Mark-in-Stoke

So more modding happened today. As I mentioned before, I was never a big fan of the stock '86 lights. Ideally I wanted smoked replacements, but at the time settled for some standard red Valenti that came up on the forum, just to get rid. I didn't mind the red to be honest but knew that I wanted the smoked at some point. Well as luck would have it @Lucas@PartBox wanted to swap his smoked for some reds. He swung by earlier this afternoon and on the car park at work we got our 8mm spanners at the go and swapped over. Both happy. #winning!

 
Of course, this opens up a can of worms now haha! The rear foglight now sticks out a bit so needs changing, or at least tinting. The rear logos need to come off and my black Toyota logo needs to go on. The stealth look is at least starting!

I have the F1 AS3s all round, and it was choice between them and PS4s.  In the end I felt the rim protection was better on the F1s, and that was more important for me than the additional benefits of the PS4s.  The F1s I find very quiet and give a super ride on lowered suspension.

I'm the same - I had a Blitz panel filter in before and was perfectly happy with it. But I was concerned that the AFR's would be running lean and wanted the extra oomph without the risk of it getting too lean. As for MAF confusion, personally I doubt it. If you read the fitting instructions, they are very specific that the filter should be fitted exactly one inch off the near side of the MAF. If you don't get this right it causes all kinds of problems and can actually result in power loss! Mark came up with an idea of cutting a piece of paper to size and I used it as a template to ensure it was spot on. As you say Grimmspeed did a lot of air flow work, and their intake was one of the last to market with the R&D for the product done in the public domain. All of their back to back dyno plots are also freely available.
I wasn't expecting the difference to be so obvious, but was pleased when it was. We were two up with 3/4 a tank of fuel as well! Mark's got two 86's, with his wife's being pretty much stock and after the first pull in 2nd gear we both kinda just looked at one another and started laughing!
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Car-Interior-Refit-Carbon-Fiber-Window-lift-button-Decorative-Frame-TRD-STI-Modification-Trim-For-Subaru/32828024612.html
Don't forget to use the Mobile App, brings the price down even further. That said, can't recommend these at the moment due to the poor fit.

And the award for the creepiest reply to a car advert....

I was genuinely surprised to say the least. I don’t like that oil sensor being so close to the air box - I slackened it off a bit today and pulled on the air box to stop it touching. But that aside, Jesus it goes! 😳
As for seat - I’ve bodged it for now but it’s not going to last. Think I’ll ask @Riceburnerand see what he can do. 

I'm sure we could easily sort the seat button if you want to give it a go? and as you know I was pretty impressed with the urgency the car had after the install, if i didn't have the turbo that intake would be on mine.
 

Got my Cosmis Racing XT-206R ( 18x9 ET33) in Black Chrome wheels today. It was a struggle to fit them in the car  now I just need to get some tyres. T1Rs all around i think. Can't complain about the performance for £250/set



 

Back again! 

I have some 😘

Do it, get some proper wheels

Attaches to the top of your rear screen on the outside)  Will try to find a pic of the one I had.

It wasn't my fault "honest guv"

I wondered if you would make an appearance 😋 Now then, about these oatcakes, as all of England and Kent knows the best come direct from my kitchen and I have the waist line to prove it. Staffordshire oatcakes indeed... counterfiets 🌯🌯🌯

Not just here in England but in Staffordshire too!
Ooo the bloody cheek!, and by the way those Derbyshire oatcakes are "pants" nowhere near as good as the authentic North Staffs oatcakes 😜

Bringing the boost in, in a more linear fashion to get the torque band that we want, makes it very driveable. Top end power is excellent and really just feels like a very fast aspirated setup. Easiest way to explain it that is doesn't 'feel' as quick as it actually is really.
 
Mike

Here's me and her! Immediately after completion of MODS!! Nice hat eh!
 

This one is one of my favourites

I have just noticed this in another thread (it made me happy), I then saw the link you provided saying you can order anything from the rays site (this made me very very sad) I now have many wheels spinning around in my head. Thank you very much.😁

For the love of God please stop! Still can't get those transcends out of my head (shall I, shan't I)

I have just noticed this in another thread (it made me happy), I then saw the link you provided saying you can order anything from the rays site (this made me very very sad) I now have many wheels spinning around in my head. Thank you very much.😁

I have just noticed this in another thread (it made me happy), I then saw the link you provided saying you can order anything from the rays site (this made me very very sad) I now have many wheels spinning around in my head. Thank you very much.😁

No, but we take credit cards! Think of it this way.. You have a maaaad super-charged 86 AND you're building your credit rating! 

This will be no news to those of you who I have added on Facebook, but for those of you who don't know, the GT86 is now sold.
It's rather bittersweet, as I have really enjoyed my 2 years 3 months with the car, but alas, changes in lifestyle forced my hand.
Given the amount of money spent on the car, I couldn't see myself selling for a long time, and despite always looking around on Auto Trader and considering various options, none were every really realistic. However, in May I left my job all of a sudden. Got paid for 3 months of remote support, and started looking for a new permanent role. Fortunately, I was offered a management position within Heineken, who had been a previous customer of mine during my contracting days. This resulted in an almost immediate 100% increase in wages, and a 1500% increase in daily commute (up to nearly 70 miles a day).
As compliant as the GT86 was as a daily driver, it started becoming less enjoyable for this commute. Main reason for this, is that my daily commute is all single carriageway country roads, crawling in tractors and lorries. The GT86, even with the turbo, just wasn't enjoyable on this drive. When sat in traffic driving slow, it was loud and fairly uncomfortable, and when an opportunity to overtake came about, the ultimate lack of immediate torque was also a bummer (obviously, being in lower gears is the answer, but I didn't want to drive around in 3rd all day waiting for a chance to overtake).
Anyway, in summary, my search for a new car lasted around 6 weeks. I initially wanted a BMW M3/M4 (F series), but after driving one and scaring myself, and also realising just how enormous those cars are, I moved on. I then started considering another hot hatch, specifically an Audi RS3, Mercedes A45 or Focus RS. The RS3 holds its value far too well for that to be a true consideration. The A45 was nice, but really hard to find the correct spec. The RS, initially, looked perfect, I actually bought one (well, put a deposit down and signed finance documents etc.), but after driving one on an extended test drive, I found it to be extremely underwhelming. Barely faster than the GT86, a worse gearbox, very boring interior and still equally uncomfortable. I therefore asked for a refund on the deposit and looked elsewhere.
Going back to BMWs, I started considering the M2. It looked to be the right size, was tunable to M3/M4 pace, and looked great. I went to look at a delivery miles car in Warrington, and a lovely car it was too. The dealership in question stocked many BMWs, and another that caught my eye was an M235i. After driving both, I really couldn't see where the extra £20k went on the M2. Sure, the interior was a little nicer, car was a little quicker and obviously looks amazing in comparison, but none of those factors were even close to bridging the £20k gap.
So, I bought the M235i, and here she is (bonus pic of our T5 camper, and my dog also):

It's a 2014 car with ~20,000 miles. A ZF 8 speed gearbox (perfect for my daily drive, and surprisingly fun), Professional media package, heated memory seats, automatic everything, DAB, adaptive dampers, M Performance brake upgrade, adaptive LED headlights, basically everything. The only options not ticked were the winter pack (heated steering wheel), sunroof and tinted windows.
It's by no means as playful as the GT86 was, but certainly faster (makes the Focus RS I drove feel very sluggish and old fashioned to be honest), still a very fun drive, especially with the adaptive dampers in sport mode, and when not, a very comfortable, quiet, seamless car. It's truly got 2 personalities, and I couldn't be happier.
As far as future plans with the car, and myself. Well, I certainly plan on still attending as many social meets as possible. I've made some great friends from this website, and I will not abandon that just for a change of car. In terms of the car, well for now the plans are to just enjoy it. I've already ordered some minor upgrades (a new panel filter and some M performance gloss black front grills), and plan to get a Kerscher front lip, M performance carbon rear spoiler, carbon/chrome tailpipe replacements, and some new tyres (Pilot Sport 4s, of course) to replace the current run flat Bridgestones.
After Christmas I may start considering tuning, but will likely only go as far as a JB4/intake/exhaust. I may also consider the H&R springs once I've tried my buddies', but then I'll probably stop and just enjoy the dual personalities of the car.
Sorry for the wall of text, if you've read it, I appreciate you. Thanks for the fun times over the past few years, and I look forward to seeing some of you again in the future, just with a slightly different key in my pocket
Ross

Red is too fast