More driving impressions, and prototype parts

I've been commuting back and forth to work in the BRZ, and the more I drive it, the more I just love this car.  I am afraid I'm turning into a less-polite driver, because every time I'm in the car I just want to grab it by the scruff of the neck and toss it around.  I find myself using full throttle more than in my other cars, and challenging myself to see if I can get past slow cars in traffic.  I feel like I'm reverting to a teenager.  On the plus side, full-throttle driving doesn't actually make the car go very fast, nor does it make much noise with the stock exhaust, so a lot of times I think I'm the only one who knows I'm flogging the car.  The rest of the world just cruises along in their tall, sound-isolated, luxury barges.  Which happen to be faster than my car, but that just makes it all the more challenging to keep up.

The car is very, very low.  It was low to start with, and the Mach V springs have lowered it about another inch.  Either way, I noticed that a lot of drivers don't even see the car -- I've had a couple of somewhat close calls with bigger vehicles changing lanes and not seeing me.  Maybe I need a little orange flag to stick up off the top like on a bicycle.

Getting in the car and driving it, I have these weird flashbacks to other cars I've owned or driven in my past. Today I had a memory of driving a 1988 Honda CRX Si, back when that car was new.  The Subaru has some of the same sensory triggers: Short-throw gearbox, taut handling, naturally-aspirated engine that only makes power up top, and light weight.  I remember revving that CRX to redline at any and every opportunity, and I'm driving the BRZ that way, too.  It's refreshing and pleasant to be able to use every bit of the car's performance, and not have to worry so much about breaking the sound barrier (or my driver's license).

The handling is forgiving and exploitable in the same way.  Other cars I have, or have had recently, have such high limits, I could never, ever approach the limits on any public road.  It just wouldn't be safe or sane.  The BRZ has pretty good grip, but the limits are very progressive and approachable.  I feel comfortable playing around with the car in a corner, exploring a little bit of oversteer or understeer, and I don't have to be going 100 mph to do it.  A simple cloverleaf becomes my own little section of race track banking, and I'm only going 35 mph.

In other news, parts development for the car continues.  Our muffler delete pipes are in production now and should be ready in a couple of weeks.  We recently test-fit a prototype front license plate mount that bolts into the tow hook location (so you don't have to screw it directly into the bumper), and we should have those in 2-3 weeks as well.  Our Mach V rear differential cover, billet aluminum with big cooling fins, is also in development.

We also got in some aftermarket silicone radiator hoses from Fuku Works, and we'll be test-fitting those sometime soon.

First dyno numbers

Now that the painful 1000-mile break-in is done, I feel comfortable wringing the car out, so that means a trip to our Dynojet dyno.  I did runs with the car in all-stock configuration, and then I also removed the rear muffler section and replaced it with a little stubby pipe that we fabricated.  We observed the same horsepower with and without that muffler section.  The power is about on par with other BRZ / FR-S dyno results we've seen.  The weird semi-circle of low torque between 3000 and 4000 RPM is common across every dyno graph.

I tried one run where we removed the intake filer completely.  That resulted in no benefit.

159 horsepower to the rear wheels is pretty low.  We usually see a 15% loss from the engine to the dyno, so we'd expect 170 rear-wheel horsepower from a 200-hp-rated car.  159 at the wheels would indicate more like 187 at the engine.  Perhaps the power will go up after the car has been run in some more.  We'll check back.

The modest result on the dyno brings to mind our current vanity plate for the car, pictured at right.  (Vanity plates cost next to nothing in Virginia, so we'll probably end up changing these a few times.)

We got some decent video footage of the dyno runs with the muffler on:

I also did a little bit of outside recording of the sound with the muffler delete installed.  To my surprise, the noise was pretty moderate -- I wouldn't really mind living with that on a daily basis.  Although there's no increase in horsepower, taking off the muffler does drop about 25 pounds from the car -- almost 1% - so that's a plus.  We haven't decided yet if we're going to mass-produce the muffler delete.  Let us know if you'd be interested in purchasing one.

Window tint and lowering springs

We got some more changes made to the car, both minor and major.  The first was the addition of window tint.  Matt at TNT Tint applied it, and did a great job, as always.  (He's tinted every car I've had in the last...bunch of years.)  Tint level is 35% on the side and rear windows.






Matt showed me a cool trick relating to the windows.  Like many modern cars, the BRZ rolls its windows up and down when you open and close the door, to get a good seal when the door closes.  When you apply window tint, though, you don't want the windows to move while the tint is drying.  The solution is to remove the single 10mm bolt that retains the rubber button (inside the door sill) that detects the open door.  That button is grounded through the bolt, so removing the bolt makes the car think the door is always closed.  Use a piece of masking tape to temporarily hold the button in place, so it doesn't fall loose and get crushed.

Next up was a set of our new Mach V lowering springs for BRZ and FR-S.  I designed these to be 28% stiffer than stock in the front, 30% stiffer in the rear.  They brought the car down by about 3/4" in the front, and about 1" in the rear.  I think it looks great.  The ride feels the same on most surfaces; it's a little harsher on small bumps, but in most cases I don't notice the difference.  Body roll wasn't really an issue before, but the car feels even lower and flatter-handling than before.  It's a lot of fun!


I was worried the slightly-too-large tires would rub with the car lowered, but so far I have not been able to get it to contact.  I'll see if I can do some more aggressive cornering sometime this week.

The production version of the springs should be in stock around the beginning of September.  In the mean time, you can pre-order them if you'd like.

 In other news, this magic number appeared on the odometer this morning, so the Mach V BRZ is officially broken in.  On the dyno it goes...

Wheel swapping and more

We had a good customer allow us to test fit his Rota D wheels (18x8.5") on our BRZ.  We think it looks very nice.  Tires are 235/40R18.  These won't be on the car for the long term, but we did get some nice pictures and established that they'll fit up well.  We'd probably go down a little on the tire diameter -- these are 3.2% larger than stock.  A 235/35R18 would be a better match for the stock diameter.

The BRZ has 850 miles on it now.  Break-in is almost complete!  I plan to put it on the dyno as soon as it cracks 1000 miles, and we'll swap our prototype stubby no-muffler rear section on and off to see how much power (if any) muffler removal is worth.

We popped in some LED turn signal bulbs, and a different turn signal blinker module.  (Without the proper blinker modules, the LED bulbs will blink extra-fast.)  The LED bulbs are clean and white looking when they're off.  We like the style.  They also come on faster than incandescent bulbs, which could be some kind of safety advantage, I suppose.

We sell the bulbs as a kit, HERE.  You get four LED bulbs and one blinker module.  These will PROBABLY work on the FR-S, too, but I haven't verified that yet.

In up-coming posts I hope to be able to write about some of the parts we have in the prototype phase.

Audio Upgrades, 3M VentureShield

Hello?  Yes, this is dog.

The interior of the car is apart and the guys at CAS Design are mid-way through the audio upgrade process.  The dash and doors are disassembled, and the head unit is out.  Looks like our amplifier (a JL Audio 500/3) is going to fit under the driver's seat, which keeps the weight (although it's only 4.8 pounds) low and central in the car.  The amp delivers 60 watts to each front channel at 4 ohms, and 180 watts to the sub channel.  (360 watts to a 2-ohm sub, if we chose to do that.)  I figure that'll be plenty of power for the car's small interior volume.

So cute!

The stock amp is about the size of a pound of butter, and weighs only a little more (1.6 pounds with its mounting bracket).  It's so small it fits in my hand.   (If you had to order a new one from Subaru, though, it'd cost you nearly $300!)  I have no idea how many watts of power it makes.  Five?

The stock speakers are pretty decent-looking for an OEM part.  The cones are plastic, not paper, and the tweeter is a metal inverted dome design.  Curiously, the whole OEM system (front speakers and the tiny stock amplifier) are rated at 2 ohms.  A lot of OEM Toyota systems are two-ohm; I'm not sure if that is for weight or cost reasons.

The new speakers are a two-way setup (KR-165) from Focal.  I will eventually add a rear sub, but for now we're just changing out the head unit and the front speakers, and adding amplification.  The amp is a three-channel -- two of the channels will drive the front speakers, and the third will be for the future subwoofer in the back.  The Focal speakers have cones made of aramid fiber -- think Kevlar and Nomex.  Aramids are very strong, light, and heat resistant. 

Dash explosion

We used a Metra kit to fit the double-DIN Pioneer head unit in the dash.  (The Metra part# is 95-8202.)

We put a layer of Dynamat in the doors, and replaced the stock plastic vapor barrier with Dynamat as well.  That's a total of about five pounds of Dynamat, but the solid "thunk" when the doors close, not to mention the tighter response from the door speakers, is worth it to me.

The other thing we're having done is the installation of 3M VentureShield on the front end of the car.  VentureShield and products like it are a clear adhesive that sticks to the car, and prevents stone chips.  We generally do it on all our new cars.  On this car we had Dave at Proshield cover the front bumper, the headlights, side mirrors, and sections of the front fenders and hood.

When are you going to start?  Wait...it's done?

The VentureShield is custom cut by a CNC plotter to conform perfectly to the car, and is nearly invisible, especially when it is new.  As it ages, it will yellow a little, especially if it sees a lot of sun, but I'd rather a slight yellowing rather than the blast of sand and stone chips I would get from driving in this area.

The picture to the left is AFTER the installation of the VentureShield.  I couldn't see it at first look, and it was almost impossible to capture the seam on camera.  Dave did a really nice job, so call him to protect your car.

Stay tuned for more updates on the audio system.

Hero Car

The BRZ turns out to be a great way to make friends. 

A couple of years ago I had the privilege of performing the break-in on a Nissan GT-R we were planning to work on at my shop.  The owner had it delivered to us directly from the dealership.  He didn't want us to run the car hard on the dyno with zero miles, so for a few weeks I drove the car back and forth to work, dropped the kid off at school, and ran errands in it, all the while varying my RPM as instructed in the owner's manual.

The most interesting thing about driving the GT-R during that time was the response from my fellow drivers.  People would pull along-side, wave, give "thumbs up" gestures.  Sometimes I would see people repeatedly looking in their rear-view mirrors.  One guy almost ran a stop sign while craning his neck to look at the car.  A mom at the grade-school morning kid drop-off said, "Is that the new Nissan GT-R?  I used to drive that car in Forza!"

Driving the BRZ around is like that experience all over again.  Every day I get stopped by people wanting to talk about the car.  There is a LOT of awareness of this car.  Driving out to Summit Point for HyperFest a couple of weeks ago, a couple in a Golf GTI (or Golf R, maybe?) both flashed the thumbs-up on their way past.  The other night I was taking some photos of the car and a jogger turned around and stopped to talk to me about it, still dripping sweat.  Today no fewer than three different people approached me, including one guy who pulled over in traffic to the side of the road to look at the parked BRZ.

Almost everyone who comes to ask about the car knows the basics -- that it's got a boxer engine, that's it's a joint venture with Toyota, that it's rear-wheel-drive.  They often ask if it's turbocharged, if there's going to be a higher-performance version, and if there is, if they should wait for that one.  (There probably will be a higher-performance version, but I suggest they not wait.) Sometimes they are surprised there are actually back seats, and then they laugh when they see how the front seats slide back to touch the rears.  They always comment on how good the car looks, and often they bring up the BRZ's spiritual ancestors, the Honda S2000 and the Mazda Miata.  One gentleman I spoke to today is in the process of selling his Miata, and is looking to buy a BRZ or FR-S.

I've learned that there are real car enthusiasts everywhere you go.  Sometimes it just takes a little something special to bring them out of the woodwork.

Navi Love/Hate

No, I'm not talking about James Cameron's Avatar movie.  I'm talking about the OEM navigation/audio system in the BRZ.  There's a lot I like about it, and a lot I hate about it.  I like the looks, the sound, and all the things it can do.  I hate the ergonomics and user interface.

Let's get down to the specifics.  I do like the way the head unit looks.  It's a handsome head unit that is simple and uncluttered, and integrates nicely with the interior.  The screen is pretty bright, and has a non-glare coating.

For an factory sound system, the sound is pretty good.  Thanks in part to a small outboard amplifier that lives back by the spare tire, there's decent bass despite the lack of a subwoofer (Subaru will be offering a hatch-mounted Kicker sub in the future, but it's not available yet).  The highs sound fine to my ear, and there's good separation in the stereo channels.

The head unit does have a lot of features.  It can play just about any music source under the sun, including CD, MP3 on disc, USB memory stick, iPod, SD card, Bluetooth audio from your phone, satellite radio, and HD radio.  This is the first head unit I've had that can receive FM radio in HD, and it does sound very nice.  The head unit has a big DIVX logo, so it should also play ripped DVD video files, if a person knew how to do that.  It doesn't play DVDs, but I never really thought a car was a good place in which to watch movies anyway.

If you eject the SD card that carries the navigation maps, you can poke in a card with image files, and you can see the images on the head unit.  You can also select one to be your splash screen on startup.  I confess that seeing the Mach V logo every time I start the car gives me a little happy feeling.

Okay, so now let me grouse about what I DON'T like.  First, although there is voice control, it's awful.  I've had a couple different kind of systems like this, and I usually get along with them fine.  This system never seems to clearly understand my voice, and I keep having to yell "Cancel!  CANCEL!" before it dials random people in my phone book.  So, I've given up on that feature.

I do like having the physical volume knob, but otherwise almost every function on the head unit requires the touch screen, and usually it's a little teeny rectangular sector of the screen.  This makes me crazy.  Say there's an incoming phone call.  There's a little teeny green answer button on the screen, maybe the size of a dime.  You're supposed to hit that with your finger, while driving the car and looking at the road.  Same if you want to hang up.  Heaven forbid you want to change radio stations.  I know it doesn't have to be this way -- I've seen other touch-screen systems that were pretty easy to live with.  This isn't one.

Descriptions of functions within the device are cryptic and confusing.  SVC?  What is that?  (Open manual, find "Source Volume Control."  Oh...I still don't really know what that means.)  There's a setting for selecting who is sitting where in the car -- Ha!  Like people would ever really sit in the back, and if they did, listening to music would be the last thing on their minds...

I had a hard time with the navigation function, too.  I ended up pressing the screen the wrong way, and it got into some mode that stuck it in place, and I didn't know how to get it back to center on where I was.  Actually, in that sense it strikes me as no better or worse than most other factory-issue car nav systems, but in this day and age, I expect something a lot easier to use.   Like, say, the Google Maps app on my smart phone.

I know, I'm probably not using it right.  I confess I did not read through the (huge) manual for this thing in its entirety.  (If I had, I would have read the "NEVER eject the nav data SD card without touching Eject Card button first!" warning...before I ejected the card without doing that.  Ooops!  It still works.  Whew.)  It just doesn't seem like this device should be so complicated and hard to use.

So...I've ordered up a Pioneer head unit that I'm going to try swapping in.  This thing will have all the audio features of the OEM head unit, but the nav is going to be left to the smart phone.  I'll check back in a few weeks, and we'll see if I am happier, or if it all will just be a waste of time and money.