Ph4zon's AT BRZ Build

[TheBRZsKnees]

Toyota Celica (T200) > Acura CL 3.0 > Subaru BRZ

After one too many repairs on the CL, I settled on the idea of getting a 6AT FR-S or BRZ. Dealing with Seattle hills and traffic in a manual just didn't seem worth it for a daily driver. If I could go back I might make a different call now, but the AT has been fantastic.

I picked one out in late 2015. It had a recently Rebuilt title due to a side impact but only 4000 miles on it, so it fit my budget. I call her Estelle.









Mod List

Engine/Performance
-Full Blown Motorsports turbo kit
-GTX2867R turbo
-Full Blown Cast Aluminum oil pan
-Ruien Polish baffled breather can
-Zeta Products Billet Aluminum Oil Filler Cap
-MotorFansClub washer/bolt dress up kit
-Fumoto F108S oil valve
-86 Speed Gas Hood Shocks V2
-Perrin 2.5" Non-Resonated Catback
-Ultimate Racing catless resonated front pipe
-Ultimate Racing overpipe
-Drift Office tune

Wheels, Brakes, and Suspension (Summer Config)
-WedsSport SA-15R, 18x8.5 +48, 18x9.5 +48
-Continental Extreme Contact Sport, 255/35, 265/35
-15mm PBM spacers in front
-7mm PBM spacers in the rear
-Aodhan EXT-48 lug nuts
-HKS Hipermax GT coilovers
-PBM rear LCAs
-PBM toe rods
-RR Racing Sport Rear 4 Piston Brake Kit
-RR Racing Sport Front Big Brake Kit

Cosmetic
-Artisan Spirits front bumper
-Fly1 Motorsports RS86 Vented Fenders, full carbon
-Kouki Toyota 86 rear bumper
-Kouki TRD side skirts, modified for fitment
-Kouki Modellista spats
-Glanzen Silk Blaze spoiler
-Helix Smoked Side Markers, clear bulbs
-Beat-Sonic FDA9 Shark Fin antenna
-Light Smoke Valenti Revo tail lights
-Tinted factory reverse bar
-3M Gloss black vinyl roof wrap
-19% tint all around
-Series Hyperblue BRZ badge
-GCS RGB Interior Footwell Lighting Kit


Interior
-T'eyes CC3 head unit
-Focal 165AS speakers
-Rockford Fosgate R600X5 amp
-Integrity Concepts 10" enclosure
-Sundown 10" subwoofer
-Rydeen CM-DUO2 reverse cam
-Valentine One radar detector
-AEM Wideband gauge and Tru Boost gauge
-OEM Toyota 86 All Weather Floor Mats

Not In Use (Winter Config)
-XXR 527, Matte Bronze, 18x8 +42, 18x8.75 +35
-Michelin X-Ice Xi3, 225/40

What's Next

Planning on a couple other small bits and bobs, but this build is essentially done.

[TheBRZsKnees]

I wish I had gotten better images early on. This is one of the only one I've been able to find from when it was stock.



The very first thing I did was rip the stock speakers out and remove the RC car antenna. The sound system didn't really get where I wanted it to be until I got a new head unit though. I was anxious to get rid of the stock wheels as well. I almost went for Enkei RS05RRs, but in the end settled on WedsSport SA-15Rs. I'm super happy with that choice, as well as the size and offset.



I had intended to get the resonated Perrin exhaust. The person who sold it to me told me that it was resonated and I hadn't done my research, so I took her word at face value. It was very much non resonated . It's louder and a bit raspier than I had intended, and it does drone some, but it sounds good with the UEL header and the girlfriend approves. Don't be deceived, the header is actually catless =P



The most recent change was the gloss black roof wrap. It was both my and my friend's first time attempting something like this, and it came out pretty rough. Overall though, it has the effect I was going for.

[TheBRZsKnees]

Big things happening! It's been pretty overwhelming, but the install is almost wrapped up.Test fitting the bumper back on have shown that I'll probably have to deal with the dreaded fender gap I'll have more updates after I get it tuned next weekend.

[Lonewolf]

The car is coming along nicely!

[TheBRZsKnees]

The car is essentially ready for some test runs, but it hasn't been without challenges.

-FBM sent me a basemap for an MT, so I wasn't able to load it last night. I'll take another shot tonight.

-Even after drilling the crash bar holes to the advised sizes, my intercooler still sits too low. This is causing bumper fitment issues. I'll need to find a way to move it higher.

-My downpipe routes very close to a sensor, toward the bottom of the engine. It's heatwrapped, but since it's almost flush with the sensor, I'm pretty nervous. FBM asked me to send them pictures. I'll need to see if there's any way to move the downpipe forward.

[Clipdat]

Nice wheel choice, sir! Good luck sorting out the rest of the little things in your FI setup.

[TheBRZsKnees]

The car is now safely in the hands of Drift Office. Aside from the fitment issues, we had an issue with the car turning over but failing to fire once everything was installed. We assumed this was an issue with the FBM MAP sensor or basemap, but after several days of troubleshooting, we determined that it was due to not having grounded the injector control ECU.

By the time we got it running, we had returned the tune, MAP sensor, and injectors back to stock. At this point, I opted to drive it to my tuner in this state while simply staying under boost. This was a bit nerve-racking, but it's definitely doable if you're careful.

Unfortunately I completely forgot to unmarry my OFT before flashing my ECU with the Ecutek cable. This effectively rendered my OFT useless. I could flash the car back to the OFT stock tune and unmarry it, but this would overwrite my Ecutek license. Shiv said all he could do was sell me a new one for cheaper than msrp if I sent my tablet in to them, but I really don't think that this is a suitable solution. Overall, pretty disappointed in OpenFlash. If anyone has a use for a married OFT, I have one cheap lol.

[TheBRZsKnees]

Finally got the breather can on last night. I also plugged the sound tube, which had just been left open. Annoyingly, the exhaust smell in the cabin seems to be worse, even with the AC on recirculate. I'm not sure what would cause this. Maybe the location of the can is bad (close to the battery). I'll spend some more time driving and see.

I still need to fix the intercooler fitment. Taking the bumper on and off has warped it some, causing my left side marker not to sit flush anymore. I need to see if I can bend the metal part back a bit when I take the bumper off again (hopefully for the last time).

In better news, I got a fantastic deal on an Integrity Concepts enclosure and sub, so my sound system is complete. I'm pretty happy with where it is now.

[TheBRZsKnees]

Driving home last night and the car lost power. Electronics worked but it wouldn't turn over. Initial investigation found that the EFI ctrl fuse had blown. I replaced it, and the replacement blew as well when I tried to start the car.

From what I've found from other posts, it's probably either a short around the injectors or an issue with the coils. Hopefully I'll be able to figure it out tonight.

[TheBRZsKnees]

Aaaand round two. I took care of the short that was causing the original issue (a melted cam sensor wire due to my bad downpipe fitment) but a couple days later the car started running rough and died again. No blown fuse this time. It seems like it could be an issue with the cam sensor again, but I'm out of my depth now. Time to take it to a shop.

[TheBRZsKnees]

It's been a rough few weeks. I needed to wait for replacement pipes from FBM. If the issue is a damaged cam sensor like I suspect, I don't want to cook it a second time, so the replacement downpipe needed to come first.

Unfortunately, while I was waiting on the pipes, my neighbor hit my car. A trip to the body shop will be the first order of business once she's running again. Maybe I can find some help with my front bumper fitment there.



The good news is that the pipes finally came in. I went with a recirculating dump this time, because I really don't care of the sound of the open dump. It's clear where the DP mates to the manifold, but without actually attaching them to the car, the positioning is a bit confusing to me. Hopefully I'll be up and running again by mid-week, a bit lighter in the wallet no doubt.

[Soloside]

ayy another '14 boosted AT.



Do you have any issues with the RPMs dropping too low and having the car stall? I some times have that issue where If I'm in stop and go traffic or I'm coasting to a stop, the rpm drops and I feel like the car doesn't downshift fast enough and it just stalls. Kinda embarrassing on the high way -.-'

[TheBRZsKnees]

The car is still in the shop. They've narrowed the issue down to the DI ECU, (the same one that held my build up for three days because I didn't know it needed to be grounded). My best guess is that I fried it when troubleshooting the shorted wire that the downpipe melted. I'm waiting on a replacement that I got from a part out.

Originally Posted by Soloside

ayy another '14 boosted AT.

Do you have any issues with the RPMs dropping too low and having the car stall? I some times have that issue where If I'm in stop and go traffic or I'm coasting to a stop, the rpm drops and I feel like the car doesn't downshift fast enough and it just stalls. Kinda embarrassing on the high way -.-'

Hm. I haven't had anything quite like this. It could be an injector issue like I'm experiencing, but my issue is far more severe. The car is undrivable.

Any issues with temps? From what I understand, these cars can heat up a lot in stop-go traffic after boost if you live in a hot place, which can cause all kinds of problems. It could also be something with your tune.

[TheBRZsKnees]

The car has been running smoothly. I got an FBM oil pan since the stock one I tapped is leaky, but I haven't had a chance to get it on the car.

The other thing I've been noticing for about a month is a ticking sound around 15000 RPM. I don't hear it above or below that. It only happens after driving the car for ten or fifteen minutes, and it stops if the car is turned off and back on.

It seems to be coming from the alternator, but it's much louder inside the car than out.

UPDATE: The sound was coming from my boost solenoid. I had mounted it to the front core support, and when the evaporative emission purge circuit activated it, it made a knocking noise.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv1WXorjwmg"]BRZ Ticking Sound - YouTube[/ame]