2013 Firestorm FR-S The Red Snapper

[mweidner311]

Ok figured I would start a car journal for my journey with mods I have been performing to my car. I have a 2013 Firestorm FR-S I have Red Snapper I really couldn't come up with anything better then that....

I purchased her from Northbrook Toyota on the North side of Chicago. I live in Atlanta but after shopping around for months they had a deal I couldn't pass up.

After driving her home the first change I knew I needed to make was change the factory fluids. After reading around the Forum the consensus seems to be Motul Gear 300 was a great product. I personally have never heard of it but decided to give it a try. Being near Summit Racing in McDonough GA helped my decision as well since I had easy access.

I changed the transmission fluid, rear differential with Motul Gear 300 and changed the oil to Mobil 1 AFE 0w20. I noticed a nice improvement with the Motul over the factory fill. Shifts felt better and the car overall felt smoother. Even though the factory fill only had about 7k miles on it there was a noticeable difference.

I thought now would be a good time to install a fumoto valve as well. I have heard good things about them before and since the 0w20 comes out like water I figured this would help avoid spilling with the use of the drain hose.



Transmission drain bolts gunked up after only 7k miles


Differential drain plugs gunked up after 7k miles

[mweidner311]

I have done quite a bit of research and thanks to other on this forum I knew I would want an Eibach product. I have never used them before but then again I don't have much experience lowering cars I have only done it twice once with Vogtland springs on an E36 BMW and another with I believe Skunk 2 Springs from eBay for a Neon I had back in High school.

So even though according to most the review the ride quality was almost like stock with the Pro Kit I knew I wanted to lower look of the sportline kit.

I purchased a set of Sportline from eBay for $222 shipped couldn't beat that!
With Good Friday off I decided I would spend the day in the garage while my wife was at school

I would like to say thanks to DarrenDriven for his awesome very thorough write up on spring swapping. With that I decided to try his shade tree method of removing the spring without a spring compressor and use an impact. I never had an impact wrench before so I was amped about purchasing the new tool I went with a Kobalt from Lowes but after the install returned it for an Ingersol Rand. The CFM need on the Kobalt was 7 @90psi insane smh.

The install went great the impact wrench method was awesome! and overall the look is exactly what I was looking for!

[mweidner311]

Before Rear

After Rear

[mweidner311]

Before Front

After Front

[mweidner311]

The car has not been driven since the install but after three days of sitting here were the specs from the fender to the

Before After Drop
Front 26 1/4" Front 25 1/8" 1.125"
Rear 26 5/8" 25 1/4" 1.375"

The rear was almost spot on with the 1.4" drop that Eibach stated from the sportline kit. I am hoping the front will settle a little more after I log some miles on it. Overall I am very happy with the results I fell the car should have come from the factory like this. The fender to tire gap is virtually non existent anymore.

[mweidner311]

My next mod will be to get tires mounted on these and put them on the car. I will hopefully be doing that at the end of the month.

[mweidner311]

I finally took the car out for a drive after installing the new Sportline springs. I drove about 35 miles on the expressway to the office this morning. I really don't see what all the fuss is about when people say the ride is too harsh.

I personally felt almost more in-tune with the road. You can feel where it dips, is rough, uneven ext. I would say you feel the road better. I never once thought to myself ouch! or wow that was a bad bump during my drive. I did hit quite a few rough patches too and still I have no problem with how it is riding at all.

Happy Friday Everyone!

[mweidner311]

Gold XXR 527 18"x8.75" +35
Kuhmo Ecsta AST 225x40x18

LOVE IT!

[mweidner311]

High pressure fuel pump replacement

After thinking about it for awhile I caved in and had my pump replaced under warranty. I usually perform all my own repairs and maintenance so I always worry about fixing things that aren't really "broken". I worry something else will mess up after the repair, but after looking at the price of the pump some 1,200 dollars I said sure give it to me free.

Not a fan of leaving my baby in someone else hands though...

I didn't purchase the car from the this dealership but still treated me well I dropped my car off in the evening the service manager said it looks like I took good care of my care so they'll keep it inside over night. That was a nice touch. Took them literally 2 hours the next morning to swap it out. All in all a very pleasant experience my first time owning a car with a warranty and actually using it. I didn't even purchase the car from the this dealership but still treated me well so that was nice.

I've only logged about 100 miles so far but no more crickets! Hope it lasts.... if they come back ill just live with it I don't think I want to start running 2 stroke oil....

[mweidner311]

Installed a Berk Technologies Front pipe installed last night thanks to TONY_BRZ.

I could not believe the amount of oxidation on the OEM pipe with only about 8k miles on it. That previous owner lived in Chicago you can tell that winter was hard on this car. I'm sure she's happy to be down in the warm salt and mostly snow free south.

I have slight exhaust leak where the front pipe connects to the mid pipe. OEM Gasket cracked off on the bottom but I think I found a cheap like $3 easily available replacement gasket at Advance Auto. Should get that all fixed up this weekend. I can't believe that prices looking around at Grimmspeed (granted its thicker but still) ft86speedfactory ext ext $20+ for a $3 gasket.... smh



Took it for a drive after now paired with the resonated Perrin Cat back system I have achieved the sound level I was looking for. Will have to wait till the leak is fixed before I can fully butt dyno it lol