With race-car aggression, massive power and endless custom fabrication work, Alan Bennett’s boosted Subaru BRZ is a riotous clash of outrageous ideas. Time Attack is the ultimate aim, but impressively this thing’s been specifically engineered for the street…

Feature first appeared in Banzai magazine. Words: Dan Bevis. Photos: Adam Rous

“The goal has always been to make this car perform to the maximum of its capabilities.” It’s a strong mission statement, and it’s clear to see that Alan Bennett has put his all into transforming this 2015 Subaru BRZ into some manner of road-legal track assassin. But when you learn that this is the first car he’s really modified, perceptions are realigned from ‘Woah’ to ‘Seriously… woah!’. That one small adverb mightn’t seem significant, but it represents a colossal conceptual shift. He’s gone from zero-to-everything quicker than a slingshot dragster. “I don’t really have a history of modifying cars before this one,” he confirms, to the general jaw-droppery of everybody present. “I tinkered with my 125, changing the gearing for some extra speed off the line when I was younger, and slightly modified my Honda Civic when I was 17, but other than that it was this BRZ that set me off.”

It’s an astonishing position, it really is. But when you consider Alan’s day job, the logic of all this starts to shuffle itself into order, to some minor degree at least. You see, his daily crust is earned at HORIBA MIRA (formerly the Motor Industry Research Association), and he’s involved in every stage of testing from setting up vehicles to fitting sensors, affixing and aligning cameras, routing winching systems and so on. This sort of endeavour provides an intrinsic knowledge of what works and what doesn’t on a broad variety of vehicles, and also means that he’s basically surrounded by petrolheads all day. Petrolheads with incredibly in-depth scientific and engineering skill-sets. So when it comes to rounding up a panel of experts to chip in with advice on a modified car build, you really can’t do much better than this. And, of course, they’ve got a wind tunnel…

So, why the BRZ in the first place? Well, as with so many hardcore builds, the seed was planted in humble fashion before germinating, sprouting, getting out of control, and trying to throttle everyone like some kind of demented triffid. “I just fancied a GT86 or BRZ, I’d liked them ever since they were launched,” he shrugs. “The added bonus was that the insurance wasn’t too expensive! And once TRA Kyoto/GReddy launched the Rocket Bunny kit for the car I was obsessed, I could really see the potential.”

The truly intriguing twist in the tale comes at the point when Alan finds the car you see before you advertised on the used market. Naturally it was very different back then to how it is today, but it had been modified by a former owner. However, the old maxim about buying someone else’s project with your eyes open was borne out by the fact that it was, if we’re wholly honest, a bit of a dog when he bought it. “It was around the price of a standard BRZ at the time,” he recalls, “with some carbon pieces on it, a one-off paint colour, and a Litchfield supercharger kit. I thought that it was a good idea to snap it up as it already had the bits I’d like to do to the car… although hindsight is a wonderful thing.” The Subaru had quite a few bad points that the initial rose-tints had masked, and when the EML light came on after a week, alarm bells started to ring.

“The paintwork was a half-arsed job; they didn’t even do the underside of the bootlid, and the paint on the body was different depths everywhere,” Alan continues. “Most of the carbon parts were severely damaged from neglect and hadn’t been fitted properly, the bonnet was cracked from being slammed, and the supercharger wasn’t aligned properly so would shred a belt every 400 miles. Basically it was thrown together by the previous owner – the parts he chose were sub-par and the people he’d paid to work on it had done a shoddy job… I’d have been better off buying a stock one, as the money spent making it right and chasing problems would’ve offset the cost of buying all of the parts that made me want the car, with change!”

Like he says, hindsight is a wonderful thing. But Alan isn’t the type of guy to throw his hands up and give up on things when the going gets rough. No, he was adamant that the car be done right. Remember that initial brief, to ‘make the car perform to the maximum of its capabilities’? He rolled up his sleeves and set about that with gusto, pinpointing the right people to do the job to his exacting standards, and drawing up a shopping list of all the correct upgrades.

“Since my ownership, I have turned this car around,” Alan beams. “After having to fix all sorts of problems, even to the extent of having the block machined, it’s been a constant progression to a more serious and track-focused build – with the ultimate goal of it ending up in Time Attack. My go-to place for getting the car driving right and getting the power from it is Tuning Developments: you’ll struggle to find a nicer guy in the trade than Mike Jones. Between him and his brother they’ve got the know-how and the means to get any vehicle performing considerably better than when it arrives at their workshop.” The raucous spec of the FA20 motor is testament to this, not least because of the fact that the misbehaving supercharger is long gone, now replaced by Tuning Developments’ own turbo conversion.

“This system is what drew me to the company in the first place,” says Alan. “With kits from other companies costing almost £3k more, Mike’s price was unbeatable – but it wasn’t just about the money. His setup is expandable, rather than maxing out a tidgey little turbo; the TD kit uses a massive billet Precision 5558 turbo that can put out more than 6x the load that the stock FA20 engine can take – again, another saving with buying a quality big turbo first rather than having to buy a bigger unit every time! Not only does Mike know how to make a car fast, he knows how to get that power down, so I also trust him with my alignments and suspension components.”

Peer past those fat WORK Meister L3 wheels and you’ll find a chassis positively brimming with race car prowess. BC Racing ZR remote-reservoir coilovers are joined by SPL adjustable rear LCAs, toe arms and traction arms, all crafted in lightweight titanium. The front end has been tube-framed and the arch tubs monkeyed about with, and the D2 BBK (6-pots at the front, 4-pots out back) is complemented by a full suite of braided brake lines – and that’s not just the easy-to-access ones, every single hose and hard-pipe has been replaced. The wheels themselves are also worthy of note, for their size alone. Unusually, the BRZ’s running a ‘square’ setup, with all four wheels packing the same dimensions: 11×18-inch, wrapped in 275/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 rubber. The secret to the fitment is all in the custom offsets – although we’ve been sworn to secrecy, as there were countless hours of R&D that went into making these hoops fit correctly and work effectively. Alan’s lips are sealed.

“As you can see, most of the work on the car is custom,” he enthuses. “There were hundreds of hours of fabrication, as everything on the car is TIG-welded, and all of the pipework is pie-cut rather than simply bent. My go-to for fabricating and custom work is Billy at HDF Motorsport – he sorted out near enough everything custom, from the rollcage to the tube front. For a young guy of similar age to myself, his work is unbelievable! After seeing the work he’d done on a friend’s car I had to get my BRZ to him for the cage, and initially that’s all it went down there for… but it quickly snowballed after we orchestrated a few deals, and we both got a little carried away!”

The interior is a place of pure function, not just with the rollcage, but by virtue of the fact that everything superfluous has been stripped out – soundproofing, airbags, the works – and Alan’s swapped in custom Status: Racing carbon Spa seats and harnesses, and of course the exterior means serious business. You can’t really miss that cartoonish rear wing (although it’s not as silly as some might think), and those long-held wide-body dreams have been fulfilled by the addition of a Fly1 Motorsports V1 wide-body kit working with customised Seibon carbon wings. Carbon fibre is something of a theme in fact, with Marsh Composites / MPH Fab providing the extended carbon splitter, side window deletes, GT bootlid and GT bonnet. Even the doors are carbon fibre! It’s attention to race-ready detail like this, along with custom touches like the HDF Motorsports rear diffuser, which proves just how serious Alan is about levelling-up to Time Attack one day. With that said, it’s clearly all the more impressive that this superlative
show-and-go sweetheart remains steadfastly road-legal.

There’s plenty more planned for the near future too. “At the moment it’s wearing an outstanding wrap from Syco Graphix, but the next job is to get it painted,” he says. “It’ll be visiting my friend Chris at Big Bear Kustoms in Daventry. He’ll also be tidying up some of the edges and details, and after that I’ll be chasing power. I plan to take this platform to the full extent of its potential, firstly to honour the time and development that went into the car, and secondly to show that you don’t need to do an engine swap to max out the power a stock R154 gearbox can take!”

Sounds like fighting talk to us. Of course, with a car as aggressive as this, you’d expect it to be a bit fighty. So don’t tell anyone that Alan’s actually a really nice guy, because a psychotic reputation goes a long way in Time Attack – particularly when your boosted Subaru BRz looks like it’s out for blood.

Tech Spec: Boosted Subaru BRZ

Engine:

FA20 2.0-litre flat-four, Tuning Developments Stage 2 turbo kit with billet Precision 5558 turbo, HDF Motorsport unequal-length exhaust manifold, custom HDF Motorsport exhaust system inc. downpipe, over-pipe, front pipe, cat-back and custom silencers, Tuning Developments oil cooler, custom HDF Motorsport intercooler with Vibrant HD clamps and aluminium pipework, HDF Motorsport air filter relocation, HDF Motorsport aluminium catch can and screen wash reservoir, battery relocated, ABS module relocated to OEM battery position, HDF Motorsport aluminium radiator pipework with burp tank, HDF Motorsport wiring harness plug plate and engine loom fusebox relocation (to passenger footwell), Phoenix engine management

Chassis:

11×18-inch WORK Meister L3 wheels, 275/35 Michelin Pilot Sport 4 tyres, Muteki orange chrome wheel nuts, BC Racing ZR remote-reservoir coilovers, SPL adjustable titanium rear LCAs, toe arms and traction arms, D2 Racing BBK – 6-pot (f) and 4-pot (r) with 330mm floating discs, DriveShaftShop heavy-duty driveshafts, HDF Motorsport front spaceframe/crash bar, HDF Motorsport 3-point front strut brace, front wheelarches tubbed (to replace OEM plastic covers), Racing Lines braided lines throughout

Interior:

Fully stripped, HDF Motorsport custom TIG-welded rollcage (extended to suspension turrets, with D1-style door bars and harness bar), custom Status: Racing carbon Spa recliners with BLACKMARKET logos, Status: Racing black harnesses, Nardi Deep Corn steering wheel, NRG short-hub column adapter and Gen 3.0 quick-release, Planted Technologies seat brackets, IRB Speed aluminium door cards, Agency Power carbon centre console

Exterior:

Syco Graphix Shark Grey wrap with BLACKMARKET livery, Fly1 Motorsports V1 wide-body kit, Marsh Composites / MPH Fab extended carbon splitter, carbon side window deletes, carbon GT bootlid and carbon GT bonnet, OEM 2017-facelift BRZ front bumper and taillights, APR 2017 carbon lip/airdam, Rigid Industries flush-mount Black Edition D-Series PRO spotlights, Carbon Composite Parts 1,900mm dual-element swan-neck rear wing with HDF Motorsport mounts, Seibon carbon doors, Seibon +10mm wings (cut to suit wide-body kit), HDF Motorsports rear diffuser, HDF Motorsport bootlid fixings, HDF Motorsport front bumper quick-release, Aerocatch bonnet catches

This may have started out life as an ordinary 2-Series M-Lite but now it’s a full-fat 500hp wide-body BMW M235i that’s anything but…

Feature first appeared in Performance BMW. Words: Elizabeth de Latour. Photos: Rtwenty3

The M235i is an exceptional car, one which takes everything great about the BMW M135i and squeezes it into a sexier and sharper package and it makes for an incredibly compelling all-round performance proposition that ticks just about every box imaginable. It’s easy to see why the family of cars that the community has dubbed ‘M-Lites’ is proving so popular with buyers who want something that’s fast, fun to drive, offers plenty of modding potential, but won’t break the bank when it comes to running costs. However, the only thing these cars lack is presence – obviously, BM saved all the steroids for the M2 and its Competition counterpart, leaving the M-Lites looking a little plain, which is perfect if you want to slip under the radar but less good if you want to make a big impact and get all the attention. But every problem has a solution and for Josh (@M235i, @BMWShowcase), the owner of this M235i, his solution was simple – apply a wide-body kit, wrap it in something special and drop it on air and the result is nothing short of spectacular, and this 2 Series has the presence of a four-wheeled cage fighter.

If you’re currently stuck driving something rather uninspiring and wondering when you’ll be able to get yourself into something rather sexier then simply take inspiration from Josh – his first car was a 1.0-litre Vauxhall Corsa fitted with a black box for insurance purposes and was “awful” but now, at the age of just 26, he’s got himself a one-of-a-kind BMW wide-body M235i and if that’s not car goals then we don’t know what is. So where did it all start for Josh? “I’ve always been interested in German cars and BMWs due to my split-nationality; being half-English and half-German I regularly visited Germany and also lived there, so I was often seeing these cars as a kid growing up. BMW was my favourite out of the Merc/BMW/Audi brands,” he explains and it’s cool to meet someone with a more directly personal connection to the brand we all love so much. “My first BMW was a 2008 E82 120d that I bought in 2014 and, quite simply, I wanted a BMW coupé that had good mpg that was within my budget. This was due to a daily round trip commute of 80 miles during my University work placement year,” he says and this sensible but stylish runabout also got him into modding. “I was completely unaware of the modding and car scene but I quickly caught the bug once I started to join forums such as BabyBMW.net and saw what people were doing. I started modifying the E82 in 2016, replacing the front and rear bumpers with the 1M-style ones along with converting the rear exhaust layout to one big exhaust pipe each side to make it look a little different, like the M235i/M240i. Also other mods such as aftermarket alloys, splitter and lip spoiler,” and after getting the modding bug in a big way and giving his 120d a bit of an M235i look, it’s no surprise that he ended up with the real deal.

“In terms of the M235i, I really liked the look and style of the E82 once I had finished with it and it was similar to the looks of the M235i. Along with the increased petrol engine power and other M Sport upgrades, it really was a no-brainer for me that the M235i would be my first ‘sports’ car,” he grins. “I found it via a private seller who couldn’t shift it due to it being a manual and it was in good condition with low mileage. The plan for the car was simple: alloys, splitter and diffuser, now look at it!” he laughs. “The mods increased rapidly once I started to realise many M235is/M240is look the same, and I wanted to stand out from the crowd,” he reasons and he’s certainly done that.

As per Josh’s initial plans for minor mods, things started off slowly; “Within the first three-four months of owning the M235i after buying it in April 2018 not much was added, the usual black kidney grilles, M Performance front splitter and diffuser and a lovely set of Bola B25s in gloss black which were a real hit and gave the car a nice stealthy look,” he says. That got the ball rolling nicely and gave his M235i a more aggressive look but, as Josh said before, he realised that most examples have a similar selection of mods and look quite similar and that to make his car stand out, he needed something special. “I’d seen a blacked-out M2 owned by a guy called Alan, which made me want to do the same theme for my M235i. That mixed with the time I saw a wide-body 2 Series in Europe was the driving force behind the build – I immediately knew this was the target but to take it to another level,” Josh says and so, with the goal set for his build, he proceeded to amp up the mods and create his perfect vision of the ultimate M235i.

Josh began by building on the styling mods he’d already carried out, further enhancing the car’s looks – H&R springs were added to give it a nice drop, a custom-made diffuser and OEM M2 quad exhaust beefed-up the rear end and gave the car a more aggressive look, a pair of AutoID full mirror replacement units – which mimic the M door mirrors – joined the styling lineup and he finished off this round of mods with a set of LCI rear lights. “The addiction was real,” says Josh with a grin and the finished car is proof positive of that if there was ever any doubt to begin with. And then, in February of 2019, it was time for the wide-body to begin taking shape; “The kit was purchased and shipped over from Asia and installation began with Wrench Studios around April/May time and it took them about eight-nine weeks. They really did a great job as there were some issues with the quality of the kit which they managed to adapt,” says Josh. The end result was a seriously menacing all-black machine that bore little resemblance to the M235i it started out life as but the kit was just the start of this next phase of mods.

As we all know, you can’t possibly do something like that to your car without ensuring that the rest of it can compete with the visual drama being doled out by those massive arches and so to go with the wide-body Josh decided to rework the car’s styling. An AutoID carbon boot lip spoiler was added, ECD Performance supplied a custom-made carbon diffuser, which is filled out by a set of custom quad slash-cut exhaust tips made by Dave at Hard Knocks Speed Shop, the H&R springs were replaced with a set of BC Racing coilovers while the Bola wheels made way for a set of 20” Judd Model Twos and Josh was happy, for the time being at least. “The final mods have come more recently,” he explains; “Enjoying the stealth look for just over half a year, it was decided the Black Sapphire paint finish was swallowing up the aggressiveness of the kit and it was hidden in certain areas around the car, and so we launched version two in February 2020 with a matt grey aluminium wrap by C2F4 Design and also installed an Airlift Performance 3H Kit with a simple but smart boot build by The Tuning Store/Car Audio Security,” and the result of all these elements together is truly stunning.

The kit itself is absolutely awesome and looks sensational on the BMW M235i, endowing it with some serious road presence but it does so without going over the top. It manages to flow with the car’s styling, enhancing it but at the same time adding elements that break up the smooth lines, namely those intakes and vents on the arches and, combined with that custom diffuser and the carbon elements, it makes for an imposing and intimidating machine. The choice of wrap colour is sensational and the perfect complement for the kit and Josh definitely made the right call here as the matt finish really allows the light to accentuate the curves and edges of the wide-body and it adds an extra dimension to the car’s visual appeal. The dynamic styling of the Judd 20s suits the look of the car perfectly and 10” fronts and 11” rears really fill out those wide arches, which are big enough to just allow them to tuck when Josh airs-out. The plan was to take this M235i to another level and that’s definitely been achieved.

While the kit on the M235i is what gets all the attention, there’s plenty more going on here besides those formidable looks and Josh has not neglected the N55 beneath the bonnet, though to look at it you wouldn’t think there was anything special going on here. “Unfortunately, in late 2018 a tuning company placed a map on the car which led to some severe symptoms (black smoke, revs not going over 3/4k) and then engine problems followed quickly, resulting in a full engine rebuild with a new block required,” winces Josh. “This was a massive setback and ultimately delayed the wide-body project by half a year. Having at first thought/been advised it was a turbo issue, the new uprated hybrid turbo kit was purchased and fitting began in March 2019. It was at this point we found out the block had cracks and so this needed replacing resulting in further delays and costs – N55 life,” he shrugs. “However, months later and having had the wide-body kit installed, the engine was rebuilt, with a new turbo and new mapping, running just how it should have done,” and while it wasn’t an easy ride the end result was worth the effort. The raft of engine mods are headed up by the Hi-Tech Performance hybrid turbo and it’s joined by an XDI-30 high-pressure fuel pump, a Forge charge pipe, an uprated Hi-Tech intercooler, de-cat downpipe and that aforementioned M2 back box, modified by PCW Exhaust Mods for more noise. The end result is 500hp and 516lb ft of torque and that ensures this M235i has the performance to match its hardcore looks.

While Josh hasn’t gone wild on the interior, he has added a few touches that make all the difference and make it that little bit more special and personal. “The main interior mods I wanted to get were Alcantara-based because I like the look and feel, it really brings the interior up to date and style,” he says. “My steering wheel, steering wheel trim and armrest have been retrimmed by Royal Steering Wheels who I now do some work for. I really liked their products and work and got on well with Jack, the owner; we managed to work out a plan of how I could help them out and join the team,” Josh says with a smile and the steering wheel is a seriously nice thing. The combo of perforated leather and Alcantara is perfect, you’ve got those sculpted grips and the flat bottom and its presence alone transforms the interior. It’s joined by an M Performance carbon and Alcantara handbrake and gear lever along with carbon-dipped trim and these little touches make all the difference.

When Josh set out on his M235i modifying journey little could he have known where it would take him and where his car would end up, but it’s safe to say he’s more than a happy with how it’s turned out; he’s made his dream of creating a next-level M235i a sensational reality and there’s a lot that’s gone into this build. “Picking my favourite mod is a tough one,” he muses, “I really like a lot of the custom pieces/parts around the car such as the embossed company logos of firms who have worked on the car, and the custom-made carbon rear diffuser or even the 20” Judd alloys. Overall, it would be the wide-body kit itself, though, it took the car to another level and made it stand out amongst the M-Lite community,” he says with a smile and we’re not surprised, because while every element of this car is excellent, that wide-body is something truly exceptional and it’s what really sets this build apart. So, are there any more plans on the horizon for this build? “I’d like to think finally no…” Josh chuckles. He’s been through a lot on his modding journey, a journey which did not always go smoothly, but one whose destination made all of it worthwhile and this wide-body BMW M235i truly takes things to the next level.

Tech Spec: Wide-body BMW M235i

Engine and Transmission:

3.0-litre straight-six turbo N55B30, Hi-Tech Performance hybrid turbo, XDI-30 high-pressure fuel pump from Ross Sport LTD, Forge charge pipe, uprated Hi-Tech intercooler, de-cat downpipe, M2 back box modified by PCW Exhaust mods. Six-speed manual gearbox

Power and Torque:

500hp and 516lb ft

Chassis:

10×20” (front) and 11×20” (rear) Judd Model Two wheels with 265/30 (front) and 295/30 (rear) tyres, Air Lift Performance 3H air suspension setup

Exterior:

Matt Grey Aluminium wrap from C2F4 Design, BMWShowcase wide-body kit installed by Wrench Studios, M Performance front splitter, AutoID mirrors and carbon boot lip spoiler, custom-made ECD Performance carbon diffuser, LCI rear lights, light and window tints, Exclusive Registrations 3D/4D number plates

Interior:

Custom flat-bottom Alcantara steering wheel, Alcantara steering wheel trim and armrest from Royal Steering Wheels, M Performance carbon/Alcantara handbrake and gear knob, carbon-dipped dash trims