Best Mods For Beginners

 

Because production continues in the Subaru BRZ and in the Toyota GR86, new owners and enthusiasts are introduced to a new driving experience. And for many of you who studied the car in magazine articles, reviews, and countless YouTube first drives, you know that for the money, you made the right purchase. And for many of you who are new enthusiasts, you may find yourself going to the next big meet from all the posts seen on social media. Meets introduce you to the world of upgrades and mods. 90% of these cars will be modded and upgraded, and anything stock would otherwise be considered to be regular traffic, as they say.

Yet you may fall under the spectrum of being in the market for something unique for your new BRZ or GR86, or you may fall under the performance category which is just as vast as the aesthetics. Understandably when browsing FTSpeed, you could become overwhelmed with the availability of components and what do they exactly do? Don’t worry, we will touch base on a variety of components that are proper for those of you who consider yourselves, beginners.

 

POWER

Because the BRZ and GR86 come with naturally aspirated 2.4-liter boxer engines, you don’t have the same performance options when compared to a turbocharged example such as a WRX. With turbocharged examples, there is tuning, fuel upgrades, induction upgrades, everything needed to make these cars more powerful and unreliable if you don’t know what you’re doing. Let’s emphasize on this for a second. You can add all the power in the world to a turbocharged vehicle, but you have to rely on so many variables and mainly resources to keep these cars in that window of running properly. You need to have a proper tune from a COBB Accessport, you need a larger top mount intercooler to avoid heat soak. You need an upgraded fuel pump with larger injectors, then of course an intake and exhaust, then after 350 HP things start breaking.

The BRZ is a different breed. Subaru designed this car to be the traditional front engine-rear wheel drive sports car that was affordable in a world full of super expensive options. More importantly, it’s intentions were to be a true driver’s car, much like the Miata. Where the driver utilized his skills to maintain the handling and momentum with more capable vehicles.

That being said if you consider yourself to be a beginner, and you want more performance out of your BRZ or GR86, there are two main upgrades, and that is an intake, and a cat-back exhaust. Your OEM intake box just like every car on the road from the factory, features an intake box and a paper filter. The intake box shields the filter from hot engine bay temps, and the paper filter obviously filters the incoming air. Except paper filters are restrictive, and if you are not staying on top of filter changes, it makes your engine hard to breathe. For a naturally aspirated platform, a proper cold air intake system allows the engine to inhale a larger volume of air. This improves the throttle response and adds anywhere from 3-7 HP depending on that design. But for a car that makes just under 230 HP, an intake does make a difference.

 

K&N Typhoon Intake System 2022+ BRZ/GR86

 

Now there are parallels with an intake and a cat-back exhaust. As an intake will allow the engine to breathe easier, a cat-back exhaust allows the engine to exhale more efficiently. The OEM cat-back exhaust system features several bends, and the piping diameter is relatively small. Aftermarket cat-back systems combine two essential elements which is a larger piping diameter, combined with minimal bends. So typically for the BRZ and GR86, aftermarket cat back systems will have 2.5 to 3-inch piping diameter. During acceleration as a cold air intake is breathing heavily, the exhaust gases are escaping without the turbulence it would otherwise experience with the OEM cat-back unit. But the most enjoyable purchasing aspect about a cat-back exhaust system is the sound. Yes it will be louder, but that flat-four rumble is one of the key elements that what makes owning a Subaru such an enjoyable experience. Here are some great examples:

 

Invidia N1 Cat Back Exhaust 2022-2024 BRZ/GR86

 

 

Remark Elite Spec Cat-Back Exhaust 2022-2024 BRZ/GR86

 

 

Apexi RS Evo Cat-Back Exhaust 2022-2024 BRZ/GR86

 

 

 

HANDLING

The new BRZ and GR86 handle exceptionally well from the factory. But there are some simple mods that beginners can perform that make the ownership experience more rewarding from the installation, to getting behind the wheel. One that we’d like to highlight is the front strut tower bar. This is a great mod that beginners can install because the installation requires the re-use of the stock upper front strut nuts, and you only need basic metric sockets.

 

PERRIN Front Strut Tower Bar Neon Yellow 2013-2024 BRZ/FR-S/86

 

Cusco Type OS Front Strut Tower Brace 2013-2024 BRZ/FR-S/86

 

 

INTERIOR

You’re new to modding, and you want to do all the things. One of the most important things you must consider is if you don’t know how to do something, have someone competent perform the installations, otherwise you’ll cause more damage than anticipated. Above anything else, never cut corners. When it comes to installing anything in your interior, exterior, engine, etc., do things the right way even if it takes two extra hours moving something out of the way so that you can properly access the one nut or bolt to remove the component you were working on so that you are not breaking any interior or exterior panels. So, let’s start with something simple such as a shift knob. Shift knobs typically require you to twist off your OEM knob, and an aftermarket unit will screw into its place.

 

Raceseng Rondure Texture Shift Knob

 

Subaru OEM TS Shift Knob 2013-2024 BRZ/FR-S/86

 

 

EXTERIOR

For the novice, we want to highlight two specific exterior mods especially for the 2022+ BRZ and GR86. One of which is the rear trunk spoiler. And the main reason is that the contours of the rear trunk are in a duckbill-like shape. Now installation of a duckbill spoiler is just as easy as cleaning the surface of the edge of the trunk, and trunk spoilers are held on using automotive-grade double-sided adhesive.

 

TRD GR Trunk Spoiler Unpainted

 

 

OLM Forged Carbon Fiber TR Style Duckbill Spoiler

 

 

 

Next will be the front lip. As far as exterior mods, front lips make a huge difference because it provides the front bumper with an aggressive look. The front bumper will appear lower as front lips are thicker, and they emphasize the race car aesthetic when lowered on coilovers. For now, here are some exceptional front lip examples that you can perform to your BRZ of GR86.

 

OLM Carbon Giber CS Style Front Lip 2022-2024 GR86

 

HKS Type S Front Spoiler 2022-2024 BRZ

 

KEEP IT SIMPLE

In closing, these mods are a good start for new owners and enthusiasts to get your feet wet into the never-ending abyss that is modifying a car. As scary as that sounds, it really depends on your budget and your driving style. The best advice is to keep things simple, and don’t go way too over the top especially if you are not mechanically inclined. Otherwise, your new BRZ or GR86 will spend plenty of time at the shop always getting mods installed. Keep it streetable. Don’t do things that are going to affect the drivability of your new car. You don’t need to spend $30k on a new BRZ or GR86 and slam it on coilovers just to hurt the pinch welds underneath the vehicle or rub on those new fenders with an overly aggressive wheel setup. Enjoy the car for what it is, don’t kill the warranty just yet, and learn the car before you start getting in way over your head which most of us are guilty of. For now, have fun, and enjoy your new upgrades.