Nicebiscuit

Particularly interested in the thoughts of those traders on here supplying supercharger kits... I know nothing much about Superchargers - but have owned a good number of Turboed cars (closet Saaboholic) so used to the benefit of turbos in that there's very little impact on fuel economy on a light throttle. Given that one of the things I like about the 86 is that it's pretty frugal for a sportscar, I'm interested in what the real life effect on fuel consumption is (in daily driving - not when using the power clearly - don't care then! [emoji48]) Not a very 'drivers club' question I know - but hey I'm a Yorkshireman...[emoji6]

Post here what you've got, and share any useful info... Springs, shocks, coilovers, whatever. Technical info, driving impressions, photos of how damn awesome your car looks now - all welcome. Share your suspension related wisdom, so that others can read and learn...

I know some people on here have travelled to Japan Planning a trip with the family as turns out we’ve all got it on our bucket list. Can only manage two weeks, most likely at Easter. So assuming we’ll do Tokyo and Kyoto and probably venture out from there but obviously can’t cover length of the country in that time, what should I consider doing? There’ll be a bit of hurtling around by bullet train, but also happy to rent cars and travel out... Obviously petrolhead type recommendations most welcome as one of the reasons I’m going... but also anything else you’d consider unmissable. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This has been on my bucket list since forever and it didn’t disappoint. Thus drive was worth the price of the GT86 alone. I got really lucky with it still being open this late, and it was absolutely deserted. Just me, the car and traction control turned off. [emoji48] Fantastic - never driven a road so twisty most of the hairpins are FIRST gear... [emoji15]. Very much recommended...

Not this time - flying visit... You’re right about the hairpins. The handbrake was quite handy... ;-). I think the damp road helped and I didn’t see another car or bike all the way up. Will never manage that again! Coming back via Briançon - know the Lauteret pass really well so I enjoy that one - very open... The lock is actually very good on the 86. Did get me thinking though - recently got an fwd Alfa Spider, and the steering lock on those is abysmal due to the weird steering geometry Alfa use. No way would that have got round those bends... [emoji23] Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Off season must be the thing. Utterly deserted today, and nicely damp [emoji41]. That said, very lucky the snow hasn’t come yet. Usually closed by now. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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Dammit. That’s the one I want too... just want a subtle black lip on mine... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Brilliant! Thanks for those. Plenty of thoughts to google. Myself? Mainly going for the cultural experience - so definitely a Ryokan and baths on the agenda and plenty of food. My kids are increasingly manga/anime nuts so it’s all about that for them... But can’t go there without at least a bit of a poke around the car museums and renting something interesting. GT86 a bit tight for us all now on a long trip, but plenty of places seem happy to rent me a WRX or some such, so that’ll do [emoji41]. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It’s been that long, thought I ought to say hello again, though I have been intermittently lurking. Still got the car, still love it, but work and house renovations have totally got in the way of doing anything else with it or to it... Bob is four this month. Still as much fun as the day I got him. I might even make more effort to stick around here. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hi Lauren! Just catching up... I see yours now has excellent stripes. I approve. Also lots and lots of miles. To my shame mine only done 25k or so. Work from home so much more these days... Also - hi Mike. See your tuning packages are still going down well. I still may be back for that turbo... Playing the long game here. At current mileage rate I’m going to get 20 years out of this car. Nothing tempting me out of it. Unless someone lends me £50k for an Alpine A110. But that’s about it... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This one will be best with photos. What have you got - post diameter, width and offset, and tyre size used. Do they fill the arches? Fitted with standard or lowered suspension? The 86 can look great on anything from 16x7s to massive wheels under swollen body kits. Let's build a resource so people can see how to get the stance they want.

Thought I might put up some thoughts, not least as I think I'm the only one on here with one of these, and might be useful to those coming on here considering spec. So basically I bought this car because I wanted a GT86, I wanted a new one, and I wanted to spend as little as possible so that my children could still afford shoes (when outside the car, naturally) No point in dwelling on the car in general, except to note that all the gushing reviews since 2012 seem pretty much spot on, and in particular Toyota appear to have made electric power steering actually communicate (which is a first for me). So, what do you miss out on by going poverty spec? - No Xenon headlights or led running lights. I have halogen projectors which I actually think quite clean looking. Still has running lights but uses the fog lamps to do this. - No spoiler. A matter of preference, but one advantage is that I don't have any inconvenient holes in the bootlid either should I want to fit an aftermarket one. - Manual aircon. I don't mind this as you get nice big old fashioned rotary controls you can use without taking eyes off the road. And it still will make you hot or cold as required. - No cruise control. Doesn't bother me, but might be deal breaker for others. - No start button. Mine has a proper old fashioned key. Probably takes up less room in your pocket. There's another fringe benefit here too. Because there's no starter button, the tray next to the USB and aux sockets is usefully bigger and fit your phone/iPod/whatever. I think that's about it. Still has folding mirrors, Touch hi(ish)-fi, the same seats, nice leather wheel and same trim. And most importantly same engine and running gear. Mine has the same wheels, but if you ordered now you'd get some rather pretty 16' Enkeis instead and save a few more quid. For me it keeps all the important bits and saves a few quid - a bit like the Renaultsport Cup cars. It also makes it serious value and is priced against very unexciting variants of BMW and VW coupes. Other than that, after a week of ownership what strikes me is the stuff you wouldn't expect. Sure it's a lovely sports car, but I'd expect that. However it's also surprisingly useable transport. The boot is Ok, it's not unacceptably noisy, 6th gear is high enough for relaxed motorway cruising, the seats are comfy and even the back seats are perfectly viable for a young family providing the adults aren't too tall. The interior quality is also fine. It seems to be made from typical Japanese plastics that don't exactly look hard wearing, but yet somehow look exactly the same 15 years later (see Toyota Carina minicabs) In summary, as viable second car transport for a slightly petrol-headed family of four it works a treat. This car is not just for the childless! Enough for now. I think I've just thought of something I need to nip out for...

A lot of people here seem to go with Tein coilovers, and with good reason, but I thought I might try something a little different, as perhaps I was looking for different results. First thing is that my car is most definitely a road car. I'd like a play on track in due course, but the main reason I own a car like this at all is that I live of the edge of the Peak District. So I want a b-road rather than track oriented set up. As such I found the stock spring rates not too bad, but never been that impressed with the damping. It seemed both unnecessarily jiggly at low speed, and not that controlled at speed on lumpy surfaces. The other thing is ride height. A bit lower is ok, but it wasn't a priority or even that desirable as the car has to negotiate car parks kerbs and speed jumps. So I considered just swapping out the dampers (Bilsteins again probably) until I realised this coilover set could be had for very little extra. The JDM crowd may not approve of the choice of German suspension but I would gently suggest they check the decals on the side of pretty much any Toyota works rally car since the mid seventies [emoji41] This B14 set are priced right between the Tein Flex Z and Flex As so are a straight choice cost wise. I probably would have gone for the Flex As. So why these? Basically a different set of compromises that I thought might suit my requirements better. These are non adjustable - the damping is how Bilstein think it should be and that's your lot. That's the first difference. (If you want adjustable damping there is the B16 set for a fair bit more cash). This didn't bother me particularly. They certainly appear high quality - monotube dampers in rather nice stainless steel (bit of a waste you can't actually see them [emoji1]) For my purposes, the key difference is a decent spring length and near-stock travel, combined with progressive spring rates. This seemed possibly a better set up for our godawful roads. RRG fitted them - they reuse the stock mounts - and got a bit of camber on the front with camber bolts. I've got the ride height dialled right up for now. Bilstein say 10-30mm drop, and they haven't settled yet but 10mm seems about right. As noted above I don't really want it lower, just BETTER. So having had chance for a blast over to Buxton I can now say without shadow of a doubt these hit the spot. Disclaimer - I haven't driven a Tein suspended car so I can't compare, but these are my impressions . Firstly, low speed ride if anything is better. Firm but not jiggly. The faster you go the better it gets. The balance of the car hasn't changed, the tail is still playful, but the main difference is the car is so much less nervous on rough Tarmac. Turn in much better (suspect the Yokohamas have a lot to do with this) and then the car remains adjustable, leaning on its back outside tyre like it always did but now uncorrupted by bumps. Basically the car is so much faster on a B road now just because of the additional control. It doesn't wriggle or squirm unnecessarily on poor surfaces. I make it sound boring, but it isn't. It's still alive and steering feel is lovely, just more capable. I now feel I can use all the car all of the time. In short I absolutely love it. So would I recommend? Yes - I couldn't be happier, and if you want something primarily for fast road use these work really well. They feel stock but much better - if Toyota did an 'S' model it would feel like this. I can't imagine they have as much scope as the Teins for track suspension though, or if you like to tweak your settings. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Nope. 16 inchers so I could get me snow chains in for the Alps. Old school... Look crap - work brilliantly on a couple of inches of snow... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Don't mind if you do drive on them - though we would all take the Mick... Lauren's car on knock-off JDM-copy wheels - whatever next ;-D Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If you're still stuck Lauren, you can borrow my winters... And I'm in Macclesfield of course so you could pick em up on the way to RRG... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not keen unless they slap a supercharger on it. All mouth, no trousers. GT86 badly needed a halo model. This isn’t it.

I was waiting outside school for my son and two kids approached, took pictures on their phone and said ‘your car is sick, mate’ That’ll do for me [emoji23]

Ah - missed that- sorry. Completely different kettle of herring then... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aren't the emissions gonna change? Still passes MOT with the secondary cat only. Plenty have done this... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Aren't the emissions gonna change? Still passes MOT with the secondary cat only. Plenty have done this... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk