Toyota GT86 - Owned
Discussion
FTR, I just spoke to Litchfield Imports.
Install is not as bad as I'd feared at c. four hours labour -- however, -- they recommend the exhaust system which is c £1,500 on top.
So we're looking at £5.5k before adding the handling pack which is another £1k.
I think the novelty of skinny tyres would wear thin in short order with 280BHP so wheels and tyres will also be required; another £1,500-2,000?
Try as I might, I just can't do it.
I simply haven't got £9,000 to spunk on my car.
ETA Fix typo
Install is not as bad as I'd feared at c. four hours labour -- however, -- they recommend the exhaust system which is c £1,500 on top.
So we're looking at £5.5k before adding the handling pack which is another £1k.
I think the novelty of skinny tyres would wear thin in short order with 280BHP so wheels and tyres will also be required; another £1,500-2,000?
Try as I might, I just can't do it.
I simply haven't got £9,000 to spunk on my car.
ETA Fix typo
Edited by LordGrover on Wednesday 16th October 14:04
Alex said:
A couple of very minor annoyances. The USB port doesn't charge my phone, and the trip computer doesn't have a range function.
Neither worries me as weren't expected. Two fag lighter sockets to charge from and if I get north of 280 miles out of a tank I'm happy.Sold as DAB ready though - mine's over a year old and still no sign of DAB conversion module.
I'll check when I get home, but I bought 4 or 5 litres from a trader on the oc forum - it was original toyota product. TBH I've not really used any in 15,000 miles. I topped up with maybe 0.5 litre just after 1,000 miles 'run-in' but it didn't really need it. It's not needed any until 12,000 mile service when it was changed by Toyota anyway.
Bill, did you notice I tried DaveJH's turbo t'other day? 
my mini 'review'.
my mini 'review'.
Edited by LordGrover on Friday 29th November 13:28
Conscript said:
Whats the ride like on the Goodyears?
Just swapped from Winters so not back-to-back with Michelins but they feel pretty good. Still cold and wet so 'limit' handling untried but so far I like.RenesisEvo said:
If I may ask, is the 86 quiet/refined/comfortable enough for lengthy motorway jaunts (3 hours?) Do the tyres make a difference to road noise? In Evo magazine, Mr Catchpole did say it was perhaps a little tiring with their long-termer for long trips, but was only a casual mention. I'm not expecting it to match my E39, but I'd hope it's better than a hard-top MX-5. I'd welcome insight from genuine owners, as it's difficult to ascertain on a test drive.
Road/tyre noise is relatively high by today's standards, weight saving I guess. Ride is firm but not hard - I rarely go on GT-stylee cruises but have enjoyed many days driving at pace on some nice roads around the Brecon Beacons, Cotswolds, Dartmoor and Exmoor with no ill effects. Inspired by DaveJH's black beast, I've been thinking... and I have a plan.
Not as adventurous or awe-inspiring as Dave's, but enough for me to justify keeping the car a while longer.
I've had the car getting on for two years now and have thoroughly enjoyed pretty much every moment of it, despite it being as it left the factory. It's unusual for me to keep a car for much more than a year or 18 months and I was getting restless. Then it dawned on me... why not make my old car into my new car?! I'm not in a position to go full-on FI just yet, but maybe that's a good thing. I'm now thinking I can have a 'new car' every 6-12 months for a while yet by doing things in affordable stages.
Later this month I'll be popping up to Fensport to have the first stage of fettling done. Tony is knowledgable and helpful and I'm looking forward to doing business with them - DaveJH has spoken highly of them too.
In order to firm things up a bit I'm having F&R Eibach ARBs and Tein springs with necessary bolt and bush kits, Avo cat back exhaust system and EcuTek mapping. This is expected to release +20BHP which may even bring it up to 'brochure-power'.
This is in preparation for the stage I Avo Turbo early next year. FWIW, despite the headline price of 'just' £3,958 for the kit, it also requires dump valve kit, boost gauge & pod/mount all plus labour for fitting the darn thing. It benefits from the larger 3" exhaust system and of course there's the mapping. So now we're looking at c. £6,500. This'll give 260-280BHP which should keep me happy for a year or so, when I may look at the next step up to what Dave has which is north of 320BHP with more to come.
Still have original factory rims fitted but with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 215/45R17 fitted, way better than the Michelins. I'd like to change them, but not at the top of my list of priorities right now.
All in all, I'm getting quite excited about my 'new' car. It's nice to have a plan.
Not as adventurous or awe-inspiring as Dave's, but enough for me to justify keeping the car a while longer.
I've had the car getting on for two years now and have thoroughly enjoyed pretty much every moment of it, despite it being as it left the factory. It's unusual for me to keep a car for much more than a year or 18 months and I was getting restless. Then it dawned on me... why not make my old car into my new car?! I'm not in a position to go full-on FI just yet, but maybe that's a good thing. I'm now thinking I can have a 'new car' every 6-12 months for a while yet by doing things in affordable stages.
Later this month I'll be popping up to Fensport to have the first stage of fettling done. Tony is knowledgable and helpful and I'm looking forward to doing business with them - DaveJH has spoken highly of them too.
In order to firm things up a bit I'm having F&R Eibach ARBs and Tein springs with necessary bolt and bush kits, Avo cat back exhaust system and EcuTek mapping. This is expected to release +20BHP which may even bring it up to 'brochure-power'.
This is in preparation for the stage I Avo Turbo early next year. FWIW, despite the headline price of 'just' £3,958 for the kit, it also requires dump valve kit, boost gauge & pod/mount all plus labour for fitting the darn thing. It benefits from the larger 3" exhaust system and of course there's the mapping. So now we're looking at c. £6,500. This'll give 260-280BHP which should keep me happy for a year or so, when I may look at the next step up to what Dave has which is north of 320BHP with more to come.
Still have original factory rims fitted but with Goodyear Eagle F1 Asymmetric 2 215/45R17 fitted, way better than the Michelins. I'd like to change them, but not at the top of my list of priorities right now.
All in all, I'm getting quite excited about my 'new' car. It's nice to have a plan.
s m said:
Did you find yours got faster as it had done a few thousand miles? I know an owner that has said
their GT has loosened up a lot with 5 figure mileage
I'm afraid, not that I've noticed. About 25,000 miles so far and feels pretty much the same as after the first 1,000 miles - which is no bad thing. their GT has loosened up a lot with 5 figure mileage
Popped over to Fensport this week. I can confirm they're are great bunch and know their stuff.
AVO 2.1/2" stainless exhaust system, Tein springs -25mm, Eibach adjustable ARBs front and rear, poly bushes, camber adjustment bolt kit, alignment and of course the EcuTek mapping (4 maps I can switch on the fly). The mapping with Adrian was very interesting, he has a lot of experience and knowledge he's only too pleased to share.
Long story short: a complete transformation. Epic!
AVO 2.1/2" stainless exhaust system, Tein springs -25mm, Eibach adjustable ARBs front and rear, poly bushes, camber adjustment bolt kit, alignment and of course the EcuTek mapping (4 maps I can switch on the fly). The mapping with Adrian was very interesting, he has a lot of experience and knowledge he's only too pleased to share.
Long story short: a complete transformation. Epic!
Ved said:
Sounds promising. How much for this transformation?
It's all listed in my garage: click.The most noticeable change is the throttle response, but everything is quicker and/or tighter. Feels much more torquey low down and across the range and pulls right up to almost 8,000 RPM.
It's also flatter in corners and turn-in is more precise.
I'm very impressed with the difference for a relatively modest outlay and I look forward to the next step when I go for the next step up, next year.
Despite it being a Sunday afternoon and all that that entails, went out for a drive yesterday, just for the heck of it. Weather was perfect - dry and not too hot, low-mid twenties.
I knew I was going to come across cars, caravans, tractors, etc but had nowhere to go and loads of time to get there, so I'd look upon them as opportunities to polish my overtaking skills. I avoided most d/c A roads and by a circuitous route went up to Cirencester, across to nearly Oxford then back. Had a great couple of hours. Maybe the car's always been great for this kind of driving, but since the first couple of months of ownership I've done very little 'pleasure' driving.
On very bad, rough patched and pot-holed roads the stiffer setup is a little uncomfortable - but I suspect they'd still be pretty rough in a limo-barge. Once out onto the open roads though, it's sublime. I had many opportunities to press on and through some great curves and bends, up and down hill, low and high speed and I just love this car. The little extra oomph and urgency from the EcuTek/Fensport mapping makes it much more enjoyable, and the extra bling-stylee tricks are great fun.
First, full throttle gear change. This sounds silly and probably is, but it's also high in grin factor. Get up past the redline, dip the clutch and grab the gear - no let off the throttle. It feels much quicker but in reality it probably makes no measurable difference, apart from grin-width. It uses some ECU trick and the rev limiter to allow you to hold your right foot to the floor without it over-revving.
Secondly, auto-blip on down change. Again, maybe a little childish, and more for show than go I'm sure, but makes me feel a little James Hunt/Nigel Mansell when pressing on - or more to the point, slowing/decelerating at a decent rate. Does the rev matching for you and means my poor H&T skills are pretty much redundant.
There's a third 'facility' included which is launch control but I've not even tried it. A little superfluous in a car with a glacial 0-60 time.
The AVO exhaust system is maturing nicely. Not too loud, no droning and definite extra grunt. It shouldn't be important, but when it was up on ramps the AVO system is almost a beautiful work of art. The Miltek system on a neighbouring car looks like a home made sub-£100 system from quickfit.
I've also fitted most of the black trim - TCS/sport switch, shift surround, steering wheel garnish, air vents, etc. Still can't work out how to get the centre dash apart to replace the inside knee pad bits though.
I wasn't too sure why I was swapping it out as I didn't have any great issue with the satin chrome sylee bits but the change is pleasing. Happy.
I knew I was going to come across cars, caravans, tractors, etc but had nowhere to go and loads of time to get there, so I'd look upon them as opportunities to polish my overtaking skills. I avoided most d/c A roads and by a circuitous route went up to Cirencester, across to nearly Oxford then back. Had a great couple of hours. Maybe the car's always been great for this kind of driving, but since the first couple of months of ownership I've done very little 'pleasure' driving.
On very bad, rough patched and pot-holed roads the stiffer setup is a little uncomfortable - but I suspect they'd still be pretty rough in a limo-barge. Once out onto the open roads though, it's sublime. I had many opportunities to press on and through some great curves and bends, up and down hill, low and high speed and I just love this car. The little extra oomph and urgency from the EcuTek/Fensport mapping makes it much more enjoyable, and the extra bling-stylee tricks are great fun.
First, full throttle gear change. This sounds silly and probably is, but it's also high in grin factor. Get up past the redline, dip the clutch and grab the gear - no let off the throttle. It feels much quicker but in reality it probably makes no measurable difference, apart from grin-width. It uses some ECU trick and the rev limiter to allow you to hold your right foot to the floor without it over-revving.
Secondly, auto-blip on down change. Again, maybe a little childish, and more for show than go I'm sure, but makes me feel a little James Hunt/Nigel Mansell when pressing on - or more to the point, slowing/decelerating at a decent rate. Does the rev matching for you and means my poor H&T skills are pretty much redundant.
There's a third 'facility' included which is launch control but I've not even tried it. A little superfluous in a car with a glacial 0-60 time.
The AVO exhaust system is maturing nicely. Not too loud, no droning and definite extra grunt. It shouldn't be important, but when it was up on ramps the AVO system is almost a beautiful work of art. The Miltek system on a neighbouring car looks like a home made sub-£100 system from quickfit.
I've also fitted most of the black trim - TCS/sport switch, shift surround, steering wheel garnish, air vents, etc. Still can't work out how to get the centre dash apart to replace the inside knee pad bits though.
I wasn't too sure why I was swapping it out as I didn't have any great issue with the satin chrome sylee bits but the change is pleasing. Happy.
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