Lauren
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Posts posted by Lauren
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Well, not a bad turn out today. Really nice to put yet more names to faces and have a bit of a natter. The weather did go a bit Yorkshire on us at times and after being rained off at the Squires cafe, we opted for a short 40 mile drive north. Alec and Dave shot off, I knew the convoy was going to struggle as I had about ten cars behind me. So I just followed the sat nav which meant a fair old slog up the none too interesting A1M. Still Alec and Dave hadn't faired that much better. But, at least we were met with a smattering of good roads in places. I think the distance we covered meant avoiding motorways was a touch more difficult.
Still, some scenery was seen. We stopped at Masham and ended up having a pub lunch. The weather really didn't play ball and chips were close to floating off the plate at one stage!
We then went on a great bit of road, a bit hampered by other road users and stopped at a farm for ice cream. Mark and I headed back not long after we got there and had an absolute corker of a drive back to Masham, seemingly unspoilt by other traffic.
We managed 230 odd miles over the course of the day, not bad going I think. I know there were others with far more impressive mileages like Faith and Keith.
It was a shame to lose Sam, no idea how he fell out of the convoy on the way out after the initial meet.
We need more northern meet ups!
I didn't really take any pics as such, but here's one that came out better than I thought it would. This is the Manchester contingent refuelling at Birch services.
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Welcome aboard. Nice pics too!
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Yep, let's do it!
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........MCB?
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That's a very distinctive look, Keith, I like it.
I admit to slightly preferring the second design on the wheel spoke, which is more subtle. -
Great stuff, Rob, well done. Have paid up.
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The idea, Sam is that because we are non-profit, any revenue generated through traders and through any optional membership fees is able to to be put forward for events and socials and to subsidise anything that will benefit the members. As the other forum is for Dan's income, he makes money from advertising revenue and traders, but that money is not going to go on members events etc, it will go into his pockets. For me that is morally an issue. I am already a director of a non-profit club called IMOC-UK Ltd. Come, see our stand at JAE or better still come on it in your GT86 (we will have an area on the IMOC) stand and see the facilities that are paid for by income from traders and membership fees. Whilst the other forum is an established one, it does not cater for members in the same way.
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Hello Pitman, glad you found us here.
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Hello Mike. This club and forum has only been going a couple of months, but we are looking forward to building the club for the future.
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Well hopefully there won't be too many caravans or cyclists in the way. I daresay I'm bound to encounter this in places, but will take the opportunity to enjoy myself when the road is clear.
I must say I really am so excited about this trip. I've been to Switzerland a couple of times in my life but I've never driven the roads. Just got to be done! -
Okay, just finished bookings for my second Euro trip of the year. The plan is we are taking our dog, Indy to see her favourite uncle who now lives in Lake Garda, Italy. We are driving to mum's in London, then taking the Chunnel on the 2nd September. From there we'll speed through France and arrive at Basel in Switzerland. Killerbee (on the FT86 forum) has kindly made me a route to take in three passes the following day. Hopefully we'll manage to meet up with him on the way. Sustenpass:
Then the Grimselpass:
Furkapass:
Then we stop over in Lenzerheide and the following morning we go through St Moritz (lunch stop if we can afford it perhaps?) and onto the Stelvio:
We will staying in Lake Garda for five nights, before returning over the Alps via the Stelvio but then taking the tunnels instead of the passes before stopping over in Colmar in France which looks pretty:.jpg)
What I wanted to say, is if anyone is along route and wants to meet up, let me know. I must say, having never driven the Alps before I'm rather excited at the proposition. -
Sounds like a great meet. Impressive turn out too. Wicked that you got to drive Pitman's turbo. I'm really looking forward to trying Keith's at the sprint. Can't think of anything for the gif I'm afraid apart from compressing it, but unless there's an export option where you can compress I can't think of anything. Been using Macs to long.
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Sorted!
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Cool. We have lost the Fensport banner it seems though.
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Ooh let us know how you get on. I must admit the thought of it having anything to do with Chris Evans puts me off a bit. Can't believe your sons aren't interested! :eek:
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Cheers, Gregg, the strut brace is indeed a lovely bit of kit. I think really it's when you've got all this added with the other braces that cummatively it will make a big overall difference. It certainly sets the scene for further chassis bracing modifications. I look forward to having a go when all the TRD bracing kit is on.
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Well, I'd love some of this stuff, but have another holiday to pay for first, so it's going to have to wait!
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Nothing striking about this comparison here, more speculation about current values and the like. http://www.pistonheads.com/doc.asp?c=52&i=28149
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Now, I should start by saying that RRG Macc' are somewhat enthusiastic about their GT86's and it comes as no surprise that their GT86 TRD did not stay standard for long. First off an Injen Induction kit went on, shortly followed thereafter by a custom four tailpipe rear section to the exhaust courtesy of local experts, JP Exhausts. A decat and overpipe were also added at this point. So already the car sounds quite different from the standard TRD model which I have to say was just a bit too quiet. The workmanship on the JP rear section is lovely and of obvious quality. Wish I'd taken a decent picture of it now!However, all these modifications were done when the car arrived, it is really the more recent modifications that are perhaps of more interest. Richard at RRG received some more TRD goodies in the post and it didn't take long to put them on the car. These are the TRD strut brace which is pretty and pretty light in carbon:
A close up of the mounting brackets which are typically neat:
A view along the strut brace:
Well, it feels rigid enough and is certainly serious bling, but are there benefits? We shall find out. Also perhaps the modification that has raised a lot of interest is that of the TRD door closers that act to improve the torsional rigidity of the chassis. It is said that they help to ensure a more linear steering response under load. A novel idea I admit and a modification I've not seen on other cars. Still, they look pretty cool. 
In the section that attaches to the door closer, the topmost part slides when the door closes. This is so that it mates with it's corresponding part that attaches to the door. I didn't notice any difference in how the door seemed to close over a standard setup. 
So time to find out what it is like on the road. I should also add that the TRD comes with 18" ten spoke wheels running 225/40/18 Yokohama Advan AD08 tyres. I will admit there was a part of me that wondered whether the extra grip from the wider grippier tyres would dominate the driving experience and feel a bit over-tyred or like the car is 'on rails' which to me would have spoiled the experience. The fun about handling is that you need to work the car in it's slip angle which is the angle or degree you can slide the tyres beyond the point of adhesion until they give up completely. This for me is the fun part of driving. I needn't have worried though as it transpired. The car does generate more grip than the Primacy HP Michelins, there is no doubt of that. Conditions were 30C and hot and sunny. The route I took is perhaps a well known one, a triangle of roads around Macclesfield to Bosley and then up the A54 and down the infamous Cat & Fiddle (A537) which joins Buxton to Macclesfield. In my racing days I used to train around this route mostly in the winter when the roads were quiet. Unfortunately for me the roads were not so quiet, but never mind there were opportunities to test the chassis. As I was driving the RRG demo TRD and I wasn't going to be doing any drifting I put it in sport mode once I found everything being left on in terms of traction and stability control was starting to hamper progress. With the modifications tested, any difference is going to be subtle. As is always the case with these things everything tends to compliment each other. RRG do have a full TRD underbody bracing set to fit and I expect that will make more of a difference. My feelings upon driving the car and through some spirited cornering on some undulating roads is that the front end does feel perhaps a little sharper than standard. I'm not sure that turn in on a standard car is in any way woolly, but these modifications have to help proceedings, to some extent, I feel. Perhaps a better way to describe it is that the front end of the car especially under a high load during turn in to a corner inspires confidence and this is no bad thing. This car has 2900 miles on the clock compared to my car with 14500 miles under it's wheels. Naturally it hasn't loosened up in respect of the engine, gearbox and to a degree the chassis that mine has, however it should be noted that the JP four tip exhaust sounds just brilliant. I do think that having some noise from the rear accompanied with the induction roar of the Injen Induction kit always results in the driving experience feeling that bit more involving when you're on the pace. I like that, a lot! Overall these additional modifications are certainly nice bits of kit. The difference is subtle rather than obvious, but there is no doubting the quality of the items. I look forward to seeing the difference the underbody bracing makes. :)Here's a sneak preview of the underbody bracing (still wrapped to keep all the part numbers with the parts!): 
Just a couple of pics of the car:
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You'd need to ask Johnny, I can't remember what they were.
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But, change the exhaust for something a bit more vocal and it intensifies the experience when you're going for it, I find.
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It was great fun. Lots of driving, lots of socialising and a damn good time. I've been talking to the Dutch guys (the Wild Bunch) and I think it's important that we convoy in with them and perhaps spend a night with them and a night with the ze Germans. I was also contemplating an overnight somewhere near Amsterdam (It'd add an extra day to the trip though most likely). It's a cool city and worth a look if you haven't been. We've been many times and know all the museums and all that stuff. But, we can stop over elsehwere and perhaps nearer Erik in Zwartsluis (think NE Netherlands) as it'd make the next day with an early start a whole lot easier. There's a great place called Gierthoorn nearby which is known as the Dutch Venice, it's a lovely place. There is a lot to work out, but you guys so have to come!
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Costwise it depends what you go for. We did a bit of a Euro trip with four nights in very good hotels a night with Erik which was free of course and then camping for two nights which wasn't that cheap. For us the trip cost £1500. We were away just over a week. But we did not spare any expense. One thing I would prefer next year is to stay in a hotel at Duderstadt rather than camp (getting too old and cramming in camping gear is a bit of a pain). But I would like to know what people want. The Germans seem to like to camp, whilst the Dutch insist on a hotel. We are looking for a new venue which preferably will be a hotel, but we must have a campfire and all that stuff. Somewhere in the mountains would be good. Others have simply gone from the UK to Duderstadt on the Friday all the way from Calais, stay till Sunday morning and get the Ferry back on Sunday night. It can be done and this would significantly reduce costs. I think though, if you're going that far it makes a lot nicer to break up the trip a bit. I also think the drive with the Wild Bunch which takes the scenic route to Duderstadt is definitely worth doing. We are planning a stop over in Brugge on the way back again. It's beautiful, the beer is amazing. I have a contact for hotels (we've stayed at the same hotel for two years running). I daresay at the other end of the scale you could do the trip for £500. Last year it cost us a £1000 or so but we did a few stopovers at hotels too but didn't go as mad as this year!
Spotted!!
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We could, I reckon.