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Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) says the automotive aftermarket industry was a $33 billion force in the U.S. economy in 2013. It’s being fueled by consumers who want to customize their vehicle and give it a personalized look. Automakers have tons of options to chose from and some like MINI offer thousands of choices for buyers.
Aftermarket industry offers more
The aftermarket industry knows this and specialty companies offer products or modifications that affects a vehicle's styling, performance, handling, security, ride, comfort or work capacity. They offer everything from custom wheels, performance tires, truck step bars and bed liners, navigation and audio systems, premium synthetic motor oil and superchargers are just a few examples. Still, there are always some buyers who want more.
BRZ buyer goes wild
A story from the Houston Chronicle tells of a 2015 Subaru BRZ buyer who wanted more from his sport coupe. According to HC, a University of Texas Dallas student bought his first new car, a Subaru BRZ for his 21st birthday. The rear-wheel-drive coupe in stock trim comes with a 200hp 2.0-liter Subaru boxer engine and provides plenty of fun for driving enthusiasts.
CHECK OUT: New 2015 Subaru BRZ Special Edition is arriving in showrooms now
Brian Jun had even more money to spend and the 21 year-old college student drove to Manassas, Virginia to have PTuning, a performance and auto service center, install one of their turbocharging kits on his new Subaru BRZ. Jun says “the BRZ's power at the wheels has nearly doubled.” Jun wasn’t finished yet and added even more performance goodies.
Jun spends 30K on his BRZ
Jun added more upgrades to his BRZ like coil-over suspension, Sparco seats, high-intensity-discharge headlights and 18-inch Volk Racing TE37 forged wheels. Jun said parts and labor for all his car's modifications come to nearly $30,000. The MSRP on the new BRZ is only $26,000, and with the aftermarket upgrades, Jun spent a total of $56,000 to get the performance he wanted.
Apparently no one told Jun that pumping all that money into his BRZ was a bad idea. The 21 year-old could have purchased a number of new cars for about the same money. A 2015 Porsche Cayman starts at 60K, 2015 Dodge Challenger Hellcat starts at 59K, 2015 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Z51 Coupe 58K and 2015 Mercedes CLA 45 AMG starts at 48K. Or he could have spent less and gotten a Nissan 370Z NISMO 42K, Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR 35K, Chevy Camaro SS 34K, Subaru WRX STI 39K or BMW M235i 44K. This is just a partial list and you could come with even more.
The aftermarket performance segment grew 3.4 percent, to $8.74 billion in 2014. Thanks to enthusiasts like Brian Jun pumping 30K into his new 2015 Subaru BRZ, the industry is alive and well.
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Comments
I would have respected this
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I would have respected this car if the owner built it. Not sure how he says he gets joy out of modded his car. You get joy out of driving a modded car. You want real joy? Do it yourself.
Perfect.. Before I saw this
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In reply to I would have respected this by Kreg (not verified)
Perfect.. Before I saw this message I actually responded to Brian Jun pretty much what you said. You can't call yourself a builder if you went out and overpaid someone to do it all for you. This guy is a joker in comparison to people who really do build their own stuff, in their own garages, over many sleepless nights, cuts on their hands, oil spilled all over when things go wrong, etc :) All-in-all, what he did is the absolute equivalent of going out and buying not building, the most his money could buy. And now he looks like the cool guy on BRZ forum with the most expensive and quickest ride to show off in front of all other 16-21 year old kids who's parents bought their BRZ and later added ebay brand fart cans :)
Only mod I haven't done
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In reply to I would have respected this by Kreg (not verified)
Only mod I haven't done myself is the turbokit and tune. I've done everything else with help from friends, also. But I agree, part of the joy that comes from a car is doing your own work :)
how many of you think
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how many of you think "face" is actually Denis Flierl? The only person going out of his way to justify the validity of this article is "face" how many people would come here, create an login, and defend it so vehemently if it wasn't the creator? Hmmmm....judging by the rest of the articles he's written this one is the most popular (by reply count). He's not getting a lot of support by anyone except "face" Or Denis is the internet's least skilled troll.
Brian, if you like your car
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Brian, if you like your car modded, then go enjoy it. Ignore the knuckle heads. God evidently loves them, since he made so many of them.
So what if someone prefers a
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So what if someone prefers a 400hp BRZ over a stock douchemobile? Turbocharged BRZs have been dream cars for many serious driving enthusiasts and the kid made it happen. The 60k douchemobiles the author suggested are so 'refined' they feel numb and lack driving feel. They also will depreciate and have durability issues very quickly.
Wouldn't be my choice of
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Wouldn't be my choice of spending money. With that kind of money you can buy a used C63 or m3 if you want a 6spd and throw a supercharger on either for around 20-25k. Bam.. 650-700hp. 5-10k more gets you suspension and rims if you don't like what's already on the car. I don't think re-sell value is what the point is though. You mod it because you like it. But I do think a little bit about re-sale. I know for a fact an AMG/M car will keep its value quite well. So will a Porsche 911 or anything like that. Not caymans or boxsters so much. Those cars are much more exclusive per se and not everyone will buy one even if they are on the lot for cheap (maintenance and repairs are expensive). People would rather have a newer car and have the warranty then the older out of warranty exotic which will cost 5-10k a year to maintain.
Some people just don't see
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Some people just don't see the obvious - it's Brian's hobby and passion that he shares with a specific community. Everyone with excess money spends on non essential things of some sort (entertainment/hobbies/sports/travel/games/etc...), albeit not typically in the tens of thousands. Brian is pursuing his dream now and has done it. Not many can say they ever did at age 21. Will he regret it when he is 40? No, probably not. These are probably some of the best days of his life that he will have and share for decades. Great work Brian.
Hey, I knew a Broad that
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Hey, I knew a Broad that pumped 30,000 in plastic surgery and her face came out looking like the front of a fukn 1948 Tucker so who gives a shit, Not our money,
"Fuckface" why dont you step
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"face" why don't you step back from your miserable little pathetic excuse for a life and give the kid some credit for putting in wrench time unlike alot of other that would just take it somewhere and be like here do this to my car.... Stop bashing people that drive older cars just cause we dont drive brand new porches ... Hell my opinion would be porches are shitty and overrated cars like most exotics.... Yes theynlook good and produce a lot more power ...
Why not just get a regular
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Why not just get a regular STI at that point. More HP right from the factory, turbocharged, and has AWD
"face" you don't know shit
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"face" Buying a porsche ya may have been nice but how much do you spend when it brakes down? how much will you spend on those parts you have to import? With a suabru you just take it to the dealership and your set. Way less time, way less, money, way less hassle. Plus a BRZ is one of the top affordable sports cars.
Hey, He can spend his dope
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Hey, He can spend his dope money however he wants. Leave the kid alone !!!!!!!!!
Why can't we just let people
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Why can't we just let people be happy?
All these haters and
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All these haters and ignoramuses, my God. From the little research I've done, Brian Jun's BRZ is probably faster than a Porsche, more fun to drive than a Porsche (because driving slow cars fast is always more fun than driving fast cars slow), and probably doesn't depreciate any faster than a Challenger Hellcat.
The BRZ was purpose built for tuners. Go look up some of the stuff people have done. The power to weight ratio puts the BRZ into supercar territory easy with that kind of modding!!!
If I had the money and the
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If I had the money and the military paid better I would certainly do the same! I have the 2016 brz and after only a few months I owe at least $1500 on window repairs (stupid trucks :D). It'd be awesome to get to talk to you Brian and about the mods that you put in the car since I'm still trying to map out what I want to do with my car! Take care and have a good one!