Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 So here is the MY2015 GT86 Aero which is RRG Macclesfield's demonstrator. This car features the 'Aero' kit comprising of front splitter, side skirts, rear valence and of course that huge rear wing! The Aero also comes with 18x7" OZ Utraleggera wheels shod with Yokohama Advan V105 225/40/18 tyres. Ultraleggera is Italian for ultralight. I must say it sets the car off well. In addition, Richard has added a Blitz Advance Induction kit along with the Blitz Suction Kit. An AVO Turbo World 2.5" exhaust with a straight through pipe replacing the secondary catalyzer completes the effects in the sound department. For a bit of extra looks Richard has added a diffuser too. Here is the Blitz Advance Induction Kit: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr AVO Turbo World Exhaust tips: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Diffuser: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr For the road test we took in some of our local favourites roads, namely the infamous A537 Cat and Fiddle road which runs from Macclesfield to Buxton and also some of the A54 which runs down towards Bosley. Both are excellent roads with good elevation and a number of yumps and bumps and well cambered bends. This is most definitely a driver's dream were it not for the average speed cameras. I remember the days well before these and it's still a spot full of suicidal bikers, so you need to keep your wits about you. We headed up the Cat and Fiddle and though it was dry it was just covered in salt which made it very slippery indeed. Not ideal conditions you might think, but on the other hand it allowed to play with the malleable chassis at much lower speeds and so kept it all reasonably sensible. My fiancee following in my car was not happy on winter tyres and didn't look like he was having half as much fun as I was! I also noted a lower 40 profile compared to when I ran these tyres on my car in 225/45/17 took out the sidewall flex that I didn't like so much with mine. For the MY 2015 car, there is one very important change and that is the use of Sachs dampers. Now, I'd love to compare my thoughts to the old standard suspension, but my car no longer has it, so really all I can do is compare the new car's suspension characteristics to my car which has Tein Streetflex coilovers with EDFC Active Pro. What immediately struck me is that the ride of the Aero GT86 is a bit more comfortable than mine, especially so over sunken manhole covers and the like. I think the lower spring rate compared to my car also helps here. The good news is that this car is just great out of the box. You could easily jump in this car, drive an hour and a half to Donington, hoon about all day on track then cruise back on the way home. Of course all GT86's can do this, but driving this car reminded just how well sorted the standard GT86 is in that respect. I drove the car in 'VSC Sport' mode as after all I wasn't going to be a hooligan on the Queen's highway and well, it's not my car of course. However Sport mode does allow a little slip and really it was child's play to just push the rear wide on the exit of corners. I did notice some understeer whilst carrying speed into a number of corners, but I could ebb that away by slightly lifting the throttle and once the car was turning in, I could then get on the throttle and be a little naughty on the exit. This holds true for the experience I had in my car when it had standard suspension, but I've dialled out the understeer with more aggressive geommetry settings, so my car is that bit sharper. But this is to be expected after all. What I really liked was how good the damping was. It coped well with crests, didn't bottom out and never seemed to crash over bigger bumps. This is a well controlled chassis and it's ripe for exploitation, which I admit, I did and with a lot of enjoyment too. This car has a great balance and I have to be honest, I'd be comfortable just turning all the stability aids off and having a right little play in the low grip conditions, but I did manage to behave myself and keep them on, just! There is good feel from the steering, the driving position couldn't be better really and all the main controls have a nice weight to them. I particularly liked the Blitz induction kit as it just sounds amazing from 5500-7400rpm. So much so in fact that I just wanted to keep revving it out to the redline! It just seems to roar at the top end of the rev range. Brilliant! Also the AVO Turbo World exhaust really does sound the part. It's not quite as deep as my Milltek, but nor is it raspy at all. So it never annoys, but plays a nice tune I think. Richard has come up with a good combination with the exhaust and induction kit. I really think these two items are essential as it just goes with the looks and also there's that feeling of being a bit more involved in the whole driving process when you can hear a bit more about what is going on! So exhausts and induction kits are very important! For the sake of comparison I'll talk a little about how my car feels in comparison. Really it's sharper on turn in and when loaded up the dampers stiffen with g-force so you feel the car hunker down as cornering speeds build up. My car has less understeer and tends to oversteer more easily, which is how I like it, but perhaps not my fiancee so much! I do feel though the standard car is doubtless improved by the Sachs dampers giving it a more controlled ride and less of the bobbing around at lower speeds that my car used to do on the older OEM non Sachs suspension. But a less pointy setup in OEM guise is probably what most would prefer and it's easy to feel what the car is doing and adjust throttle and steering inputs to suit your chosen line. Up on the 'Cat': Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr OZ Ultra light wheels: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Richard, Mark and Indy, the other part of the road test crew! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr That huge spoiler: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr On the A54: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Interior shot of the new carbon look dash panel which does look better than the previous more plastic looking fascia (It's still plastic of course): Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr The Tyre Pressure Monitoring system, which is mandatory but not loved by many as apparently it's a pain if you swop your wheels! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Optional leather interior with heated seats: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr No changes for the instrument panel: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Nice embroidered 86 logo which comes with the leather seat option: Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr It's got rear seats, though you might not use them that often! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr There is a video we shot that I will add shortly which will add a bit more visual detail. 1 GT86-Ian reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dankool 25 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Looks really good can't wait to see it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
speedy 32 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Nice writeup Lauren - so much love for those wheels!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rob275 1817 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Embroidered 86 logo? looks embossed to me? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mark-in-Stoke 488 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 I enjoyed that read. 1 Mark-in-Stoke reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Fair point, Rob! Balls! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rob275 1817 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Either way, i do love the seats if only they were blue Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chillismoke 182 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 I went for a spin in this beast with Richard last week and can vouch for how nice the induction and exhaust combo sound. 100% considering this system with maybe a new UEL header just to finish this sound off Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LFA 68 Report post Posted March 7, 2015 Makes my interior look agricultural ( which it is, lol ) Sure, and not sure, about the rear wing. Nice write up Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonigmr2 39 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 Did you feel the 'aero' component made any difference? (p.s. see my avatar for embroided....!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 No, I didn't discern any difference, though grip levels were very low. Yes, point taken about embroidered! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tonigmr2 39 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 Are there any figures re: downforce etc. being different on the aero version? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 Not that I've seen. But it doesn't mean there isn't anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ztox 230 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 I'm glad you've said it still loves to slide, that was my main concern with the Aero. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 The grip conditions were very low as the road was just white with salt. I've had these tyres in this size (but higher profile) on my car and they do offer a lot more grip than the standard tyre. It won't slide around so much in the dry on roads in better conditions IME. In the wet obviously you can play as much as you like, but these are good progressive tyres. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Captain Duff 79 Report post Posted March 8, 2015 Love the seats and the wheels, still not a fan of the big wing, The points about ride quality were interesting in relation to the wheels given that it tends to get worse with larger wheels. Not sure about the Blitz filter if only because it doesn't fit with the cold air scoop and so will end up pulling in a lot of hot engine bay air on a long or hard drive which in theory will worsen performance, but I'd love to hear how it sounds Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neil_turbo 44 Report post Posted March 9, 2015 I also had the pleasure of this last week :-) many thanks Richard! As you say the noise from the intake and exhaust combination is fantastic and just come alive at the top end. Unbelievable how much more attention the spoiler brings when driving around! Also some people in trouble at work for saying they preferred this one! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 9, 2015 Captain, it might help that the bigger wheels are lighter than the stock wheels. Also there isn't that much difference in profile when you take the width difference into consideration. For example when I went from a 215/45 to a 225/45 the ride quality improved due to having a bigger sidewall on the wider tyre. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Lauren 2259 Report post Posted March 9, 2015 Here's the vid that Mark made. Unfortunately none of the fun stuff worked out, but we'll know for next time! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
remal 85 Report post Posted March 15, 2015 Nice thread. and my rear seats are used weekly when I pick up my kids. they are only 9 and 12. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Foulsmell 120 Report post Posted March 15, 2015 Does anyone have the part numbers for the Aero kit?? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted May 10, 2015 Great thread. Not least because I live in Macclesfield and those roads are the main reason I've decided I need a GT86.... :-D 1 Lauren reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Nicebiscuit 655 Report post Posted June 17, 2015 I had a go in this too. It was great and agree about the exhaust and induction mods. One question. Are the wheels really 18x7? So same width as standard ones? I'd assumed they were 7.5' wide. Lauren - I notice you've stuck with 17' wheels on your car, albeit wider. Any reason particularly? I have to say I was impressed how well Richards car rode on 40 profile tyres. Certainly better than the two previous cars I've had running those sidewalls. Firm, sure, but not crashy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
