Stubaru BRZ

[G1en]

Thanks for the mention Stu. I do the Carchem leather cleaner if you want to give that a try. Just realised i dont currently offer the LC140 glass sealant, just the gtechnic G1and G5 sealants so let me know if its a good product for future. Car is looking great as usual, how are the mamba gloves?

[Stutopia]

9 minutes ago, G1en@waxandshine said:

Thanks for the mention Stu. I do the Carchem leather cleaner if you want to give that a try. Just realised i dont currently offer the LC140 glass sealant, just the gtechnic G1and G5 sealants so let me know if its a good product for future. Car is looking great as usual, how are the mamba gloves?

 

The gloves are very good mate, nice and strong. I’ll report back on the glass sealant when I get some rain, it can’t be long!

[Spatt]

another top quality write up Stu. Shame about the incompetent windscreen man... i'm sure he'll think twice about it before destroying someone else's paintwork

[ilogikal1]

3 hours ago, G1en@waxandshine said:

Thanks for the mention Stu. I do the Carchem leather cleaner if you want to give that a try. Just realised i dont currently offer the LC140 glass sealant, just the gtechnic G1and G5 sealants so let me know if its a good product for future. Car is looking great as usual, how are the mamba gloves?

It's a completely different beast to G1 as it's in no way a coating. It's more Rain-X than G1... except the CarChem stuff actually works! . This means it's easier to use but won't last anywhere near as long. It's very good at what it does and if you're not confident/willing to go with a coating it's easily up there as one of, if not the best. I'd recommend adding it to your line up.

 

 

Stu, regarding your leather if AG isn't string enough enough (and it is quite weak) try some diluted APC. You might also find it more effective to wipe on with a microfiber on the steering wheel rather than a brush, then wipe off with a clean cloth. 

[Stutopia]

Recently a lovely Tuning Developments unequal length manifold and overpipe popped up for sale, before you could say M6 to Stoke and back, it was sitting in my boot. Now, I know many of you will think that I've finally cracked and succumbed to the frivolous world of modding for noise or performance reasons. Straying from my golden rule of only doing quality maintenance - and you could be forgiven for thinking that way. However, as it turns out, when it came to the swap over, one of the nuts one my factory overpipe was looser than it should have been. Needless to say I think I've been completely vindicated in my Columbo style hunch of choosing to do this piece of maintenance - prior to that fateful nut working itself off completely and causing untold damage.

 

 

Gorgeous piece of kit this from TD, working it's way miraculously through the guts and fitting very snuggly indeed into the belly of my blue beast. The noise when combined with the Ark Grip is a little bit special, it really sounds like a Subaru now.

 

Whilst she was in with the excellent tech's at Grinspeed in Leyland (I can't recommend Stevie and Don enough to anyone in the NW). I treated her to new fluids all around (nicely smoothing things off in the gearbox) and decided this was a time to do the spark plugs too. It is a little early for plugs for my BRZ but as there were bits coming off in the vicinity, and it never hurts to have new plugs, it felt right. For those of you who don't know, the plugs are a "bit of a job" on these. The workshop manual recommends the removal of many items including, but not limited to, the ECU, exhaust manifold, your underpants, all jar lids in the workshop, the engine mounts and then hoisting the engine up half a foot before twiddling around with the plugs. Fortunately, ingenuity is not in short supply at my tech's and this was dismissed as an inefficient approach and a quicker way was devised involving a great many extension bars and some knuckle scrapes. Take that Japan.

 

Naturally you'll be aware it's not ideal to change the exhaust flow and run a touch lean. So, after a chat with Tuning Developments, old bluey was on the dyno for a leg stretch.

 

 

I've kept the 2nd cat in a desperate effort to maintain an easy MOT life, so I'm a little down on the 210s and 215s the fully breathing FA20s see, but I'm still very pleased with the dyno work. The sharpening up of the throttle response alone is super, not to mention the fuller Subaru sound and a splash more torque when crunching motorway miles in 6th. I've not yet had a chance to take her for a spirited B road drive but it is on my to do list.

 

ECUTEK also throw in some slightly gimmicky (IMO) features such as launch control, flat foot shifting and a downshift-on-the-brakes throttle auto-blip. Some demo video here if you're interested http://youtu.be/YM9zkGsA96w I'll give these a whirl on some safe and private area one day, but the tune is all about the improved drivability and noise for me. 

 

Anyone thinking of going to see Mike at Tuning Developments (they do tunes on 370s, but nothing for 350s), this was my first trip and I was very pleased with the service. It can sometimes be a bit dull sitting around waiting to get your car back, but it was great to have a chat with Mike and get some first hand info on the products and services they offer. I can see why the FA20 boys and girls really rate them. It's a great place to go and spend your hard earned with a genuine fellow enthusiast.

 

That's it for me now modding the BRZ, my insurance premium has taken a preposterous leap in response to these recent changes (and I shopped around ALL the specialists). I really dislike handing a wedge of money over to them for a teeny tiny bit more noise and torque, which has no appreciable impact on my statistical likelihood of making a claim.

 

In other news, I got to see the world's largest pot of hand scrub...

 

 

...that's a 1 gallon and a 1 litre pair of oil bottles next to it. I can't think who might want that much GREEN knocking about

 

 

 

[Spatt]

Great write up Stu, good job on spotting that loose nut. That could have all gone horribly wrong.

 

 

[Ekona]

That nut was a disaster waiting happen! Thank god for your carefully pre-planned maintenance schedule. Also, we need vid clips of the new noise plzkthx.

 

Does the secondary cat do that much then? We've not got a 2nd one on our Scumbaru, but then that gets removed as part of the PPP which ours had from day one. No issues ever with emmisions in 110k miles, but I do appreciate that every car is different and the FA20 is a significantly different lump to the EJ20

[Stutopia]

This project has been on my to do list for a while now, but it was delayed by a joke of a company messing me around for weeks on the fabrication side. Anyway, here we go.

 

The BRZ doesn't have capacity for a roof rack, nor does it have a bike rack offering that I was happy with, I don't like straps and clips rubbing on paint and flapping about all over the place, so I got googling.

 

Before you know it I had a brand spanking new OEM tow hook.

 

 

 

I then (eventually) found a skilled magician who biggered and blackered it for me.

(PM me if you or your lady friend want anything bigger and blacker)

 

 

 

Then I got it wet. Suddenly I had two.

 

 

 

Next I screwed the biggered tow hooks into the OEM slots.

 

 

 

 

Then I found a quality roof mountable bike rack.

 

 

 

Last but certainly not least I took my bike and balanced it on the rack. Et voila.

 

 

 

 

It even clears the boot with room to spare.

 

 

 

I've tested it and it's solid as a rock* and doesn't touch the body one little bit. The arm which comes up to meet the frame is super sturdy and grips it like a mutha.

 

 

*may not have been tested for solidity, may result in bike loss, your results may vary. Terms and conditions apply, your bike may be at risk if you do this.

 

 

[Stutopia]

4 hours ago, Ekona said:

That nut was a disaster waiting happen! Thank god for your carefully pre-planned maintenance schedule. Also, we need vid clips of the new noise plzkthx.

 

Does the secondary cat do that much then? We've not got a 2nd one on our Scumbaru, but then that gets removed as part of the PPP which ours had from day one. No issues ever with emmisions in 110k miles, but I do appreciate that every car is different and the FA20 is a significantly different lump to the EJ20

 

As requested - http://youtu.be/v5A0hT8ejuA - not the best for a phone job, but hey ho.

 

 

I can't be certain about the CAT until the test, but it's what the bulk of info on the forum says, it seems to be mainly that one doing the leg work.

 

 

 

[Humpy]

Nice bit of beef that Stu!

[Ekona]

1 hour ago, SuperStu said:

 

As requested - http://youtu.be/v5A0hT8ejuA - not the best for a phone job, but hey ho.

YAAAASSSSSSS GIRLFRIEEEEEDNNNNDDDD 

 

That sounds proper lush, that does. Now it just needs a turbo...

[davey_83]

Loving the work, that exhaust note hopefully sounds fuller in person.

[Stutopia]

On 06/12/2017 at 21:33, davey_83 said:

Loving the work, that exhaust note hopefully sounds fuller in person.

It's not much fuller in real life TBH, only 4 cylinders seem to be running

[Stutopia]

Merry Christas to the **** who couldn't resist neither parking next to me at the furthest point from the supermarket entrance, nor slamming their door into my car. I particularly enjoyed how you managed to do it in the 10 minutes I was shopping and then move your car somewhere else in shame, curiously though it wasn't enough time for you to leave a note. 

 

 

At first I thought it was jut some paint transfer, but after a clean up theres a 5 inch crease in there, which I wasn't able to pull.

 

 

 

£350 has been quoted to sort it out with my local paint guy, the only good news is that they do flawless work, so I know it will be taken care of properly. If only I'd been there to catch them...

[andy james]

Sorry to see Stu I feel your pain and anger. I got Katrina's car wrapped 3 weeks ago and she was so happy with the results. 4 days later in a public car park some arse pushed the rear quarter panel in and scratched the new alloy wheel. Apparently the Police are on it and are reviewing the CCTV footage! Holding my breath...........

[G1en]

Yeah. Gutted for you Stu. Makes you wonder if some ar** wipes do it deliberately. It certainly pays off to have a “banger” daily you dont mind getting dented then a “nice” weekend car, although I appreciate its not possible for some. 

[RickyZ]

That looks deliberate to me... There's no way you could dent a car that bad by casually opening your door, really winds me up that some people do that to other peoples stuff.

 

 

[Rock_Steady]

God, so annoying, people's stupidity / inconsideration of other people's property. 

[Ebized]

2 hours ago, RickyZ said:

That looks deliberate to me... There's no way you could dent a car that bad by casually opening your door, really winds me up that some people do that to other peoples stuff.

 

 

I would agree - given its remote siting and limited time there someone targeted it; someone who who needs a lesson taught.

 

I would be asking the store if they can check their cctv footage as you have had criminal damage done to your car (if there are any cameras in the car park) and if evidence is there with the vehicles reg - report to the police.

 

I too have tended to park away from other cars when possible, but this kind of damage makes me wonder if that draws the attention to the haters......

[Jetpilot]

Mmmm, think there are a few conspiracy theories going on here, car park spaces are just too small for todays cars and sadly, some people are just lazy f*ckers and give no consideration for other peoples property, i too would be going down the criminal damage aspect, freedom of information act will give you all the rights you need to the car parks cctv if they decide to be difficult.

[coldel]

Just make sure you get on to them quick. The onus is on companies nowadays to not hold personal information for what is deemed 'longer than required' so it could easily be deleted in a few days if the retailer operates that way. But gutted for you, its my one big fear - also agree its plausible it was deliberate but could easily have been an elderly person who slipped as exiting the car and leant the door against it, or a younger child, or even someone who walked around the car to open the door, it was frozen shut, so gave it a tug and...

 

Either way if you can get video evidence and a number plate you are quids in.

[Olly350z]

Why do people do it? Youll park literally at the other end of the car park and there is always one who will cone find you. 

 

I just park in children bays now. Let the hate comments flow! 

[Stutopia]

It's been a while, but she went in for the door damage to be sorted and, as usual, the lads at St Anne's Bodywork centre did a fantastic job. I can't see any evidence of the blow in on the door or back quarter, which is exactly what I wanted. Today the weather has been ok, so she got her first wash since the work was done. It's been a fair few weeks since the post repair wash; involving snow, rain, grey, brown, hundred of motorway miles and moving house - total neglect. She doesn't look too bad for it though.

 

As you can see, the damaged passenger door looks splendid now.

 

 

 

I've not been able to give her the full treatment as my detailing stuff is still in storage, so I'm operating on two buckets, a mitt, shampoo, air freshener and CarPro Reload - no tyre shine and I might have to buy some emergency snow foam.

 

 

 

Quick update on the new UEL and remap. I absolutely love the new sound, it not only makes it more Subaru and gives a nice worbly note at the lights, the increased volume takes care of the many squeaks and creaks inside the cabin. Puuurfect.

[coldel]

Go easy on the newly sprayed panel - usually a good idea not to polish etc. for at least 4-6 weeks. 

[Stutopia]

3 hours ago, coldel said:

Go easy on the newly sprayed panel - usually a good idea not to polish etc. for at least 4-6 weeks. 

It’s been fully baked, but yeah I’m not really touching it for a good while yet.