This product review will go over the quality, installation, fitment, and function of a Cusco Acceleration Pedal Attachment for your Subaru BRZ, Scion FRS, or Toyota 86.
The Subaru BRZ and Scion FRS are fantastic sports cars straight from the factory. However, even the best of cars can benefit from small upgrades or changes. One area to improve on these cars, is the brake and gas pedal arrangement. This is specific to the 6 speed manual transmission cars. From the factory, the brake and gas pedals have a large gap between them. When it comes to performance driving, often times drivers perform a technique called a “heel & toe” downshift. A heel & toe downshift involves pressing the brake pedal to decelerate, while also blipping the gas pedal (with the clutch depressed). The goal is to rev’ match a gear change. Since the brake and gas pedal are so far apart on the BRZ/FRS, this task becomes difficult for most people. For this upgrade, we will go with the Cusco acceleration pedal attachment.
There are many pedal upgrade kits on the market these days to alleviate this particular issue. However, in my experience, the Cusco acceleration pedal attachment is the most cost effective and simple way to improve pedal arrangement. In this review I will go over my own experience after using this pedal attachment on both an FRS and a BRZ. Don’t forget to check out some other BRZ and FRS reviews, like the Perrin cold air intake review.
Quality
Cusco products are generally known for being in the mid-grade to high quality range. The pedal attachment is a solid stainless steel piece that is also polished to improve the look. There is not much else to the product except countersunk hex bolts, matching nuts, install brackets, and a rubber pad. I found the miscellaneous parts to be of decent quality except for the hex bolts. The hex bolts seemed a bit soft as one of them came close to stripping during installation.
Installation
Installation of the Cusco pedal attachment is fairly straightforward and relatively simple. However, there is one big caveat. Maneuvering yourself in the foot well of the car can be a daunting task. You have to get tools behind the gas pedal to tighten the brackets down, which I found to be the most difficult part of the install. To make things easier, actually removed my front drivers seat. Removing the driver seat is simple. Just remove the 4 floor bolts and the various clips attached under the seat and out it comes.
With the driver seat removed, you can slide into the foot well of the car and have much easier access to the gas pedal. Installing the Cusco pedal attachment at that point is as simple as aligning the pedal and brackets, then attaching and tightening the nuts and bolts. Be careful not to over-tighten the bolts as I nearly stripped one out during my install.
Fitment
Fitment of the Cusco pedal is actually pretty good. At first glance, the bracket style of “clamping” the Cusco pedal to the stock gas pedal seems a bit odd. However, once the brackets and pedal are aligned properly, everything goes together and fits as it should. There is even a bit of adjustment you can do by sliding the Cusco pedal left or right for fine adjustment.
Function
This is where the Cusco acceleration pedal attachment really shows its worth. I bought the pedal attachment to close the gap between the brake pedal and gas pedal. Specifically, to improve my heel & toe downshift technique. I can say that the Cusco pedal does a fantastic job in this area. With the stock pedal setup, I had a very hard time performing the heel & toe downshift. Because the Cusco pedal is larger and has an extended edge near the brake pedal, it immediately improved my heel & toe technique. I am now able to perform downshifts consistently and without fail because of this upgrade. On top of that, it looks pretty great as well!
Rating
I am giving the Cusco acceleration pedal attachment a rating of 5 stars! Despite the installation process being a bit tricky, I think it deserves this rating (plus, the tight space to install is not the pedals fault). From a “bang for the buck” perspective, this is hard to beat, and should be on the upgrade list for any serious driver.
Cusco Acceleration Pedal Attachment rating : 5 out of 5 stars
For roughly $50.00, you can purchase the Cusco acceleration pedal attachment for your 2013+ Subaru BRZ, Scion FRS, or Toyota 86 at the link below.
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