Tweedbean

I was looking at the STI brakes from the impreza. Interested in refurbing a set and giving them my own personal twist.

Thanks for that. Notice these come with 17" wheels as stock and a lot of people go for 18" wheels, would I be right that for handling 17" wheels are the better option? I was always of that opinion with the mini and it would be interesting to know what people think.

Is there a uk supplier?

So earlier in the week I booked a test drive in a GT86 for today, which has meant I have spent the week excited about finally driving one of these after talking about them for the last 6 months. Last night I got a call from Toyota to say someone had crashed the demo car so I would need to rebook for something later in the week. As someone who doesn't give up that easily, I met up with Rich this morning and rang around a number of dealerships until we managed to find a GT86 ready for a test drive in Nuneaton. Before I went out for a test drive I had a good look around the car and I was happy with what I saw. Negatives first, no leg room and small boot opening which I dont care about. The stock headunit looks pants and needs replacing. Styling wise inside and out they have done a great job. There is a lot of leather inside which is good and the build quality isn't a let down and I would say is at least on par with the R56 in terms of materials and build quality. Now onto the test drive itself, I have seen a lot of reviews by car people/magazines saying its an amazing car, others have said it just doesn't have enough power. I went in with none of this in mind as I wanted to make up my own mind based on what I experienced. The guy from the dealership was happy for me to drive it how I wanted to, so off I went and straight away I can say it isnt slow, it may not be a fire breathing monster however for what it is and what Toyota set out to create, it has enough power. It felt as fast as a Cooper S for me, these are 200bhp, although it didnt have that kick in the back you get from a turbo, it certainly didnt feel sluggish. It also made all the right noises, it had drama, from the moment you press the push start button there was a burble of an exhaust then when you rev'd the engine the cockpit was filled with noise from the engine bay courtesy of a sound tube piping sound from the engine bay. That boxer engine makes a great noise. When it came to corners you could feel the back end slip easily without me pushing it in the wet today (in a controlled way). This car has the drama I wished my Clubby fJCW had out the box. When I got back into my clubby, it felt silent, just no drama, no noise, all the things the GT86 had. One thing it took me most of the test drive to realise ,which is a little annoying, is that I drove it like my clubman. I expected power in the lower rev range, however once I realised the power in this engine was up high in the rev range, it suddenly clicked and I found power I didnt realise was there. I saw enough on that test drive to seal the fate of my Clubby. So all my local Toyota dealerships have my details and are trying to source one for me. Options wise, for me I am only interest in the alcantara seats, although if I can get one cheap with cloth seats, a set of bride reclining seats may be purchased I am going used as I am going to modify this car heavily so there is no point in getting a new one for me. Colour wise I decided today after seeing both colours in the flesh that it has to be white or orange, no other colours will do. First major mods would be to remove the spoiler and fit a TRD duck tail type one, a set of wheels and coilovers. Then future mods would include a turbo/supercharger kit and I am 70/30 on a rocket bunny kit which is a irreversible mod as you have to cut away the arches to get it to fit.

I am pretty lucky the salesman recognised my Clubby which was nice and he is a mini nut so he is happy for me to give it a proper test drive. He certainly didnt take it easy test driving my car to give me a trade in price.

So the clubby is looking a little different right now, from this, one of my shots from a magazine feature recently: Tweedbean MM-2090739 by miniFOO UK, on Flickr To this: 2009 fJCW Clubman by tweedbean, on Flickr The car has been fully parted out and back to stock, which can mean only one thing, I am getting ready for a new project I have been to look at a couple of GT86's this week and I have a test drive booked in for Sunday at my local dealership as I havent driven one yet. I was happy with the interior and exterior look of the car in person so I am hoping the drive lives up to expectations.

Preload will resolve the spring moving.

I had knocking at the rear after I had fitted BC's on my Mini. From what we understand it's the type of top mount they use which is prone to knocking.

I'm a maybe on this, won't have a gt86 by then but would be good to meet some of you lot and have a nose around your cars

Wow this makes me even more excited to get an 86 next year

Taken a step closer as I have started to return my Clubman back to standard

A pending house move earlier 2015 will delay me getting a GT86 until early summer 2015 which gives me plenty of time to make a shoppping list of what I want and gives me time to get to a few events with you lot to decide what colour I want Currently considering white, orange, red and dark silver. I will be keeping an eye out for events in early 2015 which I will try and get to, especially if they are midlands based.

When I first signed up I found myself looking around for ages to find people's project threads for some inspiration. I found it a little confusing as there is no dedicated section and that they were mixed in with the threads around modifications. Most forums I use have a seperate section for build/projects, is this something people might find helpful?

Nice one, there goes my afternoon reading through those Look forward to more being added aswell.

I think when im ready to test drive, I will give the local dealerships a call first to see who has what first.

Any updates on this one? Look forward to browsing through all the projects

On my way out today, I stopped off at Toyota Coventry and they didnt have one single GT86 from what I could see in the show room and out the front. I was in a bit of a rush so I didn't bother speaking to anyone. Toyota Solihull didn't have one either. Do they only tend to sell them in certain dealerships?

Will I not just get given the keys to go for a test drive by myself? Both BMW and Range Rover gave us the keys for 2 hour test drives last week as we need a new family 4x4 aswell.

My next move is to book a test drive at Toyota in the next few weeks which will answer most of my questions around getting a gt86, I then need to find out what's happening with our house move then the planning begins for early next year, don't look forward to the part out on he mini as there is a lot of bits to remove.

Well, we did live in Balsall Common, we then moved last year to Rugby, then next year we plan to move back to Hampton In Arden/Balsall Common. Long story lol. If I go GT86/BRZ, I will be modifying it, I like to go for a mix of show and go. I am hoping its a different driving experience, better will be a bonus as the MINI is going to take some beating. As I have only ever owned FWD cars, im looking for something different and I am hoping RWD can deliver this. Hence why I wouldnt up the power straight away as I would like to take some time to get used to RWD first. Lee have you got any plans to go FI at some point or are you keeping it simple with this one?

Hi Lee, after seeing your post in the other thread I thought I would check out your project. Having owned minis for the last 5 years, I fancied something different and although these are down in power compared to the Clubby which is now putting out 270bhp/237whp and 283.1/lb/ft torque, I have always fancied something Japanese. These also have lots of potential with FI at some point. How are you finding the switch to the GT86?

Hi Lee, good to see a familiar name. Just reading through the start of your project thread, I now have someone to badger about GT86 vs Mini questions.

Quick question, this looks really exposed underneath the car, is there a splash guard etc that goes on after this picture was taken to protect the parts from the elements, especially on a lowered car?

Thanks I like it as it not too over the top.

Love the look of this car, is that the uk aero kit fitted to it?