GT86 - The dilemma

Author
Discussion

JustLetGo

Original Poster:

2 posts

104 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
Hey guys,

I've been a lurker here for a long time but I'm at a point now where I can start to find myself a new car and be rid of my terribly slow 1.2 clio. I have always loved jap sports cars and always dreamed of owning one.

I recently went out on a test drive of the GT86 which is a great car, it's quick, handles like a dream and sounds great. After the test drive however, I was trying to gauge how I felt about the GT86, to my surprise I came to the conclusion that I actually didn't like it that much. Sure it's a fun car but I felt like it was missing something.

My clio is very very slow but in the corners it doesn't need a lot of speed for it to be playful and slide a little. I was taking corners in the GT at 50-60 and they felt like I was taking them at about 20. I'm now very confused about which car or type of car I'm looking for. Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.

Any recommendations or help?

Mark-C

5,007 posts

204 months

Sunday 26th July 2015
quotequote all
JustLetGo said:
Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.
You want a classic Mini with a Yamaha R1 engine in the back biggrin

What is happening is what happened to me ... albeit many years ago! I had an 1100 mk1 Fiesta and finally had the money for something better which to me meant newer and more powerful. These were all less fun because they were grown up and absolutely flew along roads at silly speeds without batting an eyelid. I ended up with a 323i E30 to get the same level of “what’s the worst that could happen” back into my life.

Not sure this helps but maybe go RWD? If you want Jap then that means something older ...

So maybe a Scooby or Evo and 4WD?

ETA ... yes I know the GT86 is RWD but the fun stuff is older ....

liner33

10,640 posts

201 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
If you think the '86 is quick an Evo or Scooby will frighten the life out of you !

Cant help state the obvious PH solution - MX-5

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
A Caterham would do, but you probably couldn't live with one.

Most people aren't realistically going to be able to properly explore than handling of a car on a test drive, it takes time to get to know the car.

moorx

3,480 posts

113 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
liner33 said:
If you think the '86 is quick an Evo or Scooby will frighten the life out of you !

Cant help state the obvious PH solution - MX-5
Or if you want to stick with the Toyota badge - an MR2. Granted, the 'newest' will be nearly 10 years old, but they are fun!

Hanslow

801 posts

244 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
Did you have the driving aids on or off? It's a bit more tail happy if you turn them off, although I leave them on for general day to day driving.

JustLetGo

Original Poster:

2 posts

104 months

Monday 27th July 2015
quotequote all
Hey guys,

I did have the driving aids on, mainly because I could tell the guy from the dealership was getting scared... We did hit 110mph at one point! Kudos to him for letting me get there.

Thanks for all your suggestions, the mx5, mr2 and bmw seem like good suggestions. The mini however sounds amazing but not ideal for the amount of motorway driving I do haha. I do about 2k a month.

So I need to look for old with little safety features that are fast!

Let's just not tell my ma' wink

Champster

4 posts

105 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
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just get one. I did :P
for faster car get S2000... can't find a good stock one around where I live.

Angpozzuto

958 posts

108 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
I've got a n/a mk2 mr2 as a weekend toy even though it's not the fastest car it's still so much fun and having the engine screaming right behind your head still makes me grin like an idiot

Shnev91

179 posts

113 months

Tuesday 28th July 2015
quotequote all
The S2000 miss behaves at low speeds tongue out but it can also kill you if you dont drive it with respect. I love the S2000 but im not sure it's quite what you want.

If you had explained the type of car you wanted without testing anything I would have suggested the MX-5 or the GT86.

Animala

777 posts

161 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
quotequote all
JustLetGo said:
Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.
So....a terrible car then?

That's literally anything that accelerates quick with crap tyres.

I would say an MX5 doesn't fit the bill cause they are easy as anything to drive at low or higher speeds. But again, put some ditch finders on, turn off the traction control & job done.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
quotequote all
JustLetGo said:
Hey guys,

I've been a lurker here for a long time but I'm at a point now where I can start to find myself a new car and be rid of my terribly slow 1.2 clio. I have always loved jap sports cars and always dreamed of owning one.

I recently went out on a test drive of the GT86 which is a great car, it's quick, handles like a dream and sounds great. After the test drive however, I was trying to gauge how I felt about the GT86, to my surprise I came to the conclusion that I actually didn't like it that much. Sure it's a fun car but I felt like it was missing something.

My clio is very very slow but in the corners it doesn't need a lot of speed for it to be playful and slide a little. I was taking corners in the GT at 50-60 and they felt like I was taking them at about 20. I'm now very confused about which car or type of car I'm looking for. Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.

Any recommendations or help?
Sounds like you need something more classic. Loads of choice, although I wouldn't narrow your search to just Jap cars.

Modern cars are generally over tyre'd with too much grip.

300bhp/ton

41,030 posts

189 months

Wednesday 5th August 2015
quotequote all
JustLetGo said:
Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.

Any recommendations or help?

pb63

238 posts

162 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
Something Jap, RWD, old school...200sx? A good alternative to the gt86. If you can find a good enough one...Nicely tunable as well and certainly keep your wits about you in the bends with plenty of turbo shove and low down grunt for straight line pace.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Friday 14th August 2015
quotequote all
300bhp/ton said:
JustLetGo said:
Essentially, I want something that misbehaves very easily, accelerates quick and is a challenge to drive even at lower speeds.

Any recommendations or help?
hehe
I had a Griff before the GT86.
Clearly the Griff has way more grunt and properly quick off the mark and overtaking - in a straight line. I scared the bejeezus out of myself cornering on many an occasion.
For me, the GT86 is quicker point to point than the +260bhp/1050kgs Griff - mainly down to my confidence in its abilities (and lack of confidence in the griff).

Squadrone Rosso

2,740 posts

146 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
We've had ours a week and despite running it in, it's fantastic.

Coming from a V6 Alfa GT it doesn't feel anywhere near as slow as the road test figures suggest.

Incidentally, the Yanks just put the mechanically identical BRZ up against the new 2.0 MX5 Club and it recorded 0-60mph in 6.3 secs.





The lighter MX5 did 5.8!

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
To be fair, yanks normally time 0-60 from a rolling start.

Squadrone Rosso

2,740 posts

146 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
To be fair, yanks normally time 0-60 from a rolling start.
Not from that video they didn't.

http://youtu.be/BLtw2z_mZ6w


otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
It's not literally a rolling start, it's a setting on the vbox which replicates not starting the clock until the car has moved a foot or so.

LordGrover

33,531 posts

211 months

Wednesday 19th August 2015
quotequote all
Squadrone Rosso said:
Not from that video they didn't.

http://youtu.be/BLtw2z_mZ6w
Thanks for the link, enjoyed that.
I almost went for the mx-5 last month but stuck with the gt86. Maybe go for mx-5 next year.