In reply to captainawesome :
Right, and that worries me- right now I'm hoping that I can keep the ABS module connected but remove the pump and the valve body- that way it will still see all of the wheel speeds and pass them through the appropriate circuit, it just has no way to apply/unapply the brakes for me. I have no idea if this will work without throwing the car into some sort of failure mode.
This, I like.
I always wondered, is it easier to drop the pancake engine for most anything? I imagine so, and I imagine, after seeing how you cavalierly split your Buell like a tractor, you're just the man to do it.
In reply to wheelsmithy (Joe-with-an-L) :
Most Subaru engines come out of the top relatively easily- I think it took me 1.5hrs to get the engine out of our Impreza and I had never done it before. This one is probably coming out too, I'll time myself.
The Buell is its' own special case, to some degree they're designed to split in half although it's pretty nerve wracking the first time you wheel the top/front of the bike away from the engine/swingarm.
"Some sort of failure mode" is a fairly good description of rally mechanics. 
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
When my steering angle sensor was out of alignment it shut all the ABS and nannies off, but it did not keep me from driving one bit. You just lose ABS functionality and traction control. So you should still be able to do what you want to do without issue. The only time I know of someone having the car restrict speed is when they had larger diameter tires in the rear for drag racing.
The real question that is on everyone's mind, Chris, is whether it can easily be retrofitted with the Merkur's rear double-wing setup.
In reply to Mazdeuce :
Why specify when everything is broken? 
In reply to captainawesome :
That is extremely promising news.
In reply to irish44j :
Unfortunately the only bi-wing I own is currently attached to the Merkur with some combination of duct tape, structural decals, rivets, expanding foam, and the few remaining factory fasteners that haven't ripped out yet. It would probably dissolve into dust if I tried to remove it!
also, what's the problem with using spacers? Ex: Me, Downey, and Brolin (among others) all run 20-25mm spacers since we all use Mini Cooper wheels on the e30s and need the extra brake clearance. Shouldn't be a problem assuming you get good extended studs. Or is it not about strength, but about not wanting additional positive offset?
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:
In reply to irish44j :
Unfortunately the only bi-wing I own is currently attached to the Merkur with some combination of duct tape, structural decals, rivets, expanding foam, and the few remaining factory fasteners that haven't ripped out yet. It would probably dissolve into dust if I tried to remove it!
Of all the people I know, nobody can fabricate stuff (without fancy machines) the way you can. I have confidence in your ability to engineer a solution to the creation of a new and inproved BR-Z bi-wing :D
There are two scary things about spacers:
Not to say it isn't worth a shot, but then again if a bunch of rally wheels go on sale I might just smack the easy button there.
In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Here's my VERY crude photochop. Get on it Chris
In reply to shagles :
This thread has gone straight off the rails already. I love it.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:There are two scary things about spacers:
- This needs like 30-something-mm spacers, so probably the style with its' own lugs in it. Those seem a little scary.
- Subaru wheel bearings suck and negative offset won't help.
Not to say it isn't worth a shot, but then again if a bunch of rally wheels go on sale I might just smack the easy button there.
ah, didn't realize they'd have to be that big, damn. I'm not a fan of the spacers with integrated lugs either. At very least, you can run Subaru rally wheels, so probably won't have too much trouble finding secondhand sets (not like trying to find e30 fitament rally wheels lol)...
shagles said:In reply to irish44j (Forum Supporter) :
Here's my VERY crude photochop. Get on it Chris
The real engineering problem here is that the BRZ has a trunk and fixed rear glass, vs. the full hatchback on the Merkur. So Chris will have to figure out an engineering solution for that as well "when" he builds said bi-wing spoiler :)
There are ways to convert the 5x100 bolt pattern to the standard Subaru one with different wheel hubs IIRC. Don't know if that opens up better wheel options or not, but worth exploring.
In reply to captainawesome :
Most of the rally wheels out there are offered in 5x100 for older Subarus also- the only BRZ specific rally wheel I can find (Evo Corse) has a lower (33mm) offset to clear the tie rod so the question is whether the typical 48mm Subaru offset Method/Braid offerings will fit, even with a small spacer. Luckily Method has free fitment templates so I can eyeball it.
In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Its kinda strange to me the view on different types of spacers between car guys and truck guys. Car guys like spacers that slide on the existing lugs and think the ones with their own lugs are sketchy. Truck guys are the exact opposite. There are a lot of guys running them on long travel trucks jumping in the desert. Not the same as rally, I know, but substantially heavier vehicles. The wheel bearing issue is definitely a concern with them though. I'd probably still try to get some wheels that would work without them, but they may not be as big of an issue as you would think.
5 minutes later, I'm on an off-road forum looking at something about paint, and this is the video pop-up ad that comes up. The internet is a creepy place.
I'm excited about this!
I think you did pretty well for 7k, even if you need a motor. Clean title?
In reply to cmcgregor (Forum Supporter) :
Clean title!
Talked to the Subaru dealer and gave them the VIN, they should be sending me an email with the recall history and, if I'm really lucky, which they can still perform if they haven't been done.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ said:There are two scary things about spacers:
- This needs like 30-something-mm spacers, so probably the style with its' own lugs in it. Those seem a little scary.
- Subaru wheel bearings suck and negative offset won't help.
Not to say it isn't worth a shot, but then again if a bunch of rally wheels go on sale I might just smack the easy button there.
Strength-wise, I wouldn't be afraid as long as they're decent quality. We had a RX7 chumpcar that we adapted to 4x100 with ~25mm spacers so we could use our collective stash of miata wheels. We have photos of it two-wheeling over a curb with the inside wheels about a foot in the air and it survived doing that every lap for the better part of two 7 hour races. But in that instance, the wheels were higher offset than stock , so the overall effective offset was relatively unchanged. In your case it sounds like you need to actually move the wheels outboard, which I'm guessing might not be super kind to the wheel bearings and other parts when you start jumping it. That's what would concern me, not the spacers themselves.
In reply to TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) :
probably a bit like this
In reply to NOHOME :
Yeah. That's about what I was imagining.
TVR Scott (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to NOHOME :
Yeah. That's about what I was imagining.
There are two or three of them already running in American rally association, so we have definitely seen them for stand on a number of occasions and know the people who drive them :)
shagles said:In reply to ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ :
Got it. That sounds like I'd be fine. I'm 6'4" but have a fairly normal torso. That's helpful for when i eventually get rid of my 128, thanks. Don't worry about measurements, I can figure that out if/when i get to the point of actually looking for one.
Too bad, I couldn't resist! It's 38" from the pad of the factory seat to the headliner, and they both have some give. I can pass my hand between my helmet and the headliner comfortably.
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