Test Drives Unlimited

So Guys and Gals have just Renewed My Membership    seeing have taken the decision to keep the car

You could have renewed even without the car, we're all lovely people!* 
 
(*As long as alcohol is provided)

Ordering through Fensport will be your best option as I won't be making these kits anymore myself. Only via Fensport.
 
 
 
Once I'm sure all the orders have been fulfilled on the forums I will make you one as promised Keith, as I owe you anyway! As promised! 

Jay being banned from the other forum is badge of honour mate 
 
The active members of the GT86 community know you weren't out to shaft anybody, all that's happened is you allowed yourself to over commit trying to keep everyone happy.
 
There's no reason for you to worry about attending meets and it seems a bit OTT to start thinking about getting rid of your car now you've just got the HKS fitted.
 
I think a suggestion for anyone else who finds themselves in a similar situation, don't overcommit, agree a small batch at a time and don't take any more orders until you are happy you want to do some more.
 
You just ended up putting yourself under intense pressure when all you were trying to do was help
 
Alec

I will be getting to the Car Park at 5.30am this year and then be at the front of the queue

Hopefully see some of you on the Thursday

Also don't forget as Toyota Owners we can use the Hospitality Lounge above the Toyota Stand

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I will be getting to the Car Park at 5.30am this year and then be at the front of the queue

Hopefully see some of you on the Thursday

Also don't forget as Toyota Owners we can use the Hospitality Lounge above the Toyota Stand

Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk

To be honest both the Boxster and the Cayman are better handling cars than the 911 due to being mid engined, and makes for a more enjoyable drive. If they were given 911 kinds of power they would both be a better car and also faster, but then that would mean the 911 would become obsolete, which is why Porsche hold back.

The only reference we have now is the new Cayman GT4 Which is probably only eclipsed by the turbo and GT3 currently. The Boxster was never supposed to rival the 911. They are not comparable and many people would prefer to drive one over a 911 due to its better poise and agility.

Plus why bother buying a more expensive 911 when you can just buy a second hand Boxster and do a little flat 6 engine swap Save yourself a huge chunk of money and have 911 power in a better chassis!

The 2.3 Eco boost motor will probably give you the best bang for buck! Best compromise of MPG, tax and running costs, plus you'll be able to tune them close to V8 speeds given they are turbocharged. Good luck Bumblebee

Hi All
What an emotive subject I seem to have started, I would simply love a V8 I can afford it, but just can't afford to run the bloody thing let alone tax and insure it !! Estimated 20MPG meaning 15-18 if you are lucky hence the 2.3 Ecoboost is my only option!!

JamesP1991 has rightly summed it up for me by saying the following:

"The 2.3 Eco boost motor will probably give you the best bang for buck! Best compromise of MPG, tax and running costs, plus you'll be able to tune them close to V8 speeds given they are turbocharged. Good luck Bumblebee"

So thanks to those like him who can understand my reasoning, if anybody wants to see it in the flesh I will try arrange a meet up once I have it most likely nov/dec if the dealer can be trusted as I am assured I'm in the first batch I will believe it when I see it and will miss the GT86 dearly in the meantime and the good advice and banter on the forums.
Thankyou all and I've only had a couple of beers lol

Been reading through this whole thread and must say your car just looks fantastic Keith

As the 'Age of Recovery' threads on this Forum seem to be an interesting subject I will add my own. Not only to waste half an hour on a keyboard but hopefully to give some guidance, insight and depth of pockets required for those who seek the ultimate.
 
"eh?" I hear you think.... "..ultimate what?"
 
As MLK said, 'I have a dream'. And mine is to own, drive (and ultimately sell) the fastest, best driveable road-going auto GT86 in Europe.
 
I am not interested in pretty - I want power, roadholding and predictability... but I insist it is controllable for road (my Granny should be able to drive it, she's 134 and in a wooden box) yet capable of testing her grandson's capabilities at Sprint and trackdays.
 
Over last winter I engaged Fensport to rebuild my engine with an HKS kit - stroked crank (to 2.2L), new cams (to accommodate the higher piston lift), forged pistons to their design and forged rods. At the same time new injectors and new oil pump. And a stage 3 AVO turbo to mate with my existing 3" exhaust system (also AVO).
 
Why not Cosworth? They are still poncing about with their forged kit, Adrian at Fensport was still prototyping their stuff, first engine they produced had big problems and it will be a year next Thursday before Cosworth get off their arses and do anything for genuine enthusiasts andget more than their basics on the market.
 
Why not Carillo and the other stuff from the US? Because I have only met one US supplier worth anything in terms of meeting overseas motorsport commitments - SSP for auto gearbox upgrades. I know Mark at Abbey swears by the 'other stuff'  suppliers, having built LFA's engine - but he/they don't use them on the road and they are, to my mind, unproven in the UK where no alternative has existed. (And LFA chooses to dismiss my invites to prove his car inthe UK..)
 
The downside with the HKS kit - for a turbo car - is dictated by their marketing platform. They want to sell their s/c kits, so the compression ratio is left high. It detracts from the benefit of bottom end boost generated by turbo. They offer three different cylinder head gasket thicknesses (which make a difference of 11.8:1 and 11.5:1 by my maths). And when Carillo/other kits are offering 10:1 c/r (or slightly lower) it seems perverse - Cossie have learned the lesson over the market resistance to 'package' selling, why has Japan not reacted?
 
But... with the Fensport ECU mapping the turbo boost can be 'progressive'.. (money).. and it is customised to your specific car (money). Hence the decision to map my car in  (1) road  (2) extreme road (3) wet track (4) extreme track (more money).
 
Some of you may be aware that I am the only auto trans competing in Europe. Last year, after advice that the Toyo autotrans is built of tissue and stuck together with bubblegum (it is a Lexus de-engineered 8-speed to a paperweight 6-speed, worthy of a max 260bhp), I went to US and got an upgraded autotrans from SSP.
 
I chose stage 2 valve body (see website) - and, sure enough, it kicks you up the arse when you change on road, it is uncomfortable and, after five miles, my daughter went into premature labour!  (I joke). On track it is seemless.. instant response when driving over 4k revs.
 
As I was planning my engine upgrade,  Kris (at SSP) made me aware of a clutch upgrade which was going well with the dragsters over there. One car in NewYork State is pulling 600bhp at the wheels and running a standard Toyo box upgraded with this kit. Has to be the way to go, I think, and ordered a kit  - discussed it with Fensport who washed their hands of it - autotrans they have no knowledge about, other than getting it out of your chassis and refitting it.
 
Howver, Adrian gave me a contact - a man who is, ostensibly, the top competition autotrans guy in the UK
 
(. to be continued)
 
Spec K
 
 
 

Never heard of them but let us know how you get on.

Hi everyone as some of you may of seen me at Japfest on Saturday,well the 2nd Set of Tyres were destroyed as there was a severe lack of grip going home

Already had the 4 New Tyres residing in my Bedroom at home

So from advice from Motorsport Ltd who I know very well there are 4 Kumho KU39's going on the car shortly

The guy is also a Director for Mazda On Track

They are cheap but there again the car will be going within the next 12 months

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Been absolutely flat out since we started

So Friday morning it was an early start to get to Ace Cafe in West London. We were one of the 1st to turn up and were a bit sceptical at first, but then some of the big boy cars rolled in...



Over 50 cars ranging from a A reg SL Mercedes to the Aventador. Seat Ibiza, Audi RS4, Aston V12 vantage, M3's, various Porches and BMWs. A great mix of cars with a great bunch of people

So we started out at about 10am, did some go Lartington near Cardiff before pulling into the hotel. Headed out into town for an awesome night out leaving us all a bit fuzzy this morning...

But we all sobered up pretty quickly after some breakfast and headed into the Welsh Valleys



Some fantastic driving roads despite some poor weather, before stopping at a great little pub for a BBQ and a drink for some co drivers

More driving into the Welsh countryside before heading up the M5 to Manchester where we had a convoy of about 20 cars at one point. We should have some awesome footage put together a few days after we finish so I'll be sure to upload that

All in all, fantastic value for money so far and a great bunch of fellow enthusiasts with a range of cars and backgrounds. One guy in a Porsche GT2 decided to have a row with the staff saying he expected more and was disgusted by it all, and everyone else's response was along the lines of "what did you want for £300?!"

We've been put in great hotels, breakfast included everyday, a party in a privately hired part of a club each night and a chance to drive with a bunch of similarly minded people around the UK. Fantastic value in my mind!

Tonight we're supposed to be watching the big fight but I doubt we'll make it to 4/5am if we have to be up and on the road by 11am for the trip to Edinburgh...

Car is getting compliments left, right and centre. Mainly about how awesome she sounds but also how it's surprising a few people with the power. She's done us proud so far!



Only major incident is the Aventador has apparently developed an issue on today's route...what a shame!



Oh and the MR2 has decided to throw a strop every now and then but has made it here safely in the end.

Loads and loads of video footage which I'll make into something short and sweet at some point

Hi Guys,
Firstly i'd like to apologise if anyone feels let down or left in the dark here. 
 
I've not handled the whole situation very well and clearly the communication hasn't been up to scratch so i'm sorry for that. 
 
I've now sold over 151 of these camera kits. I am in no way a business or a trader and have zero experience at handling this many orders! When I done the group buy I carefully calculated it so that everyone got the best deal! I didn't want to make profit and never intended to earn any money from it. Not even from time really. Expecting only to get a few people want a kit.... I ended up with over 130 orders within a month. 
 
The problem with this is that every kit takes me about 40 minutes to put together. The harness takes a good 25 minutes to crimp, solder and connect up. I have to change the plug on the cameras so that they go through the GT86 boot gap. I can also only order a maximum of 20 cameras at once from Taiwan. and the guy in the US with the connectors can only buy what is in stock... So this becomes a huge mass production line. Which I agree has gone a bit shit and impossible to track. Especially when suppliers are sending wrong cameras and the wrong plugs all over the place!
 
At the same time personal stuff exploded at home, I was promoted at work taking on 3 times the work load and to give an idea i've not slept in my own bed now for over 3 months! None of these are excuses, I just want to make it clear i'm not ignoring anybody just finding it almost impossible to breath and catch up with everything! 
 
From the 151 orders that I've been tracking myself on Excel I've only known so far of 5 - 6 to go wrong. If I've missed an order or someone isn't happy I'm sorry.
 
I've only had 4 people PM me in the last month to say they've not had the kit. Which I am now following up and sorting out. One batch was d1 ue to Parcel2Go quoting me a price which I paid for then myHermes wouldn't accept so ended up sending me the entire lot back to me. And took them 8 days to do so before I knew anything was wrong.
 
I've made no profit out of this, and cost me money in the long run now to track and order parts which have been sent to me wrong or items that wen't accounted for. All the money goes into buying the kits, customs and postage. The only money I've made is where I've had to sit for hours on end into the evenings making tedious harnesses and the profit from this is next to nothing compared to the time taken! I am now coming to the end of the last few and the kits are all finished.
 
If you are still waiting or have a problem please PM me! I can't get onto the forums during the day and have very little time to read through the forums. And I miss posts.
 
I have taken today off work to make the last harnesses, track and sort out the kits. Please please PM me before replying to a post...
 
Captain Duff: - I didn't know there was a problem 18 months ago.... if you're talking about the Manchester group install. It was arranged, I travelled 6 hours, paid for a hotel out of my own pocket and everything went well. I've never had a PM from you to say otherwise? - Again please PM me! I don't always keep up with these threads.
 
As for the other forum. I will explain what's happened there. 
 
3 people aren't happy with the outcome. 1 guy ordered the camera kit paid deposit to commit to the a group install fitting. This payment was a deposit and a split between the members sharing expenses and my fuel cost to travel 2 hours to get there. He never turned up... He wants his deposit back. I will refund him his deposit but am making it clear that he needs to learn what a deposit is... And if he commits and shares the costs between members then he needs to stick to it. 
 
1 is from Denmark where postage has been delayed as i'm finding another service to use. 
 
And I believe there is a genuine guy where i've missed his order. Again trying to track all this on Excel with this many orders when I've got no experience is difficult. And without people PM'ing me to say they're still waiting i've no idea. 
 
But instead of PMing me they've messaged Stu on the forum who has then blocked my account and put me on post review meaning I can't do anything really. Stupid.. Instead of them PMing me they've gone off and moaned behind my back to then get me blocked. Which I have no problem with as I don't use that forum other than to sort out the kits. But now i've been banned.... So not sure how that can be resolved. Stu doesn't want me messaging him to sort it out and I have no other way to solve it....
 
So I apologise for any problems, delays and lack of communication. 
 
Please PM me and I will reply today as i'm off work. 
 
Regards Jay

Track Day Tuition for 20mins at £25 each

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Sorry as it involves walking and I not able to walk far,I am out !!

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Track Day Tuition for 20mins at £25 each

Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk

Track Day Tuition for 20mins at £25 each

Sent from my Archos 53 Platinum using Tapatalk

Toni, each to his own I agree. But there's nothing wrong with the auto box for road use, especially in sport mode.
 
And an auto box car - the only one on track in the UK - won the inaugural F2 class in the GT86 Cup last year.
 
Admittedly that's with a £2grand upgrade but that's way cheaper than a 6-speed sequential, which is the only way a manual will box outperform it.
 
Oh, and it's cheaper road fund tax...
 
(Awaits anguished screams from the pudding-stirrer brigade..)
 
Sp[ec K

Sorry am just too knackered to come out to play tomorrow


Had a fantastic Track Day on the Snetterton 300 again and was my 7th time on my favourite track

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I had this car from RRG Macclesfield as a courtesy car for five days.    It's the top of the range Rav4 with 4WD the 2.2 DCI engine (149bhp/251 lb/ft torque) and this car had leather heated electric seats (electric adjustment for the driver) and sat nav with the new Toyota Touch & Go two system which has the bonus of DAB radio.    Firstly I'm not going to try and compare it to my daily driver, a modified, lowered GT86 with quite serious suspension geommetry, but it was interesting to drive for a week and after five days it grew on me if I'm honest.    So firstly looks. Well it's a mid sized crossover vehicle, so think mid-sized saloon with a higher ride height and bigger wheels and 4WD. In a way, it looks bigger than it is, in a similar way to a Hilux Surf does. Driving the car, it doesn't feel hugely wide on the road, it's more the length that you notice.    IMG_3587 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   This car is fitted with a reversing camera and parking sensors on the front. These are useful when parking, but the sensors are a little conservative and will carry on beeping when you are stationary which is a minor annoyance if like me, you occasionally find yourself waiting in the car with the engine running and the sensors keep beeping whilst you are sitting there. Thankfully, you can turn them off, but it would be better if once the handbrake is applied they stopped beeping.    IMG_3586 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The interior of this car is the range topper Invincible with leather which certainly lifts the interior. The leather swathe across the centre of the dashboard is nice, though all plastics surrounding this including the dashboard are hard to the touch and the gold shiny plastic surround does not really give a quality feel. It's almost like the leather serves to highlight this. As one might expect, that said, it's all rather well put together, despite not having the feel of say it's German counterparts.    This brings me to the layout of the dashboard and ergonomics. The heater controls feature dual climate control which is handy to the touch, though in automatic mode no fan speeds are displayed, which does seem unusual, as the middle part of the display remains blank. It does work very well though and there are no complaints in this respect. I didn't quite manage to work out what the fast/soft button actually did, but there were three settings, soft, medium and fast. I left it in medium but did not notice a difference in the other modes when I tried them.    IMG_3585 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The seats were comfortable with electric adjustment for the driver including lumbar support which was nice. They seemed comfortable and there were two settings for the heated seats. The heated seat buttons were below the leather dash swathe which was fine for me, but if you were of the type that likes to be in kissing distance of the windscreen, I wonder if you might never find them. There is also a 'Sport' button here which sharpens throttle response and also gives more weight to the steering.    IMG_3584 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   The steering feel is fine though, it's not as sharp as a more focused car, but that you can feel the weight of those big wheels and tyres means I'm certainly getting some feedback. Throttle response is typically diesel, it's always going to be a little dull as you find that you inevitably tend to flex your right foot to build boost and get the turbo spinning before that surge of torque pushes you down the road.    Talking of which, the engine gives ample torque and is good around town and also on the motorway where it can increase speed easily once you are used to flexing your right foot a bit more than you would with a petrol engine. The car has a 0-60mph time of 9.6 seconds according to the stats and this is none too shabby. The gearing is typically long, so I found that 6th gear wasn't used until the car is over 55mph. Around town an indicated 30mph is a bit inbetween 3rd and 4th gear, though a true 30mph is 4th gear. This can mean that when you are behind someone who is driving a little under the limit 3rd gear is a better option. I did find though that I changed gear less as a result which wasn't a bad thing.    In respect of handling, it's fairly neutral with a leaning towards understeer. This is perhaps what is to be expected. The ride is a little busy at lower speeds, though it's no issue, but really the car works it's best on the motorway and at higher speed where it feels well damped and stable. I did get the opportunity through necessity to drive the car in light snow, which brought the active four-wheel-drive system into play. I must say I was impressed with this as it just gave a go anywhere confidence in difficult conditions which was reassuring. It would be improved further with winter tyres. The car also features a differential lock, though I never had a need to use it!    In respect of economy I improved the average figure of 36mpg to 39.9mpg which is not bad for quite a heavy car that doesn't have the best drag coefficient.    Here's a picture (sorry for it being blurred) of the blue illumination of the dashboard. I must say I wasn't sure about this, but I did get used to it. I should add that the in-car stereo was more than up to the job and with some light tweaking of the settings gave a good overall sound.    IMG_3590 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr   Overall the car grew on me. It was comfortable, easy to drive with light controls and felt secure in it's handling. In tough conditions it inspired confidence and was a nice place to be. Oh and I musn't forget it's party trick which is the electrically opening and closing tailgate!

Ok guys I am a Maybe for the 28th Only and might as well let you all see the GT86 before it goes sometime this year

Hi and welcome to the Drivers Club

Interesting point, Rob.
 
I am not sure I agree with it as a 'rule of thumb', it is the angle of the seat squab which should determine the angle of the back rest - if you have the front lip higher to support the backs of your thighs the back rest should be canted backwards.
 
The optimum position for homo sapiens to absorb spinal shock is in a straight line, not bent at 90 degrees. This, of course, is a result of evolution, our skeletal development and all that...
 
Our love affair with the horseless carriage (and powered flight) demands that we can see the way forward yet are able to manage both foot- and hand-controls as originally defined by Henry Ford. As our eyeballs are in fixed sockets rather than flexible stalks we have to adopt a contortion which is unique in the animal kingdom and has led to the global introduction of .... yes, you've got it... the 'seat belt'.
 
Some say the optimum driving position is supine  and, if you review custom designed horseless carriages, (and particularly those that conduct themselves at outrageous velocity) one can perceive that the laying-down position is preferred for a variety of reasons, including safety.  This requires the iniquitous, invasive and uncomfortable addition of... aaargh, the 'crotch straps'.... to minimise continued progress of our fragile structure should our chosen projectile suddenly decelerate.
 
Hence the addition, to mitigate our predilection for sitting upright and for a deforming structure to impinge upon our theoretical safety zone, of the 'airbag'.
 
Discuss...
 
 
Spec K

Yep - get an auto...  hee hee...
 
 
Spec K