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mucho excitio ! I've just put down a deposit on a blue edition with performance pack. I test drove it on my own for around an hour and just had to buy it 😁 can't wait to get hold of it for good.

I've just bought a ticket and booked onto the club stand, bit of a tradition now this one!

After last week's two trackdays the car was a real mess. I had the car detailed today by Lee at Classic Mobile Valet including full decontamination, machine polishing and ceramic coating. If you're Midlands based I'd definitely recommend giving Classic Mobile Valet a try Few before and after and reflection shots

Been to Wales twice and the Lakes once in the last month, desperately needed a wash, in and out. Still scrubs up ok.

Hi All, Back at the start of the lockdown I decided I needed a project to look forward to whilst working from home and I'd been toying with the idea fitting a turbo/supercharger for a while. Only problem was a i really fancied doing the installation work myself, so after some research (and a test drive in the Abbey demo car) I settled on ordering the Harrop supercharger kit from @Mark@Abbey M/S . Now it turns out that Abbey don't sell many of these kits for DIY fitment, so i figured I'd write up a bit of a review in the hope others might find it useful and may even have a go themselves in the future. Existing mods Prior to fitting the supercharger I'd had a TD manifold fitted and a remap by Abbey which took the car up to about 180bhp at the hubs and around 140ibft of torque. I’ve also fitted several cat backs ultimately settling on the TD super res. What's included? So for the money you get Harrops custom built manifold mated to an Eaton TVS1320 blower plus all the bits and pieces required to make it work on the car (including a special tool for reforming the A/C pipe around the supercharger). I have to say on unboxing the kit i was really quite impressed, it includes just about everything you need to get the job done. Complete with a signed off opy of the picking sheet when the kit was put together at Harrop so you can see someone's taken the time to put it all together and you can easily check it's all there. The only bit that wasn't included was the coolant for the charge cooler but that's not the end of the world as it's a standard GM coolant so you can get the anywhere. In addition Mark also provided; the loan of an EcuTEK programming cable and dongle, a base map to get the car running, distance mapping (more on that later) and a session on the dyno for final map tuning and a power run. The fitting process This is the bit i'd imagine will be most of interest to other as there's not an awful lot of info online about it. Now the first thing I must stress is much in the style of the Pirates code (see one of the Pirates of the Caribean films for the full reference), the instructions are really for guidance only. They'll point you in the right direction (usually getting you 95% of the way there) but there will be times where a little bit of thinking is required. Most of those moments centred more around the removal of the OEM items rather than the refitting of the new bits, which in all honest I kinda expected and it wasn't really that difficult. That being said Mark was always at the end of phone when I had bits i wasn't sure of. In terms of what was required to fit the kit, i did it over the course of a week with the front end in the air on a set of drive on ramps. If you're going to this way it's worth considering fitting the chargecooler/chargecooler pump/pipe work first (the instructions have it last). That way all the work from underneath is done before you start removing things like the fuel rails. Also it's worth following a bit of advice from one of the American forums and remove the undertray all the way back to the footwell, it's sods law you'll drop something and it will almost certainly land on that under tray. As for tools, the only specialist tools required were the former for bending the A/C pipe out of the way and that was included in the kit (it's worth making sure you have a substantial G clamp though as bending that pipe is hard work). Just about everything else can be done using a socket set and the odd screwdriver/allan key. The only minor issue i did find was that clearance between the TD manifold and the crank pulley was a bit tight, so we had to grind a little bit off the flange to fit the auxilliary belt. That and getting the fusebox apart to fit the chargecooler pump wiring but that's simply a case of trusting that it's more solid than you think. Once you're happy leavering things knowing what you can get away it comes apart fairly easily. Mapping Now the mapping process is something I've never really been involved in before so it was quite interesting. So Mark talked me through the initial process of connecting the EcuTEK software to the car and querying the ECU. He then sent over a base map which allowed me to get the car running and. From there it was a case of going out taking data logs starting keeping the car at low load/rpm initially then gradually increasing load/rpm as Mark tweaked the mapping till we got to a point where i could run it all through the rev range. This was the first point where the supercharger relay began to put a smile on my face, running it all the way through the rev range in third is really quite addictive. The way the torque just builds and builds is fantastic. After that i got the car booked in on the dyno for the final tune and a power run (the results of which are attached), the headline figures being approximately 240bhp (up 60bhp) and 200ibft or torque (also up around 60ibft). Conclusions to wrap up, i have to say i don't regret going down the DIY fitment route and i'd highly reccomend it to anyone that's half decent with a set of spanners. Fitting this kit really isn't all that complicated and the feeling of pride when you fire it up for the first time is just fantastic. That and of course you get a car at the end of it with some serious performance, the bit where it really comes alive is the the way it pulls through third/fourth/fifth. Where it used to run out of steam the car now just pulls like a train. With the added bonus that the fuel consumption hasn't taken to much of a hit, granted if you really press on then it drops quite quickly but on a gentle cruise i can still get 32-33mpg. I'd also just like to say a big thanks to Mark and the team at Abbey Motorsport. They were really helpful through out the process (Mark even delivered the kit personally after Parcel Force decided it was to heavy but didn't bother calling him to say so) and it was good to know that Mark was at the end of the phone should i need some advice. If anyone has any questions then fire away, i'm more than happy to help.

Get Mike to turn it up to 11, I have a SC now 😂 (I feel a bit like John McClane - "Now I have forced induction, ho ho ho"...) Didn't realise you had Thruxton booked, I'm doing the one in October. Looks like that September date is sold out now.

There's this one through Circuit Days, Silverstone in early November. Between you, me, and @VAD17 we could make it 3 grey GT86s and 2 sets of TE37s 😂

Alignment done. Went to Drury Lane Garage in Oldham. Top class job done same day within a few hours, very friendly and got to chat about trackdays etc. Now have -2.5 camber front, -2.0 rear and very slight rear toe-in. They checked over all my handiwork to ensure it was all safe. I left the dampers at 7 clicks. The wobbly handling is cured, hurray! Feels very planted so far, as much as you can feel on the road anyway. Once the BBK is in, I'm rebooking the last track day I had planned that was cancelled due to covid back in March (anyone planning to do a Circuitdays event soon?). Will post some beauty shots of the finished car soon once its stopped pouring. Just saving up for the TD NA tune now. Pictures of the final camber and ride height:

Please could you add me to the list! Thanks Vad 😀

Apologies for the long absence! Been a funny old year personally, meaning the car has been put on the back burner slightly... Now back in action with lots of things happening, so I'll try and get as much of an update in this post as I can remember! First and foremost, I finally got the newly built engine back from Rogue Motorsport after MANY issues with parts 🙄 Matt, Patrick and the team have been amazing! This project has tested the limits of their patience, yet they've still gone above and beyond to deliver the end product. It was then back to Carson Performance to put it all back together, using the existing parts that it was fitted with last time. Piece of cake, right? WRONG! Even the engine mounts which were EXACTLY the same for the old engine that went pop, didn't want to play ball and needed slight modifications to fit the new engine in place. Literally cannot catch a break.... The new intercooler that sits in the intake manifold under the supercharger, is made by the same company that make the intake manifold. So should be made to fit perfectly, right? Wrong again! Yet more slight modifications required. So yet again, stupid little things holding us back from getting this running. Like the water outlets for the intercooler fowling on the heater matrix water pipes. REALLY?! 😓 But, as always, Carson Performance have overcome every issue this project throws at them and made up some custom water pipes that are slightly shorter than the ones supplied, meaning it all fits into place nicely. Hopefully not too much longer now, but who knows what else this thing come up with to test us?

245/40 is perfect on a 17". You want the 35 profile on 18".

Bought some new wheel nuts for when the tyres were swapped. I was really impressed by these - they are open ended nuts which the red piece screws into using a special tool they provide. They've even gone to the effort of sealing it with a rubber o-ring. Took the car to Rogue Motorsport to swap the new track tyres on and give the car a quick check over before the two trackdays I have coming up next week

Nearly Back On The Road So I set out to give a true reflection of what it would take to get the car back on the road. I have done all the work myself minus the frame shop straightening the front end/welding on the new slam panel and the respray itself. If you take out of the consideration any mods I've purchased that weren't needed such as rear lights/headunit/STI parts etc and just look at what it would take to get a similar 86/BRZ back on the road with similar damage I have spent as follows. Exactly as I've done it with facelift front end and new bumper/wings plus full colour change: Total on the road cost: £8930.46 That includes: Crash Damaged BRZ £4200 Used Bonnet £150 Used Crash Bream £50 Used Rad £20 Used A/C rad £20 Used Fans £20 Used Airbox and washer bottle £100 Odd used and new clips, brackets, fog lights, wiring, rear bumper etc £200 New Slam Panel Subaru £306 New Front wings and brackets, top plastic grill trim, 4x rubber bushings for rad assembly Toyota £309 New Vland Headlights £380 New Facelift front bumper with all the brackets, grills etc £617.92 New Headlight rubber seals(BRZ Only) Subaru £58.14 New Headlight washer jet covers Subaru £70 New Various bolts Subaru £29.24 Labour for frame shop to straighten the car £380 Respray in Porsche RS Green £2000 (Note for those that ask why so cheap I did all the labour in terms of stripping the car minus the bonnet/doors/boot lid For that above cost I have a 2013 BRZ with around 40k on the clock, spotless interior, heated seats, spotless exterior which is unique and you wont see another one in that colour, black headlights etc. Yes I could have bought a working 86 for that sort of price (Only seen very rough BRZ's sub £10k) but it would possibly have higher mileage, not as in good condition and certainly not unique. It would also have the pre-facelift front end which im not a massive fan of. So for me I am more than happy with it as it stands and gives me a solid base to start modifying. Getting it on the road even cheaper: Now I could have got it on the road for much cheaper if I had waited around for used parts that matched the body colour and didn't insist on retro fitting a facelift front end. This would have avoided £2000 in bodyshop costs straight away, plus the used body parts would have been a lot cheaper than the new bits I went for like the front bumper and wings. Total on the road cost: £6383.54 That includes: Crash Damaged BRZ £4200 Used Bonnet £150 Used Crash Bream £50 Used Rad £20 Used A/C rad £20 Used Fans £20 Used Airbox and washer bottle £100 Odd used and new clips, brackets, fog lights, wiring, rear bumper etc £200 New Slam Panel Subaru £306 Used Front wings and brackets, top plastic grill trim, 4x rubber bushings for rad assembly £300 New Vland Headlights £380 Used Front Bumper £150 New Headlight rubber seals(BRZ Only) Subaru £58.14 New Various bolts Subaru £29.24 Labour for frame shop to straighten the car £380 Yes I was lucky with some of the used parts coming up super cheap, but if I can find bargains, others can. Sam Nadeem from SJ Autosports is a great source of well priced used parts for 86's/BRZ's in the UK. I did all the work with a Halfords tool kit and a Ryobi impact gun. I've never rebuilt a crashed car before so have learn't a lot along the way. Now its time for its MOT tomorrow, then tax and insurance. Once thats done its off the bodyshop for its final polish now its all back together then modifications begin. Very happy its gone from this: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr To This: Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

I expect your rear toe is miles out. Get it aligned first then see.

If you've not had an alignment done, then you have no idea how much you've changed the geometry and this (plus tyre pressures?) can cause the car to handle badly, even dangerously. I would have had the alignment done as part of the suspension swap, or have it booked in ready for when you did the work if done at home.

God damn, you're due some good luck! Glad some prgress is being made. Enjoy the updates.

+1, i've had mine for 5 years now and its is no more expensive than a regular hatchback (in some cases cheaper) Its almost comical how long tyres and brakes last, servicing costs are typical Toyota prices, there are no vices or shockers with maintaining these cars. Biggest expense is fuel, expect high 20s for low speed town driving, high 30s for a roads and motorways (driven how it should be )

hold on a sec while i just pick my jaw off the floor......k. OMG this looks so tidy. I love seeing when people put a lot of time and effort (and money) into the small details and this has really paid off. Nice work!

This week I managed to find time to fit my STi front lip that came from Japan. It was a bit nerve-racking drilling my freshly painted, brand new front bumper, but needs must. I have to say I am glad I went for the genuine product over the replica pieces as the fit and finish was perfect. No need to paint/refinish the item, all the holes lined up perfectly with the existing holes and the stick on templates made it so easy to line up where to drill the new holes. It uses a couple of clips and rubber well nuts along the bumper to fit, I was really pleased how secure it is. I have the STi sideskirts and rear lips to go on in the next couple of weeks: STi lip by James Baker, on Flickr STi lip by James Baker, on Flickr

I’m down the road from Wakefield pal, not many GT86’s around here so thought if you were local could have shared our passion for this car over a pint. Will probably bump into you one day at an event, enjoy the car, you won’t regret it.

The alcantara I had on my dash panels and binnacle cover had started to fade (on the binnacle cover mainly). It's the second time I've had it done so I decided I'd try something different. I saw a member on the FB group have some of their panels flocked by a company called For Flocks Sake so decided I'd give them a try too. Panels arrived yesterday and I fitted them today. The red is beautiful - much deeper than it seems to come out in photos. Fingers crossed the flocking resists sun fading a little better.

So finally over the weekend I got the new engine to fire up. When I initially tried to start the engine on its base map I just couldn’t get it to start. I checked over everything and got my tuner logged on remotely and we began to trouble-shoot. I initially thought maybe the new fuel pump was acting up but the newly installed pressure sensor was showing good pressure (paying for itself already!) The issue was manifesting as stall on cranking which we thought was maybe a lack of cranking amps from the battery, which to be fair we had stressed while trying to trouble shoot. I really couldn’t understand where the issue was coming from but I had my suspicion that the battery was probably not the issue. Then by chance while researching the issue on-line I came across this article and it all started to sound too familiar. https://www.picoauto.com/library/cas...gine-non-start Just to be sure I dug out some photos I’d taken during assembly and sure enough I could tell I had made the same mistake when setting the timing. And it appears I’m not the first to have done it either. Having gone through the OEM manual again I can see exactly how I made the mistake, luckily when you do make this mistake you essentially set the right bank 180Deg out of phase so there is no valve interference but it does mean the front cover has to come off. In the end I opted to strip the front off the car and do it in situ. Once the timing was sorted the engine fired up first turn of the key. I haven’t run it up to temperature yet as it will be broken in on the dyno, so I can’t tell how many oil leaks I have yet....but fingers crossed! Once that was completed I spent a bit of time configuring the CANBUS signals between the Motec ECU and AIM dash. Currently I have the oil pressure sensor routed directly to the AIM dash to control the Accumsump but I plan to re-wire it via the Motec to utilise the inbuilt rev cut, then relay the signal over CANBUS to the AIM dash. As the AIM Dash is receiving two CANBUS signals (ECU, and OEM Chassis CAN) but it can only run its inbuilt template on one channel I’ve had to remap the OEM chassis signals on the second channel. It’s quiet simple to do once you know the addresses etc. The info might be useful to other 86 owners so the signals I’ve mapped are below. I’ve only mapped these few as they are the main ones I’m after. So that’s it for now, my final part still hasn’t arrived yet but as soon as lockdown is lifted it will be off for dyno tuning.

I'll also apologies at this point for the onslaught of posts, as some of you can probably tell I'm copying it across from a long running build thread on a local Irish forum, but though people on here might like it too, and to be fair I've purchased a lot of items and got a lot of support from traders on here so was time to give some love back

Another update from me (apologies if I’m hogging someone else’s thread). In an attempt to better drive the Focals, and in conjunction with Ian at Leeds Car Audio, we decided to add an amplifer (Hertz) and sub (Audison). This has really brought the speakers to life. The sub frees up the Focals from having to handle too much base and so the mids come across a bit stronger. Of course with this setup the Focal IS165TOY upgrade is now the weakest link but this setup will do for a while.

Or you could just learn to heel and toe. It's really easy on the GT. That's the thing for me, I'm not interested in the auto blip, flat shifting or launch control. I can drive the car okay myself having spent years learning driving techniques.