Ulphy86

That's what I thought, though someone may correct me if I am wrong

Welcome! Had a similar upgrade from a 1.2 i10. You certainly feel the difference!!

Hi All, I have been a forum lurker for a while and have wanted a GT86 for years. I finally picked her up a couple of weeks ago and am loving it so far. Look forward to seeing some of you in the future! 😊

@Keethos lol, rekt. You told him.
My assumption with Wildlands is that it's another reskin of the tried and tested Ubisoft game concept. Large and mostly uninteresting map full of icons, representing loads of pointless collectables and samey bases/outposts to attack. 
God I hate Ubisoft 

Wait until you attend a meeting and see what others have done. You'll soon be changing everything 
 
Yay red *hi 5*

Last call for this, 10am tomorrow! (Although you have until 11am to get there really) I've got a @GT86Reece signed up  

I guess they'd leave the Whatsapp group though if that's gonna be happening so you'd know.
1. Tim86 - Norwich, Norfolk - Silver '86
2. Ade - Nr Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire - Red '86
3. Nerdstrike - Cambridge - Red '86
4. Steeps - Central Beds - Blue '86
5. Ulphy86 - Thurrock, Essex - Black '86
6. Ztox - Witham, Essex - Loud '86

1. Tim86 - Norwich, Norfolk - Silver '86
2. Ade - Nr Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire - Red '86
3. Nerdstrike - Cambridge - Red '86
4. Steeps - Central Beds - Blue '86
5. Ulphy86 - Thurrock, Essex - Black '86

After the beneficent recommendations of those here, I ordered the IS165TOY kit (£130) made by Focal, along with a bumper pack of Silent Coat "noise isolator" foam from Audiovisual world. Shipping was prompt but package went AWOL, Audiovisualworld very quick to ship another after I informed them that I hadn't received anything. Annoying but all was well.
I took some photos, but in the end there were other photos of the same stuff on this very forum, so I've neglected to upload them.
On me:
I am a poor man's audio nut, liking classical, jazz and some occasional punk or rock. I've got some B&W speakers in my lounge and an amp to match, and my ideal instrument is 500kg of piano. I love it when the music grabs and involves. Not fond of massive volume but love quality. With that in mind, the GT86 is a dreadful place to spend lots of money on audio when I could be investing in my home setup instead! It's quite noisy, the speaker positions are a bit whack, and I like listening to the car as I drive. Therefore, I opted for the cheap-ass upgrade, as the default audio is truly painful to my ears.
Opinion on Toyota OEM system:
Barely tolerable, crashy treble, needs silly volume on the motorway to be enjoyable, and then it's exhausting. Headunit does ok, even over bluetooth, but doesn't do very well when you connect a different phone. That's what I thought before I took the door cards out and beheld the papier maché equipment they fitted! The tweeters look cheap, the rear speakers are like listening with your head under water, and the woofers... oh the woofers. They weigh next to nothing. I'm amazed they achieved as much as they did. Toyota obviously spent at least £3 on each of these.
On the Focal replacements:
The replacement tweeters are sturdy and much nicer than those they replace. Their better build unfortunately means they don't click fully into the speaker mounts, due to being a bit tall. I'm leaving them like that for now, but might want to look into more sturdy attachment.
The woofers are fibreglass affairs with more than twice the weight of the OEM. Much bigger magnet on the rear, a bit more depth to the assembly, but plenty of room in the door cavity. There is a foam layer where the mount fits around the cone which is very thin. I added a bit of extra material to make sure it seals properly. I'd have like something in kevlar or similar, but that would need more wiring, sourcing mounts etc. Lots more dosh!
A bunch of fittings are included in the box, but they're mainly intended for other Toyotas. The only bits you need are the wires (which only fit in one configuration) and the block which mates with the Toyota wiring.
On the fitting process:
Online videos quite informative in getting the lay of the land. I tackled the tweeters first. Nylon trim tools very helpful indeed! The dash material is weirdly spongy and very easy to scratch. Out comes the speaker cover with speaker stuck into it, now lots of swearing trying to release the tweeter cable. Likewise getting the tweeter from the grate is a forceful and made me nervous. New tweeter snaps into place, but not as securely as the original. Must be able to do this better!
At this point I had to stop and drive away to dinner. Just the tweeters alone made a big improvement to clarity of the audio!
Next to the doors. More action for the nylon tools. The door handle trims came away without feeling like they'd snap, but it would dead easy to scratch them. Door card needs to be pulled free from its mountings with moderate force. I found it easiest to start at the hinge side of the door and work outward. Then the whole card slides up and off its lip. Now comes the fun - unclipping the puddle light cable (easy), the window switch cable (easy once I used a large flat bladed screwdriver to release the plug), and the door handle/lock cables. I had to do this alone, but it would be a lot easier if someone could support the weight of the door card while you unplug everything.
If you take the door too far from the card without disconnecting the cables, they'll pull off the plastic liner which separates outside from inside. Driver's side is harder because of the mirror controls - that plug is connected in the most awkward position possible. Tricky on your own!
Speaker removal an absolute doddle, likewise fitting. I took some time to feed some noise-absorbing foam into the cavity behind the speaker, but didn't do the whole door because I didn't want to disturb the waterproofing - it had some moisture on it, so it has a purpose! Re-hanging the door card was nice and easy.
On the matter of sound deadening, dynamat etc.
While the tarry mass loading material provided by Dynamat or silent coat is useful for adding weight to a panel and damping resonance, I felt it would add both a lot of cost and weight to the installation. Some people suggest roofing material, but that will stink out your car with tarry odours. Don't go there! Yes, the boot floor and door skin boom like a drum when tapped, but as above, I didn't want to mess with the waterproofing and wasn't sure I would realise the benefits. Maybe I'm wrong!
The isolating closed cell foam is for taking out higher frequency noise, and I figured it was ideal for dropping the ambient volume of the car on the move so I could enjoy the music more. I placed some in the door cavity, while mainly focusing on the rear wheel arches.
On adding sound absorbing material to the rear passenger space:
Unbolt seat. Just one 10mm bolt per seat! Makes those rear passengers feel all the more wanted as they lose sensation below their knees. Push down at the rear centre of the seat pad, where a single loop is hooked onto the chassis. This is tricky and took me a while. It doesn't help that you can't see what you're doing, and the seat is flexible. Now you can see the entry points to your fuel tank! Peel back door rubbers from top of door frame to the bottom, where you will have to lift the lip trim. It interlocks with the rest of the trim, but it comes up easily enough Unclip two trim clips that are behind the rear seat. You can do this by dropping the seat, or through the boot. Starting at the door, give it a heave-ho and pop the trim out. Force applied just right will pop one out, rather than trying to get them all at once. I found it easiest to pop the forward bits out, then half-drop the rear seat to release the rear portion and then slide it into the boot. You can also take the boot lining out to get to the rear part of the arch, behold the top of the teeny tiny rear suspension, and attend to some of the rattly wiring. You may now disable, or just plain remove the rear speakers and use them to occupy space in the refuse. and so the results:
Decent step up in clarity, especially the treble, almost to the point where it rather exposes the lack of mids, and the fact that you are much nearer one tweeter than the other. Once the system had run in a bit, these issues were less obvious, but I definitely get the feeling a second speaker on top of the dash would help with integrating the sound. There's plenty of low end, but obviously not on a par with a dedicated sub. Sound is still lost a bit at high speeds, but you don't feel so aurally violated by winding up the volume.
+ Very happy with return on investment, listening pleasure is up, it lifts it from "car sound" to "hifi".
+ Easy fitting, provided you have a good way to avoid scratching stuff, and a helper at times
+ Focal have some credentials in audio gear manufacture
- Still far from premium speakers
- GT86 cabin is a poor environment to install in, and would take proper wonga and time to sort out.
+ Subaru/Toyota snap-together design is pretty easy going for strip-down and refit of interior. It's nowhere near as involved as some other cars I've crawled around inside.
As for the sound isolation, it's still plenty noisy at speed but I think some road noise is gone, helping to expose more of the creaks and ticks of the other flimsy interior parts! I didn't do a superb job, and certainly didn't cover every inch with the stuff, but it has made a difference. I was foolish not to try a controlled measuring of the ambient volume on a known piece of road! Putting the sticky stuff in place is a time-consuming job, so I'd not recommend it unless you know that you need it, or are going for installation to the max! I'll refine my opinion over the next few weeks as I persuade myself it was worthwhile.
Who is it for?
Budget-minded people who can't stand the OEM audio setup. Maximum bang for buck, really very easy installation, no messing about. £130, job done. Limited extra weight needed.
Who is it not for?
People who must have banging choonz - fit a sub in the boot. People willing to get into the wiring, mounting cross-overs and supplementary amps. I reckon £300-£500 and some graft will yield another step up in quality. Think hard about adding a mid-range to the dash to compensate for speaker separation. This is what I would have done if I had more time and money to burn. People who want high volume - The standard mountings are flimsy, and many body panels are completely undamped. You should be spending time and weight on the full damping and isolation in all key panels. This will add tens of kilos. Full-time petrolheads. Rip it all out, swap out manifold and muffler for maximum brap brap bang rumble. You won't want that damped out with noise isolation!

I spent a small fortune modding my 350Z and, as expected, saw none of it back when I came to sell. So this time I'm not modding the BRZ and it's staying OEM, so really there's very little point in this thread as I'm leaving it alone. Definitely. No mods.
 
This is how she looked after collection and a wash - stunning - if I do say so myself.

 
Despite the modification ban, I am allowed to do maintenance and preventative maintenance. Like all addictions, it starts with a gateway item - in this case a simple cabin filter. Original was absolutely minging.

 
Then the (I think original) wipers were looking quite smeary, so in with the Bosch. I did dabble in PIAA last time but I didn't rate their water clearing as much as the Aeros.

 
After seeing all the posts about battery capacity leaving people stranded, I plumped for another preemptive strike - more Bosch.

 
With a complete absence of Bluetooth it made the BRZ impractical as a work/commuter vehicle, so I decided to deal with that problem and fit a Sony headunit. I've since improved the surround finisher trim.

 
Naturally it made good sense to fit a reverse camera at the same time, another preventive job this one. Preventing bodywork repair.

 
Now there is not much point in being able to see out the back and not see what's up front, so I popped in a Mobius dashcam - unbeatable piece of kit at the pricepoint.

 
The screw covers in the registration plates were unsightly and the plates were frankly awful (overlapping text, dealer advert etc) so they were recycled and new ones fitted with double sided.

I also moved the rear one down a touch, as I wasn't happy with the use of negative space in the rear plate recess  and it stopped it touching the reverse camera.
 
Subaru "forgot" to include an armrest to cover the expanse of hard plastic in the centre console, so I sorted out another bit of maintenance there.

Had to strap on the Captain Brave pants before drilling INSIDE the car, but manage to retain my dignity in the most part. You might have also noticed I popped in a lightning adapter for the headunit. I did initially retain the OEM USB/AUX port but I would have had to mount my phone on the dash or have unsightly cables knocking about.
 
Another bit of forgetfulness from Subaru saw me add a Beat Sonic shark fin, as this is stock on a MY2017, it's technically more maintenance.

 
This one was very nearly just a mod, but some of the OEM exhaust had some light surface rust, so yet more maintenance.

Thanks to bildingo for the Ark GRiP - it sounds brilliant at idle and at cruise, with a nice beefiness when you get on the loud peddle. On top of that it looks superb. Slash tips are JDM yo, but I think I prefer rolled. I genuinely won't be playing around with HFCs, de-cats or the rest of the exhaust as I can't be doing with the MOT hassle and CELs I've had to deal with in the past.
 
For reasons unknown Subaru don't have a cargo net offering for the boot, which given the way the car is meant to be driven, is a huge oversight. More maintenance required here. Picked up these self tapping fixings from fleabay.

And recycled the cargo net from my 350z

I have four spare fixings left over (enough for one more 4-point cargo net). If anyone wants them, please get in touch. Yours for free.
 
Last but not least, I allowed myself one genuine mod. A club sticker.

Local seagulls felt this relenting on my zero mods policy should be met with a dirty protest.
 
I had a go at the plastic scuttle under the windscreen, which is already looking tired even with our 4 weeks of sun a year.

 
Got a sample pot of this from a Waxybox a while back, decide to splash out on a full bottle. 

 
Very easy to apply and buff, but I won't know if it's really any good until it's lasted 6 months or so. Definitely looks the part for now.

 
Now the bit of bad news. The dealer promised a service before I collected the car and after a week or so of nagging I got a copy of the invoice for work done (mainly for my service history). Disappointingly, the wrong grade of oil had been used and cheapo filters all round. So I splashed out on some Millers Nanodrive (I even got the right viscosity), a K&N oil filter and a Cosworth panel filter. She's now breathing better.
Worryingly, the best part of 10 litres of the olive oil the previous servicer used came out. I believe the correct capacity with an oil filter is 5.4L?

I had checked the dipstick at collection but it was only showing a splash over full! Needless to say I'm glad the wrong grade was used, as that convinced me to drop it out, so it was only over full for a short while. Slack work though from "professionals", the sump plug and oil filter were only touch tight as well - GRRRRR.
 
That's me for now, only maintenance and preventative maintenance from here on in. With that in mind, I've got a paint correction booked with a local detailer in a couple of weeks. I need to know what glaze the dealer valet used because it did an incredible job of hiding a truck load of swirls and random deep scratches. Soon to be perfect though 
 
 
 
 
 

SO I was saying on Sunday I hadn't broke traction yet...apparently all I needed was wet, greasy roads...oops.

Welcome to the club  Not quite the right colour car, but at least it's not ginger.