2007 IR E86M Photo Journal

[crfine88]

0039

Cooling Upgrade: CSF Aluminum Radiator

Installed this radiator chasing lower operating temps.

Pros:

• Easy Installation
• Good quality construction
• Average 20 Deg F drop for max operating temps
• Average 10 Deg F drop for min operating temps

Cons:

• Fitment almost OE. Required some plastic trimming (nothing major )

PHOTOS:

[angelr]

Any installed pics of the rad? A few of the pics aren't showing up at the moment...perhaps they're among them, forgive me if so.

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by angelr

Any installed pics of the rad? A few of the pics aren't showing up at the moment...perhaps they're among them, forgive me if so.

Thanks for the heads up!
Links fixed.
Added pics show installation. Once installed, you can't really see it unfortunately. Covered up by trans cooler electronic fans and plastic cosmetic cover piece

[angelr]

Cheers mate!

Originally Posted by crfine88

Thanks for the heads up!
Links fixed.
Added pics show installation. Once installed, you can't really see it unfortunately. Covered up by trans cooler electronic fans and plastic cosmetic cover piece

[Beedub]

is that rad proper z4m fitment ??? or just fits our cars?? looks lovely quality the zionsville is super nice but silly money.

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by Beedub

is that rad proper z4m fitment ??? or just fits our cars?? looks lovely quality the zionsville is super nice but silly money.

Thanks!

Yes, direct z4M fitment/replacement. All OE rad related components mount directly to rad & all mount point dims are the same; Also uses OE style hose connections, so no new hoses required. Had trim some of the OE plastic related to the fan mounting system due to aluminum welds being fatter than OE. Had to trim very little

[crfine88]

0040

CSL Dipstick

Picked this piece up to clean up engine bay and make checking oil easier/more effiecient

Pros:

• Easy access point
• Less cumbersome removal due to much shorter length
• Cleans up engine bay aesthetics a little

Cons:

• Mounting tab welded in wrong position for our cars
• Minor modification/removal of mounting tab required to allow the use of our floating mounting tab

Photos:

[crfine88]

0041

Random Photo Opportunity: Engine Bay w/ Hood Removed

Such great lighting and view of our engine bay with the hood removed, I decided to grab a few shots

PHOTOS:

[crfine88]

0042

VRS Cooling Bonnet Installation

Took my time on this one to get it right. Overall very smooth installation. I would rate fitment 9.9 out of 10. Best fitting carbon piece I have installed on any car. Not 10 out 10 only due to a minor flat spot along the nose of the hood. Hard to detect, but should be corrected when I go in for paint. Sort of shocked at how well everything fit really. I was expecting to have to massage the installation a bit as I have seen this with others. Either I got lucky, or VRS put some extra love/time into this piece

Seeing it on the car in raw carbon is very cool. Ultimately I will be painting, so I took a bunch pictures to capture the look

Pros:

• Mounting locations were identical to OE
• No adjustments needed at the hinges
• No adjustments needed at the latches
• No adjustments needed at the catch
• Gaps were identical to OE
• Arcs/Curves identical to OE

Cons:

• All threads needed to have resin and other materials worked out of them (good idea to clean all threads before installation )
• Very minor flat spot at the nose (seems to be from how it was sitting in the box, easy fix during paint)

PHOTOS:

[Beedub]

woiiii that fitment !!!! perfect! looks o.e along the lines

MANNN it looks so good in the carbon!! id be tempted to leave it like this!! The vents must make a huge difference to underhood temps!!

[Vanne]

Leave it man, leave it.. darn it Chris.. I guess I've found my next mod for the off season.. sigh. Looks sooo good!!

[Beedub]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Leave it man, leave it.. darn it Chris.. I guess I've found my next mod for the off season.. sigh. Looks sooo good!!

totally works in carbon....

[inTgr8r]

JM2C, but I would be painting, if it were mine.
I would have the vents masked and leave as CF accents.

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by Beedub

woiiii that fitment !!!! perfect! looks o.e along the lines

MANNN it looks so good in the carbon!! id be tempted to leave it like this!! The vents must make a huge difference to underhood temps!!

Thanks! It is beautiful and the look works. Taking it a different route, but still enjoying it in this state until paint. Cooling is insane!!!

Originally Posted by Vanne

Leave it man, leave it.. darn it Chris.. I guess I've found my next mod for the off season.. sigh. Looks sooo good!!

I agree it looks pretty good, but have another look in mind.

Originally Posted by inTgr8r

JM2C, but I would be painting, if it were mine.
I would have the vents masked and leave as CF accents.

Agreed!
This is the route I am going

[Vanne]

Chris, couple of question about the hood mate if thats ok?

This is the Carbon hood right? or the VSDC? is it completely dry carbon, or just underneath the hood as the top of the hood (looks like) it has a clear coat on it? or did you/can you get them to clear coat it before shipping?

Once again mate, looks GREAT!!

[TRiCC]

Beautiful build! Parts galore wow!

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by TRiCC

Beautiful build! Parts galore wow!

Thanks!

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Chris, couple of question about the hood mate if thats ok?

This is the Carbon hood right? or the VSDC? is it completely dry carbon, or just underneath the hood as the top of the hood (looks like) it has a clear coat on it? or did you/can you get them to clear coat it before shipping?

Once again mate, looks GREAT!!

Anytime Vanne!

This is the VSDC hood. Sort of funny, but literally stands for Varis Some Dry Carbon

I believe "dry carbon" is a manufacturing process that yields the best weight/strength (not always matte finish).
All surfaces of the VSDC hood are shiny from the Varis clear gel coat finish. Varis recommends using automotive clear coat on top of their gel coating for UV protection so the product doesn't yellow

Varis won't add clear coat, but Bulletproof offered the service to me before I picked the parts up. I only declined because I was planning to paint before adding clear coat

Hope that helps!

[tiltmode43]

I've been meaning to ask, was the Rogue strut bar special order? I believe they removed the E85/6 application off their site a couple years back so was surprised to see you had a brand new one here. Either that, or perhaps you've had it for a bit now?

I'm in the paint + carbon vents camp

[crfine88]

Originally Posted by tiltmode43

I've been meaning to ask, was the Rogue strut bar special order? I believe they removed the E85/6 application off their site a couple years back so was surprised to see you had a brand new one here. Either that, or perhaps you've had it for a bit now?

I'm in the paint + carbon vents camp

to the paint + carbon vent camp

Picked up my Rogue strut bar used a couple of years ago It's a nice piece, would be ultimate to build one in Titanium!

[Beedub]

cant stop coming back here for a sneaky viewing of these varis parts.

love how this car is coming together and LOVE LOVE this platform. So glad I've kept my car with me from day one , at 13k miles, ( yes needs more use lol) it feels like a special thing to own! These varis parts would REALLY look nice on my Ti silver / black theme .

I actually ordered one of these Hood years back and it arrived on uk shores so badly damaged the tuner refunded me without me even seeing the hood i the flesh but i still have the images sent via sumo racing. ( one corner snapped clean off) , i ordered the FRP / Carbon one... theirs actually a post on it years back. I had abit more disposable cash back then. I wonder if i went again if id have better luck this time??

[dre99gsx]

We seem to both be taking on some serious projects here, its a shame you're out on the west coast. Would be fantastic to kick the tires and trade ideas. Car is looking fantastic!