They say that in life, we attract most what we truly want for ourselves. In one way or another, life finds a way to bring us towards what we’re working for. Be it for our careers, for love, or for our hobbies, with enough hard work and dedication put in we get to our goals one way or another. What happens though when this translates into cars and tuning? What if you were building a car with mild modifications for the streets when in truth you wanted a monster for the racetrack? Well, enter the Ethanworx-Buddy Club BRZ, a car that came to fruition because of circumstances that gave it the chance to go all out on the circuit.
When Ethanworx first decided to build this BRZ, it was merely intended for street and mild track use. Back then this would’ve been like any other BRZ out there with the usual mods like 18-inch wheels, coilovers, and carbon fiber bits here and there. Building a dedicated track car by themselves was a tall order for Ethanworx, fortunately for them though Buddy Club Philippines was looking for a way to launch their products in our local market.
What better way for Buddy Club to showcase their products than to represent them out on the circuit with a properly built track car, right? That said, they decided to team up to build a full-on racecar that’s aimed at one goal: to be the fastest naturally aspirated BRZ on both Batangas Racing Circuit and Clark International Speedway.
Yep. That’s right, no forced induction, and no compressors sitting in the engine bay. This FA20 motor will be maintained as an all-motor affair, you would be surprised just how quick the 86es and BRZs are around our local circuits in the right hands. Even in its all-motor guise this BRZ would fairly match its boosted brethren on the clock!
Despite the motor being all stock inside, everything else that is auxiliary to it has been swapped out for choice parts that will take the beating from regular track use. Things to keep the engine healthy like an oil cooler and an upgraded cooling system are in place, albeit being tucked far inside the front bumper of the BRZ. Here though we see a couple items that help free up some horses from the motor, namely the Injen Cold Air Intake as well as the Perrin Lightened Crank Pulley. The latter frees up power from the crankshaft by using a pulley with lighter mass to control other parts of the engine like the standard pulley would.
Of course, any proper track car would have to be built to take corners as well as straights. That means having an appropriate wheel and tire setup, sorted suspension, and reinforced underpinnings with free adjustability will become key factors in making this car fit to break records.
With the tires being the only things in contact with the surface, it’s important to have a pretty sticky set out on track to get the most grip wherever possible. If you’re familiar with that tread pattern, you surely know that this concern has been addressed. Mounted on lightweight 17×9 Enkei RPF-1s all around, those 255/40/17 Advan A050 Semi-slicks seem rather overkill for the speed you can get out of the BRZ’s 200hp mill. Well, all in the quest for the fastest lap after all!
Beneath the serious wheel and tire combo lies an equally serious brake setup. The AP Racing big brake kit bites so well that the brake pedal hardly needs to go deep to get the bite out of the brakes! This BRZ being their new demo car, Buddy Club Philippines supplied it with their own set of coilovers for the Toyobaru as well. Suffice to say, the lap times during the shakedown in Clark speak for themselves when it comes to the kit’s competence.
There’s no surprise that the first thing you’ll want when going for a lap record is speed, lots of it. Aside from the car, you will want a good driver, and you will need to have a place for that driver to work his magic.
The latter has been clearly addressed with this BRZ. With a full-bucket Recaro seat and railings as well as a Takata Harness to hold him in place, the driver can focus on his inputs on the wheel and pedals as well as get the most feel out of the car’s behavior out on track. All these items are brand new, original, and still far from their expiry dates to ensure the safety of the driver in the unfortunate case of an accident.
The next-to-useless stock head unit of the Toyobaru has been swapped out of the 2-din slot in favor of items that actually have some use to the discerning driver. You will find a Solo lap counter on the left hand side that uses GPS to clock laps around the track on the fly with dead accuracy. That red switch is a battery kill switch, something mandatory for racecars as it is a quick way to kill the motor to prevent fires in the case of an accident or breakdown. Lastly the GReddy gauge controller can be toggled to display various parameters (Oil Temp, Oil Pres, Water Temp, etc.) on a single gauge behind the steering wheel for less clutter and convenience.
All those aforementioned parts would be for naught if that thing that’s supposed to sit behind the wheel isn’t sorted out. To draw out the car’s maximum potential, a driver that knows CIS all too well was put behind the wheel. For the Ethanworx/BuddyClub BRZ’s maiden outing, the task was assigned to none other than Carlos Anton, a man whose own lap times stand as records around our local circuits.
Suffice to say, the debut of this BRZ proved to be a rather fruitful outing. Given the lap times that were clocked as well as feedback from the drivers who have tried it, further tweaks and upgrades are in order to maximize the potential of this car. One thing’s for sure though, it’s no longer a question of ‘if’ this car will set the lap record for the fastest N/A Toyobaru, it’s ‘when’.
Ethanworx-Buddy Club Subaru BRZ
Engine & Driveline
Injen Cold Air Intake
Perrin Lightweight Crank Pulley
Perrin Front Pipe
Perrin Over Pipe
Perrin Catback Exhaust
Borla UEL Headers
Koyo Aluminum Radiator
Brakes, Tires, & Suspension
Buddy Club Front Sway Bar
Buddy Club Coil Over Kit
AP Racing Front Sprint Big Brake Kit
Enkei RPF-1 17×9
Advan A050 255/40/17
STI Front Strut Bar
Cusco Engine Strut Bar
Cusco Power Brace
Cusco Tow Arm
Cusco Lower Camber Arm
Cusco Lower Arm
Cusco Rear Strut Bar
Whiteline Front End Link
AVO Rear End Link
Interior
Cusco 6-point Rollcage
Takata 4-point Harness
GReddy Multi D/A Gauge
Solo Lap Counter
Recaro Full Bucket Seat & Railings