nerdstrike

After the beneficent recommendations of those here, I ordered the IS165TOY kit (£130) made by Focal, along with a bumper pack of Silent Coat "noise isolator" foam from Audiovisual world. Shipping was prompt but package went AWOL, Audiovisualworld very quick to ship another after I informed them that I hadn't received anything. Annoying but all was well. I took some photos, but in the end there were other photos of the same stuff on this very forum, so I've neglected to upload them. On me: I am a poor man's audio nut, liking classical, jazz and some occasional punk or rock. I've got some B&W speakers in my lounge and an amp to match, and my ideal instrument is 500kg of piano. I love it when the music grabs and involves. Not fond of massive volume but love quality. With that in mind, the GT86 is a dreadful place to spend lots of money on audio when I could be investing in my home setup instead! It's quite noisy, the speaker positions are a bit whack, and I like listening to the car as I drive. Therefore, I opted for the cheap-ass upgrade, as the default audio is truly painful to my ears. Opinion on Toyota OEM system: Barely tolerable, crashy treble, needs silly volume on the motorway to be enjoyable, and then it's exhausting. Headunit does ok, even over bluetooth, but doesn't do very well when you connect a different phone. That's what I thought before I took the door cards out and beheld the papier maché equipment they fitted! The tweeters look cheap, the rear speakers are like listening with your head under water, and the woofers... oh the woofers. They weigh next to nothing. I'm amazed they achieved as much as they did. Toyota obviously spent at least £3 on each of these. On the Focal replacements: The replacement tweeters are sturdy and much nicer than those they replace. Their better build unfortunately means they don't click fully into the speaker mounts, due to being a bit tall. I'm leaving them like that for now, but might want to look into more sturdy attachment. The woofers are fibreglass affairs with more than twice the weight of the OEM. Much bigger magnet on the rear, a bit more depth to the assembly, but plenty of room in the door cavity. There is a foam layer where the mount fits around the cone which is very thin. I added a bit of extra material to make sure it seals properly. I'd have like something in kevlar or similar, but that would need more wiring, sourcing mounts etc. Lots more dosh! A bunch of fittings are included in the box, but they're mainly intended for other Toyotas. The only bits you need are the wires (which only fit in one configuration) and the block which mates with the Toyota wiring. On the fitting process: Online videos quite informative in getting the lay of the land. I tackled the tweeters first. Nylon trim tools very helpful indeed! The dash material is weirdly spongy and very easy to scratch. Out comes the speaker cover with speaker stuck into it, now lots of swearing trying to release the tweeter cable. Likewise getting the tweeter from the grate is a forceful and made me nervous. New tweeter snaps into place, but not as securely as the original. Must be able to do this better! At this point I had to stop and drive away to dinner. Just the tweeters alone made a big improvement to clarity of the audio! Next to the doors. More action for the nylon tools. The door handle trims came away without feeling like they'd snap, but it would dead easy to scratch them. Door card needs to be pulled free from its mountings with moderate force. I found it easiest to start at the hinge side of the door and work outward. Then the whole card slides up and off its lip. Now comes the fun - unclipping the puddle light cable (easy), the window switch cable (easy once I used a large flat bladed screwdriver to release the plug), and the door handle/lock cables. I had to do this alone, but it would be a lot easier if someone could support the weight of the door card while you unplug everything. If you take the door too far from the card without disconnecting the cables, they'll pull off the plastic liner which separates outside from inside. Driver's side is harder because of the mirror controls - that plug is connected in the most awkward position possible. Tricky on your own! Speaker removal an absolute doddle, likewise fitting. I took some time to feed some noise-absorbing foam into the cavity behind the speaker, but didn't do the whole door because I didn't want to disturb the waterproofing - it had some moisture on it, so it has a purpose! Re-hanging the door card was nice and easy. On the matter of sound deadening, dynamat etc. While the tarry mass loading material provided by Dynamat or silent coat is useful for adding weight to a panel and damping resonance, I felt it would add both a lot of cost and weight to the installation. Some people suggest roofing material, but that will stink out your car with tarry odours. Don't go there! Yes, the boot floor and door skin boom like a drum when tapped, but as above, I didn't want to mess with the waterproofing and wasn't sure I would realise the benefits. Maybe I'm wrong! The isolating closed cell foam is for taking out higher frequency noise, and I figured it was ideal for dropping the ambient volume of the car on the move so I could enjoy the music more. I placed some in the door cavity, while mainly focusing on the rear wheel arches. On adding sound absorbing material to the rear passenger space: Unbolt seat. Just one 10mm bolt per seat! Makes those rear passengers feel all the more wanted as they lose sensation below their knees. Push down at the rear centre of the seat pad, where a single loop is hooked onto the chassis. This is tricky and took me a while. It doesn't help that you can't see what you're doing, and the seat is flexible. Now you can see the entry points to your fuel tank! Peel back door rubbers from top of door frame to the bottom, where you will have to lift the lip trim. It interlocks with the rest of the trim, but it comes up easily enough Unclip two trim clips that are behind the rear seat. You can do this by dropping the seat, or through the boot. Starting at the door, give it a heave-ho and pop the trim out. Force applied just right will pop one out, rather than trying to get them all at once. I found it easiest to pop the forward bits out, then half-drop the rear seat to release the rear portion and then slide it into the boot. You can also take the boot lining out to get to the rear part of the arch, behold the top of the teeny tiny rear suspension, and attend to some of the rattly wiring. You may now disable, or just plain remove the rear speakers and use them to occupy space in the refuse. and so the results: Decent step up in clarity, especially the treble, almost to the point where it rather exposes the lack of mids, and the fact that you are much nearer one tweeter than the other. Once the system had run in a bit, these issues were less obvious, but I definitely get the feeling a second speaker on top of the dash would help with integrating the sound. There's plenty of low end, but obviously not on a par with a dedicated sub. Sound is still lost a bit at high speeds, but you don't feel so aurally violated by winding up the volume. + Very happy with return on investment, listening pleasure is up, it lifts it from "car sound" to "hifi". + Easy fitting, provided you have a good way to avoid scratching stuff, and a helper at times + Focal have some credentials in audio gear manufacture - Still far from premium speakers - GT86 cabin is a poor environment to install in, and would take proper wonga and time to sort out. + Subaru/Toyota snap-together design is pretty easy going for strip-down and refit of interior. It's nowhere near as involved as some other cars I've crawled around inside. As for the sound isolation, it's still plenty noisy at speed but I think some road noise is gone, helping to expose more of the creaks and ticks of the other flimsy interior parts! I didn't do a superb job, and certainly didn't cover every inch with the stuff, but it has made a difference. I was foolish not to try a controlled measuring of the ambient volume on a known piece of road! Putting the sticky stuff in place is a time-consuming job, so I'd not recommend it unless you know that you need it, or are going for installation to the max! I'll refine my opinion over the next few weeks as I persuade myself it was worthwhile. Who is it for? Budget-minded people who can't stand the OEM audio setup. Maximum bang for buck, really very easy installation, no messing about. £130, job done. Limited extra weight needed. Who is it not for? People who must have banging choonz - fit a sub in the boot. People willing to get into the wiring, mounting cross-overs and supplementary amps. I reckon £300-£500 and some graft will yield another step up in quality. Think hard about adding a mid-range to the dash to compensate for speaker separation. This is what I would have done if I had more time and money to burn. People who want high volume - The standard mountings are flimsy, and many body panels are completely undamped. You should be spending time and weight on the full damping and isolation in all key panels. This will add tens of kilos. Full-time petrolheads. Rip it all out, swap out manifold and muffler for maximum brap brap bang rumble. You won't want that damped out with noise isolation!

I suppose they could have been implying some kind of charge cooler, like methanol injection or a regular intercooler. Never heard of cooling fuel prior to injection, unless you're aiming for orbit.

That's more like it!

The magic words here are "vicarious liability". The responsibility for the safety of the vehicle lays not only with the mechanics but the owners too. To clarify, the owners of the place that sold the car, not poor @Julesbeav

Well done for getting the car stopped safely! That's a terrible oversight by somebody, and litigation-worthy. Examine everything that is in the wheel arch closely. The pad zinging out may have scratched or dented the wheel or some other component, and you want a full list of issues before you bill the seller. The pad holder looks out of position considering the carrier and shims next to it.

Scooby parps all round! It sounds fruity alright.

Spark plugs are consistently reliable as long as the engine is running cleanly, and the HT leads are keeping them dry. Coilpacks on the other hand thermally degrade, and eventually short or don't spark strongly enough. It is particularly the case if the engine block is super-toasty.

I've had a devil of a job finding CR1632 batteries. Had to resort to ebay. No idea if these take the same battery. Best bet is to pry open the shell and look. It'll probably have a notch in the side you can twist something like a 1p/2p coin in to pop it open. Shouldn't be a problem as long as you're gentle with it.

The last car I had was quite picky about its wheel sizes, but the stability system only got upset if you had different rolling radii on the axles, e.g. front 225/45 r18 and rear 235/40 r18 Could it be the diff? Cornering hard and braking with clutch down both change load the on it. I'm not at all sure why a diff would clatter though, unless it was totally broken and you'd have noticed that. You've got a tricky noise alright, would love to hear the cure.

I would say that extended warranties are a bit of a gamble in terms of investment versus pay-off. You're guaranteeing that you're paying out on the offchance that it's cheaper in the long run. I'd rather mitigate my costs by spannering, preventative maintenace and sourcing parts.

Maurice's suggestion is a good one. You could also consider looking underneath. Give the exhaust pipes a tentative wiggle, look for dangling bits of plastic and/or loose wheel arch liners. I'm wondering if part of your exhaust is moving around.

Rim choice 101 it is then! Bigger diameter and/or width is heavier Heavier unsprung weight reduces the agility of the car and suspension capability over bumps Wider tyres give you a little more grip, but usually make it more expensive. See also offset below For best comfort stick to 17" rims. For style, consider 18" Wrong offset is big trouble Too far inset and your new wheels don't clear the brakes Too much poke and your tyres can rub on the arches in corners and over bumps, or fail MOT if they extend beyond the arches. Standard OEM fit is 7Jx17 ET48, 5x100 -> Example willtheyfit.com OEM wheels are fairly light You can't just go to Halfords and pick up some steel rims without consequences RAYS, OZ etc. make lighter wheels still. For reference, the GT86 Aero came with OZ 18" superleggeras or something like that Forged wheels are stronger, but very expensive Don't buy end-of-run rims, in case you bust one and can't replace it Buying fitted new tyres with the rims can save some money - useful if you change tyre size and you like the tyre brand offered Watch out for import taxes if your wheel of choice is from overseas Staggered wheel sizes are not generally a good idea unless you know what you're doing If I ever get around to it, my next wheel will probably be from OZ, but RAYS make fine looking wheels. Rota... TWS... there are a stupid number of brands out there.

They understeer something awful in Forza 7

In my opinion the cheapo Focal kit achieves exactly that. Don't get me wrong, I'd have liked to mount up some better speakers still, but that involved new mounts, new wiring, cross-overs, maybe a dedicated amp. The faff-factor is much higher, and so is the cost. I noticed a strong improvement in the tweeters, and a good improvement in the bass, and I no longer hate the audio quality. It's a bit uneven, not helped by the cabin or road noise, but there's plenty of low end and some clarity across the spectrum. It's better than a similarly priced Sonos, both are portable speakers after a fashion...

It sounds like you need to drop 40 lbs from the front of the car too! I'm not sure where that would come from though... steering wheel... gear knob... windscreen...

Unless it's a Mini. Burning 0w20 is an expensive habit! Mine hasn't needed any extra oil in its 4 years of use, outside of servicing of course.

If you still have the defective item, why don't you dismantle that one to look?

Steven Eagell will charge £200 for the minor service. I think it's about right if they're going to do more than check the dipstick. That's not to say it isn't expensive.

One question w.r.t. the window sticker... What's an APtidote? Do you like Pi?

Before getting the '86, I fancied the e92 M3 with sweet V8. Test drive was a let-down. It was an express train to a driving ban and didn't have poise or eagerness of a lighter car. The salesman thought I should be looking at 235s or the M2, but there were out of my budget at the time. I'd be pleased to read your opinions. There's a chap round here who dailies his Evora. It looks mighty fine amongst a sea of SUVs and German saloons.

Especially on a Reliant Robin! Those things are dangerous in the corners! UK insurers would really rather the young not learn to drive.

I gather £2k a year is about par for the course no matter how lame your car at that age. Enjoy it @OllyW, I had to drive a 30 bhp Fiat Cinquecento when I was your age. It was impossible to break the speed limit on the motorway unless you were going downhill! My big piece of advice would be to not turn off the traction control/VSC until you've driven through winter. It takes a good long while to recognise the conditions which can catch you out, and taking away your safety margin is unwise. If you do want to play beyond the limit of grip, save up for a skid pan or handling course. It's great fun and you learn things that might help you in general driving.

In fairness, running said Focal speakers off the 2013- Toyota headunit, I've never run out of volume knob, except when I wanted to go all Wayne's World on the bluetooth source. The lineout on the bluetooth module is quiet compared with the CD/radio part. Interior plastics start to thrum over a certain volume anyway... I have no doubt a separate amp could drive a bit more authority into the speakers and distort less at higher volumes, but the OEM part isn't doing badly for day-to-day. Not suitable for this kinda thing

I'm envisioning happy-go-lucky mechanic with drill and a brief sparking.

The car does indeed make a fuss if it thinks a key is inside when you close the boot. Whoops. Thankfully it allows you to open the boot again to retrieve your key.