Captain Duff

I didn't know about RRG when I brought my car from the Toyota dealer in Preston (wasn't aware or the two UK forums either until after being an owner), but thankfully by the time my first service came around I'd picked up on the good reviews and discussions on the forums and so have used them every year since. Funnily enough when my local dealer phoned me to book me in for that first service and I told them that I was going to use RRG instead the girl on the phone laughed and said something like 'oh no, not another one, I'll take you off the list as well' so I think even then other dealers were well aware of the RRG effect on their return business!

Thanks Lauren that's interesting, and may fit with the fact that after a couple of long M-way journeys recently with minimal brake use I've found that my drivers side rear alloy is hot to the touch (but not the passenger side), which would indicate something is touching to generate the heat.

I opened it to get the water out, only to find that there wasn't any, it isn't a case of pulling it apart, just opening it as you would to replace the battery, which coincidentally I'd done a couple of weeks earlier, it's quite a neat design all round actually, with the hidden key fitting the slot to open it.

RRG Macclesfield are based in Macclesfield funnily enough Bit of a trek form Peterborough for the OP, but it is a good place to get to know for any 86/BRZ owner as Rich and Gary really care about our cars, have no issue with mods (and will supply and fit many of them) and in my (and plenty of others) experience are the best main dealer you'll find and I'm always happy to travel down to them from where I live.

Thanks for the replies, I do think that the slow speed revolving grind/squeal is most likely brake related as I can't think what else it could be. Yesterday I was getting brake squeal for a minute or so after each time I used the brakes around town (and after completely releasing the pedal), so I'm going to get it into a local garage for a take apart and re-grease on them to see if that works. I'll then also find out hopefully if that fixes the intermittent high speed tambourine sound!

That's interesting, thanks, although I did get the flexi-insert part a couple of years ago although of course that doesn't mean it isn't exhaust related (except I would wonder how that fits with the low speed sound?).

Glad you got it sorted, but I really don't know what went wrong, I have used AG glass polish for years on multiple cars and never had an issue. The key is to use very sparingly on initial wipe on before rubbing/polishing off when dry. It is a good/essential prep for then using a glass sealant for rain shedding (do it right and you rarely have to use the wipers of you are going fast enough to blow the rain off). It may be worth contacting AG directly about what happened, they have a good customer service rep and should respond to see what happened. Incidentally, they normally recommend their own Fast Glass for removing most things from windscreens, including I assume their own products.

As you've probably discovered Toyota only sell the complete mirror assembly rather than the plastic housing and it is hideously expensive (hundreds when I needed one a few years ago after smashing it on a gate post). You can either keep an eye out on ebay, or do some breaker searches, but the alternative could be a repair of your broken one. Around 3 or 4 years ago mine was smashed into around 7 or 8 pieces of plastic (although the mirror, and as it turned out the adjusting motor, were fine), and a local body shop bloke managed to glue it all together, and with some filler/sanding/new black paint got it looking like it had never been broken to begin with and it has stayed that way since then. It would depend how bad the damage of yours was of course, and if you still have the pieces (or most of them) but a good body shop can work real magic (the cost in my case was peanuts too).

I would start with what you want the car to do. The stock wheels are reasonably light for OEM (tad over 9kg a corner if memory serves), but you will get better handling if you can go lighter, 6-8kg a corner for example (so look out for the weight specified for the rims you are interested in, if they don't specify a weight it generally means that they are not light!). Going lighter is harder and more expensive to do if you want to go to 18" rims than if you get 17". As others has said, 18" will mean lower profile tyres. You may like the look of these, but bare in mind the state of your local roads and the less protection to your precious rims that a low profile tyre means. But back to what you want the car to do. If you are looking for track then 18" rims and low profile tyres with some added width compared to OEM might suit. If you are not tracking but daily driving then sticking to 17" but altering your suspension may be right for you. And then if you are looking for a tuning looks and stance approach then you will have different options still. In terms of lowering I have recently dropped 20mm from stock on some KW v3 coilovers and that seems fine for clearance (I initially - and by mistake - went down 40mm and that was not good at all!). A drop of 15-20mm is fine and also means that you have less to worry about in relation to alignment geometry, more than 20mm and that is more of an issue, although I would always recommend a specialist 4 wheel alignment following any suspension changes anyway (and at one of the specialist garages that are active on this forum, if you go to non-performance specialists they will just be using the OEM alignment calibration figures which would not be correct). A cheap lower can be achieved by new springs on OEM suspension, but these may not improve handling (in fact they may do the opposite), which is why it may then be better to go for a quality compete coilover replacement, but of course then your budget stretches significantly, which brings things back to what you want the car to do afterwards

In terms of the modifications part of the issue the EU is your friend here (and I say that as someone who voted to leave it!). The 2003 EU 'Block Exception Regulations' are what you need to quote. These were essentially brought in to stop car manufacturers using their main dealer network as an unfair and expensive cartel and forcing owners to use them for servicing and parts, so the regs have forced them to allow cars to be services elsewhere and fitted with non-OEM parts so long as those places and parts are themselves up to standard (so getting a VAT registered independent garage to do your service and oil change doesn't invalidate any warranty, getting your mate to do it might). And as others have said, they would need to prove that the mods caused the actual problem, so with a gearbox issue a non-OEM exhaust would not be a reason to refuse a warranty claim, but a re-map or turbo etc. could well be. This is all in addition to the fact that I got my own second cat deleted after-market exhaust supplied and fitted by main dealer RRG Macc (and so I am not expecting any warranty problems!). As for the track issue, that may be more problematic as I have a feeling that the warranty views 'racing' as improper use of the vehicle that could invalidate the warranty, but I'm not 100% and 'racing' may not be the same as a track session.

I've got a Valenti bumper light ready to fit myself (had the rears on for years now, only just got around to buying the bumper one!) so have been looking at all the advice/fitting guides and possible wiring changes. As I understand it the stock Valenti is as you describe so just mimics the OEM bumper light functions. The extra long red cable is to splice to the appropriate brake light wire in the nearest tail light if you wish and then that gives you the flashing bumper light in the small bit above the 'V' (although I think it still maintains the fog function too, maybe someone can confirm?). Anyway, as has been said, most people prefer to have the 'V' act as a third tail light. The best/clearest instructions I can find is as has been said on the Aussie forum (the 'Hawk guide' as it is known after the user name of the person who posted it) - http://www.86forums.com.au/index.php?/topic/1634-valenti-reversing-light-v-as-position-light-mod/ I think the advice to try it all out before actually fitting it to the bumper position is sensible, so plug it into the relevant socket and then with the rear seat down have the unit inside the car as you play with the break pedal/reverse/lights to check what it does. I intend to do this as the first step just to make sure the unit is working properly (as I won't be able to exchange with Amber if I have already done the next step!). Assuming it is working out of the box I then intend to follow the Hawk guide for the internal wiring change to get the 'V' to act as a standard real light. I think it looks pretty simple, but as I have never been the best at soldiering (to put it mildly) I may take the easy option of just using a butt crimp to do that part (it also acts as a built in heat shrink to prevent any lose contact/shorting so makes it quicker too), you can get these for pennies - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Insulated-Straight-Butt-Connectors-Electrical-Crimp-Terminals-Wire-Cable/121859932941?hash=item1c5f6b030d:m:mV0ZSOwMxSGUWzrvkqeKrww Then it will just be a matter of either using the supplied Valenti little red wire joiner to splice it to the tail light cable, or get something like this of you haven't got that - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Scotch-Lock-Wire-Connector-Quick-Splice-Terminals-Crimp-Electrical-Cable-Snap-OR/263907470910?hash=item3d721c6e3e:m:m0di7M7CmfyIGWQ-u2BKsiw - or do what Hawk did and push it in the relevant hole of the socket on the tail light. Now, if I have got any of this wrong please tell me now before I start it all myself (this weekend probably) please! Also, if anyone has got any tips from doing it themselves that isn't in the Hawk guide please share

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, I've just got a Cusco headlight adjuster ready to fit with some coilovers in a couple of weeks, the instructions are in Japanese only so is this still the current adjustment guidance advice for them, or has it been tweaked following installation and use by anyone?

Ordered a couple of parts from Amber last week and just wanted to say that the service was exceptional with next day delivery, top dealer. Just wish I was as speedy when it comes to getting around to putting them on the car!

According to the website they are a German retreads only maker, which explains why they are cheap. They are green I guess, but my own recycling tendencies would take an awful lot of pushing to get me to want to try some! https://www.king-meiler.com/

As I was rapidly coming up to 5 years of ownership and the end of the manufactures warranty I decided to have a look at what else is out there and to see whether for what I want the grass is any greener elsewhere. So I looked at the possibility of an Alfa 4C. s/h prices are getting tempting due to what appears like a steep depreciation on low mileage cars that are only a year old , e.g., Alfa 4C - but despite the beautiful looks I decided against, first because I wasn't sure it would suit being a daily driver, second because the servicing costs are high because of needing to lift out the carbon shell each time with special equipment (allegedly), but mainly because I realised I would really struggle to fit my lardy backside in it. So then I thought Cayman. I had an hour test driving a 718 with all the extras (2016 model, so the 4 pot turbo). Oddly, despite enjoying the extra poke I didn't enjoy the car very much at all. Partly because adjusting the seat with dozens of confusing electronic adjustment options was such a pain (as was just raising and extending the steering wheel), partly because the 20" wheels it had felt awful, harsh and noisy (but mainly no more sideways on wet roundabouts!), but mainly because I'd struggle to justify the cost (and the ongoing servicing rip off prices). Yes, the sports exhaust that was fitted gave a great burble, and the engine behind your head noise was lovely, but it just didn't feel right for me (when I test drove the 86 I knew within 10 seconds I was going to do anything I could to buy it). There were a few more cars I had considered like the Mustang, but for the tight parking spaces I often have to use it is just too big (the F-Type didn't grab me either for similar reasons). So back to the 86. I did have the first drive of the new Blue Edition at RRG when I was ion for my service/MOT and liked it a lot (colour is better than in the pics I think, although it is a solid and not a metallic). There is a new smaller steering wheel that felt nice to use, and the uprated suspension was fantastic compared to my 2013 stock (Rich said it was firmer again than the already stiffer 2017 pro-edition) which meant that even on the unscrubbed primacy tyres it felt really planted around the cat and fiddle bends. So I did have a long hard think about a trade in on it (could have had it straight away, or with a new Sept registration, otherwise it is a 3-4 month order), but much as the handling improvement on my car was very obvious again I struggled to justify the big cost (not helped by the trade in value for a 5 y/o GT is now only £11,000, yes I would get more via private sale but would then need to overlap the purchase/sale to ensure I had a cr to use which would be difficult). So the end result of my exploration of the grass the other side of the fence was that I am sticking with the great car that I've got already, albeit with a £549 2 year extended warranty via RRG, which includes 2 MOT's and 2 years of AA cover so something of a bargain I think). I'm also finally going to get new suspension now I know how skittish my old OEM version is over less than perfect roads, I just hope my car will forgive my recent infidelities!

I was wondering why you need a re-gas with the R1234yf? I know that sounds like a daft question, but when the EU initially specified it for all new models (before changing their mind, but not before 2 years of EU-specced GT86's had been sold) it was on the basis that the 'green' credentials of R1234yf centered on it being seen as a 'life of the car' product that shouldn't need re-gassing unless there has been some sort of a leak in the system. The cheaper 'regular' gas normally needs a 2-3 year re-gas because the smaller molecule size means that it gradually seeps out through the rubber pipes etc. , the expensive gas shouldn't (so over the life of a cxar it should work out cheaper and have less environmental impact) So my own 2013 R1234yf gassed model is still as cold now as it was 5 years ago (thankfully, given how hot it was the other month). If yours isn't there may be a reason for it that a re-gas may not solve, so perhaps it would be worth getting a leak/seal test done on it first, particularly if it is still in warranty (as I would argue it is a warranty claim not a consumable).

My car is 5 years old (had from new), and have to say in terms of faults/warranty issues it is the most reliable I have ever had, much more so than my MkII Skoda Octavia vRS that I also had from new and which was a lovely car but had quite a lot of minor things that went wrong on it that needed trips to the dealer. I sold it in the end as I was getting increasingly worried about rising reports of timing chain failures with the TSI engines that caused the engines to be damaged beyond repair and that VAG was refusing to compensate for out of warranty. I am not aware of any serious issues showing up in any numbers on our cars, and more than 8 years after release we should be hearing about them if they existed, so my view is that this is a reliable car. As to the minor issues, they are very minor I think. The rust issue isn;t really a rust issue as most people would understand it. The bonnet strip is just a cheap metal strip that holds the rubber seal at the front of the bonnet, it is screwed onto the plastic bumper so if it rusts it only rusts itself, it does't spread to anything important, and most importantly I think the part to replace costs less than a tenner (and anyone can diy replace it in less than 10mins). The quarter light rust again is not a big issue, it doesn't spread to anywhere important (it is just the bar at the side of the window), can be easily stopped with rust preventer spray, and again if it needs replacing it can be done very cheaply at the next service. I must admit I was looking around recently at perhaps getting something else, but seriously nothing at the right price caught my eye as nothing at this price level really compares for the £ for fun factor. Of course spend a lot more and you would have a Cayman perhaps, but do you want to spend a lot more? So currently if I replace it will be with another GT86 and I don't think you can get a better recommendation than that

I replaced my Goodyear Eagle AS2's last month as wasn't happy with the grip I was getting when they were still on around 4.5mm. Never been entirely sold on them due to the soft side wall. I was going to go to either the PS4 or 105's that lots of people on here like, but due to a hard to pass up extra voucher deal on Black Circles I actually ended up going for Avon ZV7's that were a lot cheaper than either and also had the bonus of being made in England (although sadly they are US owned these days). Have to say I am very impressed so far, low road noise, excellent grip and handling although steering feel is a little lower than the AS2's. I certainly haven't got any regrets so far, but will see how I feel by the end of the summer and before I switch back to the winters!

So here's the story. Having driven over to Humberside today for a family funeral there was a very heavy snow fall while we were in the pub afterwards and before I set off back to Lancs. No problem I thought, I swapped on my winter rims/tyres a few weeks ago so happy days. However, I was in the countryside, it was hilly and the roads hadn't been gritted. There was between 1 and 2 inches of snow on some of the B roads. Got to the bottom of one hill only to find 3 cars had slid into each other (or I think a couple had slid down the hill backwards) and there was no way I was going to get past them any time soon. I turned around and headed back up the hill only to find that even with the winter tyres (Yokohama winter drives) I could barely manage it (standing start didn't help) slid all over the show, including backwards at times. After half an hour I managed the few hundred yards to the top and a better road, but nearly didn't (and only did it in the end by wedging myself in the side gully where there was less snow/more grip). So my question is, rare as this situation is, it has made me realise that I shouldn't rely on winter tyres alone. So if ever I'm in a similar pickle I figure that a set of snow chains or socks in the boot would be a real life saver. Problem is I have no experience of either, has anyone used them for our cars and what would be recommended for an occasional use every few years, chains or socks (on OEM size 17" wheels)?

sorry this is late, but plenty of leather detailing products around, although not all have UV protection which is what you need (so for example I use 3M leather wipes on my steering wheel which are great for getting rid of that hard shiny look that builds up on on the former matt areas due to oil from your hands, but I don't think it has any UV protection). Stuff like this is probably worth a look - leather milk

I got an email on this from Shell recently, they seem to be getting very keen to push people into not interacting with any employees at filling stations, no doubt because they then need less of them, so like the awful self service scanners in the supermarkets I won't be using as it destroys jobs ultimately. And because I haven't got a smart phone so can't use any apps of course

I peeled the rubber back the other week when I first read this and couldn't spot anything, however having just got some engine bling bolts to replace the black painted ones in the front area that were looking tatty I took it off completely today for a clean underneath and yes, there was a fair bit of rust on the underside. Thankfully it sits on the plastic front nose/bumper (and serves to fasten that to the car) so the rust isn't going to affect anything else. I've cleaned and sprayed all over with ACF 50 so it at least shouldn't get any worse, although it was annoying finding it just after my 4 year service!. I'll have a look before the service next year to see if it looks like it needs replacing or not.

I really don't think it is your tyres. I've had Eagle F1's (on standard rims) on mine for a couple of years and have never had an issue with them (other the first couple of hundred miles of scrub in, but that is common with most new tyres), in fact I really struggle to get the car to misbehave such is their grip and confidence on corners so I've been very happy with them (I don't do track, which is the main reason why others on here who do will caution against them as they are not track orientated at all). So while 3mm tread is getting a little low on your rears (I would be doing a diagonal swap with the fronts) they should be ok and not be doing what you describe so I would be looking elsewhere for a reason for the issues you describe. A proper 4 wheel alignment is always worthwhile every couple of years so I would be doing one of those - Align my car

Good review just published with a German perspective, nothing new but the enthusiasm is key - Everyday Driver Europe

It won't add to the noise, but you will get a few extra HP from using it (the Cosy filter is great, I had one a few years ago) and at this orice it is a no brainer for you to try it out. This will give you an idea of the (modest) performance increases from filter changes - filter test - and although the Cosworth isn't there (you can find similar tests on it elsewhere), I like that shoot out for its detail and un-mapped/mapped contrasts (part 2 of the tests), the Cosworth will be very similar to the Blitz panel and the Apexi (which I currently use). Buy it before I do mate!