AJM

ETA 18th November gulp! It's all very exciting, it's starting to feel real. 👍

Hi guys, so I've been reading the SH*T out of this forum and it has been an absolute game changer, learnt so much about the car. So I thought it was time to say hi!
My name is Kai and I bought a stock red Primo 86 ( yes primo!) just over 2 months ago. A bit about myself, I'm 22 and based in Norwich working as a graduate engineer at Lotus.
As hard as I tried to leave it stock for a few months, I've been hooked to modding already. So far I've done cheap/simple mods:
18 inch ET35 RS style wheels Smoked sequential tail lights white LED interior and license plate lights Carbon effect (lol) lip spoiler Blacked out badges Window louvres Berk dual exit muffler delete TD 2nd cat delete (yes its feckin loud and asbo but i love it, sorry neighbors) The plans for the near future are:
ht autos lip kit lowering springs (like i said, being young i want to save as much money as  possible so couldnt justify coilovers!) New tyres - PS4s TD NA package near black friday deals! Hopefully i can make it to Japfest for the first time and I look forward to meeting some of you!  have a good one

Hi Lauren,
Don't forget to give me a shout if there's one soon.
Cheers.

Hey Lauren,

Thanks for those points. I'll go for number 1 and do a swap around. Also your review on the blue edition definitely swayed me to go for one. Great content.

Got the car! Mechanically it's pretty sound, has a few visual issues that can be sorted out. Very happy to finally own an 86, it drives like a dream! 
Thanks everyone for your advice!

So today I've put back on my Rays Engineering Volk Racing TE37 wheels in 17x8 shod with Primacy OEM tyres back onto my car. 
 
IMG_3719 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr
 
My standard wheels with winter tyres were what came off: 
 
 

 
Now the weight difference is this, Rays are 7.4kg, the OEM wheels are 9.2kg. 
 
The Rays are also 10mm less offset so a 20mm wider track and obviously the wheels are an in inch wider. 
 
The difference I find is tangible. The car is more responsive to the throttle, turns better and more quickly. Also braking is better too. It's almost like the car feels lighter on it's 'feet'. I kind of knew this was coming as I immediately noticed the difference when I put them on for the first time last year. 
 
It's certainly something to think about. The biggest problem is that lightweight forged allloys are always expensive, though I was fortunate enough to snap mine up second hand and refurb them. They'll always be worth what I've laid out for them, so that's all good. 
 
But really if you want your car to feel more agile have quicker reactions, then a lightweight wheel is certainly worth giving serious thought too, particularly so if you like to really drive the car. So check your wheel weights!
 

Cheers Lauren/VAD,
Long day out today. Shame half of the drive home was in seriously bad weather, but boy, it's good to be back in one of these!
I'll definitely be getting to some club meets. The Barton one sounds great, as it's very close. I'm originally from Grappenhall (just over the water from there) and my folks still live there, so I am over quite regularly. When do these meets occur? Assume they're in the calendar? I'll take a look.
One thing that came crashing home is the lack of torque and that pesky dip is frustrating after coming from a car developing over 300lbs/ft at 2000rpm onwards, but the rest of the car makes up for that in my opinion. I've seen a few comments on here about the TD NA solution and I think I'll look into this.
VAD, The M235i I had is probably 80%-90% of what an M2 is for the most part. I did think that an M235i or better still an M2 would be the next move for me too that offers 4 seats, or in my case the ability to ferry a bike around internally. I think if I had enjoyed and bonded with the M235i I would have probably stretched and bought and M2, yet I have another GT86. I think that says it all really - well it does for my take on this.
Quick pic of the car at the services before the light went and the heavy, heavy, heavy rain (I hope I am being clear about just how much bloody rain came out of the sky...) came when i got close to Leeds on the top of the M62.
I look forward to meeting some of you very soon,
Andrew.

Cheers Lauren/VAD,
Long day out today. Shame half of the drive home was in seriously bad weather, but boy, it's good to be back in one of these!
I'll definitely be getting to some club meets. The Barton one sounds great, as it's very close. I'm originally from Grappenhall (just over the water from there) and my folks still live there, so I am over quite regularly. When do these meets occur? Assume they're in the calendar? I'll take a look.
One thing that came crashing home is the lack of torque and that pesky dip is frustrating after coming from a car developing over 300lbs/ft at 2000rpm onwards, but the rest of the car makes up for that in my opinion. I've seen a few comments on here about the TD NA solution and I think I'll look into this.
VAD, The M235i I had is probably 80%-90% of what an M2 is for the most part. I did think that an M235i or better still an M2 would be the next move for me too that offers 4 seats, or in my case the ability to ferry a bike around internally. I think if I had enjoyed and bonded with the M235i I would have probably stretched and bought and M2, yet I have another GT86. I think that says it all really - well it does for my take on this.
Quick pic of the car at the services before the light went and the heavy, heavy, heavy rain (I hope I am being clear about just how much bloody rain came out of the sky...) came when i got close to Leeds on the top of the M62.
I look forward to meeting some of you very soon,
Andrew.

Sounds great,
I'll try my very best to be there - be good to meet a few of you guys.
Andrew.

Hi All,
I just thought I'd say 'hi', as I'm picking up a '19 plate Club Series 'Blue Edition' Performance Pack car from Scunthorpe today.
Pretty excited about this.
I had a red '14 plate until a rear end crash late in 2018 where the car was (surprisingly) written off.
I replaced it with a BMW M235i thinking RWD and more power would be fun.
Great engine I have to say, but the car just felt like a real let down and remote and not at all 'special' after the GT86.
Hence the swap back after only one year.
My pocket has taken a real hit, but I know this is the right decision.
Thanks for reading, I'll pop a couple of pictures up when I get it.
All the best,
Andrew.

Hi All,
I just thought I'd say 'hi', as I'm picking up a '19 plate Club Series 'Blue Edition' Performance Pack car from Scunthorpe today.
Pretty excited about this.
I had a red '14 plate until a rear end crash late in 2018 where the car was (surprisingly) written off.
I replaced it with a BMW M235i thinking RWD and more power would be fun.
Great engine I have to say, but the car just felt like a real let down and remote and not at all 'special' after the GT86.
Hence the swap back after only one year.
My pocket has taken a real hit, but I know this is the right decision.
Thanks for reading, I'll pop a couple of pictures up when I get it.
All the best,
Andrew.

Hi All,
I just thought I'd say 'hi', as I'm picking up a '19 plate Club Series 'Blue Edition' Performance Pack car from Scunthorpe today.
Pretty excited about this.
I had a red '14 plate until a rear end crash late in 2018 where the car was (surprisingly) written off.
I replaced it with a BMW M235i thinking RWD and more power would be fun.
Great engine I have to say, but the car just felt like a real let down and remote and not at all 'special' after the GT86.
Hence the swap back after only one year.
My pocket has taken a real hit, but I know this is the right decision.
Thanks for reading, I'll pop a couple of pictures up when I get it.
All the best,
Andrew.

Hi Lauren,
Many thanks for taking the time to write this review - it was very helpful.
I'm picking up a '19 plate (Club Series 'Blue Edition' Performance Pack) today and for the price I'm paying (Low 20's) I do think the Brembo/Sachs shout 'bargain', as I'd probably want to do this at some point anyway and it still being a stock car with these additions makes it a no brainer in my mind.
Plus nicer looking wheels don't do any harm either.
I look forward to spending some time on here and picking peoples brains.
Thanks again.
Regards,
Andrew.