First 500$ you would spend on your BRZ??

[Chauntalei]

Wheels, not rims.

[tobin]

Toyota JDM armrest
Weathertech mats
Weathertech plate frame(s)
Toyota JDM clear side markers
Headlight protection film

[Miniata]

Camber bolts and stickier tires. That's what I did and 15 months later I have no regrets.

[mrdanyo]

Descending price (starting at over $500+ though):

Coilovers
Rims/Tires
Spoiler (if you have the Limited OEM spoiler)
Tom's Tails
Exhaust
Weathertechs
Sharkfin Antenna
JDM side markers

If I had $500 as a static budget, I'd get JDM side markers, weathertechs, sharkfin antenna, and AN ARMREST. That or Tom's.

[SoCal909]

i'm going to get an exhaust & tint the windows asap. i'm going to keep the stock wheels for a bit until i figure out what i want. then in a few yrs once i am more comfortable putting in an aftermarket sc/turbo i will do that.

edit: forgot the drop-in filter as well.

[kodyo]

1) Tint
2) Weather Tech mats
3) K&N Drop In

All worth it for sure. And change fluids in transmission/differential with Motul 300 or Amsoil.

[LeeMaster]

My first mod was a full clear bra kit which cost me a little over $400. Full bumper, half fender/hood, side mirrors, and door seam. Extremely worth it IMO.

[FloridaBRZ]

k. lets change the direction of this discussion. forget about cosmetic applications and talk dollar value vs fun value. I drift. I have love throwing my cars around corners at crazy speeds. I have actually successfully completed a few kansai drifts and shift locks with my brz. I just want to have fun with it. What I was actually asking in the beginning is what would be more fun to start? more power/more handling?

[TylerLieberman]

Originally Posted by FloridaBRZ

k. lets change the direction of this discussion. forget about cosmetic applications and talk dollar value vs fun value. I drift. I have love throwing my cars around corners at crazy speeds. I have actually successfully completed a few kansai drifts and shift locks with my brz. I just want to have fun with it. What I was actually asking in the beginning is what would be more fun to start? more power/more handling?

For drifting...

Coilovers
Turn spin Knob
Seat time
Done

I would save some more money and buy some coilovers. $1,000 is around the price for some good entry level set ups. They'll make a world of difference.

[FloridaBRZ]

Talk to Rick at Rallysportdirect.com Just had a great conversation with him. Knowledgeable. No attitudes. Didn't even try to sell me on anything just from him. Truly an enthusiast for our BRZ's. Will DEFINATELY be doing business with him in the future.

[Hanni_0176]

Originally Posted by FloridaBRZ

k. lets change the direction of this discussion. forget about cosmetic applications and talk dollar value vs fun value. I drift. I have love throwing my cars around corners at crazy speeds. I have actually successfully completed a few kansai drifts and shift locks with my brz. I just want to have fun with it. What I was actually asking in the beginning is what would be more fun to start? more power/more handling?

I think a balance of both makes the most sense. But lets put it this way... you have some experience tossing the car around, so what do you think it needs more of?

I think the handling is more than adequate for the stock power, but I don't get to toss it around a lot on the roads around here. Most are straight and flat, and the good ones that have nice twisties and elevation are either through low mph residential areas (which I don't like to drive recklessly through) or are constantly filled with slow moving traffic.

When I do get to toss it around, the car handles like a pro. The tail end will get out, but only just a little, the car grips the pavement and hugs the turns, and I seriously feel like I'm driving a race car. I've seen a lot of reviewers in videos and articles call this car "confidence inspiring," and I totally agree. So for me personally, I'll be adding power mods first.

A drop-in Air Filter is absolutely your best bang for the buck. A recent review done by DS Performance (or something like that) dyno'd a bunch of CAI's and a few drop-in Air Filters, and the K&N dyno'd at 5.5whp. My K&N cost $40. That's less than $10 per horsepower. You're not gonna beat that like a camel in the desert on a Wednesday with a cactus schtick, with any other mod. The only comparable power per dollar that I can think of is Nitrous, which is pointless for anything but drag racing.

The next best mod after that for the money is going to be a tune. The Open Flash Tablet costs around $450 I believe, and it's open flash software so the base maps are free. A generic base map (non-custom) is good for at least 15whp I think. Some people have reported much larger gains (like 30whp), but I think those were reported on tunes after already having intake/exhaust mods and coming from the stock ECU map.

After that, the next best bang for the buck is going to be Exhaust: Headers, Front Pipe, and Overpipe (downpipe). In terms of gains, the Midpipe and Muffler are a waste of money from most of what I've read, but a few people have claimed that they gained a ton of power from Muffler deletes, so I dunno.

A Header is going to give you the biggest gains out of the three, but it is also the most expensive, and if you plan on going turbo'd later on, it may not be compatible with the turbo kit. Personally, I'm holding off on this for now. The cost for good Headers is a bit pricey. If you go with Headers, unless you prefer the sound of unequal length (UEL), equal length (EL) Headers will offer you the best gains, when comparing a quality UEL to a quality EL. EL are also much better for turbo'd applications, if you plan on going FI later on. Catless Headers are way cheaper than Catted, but are not technically street legal and won't pass smog. Also, you'll likely get a CEL, which requires a tune to get rid of. You can find Headers for as cheap as $500 and as expensive as $1,500... and you get what you pay for. Expect to pay about $1,000 to $1,200 for quality Catted Headers if you're installing them yourself. If you get a Header, you most certainly need a tune. The power gains is a bit of a grey area for me... most people post the gains from the Header along with a tune, so I'm not sure how much "just Headers" would give, but I'm going to guess somewhere between 10-20whp.

From all of the Frontpipe and Overpipes that I've looked into in terms of build quality, power gains, and sound, my favorite so far is the Nameless FP/OP with High Flow Cat combo, which will run you almost $1,000 if you install it yourself. The price drops $100 if you go Catless. The gains from these appear to be around 10-12whp on average.

I hope this helps.

EDIT: My apologies. After filter/tune, the next best bang for the buck is going to a Turbo Kit, which can get you as gains as large as +300whp on e85 (although this requires a few other mods as well). Each companies kit is priced differently. I think they start as cheap as $4,000 and the most expensive I've seen so far (without major upgrading to other components) was around $7,000. In terms of horsepower per dollar, this is going to be better bang for the buck. However, it is also a much larger up front cost investment.

EDIT 2: Oops. I forgot about the Electric Supercharger thing going on in the FI forum. That thing costs $1,500 or so and supposedly is good for something like 50whp. I'm not 100% on that and I don't know a whole lot about it, but maybe others can chime in on it.

[s0sl0w]

Clear Sidemarkers
Muffler Delete
Springs

[AznBRZer]

My insurance deductible because of "The Curse."

[a2cpc]

Driving School