Ccolleavy

Whilst on an absolutely essential journey recently I made an absolutely essential stop to take some absolutely essential photos. (not really) 🙄😇

I think today might turn out a bit better!
 
I just got ID'd in Tesco Express when buying ciggies!   I'm 52 LOL

All you smug bastards fiddling about with stickers
Whilst I'm just over here, trying to get my fucking shed to work 😂

Welcome and good luck with your search.
Sometimes takes a while for the right one to come up but its worth waiting as you say
 
PS excellent colour choice

There will be a lot of us attending Japfest, come over to the club stand.

While the car was at Rogue Motorsport they also made me a manifold/overpipe combo to try along with a new sports cat pipe with an extra resonator added. 
It's a work of art and seems a massive shame for it to be hidden away under the car! 







And a picture on the car showing the sports cat and resonator section too

It's good that people try unorthodox approaches, without it, there would be no reverse cowgirl

This evening I got a really cheap quote from a company called 'Zenith', but the online reviews for them are dreadful; however, this 5 star review for them was particularly amusing:

"I don't even have a licence and they never checked and gave me fully comp cover even though dvla have revoked my licence due to my mental health. They are so lovely on the phone and even when there's no money in my bank they still keep me insured and speak to me like I'm royalty. Due to them insuring me I won't ever be pulled over for no licence....happy days"
 

I think it's the same as Tesco; they buy it off Greenergy.
Both Shell and Tesco use close to the maximum 5% ethanol in their fuel.
I've not heard of inconsistencies with Tesco fuel and Greenergy publish fuel analysis reports on their website so it's easy to check.

Woke up this morning to a bit of sunshine so treated the car to a quick clean, went inside to watch the F1 and then it tanked it down, naturally . Anyway, the rain buggered off so went for a quick drive and a 5 minute photoshoot before the sun went down:
GT86_16_09_nimz-4
GT86_16_09_nimz-3
GT86_16_09_nimz-6
GT86_16_09_nimz-2
GT86_16_09_nimz
Not sure what the next step is, I need a bit more noise so will probably save for a manifold and remap at Tuning Developments if I can stop myself from buying an exhaust first 
 

More pics!
 

 

Then it was time to disappear off again with work for a few months, so decided to treat the car to a few bits before I abandoned it..
Firstly some Japan Racing JR3s, and Avon ZZ5s to go on them, I've always put Michelin PS3s on the Fabia but figured I'd give the Avons a go..


And some Tein lowering springs.. I had coilovers in my last car and plan on getting them again for the 86 at a later date, but for now these will do..


Since I'd put 5k miles on it by this point, thought id give it an oil change too so splashed out on some Millers Nanodrive NT+ and a shiny red TRD oil filter..

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

DAFL! After TD EL manifold and remap. What torque dip? 
GT86- Manifold and Exhaust by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Yeah, same here. I know the struggle.

The torque dip is pretty annoying, but the car actually comes with a fantastic free device which helps you get around it.
It's called a gearbox.
Seriously it's nothing worth not buying a twin over, it's just arguably the biggest weakness in what otherwise is a fantastic car. It's also very easily 'fixed' when you get around to modding by means of the manifold and remap as said.
 
 

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Here's a little write up of the meet, along with some pictures.
http://coordsport.com/coordsport-part-box-gt86-meet-30-07-17/

I think quite rare? only because I believe it was a really expensive extra so most people didn't bother with it. You do slide about on the leather seats though; but then I do keep cleaning them so makes them really slippery 
It probably is, I had just cleaned it, clayed it and polished it. 

Loving the car mate! Them wheels are stunning as well. How rare are the full leather seats in the 86's, only ever seen a few.

Had a great drive out this morning couple of slight issues with my GPS.  And Macclesfield mcdonalds but otherwise great roads mostly empty. 
Dry for most of the route with rain at the end through Castleton. Stopped half way for a mini photo shoot to 
Will probably organise a similar event for September as there is no Tss. 

Not the best shot admittedly, but it is very recent and was certainly pic of the day on Monday