Stutopia

As the BRZ has now been sold, I don't have any use for this oil filter that was waiting for the next service. £10 delivered to the UK. Still in it's little wrapper

Welcome to the sale of my much-loved 2013 Subaru BRZ, it has 82,009 miles, which are not moving up much as it has become my second car. It only goes out for a weekly run to keep it ticking over nicely. I am the second owner, purchased in March 2017, covering half of the total miles. As you will see, this is an OEM+ car. I originally intended to keep it indefinitely, so my changes have focused on addressing the weak points, to create a well sorted and hospitable BRZ. I am asking £10,000 OVNO and I am in no rush to sell. Please only make enquiries if you are serious. I am open to discussion on price and can remove mods like the Enkeis or Vent Gauge, to accommodate a drop. However, ridiculous low-ball offers will only waste both our time. There are cheaper Toybarus out there, but not in this condition and with all the weak spots addressed and in this classic colour scheme. I have made many improvements to iron out some of the factory shortcomings and make it a nicer place to be. I have added the Toyota arm rest, which covers the unsightly plastic chasm between the seats and provides a space to stow your phone, keys and change – you can even rest your arm on it. There is a lightning cable under the arm rest, which connects to the upgraded Sony XAV-AX100 head unit for CarPlay (and Android Auto if you prefer). The new head unit not only functions, sounds and looks miles better than the Fisher Price OEM stereo, it also displays the reverse cam feed. This can be changed to USB for non-Apple phones. The head unit is linked to upgraded Focal IS165 TOY speakers in the front doors and dash. I have also added sound 3mm deadening to the doors, wheel arches, boot floor, under the rear seats and on the rear wings. This reduces road noise and resonance from the speakers. Overall, it is a huge improvement in musicality over stock. Also included, a hardwired Mobius dash cam; tucked discretely behind the rear view, so it does not get in the way when driving. Records on a loop and operates on ignition, requires zero effort to keep an eye out for you. Underneath and out of sight, there are MTEC shift springs and Whiteline gearbox bush inserts, which give a beautiful tight feel to the already excellent standard shift. On the more practical side, a Cusco extended accelerator pedal makes heal & toe that little bit easier. The cabin is in excellent condition throughout. It is regularly detailed, with surfaces protected, as well as cleaned. Despite my best care efforts, there is some wear to the driver’s seat bolster, it’s minor but it is visible. Moving backwards, the rear seats are all present and correct and the interior is excellent throughout. In the boot, I have added a cargo net to keep the shopping in check and some back seat pulls. This means you can drop the back seat from within the boot, without having to get in via the front doors. There is also a Perrin boot pull, so you can close the boot lid from a handle within, rather than touching the outside paint each time. Lockdown 1 killed the battery, so it has been upgraded. This outperforms the OEM battery in every way. If you have been looking at these cars, you will know the OEM battery is a weak spot. That is no longer the case. The exterior has had very few tweaks. You will notice that the front fog lamps are wrapped yellow (can be reversed easily if desired). I have also replaced the OEM aerial with the much more pleasing shark fin. The OEM brake lights have been upgraded to Valenti smoked red, a great improvement over the original silver. The rear fog/reverse combo lamp unit has also been upgraded. Last but not least, the parcel shelf 3rd brake light has been replaced with the Intec high level brake light, this provides much improved visibility out of the rear window but retains the 3rd brake light. My favourite exterior change is the 18” Enkei RPF1s which are running Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber (225/40/18). I hope these can be included in the sale, as they really set the car off, but will depend on the price agreed. The classic Subaru blue and bronze works beautifully, if I do say so myself. The 17” OEM wheels are included regardless (also with MPS4 rubber). On the performance side of things, again I have tried to address OEM shortcomings. On the front are a set of upgraded AP Racing CP9200 callipers, with two-piece discs and Ferodo DS2500 pads (Reyland kit). This delivers a boost in stopping power, I’ve not yet managed to run out of pedal. At the rear, the callipers remain OEM, however, they have been refurbished and colour matched to the fronts by Godspeed. The rear pads also match the DS2500s on the front and the rear discs are DBA T2s. There are also stainless brake lines fitted. Further performance improvements (with the added bonus of aural benefits too!) are UEL headers and the work of art which is the Ark GRiP exhaust. This adds a beautiful deep rumble when cruising. It’s not bad on full chat either. Recently the heat wrap on the headers was looking a bit thread bare, so that has been removed and they have been to Zircotec for full ceramic coating. To take advantage of the breathing mods, the car has been remapped by the well-regarded guys at Tuning Developments. This has been transformative in terms of getting rid of the infamous torque dip, really sharpening up the throttle response and such a worthwhile upgrade. It also adds other items such as launch control, flat foot shifting and a map for 95 RON – I have not needed these, but they do all work. When the car is not being driven, I indulge in my detailing hobby (have a little look here). It is only bathed and protected with my favourite products. Accordingly, the exterior paint, engine bay and interior are all in tidy order. The front end does have the stone chips associated with having covered 80k and there is the start of some lacquer failure low down on the front bumper, which can be seen here. Several of the brackets in the engine bay have been striped, rust protected and repainted. A large number of nuts, bolts and washers in the engine bay have been replaced with aluminium or stainless items from Pro-Bolt. During my ownership the car has never missed a beat and I will be genuinely sorry to see her go, it has been very well looked after and I’ve enjoyed spending time and money doing all the work. The big jobs like the clutch and spark plug change have plenty of time before they are due. Also, the 2013 MY Valve Spring Recall was done by Subaru and she’s covered 14,000 trouble free miles since then. The car has not wanted for anything on the servicing and maintenance front, the fluids (including differential, gearbox and brake) have been swapped multiple times in my ownership and drive & feel spot on. Always using quality replacements. I replaced the A/C pump (as it was squeaking) and had it re-gassed, so that is ice cold and will be for a good while yet. No vehicle is complete without a big file of invoices and history, I have kept almost everything since taking ownership and also found some from Subaru on the servicing before me. MOT & Service History Date Mileage Summary 12/06/14 11,651 Service 18/08/15 23,163 Service 21/06/16 32,527 MOT 27/02/17 38,138 Service & MOT 31/03/17 39,223 Service 30/11/17 44,832 Service - including gear oil, diff oil, brake fluid & spark plugs. 07/02/18 47,449 MOT 10/07/18 52,347 Service 01/02/19 62,770 Service & MOT - including gear oil, diff oil, brake fluid & aux belt. 18/04/19 66,177 Recall, Subaru - valve springs replaced (includes oil & coolant). Spark plugs and clutch replaced whilst the engine was out. 06/12/19 74,599 Service 13/02/20 77,092 Service & MOT - including gear oil, diff oil & aux belt. 23/05/20 78,353 A/C pump replaced (squeaking) and A/C re-gas. The content above is a brief summary, an extensive folder of receipts, invoices and other supporting documents accompanies the car. I have loved owning the BRZ and not only used her as a practical daily (it has had a full home cinema in there) I’ve also driven her across the B roads of the UK, through France, up and down the Swiss Alps, half the length of Italy & back. She’s never let me down. Thank you for reading this far, drop me a PM if you are interested. If you’d like to browse my build thread, it can be found here. I am more than happy to take you out for a drive, or for you to test drive it, provided fully comprehensive insurance is in place.

SOLD, mods please lock

I got paint from Subaru Dales and it was only a few quid for a small touch up pot. Worth a call.

For sale Grimmspeed Pulley Cover, it has some marks around the installation fixings but nothing that is visible when fitted. All the fixtures required to install are present and correct. 5 minute installation job, looks much better than the plastic pulley covers and is also very handy as a tray when working in the engine bay. £50 collected from Sheffield, can be shipped at your cost.

Sold

It is, but I have an enquiry pending, so if that falls through, I’ll be in touch.

Bump for the price drop.

For sale the P3 vent gauge (with vent) that plugs into the OBD2 port and displays a host of useful data, all discretely packaged and without the need for butchering trim. Tasteful and useful. I like to use it to keep an eye on oil temps, both from cold start and when I've been driving enthusiastically. It also displays Boost (where applicable), AFR, Oil Temp, Coolant Temp, Intake Air Temp, Throttle Position, Speed, RPM with Shift-light & Battery voltage. Plug and Play install with zero cutting required. All power, ground, and data points come directly from the diagnostics port connector. As well as data it can pull from OBD2, there's also universal Aux inputs to optionally connect any 0-5v sensor with universal settings. In excellent condition. Installation is a 15 minute, totally reversible, job and requires only a trim removal tool and a few cable ties to tidy up the wires and secure the box behind the dash. Simple install guide here and a quick demo of the features £225 collected from Sheffield or can be shipped at your cost.

Sold.

I’ll drop you a PM.

It’s up for sale because my BRZ is up for sale. Been in the car for 2 years.

Sold.

This gorgeous shift knob has a lovely weight to it, a beautiful brushed finish and, like all knobs with touching, it feels perfect in your palm. It really is a quality piece of kit and night and day above the stock piece. £70 collected from Sheffield or can be shipped at your cost.

For sale, Japanparts Dash Panel (Subaru 66060 PANEL CENTER ASSY - Japanparts No : 484-500-013). Like new, cleaned and protected regularly, zero marks. 30 second installation. Massive improvement over the hard plastic effort in the early models. £45 collected from Sheffield, can be shipped at your cost.

Sold.

This multi double entendre named piece of kit allows a GoPro to be mounted to the front (possibly also rear) towing point, so you can get some external, sexy low angle shots whilst out on road & track. Perfect for the creative movie maker in you. Comes with the spanner to tighten/remove. Wear is from installation and removal, has no impact on functionality. £45 collected from Sheffield or can be shipped at your cost.

Even just some red paint on the stock brakes goes a long way. I don't have the kit to get a really good angle, looking down on the bridge, that would achieve that - but agree it would be a cracking shot.

I don't usually care for black wheels, but I must admit that with your look, it seems the way to go!

Thanks mate. I’ll just have to man up and take the Cayman.

Went out for a little run to keep the battery happy. Rushed off a couple of photos as couldn't resist (despite the questionable parking) being right in front of the reservoir.

I spent a small fortune modding my 350Z and, as expected, saw none of it back when I came to sell. So this time I'm not modding the BRZ and it's staying OEM, so really there's very little point in this thread as I'm leaving it alone. Definitely. No mods. This is how she looked after collection and a wash - stunning - if I do say so myself. Despite the modification ban, I am allowed to do maintenance and preventative maintenance. Like all addictions, it starts with a gateway item - in this case a simple cabin filter. Original was absolutely minging. Then the (I think original) wipers were looking quite smeary, so in with the Bosch. I did dabble in PIAA last time but I didn't rate their water clearing as much as the Aeros. After seeing all the posts about battery capacity leaving people stranded, I plumped for another preemptive strike - more Bosch. With a complete absence of Bluetooth it made the BRZ impractical as a work/commuter vehicle, so I decided to deal with that problem and fit a Sony headunit. I've since improved the surround finisher trim. Naturally it made good sense to fit a reverse camera at the same time, another preventive job this one. Preventing bodywork repair. Now there is not much point in being able to see out the back and not see what's up front, so I popped in a Mobius dashcam - unbeatable piece of kit at the pricepoint. The screw covers in the registration plates were unsightly and the plates were frankly awful (overlapping text, dealer advert etc) so they were recycled and new ones fitted with double sided. I also moved the rear one down a touch, as I wasn't happy with the use of negative space in the rear plate recess and it stopped it touching the reverse camera. Subaru "forgot" to include an armrest to cover the expanse of hard plastic in the centre console, so I sorted out another bit of maintenance there. Had to strap on the Captain Brave pants before drilling INSIDE the car, but manage to retain my dignity in the most part. You might have also noticed I popped in a lightning adapter for the headunit. I did initially retain the OEM USB/AUX port but I would have had to mount my phone on the dash or have unsightly cables knocking about. Another bit of forgetfulness from Subaru saw me add a Beat Sonic shark fin, as this is stock on a MY2017, it's technically more maintenance. This one was very nearly just a mod, but some of the OEM exhaust had some light surface rust, so yet more maintenance. Thanks to bildingo for the Ark GRiP - it sounds brilliant at idle and at cruise, with a nice beefiness when you get on the loud peddle. On top of that it looks superb. Slash tips are JDM yo, but I think I prefer rolled. I genuinely won't be playing around with HFCs, de-cats or the rest of the exhaust as I can't be doing with the MOT hassle and CELs I've had to deal with in the past. For reasons unknown Subaru don't have a cargo net offering for the boot, which given the way the car is meant to be driven, is a huge oversight. More maintenance required here. Picked up these self tapping fixings from fleabay. And recycled the cargo net from my 350z I have four spare fixings left over (enough for one more 4-point cargo net). If anyone wants them, please get in touch. Yours for free. Last but not least, I allowed myself one genuine mod. A club sticker. Local seagulls felt this relenting on my zero mods policy should be met with a dirty protest. I had a go at the plastic scuttle under the windscreen, which is already looking tired even with our 4 weeks of sun a year. Got a sample pot of this from a Waxybox a while back, decide to splash out on a full bottle. Very easy to apply and buff, but I won't know if it's really any good until it's lasted 6 months or so. Definitely looks the part for now. Now the bit of bad news. The dealer promised a service before I collected the car and after a week or so of nagging I got a copy of the invoice for work done (mainly for my service history). Disappointingly, the wrong grade of oil had been used and cheapo filters all round. So I splashed out on some Millers Nanodrive (I even got the right viscosity), a K&N oil filter and a Cosworth panel filter. She's now breathing better. Worryingly, the best part of 10 litres of the olive oil the previous servicer used came out. I believe the correct capacity with an oil filter is 5.4L? I had checked the dipstick at collection but it was only showing a splash over full! Needless to say I'm glad the wrong grade was used, as that convinced me to drop it out, so it was only over full for a short while. Slack work though from "professionals", the sump plug and oil filter were only touch tight as well - GRRRRR. That's me for now, only maintenance and preventative maintenance from here on in. With that in mind, I've got a paint correction booked with a local detailer in a couple of weeks. I need to know what glaze the dealer valet used because it did an incredible job of hiding a truck load of swirls and random deep scratches. Soon to be perfect though

Thanks mate, I used generic brightly coloured APC diluted 50:50, sprayed onto the brush. I also used some Auto Glym leather cleaner as well, for a second pass. TBH I don’t think the liquids made much difference, the brush really is the key. I recently got a tip on using a cheap, but soft, shoe leather brush. It did much better results than I’ve achieved before with just microfibre towels and leather cleaner.

It's been a minute since I put some time, love and money into the BRZ - I must admit the more time I spend in the Cayman, the less tempted I am to grab the keys to the Subaru when I need to nip out. Hopefully with the easing of lockdown and putting two cancelled Spa trips behind me, I might turn the tide and get her out on track. Speaking of which, she's a bit on the noisy side from some track limits and with that in mind I popped her into JBM Performance in Sheffield to have a large silencer welded in. Whilst she was in the rusty sump was replaced with a nice new OEM one, with a Cosworth baffle dropped in - well it'd be rude not to with it off. I also took the opportunity to address the heat wrap on the UEL, which was failing in two places. I've never really liked the wrap aesthetic to be honest, so I did the man maths and managed to justify sending the headers and overripe off to zircotec for a lovely coating. They look sexy AF, if I do say so myself. Might even keep the air in the bonnet a few degrees cooler too! Last but not least, I was getting fed up with shiny leather on the steering wheel, so I set about it today with some APC, leather cleaner and a soft bristled brush - talk about time well spent, the lovely matt look is back. Steering wheel junk - yuk!

I can't see how, but I'm not a mechanic. For me, leaving it with them overnight is not a big issue, but I can appreciate it is an inconvenience - each of us has to weigh risk as they see fit.