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Mani

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Happy New Year all .. not sure why I waited until the new year for my first post. Since joining the forum in August, I have been following most the discussions threads for some great insights.
 
I am Mani and live in Ealing, West London. After many years trying to convince the missus that we need a second car and then months for searching, I managed to get hold of a black 14 plate GT86 in August. Although I have only done 1k miles due to lockdowns, I am loving the decision to buy the 86 - since I have been interested in one since its launch.
 
I am still learning but hoping that I can get a mini project going once I am used to the car, plans being:
 
(Cosmetic) - keen to replacing the front and rear lights with smoked ones and add some decals
 
(Wheels & Suspension) - would like to upgrade to 18 inch wheels (with PS4s) and coil overs
 
(Exhausts & Body Kits) - replace stock exhausts and try and get hold of a wide body kit
 
(Turbo or super charger)
 
Happy for any suggestions or advice if there is any particular order that would make sense.
 
I would love to join in for track days at some point this year (anywhere within couple of hours drive from west london), but being a novice not sure if one can do track days with a stock set up or track day etiquettes.
 
That is all for now. Looking forward to catching up and interacting on the forum.

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Hey Mani, welcome onboard.

Dont think order matters that much, whatever your preferences are. If anything I would say:
- suspension before or at the same time as wheels (will give you wider choice if you go with coilovers).
- wheels and tyres before FI (its hilarious how fast you can loose traction with a bit more power).

In W London you are pretty close to a number of circuits. Both Bedford and Silverstone will be just over an hour away, Donington probably 1.5 ish. Don't worry taking stock car on track, its perfectly fine and will give you better idea what mods you would want to do. I did several track days on stock car before my 1st mods (suspension, wheels, front brakes and TD NA tune).

We have a "club" track day at Bedford on Jan 30th (provided it can still go ahead) which imo is a perfect option for 1st track day (even in wet), then Silverstone on Feb 19th (also good for novices despite being fast circuit) and I will also organise group booking for Donington on March 20th.

Hopefully will see you around!
Enjoy!

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

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You can take these cars straight out on track with no changes. Just check your car is good mechanical condition and go have fun it’s the best way to enjoy the car before you catch the modifying bug. 
Once lockdown eases get to as many meets and shows you can to see other cars and speak to some experienced owners who’ve been there before. We’re all more than happy to talk about what works and what doesn’t work. 

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On 1/3/2021 at 10:28 AM, VAD17 said:

Hey Mani, welcome onboard.

Dont think order matters that much, whatever your preferences are. If anything I would say:
- suspension before or at the same time as wheels (will give you wider choice if you go with coilovers).
- wheels and tyres before FI (its hilarious how fast you can loose traction with a bit more power).

In W London you are pretty close to a number of circuits. Both Bedford and Silverstone will be just over an hour away, Donington probably 1.5 ish. Don't worry taking stock car on track, its perfectly fine and will give you better idea what mods you would want to do. I did several track days on stock car before my 1st mods (suspension, wheels, front brakes and TD NA tune).

We have a "club" track day at Bedford on Jan 30th (provided it can still go ahead) which imo is a perfect option for 1st track day (even in wet), then Silverstone on Feb 19th (also good for novices despite being fast circuit) and I will also organise group booking for Donington on March 20th.

Hopefully will see you around!
Enjoy!

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk
 

Thanks for the warm welcome  @VAD17 and the suggestions. I am looking forward to the upgrades ... definitely suspensions / wheels / coil overs and then exhausts (hopefully can budget for these in 2021 and 2022) before I go down the route of FI.

I have been closely watching the track activities on the forum and the likes of Bedford and Silverstone are surely within reach ... the initial months might come too soon for my liking but would love to come along for one of the days in Spring / Summer - hoping for some normalcy in life by then 

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On 1/3/2021 at 11:17 AM, Luke said:

You can take these cars straight out on track with no changes. Just check your car is good mechanical condition and go have fun it’s the best way to enjoy the car before you catch the modifying bug. 
Once lockdown eases get to as many meets and shows you can to see other cars and speak to some experienced owners who’ve been there before. We’re all more than happy to talk about what works and what doesn’t work. 

Thanks @Luke ... I am hoping the car is in good mechanical condition considering I bought it from a Toyota dealership but will make sure closer to time.

would love to come along to any meets and show and get to know other forum members once the lockdown rules are relaxed a bit 

Also trying to see if there are any members closer to where I live for a smaller get together for some advice and insights

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Welcome to the club Mani, hope you enjoy the car as much as the rest of us here!

Suspect I'm one of the closer club members as I'm only out Feltham way myself.

For nearby tracks, Silverstone, Brands, Bedford and Thruxton are all pretty much the same travel time ranging from 1:05 to 1:25 each way although it may be 5-10 mins more for you to get to the M25 than me ;)

Bedfords a good safe track simply due to the lack of things to hit! Highly recommend it!

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On 1/3/2021 at 9:51 AM, Mani said:
 
(Exhausts & Body Kits) - replace stock exhausts and try and get hold of a wide body kit
 

Welcome to the club @Mani

I'd firstly start by deciding what route you want to take the car before buying modifications, there isn't really much point buying wheels / suspension for a stock bodied car if you plan to go wide body as the fitment you'd want will be different.

With regards to track use, the stock car is perfectly acceptable. The only mods I'd suggest initally are a set of good tyres and brake pads. 

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7 hours ago, Kaltorak said:

Welcome to the club Mani, hope you enjoy the car as much as the rest of us here!

Suspect I'm one of the closer club members as I'm only out Feltham way myself.

For nearby tracks, Silverstone, Brands, Bedford and Thruxton are all pretty much the same travel time ranging from 1:05 to 1:25 each way although it may be 5-10 mins more for you to get to the M25 than me ;)

Bedfords a good safe track simply due to the lack of things to hit! Highly recommend it!

Thanks @Kaltorak loving the car. It would be great to catch up at some point - I had close friends in Feltham who have now moved to Ashford but u are not too far off from Ealing

Shame regarding the recent national lockdown announcement - a death kneel to any planned track days over the next 6 weeks I guess. Will have to look forward to some tracks days later in the year ... Bedford seems to be most recommended for a track day novice 🙂

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5 hours ago, will300 said:

Welcome to the club @Mani

I'd firstly start by deciding what route you want to take the car before buying modifications, there isn't really much point buying wheels / suspension for a stock bodied car if you plan to go wide body as the fitment you'd want will be different.

With regards to track use, the stock car is perfectly acceptable. The only mods I'd suggest initally are a set of good tyres and brake pads. 

Thanks @will300 ... there are still so many questions I have regarding mods so will definitely take some time and sensible advice before I jump the gun ... will stick with cosmetic initially 

Appreciate the word of caution regarding tires and brake pads - mine looks a bit worn but will get them checked out soon.

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12 hours ago, Mani said:

Thanks @Kaltorak loving the car. It would be great to catch up at some point - I had close friends in Feltham who have now moved to Ashford but u are not too far off from Ealing

Shame regarding the recent national lockdown announcement - a death kneel to any planned track days over the next 6 weeks I guess. Will have to look forward to some tracks days later in the year ... Bedford seems to be most recommended for a track day novice 🙂

Agreed, once this shits over it'd be good to meet up. I think there are a few other owners around the guildford/woking area that often to get togethers.

Im probably not the best to ask about mods though, only done the TD header, Tires BBK and wheels to fit that. Money goes on trackdays and the tightening the nut behind the wheel :D

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GT86 ownership - Month 8 Update

Whilst the initial months have been under lockdown, I have managed a couple of thousand miles of local driving  - loving it.
 
Since I wanted to start small in terms of the customisations, I have gone with mostly cosmetic
  • Replaced the air filter from stock to K&N
  • Replaced all internal light (leds) and door lights (the GT86 shadow lights)
  • Replaced all external lights to VLAND smoked ones
  • Got all windows tinted
Next up is some decals - not sure if I should add them as I am really liking the all black look at the moment so might hold off for a few months.

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