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Lauren

Review- GT86 Club Series Blue Edition with Performance Pack

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A new GT86 Club Series has been launched and this time it's called the 'Blue Edition', with it's own colour of electric blue. You may remember the other Club Series edition in Solar Orange. That model was solely cosmetic, but whilst you could say the same of the Blue Edition it has an optional extra called the 'Performance Pack'. The interesting thing about the performance pack is what you get for the extra £1460. Richard from RRG Macclesfield invited me down on a sunny day to drive it. 

How about this for value? In the pack there are 4 piston Brembo calipers up front and two piston Brembo calipers a the rear. The Sachs dampers are revalved to increase their stiffness and gain more focus on handling. There is also some strengthening to the lower arms on the rear suspension and you get a set of different wheels. These are presumably to be able to clear the new bigger brake calipers and bigger discs. When you add up the cost of these extra and very nice parts, it seems like an absolute bargain for the money. The performance pack is only available on the Blue Edition, so could this be the best GT86 you can buy right now? 

Let's start with the colour, which if you want the performance pack you will have to like. Thankfully it's a lovely colour reminiscent of Porsche Maritime Blue which really is no bad thing at all. I rather like it. 

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There is something just so appealing about a nice set of Brembo calipers on a car. Whilst the standard GT86 brakes are certainly adequate I have found their limits at times on Alpine descents and also on the race track. A big brake kit with greater stopping capacity is hugely confidence inspiring when you are pushing on and let's face it, you'd have it wouldn't you? Here's the fronts and rears respectively:

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This car supplied by RRG Macclesfield also has the addition of an HKS drop in air filter and a resonated Cobra exhaust. I totally agree with Richard here in that the first thing you should change on this car is the exhaust, the stock one is just way too quiet. When I review a GT86 for RRG Macclesfield I always follow my usual test route, the 'Lauren Triangle'. This takes the A523 out of Macclefield to Boseley, then the A54 up to the top with the downhill route being on the infamous A537 Cat and Fiddle road. Fifteen years ago I used to live in Macc' and this was my test route and practice route when I was racing back then. It's a spectacular drive with a real good variety of corners, compressions and perhaps more importantly a route I know intimately. 

So what do the changes mean? Well, setting off on the relative cruise in traffic out of Macc' and towards Boseley, the car maintains it's decent ride quality as the standard kouki car. It's a comfortable and more refined place to be than the earlier zenki car which I have. Richard told me that when he got out of a stock 2018 car and into this one that he felt that the car cornered more flattly and was better controlled. When I look for these comparisons it's really tricky as my benchmark is of course my car which I've driven for past 122,000 miles and my car has coilovers, poly bushings and pretty much everything done on the suspension, so a stock car always feels like more of a cooking version in comparison. But, compare I shall. There are no changes to the interior in the Blue Edition, so no orange stitching that you got in the Original Club Series car. 

After a sedate drive we turn left onto the A54 to Boseley and this is my chance to open the car up, so off we go. As I approach the first tricky set of S- bends I can see that the road is glistening somewhat. Perhaps not ideal when I remind myself I'm on the Primacy HP tyre, I've got the car set to track mode as well to allow me a little more slip, well some is better than none at all! The car inspires confidence and we navigate the first few tricky bends easily, not pushing too hard. This is my first time on the brakes and there is a lovely amount of feel to them. I note that they require a higher pedal pressure than my car running AP 4 piston calipers up front. That's not a bad thing as it allows you to modulate the brake pressure well. Then as we start to climb we inevitably happen upon a seemingly well driven Fiat Panda, though I'm barely trying to be honest. From here we end up behind a tractor for some time and end up in a line of traffic. Sometimes it goes your way, other times it doesn't. Never mind we pull over further up in a lay by to take some pictures and let the traffic go 

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The traffic has gone and I know we are about to give this car a real test. The next section of road is very up and down with some hard compressions with sweeping bends and a good opportunity to push the car a bit harder. As we hit the first series of bends, the car loads up well maintaining it's composure and as the road dips and rises the damping is certainly keeping up with things, I feel confident to push the car harder and it's standard ride height, means I can push the car hard through compressions that would cause my car to be kissing the tarmac. We become briefly airborne over one of the rises, just leaving the tarmac, but the car deals with it no problem. I'm impressed and enjoying myself here. The difference in damping between this car and a standard one, feels for me fairly subtle, but perhaps coming from a car with bespoke dampers and active suspension it was always going to be far less of a difference when comparing to mine. 

What is important here is that there is some perceived to help to turn in and the damping has no problem dealing with mid corner bumps holding it's line and staying composed. As we rise towards the top of the A54 I notice they've laid new tarmac, time to update my records and I think that I haven't given the brakes much of a test yet, but there is the downhill on the Cat'n'Fiddle to come. 

We cross the plateau and pass the Cat and Fiddle pub which is still not open. Terrible pub in an iconic location. And so we begin our descent and through the first corner, 'Moisties', named so because it is always damp due to water running across it and then onto the 'Balcony' giving a great view over the Peak District. All the corners on the Cat'n'Fiddle have names. The best thing about this road is how far you can sight ahead and soon we easily pass the traffic in front of us. This car has only done 700 odd miles, so the engine feels a little tight and I'm being a bit easy on it. As we approach the first tight left hander at speed, I'm able to really get on the brakes. The car stops well, no doubt about that, pedal feel is more than my car but it is not difficult to modulate it well. I did find it a little hard to move the rear around under braking on the turn-in but I know that it's easier on my car with more front bias, but the car grips well and I can still neutralise any understeer, leading to the stability control just intervening on the exit with a smidge of opposite lock. 

This car just eggs you on and really a GT86 is simply made for roads like these. Even better the road is nice and dry for the most part, so I can work the suspension and the balance feels good. I'm aware with stock geommetry settings that more negative camber helps get rid of any understeer, but I think this car is doing a bit better with it's uprated dampers over the standard car. I can feel myself getting into the zone, relishing every heel and toe downchange, loading the car up ready for the next corner, nailing the exit and getting a little bit of oversteer in places. 

We pull over for a quick breather and more pictures and some five minutes later all the traffic we passed at the top, comes by!

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A quick glance and oil temperature is around 120C, which shows that you can get it to a fair old temperature if you are working it hard, but it never really seems to go above this at least on the road. The rest of the drive down is spoilt somewhat by traffic, but never mind, we've had a good few clear sections to test the car. This is really a test of the performance pack and it's no surprise that it is absolutely worth having. You'd have to be crazy to order a Blue Edition without ticking the Performance Pack it is just an absolute no brainer. The cost of individually buying the Brembo calipers all round would easily be more than the cost of the performance pack and you get wheels and uprated dampers as well. This car really is the ideal base model if you want to go modifying. My only observation with the brakes and this may relate to comparing them to mine is that I wondered if the pads didn't quite bite as well as mine. I've been mulling this over, but I think it is that mine require less pedal pressure to get them to bite and this could simply be more that I need to acclimatise to this set up. 

This car also has the improved JBL setup and Richard gave me a demonstration. It is way, way better than the original JBL setup, though seeming to use the same components there has been some retuning. The bass is more prominent and the clarity of sound is much clearer. Again, I have a £3000 pro-install in my car, but the new JBL system starts to look worth the money as the standard sound system is just so poor. I think they should offer the JBL set up as standard really! 

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The spare wheel has gone and you have a sub instead, much like the old setup. I'm not sure whether a spare would fit underneath it, that's something to look into. 

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The gear stick surround now has a leather gaiter which is much nicer than the cheap looking synthetic in earlier cars. 

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My car next to the Blue Edition:

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In summary, the Performance Pack is a total no brainer. It would be absolutely brilliant if Toyota offered this as an option on all new GT86's but at the moment you'll have to order a Blue Edition to get it. I would! :)

 

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Thanks Lauren, interesting review.

I would agree Performance Pack seem like a no brainer option just for brakes and wheels alone. I wish however they were 18" (or at least an option of 18") and different tyres. And 10-15 hps more from the factory would have done wonders to distinguish it from regular trim.

Would be interesting to try different suspensions back to back (say MY17, Sachs and Teins).

I also find the colour surprisingly to my taste, didnt think I would say this for a blue Toyota .

Would be interesting (academically in my case) what sort of discount you can get from the dealer for it, at full price of over 31k it seems like getting more expensive than "under 30k all-inclusive" package GT86 suppose to aim for (although some of this may be £ exchange rate related).

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

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You're welcome. :)

I have driven every iteration that RRG have had had as demonstrators. The difference is subtle between the revalved Sachs dampers and the stock MY2017 car. I say it's subtle because the difference between that and say my car is far more marked. My damping is undoubtedly stiffer, but it's also active so it stiffens as the speed and lateral G increases. This has the effect of really stiffening the damping at speed which is what you want to keep the wheels in contact with the road. For that reason I can drive my car much harder on the same roads. However the downside is that mine isn't as comfortable when cruising as a stock car and it is a fair bit noisier too in regard to road noise and NVH. 

Discount is discretionary of course, so it YMMV on that one! The good thing IMO is that the brakes do fit under 17" wheels. Okay they may not fit under stock wheels, but let's face it nobody likes them anyway. It's worth remembering that 18's gain you nothing in terms of performance, apart from being able to run a wider tyre at a lower profile, but there is little to gain in terms of grip between a 225 compared to a 215 and I would always take the latter as it works better with the balance of the car. 

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Just as subaru PP pack, this is very good price/performance wise addon/option. Unfortunately not so if buying parts individually if someone wishes to retrofit this kit to other trim level cars later on, as one will never get full price for original parts when parting out from those .. as result it will be 3-4x times more expensive .. and by then, aftermarket offers better priced alternatives to improve suspension & brakes.

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Nice write up Lauren but as said above it’s getting very expensive at £31k lots of other cars at this price point. I was speaking to Richard a while back and we both think Toyota should be listing these as an option on the standard GT86 as well as other bolts on parts that would retain a warranty much like Mountune.

Sales are slow and used cars seem to take ages to sell, Toyota selling parts along the lines of Toyota Gazoo Racing would increase sales as Toyota have won the WRC manufactures award giving lots of exposure in the media.

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Nice read thanks for sharing. 

New wheels look miles better too. Shame they didn't lower the offset a little. Would look so much better. Although I am sure there is a reason for this. Plus at standard ride height the high offset isn't as noticeable.

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Must be nice to drive all the different iterations of the 86 that come around. 

The wheels look better than the stock ones but I'd still swap them for something better looking with a wider offset. 

The performance pack should of been offered on all models at that add on price. I wasn't offered the JBL package on my2017 when I bought last year. Still think this car is better when people turn to the aftermarket and pick and choose what they want from the car. 

I paid 24.5k for mine so with a 6k saving I can buy mods that are to my own personal taste and still come out cheaper. 

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@Luke it is nice to drive every variation of GT86. The key here is I've got a lot to compare to, including 122K miles in my own car, so it helps with trying to tease out the differences. Toyota are just offering the PP on this model to gauge interest, so I would say that if more new models sold are the Blue Edition with PP then they may well consider it. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to have raised the level of interest we would hope for. 

I bought all my own modifications including replacing the entire sound system, but I did want something a bit special. It's all down to personal taste of course and that's where the fun is. I dare say if I was looking to buy a new GT now though, I'd definitely go for the Blue Edition with PP, but alas it wasn't available in 2013. The cost of buying and installing my mods over the last five years comes to about £15K. I try not to think about it! :lol:

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Great review, thanks Lauren. I was lucky to get the first drive in that RRG Macc Blue, with a handful of miles on the clock, plastic covers still on the seats and trade plates as it hadn't at that time been registered (and it still had the stock exhaust), and went out on your triangle with Richard. I loved it, and the improvement in suspension from my 2013 stock was massive, and its road holding around corners with non-scrubbed in Primacy's was frankly astounding compared to my memories of my first few miles on those tyres in my car. I was seriously considering buying it as my car was at 5 years and just coming out of warranty, but at £31k I really couldn't get the sums to work for me (although the performance pack is great value for what you are getting), but it made me realise I needed to do a further mod if I wanted to keep my old car (which I did with the 2 year extended warranty option in the end), so I ended up fitting a set of nearly new KW V3's and am happy enough again. I'd also at the time tried a test drive in a s/h Cayman, but the lovely power and quality aside it just wasn't as fun as the 86, hence the choice being to trade to a new Blue Edition, or to keep my old car for a while longer as there just wasn't anything else that seemed to have what I want with a car right now at a price I can afford.

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Really interesting read. I ordered the blue with suspension pack last month to replace my 2016 model but have to wait until feb to get it, so have been looking for a write up comparison. The local dealers have a blue edition in but without the suspension pack. I noticed a small difference in my current one after the previous 2013 ginger in that it seems a little more eager to turn in and feels more balanced. Possibly all in my head but there is a difference to me.  I’ve also experienced the standard brakes fading away too quickly so am keen to see if the brembos make a big difference. Thanks to Lauren for the excellent write up, it’s given me something to look forward to while I count the days off. 😊

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Hi Lauren,

Many thanks for taking the time to write this review - it was very helpful.

I'm picking up a '19 plate (Club Series 'Blue Edition' Performance Pack) today and for the price I'm paying (Low 20's) I do think the Brembo/Sachs shout 'bargain', as I'd probably want to do this at some point anyway and it still being a stock car with these additions makes it a no brainer in my mind.

Plus nicer looking wheels don't do any harm either.

I look forward to spending some time on here and picking peoples brains.

Thanks again.

Regards,

Andrew.

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Welcome aboard, Andrew. You are welcome, good choice! I think the Blue Edition with performance pack is the best GT86 you can buy, so great starting point. :)

Check out the events as we have Japfest Silverstone looming and this is always the show of the year if you fancy getting out and meeting other members. I see you're in Lancashire, we do attend the monthly Jap2Jap meets at Barton airport in Eccles if you're interested. 

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On 1/11/2020 at 7:01 AM, AJM said:

congrats.  good buy.  Can I ask if the 2019 models have a gasoline particulate filter fitted and how do they affect the performance?

 

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