Lauren

Just ordered: 
TE37 Saga 17x9 et42 5x100 Face 3 Diamond Dark Gunmetal wheels (via Lucas - lead time into August/September!)

and Reyland AP 4 pot BBK

 
 
Now doing a bit more reading about suspension before deciding. Possibly Tein Flex A, with some camber bolts and lower camber arms?
Also about to confirm with Royal Steering Wheels a nice Alcantara retrim - black with white stitching and yellow centre stripe!

Over the recent weekend I was able to have a few friends over to the workshop and over the course of a single very sunny Sunday the whole Rocket bunny kit is now prepped for its wrap.


I'm quite lucky that a couple of my friends have wrapped parts of their cars before and one of them even works in the bodywork department at BMW (We gave him the whole front bumper to do!) so I knew they'd do a good job alongisde me!


We started off by keying up the panels with some 320 grit and getting rid of any motting/orange peel in the FRP as well as any extra blobs of material that were stuck to the surface, followed by a couple of healthy coats of grey high build primer. Once it was dry and ready to sand we applied any filler or knifing putty in areas that needed it, there were a couple of cracks and some scratches or air bubbles that had to be filled and finally all the panels were finished to a wet 800 grit finish which should be plenty for the wrap to adhere to nicely and no inperfections to speak of!


The video for it can be found here:
 
    We all really liked how the front bumper turned out in its sanded back primer look ironically, it sort of looked like a comic book sketch or some kind of video game (If anyone's played Borderlands you'll know exactly what i mean!)
But in just under 2 weeks the car will be off to Monster Wraps in Southhampton to have the wrap applied and I can't wait! I've got some small jobs to get done before then and I need to continue work on the diffuser so that it's ready by the time the car is complete.




 

Yeah fantastic bit of kit! Wouldn't mind swapping the other arms out for their gear as well if I had the funds but what i've got now will do to allow me to sort out the toe and dial out the negative camber in the rear.
I'd really love SPL's front lower arms to play around with camber and caster adjustment with them but that's a big spend

You haven't scared me away. Well, Facebook maybe
As the lockdown has eased, would you fancy a socially responsible gathering. I believe in England it's 6 people in a park. It would be like a mini-meet from CruiseBoard all over again; we could even find an empty McD carpark!

@GravelRash it does require a bit of time. Not necessarily loads, but when it needs input, you have to do it. At the moment it's fairly quiet as not much is happening. But normally there's stuff around events to coordinate and certainly the big shows take a bit more input. It's loads easier nowadays as everything is done online with ticket purchasing for the most part. It's more the events where you have to post out tickets that are time intensive. Thankfully that is pretty much a thing of the past! 
What I do: 
Sort out PM's I get from members, most are advice queries, I expect that's fairly specific to me. 
Deal with traders. 
Deal with issues with members' behaviour. This can be a massive pain if people go on and you are struggling to find a resolution. It's not so bad on the forum, but seems to be more of an issue on the Facebook page. 
Deal with complaints. Kill me now, I hate this and again seems to be more of a thing with the Facebook page than the forum. I'll still do that though as erm love it so much. 😫
We really need someone to take on the merchandise side of things. It is fairly well automated these days too. 
I think also when it comes to the accounts, taking care of the Paypal account is another thing. 
I think as a director I've played to my strengths and avoided some of the things I don't enjoy or I'm not good at. Keith and Rob had dealt with the money side of things. Rob also did the events wholly, though I've taken over the big ones and we do have some excellent event organisers in place that do the shows and trackdays.  I've always been more visible and out there, dealing with the social aspects, social media and relations and all that. Well, I am a social worker! 🤣
But really it's a matter of applying your skills and for us to get the best out of you. There is also the option of expanding the committee to do more of the daily running of the club. This hasn't really worked though, so I'm minded to just keep that going with the directors. Keith is still busy sorting out payments and the like that need doing and running Paypal. Rob is still doing merchandise and banking stuff which is not ideal as whilst he's always been fab at popping up when he needs to, I'm sure you can understand he's got a lot going on at the moment and sold his car years ago. Alec is a director in name only and has no involvement at all anymore. 
So really we need new blood, passion and enthusiasm to move the club forward. Also someone that attends events and is visible and approachable to club members, whilst keeping the members best intrests is key. And don't worry I'm a director of two clubs and have done such things since 2004, so have plenty of experience to pass on.
 
 

@GravelRash it does require a bit of time. Not necessarily loads, but when it needs input, you have to do it. At the moment it's fairly quiet as not much is happening. But normally there's stuff around events to coordinate and certainly the big shows take a bit more input. It's loads easier nowadays as everything is done online with ticket purchasing for the most part. It's more the events where you have to post out tickets that are time intensive. Thankfully that is pretty much a thing of the past! 
What I do: 
Sort out PM's I get from members, most are advice queries, I expect that's fairly specific to me. 
Deal with traders. 
Deal with issues with members' behaviour. This can be a massive pain if people go on and you are struggling to find a resolution. It's not so bad on the forum, but seems to be more of an issue on the Facebook page. 
Deal with complaints. Kill me now, I hate this and again seems to be more of a thing with the Facebook page than the forum. I'll still do that though as erm love it so much. 😫
We really need someone to take on the merchandise side of things. It is fairly well automated these days too. 
I think also when it comes to the accounts, taking care of the Paypal account is another thing. 
I think as a director I've played to my strengths and avoided some of the things I don't enjoy or I'm not good at. Keith and Rob had dealt with the money side of things. Rob also did the events wholly, though I've taken over the big ones and we do have some excellent event organisers in place that do the shows and trackdays.  I've always been more visible and out there, dealing with the social aspects, social media and relations and all that. Well, I am a social worker! 🤣
But really it's a matter of applying your skills and for us to get the best out of you. There is also the option of expanding the committee to do more of the daily running of the club. This hasn't really worked though, so I'm minded to just keep that going with the directors. Keith is still busy sorting out payments and the like that need doing and running Paypal. Rob is still doing merchandise and banking stuff which is not ideal as whilst he's always been fab at popping up when he needs to, I'm sure you can understand he's got a lot going on at the moment and sold his car years ago. Alec is a director in name only and has no involvement at all anymore. 
So really we need new blood, passion and enthusiasm to move the club forward. Also someone that attends events and is visible and approachable to club members, whilst keeping the members best intrests is key. And don't worry I'm a director of two clubs and have done such things since 2004, so have plenty of experience to pass on.
 
 

Dear all, 
As many will know, Rob, Keith, Alec and I setup this club back in April 2013. Many years have passed and we now find ourself in the situaiton where we would like to put out to find replacement directors. 
Alec has been lost to Elite Extreme, Rob sold his car years ago and Keith is finding himself far less involved with the club than he used to. I as many know have a new car on order, a GR Yaris, but I am happy to stay on as I have so many friends I've made through the club and am still around for day to day running of the club. I also want to ensure continuity. 
What does being a director involve? 
We are directors of a not for profit limited company. This means that as a director you have limited liability in the unlikely event that some disgruntled person decides to sue the club, it means they cannot sue you directly. Important for your own protection, unfortunately. 
I want to see new directors, for which there are three available position, take the club forward. We have a new GT86 to look forward to next year and it's fair to say that the club has grown very well and we are well established in the show and motorsport scene. 
It will mean that a director (though you can delegate to committee members) will need to take care of the club accounts and paypal accounts and we will also need someone to cover the club clothing side and the like. Further work is needed with affiliates to ensure they pay their dues as we rely on trader fees and membership to pay for the running of the club. 
I welcome any questions and I would say it's very rewarding sometimes. I am also very proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years and I'd love to see it continue.

Install pictures: Lights (in progress)
VLAND fronts - easy to do, plug and play for the GT86, no splicing wires etc. Only issues were plastic rivets are annoying, bit awkward taking off side markers and headlight washers when removing bumper but easy enough, forgot to buy headlight bulbs! Also battery died after for some reason - needed a jump start and was then ok. Weird, dunno why that happened!
Unfortunately if you don’t like sequential indicators, this has them and from what I know can’t be changed back to normal. They look good though and work as expected.
After a lot of reading decided for bulbs to order this VLAND D2H type Xenon HID kit: https://www.amazon.co.uk/VLAND-Conversion-Projector-Headlights-Compatible/dp/B0824KCCB1/ref=pd_sbs_263_6/257-5133188-2434939?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B0824KCCB1&pd_rd_r=702fc2ef-2475-4355-86ec-fbe8085fe008&pd_rd_w=4ZVsy&pd_rd_wg=H4PXC&pf_rd_p=2773aa8e-42c5-4dbe-bda8-5cdf226aa078&pf_rd_r=GZT2N5BV3Z0PTS9NRT69&psc=1&refRID=GZT2N5BV3Z0PTS9NRT69
...mainly for ease of installation. It all plugged in easily, no rewiring. Bulbs and kit could be upgraded for brightness if needed. Need some 3M sticky pads to mount the 'ballast' module that is part of the kit.
Overall impression - easy to install, looks nice, not as high build quality as the OEM headlights to be fair but I'll keep them this way for now. Not for people who don’t like sequential indicators.
 

 
VLAND rear lower bumper fogs/reverse/DRL:
This was much easier than I thought it was going to be. There are some videos of the Valenti rear bumper lights going in and it requires some rewiring. These just plugged in to existing plugs and worked straight away. Needed to jack the rear and undo a few plastic rivets on the bumper to get access to the light. Very straightforward - although there are no specific install videos for the VLAND kit, I could do a quick guide if needed. It was easy to figure out.
Overall - looks much better than the stock light, the red of the DRL is more pinkish than the red of the tail lights. Have to see how it looks with the new ones I'm still waiting for.
 

 
With fog light (red triangle), reverse lights (white) and DRL (red boomerangs) on together.

So with the Rocket Bunny kit now officially installed I'ved moved on to prepping the car for its wrap.


I've chosen to go with a wrap over paint for a few reasons, the first being cost of course, the next being that i'd like to change the colour of the car (still staying somewhat red) as the original red on the car is very flat and if the rocket bunny panels were matched to it I feel the new curves of the body would be lost in the flatness of the OEM colour and finally if I were to do paint i'd like to go the whole 9 yards and spray the whole car inside & out including engine bay doors, etc.


So with all that in mind I've decided to go for a wrap which i've been in talks with a company down in Southampton called Monsterwraps which appear to do some very good work as well as get great reviews. Not wanting to skimp out on the fitting of the wrap ofcourse or do it myself i'd rather pay a sensible price to get a good job done. However as I mentioned i've been in talks with them to confirm how they would tackle the kit, the Wellnut holes and what prep work I can do to speed up the process as of course the car is far from factory fresh.


With that said the car is now booked in to have the wrap installed the week commencing the 15h of June giving me just over a couple of weeks to get it prepped and ready to go!


Check out the first video related to it below where I talk about the proceses as well as my choice in Colour.


https://youtu.be/fhDIo2cXzVo



As far as colour choice goes i've shared it with a few people but i've not been keeping it much of a secret or such. I wanted to stay close to red and have a nice deep gloss to it which lead me to find KPMF Black Red Iridescent
I think this will look amazing on the car and I can't wait to see it completed!

Day 78 - I finally legally own the BRZ
After 78 days of waiting the V5 finally turned up today which means its actually SORN'd and legally mine. 
 
More parts arrived.  Firstly suspension components, I went for Tein Flex Z as I wanted to stick with a Japanese made component where possible and I got a bargain on a brand new set that the owner never got chance to fit.  He also had Whiteline droplinks which I also snapped up as no doubt the stock ones will need cutting off, which is a known issue.
 
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
I also removed all my silver interior trim before the car went off to paint so I could paint them myself matt black.  Not a big fan of matching these to body colour so went for something simple.  I sanded, primed, painted matt black then used matt lacquer for protection.  I'm intersted to see how long they last, if the finish doesn't hold up, I will invest in some carbon parts but for now this was a simple and cheap fix.  
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Also an interesting package arrived from Japan, a flexible STI strut brace:
 
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Unlike a conventional rigid brace, the flexible one is split and joined with pillow ball joints in the centre to be longitudinally mobile while helping laterally stiffen the body of the car.  Here is some blurb from Subaru:
"Different from a rigid bar which is designed just to increase rigidity of the body of a car, the concept behind this bar is to constantly enhance traction of the wheels by strongly holding in a transverse direction at the same time as moderately handling the impact from the ground, in order to realize a ‘flexible yet elegant driving feel’.
As a result, responsiveness at the time of steering improves without compromising comfort, which allows the driver to actually feel that the car can turn as intended, and when they want to go straight, it provides a stable drive without too much impact from uneven road surfaces. As described, this product will further deepen your pleasure of driving."
 
https://www.sti.jp/en/parts/feature/flexibletowerbar.html
 
I will let you know how I get on with it, it came as a bundle with the other STi bits so I haven't lost anything by trying it.  

My 86 is sadly long gone otherwise I would have jumped at the chance. Good luck on your hunt


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Dear all, 
As many will know, Rob, Keith, Alec and I setup this club back in April 2013. Many years have passed and we now find ourself in the situaiton where we would like to put out to find replacement directors. 
Alec has been lost to Elite Extreme, Rob sold his car years ago and Keith is finding himself far less involved with the club than he used to. I as many know have a new car on order, a GR Yaris, but I am happy to stay on as I have so many friends I've made through the club and am still around for day to day running of the club. I also want to ensure continuity. 
What does being a director involve? 
We are directors of a not for profit limited company. This means that as a director you have limited liability in the unlikely event that some disgruntled person decides to sue the club, it means they cannot sue you directly. Important for your own protection, unfortunately. 
I want to see new directors, for which there are three available position, take the club forward. We have a new GT86 to look forward to next year and it's fair to say that the club has grown very well and we are well established in the show and motorsport scene. 
It will mean that a director (though you can delegate to committee members) will need to take care of the club accounts and paypal accounts and we will also need someone to cover the club clothing side and the like. Further work is needed with affiliates to ensure they pay their dues as we rely on trader fees and membership to pay for the running of the club. 
I welcome any questions and I would say it's very rewarding sometimes. I am also very proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years and I'd love to see it continue.

Dear all, 
As many will know, Rob, Keith, Alec and I setup this club back in April 2013. Many years have passed and we now find ourself in the situaiton where we would like to put out to find replacement directors. 
Alec has been lost to Elite Extreme, Rob sold his car years ago and Keith is finding himself far less involved with the club than he used to. I as many know have a new car on order, a GR Yaris, but I am happy to stay on as I have so many friends I've made through the club and am still around for day to day running of the club. I also want to ensure continuity. 
What does being a director involve? 
We are directors of a not for profit limited company. This means that as a director you have limited liability in the unlikely event that some disgruntled person decides to sue the club, it means they cannot sue you directly. Important for your own protection, unfortunately. 
I want to see new directors, for which there are three available position, take the club forward. We have a new GT86 to look forward to next year and it's fair to say that the club has grown very well and we are well established in the show and motorsport scene. 
It will mean that a director (though you can delegate to committee members) will need to take care of the club accounts and paypal accounts and we will also need someone to cover the club clothing side and the like. Further work is needed with affiliates to ensure they pay their dues as we rely on trader fees and membership to pay for the running of the club. 
I welcome any questions and I would say it's very rewarding sometimes. I am also very proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years and I'd love to see it continue.

I hope some longterm members come forward and volunteer in taking this club forward with Lauren.

Speaking from experience as a member in their second term on the Committee for the RX-8OC, it can be very rewarding seeing the results that you help implement into the club take effect.

Dear all, 
As many will know, Rob, Keith, Alec and I setup this club back in April 2013. Many years have passed and we now find ourself in the situaiton where we would like to put out to find replacement directors. 
Alec has been lost to Elite Extreme, Rob sold his car years ago and Keith is finding himself far less involved with the club than he used to. I as many know have a new car on order, a GR Yaris, but I am happy to stay on as I have so many friends I've made through the club and am still around for day to day running of the club. I also want to ensure continuity. 
What does being a director involve? 
We are directors of a not for profit limited company. This means that as a director you have limited liability in the unlikely event that some disgruntled person decides to sue the club, it means they cannot sue you directly. Important for your own protection, unfortunately. 
I want to see new directors, for which there are three available position, take the club forward. We have a new GT86 to look forward to next year and it's fair to say that the club has grown very well and we are well established in the show and motorsport scene. 
It will mean that a director (though you can delegate to committee members) will need to take care of the club accounts and paypal accounts and we will also need someone to cover the club clothing side and the like. Further work is needed with affiliates to ensure they pay their dues as we rely on trader fees and membership to pay for the running of the club. 
I welcome any questions and I would say it's very rewarding sometimes. I am also very proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years and I'd love to see it continue.

Dear all, 
As many will know, Rob, Keith, Alec and I setup this club back in April 2013. Many years have passed and we now find ourself in the situaiton where we would like to put out to find replacement directors. 
Alec has been lost to Elite Extreme, Rob sold his car years ago and Keith is finding himself far less involved with the club than he used to. I as many know have a new car on order, a GR Yaris, but I am happy to stay on as I have so many friends I've made through the club and am still around for day to day running of the club. I also want to ensure continuity. 
What does being a director involve? 
We are directors of a not for profit limited company. This means that as a director you have limited liability in the unlikely event that some disgruntled person decides to sue the club, it means they cannot sue you directly. Important for your own protection, unfortunately. 
I want to see new directors, for which there are three available position, take the club forward. We have a new GT86 to look forward to next year and it's fair to say that the club has grown very well and we are well established in the show and motorsport scene. 
It will mean that a director (though you can delegate to committee members) will need to take care of the club accounts and paypal accounts and we will also need someone to cover the club clothing side and the like. Further work is needed with affiliates to ensure they pay their dues as we rely on trader fees and membership to pay for the running of the club. 
I welcome any questions and I would say it's very rewarding sometimes. I am also very proud of what we have achieved in the last seven years and I'd love to see it continue.

No worries, ah you're the other side! I went with AP as it's a far better known brand and has an extensive pedigree in racing and is OEM for the top end Lotus models. I think it's preference in that respect. Mine have been excellent. Just had the pads and discs replaced after 42,000 miles and 2.5 years. They've been faultless. 
As for TSS, yes, waiting to hear whether Anglesey will go ahead in July and whether we'll be able to book hotels. I'll go if I can, but there is just a real lack of certainty. 
There is a monthly meet at Barton (City) airport, which is a good midway point. But on the other hand I'ld hope at some point in the nearish future we can have another NW meet. We shall see. 

Hello Dave, welcome aboard.
I've had my car seven years and have driven 148,000 miles in it from new. In that time I've had the opportunity to try different tyres. I've also driven a fair amount of other people's GT86's too. 
I kept the Primacy tyre for the first 25,000 miles or so. I think it's good to learn the balance of the car with this tyre. You can play with it at low speeds and it's a lot of fun, bringing out the playful nature of what is an excellent and well balanced chassis. The Primacy tyre is also fantastic fun on track if you so wish. After about 4 laps they go off, but stay consistent and you can just slide and drift the car all day. They last really well too. 
That said, they aren't the most progressive tyre and it can be a bit tricky in the wet. Yes in low temperatures in greasy conditions they can prove tricky, though that is true of any tyre. 
Everyone will tell you to fit Michelin Pilot 4 tyres. Whilst they are a great tyre, they take away from the playfulness of the chassis. They are a a great choice if you are not a confident or experienced driver as for the most part they will totally tame the car and you'll feel more confident. I have these on my car because I sprint my car and they are the most competitive tyre in class, giving around a 1.5-2 second advantage on a sprint lap. Yes, at high speeds you can still slide the car and have fun, providing you are committed, but the speeds at which you do this mean that you will not really be able to do so on the public road. 
The PS4 is great in the wet too. In fact they are utterly brilliant in the wet, a point I have underlined whenever it is wet in the Toyota Sprint Series, which will see all of us running them at the top of the leaderboard. 
I like the PS4, it's a great tyre. But, you have to push it to have fun on the road. 
Another really good choice is the Yokohama Advan Sport V105. I have gone through 5 sets of these and would have carried on with them were it not for them not being competitive in the sprint series I compete in. They are perhaps the best balance between grip and playfullness for the GT86. They are more progressive than the Primacy but not as grippy as the PS4. This means you can still have fun drifting a roundabout or on a decent B-road blast. They do really well on track too and  you can slide the car around just as well as the Primacy. 
If I wasn't competing in the sprint series I would run a V105 instead of a PS4. It makes the car far more fun to drive. 
The other point to note is that I use stock 215/45/17 sizes albeit on a forged lightweight 17x8 wheel. If you like to play with the chassis do not make the mistake putting on wider tyres. All it does is detract from the fun and add unsprung weight. 

Day 61
Last week the BRZ arrived back via contactless delivery.  Fully aligned and ready to go.  Ignore the bonnet gap, the bonnet is open as I needed to fix the lock before I close it:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
However my first job was to start stripping the front end back down so I could fit the rads/aircon/fans.  Super easy job now I have done it multiple times.  
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
My make shift painting station where I painted everything within the engine bay/front that had come from other cars or had come from Subaru in the black primer type finish.  
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
I decided to go with matt black for a simple clean look.  I will eventually do the entire engine bay in matt black as it will tie in with whichever colour I do the exterior and the engine isnt coming out for the respray so its easier for me to paint it matt black and get a decent finish.  Hence why you can see paint under where the front wings will go.
Next I fitted the radiator/air con/fan assembly, I had to swap over the air con metal hoses as mine were also damaged from the crash.  I then followed the correct process to fill/bleed/test the radiators with no signs of leaks:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
This was a relief as it means I can move the car with no fear of damaging everything as this now means I have a running car.  Idles perfectly, the engine seems good with no error codes which is a bonus.  
Once that was done I set about bolting up the front end, fitting the crash beam, crash sensors etc and accounting for all the hanging connectors.  All went back perfectly.  I also refitted the airbox, snorkel and the surround that sits between the two.  New items added to the list of bits to buy include the radiator filler bracket and a new filler neck for the washer reservoir:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Next I plumbed in the new washer reservoir which had been destroy in the crash.  Check for leaks and all good.  Now I need to order some washer jets for the headlights but other than that the washer system is now fully functional again:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
Prep for paint
Fixing wise there isnt much left to do so the car can now go for paint, however I need to strip the car to keep costs down.  So I stripped everything needed to get the car painted including:
Both wings Rear Lights Door Seals Window Seals Aerial Roof trim Wing Mirrors Kick Plates Door cards (I will replace weather seal plastic once painted) Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
So the only things left that I need to do this week are the:
Rear Bumper Door Handles Then its ready for paint:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Untitled by James Baker, on Flick
 
Also my bonnet lifters arrived, they will go on the shelf to be fitted once the car has been painted as they will only have to come off again:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
Also a courier today is collecting a Boral Unequal length manifold and a Milltek Overpipe that came up for sale at a great price.  I fancy a bit of Scooby rumble from the boxer while I save up for forced induction.  
 
Removing Exterior Door Handles
If anyone has any tips for doing this on a BRZ/GT86/FRS that have the touch sensors, please let me know.  Only way I can see so far is to remove the glass to get to the connector to disconnect it.  Its super easy for cars without this feature as its one torx headed bolt and you are done, not so simple on the UK spec cars with the touch sensors.

I do love the Alpine. Had a really good look at one at a car show, the attention to detail is very cool and I reckon if I had £50K to burn this is a real contender to the Supra. The Alpine has received excellent reviews all round. Think the BRZ stood up well though, uncomplicated and well sorted handling is something to savour I think.

I do love the Alpine. Had a really good look at one at a car show, the attention to detail is very cool and I reckon if I had £50K to burn this is a real contender to the Supra. The Alpine has received excellent reviews all round. Think the BRZ stood up well though, uncomplicated and well sorted handling is something to savour I think.

Hello Dave, welcome aboard.
I've had my car seven years and have driven 148,000 miles in it from new. In that time I've had the opportunity to try different tyres. I've also driven a fair amount of other people's GT86's too. 
I kept the Primacy tyre for the first 25,000 miles or so. I think it's good to learn the balance of the car with this tyre. You can play with it at low speeds and it's a lot of fun, bringing out the playful nature of what is an excellent and well balanced chassis. The Primacy tyre is also fantastic fun on track if you so wish. After about 4 laps they go off, but stay consistent and you can just slide and drift the car all day. They last really well too. 
That said, they aren't the most progressive tyre and it can be a bit tricky in the wet. Yes in low temperatures in greasy conditions they can prove tricky, though that is true of any tyre. 
Everyone will tell you to fit Michelin Pilot 4 tyres. Whilst they are a great tyre, they take away from the playfulness of the chassis. They are a a great choice if you are not a confident or experienced driver as for the most part they will totally tame the car and you'll feel more confident. I have these on my car because I sprint my car and they are the most competitive tyre in class, giving around a 1.5-2 second advantage on a sprint lap. Yes, at high speeds you can still slide the car and have fun, providing you are committed, but the speeds at which you do this mean that you will not really be able to do so on the public road. 
The PS4 is great in the wet too. In fact they are utterly brilliant in the wet, a point I have underlined whenever it is wet in the Toyota Sprint Series, which will see all of us running them at the top of the leaderboard. 
I like the PS4, it's a great tyre. But, you have to push it to have fun on the road. 
Another really good choice is the Yokohama Advan Sport V105. I have gone through 5 sets of these and would have carried on with them were it not for them not being competitive in the sprint series I compete in. They are perhaps the best balance between grip and playfullness for the GT86. They are more progressive than the Primacy but not as grippy as the PS4. This means you can still have fun drifting a roundabout or on a decent B-road blast. They do really well on track too and  you can slide the car around just as well as the Primacy. 
If I wasn't competing in the sprint series I would run a V105 instead of a PS4. It makes the car far more fun to drive. 
The other point to note is that I use stock 215/45/17 sizes albeit on a forged lightweight 17x8 wheel. If you like to play with the chassis do not make the mistake putting on wider tyres. All it does is detract from the fun and add unsprung weight. 

Hello Dave, welcome aboard.
I've had my car seven years and have driven 148,000 miles in it from new. In that time I've had the opportunity to try different tyres. I've also driven a fair amount of other people's GT86's too. 
I kept the Primacy tyre for the first 25,000 miles or so. I think it's good to learn the balance of the car with this tyre. You can play with it at low speeds and it's a lot of fun, bringing out the playful nature of what is an excellent and well balanced chassis. The Primacy tyre is also fantastic fun on track if you so wish. After about 4 laps they go off, but stay consistent and you can just slide and drift the car all day. They last really well too. 
That said, they aren't the most progressive tyre and it can be a bit tricky in the wet. Yes in low temperatures in greasy conditions they can prove tricky, though that is true of any tyre. 
Everyone will tell you to fit Michelin Pilot 4 tyres. Whilst they are a great tyre, they take away from the playfulness of the chassis. They are a a great choice if you are not a confident or experienced driver as for the most part they will totally tame the car and you'll feel more confident. I have these on my car because I sprint my car and they are the most competitive tyre in class, giving around a 1.5-2 second advantage on a sprint lap. Yes, at high speeds you can still slide the car and have fun, providing you are committed, but the speeds at which you do this mean that you will not really be able to do so on the public road. 
The PS4 is great in the wet too. In fact they are utterly brilliant in the wet, a point I have underlined whenever it is wet in the Toyota Sprint Series, which will see all of us running them at the top of the leaderboard. 
I like the PS4, it's a great tyre. But, you have to push it to have fun on the road. 
Another really good choice is the Yokohama Advan Sport V105. I have gone through 5 sets of these and would have carried on with them were it not for them not being competitive in the sprint series I compete in. They are perhaps the best balance between grip and playfullness for the GT86. They are more progressive than the Primacy but not as grippy as the PS4. This means you can still have fun drifting a roundabout or on a decent B-road blast. They do really well on track too and  you can slide the car around just as well as the Primacy. 
If I wasn't competing in the sprint series I would run a V105 instead of a PS4. It makes the car far more fun to drive. 
The other point to note is that I use stock 215/45/17 sizes albeit on a forged lightweight 17x8 wheel. If you like to play with the chassis do not make the mistake putting on wider tyres. All it does is detract from the fun and add unsprung weight. 

@davbelfast if you don't even have the car yet, I would recommend running the standard Primacy tyres for a few months. When you learn to control the car on those tyres, you won't have to get better tyre purely out of fear like most here do... Sure, there are good tyres like Michelin PS4, but they cost a lot, and take away from the tail happiness and the fun factor of the car imho. I just think that you need to learn to drive the car the best you can with "bad" tyres, so when you're ready to put new good tyres on, you're a better driver and you don't rely on tyres so much, but more on your throttle control and steering.

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.