Nicebiscuit

They had a bit of hardcore kudos though. If they'd changed springs and shocks on this and called it. 'Cup' or 'clubsport', they'd probably sell a few more. But instead they called it 'Primark' [emoji6] (Oh and keyless entry just does my head in - I wonder where my keys have gone... Give me a manual choke and a starting handle....[emoji1])

To be honest I wonder how many they'll sell full stop (and I doubt they care). This is the 'from £xxxx' model that is rarely pushed in any range but looks good on the adverts. If buying under the more popular lease or PCP model there's probably little sense in not having the 'full on' model for a few quid extra a month. I'm a bit of a peculiar case - a cash buyer having to push the budget a bit to get this car at all, and I'm not really interested in any of the extra kit so it suits me fine to be different. The idea of this one brand new for little more than a s/h bells and whistles example appealed. New cars rarely make any kind of financial sense, so nice that this is an exception.

Richard is a bad influence... And I've spent all my money buying it. Let me at least run it in first. ;-) Realistically though I'm not one to muck about with things much. I suspect I will need a second set of wheels and possibly an exhaust swap later. Something has to be done about the rear lights, and wouldn't the badges look better black... Argghhhhh.....stop it....

It is. On full throttle the petrol engine and motor work in tandem. The interesting thing would be the transmission. The other Toyota hybrids run a CVT transmission. I've driven the latest Auris and it's well implemented, technically interesting and quite good to drive in its own way, but it's hardly sporting. I don't know whether it would work with a manual box? I think it's the future though. I intend to keep the GT86 for a good while. I wonder if it's replacement will be electric? You never know...

Any update? I reckon those tyres won't be far off the Michelins and offer a considerable saving...

Just need two or three days with a hole cutter. Old school weight reduction :-D

Although I admire anyone with the nous to tinker with their car and extract more horsepower, I can't help feeling it misses the point, and I've got a background with Saabs which is ALL about extracting daft horsepower from turboed 4 pots, and great fun it is too... Wouldn't the ultimate cost-no-object GT86 have pretty much the engine it has now (but with a better sounding exhaust) but be lightened with various trick components? Would suit the car more to lose kgs rather than gain bhp.

It's a disease - I always hear stuff like that and have to discipline myself to wait and see if it gets any worse. The Citroen I run is known for clunky suspension. When I got it it sounded like the front wheels were about to fall off. 45k miles later it sounds the same, and nothing has broken - 'they all do that Sir' Hasn't stopped a lot of OCD owners spending £s trying to cure it though. Money down the drain...

I remember once seeing on a forum a lady who owned an Elise and was expecting her first baby. Rather than swap it for the usual Chelsea tractor she was looking for the smallest pushchair she could find to fit in the Lotus. Respect! Mine have been through Ford Puma, 1 series coupe, Saab 900 convertible and Abarth 500 and generally don't complain too much as long as I promise to 'go fast'

We did try it out first... Helps that neither of us is tall! But, yes the plan is it'll usually be two or three up, only four on short trips. We do have another vehicle for family duties luckily :-) Nice to know I'm not the only uncompromising parent though :-D

Yup - was chuffed to realise I had a set of practically new 205/55/16 winters in the shed - that means it can go skiing next Feb :-) Realise the lights are a nod to the 2000GT but didn't like them on that either... :-D In general though I do like all those enthusiastic retro nods. I'll either get some stock 17s and refinish, or possibly something a bit retro... We'll see. At least my bank balance can take a breather before spring. On an unrelated topic, am I the only person on here seriously intending to stuff children in the back, or is anyone else daft enough to be doing the same? :-)

I'm a bit weird. I might as well have manual air con as I fiddle incessantly with climate control anyway. And I always forget I've got cruise control. As for the styling - well a bit of a win for what I want. I've got a set of brand new winter tyres from the Saab which I've realised by chance are the exact right size to go on the quite pretty 16' alloys the Primo comes with. I tend to like taller tyres anyway, but if I do find myself wanting some 17s for summer I shall buy some, as not super keen on the standard 17' alloys (I'd have had to powder coat them one colour as a minimum). Similarly not that keen on the stock spoiler, so I'll either leave it without or get a subtle lip later. I even prefer the less blingy headlights. Will have to something about the rears at some point though - lay off the plasti-chrome Toyota! Alcantara seats would've been nice, but I'll happily trade them for 'new car smell'. :-)

You must really hate them (and yourself) to want to do that... Anyhow I will hear NOTHING against the Dartford crossing. :-) Several years ago, after having driven from Italy in a day back to Zeebrugge to catch North Sea ferry our crossing was cancelled. So with 2 kids in the back we had to drive to Calais, catch the ferry and then face the drive North to York. Of course I had not planned to be on the M25 and I got to the toll with about 14p in legal currency. I told the lady in the booth what had happened and she just let me through. I hope karma rewarded her in some way...

*cough* Deposit paid. Delivery in a fortnight. :-D

What opened my eyes is that I left it too late one year - it snowed and then froze - so I slithered the 400 yards to my friendly local tyre fitter - swapped them over and then simply drove back. The difference was incredible. Worst thing about winter tyres? Twice now I've driven into an icy work car park - parked up with no drama, opened the door, stepped out and fallen flat on my backside.... :-D

I think it depends a lot on the particular summer tyres you have. Some get very 'hard' in the cold, some don't. I have winters on my cars not least cause I drive to the Alps every Feb, and I like them, but last year in most of the UK they were a bit of a waste of time. When it actually is snowy and icy though it's like chalk and cheese.

I wouldn't overlook a VW T5, simply because there's such a strong used market for them. You'd never struggle to sell it...

Never been. Would like to though... As for the Abarth - glad I owned it because absolutely ANYTHING rides well after that :-). Some people have managed to sort them a bit - Konis help - but I think that ultimately they were trying to turn it into something it wasn't and I lost patience with it. (I always liked the Panda 100hp by the way - looked like a cross between a training shoe and the box it came in. In a good way) I think you make a valid point that there's a difference between development on the Nordschleife and optimising purely to chase ring lap times...

I'm going to caveat the following with the observation that our views may well differ because you're clearly a very skilled driver, and I most certainly am not... Do you not think that even Nurburgring tuned cars are still a little stiff for quick progress on British roads, certainly in the hands of an average driver? Personally I've always felt quicker with softer set ups, simply because its predictable so even I can drive at 9/10ths whereas a stiffer and gripper set up means I back off for fear of not being able to cope with a 'moment' at the limit. To put in context - possibly the fastest point-to-point car I've driven (in my hands) was some relatively exotic variant of Impreza STi (I forget which exactly). Its set up was relatively compliant, very benign and I could instantly drive twice as fast in it. In fact it was so competent I decided there and then never to buy one, as 'fast' became so easy and normal that I might as well have shredded my license there and then.... :-)

Yes - sorry - I wasn't having a pop at your mate either - more a general point. :-D What Top Gear were right about was that cars built to get Nurburgring times didn't necessarily make great road cars... (The nail in the coffin of the Abarth was the realisation that I was taking certain corners 10mph faster in my Citroen Berlingo simply because I trusted it more :-D )

I can see that a fair number are confirmed and long-term Japanese car fans, but an interesting question that usually pulls all sorts of weird stuff out of the woodwork. Petrol heads tend to have eclectic tastes. Me? I've never been down the Japanese route before, despite an eye opening drive in a colleagues Impreza STI, but I do seem have a serial Ford habit (they're all chuckable) and an incurable Saab addiction (they have a 'magic' third gear). Who else 'plays away' on here car-wise? Any guilty, or not so guilty pleasures?

Why? Just curious, but I'd have thought B road driving impressions more relevant to the average prospective owner. Track reviews are the scourge of the ordinary buyer. I had an Abarth 500 which got reasonable reviews in some quarters. Indeed on perfect track-like tarmac it was a good handling car and a lot of fun. Trouble is, on a bumpy road it completely fell apart, so the majority of the time it was hopeless. Hardly any of the reviews told me that.

That's encouraging. Just got back from France in my Citroen diesel and that posted the usual 48mpg average - so I find that impressive.

Better than the GT86 then? If so - why would you say? It's interesting because I do think it's hard to get the same level of involvement the newer the car. I also have a thirty year old Saab 900 - dead slow, not even a Turbo - but with double wishbone front suspension, lightly hydraulically assisted steering and modest tyres it has a steering feel and driving pleasure I have struggled to find in anything much newer. In period it was a big heavy car, but compared to modern family cars it steers like a mini. The original mk1 Focus was good too as a drivers car, but later ones just don't cut it for me.

Had to google the FD2. I like that. Better than the 'darth vader's helmet' civic we got.