levifig's GBS BRZ

[levifig]

Hey everyone,

So, I'm sure this won't interest most of you but I'm gonna start a post here as I received an email earlier today saying the dealer has received my BRZ today and will be ready to pick up on Monday. Because I can't contain the excitement, I'm just gonna put this here and update it later with more details, pictures, etc... :p

FWIW, I'm not planning on any serious engine mods in the first few months. I plan on tinting the windows, fine tuning a few cosmetic details and... wait! While I applaud the many brave souls in this forum, this car will be a DD primarily, just one I can take to the track once in a while. I've been reading a lot about Turbos and I do plan on installing one sooner or later... Just trying to protect my investment initially, especially considering I can't afford to leave it in the garage waiting for parts or something like that (I live in an apartment building, though I have an attached/shared garage area).

Anyway, I just couldn't hold the excitement and really wanted to share it with the only people in the world that could probably understand it better than anyone else!

Have a great weekend guys.... Mine is going to feel slooooooooww! :P


#GBSMafia

[Stierzy34]

CONGRATS!!! I am in the same boat. My paperwork and money are in and just waiting for it to get to my house (is being shipped from CO).

The wait is a killer though, isn't it? lol

[BRZer86]

I just got mine last Friday and the waiting game gets tougher knowing that your car is with in reach. Congrats and drive safe!

[levifig]

Originally Posted by Stierzy34

CONGRATS!!! I am in the same boat. My paperwork and money are in and just waiting for it to get to my house (is being shipped from CO).

The wait is a killer though, isn't it? lol

Originally Posted by BRZer86

I just got mine last Friday and the waiting game gets tougher knowing that your car is with in reach. Congrats and drive safe!

Thanks guys!
And yes: the wait is killiiiiing me!! haha Been dreaming about the weekend all week and now... I CAN'T WAIT FOR MONDAY EVENING!!!!

haha

[levifig]

Got it delivered and, to my luck, we got insane rain/threatening hail on the way home (closest dealer is about 40m away).

Managed to get it home and into the garage safely though… Sadly, no pictures yet!

Will update OP with more info soon!

[levifig]

So, I picked the BRZ last Monday. Beautiful, sunny day. I drove down (~40m away) after work with the wife and went through the whole process, which took us a few hours, half of which I spent drooling and pinching myself… :>

After the celebratory (poor) pic of the car before pickup (inc. engine bay: sparkly clean <3) we began the drive back home. Sun is setting, beautiful, except… oh no: it seems like we're entering an "end of the world"-type area!! Sick clouds, windy as heck, but still very dry while in the highway. As soon as we are about to get out of the highway, the rain begins. And boy, it was pouring!!! Thunderstorm AND HAIL warnings blasting through the radio, I start panicking!!! I actually start speeding up, even though conditions would advise the opposite (props to the ah-mazi-ng handling of the BRZ, it was always 100% safe). Right as I'm about to enter the garage, I hear 1-2 small hail pellets hitting the car but at that point I'm in… Right as I get in the garage, it's hailing outside!!

I can't begin to tell you how crazy stressful those last 15 minutes of that ride were… I'm posting some pictures below! On the in-car ones, while it rains, I should note a small detail: even though the amount of water on the windshield is significant, the wiper blades were going on FULL SPEED! Ya, it was crazy!!

Anyway, here are the pictures:


Celebratory first pic, poorly framed, while salesman is walking towards me and I'm trying to not look overly excited… :P


Engine bay because engine!


Dashboard because… 8 MILES!!! <3 (first new car ever; gimme a break :p)



The Ride Home





Got really dark… REALLY quick!! :o








PARKED SAFE… already a dirty mess! :P


About 20 minutes later after I got home and the hail began…


Welcome to Iowa… :P


Well, thanks for reading and hope you never have to go through this… EVER! :P
I'll post some more photos of the car below…

[levifig]

Stock, 3 days old, ~120 miles in…












Loving this GBS more and more every day…

[BRZer86]

Good to see you enjoying her. The break-in period sucks so hang in there.

[levifig]

About a week in and here a few comments that I'd like to hear feedback from other owners:

- 1st and 2nd are a bit rough… They are sometimes hard to engage, actually. Not sure if this will smoothen out or I should have it checked. I've been driving manuals for over a decade so it's not like I don't know how to engage a gear either… :P 3rd, 4th, etc feel just fine, and even 1st and 2nd feel rough only most of the time. I've tried giving it a little revs/gas before engaging 2nd (from 1st) and it tends to help a bit…

- The seats are okay but not great. I feel like my shoulders keep getting squished in and I drive pretty upright… I do have a pulled muscle on my upper back at the moment, which I think it may not be helping.

- Just fueled up for the first time. I think I got ~25mpg on this one, mostly city driving, though "city driving" in "small" town Iowa means having to stop for stop signs and red lights (not a whole lot of traffic :p).

- Am I the only one who drives with traction/stability control off most of the time? :P I just love coming off of a corner at like 30mph and getting that rear to slide into position ever so slightly…

I'd love to hear from other BRZ owners about these topics when you first got your car…

I'll leave you with a picture of today's gorgeous sunset (taken from the car, so no BRZ in it :P):

[levifig]

850 miles in and… RACETRACK!!!
I never raced in any fashion before but I've been dreaming about since I was about 8! Today, my dream becam—began to become true! I know, I know, she's hardly broken in but I'll just tell you this: she performed amazing! I managed to shave about a second on each of the 3 runs and we beat much faster and powerful cars by a few seconds!!

What a blast!! This will become a more regular occurrence and I'm already wanting new wheels and tires! LOL The stock ones are fun as heck ("durifto") but I felt i was really hitting their limits in my last/fastest run.

I still don't have a GoPro and my buddy's one wasn't working today. I already signed up for an invitational in a few weeks, which should give me a lot more runs and hopefully will have the GoPro then.

PS: it was a small, karting track; I stayed in 2nd gear the entire time (not worth it the shift to 3rd for a few seconds off the main straight); the torque dip is pretty noticeable! Can't wait to flash this thing…





PS2: First time they had GT86's at these events and they got 2 this time. I talked to the owner of the the other one briefly between heats and I know he's a member of this forum!

SO. MUCH. FUN. #racecar

[levifig]

Long time no post…

Here's an update from this past weekend…

[ame]http://youtu.be/elD82fbhVhA[/ame]

## Sorry about the sound! No idea what happened!! ##

NQS Event #2, 2014 Season (http://nqsperformance.com)

At "Iowa International Raceway" (Marshalltown, IA)

2013 Subaru BRZ
Absolutely stock except tires: Bridgestone Potenza RE-11 (225/45R17) -- GAWD I LOVE THESE TIRES!!

Not sure the fastest lap, but it was in the 1:23s... Very hot & humid day! Tires felt amazing but engine felt a bit sluggish (more than usual :p). On the straightaway after that fast sweeper (with the fence on sight) I'm reaching fuel cut-off. I could potentially shift in the straightaway leading up to the sweeper, but I would probably lose the benefit by lowering the RPMs below 4k, on the sweeper exit, which would hurt my exit speed...

Got quite a bit of oversteer on that uphill horseshoe leading to the final straight… I think I'm carrying a lot of speed into it, and braking while turning… I'm definitely getting some 4-wheel slidin' going at entry. I believe this will be a lot better with better brake pads: I'm feeling severe fading with the stock pads, which was forcing me to either brake too soon, losing precious time, or forcing momentum understeer.

After this event, I'm more certain than ever that my next upgrade will be brakes... At first, just new, good, pads. I can't upgrade to big brakes until I change my wheels and I can't get bigger wheels until I swap the suspension (KW Clubsports... Next year... I hope! :p)

Super stoked about the improvement from last time (shaved about 3 seconds) and getting super regular on my runs, which opens the door for other types of light tuning (tire pressure, brakes pads, etc).


Have I mentioned how much I FREAKING LOVE THESE RE-11s YET?!?!?!?!?!? =D