[kingofthehill29]

Decided to sell the HKS system, need to free up some space and I kinda prefer my RK system.

https://www.grcorollaforum.com/threads/hks-legalmax-exhaust.6304/

 

[lmike.grc]

My RK Ti exhaust keeps coming loose. I'm trying a new clamp at the muffler (as it seems to be the one that keeps slipping). I also added a second exhaust hanger bushing to limit the vibrations and hopefully help, I plan to buy better bushings in the future (possibly Remark Bushings). For the time I am using the stock Toyota as my second but it is almost too wide for the hanger I don't see it coming off though since it took a lot of time and effort/force to get it on there in the first place. Seems to have helped a bit so far but I will keep an eye on it. I also readjusted it while I was making the changes and got it tucked up under the bumper better. I did add my cargo cover back to the car and it seems to help absorb some of the exhaust drone and has made it even more bearable in the car.

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Tuning update:

I got my car dyno tunes at Limit+1. I did as many supporting mods as I could before dyno tuning to increase airflow in and out of engine. SXTH intake, OTL Charge Pipes, RacerX FMIC, Limit+1 Downpipe, and RK ti catback. The baseline run with no tuning 297 whp and 280 wheel torque on 93 oct. It looks like bolt ons can improve HP/Torque without tuning.

I had them tune it for 93 octane and e50. Overall it was a great experience, I was hoping for 300 whp on pump gas and it was close. After driving it I can say it made the power more useable and boost starts building below 3000 rpm and there is significantly less boost lag between shifts (it is non-existent when flat-foot shifting). The exhaust drone on the interstate is in a smaller RPM zone so it make the full exhaust more bearable. Still debating on if I want to get rid of the RK Ti Catback., waiting to see if they release a dual system and if I can just buy the mufflers to convert mine to it.

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My 93 octane tune produces 293 whp and 294 wheel torque. I did loose a little peak HP but gained a lot of wheel torque with the tuning. The E50 tune is 318 whp and 340 wheel torque. Both have much improved throttle response and when on E50 this car is insanely quick, but I will need to a better clutch. I had it slip on my at high RPMs under full throttle once. Clutch still feels good but the e50 tune is near the max torque it can support. Now I need to decide when I tackle the clutch if I want to do it myself or if I will try and find a trust worthy shop with experience with these cars to have it done.

I do wish that my 93 and e50 tunes were map switching enabled, unfortunately I need to reflash my tune every time I want to change fuel types. I will check and see if I can get them to make to use map switching if/when I need to update my tune. Re-flashing makes me nervous, since it will most often happen away from home (at a gas station and possibly on a road trip).

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This is very helpful! Can you expand on how low end power feels after the tune?
Is it better when <3000rpms, under 50% throttle, out of boost or boost builds in this scenario? For normal casual driving.

 

[kingofthehill29]

It doesn't feel like there is any improvement below 3000 rpm. Almost feels lees powerful below 3k. Above 3,500 rpm is where it really starts to feel much more powerful. With these small turbo engines they really like higher RPMS. I generally dont drive it much below 3.5k rpms anyway.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Got a good picture of my cars good side. It unfortunately has a bad side now . I was rear ended (I was in stop and go traffic), I saw it last minute and started to move to left shoulder and the car bounced off the right side of my bumper. I just needed an extra 6 inches. I am now waiting on insurance for repairs. Car drives OK, but when driving on some backroads over the weekend I started noticing the rear of the car would slide a bit and behave in an unpredictable manner, I think there is a good chance the unibody was tweaked from the accident and the alignment was messed up. Hoping it didn't damage the coilovers. I ordered some adjustable suspension links to install after the repairs are made, that way I can get some more adjustability in the rear and hopefully they can get the alignment into spec.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Well I started the first of many to come supporting mods for the car. Trying to improve the reliability, handling, and power. Really want to develop this as an amazing street car. It already is but I want to improve on the platform. I spent today installing a larger intercooler. I had the RacerX intercooler an it is more of an OEM+, not significantly larger. It did heat soak quite a bit last summer. I went with the OTL race intercooler with 2" Inlet/outlet. I already had 2" intercooler piping so all I needed was 2" silicon couplers. Install went smoothly and I think it makes the intercooler more noticeable.

I also put MT-90 (GL4) transmission fluid into the trans. It seems to be thicker and I feel like it shifts smoother along with noticeably less gear chatter at idle, still some but it is faint.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Just a lot going on, car is still at the shop. Just found out they left it sitting outside during a hailstorm and it has hail damage to the hood and roof. They neglected to tell me in their updates until I specifically asked it it was damaged in the storm. I don't know the extent of the damage yet, they asked me to come down and see it (rather than sending me pictures). Which has me concerned that it is really bad. All I know is if the car was in my possession it would have been in the garage during the storm. Just seems like my luck has been complete shit lately.

Also was planning on selling my RacerX intercooler, but discovered a design flaw that nearly caused it to fail. I contacted their customer service about the issue and they basically told me to pound sand. I will not be buying anymore products from them in the future. I plan to put together an in depth post and review of the issue at a later date. They told me it was not possible for the issue to happen unless it had front end damage. When I am looking at it and remembering basic statics from college, I can easily see the damage happening from Creep and forces on the intercooler from not being properly supported. Their design has it supported differently than the stock one. Either way I am sure their rep didn't even show the images I sent to an actual engineer.

I have been considering going carbon hood (after the shit paint job on my revemoto painted hood). Not sure if I like it or not, I did a crappy job but photoshopped it on the car last week and sent it to a few friends, they all thought it looked good.

 

[Wsidr1]

Just a lot going on, car is still at the shop. Just found out they left it sitting outside during a hailstorm and it has hail damage to the hood and roof. They neglected to tell me in their updates until I specifically asked it it was damaged in the storm. I don't know the extent of the damage yet, they asked me to come down and see it (rather than sending me pictures). Which has me concerned that it is really bad. All I know is if the car was in my possession it would have been in the garage during the storm. Just seems like my luck has been complete shit lately.

Also was planning on selling my RacerX intercooler, but discovered a design flaw that nearly caused it to fail. I contacted their customer service about the issue and they basically told me to pound sand. I will not be buying anymore products from them in the future. I plan to put together an in depth post and review of the issue at a later date. They told me it was not possible for the issue to happen unless it had front end damage. When I am looking at it and remembering basic statics from college, I can easily see the damage happening from Creep and forces on the intercooler from not being properly supported. Their design has it supported differently than the stock one. Either way I am sure their rep didn't even show the images I sent to an actual engineer.

I have been considering going carbon hood (after the shit paint job on my revemoto painted hood). Not sure if I like it or not, I did a crappy job but photoshopped it on the car last week and sent it to a few friends, they all thought it looked good.
View attachment 36359

I have a white 24 GRC Premium. I want to do something to the hood to break up all the white. The Circuit hood is probably my #1 thought, but I just know the paint won't match and it'll catch my eye every time I look at the car and I'll be pi$$ed.

I think those carbon hoods look really good on the gray, and okay on black, but not so much on the white or red. The contrast is a bit too much for me. It's like suddenly the hood is the focal point of the whole car. I'd rather it blends in more.

But we all like different things, so whatever looks right to you is what I'd go with.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Update:
Had a really bad experience with the body shop repairing my car, they were being shady and I was not going to trust them to finish the work correctly so I am going to finish the work then get my local alignment shop (that I trust) to make sure my alignment is still good. I don't feel any alignment issues but I do have lifetime alignments and I am due for my next one anyway. I did source a replacement bumper from a junkyard so I am going to get that tomorrow.

I did install a side exit RK Muffler to prepare for adding a hitch (for MTB transport). I am really liking the side exit (although it is much harder to adjust and keeps moving and melting the valance plastic). It drones less on the interstate than the center exit. I am going to attribute this to the two additional bends slowing the exhaust flow and it projecting the sound out the side of the car.

Lastly I installed Paragon Front Brake rotors. Mostly due to weight savings but it will make brakes cheaper in the future, since these are cheaper than stock brake rotors and the replacement rotor rings are much cheaper than stock rotors. I weight the stock rotor at 21.6lb each and the paragon rotors at 17.92 lbs each. That nets a 7.36 lb decrease in overall rotational mass (on front end of vehicle).

I have some more coming, I ordered Whiteline Rear Camber and Toe arms and plan to install these before my alignment. I also order side skirts, front lip, and rear diffuser. I am excited to start modding this car again.

 

[DaytonGR]

I have been considering going carbon hood (after the shit paint job on my revemoto painted hood). Not sure if I like it or not, I did a crappy job but photoshopped it on the car last week and sent it to a few friends, they all thought it looked good.

View attachment 36359

Last year I got a good deal from someone here, CF wrapped CE hood with ceramic coating for $700. Or at least it seemed like a good deal, I really wanted a CE hood.
It very much looks like your Photoshop (I did the same thing to see what it would look like). I think the grill and spoiler adds enough to make the black work. Plus the tinted windows. (Almost forgot, the stripe and some black door handle bits help too.)

 

[kingofthehill29]

I got my replacement bumper on the car. I am excited to finally have the repairs from my rear end collision fixed. It could have been worse, I saw the guy coming before he made contact and started moving to left shoulder (in stop and go traffic), If I hadn't he would have hit me square on and most likely would have totaled the car. He totaled his car, after grazing my bumper he bounced into the middle lane and slammed into someone else.

Started by removing the valance from the new bumper and cleaning up the bumper, I wanted to reuse mine since it my exhaust has already melted mine and mine was undamaged. Might as well have a spare. Also pro tip, it is much easier to install the bumper without the valance installed, it flexes much easier.

Today I spent the afternoon installing a curt receiver hitch. Now I can take the GRC mountain biking. This is going to be exciting. The hitch fits nicely and I really like how the 1up rack I got to go with it looks on the car, on a plus side it doesn't block my license plate. It adds 23.86 lbs to the car (without the rack or the bike) but at least it adds it to the rear helping the weight balance.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Last year I got a good deal from someone here, CF wrapped CE hood with ceramic coating for $700. Or at least it seemed like a good deal, I really wanted a CE hood.
It very much looks like your Photoshop (I did the same thing to see what it would look like). I think the grill and spoiler adds enough to make the black work. Plus the tinted windows. (Almost forgot, the stripe and some black door handle bits help too.)

I am still on the fence about it, I feel like it is borderline too much black, but I kinda like it. I am not sure. I am holding off on the moment.

 

[kingofthehill29]

So haven't posted any updates in a while. To start here are all the changes. I installed a Verus Engineering Rear Diffuser (9.82 lbs), spats (3.62 lb), and side skirts (8.96 lbs). I also went back to my stock hood. Side skirts installed super easy but the rear diffuser needed to be modified to clear the exhaust. I also installed the OEM tires on my wheels (needed new tires and I just bought a set for the BRZ). I weighed the wheels after installing the OEM tires and they are even lighter. the OEM tires are 2.8 lbs lighter than the 245 ECSO2 tires (based on the weight difference). I am thinking I might keep the OEM size and go with the PS4S tires once the stock PS4 tires are worn out.

I am looking for a recommendation for a front lip to match. I kinda want to go with a full splitter from Verus or the HKS lip. Not sure yet. Goal is to buidl this out as a fun daily driver. I have really been enjoying taking it on backroad rips to get to the trails to MTB and I am planning on taking it on a road trip out west later this summer. Since I heard gas is crap out west I need to find a reliable octane booster to help out as well.

I am really enjoyin the side exit exhaust, my car is now louder (inside) with the windows down than up (with the center exit I had to drive with windows down for it to be bareable).

 

[kingofthehill29]

Haven't posted much in a while, have had a lot of things going on and it has made it difficult. I did take the car on an epic roadtirp recently. I drove it down to Arizona. I have also decided to sell one of my vehicles. I converted the BRZ back to stock and it is going to be sold next week. I can't ever consider selling the GRC, this is hands down my favorite car I have ever owned!

Roadtrip July 2025:

I decided to take a roadtrip out west, here was my inspiration. The mileage of the trip was roughly 3,000 miles of driving and I wanted to drive as many drivers roads around AZ as I could. The first cool drive I did was enroute to my destination is phoenix. I drove 87 through Payson and the Tonto National forest. The views were so epic on this road, It was my first views of Arizona mountains. I was in awe during this entire drive, I was also worn out so I didn't get much photos.

Then shortly after Payson it doesn't take long for it to turn from forest to desert. I got to see Saguaro Cactus for the first time, it is amazing how large they are in real life. I am amazed how well this car performed on my trip to Arizona, the side exit drones much less than the center exit so it was bearable. Also gas mileage was 28-31 mpg during most of the drive.

Tortilla Flats:

On day two of my trip I decided to drive the Apache trail to Tortilla flats (thanks Gears and Gasoline). This was a really fun road with great lake views. The downside is there are a lot of vehicles towing boats so I made frequent stops to get photos which allowed for a few spirited runs down this road. The Tortilla flats store was a cool place with great views. After passing the store the road is empty and has a lot more opportunities for spirited driving but it also lacks railings and the road is narrow with a lot of blind turns.

 

[kingofthehill29]

89A Prescott Valley to Jerome:

The next road I drove was 89A to Jerome. This road was even better than Tortilla Flats, I drove this during the middle of the week. A lot less people and plenty of opportunities for a more spirited drive. Plus this one was a true mountain road. Jerome is high up in the mountains and reminded me of visiting Virginia City, NV as a kid. The views were breathtaking and the road was well maintained. I didn't see any pot holes. Jerome was a cool town and it was fun to explore, I thought the bar "The Spirit Room" was a clever name (later on i learned Jerome is the most haunted town in Arizona). After visiting Jerome I continued on to drive through Sedona on my way back. I wish I had more time there but only made one stop. I stopped at the iconic McDonalds with the blue arches.

 

[kingofthehill29]

Catalina Highway to the top of Mt. Lemmon:

This has to me my favorite drive of the entire trip! The roads in Tucson to get to the Catalina Highway did suck though. The Catalina highway though was smooth, had great banking in the turns and generous shoulders for a mountain road. The views were amazing and there was a really cool town at the top called Summerhaven. It was about 106F when I left Tucson and 67 when I got as close to the top as I could. Unfortunately the last short section of road was shut down so I couldn't see the submit. I went back down a little ways to explore the town, I even had a cookie at the iconic cookie cabin.

Overall I am super happy with this trip, the car handled a long road trip with no major issues. It did run a bit on the hot side (AZ heat) and it did wear the inside edge of the front tires (due to poor alignment.) Now I have road tripped this car twice, and this whole trip was on a tuned car. I would not hesitate to roadtrip this car again running the tune.

All the states I have driven my GRC in so far: