Lil' Red... Ol' Blue's little stepchild

[Scargod]

I thought I'd start this journal to track the differences in mods from Ol' Blue and their effect on performance as I try and keep this lil' red car streetable to a tolerable level.
For some background, I've been racing Ol' Blue since day one in 2022. It's been a dedicated track car for several years. The Journal for it is here.
On 6-2-2025 I crashed Blue at Club Motorsports and did major damage to it. I intend to get it fixed and back on the track, but until then I'm going to prepare Lil' Red, also a 2022 BRZ, for track duty. Mostly, I'll still trailer it to events.
I won't go so far as aero on this car, for the foreseeable future.
I think it will be very interesting to see how this slightly different take on setting up a track car will turn out and whether it will be fun and competitive to the extent that Blue was.
It will get some hand-me-downs from Blue and some new and nicer bits as well. Details to follow...

[Scargod]

I've gone nuts already. Bought PCI's RUCA's.
QUESTION:
Has anyone run on the track... track only, with just one radiator fan or no fans? Seems to me that mine NEVER come on when I come back into the pits. Do your fans ever come on? Like sitting in line to go out on the track or coming in? My temps never get quite to mid point on the gauge.

[RT-BRZ]

Originally Posted by Scargod

I've gone nuts already. Bought PCI's RUCA's.
QUESTION:
Has anyone run on the track... track only, with just one radiator fan or no fans? Seems to me that mine NEVER come on when I come back into the pits. Do your fans ever come on? Like sitting in line to go out on the track or coming in? My temps never get quite to mid point on the gauge.

In my recent issue, I discovered that the car idles so cool with a Koyo radiator that it idles at about 194F which is lower than the temp to turn on the fans. I would definitely recommend datalogging the coolant temps because the gauge isn't very reliable on the difference between 194F and 240F.

I would struggle to believe that you could run without a fan.

[Scargod]

About cooling: I have an oil cooler in the front. It's on the right, lower side of the radiator area. I have a snorkel for the CAI that comes halfway down on the left side.

There's no purpose to fans when racing and moving. There's the rub: when moving. Sometimes I've had to sit in the pit line for five minutes or longer. It's not good to get caught not running and hold people up when it's time to go.
I've removed the right fan and I've cut away almost all of the fan shroud that restricts airflow. If need be, the one fan will come on.
I plan on posting pictures as I get it all back together.
This, and the TSS Fab subframe and losing most of the plastic at the bottom of the bumper fascia will net about a 10 pound loss and I've removed the AC which is good for approximately another 10 pounds. I think the headers and the completely adjustable suspension will help as well. I may get under 2,600 pounds, and that's with the CMS Performance Roll Bar installed.
TSS Fab rear subframe is on its way...
Note: As of 1-2026 I'm under 2,700 lbs. racing weight (with me in the car)

[RToyo86]

One fan kicks in around 203f and both around 212f.

One easy way to check to kick them in is to turn the AC on.

[Compelica]

Saw in another forum that you got the Torque Solutions Race insert for the transmission mount - any opinions on it?

[Scargod]

The only damping I have is in the driveline. I'm using Verus Motor Mounts with the hardest bushings and Torque Solution Transmission Mount Insert (the Race hardness urethane bushing). Very solid with lots of NVH.
See comments below.

An update:
I'm now running a TSS Fab front subframe. I have a first edition or beta part and the engine mount pedestals hit my headers, so that's something he knows he needs to fix. Right now I must run the stock headers until I pull the part off and mod it.
My car is over an inch lower than stock in the front. More like an inch and a half.
Also, today I'm installing underbody panels of Maxmetal Plus 1/4" Alumalite like composite, but sturdier. This will mean a new splitter and panels after the metal engine tray to the diff, where it will transition into a diffuser. I'll have NACA ducts in two places to help with cooling of the transmission and diff.

Just finished cutting my fenders and attaching flares. No rubbing of my 10" 48ET Konif Ultragram rims and 275 Hoosier slicks while running 12mm spacers. Now I have decent coilover clearance.

I've been doing a ton of mods to the car. It's now gutted with all solid suspension. The only damping I have is in the driveline.
Everything is so solid that with the IRP shifter, I feel like I'm using a dog box. Shifts are so short and solid it almost feels sequential. Watch

and you can see what I mean.

[Scargod]

As to the added flares, I must run 5mm spacers in the front to clear the JRZ's 2.25" OD springs. In the rear I run 12mm spacers.
On 10-26, on a cool 53° track a few days ago at Club Motorsports I was able to improve my personal best by over a second with a 2:43. This is with my untuned, stock internals engine.
Videos to come!

[Scargod]

This is what the car looked like in September.

This was when I last raced it, at the end of October, at Club Motorsports.

The belly pan and new splitter are done. Old splitter in background.

TSS Fab subframes got powder coated and are going in.

I'm reworking the cat-back Titanium exhaust (Tomei Expreme Ti Type-80 Cat Back Exhaust, TB6090-SB03C). I'm making it all Titanium after the headers and eliminating the cat. Part of this rework of the exhaust is to have the muffler high and centered so I can make the most efficient diffuser as possible. Here's where I am with my design. I'm excited about fabricating and welding titanium tubing!

The racing clutch and lightened flywheel from Ol' Blue are in.
Other things in process are side skirts, diffuser and an oil cooler and pump for the diff. I'll take out one of the quarter windows and replace it with acrylic and a NACA duct to feed air to the diff cooler. I'm also making an aluminum frame to hold up the facia and splitter and eliminating all the other plastic pieces in the front.
More to come!
At my last event it was pretty cool and yet with the 275 Hoosiers I was able to turn a 1:43 which is my fastest, to date. Not shabby since the engine is untuned. I think when it's warmer there's another second or to to be had.

[Stonehorsw]

Nice. Do you happen to know weight saving for the tssbab?

[Scargod]

My bad. I don't know what the weight savings are, other than to say that they felt dramatically lighter.
Here's some pics of the rear. I ran into an issue with the Pro Car Innovations CA-GR86-RU, rear upper control arms hitting the unibody frame as I fully compress the suspension. I have the same issue with stock or Cusco's arms.
I think I'm the first to use the TSSF subframes.
Also, the JRZ coilovers came from CSG, which are supposed to be specifically for my BRZ are not very appropriate for a fully lowered BRZ road racing car. In the front especially, and in the rear, I've had to make shims and spacers to move the shaft down and get the 60/40 (or more) compression travel I need. Lowering the car eats up compression travel!
For the rear upper control arms I had to notch a spot in the unibody frame where the RUCA was hitting. I cut a slit in the sheet metal and used an air hammer to move the metal out of the way. I'll weld the area back together when the time comes. Now I have virtually full travel with about a 70% compression of the bump-stop before I have any interference.