Berserker's BRZ 0=[=====> Thriving Through Battles

[Berserker]

I feel my BRZ has earned it's own thread after a couple years of ownership Traditionally I am a drag racer by heart and have been in the mustang world all my life. I have always appreciated the Twins before I even had intended on buying one. I always lean towards the All motor route for my own punishment or rather personally glory. I know it won't be a 10 Second All motor car like my Stang but I do have a plan to make this Brz fierce in it's own right. Goals are to make it light as possible, gear it right, make some decent NA power and use everything it has when ever I have the chance. Street, Road course & some drag racing is the plan for project Berzerker.

Quick story how I ended up buying one when I wasn't looking nor a Subaru guy at all! One day I was at the road course lapping my Gutted NA Fiesta (does fairly well for what it is) A friend of mine had this particular Brz there that day. He kept offering for me to drive the car for a few laps so by the end I caved & jumped into the seat. I know everyone says this but.. I immediately felt the response from the car, how neutral it was &how it reacted amazing to inputs. Again I was never deep deep regarding information about the twins other then the basics most would know outside the community. After doing 2-3 good trying laps I then did 2-3 laps messing around drifting the stock tires & behold it was amazing at that too. Gave him my thanks & home we went. About 6-7 months later he had let me know he was trading the car in at a local dealer if I wanted to go get it. Hell yea I did! On a whim I robbed the bank & picked up this beaut. I swear if I hadn't driven the car on the track that day I may not have ever bought one.


Stock 2013 Satin pearl white 48,000 kms. As of right now I am doing the OEM + Route, I want to track the car this season stock with the small weight reduction / Items I currently have. Also want to hit up the drag strip with current stock power & Lightened configuration. To be honest work and life were really chaotic when I purchased the car two years ago I only have put a few thousand km's on it since then. Garage & well kept but 2020 is the year I finally enjoy this thing. I am playing catch up on the build thread but will keep updating as things were done / being done in some order.

Engine / Drivetrain

-Oem Subaru Ac Delete pulley
-Oem Air Box [DEI Lid]
-Perrin Inlet tube
-K&N panel filter #33-2300
-Versus Aluminum Ecu mount
-Mtec Transmissions springs
-Axle Exchange Aluminum drive shaft


Suspension / Chassis

-STI Strut tower brace
-H&R Super Sport springs #54408-77
-Koni Adjustable shocks
-Whiteline Diff lock bushings
-Whiteline Subframe bushings
-Whiteline Shifter bushing insert #KDT926

Wheels & Tire Sets

-BRZ STI / Enkei 17x7 Wheels (Stock 215/45/17 Hp primacy tires)
-BBS 16x6.5 Wheels (205/55/16 NT450 Tires up front / 245/50/16 NT555R DR's Rear)

Exterior

-Jdm Clear side markers
-Jdm Tom's rear tail lights
-Oem Trunk (Spoiler less)
-STI Rear Badge
-Tinted Windows

Interior / gimmicks

-Bride Low Max V III
-Oem Toyota Radio plug panel #55522-52020 (Stereo removed)

Weight reduction / Minor speed gains


-Light weight Race Seat
-Removed AC System
-Removed Stereo (Head unit / speakers)
-Removed Curtain air bags
-Removed rear seats / Seat belt hardware
-Removed everything in trunk (Spare tire, jack tool tray, cover)
-Oem ECU Mount / Driver fuel rail cover removed
-Aluminum Driveshaft


Current parts collection / Future installs

-Braille Lightweight battery with /FT86 Tray
-Raceseng Aluminum Crank, Water pump, & alternator pullies
-Spare diff with 4.77 Gears & OS Giken differential
-Borla UEL / Front pipe
-BBS V7 STI 17x7.5 Wheels
-STI Front grille badge
-FT86 Header exit exhaust
-Oem Spare Satin white hood (hood exit set up)
-Oem Spare Transmission
-Oem Rear subframe

***Disclaimer***

Throughout my car life I have never bought a nice Camera -__- these are some iPhone 4s grainy shots mixed with some XR shots. My 4S Lasted me over 8 years what a product. Much needed Cannon camera coming soon. Ugh just imagine high quality photos for now lol.

Day 1




Current Day : Still in progress***

[Berserker]

Shortly after or right after I should says I was ordering some odds and ends along with scoring some parts off the good people of this forum here. H&R Super sport springs were installed with Koni adjustable shocks along with a set of Tom's Red tail lights & oem 17x7 Enkei TS Wheels with Stock primacy tires. I couldn't stand the oem euro tail light look for another second Also installed the oem clear side markers. The Stock wheels just kill the whole look of these cars imo. Funny enough they looked pretty dam good on my Legacy Wagon! I Regret selling those wheels now tbh.

[Berserker]

I always put bucket seats in my cars, It's such a reward once you taste what a Race seat can do for driving feel / Weight reduction. I had FX1 pro's in the past so I grabbed a set to start out with. No gripes, very nice for the money & the black suede option is always my go to. Sometimes I rock both but a lot of the time I take the passenger side out for further weight savings. Continuing on the weight reduction... I removed the rear spare tire, jack / tool kit along with the rear seats, Seat belt hardware & trunk panels.







Don't hate me for saying this but the oem Headunit to me was terrible lol.. I'm going for a knife edge lightweight car so I pulled the head unit out along with all the speakers. Added the Toyota Jdm oem base model plastic panel. I rock a Blue tooth speaker If I need some tunes







I ditched the AC not long after, using the JDM Base model Ac eliminator kit. Bolted on perfect, same size pulley no gripes. I remove the AC in all my cars kind of one of the first things I do. Mainly for the 25-30lbs but also a little less drag & a cleaner look.

*Pics to be loaded*

[Berserker]

While cruising ads for BBS wheels one day I cam across a set of 16x6.5's off the older JDM GT/B-spec Legacy Wheels in great shape. I wanted to have an entry level drag set up just to have some fun. So I mounted some narrowish Nitto NT450 205/55/16 tires up front with a nice 245/50/16 Nitto NT555R Drag radials out back. They are very light (12 or 13lbs off of memory) Works awesome, they look pretty decent too if I don't say so myself Oem+ Drag set up acquired My next drag set up will be actual 15x3.5's & 15x8's when I get around to some extra funds / measuring up the brakes for Bogart.










Tinted windows just after. Issa must for me, it's ok if you like the fish bowl look




Also Bought a nice Subaru car cover off one of the members here for a fair deal My next drag car project peeking in the back.

[Berserker]

I had scored for a fair price a set of 17x9 Enkei RPF1's (35 offset) with tires. I know this is a go to fitment for these cars but with the factory alignment the wheels especially up front stuck out a fair amount. I like the tucked or just flush look, anything past the fender really bothers me. So I ended up selling them and in the future will get a 17x9 set in 45mm offset. Don't want -2.5 or -3 camber at the moment.




I Plan on keeping the stock air box for now. Did a quick Dei gold tape job on the box portion, added a perrin Tube / K&N Drop in filter.

[evoto86]

I like the light weight approach that's my goal in a year or two get down to 1100 Kilo's.

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by evoto86

I like the light weight approach that's my goal in a year or two get down to 1100 Kilo's.

I always feel it's a win win. Faster, Less stress, more nimble, better mpg = Glorious

[Berserker]

Since I was young I could always remember vividly the 04 STI's with those Gold BBS wheels. I have always appreciated those factory wheels even though the offset is fairly high for our Eight sixes. I wanted a set & was searching for over a year ...and every set I went to see in person were either trashed or nor where near the condition as advertised for the money... Finally I even bought a dam parts car legacy GT! Seen it had the V7 5x100 wheels in the ad so I went to grab the whole car (It was posted as a roller, he didn't pull any parts off by the time I called) I negotiated over the phone to buy the whole car for $1800 when really all I was after was the wheels & it had a set of Brembos all the way around Originally priced as $1000 roller. Long story short I get there and one of the wheels was mangled!!!!! Wasn't in the pics and buddy didn't mention it.

I hummed and hawed when I when to see the car in person but ended up still buying the whole car. I parted it out to make my money back and thankfully & then some. I ended up keeping the 3 good BBS wheels and one damaged one for a future use on my wagon maybe... That sedan had Bilstein shocks / pink springs so I kept those for my wagon as well. The part out lasted 2 weeks and I scraped the chassis at the end. All for wheels but ended up with those plus some parts / cash so meh. I thought about restoring it for a minute trust me.. lol. If it was a wagon different story






I left the motor for last so a potentially new owner could hear it run before being pulled. Had a guy in desperate need & it worked out for both of us.



Just a few weeks after I was cruising through the FB groups literally just messaged all kinds of people on the search. This chick ended up having a set brand new in box! I didn't actually believe it until I seen them in person. So bam, New set just waiting for rubbers one day. Maybe track wheels to start off?

[Berserker]

I was cruising Kijiji one day for part out ads & came across someone selling a used Transmission / Rear complete diff. I drove out an hour to grab both, Plan was to have a spare diff to swap gears out & have two pods I can go back and forth between if I choose. Lucky for me a few weeks after that I seen a member selling a complete diff with a Giken LSD & 4.77 gear set. So I traded my stock diff plus cash for his unit & have that sitting waiting to go in. The transmission I had tucked away for a rainy day (I powershift a lot) If I ever bend a fork or something I could switch it out pretty quick and get back on the road. Plan is to swap the rear end's using the 4.77 gears even with the stock power to get some Track testing done on them. It may be too much gear for my local road course but we will see.. It will shine on the 1320.

[Berserker]

Pushing forward with some more weight savings.. When I removed my rear seats & hardware I seen the curtain air bags tucked away. I didn't do it then but one night after work I started staring at the headliner... Then wham removed. They were 5 lbs off the top of my head for weight with the hardware. Not huge savings but at the highest point of the car it will benefit some, not to mention every 5-10lbs will eventually add up to 50,80,100lbs. When folks have asked me in the past "oh was the 25lbs worth it?" I would always say every 100lbs off the car usually comes in 5-25lb weight loss increments as you are working throughout the car. If one were to over look 5-25lbs every time, said person would never reach weight reduction goals imo.



I ended up selling my pair of Corbeau FX1 Pro seats to a member on the forum. I picked up a slightly used legit Bride Zeta III Race bucket with bracket. This so far has been the tightest fit bucket I have got to date & super happy with it. I'm trying to decide if I should by another Zeta III or go all out for some Gardis III's. I didn't have a chance to weigh the corbeau vs bride but a couple lbs lighter if anything. Harness bar & a five point needed next.





My cousin acquired his 12 STI during this period, Satin pearl white with some bolt on's. Hope to have both cars out cruising soon.

[SuperTom]

Welcome I am a fellow weight reduction junkie as well! Im down to about 2350lbs with a full interior

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by SuperTom

Welcome I am a fellow weight reduction junkie as well! Im down to about 2350lbs with a full interior

Nice I have been going through your build thread, some nice light weight Area 51 stuff going on eh I think you sold me on the Carbon doors lol..

[Mike_ZN6]

Originally Posted by Berserker

I had scored for a fair price a set of 17x9 Enkei RPF1's (35 offset) with tires. I know this is a go to fitment for these cars but with the factory alignment the wheels especially up front stuck out a fair amount. I like the tucked or just flush look, anything past the fender really bothers me. So I ended up selling them and in the future will get a 17x9 set in 45mm offset. Don't want -2.5 or -3 camber at the moment.




I Plan on keeping the stock air box for now. Did a quick Dei gold tape job on the box portion, added a perrin Tube / K&N Drop in filter.

Amazing job with the gold wrap on the air box! It makes me want to do it. Is that DEI wrap adhesive on one side?

[Berserker]

Originally Posted by Mike_ZN6

Amazing job with the gold wrap on the air box! It makes me want to do it. Is that DEI wrap adhesive on one side?

Thanks! Correct, I use the Rolls instead of the big sheets. #010394 which are 1.5" wide & makes it a little easier to work with. I'm sure I could do it a little cleaner the second go around but I am happy with the outcome. I have done the same underneath my Boss 302 Mustang intake in the past & will probably do this intake FA20 manifold as well.