follow ft86club on our blog, twitter or facebook.
FT86CLUB
Ft86Club
Delicious Tuning
Register Garage Members List Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Go Back   Toyota GR86, 86, FR-S and Subaru BRZ Forum & Owners Community - FT86CLUB > FT86CLUB Shared Forum > Member's Car Journals

Member's Car Journals Car journals by our members.


User Tag List

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread
Old 05-30-2018, 09:36 PM   #57
Ethereal05
Senior Member
 
Ethereal05's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Drives: 2015 BRZ Series.Blue
Location: California
Posts: 186
Thanks: 99
Thanked 59 Times in 37 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Garage
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan Silveira View Post


You sure hit the nail on the head with this one. If I had to bet, I'd completely concur with your hypothesis. That scorching is just a given based on the JDM Silver ones. I guess the true win-win is getting the JDM Silver ones and swapping out the white ball joints for the black USDM ones. That way they stand out a bit more and you don't get the scorching.

I know you considered selling your V bars before because of the knock issue and then decided against it and trying again. What was the result? Did you end up not being able to resolve the knock issue?

Also, as for the JDM tS interior pieces. I personally prefer them over the silver USDM pieces that come in our cars. I obviously still have some silver from the AC knobs and the like but to me it's definitely an improvement.

Let me know if you have any other questions! Thanks @Ethereal05
I decided to keep them because I really love how they look and personally it feels like the car is more planted with them on. I am not running them daily as I was unable to figure out what the knocking issue was. I did test each of them individually and it only occurs when they are being ran together. Really odd. I'll likely put them on for shows. Hmmm, I like the contrast with the silver accents but I also think the black goes with the blue/black theme I am going for. Also I have a few small scuffs on my pieces from the previous owner so it would be nice to replace them. Easy to install? Perhaps I will look for your car at a local show so I can take a look at it in person. =)
Ethereal05 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-30-2018, 06:33 PM   #58
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
BRZ3N: End of Q2 2018 Build Update!

Hey y’all, BRZ3N is back with another update. Since we’re at the end of Q2 and moving full steam into Q3 and beyond, I must admit it’s crazy how fast time flies and BRZ3N keeps getting a bit older but a bit more spoiled as time goes on. I have yet to install any of the bigger pieces from previous updates or what I’m about to reveal. Some will be put on in the very near future, while others will sit on the sidelines for a bit until the project is a bit more complete. So…since the last update I was able to pick up the following pieces:

I got an amazing deal on a DriveShaft Shop Carbon Fiber 1-Piece Driveshaft. A trip to Las Vegas with my fiancé filled with fun, laughs, singing, Carlos Bakery and of course Taco Bell Cantina! I mean who doesn’t love a Baja Blast Freeze with 2 shots of yummy tequila inside of it.

Speaking of my wonderful fiancé, she got the STI Battery Tie Down for my birthday to help pretty BRZ3N’s engine bay up a little more. Slowly but surely, I’m trying to get the engine bay completed but still need to install the flexible braces among other things.





I also picked up the JDM rear armrest for our cars. As per usual, since having a Series.HyperBlue means special HyperBlue stitching, I had to get it restitched to match the rest of the interior. Huge thanks to @boxer_boy for the help in progressing the BRZ3N build.





Lastly, and arguably the biggest piece from this update was my ability to scoop up the tS suspension from the USDM model. I must give a big shout out to @botbs for helping me get one step closer to bringing BRZ3N full circle along this journey to complete my desired build. This suspension setup refers to the Sachs Dampers and STI coil springs that can be described by Subaru through the following “the new BRZ tS adds STI-tuned front and rear SACHS® dampers and coil springs” now whether that means these Sachs Dampers are truly tuned any differently from the basic Performance Package Sachs Dampers will remain unknown. Either way, I’m sure it’s a marginal difference and insensible if at all actually different. Of course, these Sachs Dampers came with the tS STI coil springs that are found on the USDM model. While admittedly, I probably would prefer the JDM STI coil springs that lower the car by 15mm, I am going to take a chance with these coil springs that lower the car 10mm and see how it goes and how I like it. I personally thought their must be some method to the madness here as to why they brought over these springs that are clearly different from the JDM ones. Call me silly but I assumed that perhaps in the US they didn’t lower it as much for the insanely bad roads we have, the parking stoppers, the potholes, the curbs, driveway scraping, etc? Nonetheless, we’ll see if I’m left longing for “moar low”. Though, I’d leave you with this, I am not chasing for the lowest stanced car, as a matter of fact, I often march to the beat of my own drum and frankly dislike many of today’s car trends. I like to drive with a peace of mind not worrying about hitting every little thing because my car is so low. Moreover, I already drive an extremely bright and loud car due in large part to the paint, so I don’t need any extra or extreme attention by the likes of a big wing, loud exhaust, widebody, or as low as you go stance.








Anyways, thanks for tuning in once again and that is all that is planned for the moment. As it stands now, I’m approaching the 30,000 mark on mileage and in a perfect world I’d like to get the driveshaft, interior trim, armrest, flexible bracing, and STI grille emblem on by then. As for the dampers, springs, Brembos, Enkei’s, etc. I’m considering that one holistic project. I’m still trying to get the most use of my stock wheels and tires. I still need to powder coat the Brembos, buy some rubber for the wheels, secure some McGard STI lug nuts, STI valve stem caps, Radium MCB, and Stainless-Steel Brake Lines before I’m ready to throw it all on. As I’ve stated before on this thread, BRZ3N is my baby and while I do my best to take care of it I also joke that my car is built on a budget (the BoB BRZ). With that said, I had no intention of picking up all these pieces but that’s part of the thrill of how I build my car. There are certain highs and lows in the marketplace and when parts become available I have to do what I can to secure them. As of now it seems like we’ve hit a lull and you certainly won’t hear me complain. My wallet needs time to recover. If anything pops up though I’ll surely find a way to pick it up and add it to BRZ3N. However, if things stay as they are now, I am tentatively hoping to get the TRD MOMO steering wheel restitched and reupholstered, so I can add that in with the interior trim and rear armrest to have a mostly complete interior. Lastly, assuming things stay the same and the steering wheel gets reupholstered, I’d like to get the Brembos powder coated by the end of the year.

As always, thank you all for your time and checking out the BRZ3N build. I hope you enjoi coming along for the ride and like what you’ve seen. I appreciate you all! Feel free to share support, love, compliments, questions, quandaries, concerns, critiques, etc. Less Stress, More Love! I’m Out!
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
botbs (07-01-2018), Elliotw (06-30-2018), JeremyR (06-30-2018)
Old 01-26-2019, 05:35 PM   #59
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
BRZ3N: 2019 starting out successfully

Hey there my BRZ/86/FR-S brothers and sisters,


It's been a hot minute since the last update on BRZ3N! I guess that's just the way that goes. As they say, life is art. Sometimes you have to live a little to let the art continue to manifest. As such, I'm back and it and I've been working on getting some of my parts put on the car instead of hording them like I have a tendency to do.


First though, just a brief status update on BRZ3N as of today. I'm at about 29,500 and approaching the 30,000 mark on the odometer. As such, I'm currently prepping to buy all the necessary oils, filters, etc. for that maintenance period. During that time, when I'm under the car I plan on installing the Driveshaft Shop 1-Piece Carbon Fiber Driveshaft. I also intend on installing the STI Flexible Draw Stiffeners. I know some people were eager to get my opinion on those. It's coming soon I promise! Lastly, I am also going to install the MTEC shift springs.


As for the maintenance, I'm just going to be doing the standard; flush/bleed the brakes, oil change, tire rotation, transmission and differential fluid changes, and the cabin air filter. I did pick up the K&N washable and reusable cabin air filter for our cars so here's to hoping that works well!


One minor aside here that isn't on the car yet but figured that I would update for the build thread is the dampers I'll be using. I previously had planned to use the USDM tS Sachs dampers and STI coil springs (10mm drop). @MugsBRZ has them now and he's enjoying them. With that said, I ended up changing my mind and going with the Showa dampers and STI coil springs (15mm drop) from the JDM BRZ tS. However, before moving on I must give a major thanks to @chermo12 for aiding me in my journey to achieving a full STI OEM Perfomance build for BRZ3N! As mentioned before, the suspension, wheels, Brembos, and more will be tackled all at once. As such, I have nothing else to report on this front but I'll include some pictures of the dampers for comparison sake with the Sachs ones.









Okay so we've arrived to the changes since the last update. I'll try my best to be concise and give a general bullet point list of what's changed. If you're looking for more detail or opinions I'll list pictures below and all that good stuff below in the section dedicated to that specific part. As per usual, I always welcome and encourage an open discord of feedback, opinion, comments, questions, concerns, etc.










  • STI Flexible Tower Bar
  • STI Flexible V-Bars
  • STI Front Grille Emblem
  • Subaru tS Interior Trim
  • Subaru Blue Manifold Cover
  • TRD Momo Steering Wheel; Reupholstered by Sweidit (HyperBlue Stitched, HyperBlue Center Marker and STI laser etched into original TRD location)
  • Toyota JDM Black Door Handles
  • Toyota JDM Rear Armrest W/HyperBlue Stitching
  • MTEC Clutch Assist Spring
  • Radium Engineering Master Cylinder Brace (Green)


Okay so let's start with the MTEC Clutch Assist Spring since I don't have any pictures to really show that off. This install wasn't too difficult save for having the post shoot off and disappear that led to a 30 minute search with magnets to find it lodged between the fuse box and firewall. That was not fun to get out! Outside of that I am utterly amazed and so happy to have done this as I am one of those many drivers of our cars that struggled with the stock clutch despite driving many manual cars before. I chose to do this method over just removing the stock spring because I didn't want the slop that is at the top of the pedal post spring removal. I also like that it feels like a happy medium between both (as I did test the clutch feel with and without the MTEC Clutch Spring). The MTEC spring just gives me the traditional clutch feel I hold so fondly from other cars that my BRZ just didn't give me from the factory.


Next, let's briefly discuss the Radium Engineering Master Cylinder Brace. I admittedly thought that before having this installed, all MCB's were more hype than substance. I will also openly admit that I was wrong. Having this installed most definitely improved the brake pedal feel. The best way I could describe this is referring to the "slop" I was referring to in the clutch pedal before the MTEC Clutch Spring was installed. What I mean is that the brake pedal stock has a given amount of play and "slop" that I don't think many would notice until you install a Master Cylinder Brace. It just feels like now the brake pedal stops at a certain point and you feel resistance pushing back on your foot instead of what used to be wasted kinetic energy being emitted and essentially wasted through the firewall.








Onto the STI Flexible Tower Bar and V-Bars now, the install on these was pretty easy. Just removing stock hardware and replacing with the the STI parts. After that it's just making sure to torque them down to the right spec and leveling them to ensure that they are presented right in the engine bay. As for the impressions, the truth is like most in this car it's a marginal improvement in my eyes and feel. Now, I will say I don't have a ton of miles or even truly hard driving with these parts just yet. They do surely pretty up the engine bay and I find it worth noting that the most noticeable thing I could feel was that the car felt a bit more "tight" or "buttoned up" in regular daily driving through uneven roads, dips, freeways, etc.





As for the next two things, the blue Subaru manifold cover and the STI front grille emblem. The skinny with the manifold cover is that I wanted to spruce up the engine bay and I thought that would do it. However, I'll say that the flat blue doesn't appeal to me as much as I thought it would so I plan on swapping this out for the red Toyota one as I feel that will align better with my engine bay with the various bits of red from the STI parts and mainly the red inlet from the TRD performance intake. When discussing the STI front grille emblem though, that my friends was a pain in the ass like no other. I didn't feel like dropping the front bumper so I know that I was asking for more work but my goodness what a pain it was to install this from the front. Overall, well constructed piece though and it's a nice aesthetic for the front of the car.





Finally, let's talk about interior! So, as for the tS interior trim it's pretty self explanatory just swapping out the interior silver/chrome trims for the satin finish that Subaru elected to go with as opposed to the Toyota matte black option. Let me start by saying that as silly as this may sound this may be one of my favorite things I've done. I don't know how else to explain it other than saying that every time I get in the car or I'm just driving I notice the black trim pieces and actually admire them much more than when they were just chrome. I did elect to also swap out the interior door handles to the Toyota matte black ones in an attempt to defeat as much of the chrome as possible. As for the JDM rear armrest, I just simply think it's a nice touch and add on to what I'm trying to make is a nice place to sit and be. The finish is so much better if for nothing more than uniformity when comparing to the stock carpet finish. I naturally had to have it restitched to match my car's interior stitching. As an aside, that part of having to get everything restitched really sucks but oh well, you pay the cost to be the boss.















Finally, I would say this is one of the biggest changes I've made and I am thoroughly happy and pleased with the change. I had acquired the TRD Momo steering wheel a while back. I finally decided to get it reupholstered. As such, I decided to go in line with my STI and OEM+ build ideals. What better way than to have it reupholstered as if Subaru had made this steering wheel to compete with the stock one from the Release Series 1.0. With that said, the wheel is now reupholstered using Napa leather and a center marker done in Alcantara to match the HyperBlue paint on the exterior. And of course, a STI logo was laser-etched onto the right spoke of the steering wheel to the exact same dimensions of the TRD that was found on the TRD version of the Momo wheel.







Anyway, thanks for coming along this far and as always there's more to come. As I said earlier, the 30,000 mile maintenance is the next up on the schedule for BRZ3N. After that however, I am hoping to get the STI Brembos that I picked up a while ago powder coated. As per usual, if you have any questions, comments, qualms, concerns, feedback or otherwise. I encourage you to DM, leave a comment, let's chat it up like always on this build thread. Righteous! Less Stress, More Love.
__________________

Last edited by Jordan Silveira; 04-24-2019 at 03:46 PM.
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 7 Users Say Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
chermo12 (01-29-2019), Elliotw (01-28-2019), MugsBRZ (01-28-2019), Racecomp Engineering (05-01-2019), TeutonicShift89 (01-26-2019), weederr33 (01-26-2019), wolffbite (01-28-2019)
Old 01-26-2019, 09:15 PM   #60
TeutonicShift89
Senior Member
 
TeutonicShift89's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2015
Drives: '13 LAVA - lightly modded
Location: Western NC
Posts: 124
Thanks: 144
Thanked 56 Times in 32 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
I really like that steering wheel. How does it feel while driving?

Steering wheels had always felt like a fluff mod for me. But while working at a Porsche dealer I got to drive Porsches a good bit and I noticed immediately how profoundly a good steering wheel affects your interaction with, and perception of, a car.

anyway nice build keep it up!
__________________
You are going to be condemned to live out the consequences of your taste - TM

TeutonicShift89 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-26-2019, 10:21 PM   #61
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by TeutonicShift89 View Post
I really like that steering wheel. How does it feel while driving?

Steering wheels had always felt like a fluff mod for me. But while working at a Porsche dealer I got to drive Porsches a good bit and I noticed immediately how profoundly a good steering wheel affects your interaction with, and perception of, a car.

anyway nice build keep it up!
Hey TeutonicShift89! Thank you for your kind words. Plenty of things planned for the future of this car and I must say, patience and waiting aren't my forte but it's something I've had to get better at and every time I show patience, it's been a virtue of good things to come.

As for the steering wheel, I really enjoi it! The big thing that I've noticed is not only that the Napa leather has proved to be a very supple and soft comforting texture to my hands, but also the Alcantara center marker has proved to be a nice and exquisite distinction to the design because it will always remind me of where true north is regardless of where I am steering.

Moreover, because it's a bit thicker and the 10-2 notches have been eliminated, I personally prefer it over the stock steering wheel. I find it easier to grip and turn over for a drastic or sharp turn.

Thanks again!
__________________

Last edited by Jordan Silveira; 01-26-2019 at 11:16 PM.
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2019, 12:29 PM   #62
Elliotw
Senior Member
 
Elliotw's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Drives: '18 BRZ tS, '18 GTI SE, '11 RS
Location: Seattle
Posts: 505
Thanks: 232
Thanked 392 Times in 224 Posts
Mentioned: 7 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
That steering wheel looks amazing.
Elliotw is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Elliotw For This Useful Post:
Jordan Silveira (01-28-2019)
Old 01-28-2019, 04:17 PM   #63
Racecomp Engineering
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Drives: 2016 BRZ, 2012 Paris Di2 & 2018 STI
Location: Severn, MD
Posts: 5,393
Thanks: 3,405
Thanked 7,233 Times in 2,957 Posts
Mentioned: 303 Post(s)
Tagged: 9 Thread(s)
Send a message via AIM to Racecomp Engineering
Well done on the steering wheel!

IMO a steering wheel is almost a must do mod for these cars. Different options out there for everyone's tastes, but the OEM 13-16 wheels are especially not so great and it's the thing you hold while driving!

- Andrew
Racecomp Engineering is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2019, 07:45 PM   #64
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Elliotw View Post
That steering wheel looks amazing.
As always, very thankful for your kind words Elliotw! Hope all is well and that your tS is treating you well.

Thank you!
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 01-28-2019, 07:59 PM   #65
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering View Post
Well done on the steering wheel!

IMO a steering wheel is almost a must do mod for these cars. Different options out there for everyone's tastes, but the OEM 13-16 wheels are especially not so great and it's the thing you hold while driving!

- Andrew
I would have never thought that Andrew but as I found out, you sir are so right! Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. It's always appreciated!
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
Racecomp Engineering (01-29-2019)
Old 03-27-2019, 10:36 PM   #66
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Exhaust Meets Perfection

Hey there fellow 86/BRZ/FR-S owners, I'm back for a brief update on what's going on with BRZ3N! I picked up the STI Performance Sports Muffler and had it imported from Japan! It's been a part I've long been desiring and I finally decided to pull the trigger. As usual, I like to fill any interested parties in on my impressions of it and moreover, what it means in the grand scheme of my BRZ3N build! As for aesthetics, it is truly a beautiful piece of automotive art. From the slanted exhaust tips, to the perforated pattern on the inside of each tip, to the subtle but yet tasteful STI impression that is donned on the anterior side of each exhaust tip. The craftsmanship and welds are obviously top notch as I've come to expect from my dealings with STI and Fujitsubo (rumor has it that Fujitsubo crafted this STI Sports Muffler).



Moreover, the sound and tone brought on from this muffler are what I would consider pretty much perfection from what I was seeking for BRZ3N. Call that bias if you'd like, subjective due to my full exhaust set up, whatever you'd like frankly. I won't even necessarily disagree. The difference in sound was immediately noticeable. The exhaust note became much deeper and throaty but not in a raspy or droned out way. I have come from the Honda and Prelude scene where fart cans and obnoxious mufflers are commonplace. THIS IS NOT THAT. How much of this is due to the Fujitsubo set up I have had on prior to this? I can't quantify it but admittedly, I'm in love with this addition and it may very well be one of my favorite things that I've done right next to my Series.SL OEMAudio+ sound solution.



Regarding the overall build of BRZ3N, getting the STI Sports Muffler was a huge step in that equation. It was a part I've been longing to get since I got BRZ3N! With that said, it's a rather nice feeling to be able to say I've completed a part of my car. As of today, my exhaust is complete! Fuji headers to the STI muffler is finished! I will admit I've often times flirted with pairing the STI muffler to the Fujitsubo Authorize R catback system. Naturally they are not compatible due to the use of a Y-Pipe from Fuji. As such, this would have either meant chopping the STI tips and welding them onto the Authorize R, or modifying the Authorize R to fit and correctly pair with the STI Sports Muffler. While not impossible, this would be certainly be a complicated job and not to mention incredibly costly! While I have not turned the page on this idea just yet, I will say I am currently more against taking on this Frankenstein experiment than going through with it. A small omission though...I was able to secure the Y-Pipe and Authorize R midpipe portion and have those in my possession if I ever want to tackle this task so never say never



Looking to the future of BRZ3N I still have quite a bit to do but I try to be transparent with my build when and where I can be. First and foremost, I still have to tackle my 30k maintenance. I have sourced all I need for the job, I just don't have the tools or space currently. Unfortunately, that means I have no official idea on when I'll start or get it done. That also means I haven't been driving BRZ3N much until I get this done. When doing that 30k maintenance I also plan on installing the MTEC shift springs, DSS 1-piece CF Driveshaft, STI Flexible Draw Stiffener, and Fumoto drain valve. Furthermore, I've also developed a squeaky clutch pedal . Now, before hitting 30k on the odometer I truly doubt it's the TOB going out! I have also read about the infamous marine grease fix used on the clutch fork. I truly believe this will solve the issue but I must first attempt it to see if it solves it. If not, I may be seeing an early TOB failure.



Lastly, for future alterations to BRZ3N I have picked up some blacked housing OEM tail lights that I plan on throwing on once I get new gaskets and the Tail As Turn Module from Diode Dynamics. I also picked up some STI fender blades that I need to play around with to see how I can get them to work on my HyperBlue colorway. I will probably need to paint them black and get a pinstripe professional to retain the red STI accent in each fender blade. Anyway, time will tell all. As always, thank you for taking the time to stop by and catch up on the BRZ3N build journey! I hope you enjoi following it as much as I have been leading it. Stick around as there’s always more to come. As I've discovered one too many times throughout my automotive building endeavors. Bless'm!


__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
nikitopo (05-01-2019)
Old 04-24-2019, 06:57 PM   #67
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
BRZ3N Hits The BIG 3-0

I'm back my FT86Club comrades and you read it right! BRZ3N has finally hit the big 3-0! As it sits now I'm a little over 30,000 on the odometer. With that said, I'm back to tell you what's going on with BRZ3N! Last time I mentioned I picked up the STI Performance Sports Muffler, I figured I should let you know that I still love it and it is easily one of my favorite things I've done to BRZ3N. What I've done since then is quite the laundry list as per usual on this build thread. No worries though as I'll be sure to cover everything that's been altered and changed since the last update. First, I added the OEM black housing tail lights that I previously referred to. I also added the Diode Dynamics Tail as Turn Module to them for the more modern look with the revolver acting as the turn signal.







Overall, I'm really happy with the look of these lights as I believe they fit perfectly with the black secondary color scheme that Subaru intended for the Series.HyperBlue vehicles. Next up, I took BRZ3N down to AutoTuned for the bulk of the updates done to BRZ3N in this post. I've said it many times before and I'll say it again but if you live in the Southern California region or even the Central Coast, AutoTuned is what I would consider the best shop for anything 86 or twin related. Young Tea is truly a savant when it comes to our cars and if you can get some time in and around him you'll leave with nothing but the best work and service around! I strongly urge you check out AutoTuned if you haven't already. I can personally say BRZ3N as it sits right now would not resemble anything close to what it looks like now without the help of Young and his team at AutoTuned.

Regarding the work done at AutoTuned, here's the long list of what was done.
  • Driveshaft Shop Carbon Fiber 1-Piece Driveshaft
  • MTEC Shift Springs
  • STI Flexible Draw Stiffener
  • TRD Shifter Bushing
  • STI Short Shifter
  • Fumoto F108S Oil Drain Valve
  • Motul Gear 300 Oil Swap



First up let's talk about the driveshaft! I will be the first to admit I questioned whether or not this would make any significant difference. I comprehend the idea of rotational mass and that it's half the weight of the stock one. The idea that the power can be almost consolidated by not having to independently spin a second piece of the driveshaft seems to be a clear advantage. That being said, let me say that I completely underestimated this alteration. Could the following be a placebo from my butt dyno? 100% but regardless let me tell you that BRZ3N has never felt lighter on it's feet! It's more eager and peppy now than I can recall in all of the time that I've owned it. I want to add that I've heard one too many times the "header, tune, E85" method to getting the most out of this car while remaining naturally aspirated. That may very well be true as I admit I am on a stock tune and don't run with E85 as of yet. Nonetheless, I added a quality header on BRZ3N and I felt it was a bit more eager and unleashed on the top end of the power band. I also recall the TRD Performance Air Intake being a noticeable difference maker in the early portions of the power band, mainly in the department of throttle response. Furthermore, I mention all this to say that the driveshaft in my opinion has had a bigger effect at least in the immediate presence than those other two additions to the car. I feel not only a more instant throttle response but also a more free and eager range when I'm rowing through the gears under acceleration.



Now that we've talked about the driveshaft, let's talk about the entirety of the shifting experience in BRZ3N! Looking to before and now after, I believe my shifting experience has been completely overhauled and is a mostly complete project at this point in time. Before doing anything I think you'll find my impressions to be like many others. The shifting in a stock 86 is pretty fantastic from the start. There's not much to be desired as it strikes a great balance between just notchy enough, but still smooth and precise. The only thing I feel was a bit noticeable was the wiggle room or play in the shifter both in and out of gear. Now whether that's due to the shifter springs or the shifter bushing, I'm not quite sure. However, I can say that switching both out has pretty much eliminated the play in the shifter. As such, this has resulted in a much tighter and notchy experience overall. My impressions regarding the MTEC shift springs is that they eliminate most of the left and right play in the shifter and tighten it up when rowing through your shift gates. Overall, a pretty solid and worthy modification. Moreover, to discuss the TRD shifter bushing I have to do a deep dive into the crazy story of the STI short shifter and the role it played in my time at AutoTuned.





This may be a convoluted story but I'll try to be detailed on the account of the moving pieces here to ensure comprehension of the situation. To start, I had the grand idea of combining the DSS Driveshaft, the TRD quickshifter and the STI short shifter. I presumed this setup to be the trifecta of shifting perfection! However, perception is not always reality and life is not always what it seems. I want to give a disclaimer to note that I was aware that the TRD quickshifter sometimes had fitment issues with aftermarket driveshafts. Either way, I still figured let's give it a shot and see if we can't get all three to take to each other. Here is where Young and by extension myself came to realize the first issue in the plan. The TRD quickshifter has an adapter that fits the bearing at the bottom of the stock shifter. I assumed the stock shifter and STI short shifter had identical bearings where the linkage connects at the bottom of each shifter. BOY WAS I WRONG! For some odd reason, the STI short shifter has a significantly bigger, wider, and thicker bearing than the stock one. This means that the TRD quickshifter isn't compatible with the STI short shifter. However, I said before that Young Tea is a savant and I wasn't kidding. Young took it as somewhat of a challenge and went to work finding a way to make these two shifters compatible. What was required was extensive grinding down of the STI short shifter bearing to resemble what the stock one looks like. Moreover, after a decent amount of time and hard effort grinding away, Young got the two shifters to work together and be compatible. I told you all he's pretty amazing! The result were absolutely tremendous! The shifts were both incredibly short and precise! The best comparison I can draw from is that it felt like what you get from an IRP short shifter without the obnoxious shift lever. Think of it as a stealth IRP setup. Vic, one of Young's apprentices has an IRP short shifter in his BRZ and said this felt pretty much identical to his setup. I myself have shifted a couple times with the IRP so I can second this notion. I do want to say however, that this setup while being as short as IRP is just as notchy if not more than the IRP. I also should note though that while I am not a fan of the IRP shift lever and find it far too obnoxious for my liking, it does serve a purpose! The purpose being leverage, the STI and TRD mating lacked any leverage beyond the stock shift knob and as such, the notchy shifting felt more much more dramatic. I mean it was short but also very stiff! I do want to say that at the time of trying this setup, the car had the MTEC shift springs, TRD shifter bushing, TRD quickshifter, and STI short shifter added on. The story isn't over though as here's the heartbreaker .





I pretty much adorned this shifting setup but as Young came to find out, it wouldn't fit or be compatible with the DSS driveshaft . The three combined meant the driveshaft would hit the shifter assembly . Ultimately, this resulted in a choice between both shifters OR one shifter (TRD or STI) and the DSS driveshaft. What I chose was the STI short shifter and the DSS driveshaft. As much as it pains me to admit, I went this way in large part due to members expressing concerns in the durability of the TRD quickshifter kit with issues being reported that the adapter bolt routinely loosens up over time. I will say however, that I kept the TRD quickshifter in case sometime in the future I ever decide to get out of the DSS driveshaft and go back to the stock one. Nonetheless, for all those who want the IRP short shifter, this may or may not be an appealing route to go. Keeping all things considered.



Finally, as always I try my best to always be here to answer any questions, comments, concerns, issues, quandaries, etc. Please always feel free to let me know and I'll do my best to address it. Looking ahead for BRZ3N, I am very pleased with the progress I've made thus far but I'm far from completion or stopping anytime soon. In the immediate, I am working on something with the TRD Aero Stabilizing Trunk Cover and the STI fender blades I recently acquired! I'm also planning on getting some rubber soon so I can mount the 18 inch STI Enkei wheels I've had in waiting for a few years now. I also still need to powder coat the Brembos I have, in order to prepare those for BRZ3N! As always, I still have quite a bit to do but I try to be open and transparent with my build when and where I can be. Anyway, much love and gratitude for taking the time to stop by and continuing to follow my build journey! I hope you stick around and are enjoing this adventure as much as I am. As per usual, there’s always more to come. See you on the flipside! Bless'm!
__________________

Last edited by Jordan Silveira; 04-30-2019 at 01:48 AM.
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Jordan Silveira For This Useful Post:
Ethereal05 (04-30-2019), StraightOuttaCanadaEh (05-01-2019)
Old 05-01-2019, 08:15 AM   #68
nikitopo
Senior Member
 
nikitopo's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
Drives: '15 BRZ RA
Location: Greece
Posts: 3,787
Thanks: 2,416
Thanked 1,944 Times in 1,261 Posts
Mentioned: 29 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jordan Silveira View Post
First up let's talk about the driveshaft! I will be the first to admit I questioned whether or not this would make any significant difference. I comprehend the idea of rotational mass and that it's half the weight of the stock one. The idea that the power can be almost consolidated by not having to independently spin a second piece of the driveshaft seems to be a clear advantage. That being said, let me say that I completely underestimated this alteration. Could the following be a placebo from my butt dyno? 100% but regardless let me tell you that BRZ3N has never felt lighter on it's feet! It's more eager and peppy now than I can recall in all of the time that I've owned it. I want to add that I've heard one too many times the "header, tune, E85" method to getting the most out of this car while remaining naturally aspirated. That may very well be true as I admit I am on a stock tune and don't run with E85 as of yet. Nonetheless, I added a quality header on BRZ3N and I felt it was a bit more eager and unleashed on the top end of the power band. I also recall the TRD Performance Air Intake being a noticeable difference maker in the early portions of the power band, mainly in the department of throttle response. Furthermore, I mention all this to say that the driveshaft in my opinion has had a bigger effect at least in the immediate presence than those other two additions to the car. I feel not only a more instant throttle response but also a more free and eager range when I'm rowing through the gears under acceleration.
I have read other saying the same about the carbon driveshaft. I tried once to model the gains of the lower inertia, but the change was small and could not justify the improvement. Reason is that the driveshaft is after the gearbox and in low gears (1st, 2nd, 3rd) the rotation speed is much smaller comparing to the rotation speed of the flywheel. Fact is that many have mentioned that the car feels lighter and the reason should be something else independent of the inertia. Maybe as you said not having to independently spin a second piece of the driveshaft seems to be a clear advantage.
nikitopo is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-13-2019, 01:44 AM   #69
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
BRZ3N Q4 2019 Update

Hey FT86Club,

Jordan here! Back with a small update on how BRZ3N is coming along. Not too much has changed since I last checked in on the car. Personally however things have changed in a big way! I got married on Labor Day this year to my now wonderful wife. We traveled to Chicago for the Bears season opener against the Packers for the 100th NFL Season and that was a memory I will never forget. Seeing Soldier Field for the first time as a Bears fan was amazing and to mark the NFL 100 festivities made it even better. After that, we spent a week in my motherland of Puerto Rico and got to explore the enchanted island quite a bit. It's quite a beautiful place and I'd strongly suggest people go visit if at all interested. Since then, it's been back to work to help my wallet recover from all the various expenses.

As for BRZ3N, I have since updated all the interior lighting to Diode Dynamics LED bulbs to give it a bit more of a modern look. I have also updated the rear Tail-As-Turn Module to include the rear back up lights that fit into the old turn signal indicators. Moreover, I have added hood struts which I find to be a very nice quality of life upgrade to the car. Just a much cleaner look overall! Finally, I have added the red Modellista intake manifold cover. I think it fits much better with the overall color scheme of the engine bay. Personally, I find it fits better than the Subaru blue one because my car is HyperBlue not World Rally Blue.





P.S. I forgot to mention that BRZ3N made an appearance in our wedding! My wife asked that BRZ3N be her "something blue" and naturally it took no time for me to gladly oblige. Pictures below!











As always, thanks for your time and I hope to update the thread with more projects completed sometime soon! Any questions, quandaries, comments, concerns or otherwise are always welcome! Less Stress, More Love!

__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-13-2020, 04:08 AM   #70
Jordan Silveira
Senior Member
 
Jordan Silveira's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2016
Drives: 2016 Subaru Series.HyperBlue #631
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 500
Thanks: 310
Thanked 191 Times in 130 Posts
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Greddy Individual Throttle Body Journey

Hey Future Toyota 86 Family,

Long time no chat but I'm back after a long absence in updating this thread. Naturally, I fully intend on catching everyone up on the changes made to BRZ3N since I last checked in. However, I figured that I would do something a little different this time though. Let's go in depth on my journey with Greddy's Individual Throttle Body (ITB) Kit.

First up, as you can imagine I made the somewhat ill advised and dumb decision to get my hands on the Greddy ITB kit for our cars . More about that in a second but here are some photos.







So with those out of the way, let me start by saying I've since parted ways with this kit. Why you may ask? Simply put, the entire kit seems half baked and unworthy of the effort to make it work. In other words, the juice was not worth the squeeze. Firstly, there are 3 known ITB kits for our cars. EMC, Greddy and SARD. EMC was the first to publicly display their kit with the unique utilization of the OEM throttle body as the critical adapter to make the ITB's themselves function. Psst... If this doesn't appear to be a precursor of "jerry-rigging" to get the project to work than I don't know what does

Anyway, since then both SARD and Greddy have released their own kits. I should add however that both kits by SARD and Greddy look to be identical (sans plenum). The catch here though is that both SARD and Greddy also went with the throttle body design that EMC first released. This makes me highly suspicious of the kits produced by SARD and Greddy. Ultimately, I'm led to believe that they are renditions of EMC's kit, albeit with a different plenum for differentiation sake. Moreover, EMC seems to be a tiny company and wouldn't have the pull that a Greddy (in the US) or SARD (in Japan) would have. As such, this probably proved to be a beneficial deal for EMC in the form of licensing out the design to Greddy and SARD. Meanwhile, both Greddy and SARD benefit from producing a one of a kind kit for our vehicles. The problem however, is that most have seen through the of this kit and not many have bought it due to the high price and little to no information about the kit because of what I'm going to get into next.

With that out the way, let's get to why the kit itself in my honest opinion is not worth wasting your time on. One word...TUNING! The install itself just requires removing your intake manifold and bolting on these ITB's. Then, begin tweaking with your OEM throttle body to to make it the main adapter for this kit. After that is where the headache starts. Now you must balance each ITB like you would a carburetor. Not a game ending job, but not fun and anyone who knows about balancing carburetors knows it's a job that typically needs repeating relatively often. Once that's done, put the plenum on and you're mostly good to go.

Aha, but most are probably wondering what about those velocity stacks? Well, good question and I'll get to those in a minute. You see, these kits were made to use their plenums and never even consider velocity stacks or "air trumpets". I'd be forced to ask then, why in the world would we want ITB's if we can't have the whole package? We want the pretty looks of the kit too right? Velocity stacks are the one way to truly achieve this goal. Simply put, shame on these manufacturers for the half baked plan of attack to achieve ITB's on the 86 platform.

Now, on to the velocity stacks and the tuning that I mentioned being the total nonstarter going into this kit. The problem with velocity stacks is that it means you must forgo your MAF/MAP sensors. As such, without these sensors it begs the question, how does your car know how to operate and run without critical information regarding air entering the engine? You see, every car needs three things to run...gas, air, and a spark! Without one of these three things, we have problems. Not that you don't have air, just that the car and particularly the ECU doesn't know what to do with the air now that it's calculators are missing. With that said, this means tuning becomes a much more intensive task that requires speed density tuning. In other words, you must have an incredibly skilled tuner who is now solely responsible for telling your car how to walk, or should I say run again. That means telling the car how to react at each moment. Things like weather, different slope grades, throttle response, fuel quality, etc. now must be accounted for. As you can imagine, with this much programming or tuning it's quite the job and headache for a tuner. Luckily, living in Southern California offers me a plethora of quality tuners that can tackle any job. While that's great and all, we can still agree velocity stacks are a headache on this car, meaning that it's significantly more expensive to get it working flawlessly. After all, that's whats most important.

Furthermore, now you can see why I said tuning was the biggest problem. Anyway, let's discuss the steps to get past this hurdle and truly have a one of a kind build that comes from rocking those sweet ITB's with velocity stacks. So, through my findings talking to respected tuners, all in all it would probably take about $10,000 to get it all up and running to an acceptable level. I say this because tuning isn't your usual just give the car to the tuner for a day and it's done. Were talking multiple days, and paying for hours on hours on a dyno. You're now talking about thousands just to get the car tuned. After all, the skill of the tuner is costly but dyno time proves to be just as costly. After that big hurdle, you will need to buy filters or come up with some creative way to protect those trumpets from pulling in harmful particulates into the engine. Also, if you're going in this deep with ITB's it means you should really try to extract every ounce of power you can get from adding this kit. As such, you might as well upgrade your entire fuel system such as your fuel injectors, fuel pump, etc. Which by the way, not only increases your cost but required tuning effort.

Finally, I'll leave you with the following...After speaking to a few tuners, I was told that the difference would be minimal at best. Now while throttle response would be damn near instantaneous with the right tuning, you'd also be taking from peak power to give to torque. You'd be taking away from the top of the power band, with what would equally be given to you in the low to mid range torque curve. All in all it leads me to ask, at what cost is it worth going this route? Is it really worth being that different in your build to spend $10,000? I mean just ask yourself, spend $10,000 for this ITB kit? Or, spend less to get a legitimate boost in power with forced induction. Anyway, that's just my two cents on the matter. It's like I always remind myself, very few things in this life are truly impossible to achieve. This ITB kit for example is by no means impossible to get working. I just think it's like being offered the shortcut to a destination and deciding you'd rather take the scenic route and walk instead of drive, just to add insult to injury. But hey, on the other hand it's also like having a totally bitchin' Wankel Rotary build. Only for the most dedicated and those not faint of heart.

In conclusion, that covers my journey and experiences with the ITB kits designed for our family of cars. As always, if you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to drop me a line. I always look forward to interacting with those that spend the time reading through this build thread. Your time doesn't go unnoticed and I sincerely appreciate the interest and support. See you soon!
__________________
Jordan Silveira is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Calling all sneakerheads (Jordan 5) chiefshayan Off-Topic Lounge [WARNING: NO POLITICS] 5 05-12-2015 05:10 AM
FS: 10.5-11.5 Jordan and Nike Sb's Fett4Real Miscellaneous 0 06-17-2013 03:57 PM
*AUTOMOTIVE SERVICES from Jordan Innovations!* Jordan Innovations Mechanical Maintenance and Tools 1 07-24-2012 04:39 PM
NRG PRODUCTS from Jordan Innovations! Jordan Innovations Interior Parts (Incl. Lighting) 0 07-24-2012 03:11 PM
KSport Kontrol Pro for FR-S/BRZ *PRE-ORDER* from Jordan Innovations! Jordan Innovations Brakes, Suspension, Chassis 4 07-11-2012 06:43 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:34 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Lite) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.

Garage vBulletin Plugins by Drive Thru Online, Inc.