spikyone

That thought occurred to me too, but the exhaust seemed pretty well fixed in place. Arch liners and brake disc shields are a good shout too, I'll do some more prodding around later. Got it booked in for Wednesday so if I can't find anything I should have an answer then, at least.

Definitely not coming from those as far as I can tell; everything seems to be held in pretty well in the boot. If it weren't for the fact that my mileage is reasonably low (22.5k), my guess would be wheel bearing or shocks. I'm no expert on diffs, but the thought also occurred that it could be coming from that. Least likely would be brakes. The fact the symptoms only occur when the NSR is unloaded and I'm braking seems to suggest they're the most likely. If it's bearing/shocks/diff at the mileage I'll be pushing for it to be fixed under warranty, it seems pretty early for those to be failing.

It's nowhere near as heavy as its reputation suggests; the lightest 350Z/370Z are around 1500kg. The Mustang is heavier, as is a 911, and no-one has ever said a 911 was very heavy. It's similar enough to a GT86 (Japanese RWD coupe at a comparable price) to disprove the notion that more power would increase '86 sales, particularly to the general car-buying public - going back to my point on "what a few nerds on internet forums want vs. what most people actually buy". Exactly - emissions regs and approval costs are prohibitive. You can't get any more from the FA20 and still meet Euro 6, so more power is going to need a turbo or a different engine. And there simply isn't enough demand for Toyota to 1) develop that car, and 2) homologate it for the European market. Had they done it from the outset, it might have been different. From a business case perspective, a performance version would also cannibalise sales from the current car, so it's not as easy as "put in a bigger engine, sell a load more cars".

I'm always a bit sceptical about statements like that. The Nissan 350Z has plenty more power, but has never sold in anything like the numbers that the GT86 has achieved. There's a bit of discussion on that Jalopnik article (as there frequently is on Pistonheads) about what the enthusiast says they want, and what people actually buy. A bunch of keyboard warriors saying "it needs more power" doesn't mean they'd actually buy it if it had more power. The price would go up and people would compare it to the Type R, Focus RS, and Golf R, instead of comparing it to a Fiesta ST. And they would probably say it was underpowered because it didn't have 300bhp.

Sadly not, but if I didn't need some occasional practicality that's where my money would go; ideally in Sports Racer spec. Supercar looks, Lotus handling, Toyota engine with a supercharger. Perfection.

You're right, it is an MOT failure. I had to have my sensors swapped onto my new wheels; the garage wouldn't let me leave without the TPMS sensors because of it being an MOT fail. And yes, they charged for it too, about £130 IIRC. Ironically they sheared one of the wheel studs and were happy to let me drive away with only 4 nuts holding the wheel on*, but something that didn't even exist until a few years ago is apparently too dangerous to leave off the car. * I know that 4 wheel nuts is enough, but equally I'd rather have a full complement of wheel nuts on my car than TPMS...

Welcome along, I'm also in Swindon, and was lucky enough to spend a few years studying in Bath. Congratulations on picking the best colour too. I'll give a +1 for @VAD17's suggestion of the TD package, it really brings out the best of the engine. I have a TRD style spoiler which is (IMO) a big improvement over the standard one; there's an eBay seller that sells them pre-painted for a reasonable price if you go that route.

I have Grazios. They're expensive compared to, say, Valentis, but considering you're basically getting a brand new pair of OEM lights the price is reasonable, IMO. Here's how they look:

I have some OEM wheels - I'm a bit of a long way from you though. Not looking for aftermarket wheels either as Lucas already sorted me out with something suitably shiny

Couple of questions: @Rob_86 why didn't they re-run the test at 2400-2600rpm? Not sure it would make enough difference to pass, but they should be following the DVSA guidance limits if it fails the first test. @Rich any idea what's going on with your second test? CO and HC look to have not been tested: CO is 0, and HC is 3ppm, which is probably background. It's almost as if they didn't put the probe in the exhaust... Interesting to see that both tests show CO and HC a long way outside limits. Anyone got a printout of values from a car with a decat manifold that's passed?

Looks good! What do you think of the suspension so far? That's probably going to be my next upgrade and I've been leaning towards the KWs.

Nice photo Lucas! Excuse the background, this was mine yesterday - took the photo to play around with ride height in the Suspension Master app, just for fun. I need to give it a proper clean and go somewhere scenic, but even parked outside the garage I love the way it looks

Sign me up too please - looks like being a good meet

Got these fitted today, 18x8.5 ET45, on 225/40 PS4s. Stock suspension and no spacers. Not too far from perfect, if I do say so myself (yep, I know it needs a clean...)

Good to hear you're enjoying them, I had a similar discussion with Mike when he fitted my NA kit and he spoke quite highly of the BC coilovers. Even from a quick passenger ride in the turbo car, they seemed to give a nice level of stability without any crashiness. My wallet is currently suffering from a new set of wheels but once I've recovered from that hit I'll probably be looking for a set. Your car looks good, that ride height is exactly what I'd want!

Auxillis aren't a repairer, just an accident management company. They're one of those companies that will sort you out with a "like-for-like" hire car (rather than a courtesy car) and charge it to the other insurer, whilst arranging your repairs etc. In your case liability is cut and dry, but be aware that if you go down the route of a like-for-like car and the other insurer challenges costs you could end up paying for the hire car, which will be very very very expensive. Given that you're asking for extra work to be done, that's something you should be aware of as it increases the chance of the other insurer having a problem with it. (I don't have a problem with those like for like cars in general - aside from the fact that we all pay more on our insurance! - and where liability is clear it is infrequent for there to be problems. It's just that when there is a problem, it gets messy and expensive)

Oh crap. Really sorry to see that. Hope it's fixed as painlessly as possible.

Seconded - I should have said that before I started asking questions, and I apologise if I'm taking this off-topic. From the perspective of running satnav apps, can that not be done with a named-brand HU running Android Auto? In which case, is it just cost (and fitment, in the case of our cars) that these HUs have in their favour? Most of the reviews of Android HUs seem to focus on how many cores they have and what apps they can run - with only a passing reference to stuff like whether the sound quality is any good. And there are few comparisons to non-Android HUs from established brands, who don't generally seem interested in releasing Android HUs of their own.

Forgive my ignorance, but what's the deal with satnav on an Android HU? You mention downloading offline maps, so I presume that if you want a 'regular' satnav capability you either need to fit a SIM or use your phone's data? And that you'd then be limited by your data reception. If that is the case, then what is the advantage in an Android HU over a more conventional HU? The only thing I can see in favour of Android is that there are more options that will fit our cars without an adaptor and they might be a bit cheaper. Have I missed something?

Great stuff. Let's stick all the current F1 drivers in GT86s and see who's really fastest. It'd make Sunday afternoons much more entertaining!

Hadn't checked in on this thread for a while - @Lowe, I can't believe you haven't got the wheels fitted yet! They look lovely though, and us grey owners definitely know a nice metallic flake when we see one Just thought I'd quickly comment on those Depo lights; they're done in a different way to the Grazios, which look like this: The red is a gel coat (or something similar); you can feel the raised edges. IMO they look a lot nicer than the Depos, which still look a bit aftermarket. If the Depo internals were red instead of black they would look much better. My only - very minor - gripe with the Grazios is that they aren't full red over the tail/brake lights, which looks a bit less OEM from the side: Sorry for the hijack, and hope to see some more updates soon!

I don't see much value in extended warranties. Warranties in general are frequently misunderstood; they're basically a manufacturer saying "we believe we designed it right and built it right, but if one of those has gone wrong we'll sort it for you". They're not saying "if anything breaks on your car, we'll sort it for you". The nerdy bit: It's worth reading up on reliability engineering - there is something called a bathtub curve, that plots the chance of failure against the amount of time that something is used. Initially, you have a higher probability of failure, mostly due to manufacturing defects. If something hasn't been built right, it will fail pretty quickly. That's known as infant mortality, and it will fall within your warranty period (especially so with a 5yr/100k warranty) so your warranty covered infant mortality. Then the risk of failure decreases to a low steady rate - random failures. Those may also be covered by your warranty, but the risk is generally low enough to be negligible in that period. Finally as something is used for a very long period, risk of failure increases again due to wear-out and component ageing. Those are not covered by your warranty. When you draw the graph of probability of failure vs time you get a flattened U shape that looks like the shape of a bathtub: If you're outside of the manufacturer's warranty period, you're going to be well into that low, constant failure rate. The chances of failure are minimal, assuming there are no design issues (and all of the big ones for our cars should have been sorted in warranty anyway). And as I already said, warranties do not cover you against the high failure rate that occurs during wear-out. So you're covering yourself against a low probability of failure. Just my opinion, but £500 for a very low chance of having a failure that you could actually claim for, is not worth the money. YMMV.

A) I bought mine from new, as @Lauren said it guarantees you the spec you want and you'll know you're the only one that's thrashed it I would guess that the 86 is not likely to be replaced in the next 3 years based on what's been said recently by Tada san; he was still talking about what concept direction a replacement might take. There are no rumours from reputable sources, no spy shots, no concept cars. And let's be honest, you might not like the replacement anyway. Live for the moment B ) The easiest way to a discount is to use the online brokers to get their best price, then take it to your local dealer and ask them to match it. I'd recommend carwow, drivethedeal, broadspeed - and just put "new car broker" into Google to see if there are any others. I took a printout showing the spec and price that I'd been quoted. Some of the brokers pass your details onto the dealer network who make offers directly to you, so the printout I had showed the name of the dealer offering that price. Back in 2015, it was good for just under £3k discount and Toyota were also offering a £1k contribution to finance, so I got the fat end of £4k off. That was with a bunch of options, so £28.5k list at the time. C) See above! D) Pro spec seems to have most of the toys that you could want. Parking sensors are nice to have, the other option is an aftermarket reversing camera. There are a few choices for those. I can't explain why Toyota never offered that as an option in the UK. Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us updated!

I realise that for most of you this is going to be preaching to the choir, but after running the Tuning Developments NA package for 6 weeks or so and getting a few road miles and a track day under my belt, I thought I'd share my experiences for anyone that's considering having their car upgraded. I had the install completed just before Christmas; I stayed in Runcorn at a very cheap hotel, and made my way over to Warrington at 9am. The work took until about 2pm to complete, including TD's own catback and the MTEC shift springs/Powerflex gearbox insert combination. I spent some time talking to @Mike@TD.co.uk whilst the work was being done and it's clear that he knows his stuff with GT86s. He kept me updated with how the work was going, and also kindly took me for a passenger ride in the turbo GT86 After a couple of post-install dyno runs and a road test, I took the keys back and prepared for the long journey down the M6/M5. Just pulling out of the estate where TD are based it was obvious that the engine revved more freely. Spending a bit more time with the package since then has only reinforced that initial impression. Even keeping the revs below the old torque dip the engine response feels more immediate. The real benefits become obvious once you get over 3500rpm though. Plant your right foot at 30mph in 3rd gear, as you might do on a sliproad, and the car pulls effortlessly all the way to the national limit. Whilst you'll see a ~10% gain in peak power over a standard car, the real improvements come at 4000rpm where you have 25% more torque, and the torque level is almost constant from 3000 - 6750rpm, rather than 4750 - 6750. It practically doubles the width of the power band, and as you'd imagine the result is like driving a different car. You can keep the engine in its sweet spot without running it to the redline in every gear An added bonus of the flexibility is that it allows you even more potential to exploit the chassis balance and adjustability on the road. The extra torque means that you have more options coming out of a corner. I was always a fan of the way that you can neutralise understeer with the right amount of throttle input, and the flat torque curve and sharper throttle response really helps that characteristic shine. On track the gains are less obvious but still there. At track speeds you would normally have been above the dip anyway, but at Donington a couple of weeks back we had quite a wet morning. I didn't know the circuit, and combined with the rain (and the need to drive home afterwards!) I was fairly cautious early on. As well as taking less corner speed, I was shifting at lower revs. The ability to upshift early without dropping into the dip meant that I didn't feel I was losing too much by doing that. I'm looking forward to getting back to Castle Combe at some point too. Last time out I was short-shifting to 5th before Folly to avoid an upshift through the corner, and the improved torque curve should mean that it's not so costly to do that. As I mentioned after the installation, I also found that fitting the NA package didn't increase my insurance premium, which is through one of the brokers in the Insurance section. As for the other changes to the car, the catback has given the exhaust note a nice throaty bass in day-to-day driving. It was initially a little harsher and had a slight drone at motorway speeds, but has mellowed nicely over time and is now quite tuneful. I can happily listen to music at a sensible volume, without the exhaust drowning it out. On track it really sings with a lovely race car note. The MTEC springs and Powerflex gearbox insert have made a surprisingly big difference for such an affordable modification. Cold-start 2nd gear issues aside, I'd always thought the GT86 has a very good shift from the factory. That the springs and insert have improved on it so noticeably is seriously impressive. It has a really positive feel, and the weight and precision are nothing short of exceptional. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend both Tuning Developments and the NA package. The install looks great quality, Mike and Nick know their stuff, and it really is excellent value.

Cheers! Yeah, all good, I'll need a new TPMS sensor and will get the alignment checked just in case, but otherwise it was just a bit of ego damage. Lessons learned - with Primacies and no nannies 9/10ths is more than enough, and if you're ever catching a Cayman GT4 it's because they're smart enough not to take the piss with it rather than because you're far more talented than them...