Greg's Neptune 86

[Greg_2086]

New here and wanted to share some pics of my 2020 86 in Neptune blue, including a few next to a Hyper Blue Crosstrek. (Added a different Crosstrek looking a bit cleaner on a sunny day.) Neptune is a little darker, but also brighter. No great pictures yet, since of all days the car was delivered during an 8" snowstorm a little over a week ago. Thanks to everyone for the informative forum!

My 86 story began in April when trying to locate/order a base model with the TRD handling package, only to find out the Gunma assembly plant closed ahead of its scheduled May shutdown due to COVID. Even after spinning back up May 11, 86/BRZ orders were not being accepted. After several attempts at locating one for a dealer trade and persistent requests to order, my dealership thankfully agreed to place a "sold order" just prior to the July 20 cutoff date Subaru reported in late April. It was built in October and delivered in December.

No performance modifications planned anytime soon, but the short list includes:
- Remove 86 and TRD badges (complete)
- Intake sound tube delete (removal post)
- LLumar FormulaOne Pinnacle 40 window tint (installed)
- Michelin Pilot Sport All Season 4 tires (installed)
- BRZ trunk lid trim panel (installed)
- WeatherTech floor liners (installed)
- WeatherTech trunk liner (installed)
- XPEL clear headlight film (installed)
- APR exhaust tips (install post)
- GrimmSpeed Dry-Con air filter (installed)
- SKR third brake light lowering kit (install post)
- No-drill front license plate bracket (18-21 Mustang GT) (install post)
- Parking brake lever cover silver stitching (install post)
- Harman Base Audio head unit integration with door speaker amplifier (install post)

Miscellaneous
- Digital compass (install post)
- BRZ hood artwork (install post)
.

[Lonewolf]

I didn't even know a color like this was an option on the 86. I doubt you'll see another 86 in that color driving around on the streets

[jflogerzi]

I was not aware this color was possible too.. very cool and congratulations

Sent from my GM1915 using Tapatalk

[Greg_2086]

Haven't seen this no drill license bracket used on our cars yet, so I wanted to share. Made by Craig's Custom Mustang Brackets locally, I found while searching for an option for my wife's 2020 Mustang. Similar versions (S550 and Universal) are available on his website, but I knew the dimensions of the 18-21 version would fit the underside of the 86 bumper mustache. The same bracket has been mounted on her Mustang for a little more than a year with no issues.

It is made up of two pieces, an aluminum baseplate that mounts to the underside of the mustache with 3M VHB double-sided tape and a stainless steel bracket to mount the license plate. The baseplate has an integrated 1/4-20 bolt to attach the bracket. The bracket is adjustable front-rear, but not up-down. The angle is correct for the 86, but can be altered by bending the bracket. A 1/4-20 thumb nut and plastic license plate bolts/nuts are included, but I replaced with stainless steel and threadlocked hardware.

Edit: Having finally received my personalized plates (ordered 7 1/2 months ago), I added pictures showing the bracket mounted without the license plate.

[StraightOuttaCanadaEh]

interesting, thanks for sharing

[TylerLieberman]

Very creative solution. Having front bumper holes sucks.

I dig it

[Greg_2086]

Replaced the original exhaust tips with APR 3-1/2” outlet diameter single-wall slash-cut style, mounted so the top of the tips are just inboard of the black plastic diffuser. Since these are a common 2-1/2” inlet diameter, an exhaust expander is needed between the muffler piping and tip (2-1/8” ID to 2-1/2” OD) purchased from Every Exhaust Part Limited through eBay. Note in order to fit the expander over the muffler piping, the tip alignment tab on the piping needs to be ground down. Instead of welding all pieces in place I used two Milltek Sport exhaust clamps at each end of the expander, part numbers CHC58SS and CHC68SS. The only complaint I have with clamping and not preferring the look of bigger tips is that at certain angles the clamps are visible, but as the clamps get dirty they should stand out less.

[Greg_2086]

Changed the parking brake lever cover black stitching to silver to match the rest of the interior. Instead of buying the pricey 86 GT part (SU00307098), the decorative black thread was removed and silver thread was hand sewn through the existing holes. Admittedly I do not know how to do this, but thankfully my mom was confident in her hand sewing skills. The Omega nylon thread (size 2 color 59) is essentially a perfect visual match, actually much better than the port installed armrest accessory which is slightly thinner and whiter than the rest of the interior. A big thanks to a couple of earlier threads about changing to red stitching!

[mykoe]

Love the color of your car!

[Greg_2086]

After plugging the cabin grommet with the glovebox 12V socket cover to reduce/eliminate the pumped-in intake noise, I circled back to remove the intake sound tube/noise generator assembly from the engine bay. There are several useful threads about how to remove, but I wanted to summarize the parts I used to close off the openings at the intake elbow and firewall. Purchased at Home Depot, the intake elbow was capped with a 1-1/2" PVC DWV flexible cap and the firewall grommet was plugged with a 3/4" plastic PEX barb plug. These sizes are confusing as their ID's and OD's respectively don't measure to these dimensions, but their actuals are very close to the removed/mating parts. Very easy and helps to reduce clutter in the engine bay.

[Greg_2086]

Referencing the following two threads, I modified the 2020 Harman Base Audio Apple CarPlay/Android Auto head unit wiring to make use of the trunk mounted door speaker amplifier. (DIY at FR-S2GT86 post #2, https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=145959 and testing discussion starting at trueno86power post #49, https://www.ft86club.com/forums/show...=139286&page=4). There is a noticeable difference in both sound quality and loudness. Quality is less muddy presumably due to reducing overlapping/competing frequencies of the door and dash speakers and no longer requiring the head unit to drive a 1 ohm load for the front channels. Loudness is also increased at a given volume setting likely due to higher power of the amplifier. Edit: Now that I have driven the car several times since modifying, I have also noticed the vocals soundstage is much improved and more naturally in front of you.

I de-pinned the amplifier turn-on (terminal 9) from the 10-pin connector. To connect this female terminal to the antenna turn-on, I used Toyota male repair terminal part number 82998-12330 and Posi-Tap #502. This provides for a secure yet easy to revert back connection. The repair terminal is a 2.3 mm wide male pin, 14 gauge wire, and ~16 cm overall length. The Posi-Tap is compatible with 18 gauge wire at the tap end and 14-20 gauge at the accessory end. Two layers of heat shrink were used to hold the terminals together and prevent the locking features from piercing through the heat shrink.

[Greg_2086]

After having the windows tinted, I finally installed the SKR third brake light lowering kit to eliminate the UFO effect of the brake light. I followed the written and video instructions here. Overall the process is straightforward, but caution should be taken when removing/reinstalling the rear decklid trim panel, as it seems the Toyota instructions want the interior C-panel trim pieces to be removed prior. The final appearance is a definite improvement when looking from the rear view mirror, providing less confusion/distraction. The one downside is if/when the brake light LED part needs replacing, the decklid trim panel will again need to be removed versus just the upper part of the UFO.

[Greg_2086]

Not specific to my build, but wanted to share a fun project of mine. Stumbled across a free 2017 World Rally Blue BRZ hood locally on Craigslist. Fortunately my wife agreed to make it into garage wall art. Bought Subaru hood bolts, 100 lb picture wire, and cut and drilled aluminum angle bar I already had to hang it. My wife's cousin even cut the vinyl 86 logo for free as well!

[Greg_2086]

Maybe there are a few other people wanting a compass in their 2018+ 86 with the rearview mirror backup camera, so I wanted to share my solution. Not finding existing camera wiring in my 2020 to plug into the Harman Base Audio head unit (as others have done when swapping into pre-2018 cars), I didn't want to undertake a big wiring job to swap in a Subaru auto-dimming mirror with compass (H501SVA201). As well, the 2020 86 windshield is different than the BRZ as far as sun blackout areas...so possibly mirror mounts as well. Although, this was my hopeful and preferred solution.

Since I wanted a digital compass without having to use Android Auto, I went with Marlin's Quest GPS compass, part number 747130B, option black finish mounted in TOCS. I double-sided taped it to the right most portion of the gauge cluster bezel, ran the wire behind the center console to a USB right angle extension and 12 V USB adapter, and plugged into the port behind the glovebox. Originally wanting to flush mount and looking at the back of the cluster bezel while doing the door speaker amp mod above, the compass would have to be moved lower to clear a bezel mounting clip which would cause the windshield wiper stalk to partially block the view of the compass. Double-sided tape it will stay for my seating position.

The only other digital compasses I found are by Dakota Digital (sku MCL-GPS17 and MCH-GPS17), but they would require a pod style mount (a-pillar, HVAC vent, etc.) and are even pricier.