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@Lauren I'd seen in a few places saying it was 36L, even the dealer said it was something like that so that's not too bad then. Think if I had more time with Sport mode I'd have gelled with it more. Track probably suits me more and I've been in mostly front wheel drives lately and unlearning some of that within the hour was interesting. It's a car you want to explore and peel back the layers and discover more with every drive. Some cars you get in and you know all it can do quite quickly and it gets dull even though it's quick (like a Golf R) but it's so competent, you can drive at 80% fairly easily and the last 20% is the fun bit to find. I noticed it would always understeer first before the rear comes round, each mode slightly different which is fine. Can left foot brake in these which is something I've not tried in years so re-learning that would be nice to do. It's seriously tempting and has so much potential.

I think a car receives the highest praise when you come away wanting to see what more it can do besides pile on speed.

@will300 just read your review. I've done about twice the miles you have, though for some reason everyone and their dog seemed to be on the roads today. I'm going to wait a bit to do a review as I want to gather my thoughts more fully. I totally agree about the engine. It is impressive in that it feels a lot quicker than you expect it to be. So much so that when I overtook some duffer in second gear, I was surprised at the manner in which it gathered pace. I have not really been north of 5500rpm, but that engine loves to rev. I actually like the sound you get when inside the car, whether synthetic or otherwise. It has a very business like tone and you can hear the turbo venting to atmosphere when you attune to it. When I pulled out of RRG the steering felt very light, but it weighted up nicely at speed. I agree it doesn't seem to have the feel of the GT86, though mine is razor sharp with the poly bushes on it. I feel it's very much good enough though. I too found the seating position very high after getting out of the GT86, though I think that the GT is so low means it's a bit all relative. But like you I soon grew accustomed to it and then you don't notice it. The driving position is comfortable enough with the seats offering a similar level of support to the GT. I also found heel and toeing easy enough but you have to be on the brakes. I actually liked the brake feel, though this may be optimised more with a different pad. I have purposefully not been that hard on the brakes yet. My car has 73 miles on the clock! I have tried the different modes and you can feel it if you switch between them. I have not yet pushed hard, but driving down a greasy and wet B-road with mud on it, the car dealt with the conditions with absolute aplomb. The damping I agree feels really good. Ride is good enough and it is more refined than the GT/BRZ. Overall (maybe as I've bought one) I'd rate it higher than Will, but I probably got more opportunity to push it a bit harder on some twisty B-roads. I must say as soon as I dispatched the duffer I got into some S-Bends and wow the car quickly came alive. A glance at the speedo told me I was well north of the national speed limit. I think this car is very well sorted and the harder you work it, the better it gets. That's what I think it is going to be like. 1 minute of starting to really get it to flow down a deserted wet and sometimes muddy B road, made me think that not much would be able to keep up with it. It really does inspire confidence. I don't think the GT86 would have handled those kind of conditions with such aplomb. I know already I will have to push a fair bit harder to find its limits. Trackday booked at Blyton for 31st January.

I have absolutely no idea why they aren't available here. It's odd. They are made for the RHD market too, hence the buttons on the right side. I bought mine from Fasmoto in Malaysia. They were great, delivery was quick i had the headunit in about a week. You could wait for the 21 model but what more would you want from your headunit? It's got everything covered. Only other thing to note is they don't support DVDs, wrong region, but I don't suppose that matters. Who is gonna play a film in an 86.

If you are Newbury way, Horsham are excellent. They know the car. Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

@KobayashiMaru good review. It's got a 50L tank btw, same as a GT86. it think it is a bit more thirsty than the GT though, but more power requires more fuel. I'm averaging about 21.5mpg But once I have done a 1000 miles, I'll be sitting on the motorway at 60 with the radar cruise on lane trace assist and I'm sure I'll get some back. It is hugely competent isn't it? I've done a 100 mile drive down the A49 to Whitchurch and back at 7am this morning. I was surprised at how I quickly became so confident in the car. Those 4S tyres really are amazing, but the tautness of the chassis really helps and the damping is very good. I ran in track mode first thing when it was still raining and did notice the front diff locking and a bit of understeer as I exited a roundabout. I then went to Sport mode and that sorted that issue. I got the car into a lovely flow over some crests and nice fast bends down the A49 and I must admit, I was really starting to flow. What I am loving is that the harder you push the car, the more it delivers. That I was grinning from ear to ear, told me all I wanted to know. I really doubt anything would stay with one of these down a sodden B road in darkest December.

Test drove one yesterday unaccompanied for about an hour. It's the demo so was encouraged to give it a good go. Grip great even with traction control off and as Lauren says it's absolute. It's been setup to be as grippy as possible and feels quite a serious car which is cool. Not as lairy as Evo's and Subaru's of old unless you really provoke it. But look at how modern WRC cars go through a stage and it makes sense why. Went through sections I'd be feathering the throttle in other cars, this was flat and quite a bit faster. Track Mode is the mode I enjoyed most. Sport I felt I'd want more space to see it slide about but it's the demo so wasn't going to be silly. Normal just feels like a FWD hatch with an LSD that rotates a bit quicker. The Michelin PS4S tyres are as amazing as the press say. I run the standard PS4 tyres on other cars and recently had some new ones and thought they must've revised the compound as it was better again. The PS4S though is like witchcraft. Once they were warm, even in the wet with traction off there was barely a hint of wheel spin. Brakes were awesome, Pedals for heel and toe could be better but easy enough and easier when you're really on the brakes. Does mean you can probably drive in boots easily. Having big feet, some cars I have to wear smaller shoes. It has rev matching but is too slow. It loves full throttle corner exits & higher speed bends. Plant it and go. In-gear it's pretty quick. Turbo boosts well, drops off at higher speeds but it's a 1.6 so to be expected but it's quick where it matters which is a big plus for me. Does like a drink though. When I gave it back it was on 15mpg and I expected it to be low. But the lowest I saw was 9mpg. With only a 36L tank, if you drove like that all the time that's barely 100 miles to a tank. Still has to run in though and don't know if it was on super unleaded. Still seemed pretty good for a new engine. I'd seen Litchfield and others from a brand new engine are seeing higher figures than it's supposed to which is good. The tuners are going to love it though. The intake could be a lot bigger and I'm not surprised they've seen 300bhp+ from it already. I only had it an hour but it's confidence inspiring from the off, a feeling I also got from the Type-R. Once I adjusted to the 4WD and got used to the power moving about it was great and I felt pretty comfortable with it and think it would be quite satisfying to find all it could do, which is what I'm looking for next. Steering feel isn't as sharp as a Type-R or a tweaked GT86 but it's OK. Lot better than most cars. It's expectedly small in the back, may get a bike in with the wheel off but doesn't feel that small to drive and the headunit screen I didn't noticed once I was actually driving. Dealer said most are getting it for £495 down and £495/mth for 4yrs. It's a chunk of money but when Honda and others offer nothing like those figures it's very tempting. For me it may have to be a 2nd car, but I also have the bike for fun so would take some man maths to justify. I don't do much mileage these days so there's that. It's also a 9mth waiting list.

Picked mine up today. Still grinning from ear to ear. I was genuinely shocked at how quick it feels and I haven't been near the redline yet, though got closer than I intended purely because it revved way quicker than I expected. The brakes have a great feel to them. heel and toeing is fine but you need to be on the brakes a bit, so not quite as easy as the GT86. Traction is pretty much absolute, but I haven't pushed it as my first drive was down a wet and fairly muddy B-road, but it is very confidence inspiring. I can't wait to get to know it better. Richard kindly organised for Mark, Jane and Alec to be there to greet me when I arrived. It was lovely to see them and great to have a chat and have a good look at the car.

@Kodename47 I think you need to go to Specsavers. 🤣

News in, from Richard. Mine should be arriving at RRG Macc today. Arranged Saturday pick up.

I loved our car the moment I saw it, and love it more after each modification. Had it nearly six years and don't expect to sell it until I can't get in it anymore (being an OAP). If you buy one of these just to keep it for a few years and move on to something else you will likely take a hit. I will never get back the money for the modifications undertaken, and never expected to, but the joy of this expensive hobby comes at a cost that I am willing to pay. The enjoyment I get from just going for a drive in this car is difficult to express in monetary terms. 😊