceROM BRZ add-on so I can self-tune (courtesy of Zach @ CounterSpace Garage), and picked up a lightly-used set of ACE A350 headers (bought through the Member Classifieds on the forum from a local guy who has upgraded from a BRZ tS to a Supra).

After receiving the ECUTEK gear from the UPS driver this morning, I already loaded up the license and stock ROM, configured the ECU Connect app and did my first couple of datalogs on my drive to/from picking up the headers this evening.

I had *just* gotten to where I had resigned myself to sticking with the stock header for emissions and cost reasons when these popped up on the forum. These headers were what I had on my list of planned mods for years as I waffled back and forth over buying a BRZ, and then not long after I finally took the plunge and bought my car, they were discontinued!

With their great condition and local availability (no shipping!), the deal on these was just too good for me to pass up. The seller even still had the original box and packing materials!

Since I had to dig into some funds I had earmarked for debt reduction to jump on that deal, I've decided to "delay gratification" and wait until those debts are paid off (end of this year, maybe next February at the latest) before I'll allow myself to install the headers. That will also give me some time to figure out how I explain / justify them to my wife...LOL.

Before I do that, I also need to invest in some STI motor mounts and rear transmission mount to minimize the chances of rubbing, etc. with that fat overpipe, and I'm also planning to get them ceramic coated locally before using them, even though I do really like the golden / copper colour of the heat-cycled stainless steel. That will all cost me another $500-600 or so, which I'm not going to incur more debt to do.

A further upside, the seller also threw in some Whiteline diff mount inserts he had and a couple of bottles of Subaru coolant. I most likely won't use the inserts due to the increased NVH, but now I have the option, I guess!

Here are some pics of the headers:

With the original box!



Man, those welds are GORGEOUS!





Now on to learning the ins and outs of tuning this motor in stock form before I see what I can do with the headers and other mods I have planned...

[Tatsu333]

I did my first couple of datalogs today to see where my FTLT's (Fuel Trim Long Term %) were at, and they saw a max of +5.6% and minimum of -5.1%. From my understanding so far, that's pretty much within the expected range of variance with a properly-scaled MAF, so it looks like my current MAF scaling is OK.

[MrSkubi]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Before I do that, I also need to invest in some STI motor mounts and rear transmission mount to minimize the chances of rubbing, etc. with that fat overpipe

For me they were rubbing on the undertray even with fresh set of STI mounts (maybe a little bit less than it can be seen in your pics).
Anyway congrats on your purchase - I'm sure you'll love it once the car gets tuned