2017 BRZ Performance Package Impressions

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

It isn't respected by many enthusiasts now so I am not sure what will change in the future. Hell, about half this forum doesn't respect it for what it is and want to change most of it's characteristics.

Originally Posted by Xxyion

I think i'm one of the few people that thought thats what i wanted and then after doing so i realize i miss what made the car so awesome in the first place. Edelbrock SC is coming off!

Were you having any major issues with your SC?

Toyota Team Netz x Tom's (a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus) supercharged/disrespected it:


And so did TRD with a Magnusson TVS1320 supercharger:


Took these as cues to also disrespect mine with Edelbrock's TVS1320. Also felt it was time to breathe new life into the car and make me want to keep it longer (bought new since 1st US shipment launch in 2012).

Originally Posted by Gforce

I fit 2017 rear springs to my 2013. I had already fit Bilstein B6 (HD) dampers. With a Whiteline 20 mm front bar (instead of 2017 Subaru higher rate front springs) my car is set up fairly close to a new 2017. I did not fit the slightly larger 2017 rear bar, but I may.

The torque dip is completely cured by fitting an eForce Edelbrock Supercharger.

My car not only handles much like a former gen Cayman, its faster......

The base Cayman was the benchmark for development of the 86. I considered trading in for one in 2012 a few months after getting my BRZ but couldn't justify the cost. Earlier this year I drove my cousin's 1st gen Cayman S through backroads. It was fun. But my BRZ feels faster (whp:weight confirms this), funner, and lighter even with the supercharger. It now exceeds its original benchmark's bigger brother. Another irony, new Caymans are now flat-4 boosted.

[Xxyion]

No major issues with the SC at all. If anything its absolutley amazing in every respect. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to go FI.

But i realize its not for me and more power is not what i was looking for in this car. Or at least not that kind of power delivery.

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by imnotsureaboutbrz

wow... I need to save this post and come back to it every time I think about more power.

Dont get me wrong. The power is fun. But because you can go so much faster so much quicker...a lot of what makes this car fun gets lost. If i want to really push it and shift at redline...i'm almost 40mph in 1st gear in 2-3 seconds.

On a NA 86, being able to really wring out the engine and keep yourself in the powerband...while driving in the speed limit is WAY more fun in my opinion.


The best i can explain it is...even though i'm going faster sooner...i felt as though i'm being held back. Like i cant do with the car what i want, because as soon as i try i'm hitting dangerous speeds.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by Xxyion

No major issues with the SC at all. If anything its absolutley amazing in every respect. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to go FI.

But i realize its not for me and more power is not what i was looking for in this car. Or at least not that kind of power delivery.

How wide are your tires? I was taken aback when I spun 255 wide tires on the freeway from 3rd to 4th. Bumped them to 265 and staggered to narrower fronts to compensate. This kit overwhelms if you don't have enough rear tire.

[~el~jefe~]

The car burns through gears really fast. The breaking in period is driving my craze. I am at 195 miles currently. 805 more miles to go to see it wring out the gears fully. Be a happy day when that happens. I have not tried the 4.1 fdratio but the 4.3 is effortless.

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by switchlanez

How wide are your tires? I was taken aback when I spun 255 wide tires on the freeway from 3rd to 4th. Bumped them to 265 and staggered to narrower fronts to compensate. This kit overwhelms if you don't have enough rear tire.

My tires are pretty crap and not wide at all. I have some 17X9 on order and will be putting some MPSS on them. We'll see how i feel after that but it's never been about the speed. Just the driving feeling that i get.

[imnotsureaboutbrz]

Originally Posted by Xxyion

Dont get me wrong. The power is fun. But because you can go so much faster so much quicker...a lot of what makes this car fun gets lost. If i want to really push it and shift at redline...i'm almost 40mph in 1st gear in 2-3 seconds.

On a NA 86, being able to really wring out the engine and keep yourself in the powerband...while driving in the speed limit is WAY more fun in my opinion.


The best i can explain it is...even though i'm going faster sooner...i felt as though i'm being held back. Like i cant do with the car what i want, because as soon as i try i'm hitting dangerous speeds.

No I get it, I was leaving the range last weekend where the speed limit was 65. So from a dead stop I got to wring it out all the way to redline in first chirp into second gear, shift into third and with my big grin look down to see that I wasn't even speeding. Its just good fun.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by Xxyion

My tires are pretty crap and not wide at all. I have some 17X9 on order and will be putting some MPSS on them. We'll see how i feel after that but it's never been about the speed. Just the driving feeling that i get.

Interesting. I still get the same driving feeling after recalibrating the tires, transmission, and chassis stiffening to balance out the power. Only now I can power out of bad situations on the highway, etc. I feel more sensations out of the car now compared to stock-ish 86es when I swapped with friends a few times. It feels lighter on its feet, more alive but not overwhelmed with power.

The MPSS should definitely help. I have 9.5 wide wheels and 265 tires but less sticky Hankook V12s

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by switchlanez

Were you having any major issues with your SC?

Toyota Team Netz x Tom's (a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus) supercharged/disrespected it:


And so did TRD with a Magnusson TVS1320 supercharger:


Took these as cues to also disrespect mine with Edelbrock's TVS1320. Also felt it was time to breathe new life into the car and make me want to keep it longer (bought new since 1st US shipment launch in 2012).

The base Cayman was the benchmark for development of the 86. I considered trading in for one in 2012 a few months after getting my BRZ but couldn't justify the cost. Earlier this year I drove my cousin's 1st gen Cayman S through backroads. It was fun. But my BRZ feels faster (whp:weight confirms this), funner, and lighter even with the supercharger. It now exceeds its original benchmark's bigger brother. Another irony, new Caymans are now boosted flat-4 powered.

No they do respect the car for what it is and they just want to increase the capabilities a bit for very specialized purposes. They are building race cars not daily drivers and as such they can do away with some of the compromises that the car had to be engineered to include.

You are also not disrespecting the capabilities since you owned and drove it enough to form a valid opinion on what you wanted to get out of it before changing every part in the catalogue.

You totally misunderstood what I was saying. Adding power is not disrespecting if you know why you want it and actually have the ability to use it. Slamming it is not disrespecting it if you fully understand the implications of what you have done and are not claiming "race car". Body mods are not disrespecting as long as you are not stating "this is how it should have come from the factory and everybody should like the artwork I have created".

What becomes disrespectful "FOR WHAT IT IS" would be the "enthusiasts" that have never even driven one that rant about the lack of power, the people that have driven one and claim it can't keep up with traffic, the guys that slap on a knock off body kit, cheap ass coil overs and a badly installed turbo and tell people about their race car or those that complain bitterly about the price they paid for it, spend $20K countering all the engineering that went into it that made it cost what it does in the first place then whine like babies when something breaks and it isn't covered by warranty.

The people that disrespect the car for what it is seem to be gradually becoming the majority.

[Xxyion]

Originally Posted by switchlanez

Interesting. I still get the same driving feeling after recalibrating the tires, transmission, and chassis stiffening to balance out the power. Only now I can power out of bad situations on the highway, etc. I feel more sensations out of the car now compared to stock-ish 86es when I swapped with friends a few times. It feels lighter on its feet, more alive but not overwhelmed with power.

The MPSS should definitely help. I have 9.5 wide wheels and 265 tires but less sticky Hankook V12s

Thats interesting. I feel the car is heavier. I can feel the parasitic load as well as the extra weight the actual kit adds to the engine. In some ways i feel like i'm not as fast even though i'm a lot faster.

When i recently drove my friends Stage 1 FRS, it felt soooo nimble and light. Like i could dip and dodge and make the car do whatever i want.

The Edelbrock makes me feel like i'm driving my mustang again. And i dont like that.

[switchlanez]

Originally Posted by Xxyion

Thats interesting. I feel the car is heavier. I can feel the parasitic load as well as the extra weight the actual kit adds to the engine. In some ways i feel like i'm not as fast even though i'm a lot faster.

When i recently drove my friends Stage 1 FRS, it felt soooo nimble and light. Like i could dip and dodge and make the car do whatever i want.

The Edelbrock makes me feel like i'm driving my mustang again. And i dont like that.

I also could feel more weight up front while turning but added thicker swaybars and quality springs/Bilsteins. With less body roll turning feels lighter and nimbler than stock. As for parasitic load, that may be due to the tune. I reverted to the pre-smog certification factory tune from the kit's initial launch. Probably less fuel efficient but also less compromise and still bulletproof (so far) -- they spent 3 years to perfect it.

[switchlanez]

But if it summons bad memories of your Stang, I guess I can see why you'd not want it. My buddy has a 2013 V6 and actually put weights in his rear to improve traction. He drives conservatively so this is for normal everyday driving lol.

[switchlanez]

Also, not sure what exhaust you have but I had a Greddy exhaust. Just their axleback but pipes still bigger and less restrictive than stock. The E-Force was tuned on stock exhaust so I reverted to the stock muffler and response improved. Better backpressure matched to exhaust pulses.

Edit: I see you have a full on exhaust and Delicious tune. Is that matched to your exhaust setup? I'm not sure how Flash n Go works.

I, too, had ST coilovers. Awesome at first but became crap over time. Ruined my handling and amplified the weight shift in front.

[~el~jefe~]

This post has degenerated.

The pp 2017 is a perfected car. One only needs more power if racing it for real. I doubt anyone on here keeps it to the limits while driving.

Springs in back are soft and what a real racecar should be. It really is perfected. You can tell they put their maximum effort into making the base up through the PP version just awesome on real roads. The cabin is quiet. Only noise notable is from the primacy tires on concrete. Really need to change those if not on asphalt. They are good on asphalt though. The interior on mine is beautiful. Everything is soft touch and jazzed up