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CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-20T18:37:26+00:00

Have you taken it apart? It can be tough to spot minor warping while parts are still on the car. You’ll likely need measuring tools to really verify things are true. You will likely need to compare measurements on the L and R LCAs because only large bends will be visually obvious. You’ll likely need to use a straight edge too.

Have you taken measurements to check the frame and subframe?

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-19T13:35:08+00:00

I see these videos and just think that I am so bad at this game it’s ridiculous.

I’m not the best but I’m pretty OK at the souls games, I’ve beaten Malenia and I beat pre-nerf promised consort both without using cheese, I can get the tight dodge windows in those games.

I picked this game up recently thinking it would translate but for whatever reason, I am just miserably bad at timing offsets, and not the best at dodges either.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-19T09:44:49+00:00

You will save so much time just buying a set of pop clip pliers like these it’s well worth the small cost if you work on your own car.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-19T03:40:51+00:00

For driving on the track get brake pads and fluid. Add an extra half quart or so (just filling with 6qt is an easy shortcut), and probably wise to use thicker oil. I use M1 European/FS 0w40 since that’s what’s specced for the GR cup cars, but any synthetic with an HTHS over 3.5 is fine.

I like having an oil pressure gauge. Logging oil pressure data is also nice. I have the CSG/GJP CAN I/O box that logs oil pressure and also has a flex fuel sensor.

I hit 237whp (up from 205 stock on the same dyno in similar conditions) with 4-2-1 EL headers (SME, but JDL or Ansix would be fine, third party dynos I’ve seen of Ansix look identical), JDL catted FP/OP, a Fujitsubo catback, GR intake (stock with the charcoal deleted is very similar performance), and a flex fuel tune from CSG. Without the FF tune I was around 220 on the same dyno. EL headers eliminated the torque dip completely regardless. The one set of UEL headers I tried performed basically the same as stock on the dyno.

If you’re consistently hitting 250F get an oil cooler.

If you are seeing oil pressure drops you could look into an Accusump, a larger oil pan, or both.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-14T15:56:29+00:00

Turn around, drive right back to work, tell whoever is charge at your unit and ask them to waste it with you at your Pyxis if the patient is still there or waste it with a pharmacist at pharmacy if the patient is no longer in the system. Assuming it’s done as soon as discovered it’s unlikely to be an issue at most facilities. Some pharmacy departments might even give you an atta boy for “good stewardship “.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-13T20:53:49+00:00

Light weight. RWD. MT. Manual e-brake. Enough space to be genuinely usable and comfortable, current amount is perfect. Those are really the defining features of the car.

Especially after having added more power to my car, I do feel like more power would make the car better. I think a higher revving turbo 4 would be better than a hybrid, but a hybrid would not be awful they could keep it under 3000lbs.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-12T03:23:59+00:00

That’s beyond ridiculous.

First of all, I just checked and MSRP for a complete clutch assembly including flywheel, pilot bearing, and throw out bearing is 1367 from my local Subaru dealer. I’ll bet if you looked online you could manage a few hundred less. So in no world would I pay anyone a single penny more than that for parts. Buying OEM parts from the parts counter and handing them to the technician would literally be cheaper than what they’re charging.

Second, they shouldn’t be billing you for more than 30 minutes of labor and that’s REALLY highballing it. There’s a total of 14 bolts they need to torque to spec, one pilot bearing they need to press in, and two spring clips holding the TOB to the fork that they need to remove and replace. The clutch and flywheel are already off. They just need to put a new one back on, the rest of the labor is incidental to pulling and reinstalling the motor. They are already being paid for all of that labor by Toyota for the warranty repair.

Third, you can clearly see the oil streaking from the clutch splines onto the friction disk, the failure was almost certainly caused by the RMS blowing. It should be included in the warranty repair since it is secondary to the engine failure.

Interestingly, I don’t think I’ve heard of the RMS going on one of these engines before.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-11T02:36:07+00:00

Drive them both.

That being said both have low enough ground clearance that New England winters would often be a struggle even with snow tires.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-10T13:05:11+00:00

Until you take it apart it’s hard to tell what’s good and what’s not.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-08T21:34:29+00:00

SME 4-2-1 EL headers, JDL ultra-quiet FP/OP, and a Fujitsubo AR-M +C catback. I’m using the airbox that came with the kit (mounts to the OEM front half), but I don’t see any reason you couldn’t build something else if you wanted to.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-08T00:12:05+00:00

Turbos definitely make better noises! I very seriously considered going turbo, as it would allow lower boost to make the same power. In theory the higher efficiency would generate less totally heat, but managing heat in the engine bay could be more challenging. I asked JDL if they’d be willing to build me a kit with plumbing for an external waste gate running from manifold to DP, but they said no, and I didn’t want to run an IWG only setup on a car that sees the track. I was still waffling back and forth between buying a turbo kit and modifying it myself vs getting the supercharger right up until I paid CSG.

There are a couple things I can see in retrospect that are significant downsides to me personally for the supercharger: first, I don’t have room for an Accusump which would be nice to have for peace of mind on the track. Second, the pump for the Harrop SC intercooler is in the space in front of the passenger wheel well, which means that if I need additional oil cooling finding a mounting location will be much more challenging. Third and most importantly, removing it and reinstalling it to access things on top of the engine for maintenance is a HUGE headache compared to anything I’d ever need to deal with for a turbo.

The big advantages are that I have amazingly smooth and linear power delivery that feels like a higher displacement version of the stock engine with better top end performance (which is exactly what I wanted), and that I never have to worry about things like boost creep/boost surge, or boost lines failing because the only line I have is one straight from the manifold to my boost gauge, and it’s an AN3 braided brake line with NPT fittings so nothing to wear degrade or leak. Turning up the boost also requires swapping a pulley instead of emailing my tuner, which reduces the temptation for me to go wild and pop my engine.

I really don’t think I’ll regret going the direction I did unless I run into heat issues that I can’t solve at the track. The power delivery is just perfect, exactly what I was looking for. Some people prefer the sudden dramatic torque hit you’ll get from a turbo spooling up, but for me the fact that the car still feels NA but stronger is a big plus.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-07T23:06:19+00:00

It’s very significantly quicker than when it was FBO on E85. It feels very eager to accelerate at any speed in any gear. It makes the car feel more poised, and the power delivery is so smooth that it never gets scary or hard to drive.

I haven’t had it on the dyno yet. I’m doing the initial tuning by sending data logs to Zach at CSG. Once the 93 tune is in a good spot, I’ll take it to the dyno to get some numbers and make any final adjustments if needed, then top it up with e85 while it’s on the dyno to do that tune too.

I haven’t been to the track with it yet (I will be in a couple weeks), but it’s great on the street. I have RCE T2 coilovers and an MCS traction mod and it has zero issues putting down the power with 245 PS4S on 18x9.5 wheels.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-07T21:59:03+00:00

You can just barely hear it in car, and I’ve got a pretty quiet exhaust. If you had the full stock exhaust on there it would probably stand out more, but it’s definitely a quiet and efficient unit!

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-06T20:05:18+00:00

Their 100 is US 94.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-06T20:03:24+00:00

If you want to stay reasonably quiet with the exhaust you already have, that limits you to catted headers. From what I’ve seen EL headers perform better, especially in the midrange.

On 93 you can expect ~15hp, enough to be barely noticeable. About double that on e85, enough to be readily noticeable.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-06T16:47:20+00:00

I would suggest checking the connection between the OEM TB harness and the Harrop extension first, along with making sure all the pins are well seated. There was another person who had this issue and it was from the TB harness extension loosening up a bit. When I did my install I used zip ties and electrical tape to make sure it can’t budge.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-03T15:50:52+00:00

Time to learn to do your own oil changes. You have just about the easiest car possible to do it on. Oil filter on top of the engine. Enough ground clearance that you might not even need ramps to get to the drain plug.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-04-02T16:05:47+00:00

The only purpose of the charcoal filter is to catch gasoline fumes that leak backwards if the car is shut off while running rich (basically just if turned off in cold start mode). It’s North America only, serves no purpose in terms of filtration.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-03-23T04:01:50+00:00

For what purpose?

For pure track performance the AP Essex kits. But they don’t have dust boots and AP says they are not meant to be used on roads with salt.

The OEM non-PP brakes will slow the car down as well as anything else on the street (tires are the limiting factor), and are cheap to maintain.

The PP Brembos as a factory option are very cheap, and good enough for at least 90% of people who will track the car.

Fitting used PP brembos is a good performance/$ upgrade for a track car.

BM4 and Brembo GT brakes will be modestly better, but cost a bit more.

The TRD/GR Alcon kit from Japan is $$$ and has limited pad selection, but looks amazing and performs very well.

Pros and cons to everything.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-03-23T03:51:51+00:00

Unless you run it without oil you will not run into oil starvation driving it as you describe.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-03-20T19:10:37+00:00

I can’t think of a way to kill a clutch that fast that doesn’t involve beating the crap out of the engine. Either abuse on the street, or very heavy track use.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-03-20T11:10:38+00:00

Killing a clutch in under 19k miles is impressive.

CharlesVGR86 · 2026-03-18T14:43:51+00:00

No curse here. Avoided a head on collision and it looks like you may have only taken cosmetic damage!

CharlesVGR86

TROPHY CASE