Tatsu333's 2020 BRZ Sport Tech RS

[Tatsu333]

I'm getting a bit ahead of myself with my mods plans, so I've decided to put the brakes on for a bit after getting the headers back from ceramic coating.

Through the last two years of COVID shutdowns, etc., I've racked up over $30K in debts for my business that need to be paid off before I spend any more money. If I stay disciplined with getting that paid down, I should get that done by April or May 2023, so that's the target - I'm going to "earn" my mods...LOL.

Once the debt's paid down, I'm going to get the STI motor and transmission mounts, headers, subframe, flexible draw stiffener, flexible V-bars and Koni dampers all installed at the same time, and then hit up a few track days through next summer.

So, between now and then, I'll be back to dialing in my ECUTEK self-tune and nothing else other than regular maintenance. So...this thread will probably be pretty boring for a while.

[Tatsu333]

OK - got my lightly-used ACE A350 headers back from the ceramic coating shop (a big thank-you to Doug at Kool Coat Ceramic Coatings!), and they look fantastic in their new ceramic-chrome finish!

Here are some pics:







It's a shame that a) once they're installed, you'll never see them, and b) that I'm going to have to wait about 6-9 months or so to install them.

In any event, they look great, and I'm looking forward to (eventually) having them on the car!

[Tatsu333]

Finally managed to arrange a time to get my BRZ back on the dyno to verify the gains from the Billet Power Blocks. This is my exact same car on the same dyno, same operator, same fuel (Shell V-Power Nitro+ 93 octane) but about 7 months apart.

If anything, the conditions for my baseline run back in February 2022 were better - about 5 degrees C / 9 degrees F cooler, with similar humidity, though the differing Dynojet correction factors (0.95 back then vs. 0.97 today) should account for that.

Run 1 is my stock baseline from February, Run 2 was with the BPB's and some cam timing changes I was messing around with, and Run 3 was stock tune with the BPB's.

Disappointingly, but not totally unexpected, the cam timing changes resulted in a slight loss of power and torque vs. the stock tune on the BPB's. These were the recommended timing changes from using the VGI tool, so not sure what happened there. I most likely screwed something up, but who knows. Playing around with the tune is just a "fun" thing for me to do without spending more money. My plan is eventually to have it professionally tuned once I have the ACE headers installed next year.

All that to say, Run 2 was removed from the image below (updated from my original post on 2022.12.02), and I'm back to running the stock tune for now...LOL.

So, without further ado:



Notes on Run 3 (BPB's on stock tune) vs. Run 1 (stock baseline)

I was surprised to see a peak HP and torque gain, as I mostly just expected the power band to be shifted lower in the rpm range, but on the stock tune with the only modification being the power blocks, we saw peak vs. peak gains of 3.9 hp and 8.9 lb.ft. of torque!

More importantly, there were gains EVERYWHERE other than from about 6,800 rpm on up. There is literally nowhere it makes less power than stock except in that last 400 rpm.

• Right from the beginning of the pulls to just past 3,000 rpm there is a substantial gain, with an initial torque peak around 140 lb.ft. @ 3,000 rpm vs. the old peak of 133.5 lb.ft. @ 3,210, so gains of about 6.5 lb.ft. down low.
  
  
• The torque dip is substantially shortened, with a big surge in torque coming in from just past 4,000 rpm to about 4,300 rpm (which is DEFINITELY noticeable from the driver's seat). This is where the greatest gains are had vs. stock with about a 14 lb.ft. gain vs. the same rpm.
  
  It also correlates with a definite resonance effect around that RPM that makes the heat shields on the stock header buzz slightly. I'm looking forward to seeing how the ACE headers fill in the dip further (and the buzz disappearing without the heat shields).
  
  
• From 5,000 rpm to the new torque peak at 6,250 rpm, there are gains of about 6 - 10 lb.ft. of torque.

Again, there is more torque and power EVERYWHERE except at the very top end of the rev range with the simple addition of the Billet Power Blocks. I would HIGHLY recommend them to anyone on a 1st gen BRZ/FRS/86 staying NA, and especially if you're staying otherwise stock.

Future Plans

I have my ceramic-coated ACE A350 headers waiting to be installed sometime next spring. I'm interested in exploring the common belief (myth?) that the BPB's are "worthless" once you have headers on, since I can't see a logical reason that would be the case.

My plan, I think, will be:

• Have the car dyno tuned as-is (with just the BPB's) so that I have a properly tuned number for that
• Install the headers and dyno the combination on the stock tune, the BPB tune, and another custom dyno tune for the combination
• Remove the BPB's and do another run without them with the final tune to see if there's a noticeable difference in power without them installed.

That's going to be a fair bit of money spent on dyno tuning / runs, but I'd really like to answer that question / debate once and for all.

While I wait to be in the financial position to do that and the other work I want to do on the car, I might play around a bit with adding some timing advance up top to see if that can gain back some of the power lost from 6,800 onwards, since that was noted by Shiv from OFT as being a good idea.

[Tatsu333]

Bashed the crap out of one corner of my STI front lip - ground it on a curb alongside a parking spot I was turning into. So instead of tuning or other mods, the next $500 CAD I'm spending is to replace that.

Good news, I guess, is that it's just the easily replaceable and unpainted lip that's damaged rather than the painted bumper cover.

Some pics (car is also filthy due to the winter road conditions here):








On another note, on my 225/45R17 Michelin X-Ice snow tires on the stock wheels, the car is quite capable in snow as long as it has clearance. The back end will shimmy a bit here and there, but the traction / stability control is VERY effective at keeping it in check.

Since it's more winter-capable than I had foreseen, it makes me kind of lean back towards the idea of some KW or ST / RCE (both KW-based) coilovers with the 15mm spring spacers installed (which KW support says is fine) to get back to within 5 mm of stock ride height at max height for the winter while still being able to drop it the 30mm or so lower than stock that I have it currently for the rest of the year.

Otherwise, I was also considering swapping stock springs back in each winter (or the complete stock spring/shock assemblies). We'll see...

[DarkPira7e]

Eh hit it with some old shoe shine, won't even be able to tell. Sucks to see though, sorry to hear

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Since it's more winter-capable than I had foreseen, it makes me kind of lean back towards the idea of some KW or ST / RCE (both KW-based) coilovers with the 15mm spring spacers installed (which KW support says is fine) to get back to within 5 mm of stock ride height at max height for the winter while still being able to drop it the 30mm or so lower than stock that I have it currently for the rest of the year.

Otherwise, I was also considering swapping stock springs back in each winter (or the complete stock spring/shock assemblies). We'll see...

RCE SS1s + snow = good times.

- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

RCE SS1s + snow = good times.

- Andrew

Nice!

My only concern with the SS1's is the corrosion potential on the galvanized bodies vs. stainless on KW V3's or RCE Tarmac 2's. Living up here on the wet coast, we get a LOT of rain year-round, plus the few weeks of snow we get each winter. Might not be a big deal, but I don't know. The local KW / ST dealer of course recommends the V3's...LOL.

SS1's are still top of my list if I do go coilovers though.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Nice!

My only concern with the SS1's is the corrosion potential on the galvanized bodies vs. stainless on KW V3's or RCE Tarmac 2's. Living up here on the wet coast, we get a LOT of rain year-round, plus the few weeks of snow we get each winter. Might not be a big deal, but I don't know. The local KW / ST dealer of course recommends the V3's...LOL.

SS1's are still top of my list if I do go coilovers though.

The stainless of the V3s and T2s is pretty incredible.

I will say on my SS1s after 3 or so winters and plenty of salt, everything still adjusts nicely, no stuck collars or anything close to that. They don't look as nice as a T2 would but no change in function.

- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

The stainless of the V3s and T2s is pretty incredible.

I will say on my SS1s after 3 or so winters and plenty of salt, everything still adjusts nicely, no stuck collars or anything close to that. They don't look as nice as a T2 would but no change in function.

- Andrew

Would it be possible to get T2's with the spring rates of the SS1's? I presume the adjustable damping has enough scope to deal with the softer springs - if not, then it's not an option, I guess.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

Would it be possible to get T2's with the spring rates of the SS1's? I presume the adjustable damping has enough scope to deal with the softer springs - if not, then it's not an option, I guess.

Yup, definitely possible and we've done it plenty in the past.

- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

Yup, definitely possible and we've done it plenty in the past.

- Andrew

Great! I'll definitely be in touch RE: that option if I do end up going the coilover route.

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

The stainless of the V3s and T2s is pretty incredible.

I will say on my SS1s after 3 or so winters and plenty of salt, everything still adjusts nicely, no stuck collars or anything close to that. They don't look as nice as a T2 would but no change in function.

- Andrew

If you have an opportunity to take a pic of how your SS1's look in their current state and PM it to me, I'd appreciate it. Could help me make up my mind on whether to go with those or T2's.

No worries if it's too much hassle though!

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Tatsu333

If you have an opportunity to take a pic of how your SS1's look in their current state and PM it to me, I'd appreciate it. Could help me make up my mind on whether to go with those or T2's.

No worries if it's too much hassle though!

This is from beginning of this year, so 3 or 4 winters and plenty of snow driving. Lots of installing and uninstalling when testing other parts, no issues.



- Andrew

[Tatsu333]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

This is from beginning of this year, so 3 or 4 winters and plenty of snow driving. Lots of installing and uninstalling when testing other parts, no issues. - Andrew

Thanks for that - looks pretty good! Hmmm...might make my decision easier.

EDIT: Just thought of this while reading your thread on the new SS2's - is it possible to get the parts to use stock front top mounts on the SS1's if I want to run them with the 15mm KW spring spacers to get ride height within 5mm of stock for winter?