Ignited

I can try and weigh them to see what the shipping cost would be but otherwise happy to wait until september if you prefer.

Yes, still available.

Thank you mate but I’m already on lowering springs 

Thanks for the reply, I'll DM you

Just wanted to give one last update that finally, after four months and a lot of chasing, I was refunded for my purchase. Best of luck to the other members who are waiting for parts or a refund.

Discovered that my 86 can make into a multi story without grounding out.
Also, shamefully discovered photo editing software 🤷‍♂️ 

Hi Simon !
Did wonder if our paths would cross on the 86 forums. Just looked back at the pic you posted in the 86 thread on ROC.  On your red car that wheel refurb looks like £6 well spent for sure 😀 . 
Should be getting a cheap set of O.E. 2018 wheels soon to run different tyres. Might try some plastidip on the current set.
 
 
 
 

Hi Alan,
Welcome from another MR2 fan/owner. I normally see you on another forum!
Just painting the standard wheels with one colour transforms the look of the car to my eyes, I did all 4 with one large rattlecan.
Cheers
Simon.

I agree with driving them both to see what you think. I also agree with having a difference between the fun car and the daily. This is one of the reasons why I bought the auto.                    I also agree that the auto is hard to get off the line very quickly but think it is great when you want to get away reasonably quickly as it just adds speed very smoothly. The overtaking in the auto is great although there is a small delay while it works out what gear it can drop to. After a while though you factor this in with your driving style.
I have the Tuning developments NA package with their super resonated exhaust and 4.67 final drive now and it is quick.
I prefer to drive in auto mode but using the paddles to over ride the box when needed and I think this is better than pure manual mode for making progress.
If it was my only fun car though I think it would be hard not to go for a manual.
Which brings us back to driving both and seeing what you think will work for you!

Civic Type-R (FK8) and GR Yaris.
 
Yesterday I met up with my old friend, Ross for a comparison of our cars. We’ve known each other for a fair few years now through both having GT86’s. He has had his Championship White, FK8 Civic Type-R for 18 months. I’ve had my GR Yaris for two weeks and a thousand miles. In my mind, I still feel like I’m learning my car as it is such a departure from driving a GT86 which I have done for eight years. Still, you know what they say about old dogs and new tricks eh, so I am on a big learning curve with this one. This was my main reason for holding off reviewing it, as I don’t feel I’ve got my head round it yet. However, Ross typically forced my hand, and I couldn’t resist the chance to have some serious car talk and try out his Civic Type-R.
 
The Civic, I am obviously well aware of and I’ve been in Ross’s car before. I have to admit, it is a car that intrigued me as I’ve owned a DC2 back in the noughties. In fact if the GR Yaris hadn’t been announced I was seriously considering one. Starting with the FK8, I’ve always struggled a bit with it’s looks, though I’m all for function over form, but I guess looking at the standard Civic, it was always going to be a difficult task to make it look pretty. Ross is running 19” forged wheels on his FK8 with PS4S tyres, so matching those of the Yaris.
 
The first and immediate thought once you’ve got past the exterior and sit in the car, is how good the seats are. Again, they are not pretty looking seats, but they work and feel excellent. The driving position too, is excellent and the controls feel well to hand. I love a titanium gear knob and it’s positioning is spot on. Likewise the steering wheel, feels great and is a nice size. The main touch points are great, though the cheapness of the steering wheel buttons is just awful. Then there is the dash which is okay, though perhaps a little low res for what we expect today, but it works perfectly well. I wasn’t sure about the ‘boost’ gauge which looks a bit like a pint being filled with Red Bull, but these are details that matter far less. The Civic has three driving modes, comfort, sport and R+ mode for which the dash gets progressively redder and the dampers get firmer. Throttle response and steering weight also changes. Unless you are in cruise control and therefore not on the throttle I wouldn’t use comfort mode unless you wish to punish yourself, it’s horrible with over light steering and a lack of any throttle response.
 
On the road in the Civic, the immediate thing that hits you is the feel of this car. It just feels like a racing car on the road. It’s so sharp and that sharpness comes from an absolutely nailed down front end. Steering feel is excellent and it feels a special place to be, even sitting in traffic. Ross told me had had changed the map to make it feel more standard though slightly increased at around 335bhp. My first thought was how is it going to manage this through the front wheels and true to form, as I exited a junction and pushed my foot to the floor, the car scrabbled for grip, sending me towards the limiter. I’d better grab second then. The gearbox has a lovely mechanical feel to it and is of the type that rewards precision. Second gear in and traction is not a problem. In the wet I can see how this would be an issue, but it is the limitation of pushing so much power through the front wheels. That said, it copes with it very well and the engine is very linear in its response. Considering this, it needs to be as compared to the more punchy delivery of the Yaris it’d be breaking traction a lot more otherwise.
 
Ross demonstrated the manner in which his car piles on the speed and it is impressive that it just doesn’t let up right up to the speed limit. The over riding feeling in the Honda is all about the front end. as I push the car into a fast right hander where the camber falls away and edge my foot to the floor, I can feel the diff pulling me round. Any worries about understeer, are unfounded because if I want to tighten my line, the diff just does this with aplomb. When Ross demonstrated it to me, I thought he was having a few stabs at turn in and mocked him for it, but wow, that aggressive front differential is everything that makes the Civic what it is. This car does inspire confidence and it feels properly special as a Type-R should. Whilst driving it, it conjured up visions of thinking I’d kicked Matt Neal out of his seat for the next BTCC race.
 
Now onto my car. My interest in the GR Yaris was first piqued by two words. ‘Homologation Special’, undoubtedly the holy grail for a petrolhead worth their salt. After seeing the specification I was even more intrigued and whilst I wasn’t sure I believed the shock with which it was a bit lukewarmly received in the prototype reviews Estoril a year ago now, I took a punt and put in a pre-order at the earliest opportunity. For the next 9 months I did feel some anxiety, as what if it’s no good people would ask me, what if the reviews come out and it’s awful, what would I do? My answer was that I’d probably cancel and buy an FK8 Type-R, but obviously I so wanted the GR Yaris to be good, it has to be, I thought. When the reviews came out on the 10th November, I breathed a sigh of relief and then a whole load of anticipation as the press adored it. Part of my reasoning for the Yaris is that I wanted to try 4WD too and the rear bias in Sport Mode excited me as I’m such a rear-wheel-drive stalwart. To me it was the ability to have handling characteristics of three cars in one, depending on how my mood took me.
 
In many ways all the GR Yaris and Civic Type-R share are similar performance figures and a similar price. the Civic is the racing car, that feels like it should be on the BTCC grid, the Yaris, feels like it’s emerged from a special stage. This is no bad thing as it provides the cars with different characteristics.
 
Getting in the Yaris, the driving position is high, I explained to Ross, it’s something you have to accept and it’s almost like Gazoo Racing want you to sit over the wheel and adopt an Elfyn Evans style posture. It feels wrong at first, but you adapt quickly. Vision due to the massive infotainment screen and the rear mirror position has been obsessively debated to the point of nauseam on the internet. The reality is, you don’t notice once on the move. It’s a bit like you don’t worry about how the Civic looks, once you’re behind the wheel. The touch points in the Yaris are excellent. The steering wheel is lovely and has a thinner rim and is better for it. The gearstick has been raised 5cm which places it closer to the wheel. This is good and looking at the GR Yaris you have to love it’s specification for homologation reasons. Carbon polymer rood, aluminium bonnet, boot and doors and those beautiful bulging rear arches that fill the mirror. There is a ton of other detail to pour over and it feels every bit the rally refugee. You notice this even down to the unpadded Alcantara door panels, which save weight of course.
 
The dash in the Yaris is analogue which may disappoint some, but on the other hand, its clarity is obvious with two big dials for tachometer and speedometer with various displays that can be selected in the 4” TFT display between the clocks. The boost gauge with oil pressure and temperature are an obvious favourite.
 
Pulling away in the Yaris, traction is absolute as one would expect. In normal mode it runs a 60:40 torque split and gives more of a front wheel drive feel. It’s a very safe way to drive the car as going into fast into a corner will tend towards understeer and you lift and it comes back. However, normal mode does not allow a more relaxed stability control and really on the road, unless you disable it completely. I tend to favour sport mode with its rear wheel drive bias with a 30:70 torque split, it lightens the steering and corrupts it less. Feel is good and it does weight up with speed. Toyota run this torque split on tarmac in their WRC cars and I like it how it gives more of a feel of the car being pushed from the rear. I favour track mode with a 50:50 split for wet, muddy B roads where you can use the front diff to pull you out of corners. Ross directed me down what could have been an actual rally stage! Wet, muddy and single track with plenty of crests. I launched my car at it and even with a poor surface to the road, it just flew down there giving me absolute confidence and pulling me out of every turn. I doubt anything really could have kept up with the Yaris on this sort of terrain and it would have taken the Civic way out of its comfort zone. Steering feel in the Yaris is good, though it does not exhibit the singularity of purpose of the Civic, but then the Civic’s front end typifies and defines that car.
 
We did some testing through some wide sweeping corners and the Yaris is surprising with how it is simply not fazed. Body roll is well controlled and the development that comes from having a World Rally Team and the likes of Tommi Makkinen setting up the chassis from the ground up, hugely pays off. This car is immensely capable. The punch of that tiny 1.6 litre three cylinder turbo engine is more punchy than the Civic, so it feels faster, but it has the traction to exploit this. My problem is that I know I will have to take my car on track to learn what it can really do as I suppose the public road in the middle of December is perhaps not the place.
 
In Summary:
We are comparing two very different cars here, their similarities really only centre on price and on paper performance, but they give two very different options. Firstly the Civic, a race car for the road, great steering, love how it feels special on any occasion behind the wheel just like my DC2 did. A true Type-R and all the better for it. It has great bite and the manner in which that limited slip differential work is truly beguiling. It’s a practical car too and I can see how it would be epic on track. The Yaris is a rally car. In the same way the Civic feels like a refugee that took a wrong turn on the way to the BTCC, the Yaris, feels like it should throwing itself down a gravel stage in Myhren or perhaps Clocaenog. This makes it so special. Perhaps driving the car on my daily commute it does not evoke the special feeling that was so apparent in the Civic, but oh my when you wake it up, that comes in spades. Another consideration when comparing these two cars is that the GR Yaris has in effect nothing to compare itself to as it is the only homologation special car you can buy. Would I want to have a Civic Type-R instead? My answer is no, though I love it may need to borrow Ross’s car on occasion. For me, I’ve done the Type-R thing when I had my DC2 and have learnt that front wheel drive does not have to equal boring and it is anything but. However, I wanted to try something different. The GR Yaris is my first turbo and four wheel drive car. It clearly has many layers to peel and I can already feel that is of the type that gives more the deeper you delve. This is always the sign of a good car. Ultimately between the two cars it simply comes down to what your preference is, do you want a road racer or a rally car? What is in no doubt is that  they are absolutely both brilliant cars. Enjoy them whilst you still can I say.

I think I must be going mad, but it was reassuring to know I was not the only one when my 6am alarm went off this morning. Time for another Sunday drive. This time I had Richard from RRG Macc' out with me in their black GR Yaris demonstrator, Mark in my old GT86 along with his friend from work in a Golf GTI. As we headed out on the M56 from Manchester Airport, in the pouring rain and held a steady speed in all the standing water that was there, I pondered to myself, that this is absolute madness. As it transpired the GR Yaris took it in its stride, though Mark in the GT86 was having a few wake up calls trying to drive in a straight line. As we neared our rendezvous with Richard, I was seriously reconsidering why I had had such a bright idea to go out in these conditions. It was certainly hardcore. I reassured the convoy that things would improve as we headed down the A49 as it we emerged into daylight. I'd also pointed out that there would be no heroics and reminded all to take it easy.
 
As it turns out things did get better as we neared Whitchurch McDonald's for our breakfast stop, though it was all somewhat relative. Breakfast helped though and it when off in the direction of Market Drayton for the Eccleshall Loop. I had my car in track mode, stability on considering the conditions. My car felt so surefooted which was reassuring and I found I could launch it out of the corners, getting on the power earlier than I felt would have been reasonable. Mark at the back in my old GT86, was having a whole different kind of fun! To be fair, there was no way this was ever going to be more than a brisk drive in places and I still have to consider that I haven't yet driven my car in the dry. This car does give you confidence though. Traction is absolute and though I had the front wheels perhaps edging into clawing their way into the tarmac, it was nearly always surprising in the manner in which the car could be fired through the apex and just tear down the next straight. I would normally of course be looking for some really fast long radius bends, where I could properly load up the chassis, but in today's conditions this was neither the time or the place and caution as they say wins.
 
After losing Mark and his friend when they went the wrong way when we joined the M6 it was just the two GR Yaris for the drive back to Wilmslow. We took the back roads of course though inevitably there was the odd horse box and duffer along the way. Now we were two cars rather than four overtaking was a lot easier. There were a couple of times, when I went to overtake one car, only to think I may as well take the next as well. Getting to 6K rpm now I've got 500 miles on the clock, you can really make the car fly. The jet like sound from the exhaust as the revs climb to six thousand, does a bit addictive I admit.
 
Overall in these difficult times where going out for a drive is about all you can, do much fun was had. So much so that my friend from Toyota is now buying his own GR Yaris and it only took a day with the demonstrator for him to do that! This car does impress. I am now contemplating what it might be like come warm and dry roads. My alarm for the summer on a Sunday is going to be very early indeed! 
 

 

 

The quality is really good. No problems with painting as no preparation needed. 
Its been on for a couple of years I think now and no issues whatsoever.
It doesnt quite cover all the area of the old spoiler at the very ends so if you look closely you can see marks in the paint on the bootlid. Not a problem though and if I had known before ordering mine, it would not have put me off. If you really want a show car finish, you could mount it and have the whole bootlid sprayed with the spoiler on. 
Not that I am trying to put you off, just give you a heads up! The car looks so much better with it on and I would definitely recommend them.

News in, from Richard. Mine should be arriving at RRG Macc today. Arranged Saturday pick up.

Good buy! Life is too short to drive cr*p cars.
I took my old garage door to the tip in the 86.
(Helps if you have an angle grinder).

Bought some new wheel nuts for when the tyres were swapped. I was really impressed by these - they are open ended nuts which the red piece screws into using a special tool they provide. They've even gone to the effort of sealing it with a rubber o-ring.

Took the car to Rogue Motorsport to swap the new track tyres on and give the car a quick check over before the two trackdays I have coming up next week



 

Nearly Back On The Road
So I set out to give a true reflection of what it would take to get the car back on the road.  I have done all the work myself minus the frame shop straightening the front end/welding on the new slam panel and the respray itself.  If you take out of the consideration any mods I've purchased that weren't needed such as rear lights/headunit/STI parts etc and just look at what it would take to get a similar 86/BRZ back on the road with similar damage I have spent as follows.
Exactly as I've done it with facelift front end and new bumper/wings plus full colour change:
Total on the road cost: £8930.46
That includes:
Crash Damaged BRZ £4200
Used Bonnet £150
Used Crash Bream £50
Used Rad £20
Used A/C rad £20
Used Fans £20
Used Airbox and washer bottle £100
Odd used and new clips, brackets, fog lights, wiring, rear bumper etc £200
New Slam Panel Subaru £306
New Front wings and brackets, top plastic grill trim, 4x rubber bushings for rad assembly Toyota £309
New Vland Headlights £380
New Facelift front bumper with all the brackets, grills etc £617.92
New Headlight rubber seals(BRZ Only) Subaru £58.14
New Headlight washer jet covers Subaru £70
New Various bolts Subaru £29.24
Labour for frame shop to straighten the car £380
Respray in Porsche RS Green £2000 (Note for those that ask why so cheap I did all the labour in terms of stripping the car minus the bonnet/doors/boot lid
 
For that above cost I have a 2013 BRZ with around 40k on the clock, spotless interior, heated seats, spotless exterior which is unique and you wont see another one in that colour, black headlights etc.  Yes I could have bought a working 86 for that sort of price (Only seen very rough BRZ's sub £10k) but it would possibly have higher mileage, not as in good condition and certainly not unique.  It would also have the pre-facelift front end which im not a massive fan of.   So for me I am more than happy with it as it stands and gives me a solid base to start modifying.  
 
Getting it on the road even cheaper:
Now I could have got it on the road for much cheaper if I had waited around for used parts that matched the body colour and didn't insist on retro fitting a facelift front end.  This would have avoided £2000 in bodyshop costs straight away, plus the used body parts would have been a lot cheaper than the new bits I went for like the front bumper and wings.
Total on the road cost: £6383.54
 
That includes:
Crash Damaged BRZ £4200
Used Bonnet £150
Used Crash Bream £50
Used Rad £20
Used A/C rad £20
Used Fans £20
Used Airbox and washer bottle £100
Odd used and new clips, brackets, fog lights, wiring, rear bumper etc £200
New Slam Panel Subaru £306
Used Front wings and brackets, top plastic grill trim, 4x rubber bushings for rad assembly  £300
New Vland Headlights £380
Used Front Bumper £150
New Headlight rubber seals(BRZ Only) Subaru £58.14
New Various bolts Subaru £29.24
Labour for frame shop to straighten the car £380
 
Yes I was lucky with some of the used parts coming up super cheap, but if I can find bargains, others can.   Sam Nadeem from SJ Autosports is a great source of well priced used parts for 86's/BRZ's in the UK.  I did all the work with a Halfords tool kit and a Ryobi impact gun.  I've never rebuilt a crashed car before so have learn't a lot along the way.  Now its time for its MOT tomorrow, then tax and insurance.  Once thats done its off the bodyshop for its final polish now its all back together then modifications begin.  
 
Very happy its gone from this:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr
 
To This:
Untitled by James Baker, on Flickr

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.




 

Not a huge amount of progress lately, to be fair there isn’t a huge amount left to do aside from some little jobs.
 
First one was to find a home for the USB/Comms ports for both the Motec and AIM Dash. There was just enough room in the centre console below the battery kill switches so I installed them there, plus it makes them very easy to access, although in truth I could have hidden the AIM dash port as it has built-in WIFI so I probably won’t need it that often.
 

 
Also finally installed the dash with all the wiring now finally completed behind it.
 

 
On the back of a little more research and talking to Tuner who’ll be mapping the car I decided it was probably best to add a fuel pressure sensor so I cut into the line just before the fuel rail and added a 150psi sensor.
 

 
Handily the Motec has a 12 Pin Deutsch DTM breakout plug as part of the GT86 patch loom that is pinned out to accept the fuel pressure sensor, I put a 3pin DTM just the far side of the firewall as I’ve done with all the additional sensors just to aid quick removal, and then ran back to the passenger footwell where the breakout plug is located
 

 
Last little wiring job was to fit a new 3Bar MAP sensor, as the OEM will be easily maxed out with the unrestricted Supercharger at the upper end.
 

 
Once that lot was done it was down to the more mundane. First was filling the coolant system. I use a vacuum system for this as it gives the most reliable method of ensuring there is no air in the system. A quick little test showed the system was holding vaccum so in went the coolant.
 

 
Final job was to prime the oil system. For the moment I want to leave the Accusump disconnected until I have the engine run in, I just don’t want the initial break-in oil going into the system
 
In order to fully prime the engines oil pump and all the oil galleries I filled up the front housing ports via the oil filter housing, and then connected a 1.5L oil syringe to the top of the main oil gallery and forced about 1Ltr of oil through the system. I’ll do the same again immediately prior to first fire up too.
 

 
So that’s about as far as I can go now until the engine is started up. There is a bit of a delay with my tuner at the moment for obvious reasons but I’m also just waiting on delivery of one final piece which I’m hopeful it will arrive in the next few weeks.

I made an initial deposit yesterday of £500 in an effort to get an early build slot when things start happenning.
Went for Pure White with  Circuit Pack. No other other options at present. That may change, we shall see. There will be a UK unveil at Goodwood FOS in July, with dealer demos in October. Delivery is January 2021, but it could move forward to November. Really excited!
Got a brochure as well! 🤣

Another picture pre the ride height being set to something a little more useful
And the other bit of awesome work from Rogue Motorsport

Nice and easy to get to the spark plugs....

Great pictures Will.
It was good to meet up with everyone for a nice lunch.
Here are a few of my pics.




After looking at the photos on the wall though, was it just me that was a bit disappointed that no-one wanted to take on any of the food challenges?

I love the top right picture as it looks like the paramedic is on standby...

Great pictures Will.
It was good to meet up with everyone for a nice lunch.
Here are a few of my pics.




After looking at the photos on the wall though, was it just me that was a bit disappointed that no-one wanted to take on any of the food challenges?

I love the top right picture as it looks like the paramedic is on standby...

I will add that if you don't want this problem to manifest itself again glue the pin in, then you aren't just relying on a press fit.
 I had the same issue, for those who do this don't go mad with pushing the pin back in either, being tapered and made of metal it will split the plastic case of the arm rest! I just noticed mine had a crack in it before I went any further. Superglue works just fine.