S18 RSG

Some of you may have seen I was on the lookout for a spare GT86 wheel when mine goes off for trimming. Just thought I'd post some information here in case others are interested in having similar work done. I've been in contact with a guy called Jack, at Royal Steering Wheels (www.royalsteeringwheels.com), he has sent me an example of a GT86 wheel he has done in the past (below). I've heard nothing but great things about his work, and the options available are great, as can be seen via his website. I will be going for a similar design to above, but slightly different. The specs are: Toyota GT86 Manual - Thicker (2mm), Black alcantara on sides, Black alcantara Top, Red smooth leather bottom + Red Centre stripe at 12 o'clock, Red stitching I am taking up their offer of an exchange system, in which they trim a standard GT86 wheel to your spec, send it to you around a week after receiving the order, then you send your original wheel back within 14 days. The cost for this service differs everytime, but based on a few quotes I received, the general cost will be £110-140, plus £9.99 shipping, plus £100 deposit if using the exchange option (which will be refunded upon them receiving your original wheel). Considering the prices of some of the aftermarket options, this seems like a great solution for those looking to add a custom touch to their interior without breaking the bank too much. Just thought it might be handy for a few people on here

Finally got my wheel back a few days ago, just completely forgot to update this thread. I took on board some of the advice in this thread, and decided against alcantara/leather combo, and decided against putting too much red on the wheel. As much as this new design isn't too far away from stock, the change of material is wonderful, I like the little red stripe at the top, and the extra few mm of thickness do wonders too. Some pics: You can probably tell from the pictures, but the stitching is flawless. The material feels really good quality, and I love the design too. The only real downside of this service is turn around time. It was around 2 and a half weeks from ordering to receiving the wheel. It's not so bad if you use the exchange option, but having to wait that amount of time for your only wheel to be returned could be slightly awkward. Overall though, it's a great service at a great price. Would highly recommend. I'll be fitting the wheel on Saturday, in preparation for Japfest, so I'll see you all there on Sunday.

Well I dropped the car off this morning ready for its new look. Decided on matte bronze in the end. They will be spraying a deep metallic grey base coat, then over the top with a few coats of bronze, then a matte lacquer. I showed them a few pictures, including the one I posted in this thread, so they had an idea of what I wanted. Will post pictures up this evening, as I'll be picking it up around 5:30pm. Pretty excited to be honest.

Thanks for that Ade. Seeing the grey now, I'm not too sure. My wheels are similar in shape to those of the OZ's, and they grey doesn't do much for the shape. I've spent an hour on Forza 6, and I think I'm actually swaying more towards matt bronze now.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you're a catholic priest by day, and that's your daily?

Hahaha. Now I know why you said that. First time I've seen your car without the silver wheels. To be fair, that's exactly the kind of thing I'll do with my track wheels. Looks great, if a bit loud

Please say something The more opinion the better

I have to say, I am warming to this colour:

Well, I stand corrected. Amazing what a light jap car can do in the right hands. No wonder the Asians are so much better than us at...well, everything.

That's similar to how they are now Church. They're polished faces with a slightly darker silver on the sides of the spokes. I don't mind it when done right, but it's very easy to make them look cheap if done wrong, that's what worries me.

That's almost the goal. Make it subtle enough that they look grey, but in the right light it's quite prominent. I can go a little more mad when I get the money for a set of track wheels, but these are summers.

By aluminium grey, do you mean a slightly lighter grey than gunmetal @Church? If you have a pic of yours for reference that would be cool.

You're right there Rob. I regret not buying a white/grey one every day, until I see the car in a car park and see how good it looks. I think your last mention is what I'm gonna do. Something subtle to the passer by, but a little special to those that look at the details.

I get what you mean, but being that it's my daily driver, white wheels would be a nightmare. I'd have to take them off every weekend to give them a good clean. I love white wheels, but I'm thinking more practically

Not only is 58 seconds insanely quick, but to me, almost unrealistically so. The production car lap record last time I checked was over a minute, and that was a Radical with 370hp/ton and slicks. Even a 650hp AWD time attack spec Evo which weighs under a ton laps only slightly quicker than 58 seconds. Something seems a bit fishy there.

Oh don't get me wrong, I agree, and my two experiences of forced induction so far prove that you're exactly right. There's just something about NA that I love. That sound of pure induction noise from ITB's, coupled with a flat four burble of the FA20 with a UEL manifold. I can imagine that being quite the event.

I know why it's not available, I'm just saying I would prefer NOT to have to change the fundamentals of the car just to make it drive like it perhaps should. After spending years surrounded by Renault owners who loved the purity of an NA engine, and experiencing multiple high horsepower NA builds, that would be awesome from our motors. As above, I'm fully aware of the costs, development and work needed to produce something like this, and I'm sure there's someone out there with the money, time and skill to get an all motor build running good numbers, that isn't me, but it would be great to have an all motor 86 running in the high 200's. ITB kits for Clio's, for example, run around £2,500 with an ECU, and give an instant 30-40hp. With a little more work, and around £5k (the price of a good turbo/supercharger kit for our cars), one of those engines can gain almost 50% stock power on NA (cams, pistons, rods, manifold, ITB, exhaust and ECU). The Clio 172/182 era, some cars were running 250-260hp on NA, one was even fairly close to 300, although it wasn't awfully streetable in fairness. Similar kits for an 86 at a similar price bracket would be highly tempting I'm sure, but perhaps these cars need a little more development time before kits like that become available, if at all.

Still nobody offering realistic NA offerings, something along the lines of ITB's. Sure, they don't offer the same gains, but there seems to be a big jump between from NA (200-230hp) up to boosted (280hp upwards) and nothing filling that gap. Personally, if I could keep the 86 NA and still have around 250-260hp, I think that would be my choice.

I mean, technically, if the only option is "alloy wheels", and you have magnesium, carbon fibre or any other non-alloy wheel, then they could refuse to pay out there as well, but I think that's more a fault of the insurer than the owner.

As long as it's declared on Adam's policy (which I'm fairly certain it must be with the amount of mods he has) then I don't see how they could refuse. On my policy, my options for modification (wheel/tyre related) were: Alloy wheels; alloy wheels (wider); wider tyres; wheel spacers. If Adam's is the same, it's hardly like he can specify "stretched tyres" on his policy, without that option.

100%. I cannot tell you how much better the car feels after the map. Throttle response will make you think the car in stock form is broken. Increase in torque and decrease in torque dip means less down shifting to accelerate. Post 5k power is certainly much improved too. It's worth noting that despite my bias towards Mark and Abbey, there are plenty of options if he's a bit far away from you (Fensport, Tuning Developments etc.). It's the best money I've spent so far, so much so that I'm going back again soon, as soon as my manifold arrives.

Just to throw another option in the burner, in case you've not thought about it, but you could always change the front seats. That way you can find a set of aftermarket seats that suit you. You could sell the GT86 seats for a fair bit too, so the cost wouldn't be too extraordinary.

Police give you nothing to rolling over and giving up. If anything, that makes you an easier target than standing up for yourself.

Trust me, I know all about not getting hung up on figures haha. I recently had my car mapped by Mark at Abbey, and despite only making around 15hp peak more than before, it's a completely different car to drive. However, I am also experienced in the idea of placebo effects in cars, through friends. An example looking at a friend of mine has a Clio 182 Trophy, and has had it since new. I had a few rides in it, so knew the car fairly well. Around 3 years ago, he had ITB's fitted, along with a whole host of other parts. In theory, the car should have been making around 210-220hp (up from the 185hp it had). After going for a drive, it felt every bit 210hp, but after dynoing the car, it made less than originally, due to a fuelling issue, it made around 165hp. Because of the sound, the difference in response, the different torque curve and other things, it felt so much faster. I always remember that situation, especially when talking about small gains, as more often than not, it is the experience that has been enhanced, rather than the cars' performance.

My guess is that, if they are clamping down on it, they've been told to "use their discretion" for the time being, until more concrete rules are in place. If that is the case, they can't fine you. The only time they'll have a case is if they change the law, and there are strict size guides as to what are the smallest and largest tyres for each width of wheel, but that could be years away if it even happens. He certainly shouldn't give you his opinion like that, in fact, you could potentially complain about it if you wanted to. You were pulled over for no reason (if it turns out there is no law against it), and insulted. If you insulted a police officer, I'm sure they'd have something to say about it, and for all intents and purposes, until you are arrested, a police officer has no authority over you so should not be insulting you either.