Captain Duff

Good review just published with a German perspective, nothing new but the enthusiasm is key - Everyday Driver Europe

It should probably come from T-UK rather than your dealer using their own and DVLA registered owner records, although no harm in you giving a dealer of choice a ring, or possibly even registering if you are not already with 'my toyota' as it highlights any service recalls - https://www.toyota.co.uk/tme#/my-toyota/
Mine is booked in for the week after next at RRG to get this done as I'm also getting my Milltek replaced to the updated flexi-pipe version (weld crack was just starting to show at my 3 years service/MOT the other week), and I was asking Richard if he had ever come across the actual fault that it was for given that RRG Macc likely sees more 86's for work than the rest of the network put together and he hadn't seen or heard of any in the UK which underlines the lack of worry we should have (it would seem it may be more of an issue in tropical-ish countries that have far higher humidity than we do where a few wiring looms have suffered corrosion and shorting).

http://europe.autonews.com/article/20130824/ANE/130829947/toyota-switches-back-to-banned-refrigerant-in-europe

Heads up for some interesting stuff on sale in Lidl from Monday 18th including a pressure washer for £40 and a dash cam for £30 - Lidl car products

As has been said this is a standard (and common) warranty fix as it just needs a new gasket, although given the amount of water in there (and despite the fact that it can be dried out) I would be tempted to try for a new complete light unit. Very often the problem is that the lights get screwed on too tight which then means the sponge rubber of the gasket is not allowed to do its job properly (although the design is inherently iffy so far as potential water ingress is concerned).
However if you do decode to get after-market lights such as Valenti's (I've got them and love them) then the first point I'd make is that it is one of the simplest DIY mods to do - just peel back the carpet behind each light (after levering out the plastic clips) and remove the 4 retaining bolts, unclip the wire and gently pull the unit out horizontally (they have a little plastic positioning pin on each unit in addition to the 4 bolts so don't yank as this could snap off).
Before you refit with the Valenti's I would do an added bit of prep - the Valenti gasket is perfectly adequate in terms of thickness, but comes supplied loose, so for added water resistance I would highly recommend getting a small tube of weatherstrip adhesive to glue it on and create a very good watertight seal, this video shows the best technique for this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF62JXlSufM - I also smeared on some silicone grease on the top part of the gasket where it fits against the panel to further deter any water forcing its way through where it hits the lights at the top edge, but that may be OCD overkill!
Tighten the new units so they are firm and not wobbling, but don't over do it as it will mess up the gasket seal.
Dead easy, 30 minutes to swap over the pair max 
 

As you say, you were changing the tyres anyway (you wonder what sort of dork would consider putting £40 a corner tyres on a RWD sports car in the first place) so are not out of pocket, and the tyre damage was not obvious from an external inspection. I would just put it down to a lucky escape and start enjoying the car 

I've never taken mine through a wash or allowed anyone else to wash it from new and have always washed it carefully but still see plenty of swirls in the sunshine - it's the nature of modern soft points/lacquer unfortunately. What you could try though is a filler glaze before you wax as that should get rid of most of them. I like Autoglym Super Resin Polish, but for a black car I don't think you can do better than Poorboys Black Hole, it's an easy wipe on wipe off and then layer your wax on top (which will help it last longer - but any filler glaze is always a temporary (2 or 3 months) solution.
Also if you don't already give it a clay once or twice a year before glaze/wax as a good prep - the G3 clay mitt (Halfords) is really easy, use your normal car shampoo to keep it wet and gently glide it across the panels and it picks up all the crud/old wax leaving a perfectly clean and smooth surface in a matter of minutes.

Just had an email from Speedline, they now have a switchable sequence signal version for twenty quid more than the still available standard Valenti rears - looks good to me:
Speedline Valenti Sequence
http://www.thespeedline.com/exterior-14/

Just had an email from Speedline, they now have a switchable sequence signal version for twenty quid more than the still available standard Valenti rears - looks good to me:
Speedline Valenti Sequence
http://www.thespeedline.com/exterior-14/

Just had an email from Speedline, they now have a switchable sequence signal version for twenty quid more than the still available standard Valenti rears - looks good to me:
Speedline Valenti Sequence
http://www.thespeedline.com/exterior-14/

Just had an email from Speedline, they now have a switchable sequence signal version for twenty quid more than the still available standard Valenti rears - looks good to me:
Speedline Valenti Sequence
http://www.thespeedline.com/exterior-14/

On the basis that there are some newer owners who will no doubt experience the panic of getting frozen and completely stuck side windows given the falling temperatures (had my first ones of the year this morning) then just a heads up that you don't need to panic or call a dealer  - once things have thawed out enough you can reset the mechanism by holding down both window switches on the drivers side for a good 10 secs (making sure the child window lock isn't on) and then holding them up for a good 10 secs and you should find everything gets reset and starts to work again properly.
 
I would also recommend this stuff - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2-x-Einszett-Gummi-Pflege-Rubber-Care-Stick-100ml-Rubber-Treatment-Roll-On-/191409793896?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2c90e9ab68 - as a preventative treatment for the rubber seals between the window and the door frame as it should help prevent most freezing if used regularly (have lost mine that I got last year so have just got some more ordered!).
 
 

...and a funny President, although the car is the real star of this: 1963 Corvette

...and a funny President, although the car is the real star of this: 1963 Corvette

Great looking car, and I would love to drive one around on the right roads, but it is the size that puts me off too I have to say, it's almost 2 ft longer than the 86 and I don't think I'd be able to close the gates on my drive when I parked up which would then mean the dog would escape every time I let him out for a quick wee 

Took my 9yo for the annual snails crawl through Blackpool lights last night (every year I promise myself I'll park at one end or t'other and get the blinkin' tram next time I go!), and near the far north end there was a (modded looking) yellow 86 parked on the front. Daft thing is my lad's all excited saying 'wow, look at that cool car over there dad, is it a Ferrari?' which of course allowed me to take the piss all the way back to Preston given he's been sat in his own 'Ferrari' most days for the past two years, but was it anyone on here? 

I like those, very good weight too at around 2 Kg per corner lighter than OEM (which themselves are no heavyweights). What make are they?

I love this forum! Set off to the shops yesterday and had a little smoke and a burning rubber smell coming from the engine, so checked oil and while a little low it's still between the two dots, but then thought about coolant (although dashboard temp gauge was normal and no warning lights came on), and  when I looked I saw that the level was below the minimum mark and then read this thread as to possible causes (nice in a way that I wasn't alone). Luckily I've a Toyota dealer 5 mins away so phoned up to order a 1 litre top up and at first was fobbed off with using the pink one, but it was only because I had the part number thanks to this thread that I was able to show them that they can get Toyota branded blue stuff too (I restrained myself from saying that this is the reason any local GT owner with any sense uses RRG Macc and not them for servicing!) so should be able to pick up and top up tomorrow.
 
I'll certainly be keeping a better eye on coolant levels in the future though and did notice that the rubber tube that goes into the plastic reservoir at the top next to the yellow filler cap is quite loose in the hole and so there looks to be lots of opportunity for evaporation (which I'm hoping is the reason it has disappeared, particularly as unlike others I have not done any track stuff!). Think I'll tape around it to seal it up after I top up.
 
I'm assuming that there will hopefully be no damage done given the engine has not overheated?

I love this forum! Set off to the shops yesterday and had a little smoke and a burning rubber smell coming from the engine, so checked oil and while a little low it's still between the two dots, but then thought about coolant (although dashboard temp gauge was normal and no warning lights came on), and  when I looked I saw that the level was below the minimum mark and then read this thread as to possible causes (nice in a way that I wasn't alone). Luckily I've a Toyota dealer 5 mins away so phoned up to order a 1 litre top up and at first was fobbed off with using the pink one, but it was only because I had the part number thanks to this thread that I was able to show them that they can get Toyota branded blue stuff too (I restrained myself from saying that this is the reason any local GT owner with any sense uses RRG Macc and not them for servicing!) so should be able to pick up and top up tomorrow.
 
I'll certainly be keeping a better eye on coolant levels in the future though and did notice that the rubber tube that goes into the plastic reservoir at the top next to the yellow filler cap is quite loose in the hole and so there looks to be lots of opportunity for evaporation (which I'm hoping is the reason it has disappeared, particularly as unlike others I have not done any track stuff!). Think I'll tape around it to seal it up after I top up.
 
I'm assuming that there will hopefully be no damage done given the engine has not overheated?

Excellent, good as new - although I see they missed removing that horrible 5 year warranty sticker from the window!

According to Parkers the standard GT86 insurance group is higher than for the TRD, but the Gallo is higher than both which makes no sense unless the car has crept up the list slightly over the last few years and so newer models are penalised: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/reviews/facts-and-figures/toyota/gt86/coupe-2012/insurance/
 
To make it even more odd and arbitrary the BRZ groups are lower than GT86 ones for the same blinkin' car: http://www.parkers.co.uk/cars/insurance/car-insurance-groups/subaru/brz/coupe-2012/
 
There's a lot more that will affect premiums than the make it up as we go along insurance groups above though such as previous claims, postcode, gender and of course most annoyingly (for younger comrades rather than old farts like me) age. Also, apparently premiums on all cars are rising across the board this year.
 
One positive I've noticed is that the mainstream comparison sites are now making it easy to declare most common mods (in generalised categories) and still churning out a reasonable number of quotes that often are not a lot more than for the unmodded quotes.

I'm one of the people that's always liked the look of the OEM rims, in fact a few people when admiring the car have asked about them as they assumed they were after market ones! But the way I look at things is that a lot of discussions about wheels is more often than not fashion related (the current fashion for nearly all 'sporty' cars being 18" or bigger). The problem is that the bigger you go the more money you need to spend to keep things light, and the other advantage of the OEM's is that while they are not the lightest out there, for an OEM in weight terms they are not half bad. Also while large rims and low profile rubber is I'm sure great on the track, on British pot holes things are less enjoyable.
 
But back to fashion, my own ideal looks for a sports car are the classic vintage shapes, the E-Types and GT2000s of the past. But look at their tiny wheels and large profile tyres and you can see that fashion has diverged significantly from those classic ideals. 

I've always thought it was a bit bad that Toyburu didn't see fit to include a miles left before empty display based on your current driving style average mpg, considering you can get it on some pretty basic cars these days and I doubt the electronics would add to the weight of anything.

Well I was thinking of swapping to different summer tyres this year from the original Primacy's (6-7k miles on them), and as I've regularly diagonally swapped they have 6mm of tread all round (with no damage), so this may speed up my decision on getting something else and if that sounds what you're after - when would you need them by Alec?

Well I was thinking of swapping to different summer tyres this year from the original Primacy's (6-7k miles on them), and as I've regularly diagonally swapped they have 6mm of tread all round (with no damage), so this may speed up my decision on getting something else and if that sounds what you're after - when would you need them by Alec?