Stubaru BRZ

[Mike 458]

On 2017-7-28 at 10:51 PM, Stutopia said:

Didn't get the reverse because I've had a couple of drinks and I forgot.

Bit late but thanks for the pic. Fitted a set today (plate + reverse), just need to try them out when it's dark now but can tell they'll be brighter!

[GT-Eighty-Chris 17]

Loving the changes dude! I like the look of those blue nuts 👀

[Greggo86 27]

Loving those nuts 😎

[Stutopia 158]

Couple of snaps from today's little run out in Yorkshire

Classic colour combo*

 

And a quick synopsis of the route

 

 

*Please note - the red, white and blue is in no way a Brexit endorsement 

[Stutopia 158]

My monklike vow of non-modification suffered from a teeny tiny moment of weakness, involving a Beatrush Master Cylinder Brace. I sort of stumbled on these by accident when I was browsing the ever so pretty Cusco strut braces, and saw there's one with an incorporated MCB. I decided against the brace itself (the BRZ looks to be relatively well braced already and who wants to add unnecessary weight?), so I just went for the cheapest MCB I could find.

Sadly they only sell these in orangey/yellow, which is a colour I'm trying to eliminate from the engine bay. So some primer, a splash of purple rattle can and some clearcoat later... et viola.

 

Bumping up nicely, against the MC.

 

I'd like to say this relatively simple looking mod was a doddle to pop in, but it was a total PITA. The bolt holes are way up behind the damper, totally inaccessible and a nightmare to get a spanner on. Then there's the nut side, where you're squeezed in up against a delicate looking computer box and constricted to about 12 degrees of spanner movement. After the faffing and swearing, it better bring a bit more to the party and than a nice splash of purple

[nikndel 509]

10 minutes ago, Stutopia said:

My monklike vow of non-modification suffered from a teeny tiny moment of weakness, involving a Beatrush Master Cylinder Brace. I sort of stumbled on these by accident when I was browsing the ever so pretty Cusco strut braces, and saw there's one with an incorporated MCB. I decided against the brace itself (the BRZ looks to be relatively well braced already and who wants to add unnecessary weight?), so I just went for the cheapest MCB I could find.

Sadly they only sell these in orangey/yellow, which is a colour I'm trying to eliminate from the engine bay. So some primer, a splash of purple rattle can and some clearcoat later... et viola.

 

Bumping up nicely, against the MC.

 

I'd like to say this relatively simple looking mod was a doddle to pop in, but it was a total PITA. The bolt holes are way up behind the damper, totally inaccessible and a nightmare to get a spanner on. Then there's the nut side, where you're squeezed in up against a delicate looking computer box and constricted to about 12 degrees of spanner movement. After the faffing and swearing, it better bring a bit more to the party and than a nice splash of purple

IT will get worse I thought the same thing at first

[Stutopia 158]

5 minutes ago, nikndel said:

IT will get worse I thought the same thing at first

Nah mate, I've kicked the habit, I'm choosing life

[nikndel 509]

22 minutes ago, Stutopia said:

Nah mate, I've kicked the habit, I'm choosing life

You're strong willed then😂

[Stutopia 158]

Although I had this on order a while ago, giving in to my powerful lust for modification, last weekend I did the CAT Cornering Masterclass and Colin suggested an extended accelerator pedal to assist my heel and toe, thus turning what was very nearly a frivolous mod into a necessary driving aid

For anyone who hasn't fitted a Cusco pedal extender, I suggest you cut out the 10 minutes I wasted upside down in the footwell trying to fit this in situ and just whip the accelerator pedal assembly out - it's 2x 10mm and a cable clip. Simples.

 

 

Not only does it look sexy and obviously is properly race car, it actually adds a bit to the pedal height (and obviously width) which means that not only is it easier for my right foot to reach, the dab of heel elicits a few more RPM than before, which is good because I was struggling a bit with the throttle response compared to my 350z. It's totally reversible when you sell up and, like a professional beating from an American cop, it leaves absolutely no marks.

[Cerastes 204]

I thought about one of these, I just can't do the heel and toe, my leg/foot just won't move like that. I need something to help, hopefully this might?

Although looking at your last pic, it doesn't look that much bigger than the stock?

Also, just out of interest how much was it? if it's fairly cheap I might just get it; but if it's expensive then I might have to rethink. 

[Stutopia 158]

52 minutes ago, Cerastes said:

I thought about one of these, I just can't do the heel and toe, my leg/foot just won't move like that. I need something to help, hopefully this might?

Although looking at your last pic, it doesn't look that much bigger than the stock?

Also, just out of interest how much was it? if it's fairly cheap I might just get it; but if it's expensive then I might have to rethink. 

It was £38, which is expensive for what it is, but I paid similar for a NISMO one for the Zed. I can't honestly say it meant I went from not being able, to being able to (especially as I am very much still getting into it) but it just makes it 50% easier. 

For what it's worth, I recently learned that I heel and toe differently from some others. I tend to use the ball on the middle of the brake and then my heel just clips the bottom of the gas pedal (where the sticky out bit is in the pic) when I twist my foot, but others tend to put the left hand side of the foot on the brake pedal and roll the right hand side over on to the gas. I don't know if one is right and one is wrong, but if you're not feeling one style, try the other. It can be a bit tricky at first, so defo practice somewhere safe.

[Lauren 2259]

I've been heel and toeing for around 15 years. I just roll my foot, so the right side of my foot, the protrusion just below your little toe blips the throttle. Having tried doing this in a lot of cars over the years, I reckon the GT is one of the easiest to heel and toe in. I am a size 6, so I don't have big feet. Try some decent driving shoes, that will help. Though I admit, I drive barefoot through the summer and have no problem heel and toeing that way either. It's better if anything. 

You can use your heel but there will be a lot less finesse. 

[Cerastes 204]

Yea I can't seem to be able to it. I tried when stationary. 

£38 isn't to bad I guess, I'll keep an eye out for any sales. 

[Lauren 2259]

5 hours ago, Cerastes said:

Yea I can't seem to be able to it. I tried when stationary. 

£38 isn't to bad I guess, I'll keep an eye out for any sales. 

When you see me at a meet, I can show you, it's a bit odd at first, but a few months of practicing it and it will come. 

[Rich 378]

I do the foot roll too - big toe on the brake, edge of foot on the throttle. Definitely takes a bit of practice, but it will come with time.

[Ade 517]

30 minutes ago, Rich said:

I do the foot roll too - big toe on the brake, edge of foot on the throttle. Definitely takes a bit of practice, but it will come with time.

I used to use my heel to blip the throttle, now I do it this way most of the time. Both have pros and cons and I switch by accident sometimes 

One thing I could never do is use my heel on the brake and toe on the throttle. My feel are too big in this car and I lose brake control which I consider more important than a quick throttle blip. 

[Rich 378]

Agreed, if I'm going to fluff one, I want to fluff up the rev match, not the braking.

[Tareim 343]

40 minutes ago, Ade said:

One thing I could never do is use my heel on the brake and toe on the throttle. My feel are too big in this car and I lose brake control which I consider more important than a quick throttle blip. 

Does anyone do it that way? watching the Hot Version videos from Japan and all of them use toe on the brake and heel on the throttle (or side foot it where possible)

[Ade 517]

2 minutes ago, Tareim said:

Does anyone do it that way? watching the Hot Version videos from Japan and all of them use toe on the brake and heel on the throttle (or side foot it where possible)

No idea, I just know I tried it and didnt think it was a good idea 

[Stutopia 158]

24 minutes ago, Ade said:

No idea, I just know I tried it and didnt think it was a good idea 

It's good that people try unorthodox approaches, without it, there would be no reverse cowgirl

[Stutopia 158]

I've pounded some motorway mileage in the last couple of weeks; this meant two things, one, she was ready for a wash and, two, I got a whopper of a stone chip. £25 excess later I had a marginally smaller looking stone chip and the windscreen guy even threw in some bonnet and roof swirls for free. Imagine my horror at wandering out to pay the man, only to see him wiping down the top 12 inches of the bonnet with a wad of paper towel. How you get glass cleaner so far from the glass will remain a mystery, I'm just glad he didn't give the whole car a wipe down. Now you might think I'm being a little bit fussy about the use of paper towels, but here is the before and after.

So, yeah, thanks for that. Remember kids, if you do need to get someone out to work on your windscreen, supervise the bugger at all times. I did have a move of the full horror but, as you can see from the last two posts the youtube embed is not playing as nicely as it should.

In better news, Wax and Shine generously included a few CarChem samples when I made a recent order. So today I had a play with CarChem's shampoo and glass sealant. This was technically my second go with the shampoo, I tried it a couple of weeks back at the recommend dilution of a couple of cap fulls in my wash big bucket and it wasn't quite as lush and soapy as I like, today I went crazy and used four capfuls for a big bucket and it was brilliant. Slick and lubey and bubbly. Some people on here will tell you science has proven that bubbles don't matter, but that's rubbish, bubble lives matter. 

The Car Chem glass sealant was an absolute doddle to use, after the recommended 7 minutes time sat on the glass it buffed off incredibly easily. Time, technically rain, will tell if the 7 minutes was long enough to cure in today's slightly chilly conditions. It buffed off with such ease, compared to other glass sealants I've used, that I really hope this is a winner in the hydrophobicity stakes.

Last but not least, having a ceramic coating in place I decided to pick up a LSP that should hopefully bolster the protection, CarPro Reload - pretty expensive for a litre in my book, but it does seem to go a long way, so hopefully it will pay off in the long run. Nothing really struck me about this on first use, it went on and off easy and left a pleasing gloss. It appears to be streak free and leaves a nice slippy surface, we'll see what it does a dirt repellent as the weather deteriorates.

At least one of the previous owners was a bit of a greasemonger, leaving me with a shiny outer steering wheel. You can see in the before image below the tide mark between nice matt leather and the grim shiny stuff. After two good goes at it with a horsehair brush and quite a quantity of Auto Glym Leather cleaner, it is looking better, but not as clean as I'd like. I don't get much of a boner about AG products, but I don't mind the leather cleaner or the engine degreaser.

Hopefully another double blast next weekend might do the trick. If you've got any recommendations for getting leather back to good as new, please do let me know.

[Lowe 191]

Autobrite Direct's Leather cleaner and conditioner are superb - a quick wipe on mine (had dreaded two tone by the thumb grips) had it back to brand new. Couldn't believe how much it shifted - I was damn ashamed!  

 

Their Xmas sale starts on the 2nd Nov, might be worth waiting for it to be on offer.

[Mark-in-Stoke 488]

Stu, reload is a very good coating "I use it myself", in between coatings I use Carpro ech02 with a touch of reload and diluted with distilled water as a quick detailer, every now and again I also give it a coat of Essence+ (not Essence) this is a repair for ceramic coatings it also has semi permanent fillers and is incredibly glossy and easy to apply and remove. 

So far i'm really happy with all the carpro products I have

 

Edited October 23, 2017 by Mark-in-Stoke

[Stutopia 158]

Cheers for the product tips 👍

I’ve used CarPro’s waterspot remover ‘spotless’ in the past, I found it to be excellent for chemical cleaning, so that’s 2 for 2 for me.

[surrey86 352]

I've found a 'magic sponge' works to get rid the of the steering wheel grease in seconds. You've just to be careful to keep it wet and only give it as much wipes as required - as it will start taking the leather off.