MINOCIN's FR-S Build, not because racecar, not because street car... just, because.

[MINOCIN]

Well, I've had my FRS for over a year and a half now. Pretty much picked her up a week after they were first released in June. Anyway, now that I've had her in basically stock form for so long I felt it was time to finally start making some mods.

This is her now.

She's pretty much looked this way since July of 2012.

Now, I want to make it clear that I really like my FR-S (duh, I guess that goes without saying). If I didn't like her then I wouldn't take the time to mod her (again, duh).

So my reasons for waiting so long to start modding were basically,
1) I wanted to get to know the vehicle
2) I didn't want to screw it up
3) I want to do the majority of the modding myself, but I'm a bit lazy and I don't really know anything about working on cars

I think my biggest hurdle was reason 3. It kept taking me back to reason 2, but hey you gotta live and learn right?

Also, Let me just say that before attempting any of these mods the length of my wrench turning experience on cars didn't go beyond changing my own oil and swapping out wheels. I didn't have any vehicles before that I liked enough to even bother trying to mod. So I really want to thank everyone on this forum for providing a wealth of helpful information. Without this forum and everyone in it I wouldn't even know where to begin. So again, thanks everyone.


Here we go...

CURRENT SETUP

Wheels & Tires:
- Wheel Studs: ARP 3", Part #: 100-7716 (front wheels only)
- Lug Nuts: EVS Tuning Spline Drive - Gunmetal, size 12x125, T7075 Cold-forged Aluminum, 0.7 oz each, Part # EVS-SPL-GM
- Front Spacers: H&R 5.0mm DRS Type TRAK+ Wheel Spacers, BP: 5/100 x CB: 56 x T: 12x1.25, Part # HR1025560
- Rear Spacers: H&R 15.0mm DRS Type TRAK+ Wheel Spacers, BP: 5/100 x CB: 56 x T: 12x1.25, Part # HR3025560 (not yet installed)
- Daily Wheels: Rays Engineering Volk Racing TE37 18x7.5, +48 offset, 5x100 bolt pattern, ~17 lbs (requires a minimum of 3mm spacers up front to clear the brake kit)
- Daily Tires: Hankook RS3, 225/40/18, weight approx. 23 lbs, OD 25.1", Overall Width 8.4"
- Track Wheels: Enkei RPF1 17x8, +45, 5x100 bolt pattern, 15.6 lbs (clears brake kit w/o spacers)
- Track Tires: Nitto NT01, 235/40/17 (not shaved), weight approx. 25 lbs, OD 24.4", Overall Width 9.5"

Suspension:
- Coilovers: RS-R Moto Spec Sports-i, Spring rates: 6 kg/mm front, 7 kg/mm rear, 1" drop
- Camber Bolts (Front): oem replacement bolts, -1 degrees max
- Rear Lower Control Arms (LCA): SPC (new)
- Whiteline Rear Sway Bar 16mm Adjustable w/ Braces & adjustable endlinks, model: BSR54Z
+ Alignment: (completed w/ daily wheels & tires)
* Camber: -2.2 front, -1.5 rear
* Toe: 0
* Caster: 5.9 FL, 6.1 FR

Brakes:
- Front Brakes: AP Racing Competition Brake Kit (Sprint) w/ AP S100 pads, Part # 13.01.10005-BUN
- Rear Brakes: Stock system with original stock pads (I do have the S100 rear pads, but didn't put them on)
- Brake fluid: Motul RBF 600
- Track Brakes: Carbotech XP12 front and rear
- Brake fluid: Torque RT 700

Cooling:
- Radiator: KOYORAD VH Series w/ 36mm Core, Model: KOYO-VH012663
+ DIY Oil Cooler:
* Series 6 Setrab 16 row oil cooler w/ -10 fittings
* Mocal thermostatic sandwich plate w/ -10 fittings
* 10.5ft of -10 AEROQUIP Socketless hose

Exhaust:
- PPE Engineering 2.5" Equal Length Race Headers (4-1), polished 1300F ceramic coating
- Nameless 2.5" Street Axleback and High Flow Cat Package (Replaces Overpipe),
(Mufflers: 5" Mufflers, Tip Options: 4" Double Wall Slash Cut, Finish: Brushed Stainless, Helmholtz Resonator, 200 Cell High Flow Cat, Exhaust Bushings: Five Bushings)
UPDATE: 4-27-2014 - Removed Nameless axleback and switched back to stock muffler
UPDATE: 5-22-2014 - Headers & front pipe have quieted down, so I put the Nameless axleback mufflers back on.
UPDATE: 11-02-2014 - Put the OE downpipe back on and removed the Nameless due to a rattle that developed in the high flow cat.

Drivetrain:
- Motul Gear Oil 300 SAE 75W90 (1L/1.05Quart) - Replaced factory transmission & differential oil
- TRD Quick shift kit (not yet installed)
+ Perrin and Whiteline Bushing Combo by FT-86 SpeedFactory, model: KDT926-PSP-INR-006 (not yet installed)
* Perrin Rear Shifter Bushing
* Whiteline Gearbox Positive shift kit

Engine:
- Oil Catch Can (OCC): Saiko Michi dual 2.5" OD x 6" tall tanks w/ mounting assembly & hoses, part #: S1-FRS/BRZ-D
- Forced Induction (FI): Innovate (Sprintex) twin screw supercharger kit w/ intercooler, Model: 6012
- Tune: Custom dyno tune by Delicious Tuning

Other:
- Mishimoto MMOP-TPS Oil Sandwich Plate Adapter with Three 1/8" NPT Port
- Innovate Motorsports 3852 MTX Digital Series Dual Function Oil Pressure and Temperature Gauge Kit
- BAFX Products - Bluetooth OBD2 scan tool
- Torque android app

Next Mods of Interest:
- Gauges or Display Panel to Monitor: Oil temp, Oil Pressure, Air/Fuel Mixture and Boost
- Clutch and light weight flywheel: I really want a light weight flywheel to help the engine rev up faster
- Quick release fastners and/or latches: To quickly and easily remove the hood and bumper while working on the vehicle
- Track Day Hood: Vented hood that would be put on for track days (I'm thinking an oem hood that I would cut open)
- Track Day Bumper: A bumper with more/direct ventilation to the the intake snorkel, oil cooler and radiator; also, mounted with a lip and/or canards for additional down force (again, thinking of modding an oem bumper)
- Track Day Trunk Lid: A trunk lid with a functional wing attached that would be put on for track days to provide additional down force.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR SUSPENSION (RS*R SPORTSi COILOVERS & WHITELINE SWAY BARS)

02-21-2014 at 12:59 AM:
Okay these parts are already installed and I have some pics, but I plan to the rotate the front coilovers 180 degrees to get more negative camber. Then I'll get an alignment. From what I've read, about -2 up front and -1.5 in the rear with zero toe is supposed to be decent compromise for street and track use.

02-27-2014 at 10:06 PM:
Finally got my alignment and I'm really impressed on how well the shop was able to dial it in. I requested -2.2 camber in the front with -1.5 in the rear and as close to zero toe all around as possible and that is exactly what they gave me. The camber was spot on and the furthest the toe got was 0.01. The new alignment is a far cry better than the one that I had done before.

Here's a pic of my previous alignment from one year ago with another shop.


I know the streets and freeway in my area suck, but I was really surprised to see how bad my alignment was to begin with. To get the driver-side wheel back to spec they had to use a camber/crash bolt. I feel like they should have used two bolts to get both wheels back to zero camber, but they didn't because the other wheel was within spec range. Just "good enough" I guess. Although, I'm kind of glad now that they didn't use another bolt because they charged me $40 for the one camber bolt. Just one bolt! Maybe they pocketed the other one? Even still, I was able to purchase a brand new camber bolt kit from a local shop for $23.67 after tax. Half the price of the one bolt. I had been going to this shop for years. They always treat you right and when it comes to tires they really know their stuff and will usually give you a deal, but when it comes to alignments I guess they don't make that extra painstaking effort to get things as close too perfect as possible.

Anyway, here's the new alignment,


The shop that did this new alignment was,

Superior Brake & Alignment.
822 N Milpas St
Santa Barbara, CA 93103

They're a small shop and are usually pretty busy (a testament to how good their work is), but in no way do they keep you waiting too long. If you live in the Santa Barbara or Goleta area then I highly recommend them. They even got rid of a lot of clunks & rattles that I was getting with my coil-overs (more on that later) without me even asking.

Ok, now onto the suspension parts. Perhaps I should have started with this?

RS*R Sports-i Coilover Kit Install Overview - In no particular order

Installing the coilovers wasn't as difficult as I feared, but it also wasn't as easy as I had hoped. Now that I've done it once I know I can do it again pretty easily, but the biggest pain the first time around was trying to do it all by myself and thinking I had all the necessary tools when I really didn't.

The RSR documentation that came out of the box was more like a spec sheet than instructions. It had good info on the coilovers themselves and how to configure them, but nothing on how to install the parts on your vehicle. Perhaps an indicator that you shouldn't be attempting to install these parts unless you know what you're doing?

Thankfully I was able to find some DIY guides on this forum. I made use of the DIY installation guide by GrimmSpeed, and after the install I later found another helpful guide by DarrenDriven. These two guides are very helpful, I recommend reading them both and the comments before proceeding with an install if you have never done this before.

Here's a bit of warning, yes you can do the complete install by yourself (afterall I did), but I would definitely not recommend it. Replacing the front coilovers by yourself can be done easily enough by following any of the DIY guides, but the rear coilovers should really be done with two people. Otherwise you're gonna be cursing a storm while you're struggling to get the coilover studs through the rear trunk holes (see step #46 on DarrenDrivens guide).

To install the rear coilovers by myself I had to disconnect both my sway bar and lower control arm (LCA) in order for the oem strut to come out. I tried my darnedest at first to get the strut out without removing any other suspension pieces but the damn thing just wouldn't come out. It just kept wedging itself further into the LCA. The problem was that the LCA just wouldn't move down low enough for the strut to have enough room to get out. So I removed the sway bar from the end-link that is attached the LCA, which helped a bit, but it wasn't enough. I even stood on top of the rear brake disk and used my weight to try and push the LCA down low enough for the strut to come out, but it was all in vain.

Finally, I unbolted one side of the LCA and as soon as it dropped so did the oem strut. Why did I just not do this to begin with?

Here are some pics of the unbolted LCA and sway bar with the strut already out.





Since the RS*Rs already come pre-configured I just double checked the measurements for the spring height and ride height to make sure they were set to what the instructions recommended.

In order to install the coilover by myself I first connected it to the LCA and then used a jack to raise the LCA high enough for me to get the studs thru the trunk holes. This was so painfully frustrating. This is where you would want a buddy around to help you.

And my stupid street lost power, so I lost all that I wrote. Screw this I'm going to bed.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR AP RACING BRAKE KIT (SPRINT)

- Installing this weekend

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR NAMELESS PERFORMANCE EXHAUST

- Installed. Well, mostly. Pics will be added this weekend.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR SAIKOU MICHI DUAL CATCH CAN KIT

- Purchased. Kit is being built and it should arrive in about 3-4 weeks.

UPDATE: 3-31-2014
- OCC Kit arrived. Will install once the SC is on.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR SETRAB 16 ROW OIL COOLER

- Purchased. Parts are on backorder

UPDATE 3-6-2014:
Oil cooler parts arrived yesterday
Hopefully I will have enough time this weekend to install. I'm already pretty busy but we'll see.

UPDATE: 4-12-2014
Finally got around to installing the kit, but suffered a major oil leak (lost 5 qts) while test driving.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR INNOVATE SUPERCHARGER KIT (INTERCOOLED)

- Kit purchased. Install and tune scheduled for the first week of March.
- Kit will be installed by HG MOTORSPORTS
- Kit will be dyno tuned by Delicious Tuning

UPDATE 3-6-2014:
Received word that my headers were out of stock and now I need wait for the next batch
Once the headers are ready I will be able to reschedule the install and tune.

UPDATE 4-21-2014:
So my headers finally came in last week and since HGMS was dropping a car off at Oakland they said they wouldn't mind swinging by my place to pick up my car for me on their way back to San Diego. HGMS just saved me a 200 mile drive
They stopped by on Friday with their company truck and a trailer and loaded the car. Hopefully later today i will have some base dyno runs of the car in semi-stock form (I currently have the catted Nameless front pipe w/ resonator and axleback).

- Received word that the car made 150-155 whp on 3 base dyno runs
- KOYO radiator has been installed

Pic of Dyno run and Dyno Graph:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...postcount=4430

Delicious Tuning - Tune version 8.59
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...postcount=5191
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...postcount=5191

Currently running Tune version 8.65

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR DRIVING EVENTS (HPDE & AUTO-X)

- I did 4 driving events last year and I prepaid for 6 HPDE events this year with eXtreme SPEED track events. So I'll be adding driving and track impressions here.

I guess I can start off with saying that I do believe that there are cars that teach you to become a better driver, and I wholeheartedly believe that this (FRS/BRZ) is one of those cars. However, I suck at driving fast and I've grown impatient. So now that I know how slow I am in a stock car, I'm ready to see how slow I will be in a boosted car.

[MINOCIN]

RESERVED FOR


Ok, ok. This is the last one. No more reservations. I just wanted to make sure I covered all my bases (well, most of them anyway).

[MINOCIN]

Because I purchased many of my parts (coilovers, brake kit, sc kit and others) at the same time, my friends and I often refer to that day as the time that I went full retard. And as everybody knows, you never go full retard.

Even though I purchased just about all my parts at once, as opposed to spreading out the financial burden over a long period of time, I don't really see myself stopping any time soon. In fact, I feel now like I'm just beginning. I'm sure many of you on this forum can share that sentiment.

My buddies may make fun of me and call me retarded, but they too have their moments. Although one friend prefers to call it "feeding the addiction" while another argues that sometimes you just gotta go "balls deep".

Whatever you want to call it, I don't see it ending. Perhaps I should rename this thread to Going Full Retard?

[Assunta]

Subscribing. For the humour. And car bits.

[MINOCIN]

Got a call today from HG Motorsports saying that my car was good to go (too bad I don't have time to pick it up right away), but they wanted to make me aware of a clicking noise that they heard coming from the rear passenger side of the car (uh oh). They think the sound might be coming from the rear axle but they aren't sure. They just barely noticed it while test driving the car.

Apparently the new header and exhaust are pretty loud so they didn't notice it right away. They said they would try and pinpoint the source of the noise for me.

Now back to the exhaust. I have mixed feelings on this one. The car was already sort of loud before the header (Nameless axleback & downpipe). So I'm not sure if I'll love the new sound or end up driving in constant fear of attracting too much unwanted attention. Should I risk driving loud and proud or will I have to revert back to the stock muffler?

My buddy suggests that if it's too loud then I should first try inserting some exhaust baffles. I guess I'll find out this weekend. Afterall, I'll have a good 200+ mile drive back from the HGMS shop to decide.

If I like it then I'll be sure to post a vid on The Boosted Exhaust Thread.

As for my SC kit, I posted my initials thoughts and some dyno pics on the Innovate thread. Here's a link to my post, #4462

HGMS will give me the full low down when I pick the car up. So I'll update the thread with more info then.

[MINOCIN]

So I just learned that if you buy race headers and put them on your car that you will make the car loud, and angry. Really angry.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZF0-5cPGv44"]Loud and raspy FRS exhaust - rev & driveby - YouTube[/ame]

"I'm sorry I can't hear you over the sound of my giant throbbing erection"

Is what I wish I could say, but it is seriously way to loud for the street. Even the cold start idles over 90 db.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_SMBYAOEtg"]FRS - full exhaust cold start over 90 decibels - YouTube[/ame]

So I pussied out and went back to the stock muffler.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-z4nWPuWBjU"]YouTube[/ame]

It's not too bad with the stock exhaust (kind of sounds like a little tin fart can now when putting around town). It actually sounds pretty decent when you rev it up and give it the beans. I'll be sure to make another video with the stock exhaust (rev & drive-by).

My main problem at the moment is that the header tubes are actually hitting each other. You can here them rattling around in the last vid w/ the stock exhaust. I'll need to contact the manufacturer about this issue. Hopefully they can help me out.

[Assunta]

last one is private mate