GT86

[IMOA]

It's a car forum, it needs a GT86/86/BRZ/FRS/FT86 thread :)

My last post in the other place was that I'd finally managed to take the new suspension for a drive and it's awesome. Really awesome. It's my first time for one of my cars that I've got away from 'mainstream' suspension and into the smaller, real specialist stuff and I can say the difference in quality is really pronounced. But since I'm heading back to Japan in a couple of days I'll have to wait another three months before I come back to aus and put some decent rubber on it.

In other news they released the sales figures for 2013 for Australia, 86 had 6706 sales and BRZ 1411 giving a total of 8177 for the twins. Now keep in mind that Australia has 1/15th the population of the US you'll get a picture of how massively popular it has been here and it makes Australia the third largest market for these cars in the world (after Japan and the US). If it was a car brand it would have outsold both Volvo and Peugeot.

[Freude am Fahren]

Installed my new Tom's LED taillights:

186

They're the USDM DOT legal version (side marker light, red turn signals)

[Biggdogg]

If I didnt already have the Valenti ones I would have gotten those. They look fantastic IMO. I am dreading driving the next few days, more snow is coming and I have tried to survive the winter without snow tires. Its been very sketchy so far lol. So much to the point that I went and test drove a new EVO X the other day. Really loved it, but I cant give in to impulses before driving the 5.0.

One thing I have noticed though for you guys who have driven a variety of cars. Where does the 6 speed in the BRZ rank out there compared to other cars in terms of feel? Being my first manual car its all ive been used to, but after haven driven quite a few others, the main thing I have noticed is how sloppy and just not precise other shifters feel. That evo's shifter just felt loose, and not crisp and solid, same thing with a WRX, C6 Vette, camaro SS and 370Z. Just loose and wobbly even in gear. Dont know if I am explaining that well enough but was just wondering.

[IMOA]

Cars with more torque need beefier boxes and the tradoff is that they don't feel as good. The 86 uses the same Aisin 6 speed as what was used in the S15, MX5, S2000 (and some others, I think the IS200/Altezza as well) and of those it feels very very similar to the S15 so to me it was very normal. That actually includes how it feels when cold, I kinda laugh at all the people complaining about how notchy it is for the first 5 minutes when is exactly the same as the S15 15 years ago.

So in terms of feel I like it but that because I prefer the feel of the 86/S15 shift to the short throws/tight gates of the S2000. I suspect that if I had owned an S2000 I'd be saying the opposite though as that would be what I'm used to. I certainly prefer it to the somewhat agricultural feel of the 350/370Z and other larger cars.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, all other gearboxes I've used have that feeling of being a bit "sloppier." My 325's 5 speed was very nice, and smooth, but the box in the BRZ is just so crisp and solid feeling (when warmed up). It can be made even better with a change of oil, so I hear. I may do that soon.

As for the tails, I always felt the Tom's looked more OEM than the OEM ones. Everything else just looks aftermarket.

[Random]

Comparing shifter feel to an E36 is a pretty low bar, IMO. ;)

[Yw-slayer]

I think it's an awesome shifter. When I borrowed my friend's bugeye I was amazed at how loose the box on that was.

The auto, OTOH, I can't stand. I really think it ruins the car and demoralises me.

In other news, my Michelin Pilot SuperSports have arrived and I will probably put them on tomorrow morning. Or maybe later today if I'm feeling bored.

[Impreza]

It can be made even better with a change of oil, so I hear. I may do that soon.

Also, a short shifter and polyurethane bushings (front and rear shifter stays) are a major improvement to shifter feel. My old Impreza is loaded up with those bits, and a some Motul and it's the most wonderful, smoothest, snappiest shifter I've ever driven. My WRX has the bushings and short shifter, but I haven't done the Motul change yet and it's not nearly as smooth.

[IMOA]

YW - did you get some wheels in the end? I'm back to thinking about 17" TC105N's running 225/45 RE002's.

With the bushing I've never been a fan of stiffening the gearbox bushes without doing something about the engine mounts as it has a habit of tearing things up a bit by leaving one end free to move and the other end not.

[Kchrpm]

I was somewhat lucky in that my first extended relationship with a manual car was the Maxima, which was not known for its shifter throw, length or feel. Almost everything else I've driven has therefore felt fine (other than Mustangs that came out of the tunnel at weird angles).

[Yw-slayer]

Nah. I decided I'll beat on the stock wheels for 2 years with the PSSes. I may change the wheels in the future to 18s if I feel the need to, but I don't want to change too much at one go.

[Yw-slayer]

The PSSes (stock size on stock rims) went on this morning. The guy forgot to check the rear tyre pressure(?) and I didn't have time to do so, and I didn't really have a chance to drive it in anger. That aside, I immediately noticed sharper-feeling turn-in, much less chance of chirping the tyres, and generally better steering feedback (the trade-off being an extremely slightly harsher ride at low speeds). At the same time, for some reason it feels slightly vaguer around the centre, but only insofar as it is much more confident at more extreme angles. Greg, I see what you mean about improving steering feel. I think that if I did those mods, the car would get EVEN MORE H4RDC0R3!1111!!11!1!1!1!! Would camber bush on its own (without your specialist springs) be sufficient?

[novicius]

Pics! Pics! Pics!

(From everyone, not specifically of your tires YW. :D )

[Yw-slayer]

Yeah, I can't really think of a good way to exciting pictures of my new tyres...

[The359]

2015s are coming out, and from what I'm reading on the forums, there are a few changes coming, at least for the JDM market:

* Satin White Pearl replaced by Crystal White Pearl
* Sterling Silver Metallic replaced by Ice Silver Metallic
* Shark fin antenna standard
* New design bolts for front and rear struts. Toyota offering to change the bolts on existing cars for 1000yen ($10).
* New 10-spoke style of 17" standard rim alongside the ones we already have
* Red or carbon-trimmed interior
* Optional 18" BBS rims
* Optional Sachs shock absorbers

http://response.jp/imgs/zoom/681238.jpg

http://response.jp/imgs/zoom/681241.jpg

The shark fin, as is, wont be coming to the US, it's too small to fit the XM antenna. The Crystal White Pearl also sounds like is an extra cost option, while the current Satin White is at no extra price.

No word on what is in store for the BRZ, other than the existence of a third model code for the BRZ Limited beyond the 6MT and 6AT versions.

[Yobbo NZ]

Those wheels are a hell of a lot better than the current ones!

[Biggdogg]

Love those wheels way more than mine.

[Yw-slayer]

Actually I think the current ones look fine in person. Not that I'd turn down a free set of Prodrives or Wedsports, mind.

[The359]

Scion has let out a bit on the 2015 for the US:

http://www.scion.com/cars/coming_soon/

FR-S Release Series 1.0. Basically everything from the FR-S Monogram series (leather, HID headlights, push button start), plus a new yellow paint, TRD bodykit, lowered suspension, TRD steering wheel and shift knob, and quad exhaust.

[Leon]

If I manage to sell both my mum's houses (good luck ... small town), I will be in a financial position to get a GT86.

So very much want.

[The359]

Join the club. :hard:

[samoht]

If I manage to sell both my mum's houses (good luck ... small town), I will be in a financial position to get a GT86.
So very much want.

We've got another housing bubble inflating here in London, hope a bit of that foamy goodness reaches NZ ;-)

[Yw-slayer]

YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT

[IMOA]

OK, got back from my week of driving in the mountains and I've learnt a bit about the 86.

The rack bushes are a bit crap. They've always been a little soft (steering not quite direct enough, just a bit sluggish) but I think they're now overheating and giving up. Basically if I spend about half an hour driving a road with reasonably constant mid speed corners (basically travelling in the 60-100mph range) and loading the car up a bit the steering gets really bad towards the end. First time it happened I thought I had a slow flat so pulled over to check the pressures and they were all good. Then I stopped for a while and had some food and it was fine. Then the next day after doing something similar it came back again. My thinking is that it could only be the tyres overheating or the rack bushes getting really soft and it's not really the feeling you get when you cook the tyres nor does it feel like overheated tyres so I'm blaming the bushes. The steering is also noticeably worse at the end of the week than at the beginning so I think I've killed them.

I put pilot sport 3's onto the car on monday morning before I left, main reasons were getting a stiffer sidewall which didn't roll over and better wet weather grip. Tyres are more responsive and noticeably better grip in the dry but the wet weather grip is just unbelievable. This was nice timing as 3 1/2 of the days were on wet roads culminating on late thursday afternoon with a descent down falls creek in reasonable rain with a very wet road. This is about a 30km/20 mile genuine mountain descent and I came down quicker than the last time I drove that road with standard rubber/suspension. Not surprising that with new rubber and suspension I'm quicker until I point out that the last time it was bone dry in the middle of summer. Those tyres are just magic in the wet, will buy again.

This was also the first real proper test I've had of the new suspension, there are a number of sections that I drove which I had done a year earlier on the standard suspension and rubber. Two sections in particular really highlighted the differences, the road from cabramurra to khankoban (60km, 40 miles) and the back way into falls creek (37km, 25 mile). On the standard suspension I wasn't particularly comfortable on either of these roads even though they are both favourites of mine. Both are quite narrow, narrow enough to not justify a centre line for example, and while they are in a decent state of repair with no potholes they are a quite rough road with a lot of bumps and undulations. The falls creek road in particular is a bit of a goat track with corrugations on the road surface for most of it's length. I love this kind of road as it's constant varied cornering, most of them blind, where you really have to concentrate on what you're doing.

With the standard suspension the car was getting thrown around quite a bit so you really had to back off as it wasn't leaving you any handling capacity to deal with cars coming the other way on your side of the road or kangaroos bouncing out in front of you. As a result with the standard stuff I was on roads I loved but because I didn't have faith in the car I couldn't properly drive them. With the new suspension that was all changed, the bumps and corrugations dissapeared and I had a beautifully stable and predictable platform to work with. The new suspension is stiffer (6kg/mm front and rear) but the damping is lightyears more sophisticated so it copes with road imperfections so much better while also fixing imo the two big handling defects of the standard suspension - excessive weight transfer to the front wheels under braking and slowness of weight transfer across the front wheels during direction change. Those two sections went from a favourite roads I endured with standard suspension to roads that left me elated. They were two high points in a week full of awesome.

Complaints. Well, not many but apart from the rack bushes mentioned above I did hit a couple of issues with the car. The first is the fuel tank size, it just isn't big enough. Theres a plethora of awesome roads in this area of aus but not many service stations that carry 98 octane (93 to the americans) fuel. 95 is reasonably common but thats emergency only. The rain saved me a bit as it meant that I was often using a higher gear/lower revs but even still I was running on fumes a few times and had to do a splash of 95 on the last day. Another 10 litres (about a couple of gallons) would do wonders. I've also got a rather nasty clunk in the front suspension which is getting worse and bad enough for me to abort the last bit of the last day and head home on the freeway. It doesn't seem to be affecting handling, my first thought was it may have been a sway bar end link, but I do have issues with the rack bushes so it might be something in there or it might be an engine mount. At any rate I couldn't see anything from the side of the road so I'm heading into a mates workshop on tuesday to check it out (and hopefully also put in whiteline rack bushes if he remembered to order them).

Of the two police officers I had road safety discussions with the first cop was a complete tool and the second was pretty decent. It was a reminder why I generally avoid driving in Victoria, Australia in general is seriously speed nazi but even in that group Victoria is in its own very special class of completely over the top policing of speed limits.

I'd also say that the general public is usually bloody decent. Often I was on narrow, winding mountain roads which have very limited opportunities for overtaking. Traffic was very light (often I could drive half an hour without seeing another car) but still on many of the roads I was on you really needed the car in front to pull over to let you through. In almost all cases within a couple of minutes this would happen with the exception of two caravans I got stuck behind. This was on the alpine way between Thredbo and Tom Groggin, a road which is signposted as not suitable for caravans due to it's narrowness, elevation changes and tight corners, and I got stuck for 20 minutes behind these two wankers. There are regular bays which they could pull into to let me through but instead they continued their merry way travelling at crawl pace with a lengthening line of cars behind them. On a road they really shouldn't be on. They were probably engrossed in a discussion about how terrible kids are these days that they didn't realise they were being selfish, rude pricks.

Finally it was an awesome week and the car was just brilliant. I drove around 3500kms and of that probably 2800 of them were on basically deserted back roads just enjoying myself. The other bonus was that a lot of those roads, probably more than 1000km of them, were completely new to me and all those new roads were just amazing. The 86 is brilliant for this sort of thing and I'm slowly getting it to where I want it to be. I used to do this sort of drive very regularly but between work and being overseas most of the time it's fallen by the wayside however this trip has really motivated me to get out more often.

[samoht]

Sounds awesome, really glad you had another good driving trip. A bit jealous!

[Mr Wonder]

That sounds absolutely fantastic. I'm extremely jealous as I'm not yet in a position to fully enjoy my car.
More than once the board thread on the twins has had me contemplating one and this write up has been the best so far.

Glad you're enjoying it.

[IMOA]

GT86 thread needs GT86 photos

Omeo-Tallangatta RD. the best bit of this is about 110km long but all up it's around 170km. For that 'best' bit I did it in both directions on different days and in the 220km of driving I only had to pass 2 cars (and only had maybe 8 going the other way). So basically you can imagine 110km of this with the road to yourself.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7373/13815817524_e213cf8ff7_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/n3RFdq)

Mt Hotham Road. One of my favourite mountain climbs in Australia, properly twisty, no guard rails, make a mistake and you're in a world of pain. Well, more like a thousand feet of tumbling and then not much. Great road.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7079/13815820574_c3f9df3db9_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/n3RG81)

And finally the back way into falls creek. Bit of a goat track and I had a few issues with fog. This picture makes it look better than it actually was.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3735/13815498395_35e77cd44a_b.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/n3Q3mc)

I should have taken more photos but what can I say, I was driving :)

[samoht]

Well, I'm glad you did take a few photos - just those three give a great sense of the roads you've been talking about.

The car doesn't look excessively low in those pics, looks just 'right' on its wheels. How much lower is it? What dampers are they? Finding good aftermarket dampers is often tricky among all the boingy rubbish.

[IMOA]

Yep, it's at a sensible height. About 20mm lower than stock which should put the lowest point of the car at around 105mm (minimum for aus is 100mm). Standard they look a little odd to be honest, kind of like they're on stilts so bringing them down 20mm makes them look normal rather than lowered. This still gives it about the same real life ground clearance as a standard 2006 civic (the civic scraped the front where the 86 doesn't and the 86 scrapes the middle where the civic didn't).

Suspension is MCA Reds. Locally done by the best damper guy in australia who earned his chops in rallying. They're effectively tweaked proflex dampers, he used to be the aus distributor for proflex and made changes to them until it got to the point where there wasn't really any proflex left, at that point he decided to go out on his own. They're quality coil overs designed by no bullshit blokes who know what they're doing and are happy to have a good chat with you to discuss what you're trying to achieve and tweak the valving to suit. They're also working on FD coil overs ;)

[Rare White Ape]

Those roads through Victoria are about as good as they get.

[Yw-slayer]

Awesome, bruthah. I'm seriously thinking about changing over to the MCA Reds as well given how highly you rate them.

[Freude am Fahren]

Ugh, I hate the roads here. Seems like such a waste having this car here, when all you have are straight, traffic jammed highways.

[IMOA]

So the end result was top nut on the right front coil over, rattled up and everything is all tight and non clunky again.

I think I might have to go for a drive :)

[Yw-slayer]

Nutcase. He does 3500km in around a week, I'm lucky if I do that in a year. :lol:

[The359]

I just passed one year of ownership and I'm already up to 13000 miles.

[Freude am Fahren]

One year ~17000mi. But for about 3-4 months I was commuting 400mi a week.

[Yw-slayer]

I'm coming up to 2 years and I'm still below 7,700km. Having said that, it IS my second car and this place is pretty tiny anyway.

I think it's more about the quality than the quantity. OR AT LEAST THAT'S SHE SAID HUR HUR HUR

[IMOA]

OK, little updates

I've been driving a lot recently. The more I drive it the more I want to drive and I'll be heading back to Japan soon so I'm going out once or twice a week at night and go for a 4-500 mile drive on the weekends. Steering rack bushes still annoying me, I want to replace them with the TIC solid mounts but they seem to have discontinued the alloy ones and are just doing the plastic ones. I'm also thinking of trying the Perrin collars as they should do the same job and are much easier in terms of install.

After changing my mind a million times I think I've decided on my wheels, they'll be TWS T66-F in gunmetal, I think 18*8.5 +42. Not cheap but 15.2lbs for 18*8.5 rims is as good as it gets and about 5lbs per wheel lighter than stock.

So, story time. Was coming back from Sundays drive at about 8:30pm and on the last 15 mile stretch of fun roads before getting back into sydney. Rabbit hops out in front of me which isn't unusual but this one decides to try to jump the car so it hits top of the headlight and deposits a decent portion of its internals over the windscreen. Cock. I'm thinking I'll head to the next servo (gas station) to clean it off but then figure it's a bit much for the windscreen squeegy things there (wtf do you call them?) and decide to go to a DIY carwash place with high pressure hoses thats on the way home. Anyway, as soon as I go around a corner it's obvious I still have some bits of rabbit attached so I've got the choice of stopping on the side of the road in the dark to try to get it out or just keep driving. Tough choice.

So anyway, after a while the scraping sounds kind of end so I finish the drive, hop on the freeway for about 10 minutes then get off in the suburbs and drive for a bit until I get to the carwash place. I hop out to check what bits of the rabbit are still attached and, well, here's a pic.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/86906319/rabbit.JPG

[KillerB]

Oops.

[Godson]

:lol:

[Yw-slayer]

Lol

[Leon]

No easter eggs next year I guess.

[Dicknose]

Fast food for dinner?

[JoeW]

IMOA...If I remember correctly, you are from Aus? Have you ever heard from Mr Tim in the years since the old boards went down? He came to one of our Florida GT Parties waaay back in the day during a visit to the states. Good guy...wondering where he may have gone.

[IMOA]

I still keep up with Tim (owe him an email and a call actually), I usually go down to his place for christmas and he usually comes up a couple of times a year and every now and then I drag him over to Japan for the F1 and lots of drinking. He's still the same old Tim :)

[JoeW]

Well shit, if it ever comes up and you remember...tell him I said hey.

[samoht]

Is that a genuine Rocket Bunny kit ?
;)

[IMOA]

Now you're giving me ideas :)

[The359]

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2014/05/subaru-brz-series-blue-special-edition-gets-aero-upgrades.html

BRZ Series.Blue for the US. Available in WR Blue or White Pearl. Full STI bodykit, underbody panels, 17" black rims, blue stitching and accents on the interior, "carbon fiber" look dash trim, and brake calipers painted red. 500 in white, 500 in blue.

Also confirmation that the US BRZ is getting the shark fin antenna and bigger exhaust tips.

[Freude am Fahren]

I was thinking just blue stitching. As it is, yuck. Blue interiors almost never look good.

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--PxxSQgIK--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/qx4qgxtzlqkbgrr1ep79.jpg

http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--A8sZf8YA--/c_fit,fl_progressive,q_80,w_636/gyjegovv3q2e2h2dw4e6.jpg

As usual, blue looks more purple on the materials.

[The359]

The blue on the steering wheel is a definite detractor. Also, the carbon trim seems off since the accents on the doors and center console are still silver. The BRZ tS replaced those with black to match. On the plus side, the underbody panels wont have to be imported anymore, so if theyre cheap from the dealer Ill pick up a set.

[GreatScawt]

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1092880_subaru-may-lose-brz-as-toyota-turns-to-bmw-for-future-sports-cars-report?fbfanpage

[Leon]

Toyota and Subaru worked together to develop their respective GT 86 (Scion FR-S) and BRZ sports cars, but that may not be the case for any replacement models. Toyota turned to BMW for development of its new flagship sports car

Oh god no ....

No offence, but I'm unhappy enough that the 86 is a Subaru, sorry Subi fans, I am not a fan of Subaru anyway due to generally below average build quality and low power NA engines .... but if "Broken Motor Works" builds the next alleged Toyota, I'm likely to take no part in it. I loved the E30 M3, but a generation of BMW's that are absolutely plagued with build quality issues has ruined their legacy (not intentionally a Subaru joke).

[dons Nomex suit and gets into a bunker]

Gone are the days of great reliable Toyota's in my opinion. The new Hilux's and Hiace's are now known to be unreliable shitboxes, with huge service costs and reliability issues, as compared to the older generation ones which were known to do 500,000km of hard use before a rebuild. Sorry Toyota, you've peaked and are heading downhill in a hurry. Hyundai seems to be taking over that title ....

[sad Toyota fanboy face goes here]

[Godson]

Yeah, I agree.

[Yobbo NZ]

Oh god no ....

No offence, but I'm unhappy enough that the 86 is a Subaru, sorry Subi fans, I am not a fan of Subaru anyway due to generally below average build quality and low power NA engines .... but if "Broken Motor Works" builds the next alleged Toyota, I'm likely to take no part in it. I loved the E30 M3, but a generation of BMW's that are absolutely plagued with build quality issues has ruined their legacy (not intentionally a Subaru joke).

[dons Nomex suit and gets into a bunker]

Gone are the days of great reliable Toyota's in my opinion. The new Hilux's and Hiace's are now known to be unreliable shitboxes, with huge service costs and reliability issues, as compared to the older generation ones which were known to do 500,000km of hard use before a rebuild. Sorry Toyota, you've peaked and are heading downhill in a hurry. Hyundai seems to be taking over that title ....

[sad Toyota fanboy face goes here]

Hehe,you'd love to know some of the recalls,repairs and general shittyness of the current Toyotas,well actually,the cars are okish,it's their Diesel 4wd and Hiaces that are rubbish. Injectors failing,sometimes leading to holes in pistons due to irregular spray pattern,Hilux rear diff bearings made from cheese,Landcrusier KDSS system leaking - Very large job to repair,Prado/Hilux transfer case bearings made from the same cheese as the diff bearings.I could go on....
Thankfully I gave up working for a Toyota dealer and fixing their crap all day.

[Yw-slayer]

SUBS 4 LY43

[Leon]

Hehe,you'd love to know some of the recalls,repairs and general shittyness of the current Toyotas,well actually,the cars are okish,it's their Diesel 4wd and Hiaces that are rubbish. Injectors failing,sometimes leading to holes in pistons due to irregular spray pattern,Hilux rear diff bearings made from cheese,Landcrusier KDSS system leaking - Very large job to repair,Prado/Hilux transfer case bearings made from the same cheese as the diff bearings.I could go on....
Thankfully I gave up working for a Toyota dealer and fixing their crap all day.

Actually, my past job was actually administrating all the vehicle recall notices for all the cars in NZ ;)

Also, I specifically state, Toyota is going downhill and say "gone are the days of great reliable Toyota's ..." and name the Hiaces and Hilux's ....

So I believe in fact, we are on the same page here.

[Yw-slayer]

Room?

[Yobbo NZ]

Yours?

[Yw-slayer]

Share 3 ways.

[Yobbo NZ]

Sweet as bro.

[MR2 Fan]

I was thinking just blue stitching. As it is, yuck. Blue interiors almost never look good.

Ugh, some MKII MR2's came with blue interiors...horrible. Canadian ones got crimson interiors...more horrible

[Dicknose]

Saw a BRZ with number plate NOT86

[Leon]

one of my neighbours has a fairly bare bones 86. He absolutely loves it. Stock other than HKS catback.

[Yw-slayer]

:lol: at the plate.

[The359]

Apparently the BRZ Blue Editions are hitting US dealerships. One thing I didn't see mentioned before is that there is a completely new key fob, much classier than the previous one.

Also, interesting enough, they don't come with the bodykit installed. They have to install that at the dealership.

https://scontent-a-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/t1.0-9/10402755_10106699202226924_96096145889355946_n.jpg

[Yw-slayer]

Oh yes, that keyfob is definitely better-looking than the stock POS Toyota one with a Subaru badge printed on it.

[Yw-slayer]

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Fuji-Heavy-to-build-modified-vehicles-on-mass-production-line

I'm not sure what this means for anything, but I thought I might as well post it here, since the picture in the article is of a BRZ.

[Leon]

Saw GT86 rally car today (as in gravel), at a rally I navigated in (AE82 Corolla Gt).

86 looked very odd in gravel spec. Very very odd.

[Yw-slayer]

I know what you mean. It's far too sleek. Gravel demands something that looks more... blunt.

[Random]

Like a Stratos! Er...

Ooh! Or a Supra. Hmm...

911? Shit...

;)

[Yw-slayer]

Of those, I think only the Stratos looks good off-road.

[IMOA]

Looks fine to me


http://youtu.be/yxB2PCx_lgs

[KillerB]

Yeah I liked the SCCA ProRally RX-7s that Rod Millen ran just fine.

[Leon]

I will attempt to find a photo of the one that was in the rally yesterday, and you can make your own decision if it looked funny or not ....

http://www.nzrallychampionship.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/OE4E5848_BTaylor.jpg

[IMOA]

Hmm, that does look funny

[samoht]

Fensport GT86, using the AVO turbo kit with 260, 320 or 380hp.

It's just stance and a lip spoiler, but I love the way it looks in this pic :-
http://www.evo.co.uk/images/front_picture_library_UK/dir_1192/car_photo_596296_25.jpg

http://www.evo.co.uk/carreviews/evocarreviews/292804/toyota_gt86_turbocharged_by_fensport_review_price_ and_specs.html

[Godson]

That'd do well with 380hp for a daily...

[The359]

Bit of a different rear diffuser on there as well.

[Freude am Fahren]

If turbos/tuners came with their own warranties (I mean if you blow up the engine, they'll take care of it), I'd have one already. Would love to have an extra 100-150hp in this car.

The way I figure, even if a setup costs $5000, you need to put another $5000 to the side for an engine rebuild if (when) it eats itself to bits (at least, right?).

[Leon]

You should see the monster being built by one of my car club guys ... he bought a seriously smashed in the rear 86, stripped everything out of it, put a new back on it, sold the engine (and possibly gearbox).

He's putting a 3.5 V6 into it, and building the full "yay" spec tarmac rally car out of it.

Should be a bit of comedy, considering how completely insane he already is whilst competing in a 4age powered AE82 Corolla (GT16 I think you'd call it).

Nothing online about it sorry, he doesn't really do internet.

[Godson]

5k for the Turbo kit, figure another 1500 for custom tune, 800 or so for a good clutch and flywheel resurface. You are talking 8k plus for the job. That isn't taking into account if the trans and different can handle it.

If the Turbo is well thought, and a good tune, the engine should be no more stressed when driven normally as it would be stock. I'd be more interested in clamping forces around the cylinders running that power than I would be worried about the bottom end.

IMOA might be a little more in tune with his history of vehicles.

[Yw-slayer]

That huge V6 is surely going to ruin the balance? I know there's the Rocket Bunny V.86, but still.

[IMOA]

5k for the Turbo kit, figure another 1500 for custom tune, 800 or so for a good clutch and flywheel resurface. You are talking 8k plus for the job. That isn't taking into account if the trans and different can handle it.

If the Turbo is well thought, and a good tune, the engine should be no more stressed when driven normally as it would be stock. I'd be more interested in clamping forces around the cylinders running that power than I would be worried about the bottom end.

IMOA might be a little more in tune with his history of vehicles.

Yeah, nothing unreasonable in you thinking there. Heat would be another concern so I'd want to be running an oil cooler and bigger radiator and you should take a serious look at the fuel system. After that you've got a boosted 12.5:1 compression open deck engine which wasn't designed for boost and spent the same sort of money which would get you into a couple of years old Cayman S (which probably still has some sort of warranty, unlike the boosted 86).

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I admit, my numbers were low. After all the extras (you're gonna probably want some bigger rubber too, which means wheels, and how about brakes to stop it while we're at it), you're looking at 10 grand easy for a 300whp+ 86.

You could go with one of the more modest supercharger kits for about 5k though (I think they are around $3500 for a kit, with a tune, and won't need major driveline upgrades). But yeah, whenever I think about spending lots of cash on the car, my mind wonders to saving it for a bike or used Cayman/Boxster/M3 or the like.

If it was a second car and the cash was more disposable, but this is my daily (and only) driver.

[Godson]

I'd recommend away from BMW.

[thesameguy]

Keep big engine mods away from your only car. Words to live by.

[IMOA]

Keep big engine mods away from your only car. Words to live by.

One of the biggest lessons I learned with my S14 is if a car is a daily driver then treat it is a daily driver. If you want a blindingly quick trackcar then actually make it a dedicated trackcar or at the most keep it nominally registered but have 0 concern for comfort. Trying to keep a seriously modified car streetable and usable for daily driving activities is a horribly expensive exercise and generally results in something which doesn't work for either.

That said, my current plan for my next car is a Cayman with a GT3 engine so I kinda suck at learning from past mistakes

[Godson]

One of the biggest lessons I learned with my S14 is if a car is a daily driver then treat it is a daily driver. If you want a blindingly quick trackcar then actually make it a dedicated trackcar or at the most keep it nominally registered but have 0 concern for comfort. Trying to keep a seriously modified car streetable and usable for daily driving activities is a horribly expensive exercise and generally results in something which doesn't work for either.

That said, my current plan for my next car is a Cayman with a GT3 engine so I kinda suck at learning from past mistakes



:lol:


This is the exact reason why I have switched to the world of bikes.

[Yw-slayer]

Cayman with GT3 engine = FTW

[KillerB]

One of the biggest lessons I learned with my S14 is if a car is a daily driver then treat it is a daily driver. If you want a blindingly quick trackcar then actually make it a dedicated trackcar or at the most keep it nominally registered but have 0 concern for comfort. Trying to keep a seriously modified car streetable and usable for daily driving activities is a horribly expensive exercise and generally results in something which doesn't work for either.

That said, my current plan for my next car is a Cayman with a GT3 engine so I kinda suck at learning from past mistakes

As long as it's a stock GT3 engine I doubt there'd be an issue, aside from the cost of building it. The impression I get is that a lot of Porsche's newer stuff is interchangeable and people we doing GT3 swaps into Caymans almost as soon as the Cayman came out.

Seriously, there's a guy on the Cayman forums that I think had his done *by the Porsche dealer* with all new parts. Cost him a bloody fortune, I'm sure, but it all works with no hacking necessary.

[IMOA]

33k drive in drive out from a workshop in Florida with a new 991 (non GT3) engine and that includes new brakes (which I want) and 6k worth of new wheels and tyres (which I don't). I figure if I talk to them and get whatever needs to be shipped over shipped over and sort out the labour here I'd should be able to get it done for about 40k. To be honest I suspect I'll end up with a standard 911 S engine rather than a GT3 but we'll see how it goes. Chuck in some decent suspension (Ohlins, Penske etc) and it would be pretty close to my perfect car.

And yes, as long as I didn't try to do anything silly it should be just as reliable as standard porsche stuff as fundamentally it is standard porsche stuff. Alternative is turboing a cayman s but I think not only will non turbo be a better driver but it will also be a hell of a lot more reliable.

[Yw-slayer]

If you're going to part out your 86 before you sell it, I want first dibs on your MCA Reds.

[KillerB]

Yeah, only way you should do a turbo Cayman is with a 911 Turbo engine. But I think plumbing that runs into packaging issues as the stock setup just wasn't meant to go in a mid-engined car.

Standard Carrera S should be plenty stout. Only real extra benefit to the GT3 engine is the crazy revs and (until the 991) still based on the old air cooled engine architecture (converted to water cooling of course) which was much stronger and didn't have the IMS issue.

[Yw-slayer]

Subaru HK called me up to say that there's a sale on the Tower Bar.

I suspect it's this STI model: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showpost.php?p=459104&postcount=44

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58217

Is there any point installing this, or should I put the money towards something else (like awesome suspension) instead?

[IMOA]

Camber bolts first

[IMOA]

Or better still adjustable strut tops but you have no camber and grippy tyres and $50 and 10 minutes work will get you an extra degree up front

[Yw-slayer]

So, your old camber bolts would do the trick and sharpen up the steering?

[IMOA]

It will stop the front end falling over itself when cornering. Well, it will fall over itself less anyway.

For sharpening steering something like the whiteline castor bushes will help (you will need a workshop to install) and I'm going to try the perrin steering rack lock collars.

[samoht]

So, I had an email out of the blue from a Dutch friend of mine asking for tips for trackdays. Why? he's just bought a GT86.

Any of you 86 owners been on track yet? Anything to watch out for specifically? I'm assuming as it's a fairly new car it'll be well up to track use, apart from brakes.

[IMOA]

What tyres?

He should change brake pads and fluid but thats kinda obvious. Watch the temps, they are a bit marginal on oil temp and if you're going to be driving on the track regularly you should install an oil cooler. He'll need more camber in the front and if he changes tyres (good chance I assume for the track) then he'l really need more camber.

[The359]

Alright IMOA, since I've added stickier Continentals to my BRZ and you've been recommending camber bolts (and so has Car & Driver in this article (http://blog.caranddriver.com/tuning-in-how-to-build-an-awesome-scion-fr-s-for-less-than-30k-all-in/)) to increase the front camber, I have a question for you. Since it's my year round daily driver, I have a set of winter tires I use for 4-5 months out of the year. If I camber the front, is it going to have an adverse affect on my winter tires? I could get the car re-aligned twice a year, but I imagine that would be a pricey pain in the ass, so should I compromise and not camber the front out as far to get the best of both worlds?

[Leon]

I'd be surprised if camber bolts would give you enough camber to do any meaningful harm to tyres.

[The359]

It's not the tires I'm worried about, more their ability to handle snow.

[IMOA]

With the camber bolts I got about 1.2-1.4 degrees up front, I can't see that being an issue for winter tyres/snow driving as its a pretty standard kind of alignment. Certainly at that point in the dry on the standard 'prius' tyres I was still getting more wear on the outside of the tread and down the sidewall, this wasn't fixed until I put the coil overs in and started running around 2.4 at the front. Ultimately if this did become an issue in the snow it's incredibly easy to brig the camber bolts back to 0 so you could just do that when you're putting on the winter tyres, it would take no more than a couple of minutes each side.

[Godson]

I dd my m3 on 2 degrees of camber on snows and had good even tire wear. i also drive like a hooligan most of the time i can.

Itll be fine

[Leon]

775

Test drove this bone stock 2013 today. Did rather like.

[novicius]

:up: :up:

[Leon]

821

This may or may not be in my driveway.

Yikes.

[Leon]

Oh, and nobody knows I've bought this car ... so no letting the cat out of the bag on Facebook :)

[Mr Wonder]

Sweet! :up:

[Yw-slayer]

Wrong colour and badge, but it's OK, BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER

[The359]

Brotha! Dig the wheel option you guys get, although are they just 16s?

[Leon]

Yep, they're a 16.

The next model up gets 17, but they're a design I am not keen on personally.

Hopefully tomorrow I will actually have time to drive it

[Yw-slayer]

It actually probably drives even better (tail-happy) on 16s than on 17s. I wouldn't mind have 3 sets of wheels to swap back and forth with, 16s on stock tyres, my 17s on Supersports, and 18s with semi-slicks for GRIPZ AND STANCE y0. But it's about as unlikely to happen as me buying a second 86 for stancing.

[Leon]

I have seen the wheels I like.

But they're a forged TRD wheel at NZ$4500. So yeah nah. I saw them on a car that was a good price, but I couldn't move on it until employment happened. So it sold, oh well.

[The359]

These?

http://www.scion.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/DSC_0194.jpg

[Kchrpm]

Nicely done, young man :up:

[novicius]

Fantastic!! :up:

[samoht]

Awesome! Have lots of fun with it.

[Leon]

359, nope, these

http://images.trademe.co.nz/photoserver/full/330496306.jpg

[The359]

Ah, ok. Still nice. I like those better than the STI wheels.

http://www.egmcartech.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/subarubrzsticonceptkit-07.jpg

[Freude am Fahren]

We should all have a meet...


Uh, in the middle of the Pacific?

[Leon]

I would suggest not Rarotonga, because I just spent a week there, and the roads are 30mph speed limited (also they are basically one continuous pothole)

[Yw-slayer]

Oahu, and re-enact TDU.

[IMOA]

How could it not be Japan!

[Yw-slayer]

Not the middle of the Pacific. Else yeah.

[Leon]

What is a good tyre size to run on an 86, to do a bit of light competition use? So, we're talking hillclimb sort of stuff. Maybe some gentle racetrack work.

Bearing in mind, stock suspension.

[Yw-slayer]

Stock with Pilot Supersports?

[samoht]

Generally more rubber = more cornering speed I think.

The FD, which is similar size, weight and layout, seems to go well with 235 front, 255 rear. I wouldn't necessarily suggest stagger but I'd imagine 255s or wider would be in the ballpark, depending on what you can fit under the arches. (There may be other tradeoffs, but for competition on a smooth dry racetrack I understand wider = better).

[Random]

235 or 245 all around, depending on wheel width.

[The359]

From what I've heard if you go beyond 245 all around then the front end starts to develop understeer.

[CudaMan]

Depends on wheel width, alignment, shocks, sway bars, etc. For stock wheels maybe 225 or 235s? The hot setup in Street Touring autox here is 255/40/17 (sometimes 245s) on 17x9s. With extra low and more front cambers. And quality coilovers.

http://www.moto-east.com/images/brzexhaust/044.jpg

[The359]

Depends on wheel width, alignment, shocks, sway bars, etc. For stock wheels maybe 225 or 235s? The hot setup in Street Touring autox here is 255/40/17 (sometimes 245s) on 17x9s. With extra low and more front cambers. And quality coilovers.

http://www.moto-east.com/images/brzexhaust/044.jpg

That's the car that used to be owned by a guy in my city. Had a chance to walk underneath it when he had it on the lift in his garage one day. He sold it and switched back to a NC Miata Club Edition.

[Leon]

I might or might not have just done the pedal dance to turn off the traction control, and gone out for an hour's evening driving on wiggly roads that were damp.

[Yw-slayer]

The next time SOMEONE does it, just let them know that they can just hold down the button. At least, that's what other people who drive my car have done.

I don't know anything about AutoX (other than cones in carpark, lolz?) but my totally ignorant belief is that the 86 is more of a touge car than an AutoX-car. AND IF YOU DISAGREE WITH ME THEN YOU'RE WRONG AND YOU HATE FREEDOM

[The359]

The button doesn't fully turn off the TC. It will kick back in if you get the car completely out of line. The pedal dance is required to completely disengage the system.

[Yw-slayer]

Maybe it's different over there, as I have seen turning everything off resulting in a 270 degree spin that was not caught by anything.

[CudaMan]

I've drifted one without doing the pre-grid pedal dance. :shrug: I felt no interference from the car.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, it's definitely not off all the way with just the button, but I'm not sure what exactly it tries to do. I've had it come interfere at low speeds (very slippery empty parking lot, U-turns). It may be only a certain angle, or at certain speeds? But you can still get it plenty sideways.

[Leon]

It still kicks in traction control when you have "turned the controls off via the button", because I did a windy road without pedal dance and I could feel the computer applying brake to a rear wheel over undulations.

Pedal dance = all the way off.

[Leon]

wax on wax off. Swirls in clear coat reduced, which is a good thing.

872

[novicius]

Looks good, Leon -- but are those front rims curb'd already? Rolling over the rubber that much? ;) #chicksdigscars

[Yw-slayer]

3x7r3m311!111111 driving.

[Leon]

Looks good, Leon -- but are those front rims curb'd already? Rolling over the rubber that much? ;) #chicksdigscars

Yup, and sadly, it was me .... d'oh. Boy did I swear.

[Freude am Fahren]

Does anyone know how to read this car's dipstick? Changed my oil again today, and once again, I'm paranoid about the amount.

On one side of the stick the oil goes way over the dots, but all on the edges, on the other it's barely up to the first one, kinda all over the place. There's none of the usual meniscus like "U" on one or both sides like I'm used to with other cars (and heavier oil). I put about 5qt in it, which is lower than the capacity by about .8qt. I figure it's easier to add more than subtract.

[The359]

I too noticed that the oil is very hard to seem but I haven't noticed a problem with one side being lower than the other side of the stick.

[Leon]

Sunday Funday.

[novicius]

:up: :up:

[CudaMan]

Sweet. :cool: Needs more tyre pressure and camber from the looks of it!

[samoht]

As I mentioned, a Dutch friend of mine bought a GT86 recently, and having established a common interest in cars, we decided it would be fun to head to a trackday together.

I have to say the GT86 impressed me, both from the passenger seat and from outside; when pushed hard it is not slow, it makes a decent noise, and it seems to have a knack for sliding in a controllable manner. It also seems to roll less than my FD, which may be partly a matter of his Prius tyres vs my Advan Neovas, but also I think it's stiffer in roll. I think I 'get' the GT86 now, if you really thrash it and try to carry speed, then it comes alive. My brief test drive (in 2012) on surburban roads didn't give me the chance to find this out.

Anyway, here are a few pics, including from the official event photographer:

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-D9Yu62QfLyY/VDsJMb1ld-I/AAAAAAAAMIw/jAzcmq7oOZo/w1098-h733-no/image001.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-wsvUtJsfVyk/VDsJNiveflI/AAAAAAAAMI4/1scTJTqdi7Q/w1098-h733-no/image003.jpg
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_6LgqFy7Qj8/VFTPGgx7SuI/AAAAAAAAMJU/giJTdKD1SIY/w1098-h733-no/PR_141011_MSVT_BA_0749.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-3sQtnz7VRqQ/VFTPK3OkYdI/AAAAAAAAMJ8/Xi5SgWssqjc/w1098-h733-no/PR_141011_MSVT_BA_1285.jpg
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-FNfgzu6guQM/VFTPIqtN6zI/AAAAAAAAMJk/F3wlzZ2fDbM/w1098-h733-no/PR_141011_MSVT_BA_0815.jpg

[drew]

:up:

[Random]

I have to say the GT86 impressed me, both from the passenger seat and from outside; when pushed hard it is not slow, it makes a decent noise, and it seems to have a knack for sliding in a controllable manner. It also seems to roll less than my FD, which may be partly a matter of his Prius tyres vs my Advan Neovas, but also I think it's stiffer in roll. I think I 'get' the GT86 now, if you really thrash it and try to carry speed, then it comes alive. My brief test drive (in 2012) on surburban roads didn't give me the chance to find this out.


Mazda's general set-up (Miata and RX-7) in the 90s seemed to have a lot of grip, good balance, but also a ton of body roll, particularly with sticky tires. :)

Extreme example: https://www.flickr.com/photos/chanbrandon/6096354636/sizes/l/in/set-72157627552789886/

[IMOA]

I think I 'get' the GT86 now, if you really thrash it and try to carry speed, then it comes alive. My brief test drive (in 2012) on surburban roads didn't give me the chance to find this out.

I'd say something like 'about time' but that would just be rude ;) But yes, thats the idea, the second part of that is you actually can take it up around the limits on public roads (and I'm not talking clarkson style getting sideways at a roundabout) without being a complete lunatic. Apart from some long straights/uphill sections I'm just as quick in my 86 (with suspension work and better tyres) than I was with my S14 because you would've been a complete idiot to take that near it's limits anywhere but the track. And I've spent far less on the 86 and the suspension mods than I did just on the mods on the S14.

Got home from china this morning, need to go for a drive as I haven't been for one since before I went to Japan.

[Yw-slayer]

Yes, I'm glad you have finally SEEN THE LIGHT!! The easiest way to cause someone to dislike the car is to drive an auto version on a long road trip with mainly straight roads. Or around the suburbs.

[The359]

Hey, I still love my auto BRZ on long roads and in the Suburbs... :(

[The359]

I hate whoever thought this was a good idea on the FR-S Release Series. The exposed yellow between the fog light surround and the black of the splitter just makes this look cheap.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xpa1/t31.0-8/1602131_10204182280932244_7731020082901680460_o.jp g

This is how the original concept looked:

http://www.scion.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/scion-frs-release-series-2.jpg

[Godson]

That looks nice.

[21Kid]

Conflict of interest for YW!!! (http://www.autoblog.com/photos/scion-x-slayer-mobile-amp-tc-sema-2014/)

910

[Fogelhund]

There has been a Scion Tuning Challenge at SEMA this year. The three entries can be seen at http://www.scion.com/scionracing

I was partial to this one though, nice nod to the past, designed by Andy Blackmore.

http://www.scion.com/scionracing/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/speedhunters-frs-scion-tuner-challenge.jpg

[The359]

Yeah, Raceseng did some custom parts on that one too, and the Cosworth supercharger kit is one of their prototypes. Looks of interesting goodies on that one.

Dat engine bay tho...

http://www.scion.com/scionracing/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/scion-tuner-challenge-super-street-frs-5.jpg

[CudaMan]

I was partial to this one though, nice nod to the past, designed by Andy Blackmore.

http://www.scion.com/scionracing/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/speedhunters-frs-scion-tuner-challenge.jpg

Exquisite.

[Kchrpm]

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/11/25/scion-frs-roadster-turbo-ruled-out/


Speaking with WardsAuto at the LA Auto Show last week, Scion chief Doug Murtha said that the prospect of an FR-S roadster has been taken off the table entirely. Apparently Scion lobbied parent company Toyota to produce just such a model, but after failing to find other markets interested enough in the model to put it into production, corporate HQ said no.

"I think we were pretty aggressive on our (submitted plan), but we looked at what we would have conceivably lost on the product and said, 'We're not going to even push it further,'" Murtha said, going on to note, "Nobody was more disappointed than we were."

Murtha further shot down the idea of a turbo version of the FR-S, dismissing it as a prospect the blogosphere (that's us) wanted to happen but "that's not something that's coming."

[Rikadyn]

86 is a surprisingly common car here in Kyoto...

[Freude am Fahren]

Yes, I'm cross posting this with the fails thread :assclown:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kXwnwOTyKXE

[thesameguy]

Who are those losers? Why is the fat guy in the Ford and the hipster in the Scion?

[Yw-slayer]

Because, duh?

[CudaMan]

I've been to that Olive Garden... More than once. Kinda weird to see a video like that shot in your home town!

[Leon]

purchased a set of the factory 17" wheels for very little, which can in time replace the 16"s fitted currently

[Freude am Fahren]

For anyone that was following that thread at FT-86club about an always on Boomerang/DRL mod, Diode Dynamics has released the plug-and-play module:

http://www.diodedynamics.com/store/catalog/product/view/id/22278/s/drl-boomerang-always-on-module-for-subaru-brz/category/814/

Makes the Boomerang act like a DRL, and/or the DRL's stay on (dimmable 10-100%) with headlights. You can configure it for one or the other, both, or neither (stock), as well as the DRL brightness.

BRZ only of course. And it ended up being a bit pricier at $60, but very hassle free. All you need to worry about it tucking some cables away.

[The359]

Tempting, although this does nothing for the parking lights in the taillights, which I'd also prefer to keep on.

[The359]

Soooo, I'm just going to leave this right here...

https://igcdn-photos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfa1/t51.2885-15/11055989_961556977211201_225265936_n.jpg

[Freude am Fahren]

Much more than a basic bodykit. The hood has different lines, headlights appear different too, and of course that means fenders too. Still probably just a styling exercise/concept.

https://scontent-mia.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xaf1/v/t1.0-9/11083867_1558175984444011_3895057442809631941_n.jp g?oh=578513697beb143c03331edb3cab4584&oe=55B39051

[The359]

BRZ STI Performance Concept.

http://roa.h-cdn.co/assets/15/13/980x490/landscape-1427490436-5-sti-performance-concept.jpg

http://roa.h-cdn.co/assets/15/13/980x653/7-sti-performance-concept.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/iYnzSKk.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/ifHJUEb.jpg

[Yw-slayer]

As in, that is what it is?

[Yw-slayer]

OK, here are the details. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85813&page=8

[Freude am Fahren]

Just a concept again. Has a super GT engine in it, which is cool, but even less relevant that just leaving the stock engine in it. STOP TEASING US SUBARU!

Also, automatic. :smh: Though it could be a sequential/sual clutch type thing from the race car, but whatever.

[The359]

It has to be some sort of modified transmission, it has STI's SI-Mode on it.

[Random]

FYI:


The SEB in conjunction with the SAC and the National Staff have been investigating the details of port installed options for the Scion FRS MY 2013-2015. Specifically, the TRD lowering springs P/N PTR07-18130 and TRD Sway Bar Kit P/N PTR11-18130. It has been determined both kits were available as port installed options for 2013-2015 Scion FR-S models, and thus they are compliant for use on a Scion FR-S in C Street.


http://www.solomatters.com/rules_clarification_2013-15_scion_fr-s

Well, that might sell a few more FR-Seseses. I think they are still slower than the RX-8 in that class, though.

[Godson]

That's bull shit.

[Random]

What's amusing is that it does not apply to the BRZ--and the Subie folks are the ones that fought really hard to get port-installed options to be declared "stock legal" back in the WRX days. Heehee.

[Godson]

Karma

[Freude am Fahren]

Finally got my rearview mirror fixed, and then went home and finished wiring up my dashcam using the homelink connection and a 12v-5vUSB adaptor. All nice and clean now.

Except I've already felt the mirror mount move, but this time it felt like the part glued to the window. :o

Also the dealer said they'd give me a free wash, but didn't, maybe for the best though. They also didn't bother to plug the mirror back in after reinstalling it.

[Leon]

Oh yeah, I got the factory 17" Toyota wheels for mine.

I don't think I've actually got a photo of that, but it looks just like every other stock car on the 17 wheel now.

Whilst I initially much preferred the 16" wheels the car came with, I rapidly grew sick of them :)

[Yw-slayer]

How has the handling changed?

[Leon]

Much more bumpy ride, overall better grip levels though as compared to the OE 16" tyres (which were not particularly sticky).

Balance still feels much the same, but I haven't been doing any traction control off playing anyway.

[Freude am Fahren]

So it's time for new tires. And rather than wait though another set, or waste part of a set, I want to get new wheels now. My top two are RPF1's and 57extremes. Both are out of my price range right now though (as are the coilovers I'd need for the size I want). However, those XXR 527's that I loved when I first got the car are still way up the list for me. , The whole set is only $600 shipped, and the fit without any suspension mods. I read through every page I could find on the 86 forums about them, and I don't hear any problems other than the cosmetic finish given their cheap price. The Matte Bronze finish apparently is prone the flaking off pretty quickly. That was my first choice if it weren't for that. They had a gloss bronze that probably is more durable, but they seem to be sold out, and I haven't seen a picture of them on a DGM/Asphalt car. So between Matte Black and Bronze, I'm thinking black....

Black: My car would look exactly like this, without the drop, and the with stock BRZ spoiler.
http://www.freudeamfoto.com/gtx/xxr527black.jpg

Bronze: Not great lighting and it's an FR-S, but you get the point.
http://www.freudeamfoto.com/gtx/xxr527bronze.jpg

The blacks are on 245/40/18s, while I think the bronze are 245/35/18. The /40's are a bit taller than stock, but I do like the look. I think the speedo difference still stays under GPS/Radar. I'll be either going with 1" lower springs, or waiting and saving for coilovers.

[Yw-slayer]

I can't see the pics but I remember that they do look good.

I guess if the finish is crap you could try and coat them.

[Freude am Fahren]

I made a mistake uploading them, they should be there now.

Also, I assume I need to get the installer to swap over my TPMS valve stems into the new wheels, and he can probably put the standard ones that come with the wheels in the stock rims?

[Yw-slayer]

Yup, I see them now. I think bronze would look slightly better, not so keen on all-black cars myself. But that's just me.

[Freude am Fahren]

I'm going to go with the black, simply because of the quality issues with the bronze. If I am disappointed with the black, I can just plastidip them to get an good idea of how they'd look in bronze in person, and if I really like it, get them powder coated, which I'd end up having to do with the bronze anyway it seems.

[The359]

Is there no one selling a used set of the RPF1s or 57Extremes?

[Mr Wonder]

The Bronze looks better to my eyes. Though I'm not a fan of black wheels on a dark/black car because it makes the tyres look grey and washed out.

[novicius]

Get the bronze sealed before you put them on the car. #shrug

[Yw-slayer]

Man, I love this car SO MUCH.

[Freude am Fahren]

I've gotten into the bad habit of reading the Engine and FI sections of 86 forums again. I kinda stopped last year when I made up my mind to buy a bike instead of spend the money on the car. Looking at them now is worse though, since I know I can't afford to buy all that extra hp :lol: :(

[IMOA]

Do suspension first imo, you get used to additional power quite quickly but you always enjoy great handling. I still get out of mine thinking 'what a sensational car to drive' every single time I drive somewhere. Thats near 3 years on and it doesn't matter if it's a country road or driving to work in heavy traffic, I just absolutely love how wonderful it is as a drivers car.

[Godson]

I will agree with that statement. Even 700hp monsters are fairly easy to adapt to. Great handling and communicative chassis never gets old.

[Freude am Fahren]

That statement, while still true, isn't quite as true for me given my location. Other than taking it to the track, there are no good handling roads down here. But that being said, I still agree. For me it goes tires>suspension>power>brakes. Brakes move before power if I do start taking it to the track.

[GreatScawt]

Bronze. :up:
Kinda wish I got my 530's in bronze.

[Freude am Fahren]

How has the finish held up on your 530's? I did end up going with black. It was based about 50% on those two pictures I posted, and 50% on worries about the finish. I do wonder if you had flipped just the wheels on those two pics, if I would have chose differently. The suspension set up, tires, and trim on that BRZ are perfect for me. I have a feeling I'll be plastidipping them pretty quickly for shit & giggles.

I wish I could have found them in the 5x110 only pattern that they did a while back. The combined pattern looks kinda cheap, but it is less noticeable on black too.

[Leon]

Mine is still stock other than going from the 16 to 17" wheels. Still loving it :)

[GreatScawt]

How has the finish held up on your 530's? I did end up going with black. It was based about 50% on those two pictures I posted, and 50% on worries about the finish. I do wonder if you had flipped just the wheels on those two pics, if I would have chose differently. The suspension set up, tires, and trim on that BRZ are perfect for me. I have a feeling I'll be plastidipping them pretty quickly for shit & giggles.

I wish I could have found them in the 5x110 only pattern that they did a while back. The combined pattern looks kinda cheap, but it is less noticeable on black too.

Sorry, just saw this.

I think the finish has been holding up quite well. I need to wash them, though (along with the car). I'm really disappointed with my paint, though. Black is an iffy decision, but Subaru paint - at least on my Rex - blows. I need to get it professionally detailed or something, it's ugly. But that's besides the point.

Yeah, my wheels are dual-drilled. It's okay on the gold, but I'm not looking for it. Maybe it'll bother me now :lol: But the black will hide that nicely. Honestly, for the price XXRs in general are really solid and they have all the fun options that you need to make them look good without being retarded. And without making you feel bad if something bad happens :up:

I apologize I didn't make this recommendation earlier, but did you go through nlmotoring.com? They were great for me.

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, nlmotoring. They shipped the next day, should be here tomorrow. My paint is turning to shit as well. I had to park under a leaky gutter for a few weeks, and so I have what looks like what stains on my hood, that wont come off short of a buffing, which I haven't attempted yet.

[Yw-slayer]

Get some coating done?

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, I think I'm going to do that at some point. Proper total detail and one of those coatings, plus maybe a clear bra for the front end. I had a bird shit sit over night, and now the paint is etched.

On the otherside, 4x4 mode activated with the new wheels and tires. Not as bad as I thought it would be, so I won't be as hard pressed to do the suspension upgrade too soon. Had my old rims in the back, so I couldn't test out the grip (plus brand new tires and all). Pics to follow eventually.

[GreatScawt]

Definitely gonna need pics

[Freude am Fahren]

Quick pic snapped while I'm at work.

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/300/19975336192_f6e538065a_z.jpg (https://flic.kr/p/wr9Pw9)

Not sure about the blue lugs yet. Probably will just go with black, though blue may stay if I paint/dip bronze.

Grip for daaaays

[Godson]

I like that look a lot. I'd stick with the blue if you are going to keep the wheels dark. Needs coilovers.

[novicius]

"Needs" coilovers? Huh, I'd say a simple set of springs would be fine. Does not need to be slammed to look complete.

[Godson]

Not about slammed. It's about matching components. Lowered springs are OK, but they offer zero adjustment. I have the opinion that springs are usually too low, and not effectively stiff enough for the ride height they offer. A GOOD set of coils will offer betterbride, comfort, and offer complete adjustability.

[novicius]

Ah I see -- thought you were just referring to the drop. ;)

[Godson]

Ah I see -- thought you were just referring to the drop. ;)

Cmon man, out of all the things I have done it has been about form AND function.

With the most emphasis on function

[thesameguy]

Might as well have the adjustability...

[novicius]

Yeah but that adjustability costs money. Drop is pretty cheap, comparatively speaking.

Also, how much adjustment does he need? He's in Florida! :lol:

[Freude am Fahren]

Yeah, coilovers would be ideal, which is why I'll probably be rocking the offroad look a while. Can't afford them now. Springs I could do, and may consider it, but it would just be a stopgap anyway, so might as well save the monies. it's not like I look like this (though mudflaps may be in order considering the amount of tire outside the fender):
https://s3.amazonaws.com/static.carthrottle.com/workspace/uploads/memes/10653366_716371091769155_53348-546f322019191.jpg

[novicius]

Yep your 86 looks fine to me, for a daily that sees speed bumps. :up:

[MR2 Fan]

Due to a change in some decisions I've had recently....namely I decided I probably won't move to Japan for a couple more years...my Scion tC is pushing 110,000 miles and I decided to go for the GT86...or whatever abomination they want to call it in the U.S. (I'm going to change the badges anyway). So hopefully in a few weeks I'll go get one, probably a slightly used one as I can get those for about $6,000 less than brand new.

[The359]

The family grows!

[MR2 Fan]

I am going to also get different wheels for it, I really don't like the look of the stock wheels

[MR2 Fan]

Update: I still haven't bought one yet.

BUT, I'm getting closer...been working 60 hours a week for a few weeks...trying to get a big down payment, as I also owe quite a bit on my Scion tC (LONG story full of bad decisions), and I'm technically upside down on it right now.

I have been shopping around and noticed that there's very few new ones at dealers, maybe one at each and some have none at all (if I decide to go that route). I prefer to not have to wait for a factory ordered one. I'm still looking at used ones now.

Part of the reason I'm mentioning this is I'm trying to decide what color I want...probably Raven or Asphalt if I get the FRS version. I'm leaning toward the FRS because it has the nicer front end and I actually like the red accents on the seats.

I did find a red one used for about $18K, then I found out it was an Automatic ("Nnnnnnnoooooooooooooooooooooooooo"-Vader)

[Yw-slayer]

Yup. Manual version 4 LY43

[The359]

Asphalt/Dark Gray Metallic ;)

[MR2 Fan]

I found one that I'm considering. The price is way too high but it's also been sitting at this dealership for a month, and they seem desperate from my emailings back and forth with the crap salespeople

I figure it's worth about $18K

It has aftermarket headlights, taillights, wheels, intake, exhaust, rear diffuser, appears to be lowered, has Toyota badges and some gold and CF bits on the interior. Yes, these can be warning signs, but it's also most of the mods I would have made to the car myself, so I'm trying to decide whether it's worth checking out.

http://images.autotrader.com/scaler/544/408/hn/40c2c04869014168922a502bf6497975.jpg
http://images.autotrader.com/scaler/544/408/hn/ce2d004d474b4ab1b6a08ef415824f9d.jpg
http://images.autotrader.com/scaler/544/408/hn/8cf08a07ccde42f88e5fd6199d087c8b.jpg


Edit: stupid link won't copy...so take my word for it :p

[The359]

I'm not 100% but that looks like the Subaru rear diffuser, so its an OEM part at least. The gold trim appears to be stock parts too, just painted.

The rear wing is definitely aftermarket, but I think those are the stock taillights just painted red. Judging by the antenna its a 2012-2014 model, so the taillights may be prone to leaking. The reverse light on the bottom is definitely aftermarket though.

[MR2 Fan]

I'm not 100% but that looks like the Subaru rear diffuser, so its an OEM part at least. The gold trim appears to be stock parts too, just painted.

The rear wing is definitely aftermarket, but I think those are the stock taillights just painted red. Judging by the antenna its a 2012-2014 model, so the taillights may be prone to leaking.

Yeah, I'm planning to replace the taillights anyway...there's a lot of really nice ones out there.

[The359]

Yeah, spoiled for choice on good taillights on this car.

[Godson]

Interior looks pretty dirty for a dealership. Go take a gander.

[Yw-slayer]

I should be the last person to say this, but are you sure want to buy an 86 in Florida, the land of long, straight roads and intersections?

[MR2 Fan]

Interior looks pretty dirty for a dealership. Go take a gander.

Agreed, I'm probably going to look at it on Monday...BTW they're asking $21K for it which is about $2K higher than most people are getting (according to KBB and Truecar)

[MR2 Fan]

I should be the last person to say this, but are you sure want to buy an 86 in Florida, the land of long, straight roads and intersections?

I owned 3 MR2's in Florida and found ways to enjoy them....I'm sure I can enjoy the 86 also :)

[Freude am Fahren]

Looks like the 5:AD spoiler. If it is, that's good as I don't think it requires drilling.

With intake and exhaust, you should find out if it's been tuned, especially if it's more than an axle-back. I would think the dealer could tell you, if they know what they are doing.

Taillights look painted, but yeah, lots of good options out there. I prefer the red Tom's (what I have). The Valenti's actually look great at night, I was following one not long ago, but I don't like how they look in the day, looks like the car has worms :/.

[Yw-slayer]

Sure, Chris, just want to make sure you know what you're getting into.

[MR2 Fan]

I like these:

http://lexon.co.jp/exclusive/frs_ledtail_jdmsm1.jpg

Or these

http://i.imgur.com/981E553.jpg

[Yw-slayer]

Both are good, but I was never bothered enough to change the rear lights. It's not like I ever look at them anyway.

[The359]

I don't know what those first ones are.

[MR2 Fan]

I don't know what those first ones are.

http://lexon.co.jp/exclusive/scion.htm

[MR2 Fan]

UPDATE:

So I went to the Ford dealer to look at the car. First, it is smaller than I remember. The seats were a bit narrow for my frame, but I could live with it. This car is LOUD though...I think it's got full header replaced too, not just intake and exhaust. As soon as I started it, I went "holy shit" it was that loud.

The salesguy was basically Peter Griffin...he had trouble fitting in. I also smelled exhaust fumes throughout which was disconcerting. The suspension is also very rough.

In the end, they wanted to give me absolute minimum for my tC and honestly the car was just way too loud and bumpy for me (getting too old I guess). The salesguy was actually pretty nice and agreed...didn't give me any trouble. They didn't even run my credit, since I told them my FICO score already, they just ran the numbers. They wanted to work a deal in the monthly payment I wanted but the car just wasn't for me.

I may take a look at one of the other used ones around town, but the size has me concerned...I may decide to jump to a WRX instead.

[The359]

Hopefully you get a try in a more stock one, and can go from there.

[Leon]

Yup, my stock one you can hardly hear.

[Yw-slayer]

I am of course totally unbiased, but I like the sound of the Milltek exhaust (resonated).

[MR2 Fan]

There's a few other stock FR-S's for sale I plan to look at this weekend.

[Yw-slayer]

Do it. LIKE A MAN

[MR2 Fan]

This may or may not be coming to my driveway tomorrow night (Dealer had literally just taken it in on trade and hadn't cleaned it up yet, so I'm driving it home after they do all of that).

Specs:
2014 Scion FR-S (Soon to be Toyota GT86 Badging)
Mileage: 11,000
Color: Asphalt
Features: Comes with the touchscreen/Nav

Price: $19,900

http://i660.photobucket.com/albums/uu329/techno9991/20150927_125901_zpslhho1fox.jpg

[Yw-slayer]

Sweet, now we can be even more bro-like!! :up:

[thesameguy]

-$1/mile is an awesome value!

[The359]

:up:

[Godson]

More people on this board with a flat engine. I support this.

[MR2 Fan]

brought her home tonight...dark, rainy weather and lots of traffic...ugh.

Beyond that though, I love it so far, it feels very tight, and well made...of course I'm comparing it to my 9 year old tC with 110,000 miles.

I'm enjoying the power and don't really feel like it's lacking at all, but it's 40hp more than my tC, lighter and about the same amount of torque.

The steering is so direct, will take some getting used to, but that's a good thing.

I'm kinda not a fan of the touchscreen yet, keep accidentally hitting a button on the screen when reaching up to the volume control.

The engine sound is nice, rumbly but not too loud.

More pics soon when its daylight out

[Yw-slayer]

Sweet. I haven't had time to drive mine recently. Must try for tomorrow or else Friday.