S18 RSG

Only a small update this time.
As those of you who attended the TD open day would have seen, I got around to fitting the rest of the HT Autos kit. I like the way it looks now it's all together. I screenshotted this picture from a video I found on Youtube of the open day (credit to whoever recognises the image from their video)

As for today, I took advantage of the first good weekend I've had free in a while, and got around to plastidipping the rest of the interior. The air con surrounds were a pain in the ass to remove and refit, but it was worth it I think. 


Finally, I had a go at fitting the bonnet struts I bought last week, only to realise that I had fitted them to the wrong part of the wing, and the bonnet wouldn't close. I figured I would just leave the bonnet ajar, lock the car away and sort it tomorrow (as I wanted to watch the El Classico), however due to the fantastic alarm on these cars, I couldn't do that without my alarm going off every 20 seconds, so I had to remove them ready to start again tomorrow. Here is how they sat upon initial fitting though:

So, that little plan will toll over into tomorrow (hopefully the weather stays good). I also want to try and get my amplifier for the speakers wired up, as it's been sat on my bedroom floor partially wired for the past month, and, if I have time, plastidip the Toyota badges black, and the centre section of the front lip black also. May be a job for another day however.
In other news, my new steering wheel is around a week away from completion. Slightly thicker than the stock wheel, all black alcantara with red stitching and a red 12 o'clock stripe. Safe to say I'm pretty excited for it. That's all for now

Only a small update this time.
As those of you who attended the TD open day would have seen, I got around to fitting the rest of the HT Autos kit. I like the way it looks now it's all together. I screenshotted this picture from a video I found on Youtube of the open day (credit to whoever recognises the image from their video)

As for today, I took advantage of the first good weekend I've had free in a while, and got around to plastidipping the rest of the interior. The air con surrounds were a pain in the ass to remove and refit, but it was worth it I think. 


Finally, I had a go at fitting the bonnet struts I bought last week, only to realise that I had fitted them to the wrong part of the wing, and the bonnet wouldn't close. I figured I would just leave the bonnet ajar, lock the car away and sort it tomorrow (as I wanted to watch the El Classico), however due to the fantastic alarm on these cars, I couldn't do that without my alarm going off every 20 seconds, so I had to remove them ready to start again tomorrow. Here is how they sat upon initial fitting though:

So, that little plan will toll over into tomorrow (hopefully the weather stays good). I also want to try and get my amplifier for the speakers wired up, as it's been sat on my bedroom floor partially wired for the past month, and, if I have time, plastidip the Toyota badges black, and the centre section of the front lip black also. May be a job for another day however.
In other news, my new steering wheel is around a week away from completion. Slightly thicker than the stock wheel, all black alcantara with red stitching and a red 12 o'clock stripe. Safe to say I'm pretty excited for it. That's all for now

Only a small update this time.
As those of you who attended the TD open day would have seen, I got around to fitting the rest of the HT Autos kit. I like the way it looks now it's all together. I screenshotted this picture from a video I found on Youtube of the open day (credit to whoever recognises the image from their video)

As for today, I took advantage of the first good weekend I've had free in a while, and got around to plastidipping the rest of the interior. The air con surrounds were a pain in the ass to remove and refit, but it was worth it I think. 


Finally, I had a go at fitting the bonnet struts I bought last week, only to realise that I had fitted them to the wrong part of the wing, and the bonnet wouldn't close. I figured I would just leave the bonnet ajar, lock the car away and sort it tomorrow (as I wanted to watch the El Classico), however due to the fantastic alarm on these cars, I couldn't do that without my alarm going off every 20 seconds, so I had to remove them ready to start again tomorrow. Here is how they sat upon initial fitting though:

So, that little plan will toll over into tomorrow (hopefully the weather stays good). I also want to try and get my amplifier for the speakers wired up, as it's been sat on my bedroom floor partially wired for the past month, and, if I have time, plastidip the Toyota badges black, and the centre section of the front lip black also. May be a job for another day however.
In other news, my new steering wheel is around a week away from completion. Slightly thicker than the stock wheel, all black alcantara with red stitching and a red 12 o'clock stripe. Safe to say I'm pretty excited for it. That's all for now

Well, it's been 6 weeks since my last update, so I figured now is a decent time for another.
Since the last update, I'm happy to report that 4 out of 7 of the plans I had for the car have been completed, along with a few others which I didn't plan for, so, let's start from the inside.
I got around to fitting the Focal integration speakers. Made for a nice upgrade to the cardboard speakers our cars come with, and took no more than 20 minutes to fit both speakers. Tweeters took a little longer, mostly because there were no instructions, but loads of parts. Turns out, I didn't use any of the parts, and just retrofitted the new tweeters into the existing holders.
To compliment the new speakers, I decided to bring forward the planned head unit, and ordered an Android unit from America, which has been tried and tested on the FT86 forum. Was a little over £250 all in, and required some extras such as an antenna adaptor, USB adaptor and modified brackets, but it's in now. Sound wise, was another big jump up from the stock stereo, with much more adjustability from the EQ. It allows me to use a multitude of media options, CD, DVD, USB, SD card, Bluetooth or Wifi, and best of all, fits into the 200x100 slot without the need for an adaptor.
Some pics:


Also pushed another thing forward, and organised a stage 1 remap with Mark over at Abbey Motorsport. I posted my experience at Abbey in the trader section, but the shortened version is the car went from 162 to nearly 180whp, with a similar increase in torque. Car feels much more "alive", especially at motorway speeds, and the torque dip is much less noticeable (but still there for sure). Good way to spend the money. Here's an up to date pic on the dyno:

Also got around to fitting the Valenti rear lights, which I fell in love with instantly. Haven't really taken a decent pic of them yet, but here are two I stumbled across on my phone:


Finally, I spent a weekend a few weeks ago spraying some of the interior plastics (the silver bits anyway) in red plastidip. Still got the door handles, air con surround and steering wheel detail to do, but overall really happy with the results. A few people saw it at the meet in February, so can probably vouch for the finish. No pics though unfortunately, will get around to that soon.
Plans for the car haven't really changed, however thanks to Mark's sales techniques, I'm now more sure about forced induction, so will be looking to go down that route sometime this year.
As for right now, plans are as follows:
Fit remainder of HT Autos lip kit (I have the sides and rear spats on my bedroom floor)
Catted manifold and updated remap to try and eliminate torque dip some more
TRD spoiler
Change brake pads, discs, lines and fluids
A few other small jobs (plastidip remainder of interior, retrim steering wheel, debadge boot, possibly spray Toyota badges black).
And that's basically everything for this update. Thanks for reading

Hi all.
Figured it's about time I just started a built thread rather than creating new threads for things/adding on to threads where I've asked questions or whatever.
So, I bought my GT86 in June of 2015. I had always loved the GT86 (I sat in one of the first production models back in 2012 at Wilton House Supercar day), but I always disregarded it due to the lack of power. Because of this, I spent a few months building up to the purchase looking at everything BUT the GT86. I had test drives in multiple V8 super saloons (E90 M3, C63 AMG, RS4), a 370Z, Jaguar XKR, even a beautiful Maserati Gransport, but being only 24, I felt like most of those choices (maybe aside from the 370Z and BMW) were a bit "old man" for me, so I just couldn't decide.
I spent a long time waiting for a Lexus ISF to become available near me to take one for a drive, but it was weeks before that came about. When one finally became available, it was out of my budget, and worse still, was unavailable to test drive when I went to look at it. I was gutted
Thankfully, because this Lexus dealer just so happened to be attached to a Toyota dealership, a caught a glimpse of a white GT86 Aero. While not a fan of the Aero kit, seeing another one in the flesh reminded me of why I loved the car so much. Much like the ISF however, the Aero wasn't available for test drive, so I had to book a test drive online with my local dealership.
A few days later and the test drive came about, and I fell in love. Even though I got hampered with an auto (when I desperately wanted a manual), and the power was a big step down, the feeling of the steering, the low down seating position, just everything was exactly what I was looking for, and huge bonus, unlike the M3 and C63 AMG (13 and 11MPG respectively), I got back to the dealer and saw 25MPG after a spirited test drive. I was sold.
Lots of research brought me here, where a read up on superchargers and turbo kits gave me hope of getting that power I craved. Then to the classifieds, and the search for my new car.
I found 3 GT86's in budget, in the right spec, but all were miles away (I'm in Newport, South Wales, the cars were in Derby). Thankfully, though in two different garages, the 3 cars were within 20 minutes of each other, so Saturday 30th May I set off at 7am, ready for my 10am appointment at Toyota. Unfortunately, upon arrival, I had a look around the 4 cars on sale (2 were out of budget), and was appalled at the condition. Kerbed wheels, key scratches up the side, condensated light clusters, mouldy windows, just horrible. I cancelled my appointment and left before I could fall victim to sales magic.
20 minutes up the road and I came to the next place. A private garage full of high spec Range Rovers, BMWs and Mercedes, and tucked away in the back corner, a stunning red GT86. I had a test drive, did some negotiation, and within a hour had signed on the dotted line to pick up a week later (after a pre delivery inspection etc.)
That's the backstory, now to say goodbye
This was my old car. 2010 Seat Ibiza Cupra 1.4TSI. It was at stage 2, running over 220hp, and 0-60 in a confirmed 5.1seconds. A seriously quick car, but being FWD and auto (7spd DSG) got boring. This was the final jetwash before selling.

I have to say, I was tempted to buy the M3 or the Cayman. Both within budget too.

Just after I swapped keys (bye Ibiza, you were fun )

And finally home

For the most part, the car stayed like this for around 3 months, apart from the addition of a HKS Hybrid filter and my new numberplate.

At this time I also spent some pocket change on some new LED number plate lights. Make a nice difference at night for sure.

Now the real changes start.
Change no. 1: Exhaust. Unfortunately, no pics of when it was done (apart from one rear shot at the end of this post), nor videos of the sound, but it's a custom made 2.5" cat back, with second cat delete, and 4" slash cut tailpipes. I had it made by a company called Prospeed Exhausts in Cardiff. They've done all of my cars, and will continue to do all my cars in the future. £450 for a decat and catback exhaust with a lifetime warranty and a 1 day turnaround. Fantastic.
Change no. 2: Suspension. Most of you will already know the story of this cock up, but a shortened version is this: I bought Eibach springs. Garage fitting them used power tools on shocks and popped the seals on all shocks. Contributed cost of new shocks towards a full set of Tein coilovers and now the car is on coilovers, and better for it no doubt. There's an extended version of this story somewhere on this forum, if anyone's interested I'll find it and link it.
This was the new ride height following suspension change:

This basically takes us up to Christmas.
Around Christmas time I had an urge to change my wheels. I spent months deciding that I wanted Rota Grids, and immediately placed an order on a set of 18x8.5s on Boxing Day, once all the festivities had ended.
Somehow though, despite deciding on Rota Grids, I bought 3SDM 0.01's, and my god am I happy I did.
January 2nd brought me this:

I was absolutely buzzing. I've seen the black 0.01's on a red GT86 and a white one also, but never seen the silver 0.01's on one. Was super happy when I saw the result. It's probably not everyone's idea of a GT86, given that most people go for race/track style wheels, but I've never been one for following the norm.
At Christmas, I also received a very kind gift from my parents, of a new front splitter from Fensport. It unfortunately had to stay on my bedroom floor for a few weeks due to the Welsh weather, but finally the weekend just gone, I was able to get it fitted (shoutout to my dad who will never read this for the help, as he basically did it all).
And these were the last pictures I took of the car, so we are now up to date.


One final bonus shot of the two babies back in their home, getting out of the weather.
Hopefully I didn't bore anyone with the wall of text and/or pictures, but I'm a few months behind, so had some catching up to do.
As for future plans, immediate plans are:
Valenti rear lights, TRD rear spoiler, debadge boot, fit new Focal speakers in doors (sat on bedroom floor).
The above will all be completed by the end of February for sure.
From then on, a remap and brake upgrade will be closely followed (upgraded discs, pads and fluid, nothing too drastic), followed by a new head unit so I can actually have sat nav without using my phone.
Long term plans are, I eventually want to look into forced induction, and will likely end up going for a Vortech supercharger kit (based on what's currently available). I'm not concerned with having the best or fastest GT86 in the club, but more power, and usable power, is exactly what I would like, and the Vortech kit seems to provide just that.
Thanks for reading
Ross
 
 

Only a small update this time.
As those of you who attended the TD open day would have seen, I got around to fitting the rest of the HT Autos kit. I like the way it looks now it's all together. I screenshotted this picture from a video I found on Youtube of the open day (credit to whoever recognises the image from their video)

As for today, I took advantage of the first good weekend I've had free in a while, and got around to plastidipping the rest of the interior. The air con surrounds were a pain in the ass to remove and refit, but it was worth it I think. 


Finally, I had a go at fitting the bonnet struts I bought last week, only to realise that I had fitted them to the wrong part of the wing, and the bonnet wouldn't close. I figured I would just leave the bonnet ajar, lock the car away and sort it tomorrow (as I wanted to watch the El Classico), however due to the fantastic alarm on these cars, I couldn't do that without my alarm going off every 20 seconds, so I had to remove them ready to start again tomorrow. Here is how they sat upon initial fitting though:

So, that little plan will toll over into tomorrow (hopefully the weather stays good). I also want to try and get my amplifier for the speakers wired up, as it's been sat on my bedroom floor partially wired for the past month, and, if I have time, plastidip the Toyota badges black, and the centre section of the front lip black also. May be a job for another day however.
In other news, my new steering wheel is around a week away from completion. Slightly thicker than the stock wheel, all black alcantara with red stitching and a red 12 o'clock stripe. Safe to say I'm pretty excited for it. That's all for now

I wanted the Ca-Fi, but when I looked into it, I couldn't justify the extra cost. By the time you get it in the UK with all the extras required, it was gonna be close to £400. It's on an older version of Android, has older hardware, no CD/DVD, and most significantly, has been out of stock for months.
The biggest advantages are that it's a plug and play solution and has a 0.8" bigger screen with slightly better resolution. On the flip side, losing CD/DVD was quite a big thing for me.
I think as long as you're happy to do a bit of DIY to make another one fit, you can get something easily as good, if not better, for a fraction of the cost by going elsewhere.

Indigo are fine, but they remind me a little of Litchfield whenever I've dealt with them. They do a good job, but really they would rather work on GTR's and other high end stuff. They are also monstrously terrible at responding. It took me 3 emails to get a reply from them last time, by which point I had given up.
As for how the car feels post map, quite simply, better.
I don't think the extra power is particularly noticeable (I'm up from 162whp to 178whp and 135wtq to 145wtq) but throttle response is hugely improved, and the car is so much more alive. There's very little need to change down gears to overtake anymore either, as that extra bit of midrange grunt has made the torque dip less of a hassle.
Mine has the secondary decat, catback exhaust, filter and map, so realistically the differences are probably going to be slightly exaggerated compared to what yours would achieve. If you want to give it a go, I'm open to meeting up somewhere so you can get a feel for it yourself. I took a few people out at the TD day who have stock cars, and they were all equally surprised at the difference it made.

As Tareim said, nowhere in South Wales has a reputation of working with ECUtek, so I would rather travel. Abbey Motorsport was the easiest for me to get to, as it's just M4 > M25 and a few miles further, didn't even need a sat nav other than to know which turning it was.
Takes about 2 and a half hours to get there, and even better he works on Saturdays too, which is great if you're a 9 to 5er.

If, like me, you're blessed with wide feet, you can just toe-toe around town  Brake with the ball of your foot and big toe, blip throttle with your little toe.

I didn't even realise you had the printout of the boost  My bad. In which case, the power curve is nowhere near as bad as I was thinking initially. Definitely more to come from it if you want it though. It feels so much more than what's on paper.

Part 2

You can see the photos I took here, however they were taken on my phone, so not the best.
I think Will had his camera, so he probably got some better pictures.

Hi Everyone
Here are some of my photo's from the Tuning Developments open day. Some of these photo's I'm not happy with how they have turned out, others I've not included at all. Because of this if your car is missing sorry.
Thanks for looking.
Part 1




















 
 

That curve looks so much better than the one you showed me, the last run seemed to completely die at about 5k.
Either way, as we said, that piece of paper means nothing. That car is outrageously fast.

I don't have a video, but I have a second cat delete and custom cat back with stock manifold. It doesn't drone at all from in the cabin, but as I found out today, it's surprisingly loud from outside, as loud as most other cars at the meet with the exception of those running no cats at all. 
I'll try and get a video at some point.

My mate is probably coming along in his GTR, so I assume it would be fine

My mate is probably coming along in his GTR, so I assume it would be fine

This is the latest picture (I think) of my setup, so a few things are missing, but the main layout is still the same. I've worked in the Youtube scene for a while (as a secondary job) so having the extra monitors for editing multiple videos etc. is brilliant. I'm also a fairly avid gamer, hence the ROG Swift (1440p 144Hz monitor in the middle).
As a compiled list of parts, from left to right:
Console setup: Xbox One Day One Edition, Xbox 360 (never used), 27" ASUS monitor.
PC Setup: i5 4670k @ 4.7GHz, GTX 970 SLI, 32GB RAM @ 2600MHz, 500GB SSD, 4TB storage drive, Corsair watercooling, Windows 10.
Monitors: 24" LG 144Hz 1080p, 27" ROG Swift 1440P 144Hz, 24" BenQ XL2411T 144Hz
Peripherals: Razer Blackwidow Ultimate keyboard, Logitech G502 mouse, Blue Snowball microphone, Fanatec CSR Elite wheel and pedals
Audio: Sennheiser HD650 headphones (music), AKG K702 headphones (gaming), Astro A40 with Mixamp (console gaming) JDS Objective 2 + ODAC (for general PC use). 
Out of picture, on the other wall, is a 55" LG 4K Smart TV.
I think that is just about everything. Please excuse cable management. This has been improved since.

I could be tempted. Not been to the peaks for a long time. Will wait to see the details before deciding for sure.

I've not really read through other replies, so apologies if I repeat what's already been said.
We stayed in Hotel an der Nordschleife. Prices are really reasonable for the area (around 100 Euros for a triple room, obviously cheaper for single/double). Breakfast was decent too. It's around 5 minutes drive from the entrance, and the museums etc. so it's a decent place to stay for that sorta thing.
I would however agree with what I've read as I briefly scanned, do a track day first. Unlike track days, where you get a briefing beforehand and therefore are forced to know the rules, the Ring is a toll road. You are fully expected to be up to date with the rules yourself, and it can be quite daunting to be driving enthusiastically, come across something strange and not know what to do. A track day can help answer some of the questions you may end up having on the day. That being said, if you get the chance, it's probably worth going out with someone more experienced for a few passenger laps first. Especially if you've been practising on your Xbox. 
I estimate I had done over 2000 laps of the Ring across various games before I went, but no matter which version you've played, nothing prepares you for the feeling of actually driving on it. For that reason, a passenger lap is brilliant. It helps you to identify where the track differs from what you already know (which is a lot).
Most importantly, don't try and be a hero. I was there for a few days, and only timed laps on the final day. The experience of just driving around the track was enough by itself, and you wouldn't want to ruin it by trying to race the clock.
Despite all that, it's a great experience, even for beginners. Just take it easy and be mindful of the, at times, crazy locals and I'm sure you'll find yourself in the 99% who enjoy the experience without mishaps.

I think yours may be a little out of date Keith. Both myself and Lauren can switch our cars off for a few days and the car remains on the last chosen map.
Mark explained that this was a later addition, so maybe something you could have switched on now?

Will sort out payment when I get home Rob. Bit difficult to do on my phone

Some of you may have seen I was on the lookout for a spare GT86 wheel when mine goes off for trimming. Just thought I'd post some information here in case others are interested in having similar work done.
I've been in contact with a guy called Jack, at Royal Steering Wheels (www.royalsteeringwheels.com), he has sent me an example of a GT86 wheel he has done in the past (below). I've heard nothing but great things about his work, and the options available are great, as can be seen via his website.

I will be going for a similar design to above, but slightly different. The specs are:
Toyota GT86 Manual - Thicker (2mm), Black alcantara on sides, Black alcantara Top, Red smooth leather bottom + Red Centre stripe at 12 o'clock, Red stitching
I am taking up their offer of an exchange system, in which they trim a standard GT86 wheel to your spec, send it to you around a week after receiving the order, then you send your original wheel back within 14 days.
The cost for this service differs everytime, but based on a few quotes I received, the general cost will be £110-140, plus £9.99 shipping, plus £100 deposit if using the exchange option (which will be refunded upon them receiving your original wheel).
Considering the prices of some of the aftermarket options, this seems like a great solution for those looking to add a custom touch to their interior without breaking the bank too much. Just thought it might be handy for a few people on here

My past 2 cars were VAG based FWD hot hatches. They will always have a place in my dream garage. I've typically avoided VW, mostly because I dislike the generally bland interior and understated styling, and they tend to be 10-20% more expensive, so I've tended towards Seat in the past.
However, what cannot be argued is how much more suited a turbocharged hot hatch is to daily driving. So much more usable power (max torque on mine was around 1500rpm), excellent fuel economy, easy to park and a nice big boot.
My only reason for moving away was wanting something more fun, and there's not denying a GT86 is more fun than most FWD cars.
Be interesting to see how you find going the other way though.