CSG Blog

Use the coupon CSGBF2018 during checkout between November 20 and 26 (Cybermonday) to enjoy a discount on your purchases at CSG.

On top of our Black Friday sale, Edelbrock is offering a $500 rebate on their Superchargers with free shipping to USA and Canada until the end of the year. Purchase a new Edelbrock E-Force Supercharger between November 1, 2018 to December 31, 2018, complete the redemption form as directed, and mail it in to Edelbrock postmarked by January 31, 2019. Offer good only in the USA and Canada.

CSG successfully defended their title at Global Time Attack's Super Lap Battle 2018 by taking 1st place in Enthusiast RWD class, while being the only BRZ/FR-S/86 competing at Buttonwillow Raceway this year ?

CSG's lap time of 1:56.2 in their GReddy turbo powered Subaru BRZ on Michelin Pilot Sport street tires was also good enough to become the Overall Enthusiast Class Winner of the event!

Watch the on-board video on YouTube

Key build components:

• Michelin Pilot Sport tires 245R40/17 - 300 UTQG
• CSG Spec valved TEIN Flex A 1-way coil-overs
• CSG Spec Ceramic Coated GReddy T518Z Turbo Kit
• CSG Spec Brembo big brake kit
• CSG Spec C1/C2 sprint brake pads (available soon!)
• CSG Spec Custom Spec Clutch Type LSD
• CSG Spec Touring86 Exhaust - Laguna Seca 90dB Spec
• CSG Spec OS Giken Complete Clutch Kit
• Completely stock, unmodified FA20 engine block on 91 Octane!

Monterey County's sound limit ordinance for Laguna Seca requires most track day events held there to adhere to a strict 90 dB sound limit.

During the majority of track days held at Laguna Seca, cars whose noise levels are measured to be over the 90dB threshold get a mechanical flag for a sound violation. See the "donut" flag three times, and you're finished for the day. A popular workaround is lifting or coasting while approaching the sound booth, located between turns 5 and 6. However, it's not unusual for the staff to perform checks with a mobile mic unit from other turns.

Many sports cars sold in the US market are already too loud for Laguna's sound limit in stock form.  For example, all of the following models in showroom trim are known to get flagged at Laguna Seca for being too loud:

• Chevrolet Corvette Z06 (C6, C7), ZR1 (C6)
• Porsche 911 GT3 (996, 997, 991.1, 991.2) / GT3 RS
• Porsche Cayman S/Boxster S/GTS/GT4 (981, 987)
• Dodge Viper
• Ford Mustang GT350
• Nissan GTR (R34)
• Ferrari 458
• Ferrari F430
• Audi R8
• Lamborghini Huracan

Days with cloudy or foggy atmospheric conditions can make compliance with limits even harder, as sound bounces off the cloud layer.

Making your modified Toyota 86 or Subaru BRZ pass Laguna Seca sound test

While the Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S are rather quiet from factory, just adding an aftermarket catback exhaust will typically increase sound levels beyond what's permitted at Laguna Seca.

CSG has co-developed several exhaust solutions to keep output under a 90 dB threshold without considerable loss of power or response:

Both the ACE Laguna 90 and the CSG MXP Touring86 exhaust are proven to pass Laguna 90dB days with either Turbo or Supercharger kits, plus ACE header and ACE front pipe.

For applications where a higher limit of 100dB is present, you take advantage of additional weight savings by fitting the ACE Laguna 100 Exhaust:

CSG would like to extend some holiday sales ongoing until January 1, 2018. We will update this post to include the coupon code at checkout on our website: www.counterspacegarage.com.

If a product is not on our website, please let us know through PM or sales@counterspacegarage.com!

Trackspec Motorsports
Delicious Tuning

CounterSpace Garage would like to wish you all a happy Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving weekend. While the rest of the world started celebrating Black Friday almost a week before Friday came, we wanted our staff to take a break from a long race season and allow some time for them to recharge their batteries during this holiday season. We will have staff available beginning Monday for support and will be participating in Cyber Monday.

Our Cyber Monday 2017 coupon code for participating products is with maximum discount applied on November 27, 2017 until 11:59:59PM PST.

Coupon will be active until Friday, December 1, 2017 until 11:59:59PM PST with lower discount.

Please note that MSRP on some products will change after December 9, 2017 so this will be the last time you will find some products at its current price point.  If you do not see a product available for order, please contact info@counterspacegarage.com and sales@counterspacegarage.com.  We will work with you to get the best out of the Cyber Monday deals.

In the meantime, please take some time to listen to Episode 177 in the SlipAngle podcast by tracktuned.com where you can listen to a feed by our hot shoe test driver, Mike Kang, and his involvement in the development of the BRZ/FR-S/86 community. Thank you!

At CounterSpace Garage (CSG), we enjoy receiving third party data that challenges our R&D and findings.  The more data, the better we can assess how your car’s health parameters and performance specifications at the track and on the street.

One hotly debated item are hood vents / vented hoods and their functionality for high performance setups.  We have tested a variety of off the shelf hoods from Seibon, Varis, J’s Racing, Mugen, ASM, and louvered hood vent kits for Toyota 86 & Subaru BRZ on the track and on the street. All of them yielded very different results and we understand that some hoods are developed for looks, some are developed for pure performance, and some are developed to hit just in between.  Of course, every setup has to look good and we definitely don’t like to slouch in that department.

From our previous blog post, we discussed the benefits of hood vents and a properly designed hood vent can not only reduce underhood temps, but also improve cooling efficiency, aerodynamic efficiency, and indirectly reduce front end lift.

Trackspec Motorsports developed Hood Vents for Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ have been the main topic as of late and our clients tend to be some of the quickest in their racing series.  One particular client provided some impressive data from a racing series that consistently sees very high ambient track temperatures and wheel-to-wheel action on the 5.4km Losail Circuit (Qatar).  Data was accumulated in 3 separate events with 3 of the fastest laps per each setup on the same track with 3 different hood configurations at 2:26-2:27 pace (2:27 is with passenger).  Currently this client holds the class lap record at 2:25.9.

Third Party Tester (GT86CUP Competitor) racing in the same field as fine tuned K-series (known to output some amazing power) in those lightweight Hondas.

Note: The driver has an external oil cooler that maintains oil temperatures to a sustainable level during his wheel-to-wheel racing.  Top 3 laps of each setup is recorded in its most stressed event.  Oil temperature data is presented in the following tables to show how well the oil temperature stabilized during these most stressed runs.

Factory Hood (no vents) - Summer/Autumn 2016

Leading Competitor Vent Kit - Winter 2016

Trackspec T1 Hood Vent Kit - Summer/Autumn 2016

Observations:  The temperature differentials were significantly different compared to a non-vented hood.  Some contribution is noted to, in partial representation, of the ACE race header and a well-refined Delicious Tuning ACE specific tune.  A properly tuned engine yields sustainable parameters, allowing the engine to output its best performance in the most efficient manner.

Notables:  Due to this driver's overwhelming success against his competition, the Trackspec vents were temporarily disqualified in 2016.  The driver has reported that venting is restricted to a limited area for the 2017 season.  Due to this vent restriction, the driver revamped his front aero package to accommodate the loss of the Trackspec Hood Vents.

Conclusion: The Trackspec T1 Hood Louver kit has been proven, by a third party tester, to be a very effective modification to hoods to improve system cooling efficiency, drag reduction, and reduction in front lift.

References: We thank the client for providing this data to us after testing throughout the year.

Trackspec Motorsports - T1 Hood Louver Kit

Jackson Racing - External Oil Cooler Kit - NA Application

ACE Merged Header - 4-2-1 - Type A - 350 Collector (overpipe included)

ACE Merged Header - 4-1 - Anaconda 42.7mm - Crossfire (overpipe included)

Voltex Type-2 GT Wing - Subaru BRZ / Scion FR-S / Toyota GT86