Litchfield GT86 Performance Pack

[James Hilton 4]

Hey everyone, I'm new to the forum and have just ordered a manual red Aero GT86 with JBL Sound Pack, Centre Armrest, DAB Radio, Sat Nav & black half leather heather seats. My first 'real' new sports car! 

 

I'm looking to have the Litchfield Performance Pack, Full Handling Pack and K & N Panel Filter fitted shortly after I pick the car up in August.

 

What mileage would you recommend I put on the car before fitting the mods and mapping it?

 

Does anyone on here have any of the above fitted to their car and know of any common faults to look out for or anything they've experienced with them.

 

Also do any of you know how the Full Throttle Shifting and Launch Control work?

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Tareim 343]

Welcome.

 

From what I have read on the forums about Litchfield you'd be better off spending your money elsewhere such as Fensport, Amber Performance or Abbey Motorpsort

[Keethos 842]

Welcome to the club James and congrats on the purchase.

 

As for getting work done by Litchfield, you'll find that the biggest issue is actually getting hold of them or to actually get them to do the work, I've heard a few people having had problems either getting hold of them or them just not interested in doing the work for whatever reason.  It does seem like they have plenty of big money projects working on GTR's and BMW's that they don't need or have the time for less expensive cars like the 86/BRZ.  They've even sold their demo car and I've not seen them get another to show off what they can do or to even develop their stuff further, unlike Fensport or Abbey Motorsport who are constantly developing, tweaking and improving what they can out of the 86/BRZ.

 

But if you are determined to go the Litchfield route, I've heard their handling pack is pretty good and you can't go wrong with a K&N Air filter (but you can't go wrong with other filters like HKS etc either).  What I would be worried about is the performance pack:

 

A ) You'll have a Milltek exhaust which some have experience cracks already, we even have Lauren who's on her 2nd (or was it 3rd?) set.  Fair enough they may have sold quite a few and only a handful of people (I believe) have experienced this problem, but if you get them to fit a flex pipe, it might prevent this from happening altogether.

 

B ) I've seen and heard of people who'd have their performance pack fitted and produced either less power or hardly any gains compared to some of those who are stock.  I believe Litchfield blamed it on bad fuel and need to get the car remapped again but who knows, what are the chances of 2 (I believe) getting their car dyno'd on the same dyno (though on different dates) which both produced either less or hardly any gains compared to someone who was completely stock bar a drop in air filter?

 

I'd personally went else where, even though Litchfield would have been closer, I still travelled 2 hours to Abbey for my Cobra exhaust and 2 hours to Fensport for my remap etc.  Either way, please keep us updated with what you decide.

[KevinA 695]

Agree with Keethos here, think carefully first.

[rob275 1817]

I concur, I wouldn't give Litchfield the time of day, purely out of principle. Support one of our resident tuners, Abbey and Fensport. They'll do a better job anyway!

[Sideways? 33]

And in answer to your other question, I would suggest making sure that you're happy with how "run in" it is before getting it re-mapped...

I say it like that because there are a lot of opinions on running in, the GT86 "should" be run less than 4k rpm for 1,000 miles, but how strictly you follow that is up to you!

I found that I took that as a flexible rev limit and after 2,000 miles at the first GT86 Dyno Day my car was producing (fractionally) more power than some of the cars with less mileage on them.

 

Again, I think Knightryder on here has the Litchfield Performance Pack and is happy with it, but then he has also experienced difficulty getting in touch with them since having the pack fitted, and I believe it was a tricky journey getting it fitted in the first place!!

 

Since Abbey and Fensport are all dahn sarf I'd suggest one of the more Northern tuners like Tarmac or Amber (I think they're oop norf, but someone will correct me if I'm wrong!!) but in general just poke around the forum and you'll get an idea of what is on offer and where!!

[GT86-Ian 351]

Fensport are in Cambridgeshire not sure if that counts as dahn sarf.

[Sideways? 33]

From Aberdeen (location of OP - apparently) pretty much everywhere is South...

[Keethos 842]

Tuning Development are up north in Warrington who can do exhausts and remaps etc but they've been rather quiet lately. Who's the tuning company in Scotland area with the candy purple 86 that was at autosport show and whom are a supplier of the Cosworth stuff?

[Steeps 294]

Fensport is near Peterborough, Amber is near Luton. Could also consider using RRG in Macclesfield for installing any mods.

 

If looking for something a bit more "local" you could try RA Motorsports who have a highly modified purple demo car, but don't seem to be on the forums much.

 

Full throttle shifting is basically that, when you have the throttle glued to the floor as soon as you depress the clutch the car will hold the revs at that limit until either the clutch or throttle is released. It only does this if you select the map with it enabled.

 

Launch control is similar, clutch and throttle fully depressed the car will hold the revs at a much lower limit, as soon as the clutch is released it allows the revs to rise. Requires all safetys to be off for this to engage (but it's more fun that way anyway)

[Keethos 842]

That's them, RA Motorsports

[JamesP1991 222]

I would say it is worth travelling far if you know your car is going to be treated properly. Will be well worth the extra expense knowing you've been given the best service possible. 

 

But if RA Motorsports are in Scotland, you might as well give them a call and see what they can do for you! 

[James Hilton 4]

Cheers everyone, I live up North in Aberdeen (The Land of the SNP) unfortunately.   Haha.

 

Travelling isn't a problem. With my last car I drove 1,200 miles round trip twice in 2 years to Dorset K-TEC Racing with my old RS 133. I would however in the off chance something were to go wrong be able to contact the company easily.

 

What attracted me to Litchfield was that they do 'appear' to be a very prestigious company... Not sure if that's the correct word but you'll understand what I mean I hope.

 

Personally I was probably going to drive it under 4k rpm for the first 1,000 miles of country road driving and then another couple of thousand before modding it.

 

With regards to the problem with the Milltek system, does anyone know if they've sorted it. Would have thought a company as large as them would want that ironed out as soon as possible.

[James Hilton 4]

Should probably also ask if anyone who has the springs has problems with speed bumps? My old car was lowered 35mm all round and it made me wince every time I went over a one.

[Ztox 230]

Oooh another one. Welcome to the club fellow Aero owner

 

I'm over careful/paranoid when it comes to cars so I kept below 4k rpm for 800 miles and then eased it up every 50 or so miles until I was at the limit at 1,000 miles.

 

Not sure about lowering myself but I'll be looking to do it and I'm wondering what it'll be like with the side skirts, I'm assuming we have less clearance. I'll probably just go for 20mm so should be okay I imagine/hope.

[Tareim 343]

I have sti pinks on mine and it is lowered 15mm, I generally don't have issues apart from really tall speed bumps though and easy fix is to go across it diagonally

[Gringosteve 213]

I have previously read papers that do not recommend self inflicted Rev limits when breaking in a car as it can have a detrimental effect. Instead using the full rev range is encouraged but at low engine loads. Will try and find the paper in question..

__________________________________________

Come and join us www.im-tuned.uk

[rob275 1817]

I don't get how you guys have issues with speed bumps, I haven't even hit my five axis kit yet and i've gone over some silly tall bumps. And i'm talking steep ones aswell a solid can of coke tall. And the rest.

 

FYI, can of coke is a standard measurement... 

[Tareim 343]

I don't get how you guys have issues with speed bumps, I haven't even hit my five axis kit yet and i've gone over some silly tall bumps. And i'm talking steep ones aswell a solid can of coke tall. And the rest.

 

FYI, can of coke is a standard measurement... 

 99% of speed bumps I haven't had a problem with but I go play football at a college and they have 1 speed bump that I scrape on if I go over it normally, can't say I've ever had a coke can to test the height of it but it's a common problem for a lot of people based on the scratches on it

[Quixote 35]

The LPP is good in terms of R&D etc that has gone into it (and I have it), but, if I was looking now, I'd be awaiting updates from Mark@Abbey regarding Headers on NA

If I was to do it again, I'd go headers first - remove the restrictive primary cat and the torque dip in one go!

For customer service, personally I can vouch for Mark and the guys at Abbey and lots of people here will vouch for Adrian@Fensport

 

When I had the Miltek crack, Litchfield were very quick to respond and it was just timing to get my car to them for the free swap. However, for updates it is difficult

 

Flat Foot Shift, Launch Control, Auto-Blip are all features any of the ECUTek tuners can provide

[Lauren 2259]

Milltek have revised the design of the Milltek by adding a flexi. That should solve the problem. I'm on my third. When this one goes I look forward to a replacement with a flexi, so it looks like it's sorted now.

[Kodename47 446]

I have the Litchfield spring setup, not the full handling pack however. Bump clearance is fine, only a couple of scrapes over the years but mainly on the undertray on unfriendly surfaces, like the farm I stayed at in Spain.

[LFA 68]

Some good advice on this thread; I'd go for a tuner who is currently active on this car. Understanding of the motor has moved on since the LPP came to market a couple of years back now.

[Captain Duff 79]

I've been very happy with my non-res Milltek (fitted by RRG Macc), but then I'm only hitting around 8k milles per year so it hasn't been tested as much as it will have been on Lauren's car. However, as Lauren said they have tweaked the design now, plus of course you do get the lifetime first owner warranty which I have never heard of them quibbling.

 

In terms of the other options mentioned by the OP I really think that if I was starting again now I would seriously consider going Cosworth as while it is more expensive the stage packages mean easy upgrades (right up to forced injection if you want it) plus I suspect the Cossie name will mean a car with it will hold value more given the time and money that went into it (hence it coming out late compared to the rest). Look at Fensport of Amber for the Cosworth options (which include an Ecutek tune).

 

Other than that I've always liked the OEM wheels and suspension and always have a suspicion that many (or most?) of the more common and reasonably priced lowering options are more for show than performance, however I think the chassis while being stiff to start with can benefit from some additional tweaks.

 

But the best bang for buck upgrade in my experience was the Whiteline positive shift insert that made an al;ready enjoyable gear box even nicer.

[Lauren 2259]

I would say that lowering springs are just for show, but that you can seriously sharpen the handling of your car (and improve the ride too) with decent coilovers. Not a cheap option though.