[bd] Man, I should probably find a way to get some seat time in one of these things. I’m growing more and more fond of the way they look with beefy r-compounds and race wheels by the day. Sounds like a lot of fun. More fun, even, than my wife’s Juke (which is a lot of fun)! [en] Too funny. You’ll need to throw some R compounds onto a set of Enkei RPF1s and give them to your wife for her birthday. My friend was on a business trip and sat next to two Nissan engineers on his flight. He asked them what was the most fun car they have in their current production, not counting the GTR and both said the Juke. It’s awesome! [bd] I think a lightly modified spec series would be a good idea. These cars seem to attract a lot of enthusiasts who enjoy spirited driving. Probably a bit too new to generate a large enough competitor base to make it a national thing, but given a couple years, I bet we’ll see it. How would you go about adding 35whp and 350lbs of lightness? To get 35WHP NA, I would do an e85 tune with header/ full exhaust. With e85 not readily available by me, I am waiting to see what header/ tune combos hit the market early next year. I will do something for sure, but would prefer to stay on 93 [octane], as long as it can get a legit
25WHP, which may be ambitious. 350 pounds lighter? I like that you’re going for it! What a huge difference that would make. Most people just want to add horsepower and fail to realize what a huge difference less weight makes. My Spec Miata weighed 2,150 pounds (975 kilograms) without a driver. When I took a 185 pound passenger out for hot laps, the difference in handling/ power was huge. Anyway, as I digress and fail to simply answer your question... To lose 350 pounds: • • • • • • • •
lighter wheels and brake kit (I have 17” OZ Racing Alleggerita/Essex Sprint racing brake kit) Braille battery (11pounds, saves 19 pounds!) A/C delete stereo sucks anyway, ditch that for sure remove all carpet, insulation, rear seats, seatback, head liner, spare tire, tools remove most interior panels except for maybe door skins, I still want it to look a little civilized remove driver and passenger glass and air bags only if full race car replace factory front seats with carbon fiber race seats
If still not there, add carbon fiber hood, trunk lid and lexan rear window and prepare to sleep on the couch for a week when my wife sees the credit card bill. [bd] Speaking of modifications, Jeremy Boysen of FT-86 Speed Factory put us in touch for this story. They’re one of our Official Partners. I was curious how they’ve impacted your BRZ. What have you bought from them and what was that experience like? Jeremy/ FT-86 Speed Factory is a tremendous resource for the community. As I’m sure you know, they don’t just sell parts. They actually own
32 | GBXM