4k GT86 Gets a Rocket Bunny Kit & LS3 V8 Swap!
Discussion
M4CK 1 said:
How much weight does the air ride kit add to the car compared to normal springs??
Unfortunately i've not weighed it all. The Struts themselves are quite a bit lighter as of course there's no heavy steel coil spring on them. The main heavy parts are the compressors and the air lift manifold so i'd say you probably add 2-4kg overall but that added weight is in the rear so I guess that helps balance the 86's 52/48 Weight distributionSo I've been driving the 86 around for a week or so now and have had a chance to adjust a few little bits and pieces here and there. The loud knocking noise I was experiencing was from a couple of bolts not being torqued down so that was easily rectified albeit quite silly of me to say the least. There are still a few subtle humming or low noises while driving but its mostly drivetrain/diff noises along with the clonking that you inherently get when going in to 1st and sometimes from 1st to 2nd is louder with the bushing inserts. It's nothing to be worried about and it isn't particularly jarring to hear either as i know the noises have always been there and are simply a bit louder now.
As for the feel itself, the fun part. It's definitely a little bit stiffer but not too much, the combo of air suspension + ARB's and bushing inserts definitely gives the car a slightly stiffer feel all over both from what the road conveys to you but also how it handles and how it reacts to being given power or leaning in to corners. Overall the easiest way to describe it is like a set of soft-ish coilovers but with faster reaction times.
Anyway so I lowered it a little more today just to even out the height front/rear without one having to be overly low pressure to achieve a matching height and took the chance to check out the new "aired out" height, although part of me wants to say this is "too low" knowing that the moment i get in and turn the ignition on the car will rise up just makes me really love this look, It's not for everyone but it does look a little mean being barely an inch from the ground.
As for the feel itself, the fun part. It's definitely a little bit stiffer but not too much, the combo of air suspension + ARB's and bushing inserts definitely gives the car a slightly stiffer feel all over both from what the road conveys to you but also how it handles and how it reacts to being given power or leaning in to corners. Overall the easiest way to describe it is like a set of soft-ish coilovers but with faster reaction times.
Anyway so I lowered it a little more today just to even out the height front/rear without one having to be overly low pressure to achieve a matching height and took the chance to check out the new "aired out" height, although part of me wants to say this is "too low" knowing that the moment i get in and turn the ignition on the car will rise up just makes me really love this look, It's not for everyone but it does look a little mean being barely an inch from the ground.
Edited by Samjeev on Saturday 13th July 21:05
ZX10R NIN said:
It's just crying out for a set of alloys now, great work.
I know! I would love to put the wheels from my Subaru back on that it had fitted in earlier pics but I plan to sell the Subaru soon so they have to go with it.I'd love to invest in some wheels but seeing as they're often the best part of a grand with tyres i'd rather hold off and save for something special.
Next plans for the car are essentially Widebody + Works wheels. Not a particularly unique formula these days and neither of those things make the car go faster but currently i'm not really looking for that
with both the Subaru and my track car up for sale I guess I've kind of had enough of chasing lap times for now and atleast for this year I want to get the car looking the way I had envisioned even prior to my purchase of it.Next year on the other hand.. well, we might have some go fast bits then
greeneggsandham said:
I really like the slammed look. You said it's an inch off the ground, can you go even lower? Like literally on the ground? I think that would be even cooler, especially since you won't be driving it like that, only parking it.
And good job with the boot installation. Looks good.
Random question though, can any of that stuff go into the spare wheel well to reduce the centre of gravity?
I can make it lower if i physically wind in the struts but that last image is currently as low as it goes with the Bags alone. And good job with the boot installation. Looks good.
Random question though, can any of that stuff go into the spare wheel well to reduce the centre of gravity?
it is possible to install the gear in to the spare wheel well but you'd probably want a smaller tank. I didn't do it myself as I have an OEM upgrade sub in the spare wheel well and being one that quite enjoys his tunes I didn't want to give that up
I originally wanted to install the compressors in there but with the sub as well they don't fit.aazer89 said:
All you need to do now is this:
Saw this at Goodwood Festival of Speed this year and it is insane!
I know you won't but would be so cool. Your car does look amazing, been following this thread for a while and wondered how it would turn out. Lovely job... you've even got me liking a car on air, not something I'm usually a fan of but suits yours very well indeed.
Haha oh i'd love to do that! Saw this at Goodwood Festival of Speed this year and it is insane!
I know you won't but would be so cool. Your car does look amazing, been following this thread for a while and wondered how it would turn out. Lovely job... you've even got me liking a car on air, not something I'm usually a fan of but suits yours very well indeed.
I'd really love to go wild with an engine swap and fit something like a 2UR-GSE from the Lexus RCF or similar but I'm going to keep things somewhat simple so that I can DIY it still. I'm No welder and no electrician and my pockets aren't bottomless so If i can get off the shelf engine mounts and off the shelf ECU/Wiring harness that's perfect for me, both of which exist for the 2Jz and LS Platforms already.
Thanks for the kind words! In regards to the air suspension It was something I was never in to either but after having a low car that barred me from going in to multi story car parks and undoing my own hard paint work on a front bumper it got boring fast so the thought of having suspension that I can manually change the height on at the push of a button with the slight trade off of a tiny bit potential performance compared to coilovers was exciting!
I'm not looking to show off how low my car is as it's a bit of a false-boast when you have air suspension but it's been good fun to play around with and it's a bit of a new challenge for me making a more show-orientated car.
It's not dead yet! i'm bringing this topic back from the dead for another very big and very exciting update but I'll just let this do the talking...
That's right, i've just ordered my Rocket Bunny V2 Kit for the Car. I have to say it was VERY expensive being that alot of sites online don't include the 20% import Tax or even Air-freight from japan costs in to their online listings for it but to me it's well worth it. To some this might sound silly but this kit was one of my reasons for getting a gt86 in the first place and was the primary reason i went for a write-off (Why cut up a perfectly good example?) which does mean, yes I kind of chose the 86 for looks over performance but have been quite wowed by its ability since owning it.
Some of you might also be rolling your eyes and having lost interest (if you haven't already from the air lift) but im hoping that the 3 people who are still following (hi mum!) keep watching. This was a bit of a goal for me and i'm really pleased to make it a reality before the end of the year. I've purchased it through the official Rocket bunny EU supplier who are based over in Germany and rather than have them deliver it to me will be making a bit of a holiday/road trip for myself as I go over there to pick it up with a mate, should be fun!
Also just to finish thing's off seeing as i've always found the Greddy/Rocket Bunny renderings really lackluster here's one of my favourite cars with this kit belonging to Connor_lol
That's right, i've just ordered my Rocket Bunny V2 Kit for the Car. I have to say it was VERY expensive being that alot of sites online don't include the 20% import Tax or even Air-freight from japan costs in to their online listings for it but to me it's well worth it. To some this might sound silly but this kit was one of my reasons for getting a gt86 in the first place and was the primary reason i went for a write-off (Why cut up a perfectly good example?) which does mean, yes I kind of chose the 86 for looks over performance but have been quite wowed by its ability since owning it.
Some of you might also be rolling your eyes and having lost interest (if you haven't already from the air lift) but im hoping that the 3 people who are still following (hi mum!) keep watching. This was a bit of a goal for me and i'm really pleased to make it a reality before the end of the year. I've purchased it through the official Rocket bunny EU supplier who are based over in Germany and rather than have them deliver it to me will be making a bit of a holiday/road trip for myself as I go over there to pick it up with a mate, should be fun!
Also just to finish thing's off seeing as i've always found the Greddy/Rocket Bunny renderings really lackluster here's one of my favourite cars with this kit belonging to Connor_lol
Monkeylegend said:
Does your kit include all the little aerodynamic addendum?
It is a little bit too busy for my tastes but each to their own and I have no doubt you will do a good job with it.
The standard kit comes as per the rendering of the orange car with just the splitter in the form of aero bits.It is a little bit too busy for my tastes but each to their own and I have no doubt you will do a good job with it.
We Interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this Breaking News
So as a bit of a sudden change of pace I made another big purchase recently for the car..
People often ask me what I plan to do power-wise to make the "Go" as big as the up-coming "show" the car is going to have and I often always give a bit of a half assed answer as I don't want to either give too much away or sound like a bit of a dreamer who gets far too ahead of himself and likely won't follow up on those plans so recently I decided to cement those plans in place and purchased this..
So I imagine there's going to be a bit of confusion and some mixed reactions but I assure you, i've thought it all through!
so i'll do my best to explain
Just to keep the suspense and confusion building i'll start with my reasons first - I personally really love turbo cars as some of you can likely tell from my Subaru and the Vx220 but If i were to go down the turbo route on the 86 i'd want something a bit more than 300bhp, something like 350-400 and whereas this is very possible it's quite expensive being that you'd most likely need to build the engine with forged internals, buy the turbo unit, get a stand-alone ECU & tune it and then after all of that you're still left with a gearbox that will likely throw up its guts at the thought of all that power and torque. The FA20 is a fantastic engine in reality but I'm not a race team who has the funds to run a high powered boosted FA20 which is then left quite high strung and high maintenance.. which would also require another £3-10k to rebuild if it ever went pop and I kind of wanted to try something with a few more cylinders for once.
So i bought this, it's a v8 obviously and the reason why i started this post with the strange "interuption" notice is just to preface that this will likely not get anywhere near the 86 until Autumn 2020 at the earliest, that said I just wanted to commit to it, get my foot in the door and of course it gives me something to tinker with, clean up, paint & work on over the next year and also these engines are quite rare in the UK so it will easily hold it's value if things all went a bit pear shaped money wise for me for whatever reason next year... i dunno a meteor strike or something?
So to give a few details as to what you're seeing:
This is a 6.2L all aluminium L92 engine previously featured in great hits such as the 2008 Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Tahoe. It shares it's architecture with the LS series of engines, specifically the LS3 which often lives in the Corvette C6, Vaxhaull VXR8 (Holden Commodore) and Camaro. The similarity of these engines is so close that the Aluminium block and heads are identical featuring a nice desireable well flowing head with square intake ports and a chunky 6.2L displacement as well as the fact that almost every part for the LS3 or made for the LS3 will bolt straight on without any hassle including Cams, intakes, accesories, the lot.
The reason why the aluminium part is important is because this engine is essentially the exact same weight as an NA Fa20 With both engines being around 170-180kg in weight once fully dressed up meaning that unlike alot of popular 2JZ (230kg) swaps it won't ruin the weight of the car which was one of my biggest fears as I don't want to ruin what is an incredibly well handling car and a fantastic chassis.
So my plans with this over the next year are to of course clean it up, paint the block and heads to tart it up a bit. Swap out the cam to give a bit more power (should expect around 400bhp NA with this) and remove the VVT and Low-end torque focused cam designed for the big heavy trucks and SUV's this engine was previously in and eventually drop it in around this time next year. I'll find a T56 Manual gearbox to go along with it and should be able to easily fit with with some bolt in engine/gearbox mounts from the likes of Sikky Manufacturing and Motec M150 Plug & Play package from Pure Automotive in the states which will retain all factory functions including push-start, Speedometer/Rev Counter and I believe even Cruise control & AC!
This was the main reason for picking something as common (In the states atleast) as the LS rather than the more readily available 1UZ/3UZ Lexus engines we have over here as like most things I plan to do pretty much all of the work myself so it has to be something that doesn't really require alot of welding and fabrication or making an entire wiring loom.
Of course this all sounds very expensive but from what i've planned for it should work out roughly similar if not actually cheaper than a 2jz swap or High power FA20 turbo build.. plus i get to make v8 noises!
So that's all i can really think of to say so far, this'll be something i'll update slowly over time as I work on the engine and of course the next big posts will likely be the receiving and fitting on my rocket bunny kit.
So as a bit of a sudden change of pace I made another big purchase recently for the car..
People often ask me what I plan to do power-wise to make the "Go" as big as the up-coming "show" the car is going to have and I often always give a bit of a half assed answer as I don't want to either give too much away or sound like a bit of a dreamer who gets far too ahead of himself and likely won't follow up on those plans so recently I decided to cement those plans in place and purchased this..
So I imagine there's going to be a bit of confusion and some mixed reactions but I assure you, i've thought it all through!
so i'll do my best to explainJust to keep the suspense and confusion building i'll start with my reasons first - I personally really love turbo cars as some of you can likely tell from my Subaru and the Vx220 but If i were to go down the turbo route on the 86 i'd want something a bit more than 300bhp, something like 350-400 and whereas this is very possible it's quite expensive being that you'd most likely need to build the engine with forged internals, buy the turbo unit, get a stand-alone ECU & tune it and then after all of that you're still left with a gearbox that will likely throw up its guts at the thought of all that power and torque. The FA20 is a fantastic engine in reality but I'm not a race team who has the funds to run a high powered boosted FA20 which is then left quite high strung and high maintenance.. which would also require another £3-10k to rebuild if it ever went pop and I kind of wanted to try something with a few more cylinders for once.
So i bought this, it's a v8 obviously and the reason why i started this post with the strange "interuption" notice is just to preface that this will likely not get anywhere near the 86 until Autumn 2020 at the earliest, that said I just wanted to commit to it, get my foot in the door and of course it gives me something to tinker with, clean up, paint & work on over the next year and also these engines are quite rare in the UK so it will easily hold it's value if things all went a bit pear shaped money wise for me for whatever reason next year... i dunno a meteor strike or something?
So to give a few details as to what you're seeing:
This is a 6.2L all aluminium L92 engine previously featured in great hits such as the 2008 Cadillac Escalade and Chevrolet Tahoe. It shares it's architecture with the LS series of engines, specifically the LS3 which often lives in the Corvette C6, Vaxhaull VXR8 (Holden Commodore) and Camaro. The similarity of these engines is so close that the Aluminium block and heads are identical featuring a nice desireable well flowing head with square intake ports and a chunky 6.2L displacement as well as the fact that almost every part for the LS3 or made for the LS3 will bolt straight on without any hassle including Cams, intakes, accesories, the lot.
The reason why the aluminium part is important is because this engine is essentially the exact same weight as an NA Fa20 With both engines being around 170-180kg in weight once fully dressed up meaning that unlike alot of popular 2JZ (230kg) swaps it won't ruin the weight of the car which was one of my biggest fears as I don't want to ruin what is an incredibly well handling car and a fantastic chassis.
So my plans with this over the next year are to of course clean it up, paint the block and heads to tart it up a bit. Swap out the cam to give a bit more power (should expect around 400bhp NA with this) and remove the VVT and Low-end torque focused cam designed for the big heavy trucks and SUV's this engine was previously in and eventually drop it in around this time next year. I'll find a T56 Manual gearbox to go along with it and should be able to easily fit with with some bolt in engine/gearbox mounts from the likes of Sikky Manufacturing and Motec M150 Plug & Play package from Pure Automotive in the states which will retain all factory functions including push-start, Speedometer/Rev Counter and I believe even Cruise control & AC!
This was the main reason for picking something as common (In the states atleast) as the LS rather than the more readily available 1UZ/3UZ Lexus engines we have over here as like most things I plan to do pretty much all of the work myself so it has to be something that doesn't really require alot of welding and fabrication or making an entire wiring loom.
Of course this all sounds very expensive but from what i've planned for it should work out roughly similar if not actually cheaper than a 2jz swap or High power FA20 turbo build.. plus i get to make v8 noises!
So that's all i can really think of to say so far, this'll be something i'll update slowly over time as I work on the engine and of course the next big posts will likely be the receiving and fitting on my rocket bunny kit.
Thanks for the replies guys im as excited as you are.
https://www.sikky.com/product/scion-frs-toyota-86-...
im as excited as you are.ZX10R NIN said:
Great idea & it makes perfect sense I do believe you can buy the engine/Gearbox mount kits for these thus saving time & money on fabricating stuff.
https://shop.weaponsgradeperformance.com/products/...
https://vorshlag-store.com/collections/brz-fr-s-ls...
The Vorshlag stuff is well made but apparently you have to run it without a front antiroll bar to use their engine mounts. I was going to go with Sikky Because they have the option to get mounts with RHD in mind (maybe to help with the steering column being so close to the starter motor + Mount and they also make a front sump for the engine which is a neccessity to fit with the subframe in the 86https://shop.weaponsgradeperformance.com/products/...
https://vorshlag-store.com/collections/brz-fr-s-ls...
https://www.sikky.com/product/scion-frs-toyota-86-...
It's been a rather long time since I updated this but I wasn't expecting things to drag on thiiiiiiiiiiis long!
I clearly have some sort of ill-omen when it comes to ordering expensive car parts as it never seems to go smoothly for me. The more I spend, the bigger the drama it is, whereas if i buy something for £5 I get it in a couple of days.
So my wheel order is hopefully going without hiccup, there were a few funny oddities when it came to ordering a set of 3 piece "Custom" wheels only to be told they don't actually make them to ANY offset and it seems to go in stages jumping from -8 offset to -21 with nowhere in the middle and that some offsets aren't available in some bolt patterns, etc etc. A small drama but once I sorted out my options hopefully they should be coming eventually and should fit fairly well.
But the biggest drama has by far been my rocket bunny kit. It hasn't helped that rather than get it delivered to my house I had planned to book a little road trip to pick it up from germany, go to bruges, etc along the way and do a couple of rental ring laps at the Nurburgring but clearly I just have the worst luck ever - don't ever ask me to come to a casino with you!
Having ordered the kit back in September (and paid for it!) the first trouble came in October when parts of the kit had to be re-made due to the moulds for the parts going bad. No big deal really as this happens with glassfibre parts and it just means my kit will come from a nice fresh new mould rather than one that's been through the ringer but at this stage I had already started booking and paying for things like eurotunnel, Nurburgring rental etc and annoyingly these things can't be cancelled so having to reschedule them is a pain.
Go on a couple of weeks and I hear that the kit is made and has been shipped from japan - Happy days!
So I had rescheduled my roadtrip for the end of November (next week) and would expect 3 weeks would be plenty for it to arrive via plane, get through customs and arrive at the Seller in Germany but back luck strikes again as the kit was routed to Brussels instead and customs there simply decided to Seize it due to a lack of paperwork either on the Sender's (Greddy in Japan) side or the receipient (seller in Germany's) Side. Having spent all week worrying about it I finally heard late last night that it's not looking good and they would have to speak to Japan to get them to produce and send another kit. Bummer..
So now i'm expecting i'll be lucky to see it this side of 2020. It's a real disappointment but i'm surprisingly mellow about it at the moment, I think with things leading up to Christmas and the fact that I don't actually have anywhere with sufficient space to work on the car currently it's dampened my urgency for things.
I guess the last update of the year will probably be a picture of the car sat on some rather rediculously wide looking wheels with no arches to cover them at this rate!
Also no progress on the engine I'm afraid, I was never really planning to do any work on it until next year as i'd rather order any parts I need from the US or such in one go
I clearly have some sort of ill-omen when it comes to ordering expensive car parts as it never seems to go smoothly for me. The more I spend, the bigger the drama it is, whereas if i buy something for £5 I get it in a couple of days.
So my wheel order is hopefully going without hiccup, there were a few funny oddities when it came to ordering a set of 3 piece "Custom" wheels only to be told they don't actually make them to ANY offset and it seems to go in stages jumping from -8 offset to -21 with nowhere in the middle and that some offsets aren't available in some bolt patterns, etc etc. A small drama but once I sorted out my options hopefully they should be coming eventually and should fit fairly well.
But the biggest drama has by far been my rocket bunny kit. It hasn't helped that rather than get it delivered to my house I had planned to book a little road trip to pick it up from germany, go to bruges, etc along the way and do a couple of rental ring laps at the Nurburgring but clearly I just have the worst luck ever - don't ever ask me to come to a casino with you!
Having ordered the kit back in September (and paid for it!) the first trouble came in October when parts of the kit had to be re-made due to the moulds for the parts going bad. No big deal really as this happens with glassfibre parts and it just means my kit will come from a nice fresh new mould rather than one that's been through the ringer but at this stage I had already started booking and paying for things like eurotunnel, Nurburgring rental etc and annoyingly these things can't be cancelled so having to reschedule them is a pain.
Go on a couple of weeks and I hear that the kit is made and has been shipped from japan - Happy days!
So I had rescheduled my roadtrip for the end of November (next week) and would expect 3 weeks would be plenty for it to arrive via plane, get through customs and arrive at the Seller in Germany but back luck strikes again as the kit was routed to Brussels instead and customs there simply decided to Seize it due to a lack of paperwork either on the Sender's (Greddy in Japan) side or the receipient (seller in Germany's) Side. Having spent all week worrying about it I finally heard late last night that it's not looking good and they would have to speak to Japan to get them to produce and send another kit. Bummer..
So now i'm expecting i'll be lucky to see it this side of 2020. It's a real disappointment but i'm surprisingly mellow about it at the moment, I think with things leading up to Christmas and the fact that I don't actually have anywhere with sufficient space to work on the car currently it's dampened my urgency for things.
I guess the last update of the year will probably be a picture of the car sat on some rather rediculously wide looking wheels with no arches to cover them at this rate!
Also no progress on the engine I'm afraid, I was never really planning to do any work on it until next year as i'd rather order any parts I need from the US or such in one go
Merry Christmas to me!
Just received my wheels and I couldn't be happier with them! They're a set of Work Meister M1 in 18x9.5 on the front and 18x11 on the rear.
Struggling to bring myself to put them away in the boxes for now but I haven't really got much else to say about them, I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves really!
Just received my wheels and I couldn't be happier with them! They're a set of Work Meister M1 in 18x9.5 on the front and 18x11 on the rear.
Struggling to bring myself to put them away in the boxes for now but I haven't really got much else to say about them, I think I'll let the pictures speak for themselves really!
Haha cheers guys 
should be getting tyres for them on Monday and then i'll get those mounted between christmas and the new year but until I get my RB kit and start taking the angry tools to the arches of my 86 they won't fit but atleast they'll be wrapped up nice and warm for the winter!
Going to Ceramic coat them too, never done it before so not sure how well it'll last but for the sake of £25 or so for the product I figured it'll be good to give them atleast that little bit extra protection and ease of cleaning.
Sikky manufacturing have recently released more swap parts for the LS/86 Including headers, drive shaft and gearbox adapter plates so it'll be interesting to see how their developement comes along before I dive head first in to the deep end of starting my swap next year. The headers they've designed even fit both LHD and RHD cars with a small offset shim for the steering rack included and not much fuss and they're one of the few companies that are really giving consideration to RHD Chassis users.
should be getting tyres for them on Monday and then i'll get those mounted between christmas and the new year but until I get my RB kit and start taking the angry tools to the arches of my 86 they won't fit but atleast they'll be wrapped up nice and warm for the winter!
Going to Ceramic coat them too, never done it before so not sure how well it'll last but for the sake of £25 or so for the product I figured it'll be good to give them atleast that little bit extra protection and ease of cleaning.
Sikky manufacturing have recently released more swap parts for the LS/86 Including headers, drive shaft and gearbox adapter plates so it'll be interesting to see how their developement comes along before I dive head first in to the deep end of starting my swap next year. The headers they've designed even fit both LHD and RHD cars with a small offset shim for the steering rack included and not much fuss and they're one of the few companies that are really giving consideration to RHD Chassis users.
A few more goodies I got recently but i'll save the best for last! 
Along with my wheels I got a full set of rear adjustable Camber, Toe and Trailing arms from Driftworks. There are loads of these on the market but some can be pretty wildly expensive as they're likely made from all sorts of billet aluminium or titanium and others come in some rather funky colours which im not fond of. These arms are made of Steel so a bit heavier than the various billet options but also a fraction of the price and are finished in a nice subtle black powdercoating.
If anyone's wondering why the need for these when the car's not likely to be slid about when i've got awfully expensive wheels or body kit fitted it's actually due to the fact that the rear suspension gains loads of negative camber when lowering it. Of course being on air means i'm not totally slammed in to the ground all the time when driving about but my normal driving height is a good inch or so lower than standard. There's no OEM rear camber adjustment so had to pick up some adjustable arms to sort that out and wanted to get the whole set!
The rear also gains a load of toe changes when you lower so it's good to have some more accurate adjustment in that, once it's all fitted i'll get a full alignment done as i'm definitely no alignment wiz!
As well as this to go along with my new wheels I picked up some tyres. it was quite tricky to find the exact combo I was looking for without breaking the bank but the Federal 595 RS-R's were the perfect size and an incredible price.
I wanted to go with 245/34/18 on the front and 285/30/18 on the rear to keep the rolling radius of the wheels almost exactly the same as stock and exactly the same front/back. The rear size is quite rare with any form of performance tyre as most are made for 20 inch porsche wheels, etc and being able to find these Federals at £400 for all 4 corners was a great price for so much rubber. They're also a light semi-slick track tyre in essence as well and i've always heard incredible things about them along with the Nankang NS2R's when searching the web for good track tyres as they always come up in conversations as a good budget alternative to tyres such as the Toyo R888 and Yokohama AD08R's which we previous ran on our VX220. I Don't really plan to do loads of track days in the 86 but it should be good to see how these handles and later down the line i'll most likely need the extra grip when i've got a few extra cylinder's up front!
Another small one as it was a Christmas present was a set of TGR Motorsports wheel nuts.
I had met these guys previously last year (2019) at JAE Festival and it was good to have a chat with the owner and check out his products. I've always quite liked fancy wheel nuts but i've never been fond of their price tag. Alot of lesser wheel nuts can rust pretty quickly after use or even be made from Aluminium (definitely not what you want!) and previously i've used Muteki SR48 which are a high quality, well priced product from japan however these TGR nuts are made of a durable steel construction finished in gunmetal with an internal drive and a small aluminium beauty cap to finish them off, i went for black in this case to keep things subtle but they come in all kinds of colours. One of my favourite bits about them as well is they also feature a free sprinning collar at the bottom of each nut which should prevent any damage to the wheel nut seats in the wheels, this is quickly becoming quite a big feature of alot of wheel nuts brands but i've not found any so easily available in the UK or at this price (£45) with this little feature.
And finally.. but by no means (or all means!) least..
Another christmas present, this time modelled wonderfully by Yours truly
My brother bought me a set of Overalls for christmas to wear when working on the car and kitted them out with a few custom patches, i particularly like the custom name tag! (my username on other forums and part of my instagram username)
Along with my wheels I got a full set of rear adjustable Camber, Toe and Trailing arms from Driftworks. There are loads of these on the market but some can be pretty wildly expensive as they're likely made from all sorts of billet aluminium or titanium and others come in some rather funky colours which im not fond of. These arms are made of Steel so a bit heavier than the various billet options but also a fraction of the price and are finished in a nice subtle black powdercoating.
If anyone's wondering why the need for these when the car's not likely to be slid about when i've got awfully expensive wheels or body kit fitted it's actually due to the fact that the rear suspension gains loads of negative camber when lowering it. Of course being on air means i'm not totally slammed in to the ground all the time when driving about but my normal driving height is a good inch or so lower than standard. There's no OEM rear camber adjustment so had to pick up some adjustable arms to sort that out and wanted to get the whole set!
The rear also gains a load of toe changes when you lower so it's good to have some more accurate adjustment in that, once it's all fitted i'll get a full alignment done as i'm definitely no alignment wiz!
As well as this to go along with my new wheels I picked up some tyres. it was quite tricky to find the exact combo I was looking for without breaking the bank but the Federal 595 RS-R's were the perfect size and an incredible price.
I wanted to go with 245/34/18 on the front and 285/30/18 on the rear to keep the rolling radius of the wheels almost exactly the same as stock and exactly the same front/back. The rear size is quite rare with any form of performance tyre as most are made for 20 inch porsche wheels, etc and being able to find these Federals at £400 for all 4 corners was a great price for so much rubber. They're also a light semi-slick track tyre in essence as well and i've always heard incredible things about them along with the Nankang NS2R's when searching the web for good track tyres as they always come up in conversations as a good budget alternative to tyres such as the Toyo R888 and Yokohama AD08R's which we previous ran on our VX220. I Don't really plan to do loads of track days in the 86 but it should be good to see how these handles and later down the line i'll most likely need the extra grip when i've got a few extra cylinder's up front!
Another small one as it was a Christmas present was a set of TGR Motorsports wheel nuts.
I had met these guys previously last year (2019) at JAE Festival and it was good to have a chat with the owner and check out his products. I've always quite liked fancy wheel nuts but i've never been fond of their price tag. Alot of lesser wheel nuts can rust pretty quickly after use or even be made from Aluminium (definitely not what you want!) and previously i've used Muteki SR48 which are a high quality, well priced product from japan however these TGR nuts are made of a durable steel construction finished in gunmetal with an internal drive and a small aluminium beauty cap to finish them off, i went for black in this case to keep things subtle but they come in all kinds of colours. One of my favourite bits about them as well is they also feature a free sprinning collar at the bottom of each nut which should prevent any damage to the wheel nut seats in the wheels, this is quickly becoming quite a big feature of alot of wheel nuts brands but i've not found any so easily available in the UK or at this price (£45) with this little feature.
And finally.. but by no means (or all means!) least..
Another christmas present, this time modelled wonderfully by Yours truly
My brother bought me a set of Overalls for christmas to wear when working on the car and kitted them out with a few custom patches, i particularly like the custom name tag! (my username on other forums and part of my instagram username
)CanoeSniffer said:
Those Federals are great tyres for the money in the dry, a little less good in the wet. Though my experience is pretty much strictly track mileage, I don’t know if I’d really call them a road tyre. This is a really interesting project, don’t we all have a yearning for a GT86 with some proper grunt. Is it going to be trackable on air ride? Or 11” width rims? 
It'll be interesting to see how they work. I can imagine in the wet they might be a bit tragic but the AD08R's I used previously on the Vx220 were actually really good even in pretty torential motorway driving as long as you were sensible on the throttle.I've always been one to want a gt86 with more power as you can tell
For me they were probably the most recent car that really captured my inspiration and also kept that older "Japanese tuner car" feel that i'm a big fan of.It should be plenty trackable on air but it's really not going to be a track car for me, in the future maybe when the world's moved on from GT86's and im too stubborn to part with it but for not it's going to primarily be a show/fast road car as i've kind of had my fill of purpose built track cars for the time being.
st33ly said:
Love the overalls. Where did your brother get them?
Good question, I'm not entirely sure but i believe they're just generic DeltaPlus Mechanic's overalls and then the various patches are stitch on items.Hoping to find a workshop/small unit to rent to store and work on the car in very soon, not an easy task around my area it seems but once I've got that I can keep these down there to stop myself going through jeans, t-shirts, etc
Another couple of updates on the way.
First off, nothing overly exciting just a few more pictures of my new wheels.
Popped down to Fuel Coffee House just round the corner from me for their first Jap Vs German meet as it gave me a chance to take the GT86 out for the first time in the last 6 weeks but I had no time to wash the car, so I figured why not take the best looking bits of the car with me, the yet-to-be-fitted wheels!
Got to chat with a few people about the car and its little story and the journey it's had (For anyone that hasn't seen it at a car meet/show or PHSS I have a couple of laminated print outs showing the original pictures/state of the car and a few lines describing the project and a QR code that when scanned brings you to this thread!) and check out the wheels in the sun & rain and just gush over them a bit more if im to be quite frank.
And yes, driving to a meet with just a single wheel is a bit mad but it's a good laugh and look's just as silly as you'd imagine with it on the passenger seat!
Anyway i'll post the other update over the weekend when I get a chance It's more shiny new parts!
First off, nothing overly exciting just a few more pictures of my new wheels.
Popped down to Fuel Coffee House just round the corner from me for their first Jap Vs German meet as it gave me a chance to take the GT86 out for the first time in the last 6 weeks but I had no time to wash the car, so I figured why not take the best looking bits of the car with me, the yet-to-be-fitted wheels!
Got to chat with a few people about the car and its little story and the journey it's had (For anyone that hasn't seen it at a car meet/show or PHSS I have a couple of laminated print outs showing the original pictures/state of the car and a few lines describing the project and a QR code that when scanned brings you to this thread!) and check out the wheels in the sun & rain and just gush over them a bit more if im to be quite frank.
And yes, driving to a meet with just a single wheel is a bit mad but it's a good laugh and look's just as silly as you'd imagine with it on the passenger seat!
Anyway i'll post the other update over the weekend when I get a chance
It's more shiny new parts!So the other update from this weekend is everyone's favourite, more new car parts!
Just before Christmas I ordered a set of big Front & rear brakes from PB Brakes and they recently arrived in this fantastic Anodised silver finish. I opted to go for the largest specs I would be able to fit behind my new wheels, 6 pot Calipers with 330mm discs on the front and 4pot calipers with 330mm discs on the rear complete with their sport pads.
I always love the look of a big set of brakes poking out from behind an equally nice set of wheels and with my future plans the extra stopping power will be very welcome (and my current brakes were getting close to limit! can you tell i've been justifying more purchases in my head? )
When it comes to brakes there's of course plenty to choose from with the likes of Brembo, AP racing, Alcon which are often massive money but are proven to definitely be up to the job if your car sees race or heavy track use. Personally for me however as it's not my intention with the car so I was happy to explore cheaper options such as K-Sport/D2-racing (who i believe are one and the same) and that lead me to also find PB Brakes. They are a relatively new-ish brand I believe and as a result there isn't massive fountain of knowledge in regards to them however there are some decent reviews when you search around. Also having spoken to them in regards to fitment when ordering my wheels I can safely say their customer service is pretty fantastic so I decided to bite the bullet and go with the lesser known brand.
This is where the pictures do the rest of the talking
Just before Christmas I ordered a set of big Front & rear brakes from PB Brakes and they recently arrived in this fantastic Anodised silver finish. I opted to go for the largest specs I would be able to fit behind my new wheels, 6 pot Calipers with 330mm discs on the front and 4pot calipers with 330mm discs on the rear complete with their sport pads.
I always love the look of a big set of brakes poking out from behind an equally nice set of wheels and with my future plans the extra stopping power will be very welcome (and my current brakes were getting close to limit! can you tell i've been justifying more purchases in my head?
)When it comes to brakes there's of course plenty to choose from with the likes of Brembo, AP racing, Alcon which are often massive money but are proven to definitely be up to the job if your car sees race or heavy track use. Personally for me however as it's not my intention with the car so I was happy to explore cheaper options such as K-Sport/D2-racing (who i believe are one and the same) and that lead me to also find PB Brakes. They are a relatively new-ish brand I believe and as a result there isn't massive fountain of knowledge in regards to them however there are some decent reviews when you search around. Also having spoken to them in regards to fitment when ordering my wheels I can safely say their customer service is pretty fantastic so I decided to bite the bullet and go with the lesser known brand.
This is where the pictures do the rest of the talking
Finally the time has come!
The update i've been waiting since September to finally make, the Rocket bunny kit is finally here!
but before I get on to that I'm going to turn this in to a bit of a double whammy as I forgot to make an update about another part that arrived recently, i'll keep it short and sweet to get on to the big bits!
I've always been a big lover of ducktail wings/spoilers rather than alot of feeble OEM wings or huge boot/chassis mounted ironing boards (BGW for short!) but i'm a bit picky when it comes to them and truthfully alot of the offerings for the 86 aren't to my taste but I found one that fit the bill.. (duck bill?.. i'll get my coat.) and ironically it turns out to be the Liberty Walk wing. The rest of the kit looks tragic but the spoiler is perfect to me and i'm sure i'll have someone tell me its sacriligous to mix Liberty Walk with Rocket bunny but who cares, it'll look epic!
However the fact that what is essentially just a fairly simple glass fibre piece was eye wateringly expensive and comes with it's own certificate of authenticity says more about Liberty Walk and their Target audience than me I think..
Now to get on to the main attraction..
Had a rather fun start to the week as I took a 700 mile round trip to Germany and back over Monday/Tuesday to go get the kit. A bit unnecessary but it was my own fault for organising it this way with the supplier all the way back when I raised the order in September. I had the idea to turn it in to a week long road trip holiday, visit Bruges, Nurburgring, etc on the way but after the headache of not knowing when it would show up and various delays I decided just to forgo it and just make it a simple there and back thing and put off making a holiday with it until the spring (I still have a booking for a track car hire and Eurotunnel trip i couldn't cancel!)
Anyway so here was the route, pretty easy in reality for my first time driving in Europe and surprisingly fast on the way home.
When I finally arrived on Monday evening this was waiting for me. I just about got the 200cm x 75cm x 55cm box in to my Dad's X3 which I had borrowed for the trip and set off to my hotel for the night.
The next morning when it was a little brighter and less windy/rainy in the Hotel car park I had to get the bits out to well.. Have a look of course! but also to fit them in the car a bit better so I could actually see where I was going!
And finally after a quick trip back home I was able to get the obvious pic of the bumper sat infront of the car.
Now I just have the next monumental task of trying to find a decent Garage/Barn/Unit to rent to store and work on the car. It became painfully obvious just how undersized the old single garage is when I tried to move the car about taking me a whole 15 minutes just to inch it down the drive way backwards, turn around and then inch it back up backwards again to get these pictures. The car will be milimetres at best from the walls either side between the houses with the arches and wheels are on and I think it will have 15-20cm at most between the car and the walls of the garage once it's in there so a bigger area to play is needed! but then again it feels as though I may be wishing for a lottery win instead with how difficult it's proving to find somewhere in my area...
Hopefully i can get back on to giving more regular updates now that I have all the pieces to crack on but I don't really want to start any drastic work without the space available. Fingers crossed to finding somewhere SOON. I was even thinking of making a few youtube videos of my progress as it was something I wanted to do alongside this Project thread when I started but chickened out of the idea down to lack of space again and being a bit of a wuss
The update i've been waiting since September to finally make, the Rocket bunny kit is finally here!
but before I get on to that I'm going to turn this in to a bit of a double whammy as I forgot to make an update about another part that arrived recently, i'll keep it short and sweet to get on to the big bits!
I've always been a big lover of ducktail wings/spoilers rather than alot of feeble OEM wings or huge boot/chassis mounted ironing boards (BGW for short!) but i'm a bit picky when it comes to them and truthfully alot of the offerings for the 86 aren't to my taste but I found one that fit the bill.. (duck bill?.. i'll get my coat.) and ironically it turns out to be the Liberty Walk wing. The rest of the kit looks tragic but the spoiler is perfect to me and i'm sure i'll have someone tell me its sacriligous to mix Liberty Walk with Rocket bunny but who cares, it'll look epic!
However the fact that what is essentially just a fairly simple glass fibre piece was eye wateringly expensive and comes with it's own certificate of authenticity says more about Liberty Walk and their Target audience than me I think..
Now to get on to the main attraction..
Had a rather fun start to the week as I took a 700 mile round trip to Germany and back over Monday/Tuesday to go get the kit. A bit unnecessary but it was my own fault for organising it this way with the supplier all the way back when I raised the order in September. I had the idea to turn it in to a week long road trip holiday, visit Bruges, Nurburgring, etc on the way but after the headache of not knowing when it would show up and various delays I decided just to forgo it and just make it a simple there and back thing and put off making a holiday with it until the spring (I still have a booking for a track car hire and Eurotunnel trip i couldn't cancel!)
Anyway so here was the route, pretty easy in reality for my first time driving in Europe and surprisingly fast on the way home.
When I finally arrived on Monday evening this was waiting for me. I just about got the 200cm x 75cm x 55cm box in to my Dad's X3 which I had borrowed for the trip and set off to my hotel for the night.
The next morning when it was a little brighter and less windy/rainy in the Hotel car park I had to get the bits out to well.. Have a look of course! but also to fit them in the car a bit better so I could actually see where I was going!
And finally after a quick trip back home I was able to get the obvious pic of the bumper sat infront of the car.
Now I just have the next monumental task of trying to find a decent Garage/Barn/Unit to rent to store and work on the car. It became painfully obvious just how undersized the old single garage is when I tried to move the car about taking me a whole 15 minutes just to inch it down the drive way backwards, turn around and then inch it back up backwards again to get these pictures. The car will be milimetres at best from the walls either side between the houses with the arches and wheels are on and I think it will have 15-20cm at most between the car and the walls of the garage once it's in there so a bigger area to play is needed! but then again it feels as though I may be wishing for a lottery win instead with how difficult it's proving to find somewhere in my area...
Hopefully i can get back on to giving more regular updates now that I have all the pieces to crack on but I don't really want to start any drastic work without the space available. Fingers crossed to finding somewhere SOON. I was even thinking of making a few youtube videos of my progress as it was something I wanted to do alongside this Project thread when I started but chickened out of the idea down to lack of space again and being a bit of a wuss
SeanEP3 said:
just read the thread from start to finish. certainly come a long way, and heading in a very different direction from the start of the thread. Wheels look amazing! i bet that original budget has crept up a fair bit!
good luck, will enjoy the progress
Thanks! glad to hear you've enjoyed the read!good luck, will enjoy the progress
It might sound weird but even i've re-read my own thread from start to finish a few times
i've never been one to take many photos or anything like that so it's been good fun to have the last couple of years of my car hobby all documented to look back on when I want It's funny you say it's going a different direction from when I first purchased the car. Ironically this has actually been part of my plan since before even buying the car and was part of my reasoning behind buying a crashed one (why cut up a perfectly good car, etc etc) as well as absolutely falling in love with the Rocket bunny kits when they first came out.
The budget however has definitely skyrocketed a bit. Although I did have a rough idea of how much I might have spent on the car in year 1, 2 and 3 as with alot of things my original projection was clearly a bit short in reality
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