So now that I've had the BRZ for a few months, I am wanting to get the car ready for some track days and auto-x events this year. This means picking up a few new go fast bits for this season. I need some help prioritizing what to do next. I have been on the frs/brz forum, and I'm pretty overwhelmed!
Current Car Setup: relatively stock (strut tower brace, oil cooler, misc. bushings, heat shielding for ign. coils, intake tube and filter, etc. )
Items I want to upgrade/change:
-Track wheels and tires (leaning toward 17x9 with a 245/40r17 R-S3)
-"crash bolts" and adjustable rear lca's, for performance alignment.
-Upgraded brake pads, fluid and lines
-Upgraded sway bars (whitelines w/ adjustable endlinks)
-Adjustable coilovers and camber plates (Looking at RCE Tarmac II)
What else am I missing?
The car is daily driven, so it still needs to be functional on a daily basis without killing the street manners too much. I really just want to "track proof" the car, if that makes sense?
Should some of these items come before others? Are there better alternatives to the items I listed?
You do realize that it's just fine to autocross it the way it stands, right? Just go have some fun with it.
Then again, there is this.
Personally, I wouldn't touch the stock suspension yet, other than being able to dial in more camber adjustment in the front and rear. Run it stock first year, it's perfectly track capable suspension out of the box. The brakes, however, is unquestionably the biggest thing that needs improving on an 86 for track use.
I'd put the suspension money towards the Essex/AP Racing Sprint front brake kit instead...you will drop 10lbm off each front corner while having more thermal capacity than you will probably ever need. That way you will have a more than capable brake setup now and then when you upgrade the suspension later you will need to do nothing about the brakes other than consumables. Plus the ESSEX/AP Racing Sprint kit will be more cost efficient in the long run compared to OEM style brake setup...I believe within 20 track days is when the OEM setup will be costing you more. The sooner you convert the brakes the sooner you start saving money.
What I would absolutely do is get some solid Delrin bushings for the steering rack...absolutely first mod I'd make to ANY 86.
Next, do anything you can to vent heat from the engine bay...unless you want to spend a yearly budget on coil packs as consumables. Heat management is #1 concern with this car...
Also, I would get an air/oil separator/catch can to keep junk out of the EGR/intake tract (I have a Radium unit that I really like).
Another thing I would do to let the stock suspension do its job better is stiffer engine and transmission mounts...it's amazing how the ride quality improves when you keep the boxer motor from flopping around like it does on the stock mounts.
My track tire set I picked up for the car when I first got it were 17x8 +36mm offset and I mounted stock sized Kumho XS...don't see why everyone goes with big heavy wheels and tires on this car, not needed and makes everything worse about the suspension - tire compound will take care of the traction. Stock FR-S on those wheels and tires with bone stock brake system was quicker on track than my track prepped '98 Camaro RS on 275/40-17 DOT-R tires, Brembo blank rotors, Track pads, and full spherical bearing control arms with Koni shocks and massive Hotchkis anti-roll bar set...keep it light on its feet and it will be massively fun and quick.
johnnie
New Reader
3/16/16 9:10 p.m.
Your proposed upgrade path seems sensible--
Tires.
Brake pads.
Flog. Evaluate.
Alignment.
Flog. Evaluate.
Rest of the trick bits.
Flog. Evaluate.
Vracer111 wrote:
Personally, I wouldn't touch the stock suspension yet....
So the more I think about it, I would probably keep the suspension stock this year (minus camber adjustment), and the use the money toward track time. I can look into after some track time.
I do have a mishimoto air/oil separator and whiteline steering rack, transmission and rear subframe bushings sitting on the workbench waiting to be installed. The plan is to install all of it in the next few weeks when I do the oil change.
What engine mount and transmission bushings are you running? Do you think the Whiteline steering bushing are worth it, or should I step straight to the delrin style?
As far as heat management, I am running the external oil cooler (setrab core), which should help. And I have some some gold foil heat shielding around the coils and a few other items. I am going to monitor the heat issue pretty closely. I have heard that opening up the belly pan can help get the hot air out, so if needed I might go down that road.
I really don't won't to ruin the light handling of the car, so maybe some sticky tires on a 17x8 would be better. I can run a 225 or 235 on a 17x8 and still save a good amount of weight per corner compared to stock. The ESSEX/AP brakes have been on my radar, just need to figure out wheel clearance. For now I will probably run upgraded pads, lines and fluid.
Running the Perrin motor mounts and transmission stiffener. Main reason for this was because I went with the CAE Ultra shifter and it was highly recommended to upgrade the mounts to stiffer or solid ones. Side benefit of ride quality actually being noticabley better was a surprise benefit!
Motor mounts were wrapped in DEI header wrap and aluminum tape to act as a thermal barrier since ther have been several cases of these mounts actually melting (uses a special Energy Suspension urethane support right next to headers on FA20 motor)
Delrin would probably be better than the Whiteline ones, but the Whiteline's will definitely be better than stock. I'm actually running solid aluminum steering rack bushings with O-rings and properly specced fasteners (shank same diameter as the major thread diameter, way different from the stock rolled thread fasteners that cause a WHOLE LOT of slop in the system) for hole tolerance from Turn-In Concepts. They do have the Delrin version though, same design just made with Delrin. Not sure on availability of them these days though...it's been several years and I know they aren't easy to find. CUSCO makes similar Delrin ones for over twice the price though... LOL
Edit: Here's a link for the TiC steering rack bushings:
Turn-in Concepts Delrin steering rack bushings
A company to look at for nice aero and thermal solutions is Velox Motorsports. They just came out with a modular hood venting system that I'm about to get once I can specify just two vents...
Velox modular hood vent kit
Nice picture of the Velox hood vents on an 86:
I will just use the two large vents (shown in the inside positions) and put them on the outside positions... kind of like this (but these are the smaller vents):
92dxman
SuperDork
3/17/16 7:51 p.m.
Don't do anything. Go do an event with it bone stock and see how it reacts.
I also say to keep your car stock for track days and especially autocross. You need to learn how to race/drive fast before spending big money on go fast parts. If it's recommended to use racing brake fluid for a track day, even for your first one, then do it. Otherwise, just bring the suggested items necessary, like a torque wrench, tool box, sunscreen, etc.
