G'day I'm Joel, a qualified Subaru mechanic and a professional filmmaker from Brisbane, Australia.
What to Expect: 🔧 Mechanic's Corner: As a Subaru mechanic, I'll share insights into the intricacies of car maintenance, modifications, and all things under the hood. Got questions? Drop them in the comments!
🏁 New Wheels, New Stories: In 2023, I got behind the wheel of a brand-new 2023 WRX, and the adventure continues. Join me as I explore the capabilities of this latest addition to my garage.
🚗 Drift Diaries: Tune in to the adrenaline-fueled journey as I transformed my 2004 STI into a RWD drift car. From the conversion process to mastering the art of drifting, I've documented it all in a vlog series that combined a bad idea with lots of dollars spent and a lot of fun times!
📽️ Filmography: Immerse yourself in my film-making endeavours dedicated to the vibrant car community in Australia. From drifting spectacles to time attack challenges and stance events, I cover it all
@@osos90 no angle mods were done but removing the front shafts and just leaving the axle stubs in, and then moving the camber plates so they adjusted castor helped alot with the steering
I don't know how much it cost you but X force do a 3" secondary cat delete pipe for the VB its currently $246 which can be used with the stock front pipe.
@@thebagdersarse5824 yeah that's also a good option so you can go back to standard if you want to sell. I had to go this route as the worksite paid for the fix but it had to be through a shop
The prob with the AFD stuff is the material its made out of, it cracks and breaks super easy unfortunately. That lip is one of the better looking lips, but one trip up a bad driveway, and its toast
@@TALYJIMMY I added a standard Subaru badge I had from my subaru mechanic days and made a backing plate for it then added a 21Overlays badge sticker kit to it to make it black. Will show it in an upcoming walk around video on the car if it's of interest
@@JoelBrownefilms yea I ordered from them before, youre front badge looks fully covered lol. anyways, can you not use a normal philips head to unscrew the stock diverter valve?
Thanks man! Has been a little bit I have to get back into making videos. A bit of a tip before you bolt in make sure you add some wd40 or any spray lubricant oil to the top bearings of the coil overs to make sure you don't get any clunking noises from pillowmounts. I'm still loving mine about 8 months in
Another solid video, Joel. Just straight to the point with everything! We released a portable air pump. Can we invite you to do a review? We have emailed for an inquiry
This was 5 years ago now, I made 330hp and it never broke other than the wheel bearing and rear diff. I eventually converted it back to AWD and sold the car. In over 10 years was such a reliable car
The throttle controller only adjusts throttle sensitivity and does not affect the car any more than standard operation would :) it would not void warranty
Because the pipe going from 2 inch to 3 inch clashes on the header when you go over large bumps. The heat wrap cushions it if you do go over a large bump
I installed the GFB DV today in my 2023 WRX (in Perth Australia) but the car wouldn't start, I then reinstalled the stock DV and the car started first time? hmmm a 4 hour waste of time
Was it fully plugged in with the wiring harness? The diverter valve install worked right away no issues when I installed it. Have been running it now for months
I have a lot of Dmaker/ Street Element parts fitted to my VB & couldn’t recommend them highly enough. I’m in Sydney so I always get them to install. The last est part I’ve bought is their carbon fibre/alcantara steering wheel & next up is paint matched +10mm fender flares. I’m starting to run out of parts to fit so maybe enlarged bonnet scoop & fog light/DRL’s next.
It's great, I actually found it was a little quiet for my liking. Has a nice note to it and closed the valves are very quiet I have since upgraded the intermediate pipe and it makes it super handy to be able to shut the mufflers to not annoy me neighbors on cold start or late at night
Love the grill and the look! I have a '23 VB as well, the Premium (in the States) with the manual. I for one like how the car looks. WRXs should always be slightly frumpy and odd looking, leave the nice lines for the 330s and A4s out there.
That's fair! I remember looking at the 350z when it came out and it was horrific to me, but now it looks normal and fine. It's always good for us all to have different styles so we aren't all the same 😎
@@JoelBrownefilms you didn't seem lowered by that much either, I was surprised you got damage. Good info btw, as I want to lower my VB, and had no idea on this exhaust issue.
You can run that turn signal yellow wire on the LED headlights. You just need to splice it into the turn signal wire of the harness . It’s a different color on each side. I don’t remember what color it is off the top of my head but you can find it fairly easy if you have a multimeter.
I would suspect without the varex valved exhausts it would. Because I can close the varex mufflers I find there is no drone on highways in the closed position. It is a heap louder than before though and I have to make sure I start my car with the varex closed or it will annoy the neighbours - still nothing as loud my old straight piped sti haha
In the closed closed position you can barely hear anything and open there's minimal drone. I later changed the intermediate pipe forward of the catback as well which has made it all a lot louder, but on the highway with the varex closed it's still quiet and the drone immediately goes away.
@@CRMAG87 it's not like the older generations where you got a pretty loud car. I think this is because the rumble is not as prevalent with this car having equal length headers. It's noticeable but. Stock is near silent. I am happy with the intermediate pipe deleting the second cat and this varex catback but I like my cars really loud
@@JoelBrownefilms yea loud is fine for me ut need drone free for the kid in the back seat.. as long as its drone free closed and actually louder then stock open ill be happy.
@@CRMAG87 yeah with just the catback it's got a bit of noise but nothing that is unbearable and with the valves closed it's almost stock sounding again
I know they are in the process of moving shop location so might affect their response time - I'm not sure but. The guys there are pretty nice and helpful and I'd expect they will reach out pretty soon if they haven't yet
Random question for ya and the grill you have! There was a rubber tray behind the bumper when i did my grill install, did you just remove it completely and then reinstall the bumper? I ended up tucking the rubber guard in and it was super awkward for the grill since it sits super deep in. Cheers
Yep I removed that one and it sits nice :) I have a video about replacing the grill a few back on my channel go to 10 mins 15 seconds of that one and I go through it. Hopefully that helps! 🙏🏼
@@JoelBrownefilms Tried to do mine this morning, failed miserably. Watched back and fourth for how you unclipped the hinges from inside the bumper at approx 4:36. Was way to scared I would snap it and it felt like it didn't want to budge at all when trying. Ended up not commiting to doing it and throwing the bumper back on. At the end I also noticed I bought the wrong fuse tapper, a normal size not a mini so wouldn't of worked in the end. But after some tips, not sure I want to pay someone to do work along those lines. Will be sending it into the shop for short shifter and varex exhaust shortly but I figured the lights should be easy enough for myself to install like you did in the video. Cheers.
What's going on with your times? Stock time is 5.5s (ish) to 60MPH and you are doing 85KPH which is only 52MPH. Help me understand why you are at 7.7 whilst 8mph under 60mph? (You were almost twice as slow as manufacturer speeds to 60/62 mph ?)
@@matthewwain9958 could be a number of factors similar to dynoing a car. it was 40*C day, I didn't launch it. The test was replicated on the same day, same temperature and launched in a similar manner so regardless of the times or what the manufacturer is saying the test is proving that the mods worked
@@JoelBrownefilms I don't pretend to know this area of law. I was honestly talking about whatever the heck rights these scumbags get trying to use, abuse or steal someone else's property. Thanks for the info.
@@matthewwain9958 Its because he isn't destroying his car when he launches it. Manufacturer posted 0-60 times are launched without regard to the well being of the car lol, only thing that matters is the numbers.
Love the look hey! It's nice having a big scoop in the line of vision again like the old wrx/sti. I have removed the grill from the scoop since as well and it looks really good 🙏🏼
It's not a vent to the atmosphere, it replaces the stock diverter valve and is recirculated using the stock location. Just a change in the internals that doesn't immediately release pressure to lower boost dropoff in between shifts but still retains a vent to stop compressor surge
I got this one off eBay was a universal one but suited Subaru WRX hopefully the link works: www.ebay.com.au/itm/375076927705?mkcid=16&mkevt=1&mkrid=705-154756-20017-0&ssspo=IVaRwQadSQW&sssrc=4429486&ssuid=_mgmN22QQU2&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY