Tour de Brevard

Today I took a driving tour of old roads, old homes, old places and visiting some friends. After you move away from a place you have lived in for a while, it is always odd driving through and seeing what has changed... and what hasn't. It was great visiting and talking cars, getting the opportunity show off the FR-S some to fellow automotive enthusiasts. One has a mint C6 Corvette and the other your run of the mill family car, for the family that needs to get places quickly... a 335 turbo with the M sport package. All in all a good day.

Below is a shot from Indiatlantic beach early in the day.

Warm weather = Car day

The weather went into the 60s today. That means time to work on cars. I spent the day washing up the daily drivers that had all kinds of winter road mess on them. A coworker can over to install CR edition shocks on his S2K. I helped out a little but the shock install was one of the easiest on any car I have ever seen, and he handled it easily. The weather was very nice and just hanging out talking cars or griping about work was a great way to spend the day. The warm weather brought out all the neighbors and kids, and it was cool to see everyone outside doing their thing.

This pic is what I wished my garage looked like all the time... 2 bays, 2 sports cars!  The other pic sums the day up nicely. Old worn out shocks removed and a kiddie bike.

First Oil Change!

Today I decided to do the first oil change.  Scions come with free maintenance for the first 24 months, at the intervals determined by Scion.  I didn't want to wait too much time for the first oil change given the relatively low miles seen by the FR-S, and I also have a fairly extensive road trip planned that would technically require an oil change somewhere 2/3 of the way through the trip.  In addition, I really don't like taking my vehicle to any  dealer for any service... ever.  Given all of that, I decided to go ahead and freshen the oil myself.

The FR-S takes 0W-20 synthetic (pretty sure all 0W oil is synthetic at this point, so that could be a redundant sentence).  I couldn't find many deals on 0W-20, nor could I find a great selection of brands and local shops selling anything on sale.  After trying to find Mobil1 synthetic on sale and some frustrations with Discount Auto Parts excluding 0W-20 from any sort of special, even after telling me they would honor it, I decided to hit up Leesburg Toyota Scion to see what the OEM 0W-20 pricing was like.  I did not buy from this dealer, but after talking with some folks there I really wish I had.  They are a smaller dealer, smaller market, and a bit more old school in some things.  It was a pleasant experience and good conversations on oil and other maintenance items.  Pricing was good as well.  The OEM synthetic was about $2 less per quart than the mobil1, and is actually one of the best rated oils on the "Bob Is The Oil Guy" forums.  Here is a shot of what was used.

The FR-S is super simple for performing and oil change.  The only car that I've discovered to be easier and cleaner to change the oil for is our 2004 4Runner.  The main things that make these two vehicles so simple is the placement of the oil filter.  Both vehicles place the oil filter above the engine, on the front of the engine, within easy reach, and upside down.  The drain plugs have easy clearance and the openings in the skid plates are ample to keep oil from getting caught up in them.

Here is a shot of the oil filter location (left) and the oil fill neck (right), within easy reach.

You really notice the light weight of the oil when you see how fast it drains.  It came blasting out once the plug was removed and drained in no time.  It drained more like water than oil.  It was something to see.  Having changed oil many times, I wasn't expecting that.  Thin oil is the new black, or something.  I had to snap a shot of this because it made me chuckle.  Everywhere you look on this Scion (Toyota), you see the Subaru logo.  I know it was a joint project, but man, based on the stampings everywhere you have to wonder what Toyota actually did on this car.

Sports Cars & Sport Bikes

Wanted to throw up a couple pictures from a mid-winter ride through Loudoun County from about 6 weeks ago.  Went through the curvy roads this time with a pair of sport bikes belonging to coworkers.  Let me tell you, driving with sport bikes is a whole 'nother experience!  Their acceleration is just insane.  We all had a good time on an unseasonably warm day.  I was paired up with a BMW S1000RR and a GXR750.  The roads were mostly free of traffic.  And I was able to scratch "get all 4 tires off the ground" off of the FR-S "to do" list.

The FR-S had no power to accelerate with these bikes.  The BMW S1000RR is putting out the same crank horsepower as the FR-S for pete's sakes.  But on the curves testing lateral grip, the FR-S was able to hold its own and keep pace, sometimes setting the pace.  It was an awesome experience and all came away impressed with the other person's ride.  Much respect.  Here are some pics from the day.

Thoughts on Nameless Exhaust

I've swapped the exhausts back and forth to compare and decide it the Nameless Exhaust is what I want the car to sound like.  I currently have it on the car, and am likely to keep it on.

My exhaust preferences are as follows:
-Looks good on the car
-No Drone
-Sounds sporty at startup
-No Drone
-Not obnoxious in traffic, but noticeable when revving up to redline
-Not so loud that you can't hear the engine

I enjoy the stock setup, which includes the sound tube, decent growl from the engine overall.  You can't hear anything but the engine though, which at times can be good.  However, the stock exhaust tips are some of the ugliest I've ever seen.

The Nameless setup adds a nice exhaust note at the top end, and is pretty throaty at cold startup, giving the car some much needed personality.  The tips are much better than stock and fill the exhaust cutouts very well.  However, this one suffers from a well known issue with nameless exhausts, which is a slight misalignment of the tips and how far they stick out.  It bothered me at first, but over time I'm not noticing as much.  I notice the sound more, and am happy with that.  I enjoy that I can hear the exhaust, but also hear the engine note, and they seem to be at comparable volume when really getting on the gas.  It makes audible shifting very easy, eliminating the need to use the tach for anything.  I'm very sensitive to drone, and like any exhaust on a 4-banger engine, there is a small amount of drone.  The RPM's that 4-bangers run at on the highway are higher than comparable v6 and v8 engines, and there is going to be some drone.  This is most noticeable at 55 to 65 mph, and above that wind noise begins to overpower any exhaust sound.

All in all, I'm pleased with the Nameless exhaust.  I don't think there is a better one to match my exhaust preferences, and buying it used made it a great bargain.  I don't think I'll be swapping them back and forth anymore.  :-)