The happiest chap in Latvia
Discussion
That'me I think. Finally bought a GT86 today and I'm overfilled with emotions. I've been waiting for this car for 7 years, from the moment Toyota announced they will build a successor to the old 86. Everything said about this car through the years was in a way painful as it concentrates everything I love, the balance, the (reasonably) light weight, the lowest possible seating position, the rear wheel drive and low enough power to make you work behind the steering wheel. I think not a day had passed without me silently thinking "I really really want it". Now it's here under my window and I'm absolutely chuffed. Drove it today and it was like a long time dream has come true, probably because it has. It is indeed as brilliant as all the reviewers are telling you.
The car is one year old, with full history and two years of warranty still left. It has an aero pack, but first owner removed the silly wing and got a dealer to replace it with a 5 Axis duck tail. It's nicely packaged with cruise control, seat heaters and leather/alcantara and should make a competent all-year round car to complement my summer-only MX5. Though I think after a few years I will retire it from daily/all-year round duties and keep it away from salt to enjoy it for a long time, I don't think I will ever sell it, just like the 5.
No pictures yet, but I will make some soon.
The car is one year old, with full history and two years of warranty still left. It has an aero pack, but first owner removed the silly wing and got a dealer to replace it with a 5 Axis duck tail. It's nicely packaged with cruise control, seat heaters and leather/alcantara and should make a competent all-year round car to complement my summer-only MX5. Though I think after a few years I will retire it from daily/all-year round duties and keep it away from salt to enjoy it for a long time, I don't think I will ever sell it, just like the 5.
No pictures yet, but I will make some soon.
Just spotted the silly typo in the thread title. 
I've done only around a hundred miles in the car but I'm in love already. It very much reminds me of my MX5 in the way how fun it is, but being almost new and having +2 seats it also makes a very good 'sensible' car. That isn't to say it beats a tuned 5, I still prefer my Roadster for ultimate thrills!
Haven't had a chance for a proper photo shoot yet, just grabbed a couple pictures yesterday.
I've done only around a hundred miles in the car but I'm in love already. It very much reminds me of my MX5 in the way how fun it is, but being almost new and having +2 seats it also makes a very good 'sensible' car. That isn't to say it beats a tuned 5, I still prefer my Roadster for ultimate thrills!
Haven't had a chance for a proper photo shoot yet, just grabbed a couple pictures yesterday.
Poisson96 said:
Although I think the aim is to get people to do it themselves, be it the ducktail the OP has right through to utterly mental modifications...
It is indeed and it's refreshing to have this attitude from a manufacturer.Fully agree with the fact that factory wheels and slightly awkward ride height don't do any favours to the look of the car and I hope to sort it out soon, probably with Eibach Pro-Kit springs and different but still 17" wheels albeit with a lower offset to fill the arches slightly better.
Oh the RPF1, they are indeed fantastic looking and suit almost anything. In fact, that's one of the choices I have in my head, albeit in 17" size (I think the one pictured is 18"). Can't wait to sort the wheel issue, just need to get rid of my Volk CE28Ns first. 5x100 PCD on these cars is a little bit of pain, understandable why Toyota gone with it, but still.
Now that almost a month has passed I've been enjoying driving the car thoroughly and yesterday finally had a chance to get out on a short track session at the local circuit. The car performed faultlessly and as many owners said before, driving on track indeed cures the brake squealing problem. Never I've had a car before that could be fixed by going on track, good job Toyota 
A video of one lap below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8houFf5vhU
In other news, I'm waiting for Eibach Pro-Kit springs and camber bolts to arrive and also managed to get my hands on a set of Work Meister S1 wheels. They aren't new and as such I've given them to a wheel restoration specialist to bring them up to former glory. Hopefully they will be ready before the end of October so I could put them on the car for a week or so before going back to standard wheels for winter. That's all for now.
A video of one lap below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8houFf5vhU
In other news, I'm waiting for Eibach Pro-Kit springs and camber bolts to arrive and also managed to get my hands on a set of Work Meister S1 wheels. They aren't new and as such I've given them to a wheel restoration specialist to bring them up to former glory. Hopefully they will be ready before the end of October so I could put them on the car for a week or so before going back to standard wheels for winter. That's all for now.
Good advice, thanks! I certainly enjoy the character of the car and don't want to change it much. For this reason the new wheels are still 17" in diameter, but with lower offset to bring them out a bit and I will be putting the factory tyres on them for now. The Eibachs will reduce road clearance a bit but from my experience with them on my previous cars and going by reviews on the different forums I hope the suspension will still be pretty compliant. Coming from FN2 Type-R with its infamously crashy ride quality I love the 86's suspension and think even with Eibach springs it will be miles better than the Civic. But yes, a very good point on being cautious to not get too carried away with mods, fully agree with that.
The wheels took a lot of work but finally they are done. They will have to wait until spring as I don't want to risk ruining them with road grit in winter, but I've put them on for one evening and a asked a mate to make a few snaps. Ride height does look slightly silly but it will be sorted in spring, I already have a set of Pro-Kits sitting on a shelf. Otherwise I think they are a good compromise between looks and keeping the driving character of the car intact.
Edited by dmitry on Monday 30th November 14:23
I think I will put some 225 tyres on the wheels when they go on the car in the spring as the factory Primacies have such a massive rim protector they look aggressively stretched when in fact they are not.
But this car is all about fun driving it and on this note I went to a local autodrome a few weeks ago to have some. It was all good, the track is small with tight turns, more of a karting track really and it was nice to slide around, this no doubt helped by intermittent raining. Though expected but still a little irritating it was to find how the car understeered on initial turn in. It was especially apparent as I had a chance to try out the new MX5 back-to-back and while being much "wallowier" it was actually turning in with more want, this probably helped by it's lighter weight too.
So this Saturday I finally came about to sorting it out and went to an alignment place. First we've checked the settings and it was in factory specs, around zero camber in front and about zero toe front and back. Tried what's possible with factory adjustments and as expected couldn't get more than a half degree camber in front, so astutely bought Powerflex camber bolts came out of the box and were put in place to give the desired 1 degree camber angle. We've also dialled a slight toe out (0*04' each side) in the front and adjusted rear for precise zero toe. While I haven't had a chance to go to the track yet, the difference is even apparent on the roads, especially doing 180 degree turns, the car does turn in much better. A little change maybe but a tangible one at that.
But this car is all about fun driving it and on this note I went to a local autodrome a few weeks ago to have some. It was all good, the track is small with tight turns, more of a karting track really and it was nice to slide around, this no doubt helped by intermittent raining. Though expected but still a little irritating it was to find how the car understeered on initial turn in. It was especially apparent as I had a chance to try out the new MX5 back-to-back and while being much "wallowier" it was actually turning in with more want, this probably helped by it's lighter weight too.
So this Saturday I finally came about to sorting it out and went to an alignment place. First we've checked the settings and it was in factory specs, around zero camber in front and about zero toe front and back. Tried what's possible with factory adjustments and as expected couldn't get more than a half degree camber in front, so astutely bought Powerflex camber bolts came out of the box and were put in place to give the desired 1 degree camber angle. We've also dialled a slight toe out (0*04' each side) in the front and adjusted rear for precise zero toe. While I haven't had a chance to go to the track yet, the difference is even apparent on the roads, especially doing 180 degree turns, the car does turn in much better. A little change maybe but a tangible one at that.
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