Silver linings. No matter how bad things can seem to become, there’s usually a silver lining hiding somewhere waiting to be found. In my case, the recent hail damage to my car really had me down for a bit and I felt my motivation to work on it and simply enjoy it in general really fade. It made me think, “Why am I putting so much effort and expense into something that can get destroyed so easily? Isn’t it kind of a waste?” Feeling like that sucked, but I knew it would pass and that things would return to normal in the not too distant future.
In the meantime, in order to help alleviate some of the angst I had been feeling, I decided to kill some time checking out what JDM BRZ/GR86 owners were up to on their side of the world, and in doing so I came across a small mod that was somewhat popular among them, yet not something I’ve seen anyone do over here just yet. That made me happy because I love finding relatively obscure JDM mods that often are the types of things that really give a vehicle that authentic JDM feel. It also happened to be just the thing I needed to perk me up and get me back in the groove again regarding my BRZ, hence it was the silver lining hiding amongst the clouds.
So what is this mod? It’s a new engine Start/Stop button. As you may be aware, both Subaru and Toyota each offer a replacement “upgrade” start/stop button that is branded with their respective performance branch’s logo and is meant to add a race-y feel to your car. They’re simple to install and look kinda cool, but IMO they’re kinda overpriced – about $160-180 or so if I recall. That’s a lot of money for what you get, so I never really was too interested in buying one. On the other hand, what I found while browsing JDM owners’ pages is that apparently there is a Lexus start/stop switch that is an exact fit for the BRZ/GR86’s switch and so a bunch of JDM owners are installing them instead of the typical OEM aftermarket switch. This is cool in a number of ways. One, the switch is cheaper by about $70, and you can find them on eBay easily for around $100 USD or so. Two, as you can see in the photos, the switch is a semi-matte dark silver color, which matches really well with the trim in the car and gives it a somewhat luxury touch. The button is also raised instead of being flush like the stock button, so it adds a second layer of depth to its aesthetics. Third, it’s not a common mod over here, so you’ll have something most other owners won’t have, though that’ll probably change over time once more people know about it. The only downside is that the bezel that comes with the switch is a bit larger than the BRZ OEM switch’s bezel so it doesn’t mount flush in the dash like the OEM switch does. That said, all you need to do is to swap the OEM switch’s bezel onto the Lexus switch and then it’ll fit exactly the same as the OEM switch. This is very easy to do as they are completely interchangeable. Simple, cheap, and looks cool, so what more can I ask for?
If you’re interested in swapping your switch as well for the Lexus switch, then pop on eBay and do a search for the Lexus switch using the part number in the photo below. You’ll find a whole bunch of them for sale for similar prices, so pick the one you like and have at it. Installation takes maybe fifteen minutes at most and you can search YouTube for DIY videos on how to install it. Easy, cheap, unique, and cool. You can’t ask for much more. Enjoy!
