Category: BRZ

  • Hooked On Driving review: a newbie’s perspective

    Hooked On Driving review: a newbie’s perspective

    After hemming and hawing for years about signing up for my first track day, I finally bit the bullet a couple of months ago and signed up with a Hooked On Driving trackday at Thunderhill Raceway Park. Speaking with my friends about what track day organizations I should go with, Hooked On Driving was always…

  • Driving Roads: Palomares Road, the East Bay’s hidden gem

    Driving Roads: Palomares Road, the East Bay’s hidden gem

    Hidden in the East Bay hills is one of my favorite driving roads. Palomares Road runs between Castro Valley and Fremont, running parallel between highways 880 and 680. It’s a beautiful two-lane road that features a gorgeous view of lush, green hills as well as some redwood trees. Palomares offers a blend of quick sweepers…

  • Review: Nameless Axelback with 5″ offset mufflers for BRZ/FR-S/GT86 [UPDATE w/ video]

    Review: Nameless Axelback with 5″ offset mufflers for BRZ/FR-S/GT86 [UPDATE w/ video]

    The stock exhaust on the BRZ sounds asthmatic. You can tell Subaru and Toyota wanted the car to be a relatively quiet daily driver but for us enthusiasts want a bit more sound. Subaru and Toyota engineered a sound pipe that connects to the intake tube to pump induction noise into the cabin but sounds…

  • This Pokéball shift knob cover will make me the coolest kid at the car meet

    This Pokéball shift knob cover will make me the coolest kid at the car meet

      My stainless steel WC Lathe Werks shift knob combined with the hot California sun add up to create a molten ball of pain when left baking outside. I love the weight, look, and feel of my metal shift knob but its biggest downside is that it gets too hot to the touch if I…

  • Mountek nGroove vs. Koomus CD-Eco: comparison and review

    Mountek nGroove vs. Koomus CD-Eco: comparison and review

      There are a ton of ways to mount your smartphone in your car from suction cups to vent mounts. However, not all vent mounts work in every car and suction cups may fall off when the temperature changes. The best solution for me has been CD slot car mounts, which cannibalize the CD slot…

  • 11 reasons why I still love my Subaru BRZ

    11 reasons why I still love my Subaru BRZ

      The Subaru BRZ isn’t perfect. I’ve already written about the 12 most frustrating things about the BRZ but after three years of ownership, I’ve never been tempted to sell or trade in the car. The BRZ has always been a controversial car with critics lamenting its lack of power and its fans lauding its…

  • 12 most frustrating things about the Subaru BRZ

    12 most frustrating things about the Subaru BRZ

    I love my Subaru BRZ but it’s not without its frustrations. This shouldn’t be much of a surprise since the car is a cheap Japanese sports coupe after all. There are always compromises that manufacturers make when creating a car. Family sedans compromise fun and handling for luxury and utility. Sports cars compromise utility and…

  • Why I choose to drive a manual transmission

    Why I choose to drive a manual transmission

    My left leg is tired. It’s 10PM on the 4th of July and I’m stuck in traffic on Interstate 80 heading towards San Francisco. I glance at my Waze app and it’s a sea of red. I slowly inch off the clutch, add a tiny bit of gas and repeat. Clutch out, gas, clutch in.…

  • Mann Engineering BRZ lowering springs (25mm) review

    Mann Engineering BRZ lowering springs (25mm) review

      Disclosure: I won a set of Mann Engineering lowering springs from NorCal 86Drive end of summer raffle. I paid for installation and alignment. When it comes to modifying my Subaru BRZ, I’m relatively conservative. The car is so good from the factory, I don’t want to mess up its handling and balance. When I won…

  • Review: Grimmspeed lightweight crank pulley for BRZ and FR-S

    Review: Grimmspeed lightweight crank pulley for BRZ and FR-S

    Grimmspeed may be late to the lightweight crank pulley game but I’m glad it’s finally out. When I saw the group buy thread on FT86club, I jumped on it immediately. So was it worth the wait? The Grimmspeed crank pulley isn’t that much different from its competitors. It comes in a range of colors (I…

  • Review: Perrin inlet hose for Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S

    Review: Perrin inlet hose for Subaru BRZ and Scion FR-S

      The Perrin inlet tube for the BRZ straddles the line between cosmetic and functionality for me. While Perrin and enthusiastic forum members would like you to believe this simple tube will add a few horsepower, the reality is less exciting as you’ll probably not notice any performance increase. However, it does make the engine sound better.…

  • Diode Dynamics HP3 vs SMD5 LED bulb comparison and review

    Diode Dynamics HP3 vs SMD5 LED bulb comparison and review

    I’ve been a fan of Diode Dynamics‘ LED bulbs ever since I replaced all my Subaru BRZ‘s bulbs with LEDs. They have excellent customer service and they stand behind their products with a great three year warranty. They recently introduced a couple new LED bulb to their line up, the HP3 and HP5. The HP3…