Stock BRZ

[chanomatik]

Originally Posted by switchlanez

Lol yup. Like I said, "insignificant." The Supra and LFA weren't track-spec cars and I like the idea that I can make my car closer to the LFA in some ways. Plus I have to find ways to offset the weight added by my heavy-ish wheels somehow!

Definitely agree there! Mmmm... "Baby LFA".

[5th 86]

Originally Posted by chanomatik

Okay, I concede to your point. I use the term "cheap" very, very loosely. I meant it as you stated as "differing priorities". I'll also admit that I'm arrogant, too. hahaha

And yes, I'd rather have something new and potentially more reliable to build upon rather than putting money into rebuilding it into running order first, then modifying. I had a 2001 Impreza RS coupe that I had to keep fixing up while putting parts into, since it wound up being an abused lemon by the time I got it. Eventually I got so frustrated with it that I sold the parts that made it unique, sat on the car in its broken state for a few years, then finally sold it last year in February. Never again will I buy a "beater" AND also go out of my way to mod it.

When i worked at subaru, almost ten years ago i saw a fairly youn kid who rebuilt his moms 93 impreza 4 door into a modified turbo sti look alike from 98, he said he did all the work except for paint in his garage it was amazing, you could hear the turbo spool up through the exhaust when he drove away. Props to that guy wish i still knew where the pics are, man those high end advan rims were so nice.

[DoomsdayJesus]

Originally Posted by qoncept

And in a lot of cases I have the opposite irrational superiority complex. I see people buying the worst bang for the buck parts they can, adding parts that make the car slower and so on. Strut bars, getting all caught up in which catback to buy (as if they're any different), coilovers with crappy tires. People are going to do what they want to do, and other people are going to disagree with it.

Yeah but everybody knows how fast your car goes is directly correlated to buying the most expensive parts.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

The rest will "improve" something and screw up something else, for example handing (crappy lowering hardware, bad damping, crazy understeer-inducing spacers etc). Properly "improving", while preserving the rest is expensive.

i understand where you're coming from, but have you actually driven a BRZ with 20mm rear spacers and experienced this 'crazy understeer'? you obviously haven't with your own car as it's stock.

i had 20mm spacers in the rear, and i never experienced any understeer. you know why? because my car is my daily driver and i don't drive fast enough or near the limits of traction on PUBLIC ROADS. i don't track or autox it either.

it's a moot point now as i had them on until i got my new wheels, but just wanted to understand your point of reference - from experience or from others. yes, i do know that changing the geometry affects the car's handling, but to some of us that may not push the car to the level where it's noticeable, it's transparent.

to me, the greater concern was accelerated wear on bearings etc due to spacers, but considering the fact that i only drive about 5000 miles/year, it wasn't an issue.

i don't care about being 'unique' either - i care about what i like and prefer. for example, if everyone else has a popular wheel that i like the looks of, it's not going to stop me from getting it. the changes i make to my car are FOR ME, not for anyone else. it's for the quiet times in the garage when i'm looking at the car, or looking at it while walking away from it after parking it. i'm not a teenager anymore either - i'm probably older than you.

anyways, i'm aware of how each change affects the car - whether it be aesthetic, mechanical or performance-related. i weigh the factors before making a decision, and ultimately, i go with what works for me.

[dsgerbc]

Originally Posted by shiumai

i had 20mm spacers in the rear, and i never experienced any understeer. you know why? because my car is my daily driver and i don't drive fast enough or near the limits of traction on PUBLIC ROADS. i don't track or autox it either.

You don't have to drive the car anywhere near the limits to feel the spacers. The car will feel less eager to turn at legal speeds. While I have not played with track width on a RWD car, I did mess with my past AWD subarus and the effects from 40mm change in track width on one axis are quite noticeable.

[shiumai]

Originally Posted by dsgerbc

You don't have to drive the car anywhere near the limits to feel the spacers. The car will feel less eager to turn at legal speeds. While I have not played with track width on a RWD car, I did mess with my past AWD subarus and the effects from 40mm change in track width on one axis are quite noticeable.

increased understeer due to the spacers is not noticeable to me. to someone more in tune to their car, probably.

[chanomatik]

Spacers are noticeable. I had 25mm spacers on my WRX to adapt STI wheels. The stance felt PHENOMENAL, however. Car felt more planted because of the wider tires and track.

I'll be adding 15mm spacer adapters to the BRZ.

Speaking of which... You're absolutely okay with the stock wheels as well? You don't think they're too heavy for being 17x7 +48 wheels? Or ugly because of the machined face and two-tone color?

[Tone]

I plan on keeping mine stock, although if the torque dip can be smoothed out with intake/exhaust, then I might consider that. I am not a racer or autocrosser, so I am perfectly happy with the car the way it is, regardless of the torque dip.

[Foobar]

Originally Posted by Tone

I plan on keeping mine stock, although if the torque dip can be smoothed out with intake/exhaust, then I might consider that. I am not a racer or autocrosser, so I am perfectly happy with the car the way it is, regardless of the torque dip.

Headers will address the dip.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[dori.]

I love wheels and hate wheel gap so I dropped my car on coilovers and put wheels on. Nothing wrong with the stock car. I drove it stock for about 8 months until I got coils. Plus all the stuff I did can be taken off and return to stock.

[bestwheelbase]

Originally Posted by chanomatik

Speaking of which... You're absolutely okay with the stock wheels as well? You don't think they're too heavy for being 17x7 +48 wheels? Or ugly because of the machined face and two-tone color?

Personally I dislike the stock wheels on the North American cars. I prefer the stock 16's offered on the 86 in other markets.

[KelvinBRZ]

Originally Posted by bestwheelbase

Personally I dislike the stock wheels on the North American cars. I prefer the stock 16's offered on the 86 in other markets.

you mean these? I know they come stock or as an available option in other countries.. they also used these rims as advertisement for the 86 convertible or something similar to it. so sexy..

I'd gladly trade my stock in for these any day!

[s5pitfire]

my take on modifying a car is that not only are you making it personal and custom to your desires/needs, you are upgrading the performance (and usually downgrading reliability, even with just a CAI)

i couldnt imagine driving a bone stock mustang GT and being happy with it. I want to be different. Even 300 crank hp would only keep me happy for a few months, or if I was a girl and only used 1/2 of it (note, 700 lb difference between FRSBRZ and my GT stock)

If/when I get one, first few things i'll have on order are wider and cooler wheels, good rubber, CAI, and exhaust. Then i'll think about suspension and turbo kit.

[s5pitfire]

Originally Posted by KelvinBRZ

you mean these? I know they come stock or as an available option in other countries.. they also used these rims as advertisement for the 86 convertible or something similar to it. so sexy..

I'd gladly trade my stock in for these any day!

those look far better than usa's stock wheels.. although usa's are nice looking and not tiny, they look kind of boring. The actual car looks (body) outperforms the looks of the wheels.

edit: and they definitely look 17" to me.. 16's are a bit small

FRSBRZ is definitely one of the best looking bone stock bodies for under $50k or whatever (nissan GTR looks cooler but in a different way. It's also larger like a boat). I mean most cars people want body kits, hoods, spoilers, etc.. but this car looks DAMN good stock. That's saying something