Juan's Hot Lava FR-S

[JohnJuan]

Hello, everyone! I figured I'd get in on some of this member journal action.

In February of 2013, I decided that I was tired of my Corolla, and ordered my Hot Lava FR-S. It arrived in March.



So fresh!



It just looked so good sitting next to my Z1000.



The sales guy generously shared some of his Scion swag, since I showed such enthusiasm for the car. I still haven't figured out what to do with it.



I caught some of the last snows of the season, and I still thought I was too cool for snow tires. I took my Z1000 to the dealer for its first service, then proceeded to drive the FR-S to work on a bit of sleet. I do not recommend this.



April was much nicer. My sister got her tC just a few months prior, and we had to compare. The FR-S is just so small in comparison! The steering is much sharper on the FR-S, and the doors are significantly lighter as well. I absolutely cannot stand the manual mode on the tC's automatic transmission. There's roughly a 3/4 second delay between entering the command and actually seeing it executed. It's also easy to note the differnce in seat height after just climbing in the two cars.



Testing the cargo capacity for the first time, the FR-S comfortably transports a card table and chairs.



Road trip to Milwaukee to play cars with a couple of my friends. Sitting in either the Focus ST or Mazdaspeed 3 after the FR-S just feels way too high. Torque steer and understeeer also feel quite strange after getting accustomed to the FR-S. The Focus also felt like it had a really long throw for the shifter, which the owner has since fixed with a Cobb short throw shifter. The MS3 has a stiffer rear sway bar, and was fantastic to drive.



My local Culvers has a car cruise on Monday nights where they give drivers a free frozen custard. I attend fairly regularly.



Another shot from Culvers



My OEM mud guards finally came in after 6 months. Something was a bit off at the dealer. The sales manager had to get things worked out for me. They look quite good, but they let salt(Minnesota winter) and gravel (rural Iowa driving) build up on the doors. I'm considering changing them, but haven't bothered yet.



After I got a ticket for not having a front plate, I remedied the situation temporarily in order to get my ticket excused, while I waited on my Perrin front plate relocator to arrive.



Perrin plate relocator! This is around the time I purchased my Grimmspeed Strut Tower brace from a local member who wrecked his car.



I learned the hard way that winter tires are a necessity. My old apartment complex didn't believe in salting or sanding a snowy parking lot, because of the damage it did to the pavement. One $60 tow truck call later, I arranged to have some winter tires applied.



2 months later, a driver in a '90s GM SUV tried to sneak past me at a stoplight in downtown Minneapolis. Luckily, he only left a bit of plastic on my bumper. The jerk wasn't insured, and was driving with only a state issued ID. No license. Remember to get a police report in case of an accident.



I finally got around to waxing the car after about a year of ownership. Such a nice shine!



I went hunting for historical markers in NE Iowa just a couple weeks ago.



Here, you see what I meant about the mud guards not being sufficient:





This one had quite a nice view.



I finally got the car to autocross in September of this year.





[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qwZePfoRo4"]John's Autocross Run 6 - 9/21/2014 - Canterbury Park MOWOG - YouTube[/ame]

[JohnJuan]

NonStopTuning crank and accessory pulley kit arrived today! Install coming this weekend.

[TWMPerformance]

After that mud guard pic, I'd be curious to see a rally-spec FR-S/BRZ!

Renato
Team TWM Performance

[JohnJuan]

I got a set of Speedline mirrors for christmas, and decided to add some minnesota-legal 50% window tint to go with them. I picked up a set of Ultimacool Duo pre-cut from Amazon and a heat gun, and set to work. Turns out, this is kinda hard to do if you've only learned from youtube. I came away with a couple wrinkles and a bit of debris under the rear windshield sheet, as well as a tear. The sides went on pretty easily, though I had to cut a new one out of the driver window section after I botched the shrinking on the first one I tried.

The results are great, though! I don't get nearly as much headlight glare in the cabin as I used to, and that was one of my main goals. I'm quite happy with the product.

[JohnJuan]

Added a Mishimoto Silicone Induction Hose and a Perrin Reverse Lockout today.

The PCV fitting was a bit hard to get the clip on, but I got it in the end.


This is where the sound tube used to go. Good riddance!


Final look. Very nice! Blue wasn't my favorite, but it came up in the classified section, and I needed it so badly.


Close-up:


Perrin reverse lockout. I installed it three times due to binding then missing the thing the pin needed to go through on the inside. Fitment is excellent, and it feels nice in my hand.

[Kryptik319]

Looks good man. If you're ever in Iowa again hit me up, I live in Oskaloosa but would be more than happy to drive up north to meet up.

[JohnJuan]

Added a YoSpeed frame to the front plate with some Pro-Bolt Orange anodized bolts. Now the plate won't bend when I walk into it.

[JohnJuan]

New Bridgestone RE71'Rs, crash bolts in the front, and a Hotchkis sway installed. The car is all ready for autocross to start this weekend.

[Clipdat]

OMG, you had me at free frozen custard. drool.

Why can't we have a Culvers out here in California?!

Originally Posted by JohnJuan

My local Culvers has a car cruise on Monday nights where they give drivers a free frozen custard. I attend fairly regularly.

[JohnJuan]

For reference, the bolts I used in the Perrin plate mount to hold on my YoSpeed frame are M6 15mm countersunk bolts from Pro Bolt. I think Amazon has them too.