S18 RSG

Well, more developments. It turns out that, while they have no intention of accepting responsibility, the outcome suggests that the garage know they're at fault. Either that, or my mum spending 4 hours at the garage complaining while I was in work drove them mad. I completely believe that the dampers were damaged, either by the shaft being spun, as Mike mentioned, or as Adrian from Fensport mentioned, the dampers may have been over compressed when they fitted the springs. The outcome is, they offered to get me a full set of OEM dampers, but Toyota are on back order until mid September, so as a middle ground, they offered to go half and half with me on a full set of coilovers, so I am currently waiting for Amber to send me across a quote for the Tein coilovers. This of course means, that I will have a set of Eibach sportline springs for sale by the end of the week. I will post up a for sale thread when they arrive, but in the mean time, if anyone's after a set, let me know. I'll let them go below the discounted Fensport price so I can claw back some of my money. They've only done 3 miles.

I think that's exactly the case with mine, but I will 100% be charging the costs of replacing the shocks to the garage. That's the good thing about doing it at a garage, and paying on a credit card. I'm covered in every aspect.

The poly bushes are fitted on the rear, and I asked them to set the car to 1.5 degrees all around. What I think they did, was just max out the available camber on the bushes, which just added to the increased angle caused by the lowering. The car has done 23000 miles. It had a full RAC/AA inspection around 1000 miles ago when I bought it. They brought up nothing at all about the suspension being on its way out, and rightly so. From what I saw of the dampers, they are soaking wet with oil, and the reason for the knocking is them having no oil pressure inside, and therefore bottoming out on themselves. The conversation I had with them was them effectively taking responsibility for the mistake, and they said they will contact Toyota to get some new dampers. If they try to charge me, they've got another thing coming. At the end of the day, as you say, people have lowered their cars by 35mm and done thousands of miles without issue. I did a total of 2 miles, driving extremely slowly because of the knocking. There's no way it was anything to do with the springs. It was either the install or setup from my perspective.

Their excuse for it taking so long, was that there was a 911 GT3 Cup Car on the ramp they were going to use for most of the first day, and that they found it to be a pain in the ass changing everything. Because of the quality of the cars they work on (there was that 911, another road spec GT3, a Range Rover and a Jaguar XKR there at the time) I figured they must be a quality garage, and my dad has taken his Porsche there also, and they were fine. It was a place called Motazone. They only have 1 premises, in my hometown.

Good morning everyone. Firstly, I apologise for what I know is going to be a stupid question, but I just need someone to tell me I'm not crazy. I had my car in the garage to have the Eibach Sportlines fitted yesterday, along with camber bolts and rear bushes. I asked the garage if they could leave the car at around 1.5degrees of negative camber all round (I've read numbers around these are about ideal for the GT). I'm sure I'm right in assuming that, when lowering the car, the likelihood is that the camber would have been at around 2-3 degrees of negative camber already, due to the lowering. However, I'm 90% sure the garage I took it to clearly didn't understand my request, and have simply set the bushes and bolts to give an additional 1 degree of camber all round, instead of properly setting the camber to the ~1.5 degrees I asked for, as simply by looking at the wheels I can see the camber is hugely out (to my eye, comparing to pictures around the net, it seems to be closer to 4 degrees). Please set my mind at ease and tell me that it was their mistake, and not me being stupid. The bolts and bushes should allow the car to be set to what I want, right? Or do they literally only allow for MORE negative camber, rather than back the other way. Again, I'm sure I already know the answer, but please someone confirm or deny this. Thanks in advance, Ross.

That's exactly my plan this afternoon, I'm heading across to the place I usually go for alignment which I know for sure has a laser system. Like I say, I just wanted confirmation that I wasn't going crazy, and that the current setup has enough flexibility to achieve the settings I asked, and it wasn't just me being stupid

I took it to a garage that my family has used for years. They work on Porsches (my dad takes his 911 there) and they did the alignment on my dad's car, so I assumed they knew what they were doing (first time I've been there personally). But your point is exactly why I have my doubts, no, I did not get a printout. As I say, I'm sure they have laser alignment there, as they work on expensive cars, and my dad doesn't just take his car to any old place, but I can't help but feel they just didn't even bother with mine, as they told me it was a pain in the ass to work on, so as far as I'm concerned, they might have just wanted it out of their workshop.

I don't know if this is the pdf you were looking for, but by searching for a pdf filetype, I found this. Might be of help. Ross http://led86.com.au/img/cms/guides/Exterior%20LED%20Install%20Guide.pdf

Whatever you find the issue to be, let me know, cause I've just had springs, camber bolts and bushes fitted to mine, and having a similar knock from the rear. Would be interested to know what causes it so I can get the garage to fix it.

Hey guys, I got a quote today to get most of the interior of my 86 hydro dipped. The price was fine, as were the options for colours and patterns, however, what really shocked me was the turnaround time. Looking at videos of hydro dipping on Youtube, and explanations of the process, I almost expected hydro dipping would be a 2 day process or less to coat a few parts. I was quoted 14 days turnaround. Is there anyone on here with any experience who can explain why there is such a huge turnaround? The place said they are very busy, which obviously is a contributing factor, but even places that are well reknowned for doing quick work quote around a weeks turnaround, which still seems crazy to me. As a follow up, what are my other options? I want to avoid painting, for sake of going back to stock, and certainly want to avoid buying premade carbon/painted parts, as they seem to run well into the £3-400 range. I've also tried wrapping the parts myself, but I don't know if I just bought hard vinyl to lay down, or if the interior parts in our cars (especially around the gearstick) are just notoriously difficult to wrap. Any recommendations?

I was actually looking at doing it all in red. I saw a few pictures of someone who did theirs in red suede, which looked cool, but I wasn't sure about the material. The vinyl I used was purposely thick, as I know some of the thinner stuff is quite transparent, and as the parts I was covering were black and silver, I didn't want them looking different shades. I guess that's a downside of getting thicker stuff, hence looking at other options instead.

Like I said, even the places well reknowned for being quick quote a week or more for turnaround. A week is a long time to have a bare interior on a daily driver lol. The point was more asking why it's so long. Seeing if someone knows the process better than I do. If someone knows of a good solution that isn't so rich on time, then bonus.

I'm in a similar situation myself at the moment. Like you OP, I wanted staggered setup Rota's, but ended up settling for 8.5" all round. The extra inch on the back isn't really gonna make that much difference to looks, and for the downsides it has on handling, it's really not worth it. Plus, as Church mentioned when I asked the same question, square setup means you can rotate tyres if you even need to, which is a nice addition. I would definitely recommend a few comfort based upgrades for a DD. Armrest is a must. Can be picked up for £100 on eBay, and takes about 20-30 minutes to fit, but transforms my daily commute. I also invested time into fixing some of the well known rattles (the plugs in the boot, the hook behind the rear seats etc.), this may not be an issue for you, but it makes me enjoy the car a lot more. There's a good thread on it somewhere, just search "The Rattles thread" on google, I'm sure you'll find it. I too am only in the market for springs, but I'm going for a 35mm drop. 35mm drop on 18" wheels seems to be about the perfect height, and probably where I would set coilovers, so I see no point spending the extra on coilovers for my daily. I will just be complimenting the springs with some uprated bushes, roll bars etc. as has been recommended to me by multiple site sponsors on this site, and some more experienced GT86 owners over on the FT86 forum. In terms of exhaust, there was nothing I fancied on the aftermarket scene, so I'm going for a custom system. 2.5" manifold back system with a 2nd cat delete. 2.5" seems to be good for low 300's in terms of hp, so when I get around to getting mine supercharged, I would think 2.5" should be enough for a mild supercharger setup. Ignoring the supercharger, I would think you can quite easily get the car looking better with suspension and wheels, and driving better with a few engine upgrades, exhaust and remap, for around £2.5-3k, or possibly cheaper if you shop around. HTH.

I may have the money to have these off you in a few days. Not sure if you've put them up on eBay yet or not though.

Edit: Realised I can't be bothered writing what I wanted to write.

I basically had my heart set on one of these from the moment they announced they were making it. I signed up for every newsletter, got all the info needed etc. and only kept my last car for so long as I was waiting for it to come out. When they announced it was £30k, I instantly turned away and looked elsewhere, but given the amount I had chased one, I went to test drive one. I've driven both a supercharged FN2, and a turbo EP3, both were more exciting, and for my money, faster than the new one (certainly the bum cheek dyno said so). It's lovely inside, and it's a million miles away from the EP3 certainly, in terms of gadgets and comfort, but for me, it's lost so much of its character. Honda were always known for these screaming, high revving engines with super high bhp/litre, high redline and naturally aspirated. I honestly would have preferred Honda to stick with their guns, and go for ~280hp from a larger NA engine, and keep the spirit alive, but going turbo for me, makes me think they almost gave up trying to develop a great car, just for the sake of beating the competition on paper. It's part of what makes the twins special. Screw what the spec sheet says, just make the car everyone wants. I can't imagine what focus group they found which said they wanted a boosted Type R.

Hi guys, Finances have changed as of late, and therefore it seems I may be picking up my new wheels sooner than expected (like, next week). Due to this sudden change, I've not really done too much research regarding wheel fitments, so thought I'd ask here (I did read something on the US forum, but wanted a more human response). I'm looking at getting some 18x8.5s for the front, and 18x9.5s for the rear. First question, would 235/40/18 be the ideal tyre size? Or maybe a wider rear tyre? I'm not sure what we can get away with without rubbing. Seconding question, the wheels I'm getting have lots of options for offset, from memory, anything from 30 to 45 is available. Could anyone advise as to the ideal offset for each axle? The car will be lowered around 35-40mm for reference, and I would ideally like to achieve a nice, not too much poke, not too much tuck kind of stance. Thanks in advance.

Rather embarrassed to say I completely forgot about this. I had planned to head over after the United game, but it finished, and I just sat in my house, bored, trying to think what it was I had planned for the day. Seeing the thread pop up on the side of the forum just reminded me what it was. For a 24 year old, I have a shocking memory. I have a free house, no work and nothing planned for the next 2 weeks (after this one), maybe we could arrange something if anyone is up for it?

Yeah, I had a feeling that was the case also. I'm thinking it may be best to go 8.5J all round just to be on the safe side. I'll go with a 35 offset, and if I need any more I'll just use spacers. One advantage I didn't think about is the ability to rotate tyres/wheels across axles, which I've done on basically every car I've ever had. Thanks for the advice guys.

Thanks again Smudge, perfect. From that picture, if I go 255 with slightly less drop (maybe 35mm) and pick up some camber bushes to dial in some negative camber, I should be good with around a 35-40 offset? I guess I could get 40 offset to be on the safe side, and then pick up some 3 or 5mm spacers if necessary. Thanks again

Camber bolts are definitely a top priority when the car gets lowered. I've read camber bolts and rear camber bushes are preferable (don't know if you have any input there). If you have spare then yes, I would like them, thanks PM me details if you could.

Cheers Smudge, that's exactly what I was after. I only mentioned 235 all round as I wasn't sure what tyre we can get away with on the rear. I've read that 9.5" on the front causes some issue, but then Kevin proved me wrong on that. Ideally, I want to achieve something along these lines (as these will be the same wheels I'm going for also) although I doubt I will go that low at the back or maybe a little lower at the front. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=36325&stc=1&d=1367862361

As far as I've seen, both UEL and EL will sort out the torque dip, with a remap. UEL just gives better sound and EL gives better power.

Yeah, I know a UEL manifold is required to get the true boxer sound, but he explained to me the design of this silencer and how it redirects air or some jargon. I don't know. But that's where he brought up the UEL manifold to me. He said "I'll do this with the silencer which will give you a deeper exhaust note which will pop on the overrun a little and give it a bit more of a boxer burble, but if you want it to sound like a true boxer you need to go for a UEL manifold". Not word for word, but you get the idea. He's done my last 4 cars, and almost every one of my friend's cars also and his work is always amazing. They have a fantastic reputation down these parts. But still, I kinda agree with you with regards to the manifold. Always thought it would be better to go for a prebuilt system, as if nothing else I get to hear people's opinions beforehand.

Rob - The issue, as I stated, was more the fact that Lauren seemed to be making out that what I wanted to do was "wrong", just because it's not what she would do. At the end of the day, we are all in different situations and all have different priorities. As I've said multiple times, making my car handle really well isn't a priority. I like the way it handles, and if I could keep the character, but enhance it slightly with springs, bushes and ARBs as I did with my last car, then that suits me down to the ground. I don't care if someone else's car could beat mine around track, my intention isn't to make a race car, but to make a fun car, and fully adjustable, expensive coilovers aren't required for fun. I'll also point out that I didn't ask for advice about coilovers vs springs. I said from the beginning what my intentions were, and without knowing my goals for the car, was told that I was wrong straight away. The closest I got to asking for advice was, "Maybe someone can try to convince me otherwise, but please try to avoid the typical forum opinions of "springs are pointless, coilovers or nothing", which I've already covered." Regarding the last bit, that's basically all that was said, even though I asked for people to avoid it. Anyway, I'm not carrying on now. Wasn't my intention to start any drama here, just to get some advice as to when I should do each stage of modification, which I got, so thanks to everyone for that. Spec K: Thanks for summing everything up in a much more meaningful way. You're exactly right. You and Lauren have setups which allows you to adjust your car's behaviour depending on where you're driving. Clearly for you two, spending all that money was worth it, as having that luxury was a priority for you. Adjustability and flexibility in suspension is not a priority for me. As I said, I've done the whole coilovers thing in the past, and found that I never made the most of them, so thought they were a waste of money for the kind of driving I do. Maybe at some point in the future I'll change my mind, but I can cross that bridge when I come to it. As of right now, I would rather NOT delay all my other plans for the car just for the sake of "maybe" changing my mind. As for your manifold comments, I appreciate the feedback a lot. I have only ever taken my car to one place for exhaust work (Prospeed Exhausts in Cardiff). Charlie does amazing work. When I went to do the secondary decat (which he did for £100), he offered to do me a full 2.5" cat back system with twin 4.5" slash cut tailpipes, and some special design silencer that helps bring out the boxer burble (no idea, just what I can remember) for £450. He also said he could do me a UEL catted header for £550. He does UEL headers for various flat four engines quite often, and mentioned to me that I should do it, rather than the other way around. For the above reasons, I've never bought a prebuilt exhaust, nor indeed any part of a prebuilt exhaust, as I just let Charlie do his thing, but I could be persuaded to change my mind when it comes to manifolds, as honestly, I don't really know where to begin.