spikyone

Really sorry for you! I had mine written off at the start of January having just bought the car - so I feel your pain.
1. I second everything OllyW says. Make sure you get the witness to follow through on their statement so you make the fact you're not at fault as concrete as possible. If it's sensible drawing diagrams of what happened might help make the situation totally clear cut?
2. Valuation: this is hard, as the insurance companies will probably base their valuation of the car on trade guides (Parkers, Glass's, CAP), and it's a serious uphill battle to get them to deviate from this. They tend to take this page as their guidelines: https://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/technical_notes/motor-valuation.html
Mine was an aero, so rare and the trade guides did not give a fair representation of price to replace it, but trying to tell them this was like headbutting a wall.
Also important, their valuation is the basis of whether it's written off...
3. You have the right to choose where it goes for repair - and choose carefully. You can probably influence whether the car is written off as you'd be amazed at how big the difference in repair cost can be between garages. As an example, the write-off value for mine was if repair was >66% of their valuation (this will vary between companies). BUT if you choose somewhere that's not one of their 'approved repair centres' (read: industrial chopshop) it will affect their liability for guaranteeing the quality of the repair. Also, if they are presented with multiple quotes, they will query any cost discrepancies.
4. Get photos of literally everything. Even bits of the car that you don't think are relevant. I was rear-ended, and during recovery a tow truck crunched the front bumper. When I told the insurance company that I expected them to handle this repair, they responded that unless I could prove photographically that the bumper wasn't damaged prior to recovery, then they wouldn't pay to repair it. Any damage that can't be explained by the specific circumstances of the accident, they will try not to pay out on - so I'd try to work out what your mechanical damages are, and figure out how the accident caused it.
5. Claim on your insurance policy. If the van driver's insurance contacts you to settle, don't accept. If you claim on the other driver's policy to protect your NCD or save on excesses, you lose the right to complain to the financial ombudsman about their handling of your claim, as you are not the person the insurance company has the agreement with. Then when they undervalue your car, or mess you about in any way, you cannot have the claim arbitrated by an independent body. My understanding is that in a non-fault claim if you claim on your own policy the insurance company should recover 100% of the costs (including excesses) from the other side, so you shouldn't be hit by those. Although I'm not 100% sure on that - something to ask your insurers about.
Sorry for the essay, but I hope it helps and hope you get it all sorted out as best possible!

Nev is only good for parts. And even then it's touch and go... He's lost all motivation to actually do projects, he wants to be a retailer as there's less work involved 
Lovely little update today from Simon at Carson Performance, managed to sort the clutch issue so SHE MOVES! For the 1st time in over 3 years it is moving under it's own power! 
Just a couple of small bits to attend to and then it's off to the bodyshop on 12th April in preparation for it's first show since 2015!

We’ll just have to agree to disagree...

Your comparison are all saloons  that started out cheaper and were made more expensive by a halo model. It's not going to be the other way round. We won't see the 2 litre here, given how few Supras will sell. Tada san always said that there will be a three car line up with the GT86 in the middle. We are awaiting what they are going to do about the S-FR type model. 

I loved our car the moment I saw it, and love it more after each modification.  Had it nearly six years and don't expect to sell it until I can't get in it anymore (being an OAP).  If you buy one of these just to keep it for a few years and move on to something else you will likely take a hit.  I will never get back the money for the modifications undertaken, and never expected to, but the joy of this expensive hobby comes at a cost that I am willing to pay. 
The enjoyment I get from just going for a drive in this car is difficult to express in monetary terms.  😊

Does it really matter, don't you just buy a car because you want it not chase the next model. There will always be a hit on price to absorb at some point.

Great members track day out on Anglesey Circuit on Sunday morning.  Was a bit nervous about the recent temps but miraculously weather warmed up overnight to approx 6 degrees when we arrived at 9am. Rain threatened later in the morning but the track remained dry. Only approx 15 vehicles attended so had plenty of time out on track. In fact I must have done about 20 laps throughout the day without another vehicle near me which was great for getting those lines perfect time after time.
My first few track days have been with all traction gadgets deployed but getting braver now and this was the first time the track button was depressed for the whole session. I span it just the once coming out of Rocket but as it was largely quiet on track not an issue
Check out those Cortina's🤗
 

Did you go full decat? I think that's what Mike recommends - apart from the lack of funds it's the only thing that puts me off.

Hi All,
Just thought i'd share my experiences of the excellent Tuning Developments and their Stage 1 turbo kit.
First of all about me. I've had my 86 since 2013 (it's a Peal White limited edition with the red cross hatched stitching on the leather for the interested) and been lightly modifying it for the last couple of years. So far i'm running, Valenti sequential tail lights, trd spoiler, beatsonic antenna, stop tech disks and pads front and rear, tuning developments brake cooling fins, ate super blue brake fluid, P3 multigauge, Scorpion cat back and decat with a miltek overpipe. So, naughtier but still well behaved. Normally driving wise my trips consist of pootles around town mostly, some hard A road driving and long motorway jaunts. I track it once or twice a year, usually at Brands or Silverstone as they are closest to me.
I'll start by saying i loved the stock car, great balance, surprising nippy on track and quite rewarding to wring it's neck. Gripes? Well the god damn squealing stock brakes and needing to wring its neck to get it shifting. As i said earlier, i do a fair chunk of long motorway drives and that ability to shift lanes and blow past something that was always missing.
Or was....
I missed the first TD black friday sale but caught it this time round. If they do it again, definitely jump on it. I went for stage 1 turbo with UEL headers for the bass and the wub wub wub, knowing i may drop a couple of ponies for the pleasure but gain a little low down torque. The guys at TD did an excellent job turning it around in a week with no dramas what so ever.
The new car (because i can't really refer to it as the old one anymore) is a completely different animal. Soundwise, there's probably 3 distinct phases. It's quieter than it was at idle, startup and when running round on 0-25% throttle. My exhaust was probably a little on the loud side especially when pulling under load and that has just lost a few dB and hit a sweet spot now. 25-50% throttle there's a little turbo whoosh from under the bonnet and a little grumble from the exhaust but pretty tasteful, hitting that little boost is probably my favorite of the sounds. At full chat, there's a lovely spooling sound followed by a dump of pure power. It sounds awesome!
Balance wise, I've not driven it on track yet but i have taken it down a few A roads. Word to the wise, get an oil cooler before going on track, mine runs a few degrees hotter now and it wasn't exactly a cold running car to start with. Bearing in mind that i'm still on the stock primacy's (damn tires are harder than rock) traction is surprisingly good. One can't stand on the power out of a corner anymore but that adds to the enjoyment in my book and suits my driving style. Hopefully this'll speed the death of my tires and I can legit throw on an upgrade.
The power, my god, the power. That's why we are all here right? Well i'll probably split this into everyday and pressing on. For everyday driving it's the perfect solution. I'm sure you've all done it, lent on the accelerator, felt the revs and torque build to a crescendo but been a little disappointed that it never really came. Well, now that crescendo is there, the one after that, and the one after that is there too. It pulls... well...everywhere. Mine makes more power and torque pretty much everywhere on the band vs stock. After the upgrade peak torque was 230ish with peak HP at 277.7 (check out the dyno below) the stock car was probably putting out something in the 180s. What's more important is that the torque is pretty flat across the band and is massive so it just hammers home. Driving down the motorway now, 6th used to pull better at 90 than at 70 and required a bit of a run up at 70 too. Now you can leave it where it is in 6th, lean on 50% throttle and you've departed and left everything behind.
Pushing on, the sheer power as it punches through the gears is unbelievable. After my first couple  full throttle blasts i was left giggling at the steering wheel saying "jesus christ, yeah f***ing right" to myself. If it wasn't playing my bluetooth, i would have sworn they swapped the car. It's always hard to compare apples with apples though  with just how much quicker it has got however I was lucky enough to be given a direct competitor to measure against. At a number of track days I've caught but struggled to pass Caymans, just too quick on the straights with reasonable brakes.  Well i was served one with a willing driver on the way home. A Cayman S PDK (last generation) no less and thought here's a good benchmark. He looked at me, i looked at him, we both knew it was on. We did a couple of drags from 65 north...significantly north (kph or mph i couldn't say). I did mine purely in 6th just to see what she could do, the answer was to pull a gap and keep pulling a gap, higher in the rev range the gap stabilized but the initial gap was decent. We did this a few times, the result the same and then the Cayman S departed with a confused shake of the head and a look of bewilderment.
Well there you have it, in short, just get one, it is simply incredible. If i had to describe it in one word, for me the delivery is just so progressive and smooth it would have to be "creamy." Downside, if there is one is that it now takes only Super. I know, i know i should have been doing this anyway and not just for track days but hey. Hope this helps guide some people, trust me you won't regret it!

I can't see the GT86 going anywhere. 
First of all Toyota has already spoken about another joint venture for a new GT86 for 2021(ish), bearing in mind the Supra has been on the cards from at least 2014 so its not a sudden spanner in the works
There seems to be a general belief that Toyota still want a 3 sports car line up, (Akio Toyoda still wants it) although given Toyotas track record its hard to figure out what they are doing, The little S-FR just seemed to fade away never to be seen again.
I very much doubt you will see any change from £35-£38k for a baby Supra, which puts it in a different market to the GT86, not to mention its strictly a 2 seater. It makes perfect sense to exploit the opportunity to offer different powertrains for the Supra chassis seeing as they already exist.
Who knows if the GT86 was a success in Europe or not, we don't work for Toyota so don't know targets, but i think its reasonable to presume that these cars are important for the brand image rather than to be money makers, Toyota are one of the manufacturers of white goods for the car industry, other models are more important for the income.
The UK market is quite hostile for sports car, everyone is obsessed with anything hot hatch and German.

You won't get very much from a remap on its own; for a modern NA engine, the GT86 has a very high bhp per litre and there really isn't much headroom.  I would not bother with just a remap, because the benefit won't come anywhere close to justifying the cost.
If you can get to Tuning Developments, you will be far better off taking their NA tuning package, which is what a lot of people that have visited TD have had done to their cars.  It gives a small increase in peak power (15-20bhp) but it eliminates the torque dip, so at 4000rpm you'll have 25% more power.  It really transforms the way the car drives.  When I had mine done, I also had the MTEC shift springs and Powerflex gearbox insert fitted - very cheap modifications that significantly improve the gearshift.

I did say supercharged was a good option (para 3) but Cost is why they did not do it. Yaris GRMN is a commuter car platform fettled and sold for £26,295 while a regular Yaris is £12,995 i.e. 100% premium over a standard car. GT is a totally new non shared platform, so they have to make cost compromises and not throw in boost which is why an aftermarket super/turbo for 5K to 6K is a steal on a car worth 25K (20% premium). 
Doing the manifold and tune makes the GT good enough, at least for my liking but each to their own.

There's not much in it I admit, but equal length is the obvious choice and I was chasing peak figures for sprinting. I didn't go for UEL as I didn't want my car to sound like it was broken.  

To all our members have a great day  how many of us will check the forum today !!

Just a quick post to say thank you to all whom have been in contact over the last 12 months with us, be it for simple questions/parts orders through to turbo kits, we appreciate each and every enquiry that comes to us.
 
From all of us here we'd like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, more of the same for next year  
 
Thanks
 
Mike

I wonder whether putting it into the 95 RON map would give it some extra headroom on emissions? Mine had its first MOT this year and was very close to the limit, I wouldn't have the first idea how to find a friendly tester.

After I collected the car I took it up to Mike and TD for him and Nick to work their magic on the mapping. 
My car has always dyno'd pretty low but the gains the new manifold and intake set up have made are pretty significant even over the decent gains the JDL had made. The torque dip is now a peak. One slightly unexpected thing is that the new set up has lost a little bit to the JDL set up around the 5.5-6.5k rpm range but then picks up again after that. The difference low down is very noticeable though especially in normal driving where you can really feel the extra power and torque. 
First dyno picture is the new set up against the JDL catless manifold, second is the new set up against the first set up I had dyno'd at td (Cobra non res catback, intake pipe, HKS panel filter and EcuTek map) 

Interested to see how those black interior bits look; the silver plastic does look a bit naff but I can't decide whether it needs something that isn't black/grey to lift the interior a bit. I actually fitted the AliExpress HVAC trims to mine yesterday and it's a big improvement, the photo doesn't really do it justice:

Only trouble is it highlights how cheap the T-pattern fascia around the controls looks...

Crap as it was solid traffic all the way down the M6, M1, M25 to Essex
 
But yes very much enjoying the new power delivery. Also got the shifter springs and gearbox mount done too.

Nice colour! Presumably you mean the TD NA kit?
 
You won't get much extra power from the GT86 without going forced induction. Almost 100bhp/litre from an NA engine (compliant with modern emissions regs!) is already very high. Most new NA cars with higher bhp/litre will cost you £100k+.
The TD NA kit will liberate 15-20bhp, but offers a huge gain in mid-range torque. It makes a big difference to the way the car drives. Their price includes fitting and mapping, and is very good value IMO. Lots of members here have had it done, and like @MartinT I would also recommend it.

I'm surprised by that, I find that it takes barely any effort to move between gears, almost like it's helping to guide you in.
Transmission noise is down to the mount. The solution to that is getting yourself an antisocial exhaust, you won't notice the transmission noise. 

I'm surprised by that, I find that it takes barely any effort to move between gears, almost like it's helping to guide you in.
Transmission noise is down to the mount. The solution to that is getting yourself an antisocial exhaust, you won't notice the transmission noise. 

Exactly this.  No significant difference when cold, and I would've agreed with the "near perfect when warm" thing before I had it done.  That's why it's such a great mod, it's surprising that it can be so much better, and for not much money.

I have done the insert and springs on mine and they are very easy to do. While it hasn't solved the cold gearbox issues the mods have certainly reduced them and once warmed as mentioned the box does feel a lot more positive and rifle bolt like.