Brenda the Blue (BRZ)

[Lynxis]

Unfortunately, my trip to Toronto got called off so I still don't have the tires or header. I think the guy who was going to sell me the header ended up selling it to someone else because the ad is gone now. I'm not heart broken though, I'm leaning more towards getting an UEL header these days for torque dip elimination.

In other news, my brake pads and fluid for next year came in.



I also attended my last event for this season, an autocross at Shannonville. I did take some video which I just haven't had the chance to upload yet but I'll get to that soon.

[Lynxis]

Picked up tires from @Slick Automotive in Ottawa while visiting some family this weekend.







Put them into large garbage bags, sealed them and stuffed them into the back of my shed where they'll sit until next year. I wish I could store them indoors but I simply don't have the storage space inside to do so.

My last few track days this year were all wet so I didn't run my Rivals so they still have a track day or two left in them. I'm going to finish them off early next year and then the RS3s will replace them. Will be interesting to compare an old worn out 245 Rival to new 225 RS3s.

[Guru Woodman]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

Picked up tires from @Slick Automotive in Ottawa while visiting some family this weekend.

Ha, I saw those at Slick when I was there last week. I even touched them lol. He tried to convince met go with Hankook when I am up for new tires and Andre did a good job because I am seriously considering these. They are sweet tires for sure.

[Lynxis]

Finally got around to trimming and processing the videos from my last event this year. It started raining just as we got started so my first run was my fastest by a good margin.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVBHYXI2uNw"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 1 fastest run - YouTube[/ame]

The rain made the track too greasy to put down good times after this. My very next lap was way slower.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dcfi4-VzOY"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 2 - YouTube[/ame]

I decided not to push it and just practised my lines for the rest of the event. Because there were only a few of us, we got a LOT of runs. I got 19 runs in total. I'm not going to go through uploading and linking every run so I picked a few at random.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD8wiB6o2c0"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 7 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQpcaql9XZE"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 14 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynpTJSYMcAg"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 18 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvkgBp_PpcI"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 autocross run 19 - YouTube[/ame]

Once it dried up, we put away the cones and did some lapping on the Nelson Pro circuit (no kink). I wanted to get a shot of me going around turn 1 so I set the camera outside of the car. It looks like I have a 1:02 lap time here.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPhn8f7OZIo"]Shannonville Sept 8 2016 fast lap - YouTube[/ame]

You can hear squealing towards the end of the video as I go around the bend the 2nd time and you can hear guys near the camera talking about it. I have some nasty corner exit understeer that is compounded by running on worn out Continental DWS. The suspension definitely overwhelms the tires but it also looks like there is a suspension imbalance because the car wants to push at the limit. I do think it is partially driving technique related because I didn't understeer on the first lap but I was holding back around the bend compared to the next run. I want to address this next year but I'm hoping to mitigate the problem between the RS3s and dampening adjustments but if I can't get it to a point that I'm happy with, I might need to look at getting a more aggressive front end alignment or a rear sway bar. Guess we will see next year.

Planning to prepare the car for winter this Sunday which means oil change, checking the brakes, bleeding the lines, changing the pads and putting the winter tires on the car. I'll update this thread again with some pics when I'm done.

[Lynxis]

Had a busy weekend. On Saturday, I took off my summer tires to put on my winters. I tried to get my mud flap brackets figured out but I had complications making holes big enough on the bottom of the rear brackets with the drill bits I had available. The bottom of the rear brackets needs a hole big enough for the clip to go through which is quite large. Eventually, I noticed that I was running out light so I had to move on, there were other things to do.

I wanted to take a close look at my brake pads. I already had the rear of the car up so I checked those ones out first. The rears were EBC Yellowstuff and are in pretty rough shape now.





They were installed brand new in the spring when I installed my BBK. This is what they look like after ~3 track days, ~4 autocross and around 5000kms of daily driving. For the money, they lasted well enough. Honestly, I think they have enough pad material to get through the winter but it's pretty close and 'd rather not chance it, the last thing I want to do is to be swapping pads in the middle of Feburary. I still had my OEM pads which are in nearly perfect shape so I put them in.



Then I moved to the front of the car and checked those brakes. These are the supplied Wilwood BP10 pads that came with my BBK:



I pulled them out to get a good look at what the face of the pads look like:



While there is enough pad material remaining that I'm not concerned about running out of pad material in the middle of winter, the chunking is worse than the Yellows so I was hoping to swap them anyway. I still have a brand new set of EBC Yellows that I still haven't used at all but I wasn't able to get the pistons to compress at all so I could drop the pads in.



By this time, it was pitch black out, the temperature was dropping and I was sore and tired so I decided to call it quits. I put the BP10s back in, mounted my winter wheels, dropped the car and called it a night.

I had planned to measure the caliper pistons but it was pitch black by the time I got to the fronts so there was no way to get a good reading. If the weather is nice enough one weekend before the temperature drops too much, I'll take another crack at the fronts.

Took some pictures this morning of the car in it's winter stance.





The wheels themselves are the same as my track wheels, Phatfux Ballzy 17x8 +35. Even if they're another TC105N replica, I really like how these look, even more than the black 5 spoke Dai Alloys Revo I've been running on all summer which I like too.

The tires are 225/45r17 Pirelli Winter 210 Sottozero Serie II tires. I looked at the build dates and tread depths closely while I was putting them on the car. The fronts have 5/32nds tread remaining which isn't a lot but they were built in 2014 so they're only 2 years old. The rears have 10/32nds tread remaining which is basically new but were made in 2012 which makes them 4 years old now. Between the tread wear on the newer tires and the age of the older tires, I expect this set will only last me this year and maybe next before they're no good anymore.

Regarding the black 5 spoke Dai Alloy wheels, the rubber on them is finished, down to the wear bars all around. I don't think I'll be putting the Dais on again so they're up for sale.





While I like the TC105N design more, I still really like the black 5 spoke design and would continue to use them but I don't like that I need to use press on spacers to make them fit over my brakes which is why I'm not keeping them. At least, that's my excuse, my sister pointed out that I don't seem to keep any of my wheels for very long...

[Lynxis]

Not a real update but I hit a milestone yesterday.



Didn't quite catch the 40000kms right on but was so close =x

[Lynxis]

A minor update, I found another set of wheels, here is a pic where I'm test fitting it to make sure it has clearance over the Wilwoods and won't rub anything.



Bought them used from someone off Kijiji. They came on his JDM Subaru Legacy when he bought it but he sold them because they were rubbing on his fenders. There are some marks on the tires where you can see it was rubbing but nothing I'm concerned about.

Regarding the wheels themselves, they are unnamed and didn't have any center caps for them so no idea what they are. I can tell you they are 17x7 with 5x100 bolt pattern but that is about all. The offset mentions 4/8.. no idea what that is but considering how they sit on the car, I expect they are about a +48 offset. They have some minor curbing marks and a few scratches but at least they clear my calipers with enough room that I'm not worried at all. I measured the center openings with a tape measure and it looks like it will take a 63mm cap and a 73mm ring. I've got rings here that I can test fit to be sure but no idea what I'll do about the caps. I think I might stop by the Subaru dealership and see if they have any caps that will fit on these.

The tires are cheap all seasons sized 215/45r17. All of them have 2015 build dates and have lots of tread left but one of them has a puncture causing a slow leak. Thankfully, the guy I bought them from has a spare tire so that will be simple enough to fix but he didn't have it with him to give to me, hopefully I can get it from him next week. Even if he doesn't come through with the spare, it shouldn't be much of a problem to get fixed.

For what it's worth, I noticed that this set of 17x7s with 215/45r17 all season rubber weighs noticeably more than my 17x8s with 225/45r17 winter tires on them. I'll daily this setup in the summer until I've worn down the rubber and then I'll convert them to a winter setup.

[Lynxis]

Update, regarding the new wheels. I tried to have the punctured tire repaired but that failed, there was significant sidewall damage due to it being run on while flat that couldn't be fixed. No problem though, I got the spare tire from the guy and got it mounted to the wheel. More on that later.

I was busy working on the car today. I took the winters off, swapped the brake pads to the Winmax W5 and put the all seasons I just got on.

Taking the winters off was inconsequential. Here is the last pic I took with them on:



Gotta say, getting the worn pads out of the calipers was a bitch and consumed most of my time. The sides were pretty crusty and the pistons didn't just press back in easily either although cracking open the bleed valve and using some wide pliers, I was able to compress them all back in. Overall the pistons were in pretty good shape, a bit dirty but nothing I was concerned with, no signs of corrosion so far:



The new Winmax pads didn't want to go in easily either but with a bit of persuasion with a hammer, they went in fine. Did a quick 1 man bleed job and put the new wheels on. When I mentioned the bleeding method I used, a friend of mine pointed out that it may not do a very good job. There is a separate post in the brake section about it.

Used Wilwood BP10s finally removed:


W5 fronts in the package:


W5 fronts installed:


I did the front and rear separate because it's a pain to get the entire car up at once. Decided to take a few pics with the fronts changed but before I did the rears:


Looks interesting if you ask me but not really my style.

W5 rears next to the OEM rears:


W5 rears installed before I put the caliper down:


I noticed at this point that the spare tire I got was a 225/45r17... frig... well I made sure it went on the front but I can feel the car now handles a bit strangely, I suspect mostly due to the slightly taller sidewall and slightly wider tire, only on the front corner. It's not anything that I can't live with and it's not like the car behaves dangerously or unexpectedly but you can definitely tell something is a little off. I measured tread depths and all of the tires are actually around 5/32 so they probably won't last more than this year anyway. Just debating if I should find a properly sized tire for that corner or just live with it for this year.

You can see the difference a bit in this pic although I don't think anyone would notice if I didn't say anything:


Either way, I'm done for now. Here is how it sits when I took it off the jack stands:


I measured the hole in the middle at about 65mm so I ordered some cheap, $10 unmarked caps that should fit because I don't care to have the hubs exposed like that. They should be here late april to early may, here's hoping they fit.

Regarding the brake pads, I've only done a quick 10 minute test drive but I'm impressed so far. Initial impressions are moderate cold bite, extremely compressible and easy to modulate and so far, quiet on the street. I can't provide any insight about dusting or life yet but I hope they will put up with my daily driving and track abuse for the next two years as-is. I'll give more impressions once I've spent more time with them and had them on track. I haven't bedded them yet but I plan to tomorrow.

[Lynxis]

Quick update, I had my first event of the season yesterday, lapping at Shannonville on the Fabi circuit. Beat my personal best from last year by over a second. Was trying to finish off the BFG Rivals so I can justify putting the RS3s on but no such luck lol, they still got another event left in them.

Here is the video of my best lap:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W47oIK25aDI[/ame]

[Lynxis]

Small update, I have 2 days of regional autocross in Picton this weekend plus a full lapping day with MCO on Monday. The Rivals still have a bit of life but there is a bit too much going on this weekend for me to trust that they will last the entire weekend.



The picture makes them look like they have more tread than they really do but some camber wear means they're officially 0/32. Definitely not street legal anymore and they would be ultra sketchy in the rain. And the forcast is calling for rain on Sunday... They were getting sketchy on my last outing anyway, not able to pull more than 1g without losing grip.

So I got the RS3s mounted on the wheels finally:

[Lynxis]

Had a good weekend, 2 days of Autocross on Picton Airfield on Saturday and Sunday then lapping with MCO at Shannonville Fabi circuit on Monday. I put the RS3s on the car on Friday and did my weekend and took them off last night.

Autocross went OK although I wasn't terribly impressed with my performance on either day. There were some timing errors on both days which are still being worked out so I'll refrain from talking about times and placement until official results are up. I will mention that it was found out that a cone was moved between the morning and the afternoon on Saturday that really messed some people up and caused nearly everyones time in the afternoon to increase relative to the morning. I'll post some videos showing the difference later this week hopefully. Sunday was uneventful and not much to talk about. I think I did OK but not very good.

On Monday (yesterday) was lapping with MCO. I'm really impressed with my progress here and it was well worth going. The first two sessions were raining but it cleared up by noon and the track was dry with the exception of one corner that had built up a lake that lasted all day.

I got to ride with some really fast people and I was able to absorb some of how they drive and I started to really push myself. I also started experimenting with trail braking in my last session. I managed a new personal best on the circuit of 1:18.71 and the video from my cell phone is here:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PQittCSv80[/ame]

Note the big pool around turn 3 which seriously slows you down to go around it and despite this, I'm still .7 seconds faster than the last time I came here where I got 1:19.46 and the conditions were optimal that day. I'm sure I'd be into the 1:17's if conditions were optimal which is getting into seriously fast territory and I think a 1:16 is perfectly within the realm of possibility for me with more practice and better trail braking technique.

[Lynxis]

So got a bit of free time lately. I've been participating in the Shannonville Driver Dynamics autoslalom series and we just had event 2. These events are doubling as the St.LAC autocross series as well.

Anyways, I decided that I will participate in the series seriously this year with the intent to win the Super Stock class. Due to the points system, I'm pretty much maxed out. The series and number of entrants are pretty small with 5-7 at the first event and today was a decent turnout of 13 participants.

Anyways, here is video from my best run at the first event which was on May 20th:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tWBEub9ozK0[/ame]

That run was 95 seconds which wasn't very good, put me in 2nd in class (behind an S2000 on Z2SS who was 2 seconds faster than me) out of 3 cars that day and 3rd out of 5-7 cars total. I can't remember exactly how many people showed up that day but it was a poor turnout.

Today was the 2nd event in the series. Unfortunately, my best run wasn't recorded so here is my next best clean run:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OnzmtxnLg8[/ame]

As you can see, that run was 86.5, my best clean run was an 86.3 though. Either way, this was good enough for 1st in class (out of 5-7 today, forgot how many were in class total) and 3rd overall behind a newer WRX and a Cayman GT4. 2nd in class was that S2000 with an 86.6 so definitely got some serious competition between us with us trading wins so far.

My final run was an 85.1 but I blew through stop box. Here is the video of that run:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0qyCH5_9gPM[/ame]

It was a bit heart breaking because it would have bumped me up to 2nd overall for the day, only behind the Cayman GT4!

There is more news but I'll leave it at that for now. That GT4 is a nice car...

[Lynxis]

So it seems photobucket changed their terms of service so now none of my linked images work anymore. I'll get around to moving them elsewhere soon.

[Mr.Impreza]

Originally Posted by Lynxis

So it seems photobucket changed their terms of service so now none of my linked images work anymore. I'll get around to moving them elsewhere soon.

Yeah, I heard they made it so you have to pay right?

Anyways, an alternative that you can use is http://postimage.io/

That's what I use. Not sure if you'll like it or not.