Tim86

Nope went for the revised MeisterR's to be a little different, should be arriving today at some point  

Better choice would of been some of the old MK2 MR2's Blues/ Purple.

Where is the boyracer bodykit if it had the trd bodykit id be all over this like white on rice even if it was 30k. Saying that someone please buy one, write it off and then I can purchase the entire interior. Ill keep an eye on ebay for a spares one of these babies : ) Considering the amount of spares galio's ive had bits off I think my luck might just be in! My friends mustang is in a similar orange and it is very eye catching although does resemble a high vis jacket

Not another breed of Gingers?

Hydraulic bump stops are not a spring @Deacon. The spring acts to apply a linearly increasing force on the relief valve. It works to increase the damping force as the spring presses hard into the relief valve. So you get a nice progressive increase in damping towards the end of damper travel that feels a bit less jarring than a rubber stop. They still have tradition rubber stops though, just very thin ones, but they still need something to avoid metal on metal contact at full compression. 
 
 

 
In the case of the tein flex A it makes it easier to do it with a twin tube. 
 
 

 
Motorsport dampers have external canisters and the HBS can be incorporated to limit bleed into the external canister under the last (predefined)% compression and thus they can still use a monotube. 
 
 
 

Thank you, that would be very useful. I have been looking at the new Gram Lights 57CR 5-Spoke's, however I'm not 100% sure on them. In some pictures they look great in others I think they look terrible. 

Sounds like marketing blurb to me. I would expect it is still possible to hit the bump stop, I don't see why a monotube design is immune. 
The better answer would be that the Flex A has a hydraulic bump stop as it's designed for road use and helps you take bigger hits without it feeling like it crashes through the shell. So the aim is to give you a better ride and on the odd occasion you hit a big depression or pothole it won't feel as bad. I am quite happy to put you in touch with Yukiko at Tein who could doubtless give you a better explanation. I would suggest that the Monotube Teins (Monosports) don't have hydraulic bump stops because they are more track orientated. 
I think what you was told simply doesn't answer the question. 

Definitely marketing blurb I'm afraid. Lots of rally dampers have 'proper' hydraulic bump stops and are monotube. The bump stops in most dampers are rubber - in the flex A's they're a spring. It's basically the same thing just different sprung mediums and the spring design works better to reduce the bump you feel when hitting the bump stops than the rubber bump stops generally do. The performance advantage that monotubes have is they are more consistent at high temperatures (as you could see on track for instance) than twintubes but twintubes ride better.
I should also point out I don't have the flex A's anymore so it's not just a case of owner bias!

If you want to have a play about with spring and ARB rates this spreadsheet I made should come in handy:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/87478421/GT86 and BRZ Spring and ARB Rate Comparison.xlsx
As Deacon pointed out you really need to convert spring rates in to wheel rates to understand the difference in steady-state cornering balance you get with different setups.
Happy to answer any questions you might have about how the spreadsheet works.

Apologies in that I'd forgotten to square the wheel rate figures so I've done that now.
For reference the 6/6 set up gives 5.13 front and 3.34 rear so also front biased.

Those carbon paddles look much better than the ally ones I bought for mine and they look like they actually fit properly

Car's looking very good and I'm looking forwards to reading your further updates.
Just a couple of points on the suspension - the damping won't really do anything below 16 clicks from fully stiff - it's pretty much as soft as it'll get at this point (this comes from Black Art Designs who help design the Meister R stuff from when I had it on my car briefly).
The spring rates they've used now will tend to make the car understeer quite a bit as the suspension design on the 86 means that the front spring rate has an effective rate of 0.925 on the front and 0.75 on the rear if I remember correctly (so front will equate to 4.23 and rear to 2.25). Stock  (up to the 2017) is 2.3kg front and 3.8 rear (again, iirc) which equates to 1.97 front and 2.14 rear. So stock is slightly rear biased whereas the Meister R set up is quite front biased which will equate to understeer so a stiffer rear ARB would be a good idea to try to restore the stock balance.
The main reason for the softer spring rate at the rear I'd suggest is road comfort rather than ride frequencies as the suspension at the rear is rather space limited.

Nice good read, I read it all... test me go on 
I have the same air con controls on mine  I also put a bit of Carbon fibre effect above them where the hazard light button is. I thought about the Gauge rings too; tempted on them. Agree on Fensport too, wonderful service. 
Keep us updated on the Meister R's, I'm really tempted by them even though I don't track the car (yet... however the £800 or so is a lot for me). 

2.5 years ago i bought a 62 plate GT86 with in Silver 50k on the clock. I wanted a change and to be a bit different, plus i live in a city centre (Norwich) so i went for an Auto.  Usually I'd avoid AT on most cars but I heard this box was actually pretty good with intelligent down shifting and whatnot. I paid 15k in the end (only 6k over original car budget). The car was advertised much cheaper than all the others at the time due to mileage, so the perfect culprit for a project build.  The car also had a good service record (RRG Macclesfield & Bolton) and no initial issues besides an exhaust rattle that was fixed at 10k miles.
As this would be my first build i did a lot of reading up on the car and various mods, and spent a good amount of time with it stock so that i could get to know the vehicle as a daily, and decide whether i was happy with my decision before i put any money into it!
Flash forward one year and i had my first full service to take care of. Thanks to lurking on these forums and reading up about their race car, i then decided to pay the guys at Fensport a visit, only an hour down the road so would be rude not to .
I had the service done with no issues, turns out this was the first time they had done a 60k service, so i was delighted to be the guinea pig! Everything went without a hitch. All the guys are super friendly and enthusiastic. First impressions is this is how a business should be run! I discussed with them my plan for NA tuning + FD mod. Also opted for the HKS panel filter and HKS spark plugs for the service. All good stuff!
The plan now was as follows: 4.67 FD, manifold, remap and license.
- FD for torque/improved 0-60
- Remap + HKS EL catless manifold to address the torque dip
- Suspension to improve stability and handling
This is the arguably the best bang-for-buck option and should be the go-to for anybody who wants a relatively low cost transformation. The next step was going to be  new wheels, rubber and suspension.
Happy with the service and eager to do more, we booked in the above for a couple months time, but unfortunately i had some personal issues pop up and we had to cancel . Turns out i would not get around to doing anything with the car until 2017! 
February:
During February i decide to start looking around again for wheels as i can't stand the OEM any longer, that and I'd need wider rubber for more power in future anyway. Granted Silver is not a popular car color choice but it actually has potential to look really clean if you pair it with the right wheels & mods. This is by no means an easy task, anything glossy outside of black clashes in my opinion and most colors/finishes just don't sit right. Black is also just a little too dark in contrast to the silver imo and looks better on a black or grey car.
After plenty of poking around i realize that I'm pretty much limited to Matte Gray, Gunmetal could in theory be an alternative option but can look cheap and tacky on some wheels in my opinion (Rota). I also saw a some forgestar in a dark midnight blue that looked really mean with a silver BRZ, so that color might be an option some day if i get bored.
After a fair few restless nights browsing wheels and fitments i stumble across this on the usa forums:
Gram Lights 57C6 18x9.5 +40 'Matte Graphite'

Just what i was looking for. Looks like he decision has been made. However, i contacted the UK distributor only to find that these have been discontinued! I then spend a good couple weeks (!) poking around and come across a small lesser-known company in the USA and look what they have:

Vordoven Forme 6 18x95 +38!
There is a god! A very cruel one who will later sting me roughly £500 on shipping and fees . Although i decided it was worth it when i stumbled across a thread where a guy tried out four different made in usa 'replica' wheels over the course of a year and voted these to be the best by a long shot and turns out the weight isn't far off the Rays either, practically the same in fact. Also no cheap Taiwanese jobby here so i was sold.
March:
Wheels & Yokohama Advan Sport V105 245/35 square setup are ready to go on. Luckily I managed to take this all to the fitting place in one trip! As you can see below four new tyres and wheels of this size will only just fit in the car.



TA-DA! All balanced and fitted by the guys at STS Tyre pros in Norwich, doesn't it look fresh.

I can confirm that this size and offset will only just fit without rubbing on stock suspension, if it wasn't for the mild tyre stretch the front would most definitely rub against the spring. Also worth noting that the wheel caps actually match the color of the body paint too which is a nice touch.
April:
Suspension time..
So i did a lot of research here- I wanted a nicely balanced & silent coilover setup for fast road & track at a reasonable price. I also wanted a mono-tube damper setup rather than a twin tube, plenty of details online between the pros and cons for both types. The Tein Flex A was my second choice as it was a twin tube.
I ended up opting for a set of MeisterR ZetaCRD+ mono-tube dampers and an Eibach rear LCA kit. If you want to go a little more track-focused then heavy duty anti-roll bars would compliment this setup very well, and i will be doing so in good time.

So with these coilovers the spring rate is a bit more sensible than that of other popular solutions. With front at 5kg/mm, rear 4kg/mm
These are designed to be a good fast road setup with enough damping adjustment for occasional track day use.
Front top mount is spherical bearing with camber adjustments.
The rear top mount is rubber insulated press steel to reduce possible road noise.
These are 32 stage damping adjustable mono-tube dampers (compression & rebound combined).

The spring rates of the ZetaCRD+ come out at 5/4 is because of the vehicle dynamic calculation that they do. On the GT86, when you are on the low end of spring rates for fast road, a 5/5 setup is a bit too close between the front and the rear so you could hit a harmonic frequency. The choice then is either 5/4, or 6/5. So they opted for the 5/4 in the end because it suits the requirements of a balanced fast road & track car better.
Pictures of them fitted on the car below, 5mm pre-load at the rear and id say 35-40mm drop all round, i would not go lower as i've already had a few scrapes on speed bumps . Camber at approx -1.5 all round definitely gives the desired aesthetic (yes i do need SS lines).
:

It has totally transformed the ride! Tight, responsive, nimble and composed through the twisties. Feels like a totally different car in many respects now, the grip is insane on NA but doesn't feel bogged down at all once aligned correctly.
For those worried about running a desired 9.5J aesthetic due to weight, just do it. I read a really informative article where different sizes and weights were tested and there was literally a couple tenths of a second difference on a track at most, and i know that most of you wont be building a fully stripped out race car ;).
I'm running damping at 18 clicks from soft front and rear, 16 was a little too soft.
Even though it is stiffer and lower I find the ride to be just as comfortable as stock in my opinion. Everything that I was told was correct, these are the coilovers to go for if you want to upgrade for occasional track without sacrificing too much comfort on the road.  Thoroughly impressed. If you have any further questions be sure to hit up Jerrick at MeisterR, he knows his stuff.
Coming Soon: FI and more!
 

2.5 years ago i bought a 62 plate GT86 with in Silver 50k on the clock. I wanted a change and to be a bit different, plus i live in a city centre (Norwich) so i went for an Auto.  Usually I'd avoid AT on most cars but I heard this box was actually pretty good with intelligent down shifting and whatnot. I paid 15k in the end (only 6k over original car budget). The car was advertised much cheaper than all the others at the time due to mileage, so the perfect culprit for a project build.  The car also had a good service record (RRG Macclesfield & Bolton) and no initial issues besides an exhaust rattle that was fixed at 10k miles.
As this would be my first build i did a lot of reading up on the car and various mods, and spent a good amount of time with it stock so that i could get to know the vehicle as a daily, and decide whether i was happy with my decision before i put any money into it!
Flash forward one year and i had my first full service to take care of. Thanks to lurking on these forums and reading up about their race car, i then decided to pay the guys at Fensport a visit, only an hour down the road so would be rude not to .
I had the service done with no issues, turns out this was the first time they had done a 60k service, so i was delighted to be the guinea pig! Everything went without a hitch. All the guys are super friendly and enthusiastic. First impressions is this is how a business should be run! I discussed with them my plan for NA tuning + FD mod. Also opted for the HKS panel filter and HKS spark plugs for the service. All good stuff!
The plan now was as follows: 4.67 FD, manifold, remap and license.
- FD for torque/improved 0-60
- Remap + HKS EL catless manifold to address the torque dip
- Suspension to improve stability and handling
This is the arguably the best bang-for-buck option and should be the go-to for anybody who wants a relatively low cost transformation. The next step was going to be  new wheels, rubber and suspension.
Happy with the service and eager to do more, we booked in the above for a couple months time, but unfortunately i had some personal issues pop up and we had to cancel . Turns out i would not get around to doing anything with the car until 2017! 
February:
During February i decide to start looking around again for wheels as i can't stand the OEM any longer, that and I'd need wider rubber for more power in future anyway. Granted Silver is not a popular car color choice but it actually has potential to look really clean if you pair it with the right wheels & mods. This is by no means an easy task, anything glossy outside of black clashes in my opinion and most colors/finishes just don't sit right. Black is also just a little too dark in contrast to the silver imo and looks better on a black or grey car.
After plenty of poking around i realize that I'm pretty much limited to Matte Gray, Gunmetal could in theory be an alternative option but can look cheap and tacky on some wheels in my opinion (Rota). I also saw a some forgestar in a dark midnight blue that looked really mean with a silver BRZ, so that color might be an option some day if i get bored.
After a fair few restless nights browsing wheels and fitments i stumble across this on the usa forums:
Gram Lights 57C6 18x9.5 +40 'Matte Graphite'

Just what i was looking for. Looks like he decision has been made. However, i contacted the UK distributor only to find that these have been discontinued! I then spend a good couple weeks (!) poking around and come across a small lesser-known company in the USA and look what they have:

Vordoven Forme 6 18x95 +38!
There is a god! A very cruel one who will later sting me roughly £500 on shipping and fees . Although i decided it was worth it when i stumbled across a thread where a guy tried out four different made in usa 'replica' wheels over the course of a year and voted these to be the best by a long shot and turns out the weight isn't far off the Rays either, practically the same in fact. Also no cheap Taiwanese jobby here so i was sold.
March:
Wheels & Yokohama Advan Sport V105 245/35 square setup are ready to go on. Luckily I managed to take this all to the fitting place in one trip! As you can see below four new tyres and wheels of this size will only just fit in the car.



TA-DA! All balanced and fitted by the guys at STS Tyre pros in Norwich, doesn't it look fresh.

I can confirm that this size and offset will only just fit without rubbing on stock suspension, if it wasn't for the mild tyre stretch the front would most definitely rub against the spring. Also worth noting that the wheel caps actually match the color of the body paint too which is a nice touch.
April:
Suspension time..
So i did a lot of research here- I wanted a nicely balanced & silent coilover setup for fast road & track at a reasonable price. I also wanted a mono-tube damper setup rather than a twin tube, plenty of details online between the pros and cons for both types. The Tein Flex A was my second choice as it was a twin tube.
I ended up opting for a set of MeisterR ZetaCRD+ mono-tube dampers and an Eibach rear LCA kit. If you want to go a little more track-focused then heavy duty anti-roll bars would compliment this setup very well, and i will be doing so in good time.

So with these coilovers the spring rate is a bit more sensible than that of other popular solutions. With front at 5kg/mm, rear 4kg/mm
These are designed to be a good fast road setup with enough damping adjustment for occasional track day use.
Front top mount is spherical bearing with camber adjustments.
The rear top mount is rubber insulated press steel to reduce possible road noise.
These are 32 stage damping adjustable mono-tube dampers (compression & rebound combined).

The spring rates of the ZetaCRD+ come out at 5/4 is because of the vehicle dynamic calculation that they do. On the GT86, when you are on the low end of spring rates for fast road, a 5/5 setup is a bit too close between the front and the rear so you could hit a harmonic frequency. The choice then is either 5/4, or 6/5. So they opted for the 5/4 in the end because it suits the requirements of a balanced fast road & track car better.
Pictures of them fitted on the car below, 5mm pre-load at the rear and id say 35-40mm drop all round, i would not go lower as i've already had a few scrapes on speed bumps . Camber at approx -1.5 all round definitely gives the desired aesthetic (yes i do need SS lines).
:

It has totally transformed the ride! Tight, responsive, nimble and composed through the twisties. Feels like a totally different car in many respects now, the grip is insane on NA but doesn't feel bogged down at all once aligned correctly.
For those worried about running a desired 9.5J aesthetic due to weight, just do it. I read a really informative article where different sizes and weights were tested and there was literally a couple tenths of a second difference on a track at most, and i know that most of you wont be building a fully stripped out race car ;).
I'm running damping at 18 clicks from soft front and rear, 16 was a little too soft.
Even though it is stiffer and lower I find the ride to be just as comfortable as stock in my opinion. Everything that I was told was correct, these are the coilovers to go for if you want to upgrade for occasional track without sacrificing too much comfort on the road.  Thoroughly impressed. If you have any further questions be sure to hit up Jerrick at MeisterR, he knows his stuff.
Coming Soon: FI and more!
 

The forge one does not make a noise as BOV or dump valve ones would. The AVO 50/50 atmospheric/recirc dumps out 50% air giving a mild dump valve noise

The forge one is silent then? 

My guess would be that he wanted some noise (pssshhhhh), I could be wrong though

personally I wouldn't bother til next year. You're only going to kerb it again. It's sods law

Those wheels!

ive got 17" ce28n's instead so the 18" ultraleggeras have been relegated so im selling the tyres that wouldve gone on them

Maybe we could arrange a meet over at Freeport, nice drive out there, or up at Ipswich as it's not that far really for us Essex folk.
 
 
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Yep and they have for years. I specc'd my new car with a Milltek exhaust and Injen induction kit. They have fitted and supplied all the modifications to my car since. 

Search on google for
Service Schedule + OEM Parts List/Prices
 
You'll find the top result very helpful imo.

Some of you guys said it's okay for a slight protrusion but the law is if you look down from above the arch and can see tyre tread then it's illegal and can be cause for MOT failure. It's essentially to stop your tyre tread from ripping someone's flesh of the bone if you clip them with yor wing as they will likely bounce off the wing instead of hitting the tyre tread, pretty sure it's based off a few isolated cases which shouldn't precedent over the vast majority of motoring deaths but such is the law. I know someone who got 3 points for tyre tread protruding a few mm from the arch. You are allowed 30mm of poke but no tread whatsoever, this is calculated from the top looking directly down at the arch. It likely wouldn't be checked during an mot if the poke was slight. However if the police stop you for good reason and notice it they will likely give you 3 points and a fine and 7 days to fix it. I'd say just fit stretched tyres that have no tread In the poke to make it fully legal. It's not worth the potential 3 points and a fine. Also traffic cops might stop you just for wheels with poke to check if there is tread and have seen people complain about this on other forums. Some who got 3 points for tread in the poke and some with very stretched tyres that were legal as no tread was showing and just got stopped for that reason a couple times. I just thought I'd say this so everyone knows as I'm sure you have a good chance of getting away with it forever depending on where and how and how much you drive. But I don't want anyone to think it's completely fine then end up with 3 points and a fine.  The more you know!