0xBADC0FFE's Good Supra Build

[0xBADC0FFE]

Hello All,

I have been browsing this forum for a while now but not very active. Planning to change that as I build up the car! I will document the progress of my build here for my own reference and for all of you to (hopefully) enjoy.

I come from the Honda world... Did a lot of work on my 97 Civic Coupe way back, completed a CTR conversion with the B16B engine and brake/suspension swap from an EK9. Rebuilt a couple others and a few motors but everything was sold over time. I still have a 89 CRX with a B18C5 in it but it has been in storage for a few years now. I will get back to that one day for a fun project. I do not plan on doing too much major work on the Supra myself due to garage space issues and time.

I drove an 16 Acura TLX for a while, I was out driving a lot more during quarantine and the car just did not have enough spirit for me. Driving down the freeway one day and saw a car that I could not tell the make/model of and had to catch up to take a closer look, it was the new Supra! Shortly after I purchased a black 2020 Supra Premium just after the 2021 model was announced.

So far I have just been enjoying driving the car all over. I have hit just about every fun road in SoCal area and had a trip through the Rocky Mountains. Sitting at ~12k miles right now. Here are a few pictures:

From the start the wind buffeting was absurd. Fixed that quickly with the AMS solution, really wanted something that would look nice with the CF side mirror covers.

A little while back I had a minor "accident" in the canyon, coming around a sharp turn there was a rock in the middle of a narrow one way road which made its way under the car. This was not great but nothing major either, it was sand stone and the rock was dust behind me but... Transmission pan was cracked, it is plastic, and developed a very minor leak. The power brace and exhaust had minor, cosmetic, dents as well. Since the transmission oil pan is replaced during fluid swap anyway it was not a huge deal. Ended up just making an insurance claim and getting everything damaged replaced since the car was so new. I check the roads before spirited driving now... I also got a rock stuck in the space between the rotor and dust guard once. That sounded terrible but fell out shortly after.

I have plans for the car with a heavy focus on handling from the start. Car handles nicely in stock form but there is always room for improvement. I have a list of things I want to do but I am taking it one step at a time, taking in and adjusting to a change and then figuring out exactly what I want to do next. Below I will keep a list of the current modifications and try to give some details in individual posts.

Modifications:

• Chassis
  • Cusco Front Power Brace
  • Cusco Rear Power Brace
  • Cusco Harness Power Brace
• Suspension
  • Cusco Front Sway Bar
  • Cusco Read Sway Bar
  • SPL Front Lower Control Arms
  • SPL Front Caster Rod
  • SPL Front Tie Rod Ends
  • SPL Front Sway Bar Endlinks
  • SPL Rear Toe Links
  • SPL Rear Upper Lateral Links
  • SPL Rear Traction Links
  • SPL Read Sway Bar Endlinks
• Other
  • AMS Anti-Wind Buffeting Kit
  • BlackVue DR900S-2CH
  • tadda Sound Improvement
  • Verus Brake Master Cylinder Brace
  • Verus Turbo Heat Shield Kit
  • Verus Rear Differential Cooling Plate
  • Verus Resonator Delete
  • Verus Engine Bay Fluid Cap Kit
  • Verus A/C Cap Kit
  • Verus Gas Cap Cover
  • Verus Windshield Washer Fluid Reservoir Kit.

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[0xBADC0FFE]

The first real modification was the Cusco parts. The car has very noticeable body roll, in my opinion, and I wanted to fix that. I choose Cusco because I was only finding good things about their parts, they offered a full range of parts that I was looking for, I like the blue, and my parts guy had them available.

I put in the power braces myself and had a shop put in the sway bars, that back one is a hassle. These made a big difference in the handling/body roll and I am very pleased with them. This was a great start to modification.

I did run into two issues though:

1. When the car is cool (just started driving and/or cold out) there is a not-so-nice noise under the car when going over a bump. Most noticeable when going over a speed bump. I have a strong feeling the bushing were not adequately greased. The shop that put the sway bars in said they will fix whatever is wrong for me (teflon tape/grease), but in the meantime I am going to try greasing these up myself to see if the issue goes away. Currently the issue goes away after about 5 minutes of driving.
2. Lightly accelerating in very tight turns (ie u-turn) there feels like some sort of rubbing, there is a slight rough vibration and noise from the wheel opposite of the turn (ie front right wheel in a left turn). Does not look like anything is actually rubbing but it might be, I need to have someone watch from outside as I do this... I suspect traction control might be braking that wheel slightly? I need to test this more in a parking lot with traction control off and so on. Maybe the suspension was not fully/equally loaded when the endlinks were torque and there is some imbalance?

Both of these issues are pretty minor and have not caused any real problems.

Update - Some images, underside is not the best but I will try to get better ones next time the car is on a lift:

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

Did the 21 front strut bars and the cusco front sway paired with the H&R springs, def changed the car. much much better. Rear sway was too much work for the reward I think, but def gonna do more cusco bracing.

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

Did the 21 front strut bars and the cusco front sway paired with the H&R springs, def changed the car. much much better. Rear sway was too much work for the reward I think, but def gonna do more cusco bracing.

Heh, rear is a hassle... but it is nice to have it all checked off. As long as it never needs replacing! Strut and springs are on the list but I have not decided yet, looking at SPL parts next. The bracing alone made a big difference in how the car handles though, a great improvement!

I got another "Other" modification for the car, Blackvue DR900S-2CH. Plan on installing this weekend and will get some posts installation pictures. I plan on following @jgoad13's DIY Guide. My only concern is losing the cigarette lighter up front as it is nice that me and the SO can charge at the same time now. Wondering if there is another fuse I can use... Will need to take a look at the fuse diagram. Picture of the parts below, disregard the messy table.

 

[NitroYellowMKV]

I have mine just plugged into the cig lighter with the wiring tucked, but will eventually wire to the fuse box when I put my rear cam on. Can not live without a dashcam imo.

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

I have mine just plugged into the cig lighter with the wiring tucked, but will eventually wire to the fuse box when I put my rear cam on. Can not live without a dashcam imo.

I am very happy to have one now, I run into enough terrible driving that I have some peace of mind knowing I can capture it if I ever need to. Definitely always want one installed now, not sure why I never had one before...

Got the dash camera installed, the guide was very helpful. I ended up using fuse F267 instead of the cigarette lighter. This fuse slot was unused but already equipped with a fuse mount, others are missing the metal bracket to hold a fuse in place. I tested this one to make sure it turned on and off in the same manner as the cigarette lighter fuse and I had an extra fuse for the second adapter slot. So far everything is working great! Although I am not entirely sure that the parking mode is coming on as expected. I have come out to the garage and seen that the camera is recording before even unlocking the vehicle. I need to play with the settings a little more.

I was not thrilled about the front camera mount being very noticeable through the windshield, even with tinted windows/windshield. But the bubbles have gone away a little more and either way it is a small price to pay for the peace of mind.

Here are a few pictures, excuse the dark garage and dirty windshield. Even caught a jabroni on the first drive, not too close of a call but I would recommend against driving on the wrong side of the road when coming through a blind turn...

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

Some small cosmetic updates went on today, thanks to Verus Engineering. Continuing the black and blue theme. Got the Engine Bay Fluid Cap Kit, A/C Cap Kit, and Windshield Washer Fluid Reservoir Kit. Some quick pictures are attached below. I think I need to paint the engine cover stripes blue now, going to look into some paints that will match the blues here and work well with the plastic/heat.

I have a more interesting update coming soon.

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

I got some things... Pretty busy right now but hopefully will get them installed soon.

 

[zrk]

Incredible setup.

Do you happen to be a software engineer (your username).

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

Incredible setup.

Do you happen to be a software engineer (your username).

Thanks, friend! Good eye, actually chip design but I tell the SW guys to use 0xBADC0FFE as a test metric

Parts will be installed at the end of next month. Once I get a feel for the new setup I’ll decide what to do next.

 

[zrk]

Thanks, friend! Good eye, actually chip design but I tell the SW guys to use 0xBADC0FFE as a test metric

Parts will be installed at the end of next month. Once I get a feel for the new setup I’ll decide what to do next.

Makes sense. The hardware guys at work have a bunch of 0xDEADB33F type error codes we can use to force errors on hardware.

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

SPL Parts installed! Could only get pictures of some of them...

Great upgrade and I am very pleased with the feel now. I would not say driving dynamics have changes but everything feels tighter and more controlled; I feel much more comfortable during spirited drives. Aligned to essentially stock specs for now. A little more road noise but mostly from interior trim vibrating. Might look into sound dampening next. One little hiccup with the rear sway bar endlink nuts getting loose but a quick tighten and no more issues.

I think I am looking at some minor things and maintenance for a little while: tires (RE71R or RT660?), brake fluid/pad upgrade, cosmetics, and sound upgrades. Next bigger items are coilovers or wheels, but it will be a little while.

 

[Axix23]

beautiful suspension mods you got there!

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

Got some new Verus parts in the car this weekend! Just small touches for now.

I got their diff and turbo heat shields just to throw on. The resonator delete which did improve intake sound slightly and lets me see the new turbo heat shield. The master cylinder brace for some extra support there. And the gas cap cover to match all the other covers on the car.

(Excuse the dirty car, needs a good cleaning once the weather is a little nicer)

 

[0xBADC0FFE]

While working on the last post I also got some sound improvement in. I followed @tadda guide on sound improvement for this. I still need to isolate a few of my own vibrations that remain, but wow did this make a huge difference in sound quality! Really appreciate the great guide.

I was pretty careful but still managed to make the two enclosure ports slightly offset, but its not too noticeable so I wont drive myself crazy about it... Skipped the mesh over the exhaust ports but I think I will go back and add them since I can see the wadding inside the box now and I would prefer a black grill there.

So much air leaves the exhaust ports that I cannot believe these were covered up by a panel before. I have to say again, this really improved the sound quality in the car (to my ears at least).

Also used the BimmerCode to change a few other settings around but nothing really worth noting.

(Ignore the mess again, the dog hair is impossible to remove...)

Now in the market for some TE37SL BEIII if I can find them by this summer.

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