Bram Turismo's Toyota GT86

Bram Turismo

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bramturismo
Hey guys!

Since 3 weeks ago, I can call myself a very proud owner of a Toyota GT86. Thought I'd make a small topic on it to share with you peeps both my cars, a '95 Corolla and of course the '13 GT86.

I first testdrove the GT86 in March 2013 and pretty much knew I wanted one instantly, though I've been crazy about it ever since it was announced. When I drove it, I told myself this is the car I will own one day. Well, I am now a very proud owner of my own GT86.

I've been scouting second-hand GT86's for a while now, but most of them were either in grey or black. I wanted either an orange one, or a white one. Personally I've always thought sportscars look pretty darn awesome in white.

Anyway, about 3-4 weeks ago I found two GT86's for sale at a dealership about 10 minutes from where I live. A black one with 21,000km and a white one with 15,000km. I went straight over to that dealership the next day as I knew the white one would be pretty much gone in a day or two. It all went pretty quickly from that point. I had only planned to take a look at it, but I pretty much bought it that same day.

I made a deal with the dealership to throw in an extra set of wheels with wintertyres on. As it is my daily driver, I didn't want to go out with it on summertyres during the winter.

Anyway, here it was sitting ready and waiting for me at the dealership:

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A few days later, and it was ready to be picked up. Here it is fitted with wintershoes, I drove it to work pretty much straight afterwards, where it received a ton of attention:

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A lot to get used to. First of all there's an 18-year difference between this and my old Corolla, so the entire thing feels completely different. The driving position, the gear changes, the pedals, and most above all the equipment. Having bluetooth on my radio means I can call people when I'm on the road for work without ever having to touch my phone. And of course now I can finally listen to my own music in the car as my old Corolla didn't even have a CD-player.

I've owned it for about 3 weeks now, and the car is everything I ever hoped it would be. I really feels like a unique car as I rarely see a GT86 on the road in my country. It does draw quite a bit of attention. Sometimes fellow car enthusiasts come up to me and compliment me on the choice of car. Sometimes people look at it in a way that says "That is one cool looking car, but what the hell is it?"

It's comfortable, it's also surprisingly quiet to drive at lower revs when coasting. You barely hear the engine. But every now and then I just have to let it sing, as the little boxer engine sound pretty darn good in my opinion. Personally I think it has enough power, but I do notice a big powersurge from 5,000rpm and onwards.

What I love most about it so far as that it always makes me smile. Sounds strange, but it makes me feel so darn happy to be driving one. There are a few points that are less positive:

- It being a coupe means not having a rear windscreen wiper. When it's dark outside and raining I need to be very careful when backing out of a parking lot, because the visibility out of the rear is very poorly at that point.

- The radio is a complete disaster. The volume knob drives me insane to operate, and the sound quality of the stock sound system is very poorly. Dare I say my old Corolla has a better sounding system?

- It's always exited. The car feels like a small puppy sometimes: Always exited, wagging its tail, and never wants you to leave. That is what this car feels like to me. Though it's comfortable and quiet, it feels like it never really settles down on you, it's always ready to be played with. In the dry that's good, but when the rain is pouring it can catch you off-guard pretty easily.

I guess that's pretty much all the negative I have to say about it so far. The boot is large enough for me, and I do not have to worry about passengers. Belgium is one big city, so 200hp is more than plenty, though I do notice the lack of torque in the lower rpm range. The upside is that you can just let the boxer engine rev out when you do want to go, and it does sound good when you do so.

Anyway, time for some pictures. I currently have some car detailing products on the way, it desperately needs a protection layer now that it will be driven every day in all kinds of weather conditions:

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Once I come back from my Christmas holidays, and I've had the chance to properly clean the paint, clay, seal, and wax it, I'm hoping for some sunny days so I can take some decent pictures of it. 👍
 
Nice choice Bram. As a driving machine, it's probably better in the areas that matter than the new MX-5, and I say that as a fan of the MX-5!

Throttle calibration in these is a bit weird for my liking, but that's something that can be fixed with software (incidentally, it may also make it less nervous in the wet than you're describing - standard calibration seems to open the throttle a little too much on light applications of the throttle pedal, which gives you a little more wheelspin than you're expecting sometimes).

That, and I wish the spoiler was optional on these.
 
Nice choice Bram. As a driving machine, it's probably better in the areas that matter than the new MX-5, and I say that as a fan of the MX-5!

Throttle calibration in these is a bit weird for my liking, but that's something that can be fixed with software (incidentally, it may also make it less nervous in the wet than you're describing - standard calibration seems to open the throttle a little too much on light applications of the throttle pedal, which gives you a little more wheelspin than you're expecting sometimes).

That, and I wish the spoiler was optional on these.

I personally think the previous MX-5 gen looked so much more handsome. The new one looks good as well, but it's as if they tried too hard in the styling department. I think the current Mazda 3 looks spectacular, especially in grey. My sister has a full option red one, and she loves it. And so do I as a passenger, great car it is! 👍

I fully agree with you on the throttle. It really is touchy. Meanwhile the clutch has some "deadzone", but the throttle absolutely none. So I still get some jerking gear changes every now and then. Or I'm just used to my Corolla being so laughably easy to drive.

Overall though this really is my affordable dreamcar, and everytime I drive it my smile couldn't be any bigger!
 
Welcome to the club. I came from a Corolla too and I'll agree that the clutch and throttle on the 'rolla were so light and easy I stopped thinking about them, while the 86 takes conscious thought to get smooth.

I know what you mean about the power and the revs; there's enough power to keep it fun but you definitely feel that torque dip around 3500-4000rpm.

As for the radio, I don't mind the sound at normal levels but playing it loud does sound a little wrong. What I find annoying is they didn't put any controls on the steering wheel to keep the car a "drivers car", then they give us a stereo with fiddly little buttons to deal with. I want knobs... big knobs, and buttons that I can mash with my thumb without taking my eyes off the road.
 
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Very nice 👍


So 2016 Ring? Spa? ;)


I have a few friends with the 86. Got to drive a few. I also really liked the car. i think the concept of the car is very cool. Though it isn't overpowered it just tingles you to play with it, from the feeling you get to the sound of the boxer.... And you never feel slow in it.

Do you plan on mods upgrades later on? The best mod I saw on 86'es are to get rid of those Lexus Style'd rear lights. Plain red is so nice. Also lots of upgrades from Toyota can be had.

Also if you ever want to tune it a bit, give me a notice. From parts to mapping, i can give you trustworthy adresses ;)

As a slight side note, here the potential of the 86 against my 400hp@wheel GTR:



Belgium is one big city
??? City?? :lol: ;)

Enjoy the car, good luck with it, and a cold transformation free ride with it. Keep us updated 👍
 
??? City?? :lol: ;)

You know what I mean, the average distance between two red lights in here is so short there really is no point for the GT86 having more power in my case.

As for mods, I think the perfect GT86 is a white GT86 with Valenti taillights, a ducktail spoiler and CCW Classic rims. Or BBS LM rims.

But for now I will settle with driving safely, keeping it in pristine condition, and above all: Keep the bank and insurance company happy :lol:
 
You know what I mean, the average distance between two red lights in here is so short there really is no point for the GT86 having more power in my case.

As for mods, I think the perfect GT86 is a white GT86 with Valenti taillights, a ducktail spoiler and CCW Classic rims.

But for now I will settle with driving safely, keeping it in pristine condition, and above all: Keep the bank and insurance company happy :lol:

👍 👍

You are in good company :
(english subtitles)


Tim Schrick, son of the company Schrick cams, also has one and is highly enjoying it after a year of ownership... and he test drives and races classes above the 86, which does say a lot about the car.
 
I personally think the previous MX-5 gen looked so much more handsome. The new one looks good as well, but it's as if they tried too hard in the styling department. I think the current Mazda 3 looks spectacular, especially in grey. My sister has a full option red one, and she loves it. And so do I as a passenger, great car it is! 👍

I fully agree with you on the throttle. It really is touchy. Meanwhile the clutch has some "deadzone", but the throttle absolutely none. So I still get some jerking gear changes every now and then. Or I'm just used to my Corolla being so laughably easy to drive.

Overall though this really is my affordable dreamcar, and everytime I drive it my smile couldn't be any bigger!
I actually think the current MX-5 looks fantastic, probably the best-looking since the first. It's colour-sensitive though, our grey long-termer isn't nearly as attractive as the metallic red you see them everywhere in.

It does take a little practice to get slick changes in the 86, but the gearchange itself is fantastic. Really snappy. The basic layout and feel of the controls feels so right after driving pretty much anything else - there's very little slack, you sit low, the pedals are great for heel/toe.

Add me in as a second person who thinks the rear lights deserve changing on these. There are some great designs out there:

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Hey guys!

Since 3 weeks ago, I can call myself a very proud owner of a Toyota GT86.

Congratulations Bram! And you made a great choice. I personally think the GT86/FR-S/BRZ is one of the most under rated sports cars on the road. It's a fine handling, light weight, well balanced car that has few dynamic vices. You're going to love it.

And they also look pretty good in red. ;) 👍

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Hey guys, I gave the GT86 plenty of love this weekend. I spent about 5 hours yesterday cleaning the interior, and extensively cleaning the wheels and paint. I clayed the paintwork as well, and I applied a protective skin coating on it. I let that rest overnight, and this morning I buffed it off. Some quick detailing spray on the inside of the doors, some tyre gel, and here is how shiney it now is:








That shine is the protective skin alone, no carnauba wax was applied. So it could shine even more! :D

I really am loving this car, everytime I park somewhere I cannot help but turn my head from a distance and look at it and think "Damn, that's my car!" 👍

One thing that is annoying me, though, is the window. It squeeks at me. Whenever I open the door, the window automatically lowers a bit. When I close the door, it automatically goes back up. At this point when it pushes itself against the sealing rubber in the upper frame, it squeeks at me. Does anyone know of a solution that perhaps lubricates the rubber, but doesn't stain the window?
 
All I'd really do is just get some spray grease or something along those lines and spray it on the rubber. Shouldn't stain the window if you just wipe it off.
 
Yeah, the squeaky window is a known issue. Scion in the US issued a TSB to fix this if the car was built prior to a certain VIN number. I suspect Toyota in Europe did the same. There are some rudimentary fixes if your car is not covered. Take a look at the following thread... (It's about 8 pages long)

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11417
 
Very nice Bram, have fun with it and looking forward to see the upgrades :) 👍

What upgrades? :dopey:

As of right now the biggest focus is to keep this car in pristine condition. Taking care of the paint has become a bit of an obsession, but there are already swirls on the car from the previous owner so unless I polish it they won't magically dissapear. And I've no experience with polishing. I might use my Corolla as a testbench.

I would love seeing the 86 on a set of CCW classics and have it supercharged, but on the other hand I think the GT86 will become something like the AE86 in the future. You already barely see them on the road here, and I think the 86 and MX-5 will become icons in the future of what a true sportscar used to be. So I kind of want to keep it 100% original as well.

Oh well, all that is just thoughts for in the future. Tax on the car arrived today as well as the payment for putting it in traffic, and that cost was a little slap in the face.
 
Small update:

I've now put nearly 6,000km on the car since I've had it. More often than not I find myself taking detours just to have more time in the car. Still as much in love with it as ever. Two weeks ago I fitted the summer tyres, looks much better. The tyres really are skinny.

Yesterday I met a guy with a Supra. Too bad it wasn't an original Supra, but a very nice Supra nonetheless. As the Supra is my ultimate dreamcar, I just had to say hello to the guy. We ended up cruising a bit together. What a machine, 20 years old and it still looks fantastic!
 
These are starting to come down in price over here. By the time it had my fun with my car these should be easily affordable. Fantastic choice! One of the few new modern cars I actually like.
 
Hey Bram, The GT86 looks amazing and i hope you're still enjoying it 👍

Hey man, long time no see! Hope you're doing fine! :cheers:

These are starting to come down in price over here. By the time it had my fun with my car these should be easily affordable. Fantastic choice! One of the few new modern cars I actually like.

Yeah, today I've been the owner for exactly 6 months. I still love this car to death, out on the road it's a cool car. People have no idea what it is, but it turns a lot of heads. And I don't even need to say how much fun it is to drive without going berserk in it.

Less good news is that I've had an accident with it last week. Someone rear-ended me. I will post another update with images later on, but sadly I'm still waiting for my insurance to sort everything out with the dealership it came from to get it fixed. Luckily all the necessary documents are in order. I'm visiting Toyota's workshop tomorrow morning to have them analyze the damage.
 
Less good news is that I've had an accident with it last week. Someone rear-ended me.

:ouch::( Sorry to hear that. I hope that damage is minimal and can be repaired with little fuss. When I first got my 86 about 3 years ago, within the first week I had no less than 3 close calls. One person almost broadsided me on the highway (I had to swerve and almost hit the center median to avoid him) another pulled out literally right in front of me and I had to almost drive off the road (again) and the 3rd I don't exactly remember. But it felt like I was suddenly driving an invisible car.
 
Haven't posted in here for too long...

Anyway, 2 months later the car was finally repaired. I put about 2,000km on the replacement car, goes to show how long it took them to fix the rear end damage. Apparently the boot itself was lifted up by the impact, so the entire mechanism had to be replaced. And they had no spares available, so the parts had to be ordered through Toyota Europe.

Very glad I wasn't in the wrong, and I have insurance. Repair costs were rated at $5,000...

This year I decided to visit my family in Norway not by airplane, but with the GT86 instead. Slightly nervous about sending my over-protected child into German traffic, but I knew the twisted, and hilly Norwegian roads would make up for it.

Driving on the autobahn wasn't so much of a nice experience. On the upside the car is just so comfortable for a sportscar, and not too bad on fuel economy. The downside is that you suddenly realise just how little power this car has. 5th still goes well enough, but once you slot it into 6th there literally is no power available. Still managed 230km/h with a fully loaded interior, and a passenger.

Then there is the discomfort at high speeds, and the utter rubbish sound quality of the stock speaker set. At about 180km/h the car gets really noisy, and at about 200-210 km/h it's just too loud inside to make it a nice experience. Flimsy built quality I assume. No point in putting on any music at these speeds either, you just cannot hear anything else than wind noise. But at cruising speed (120-140km/h) I have absolutely nothing to complain about in terms of comfort. It's sort of its sweet spot it seems. Pretty impressed just how comfortable it was to drive for 12 hours straight on my way to Denmark. Somehow I couldn't help but think a 330i is the perfect car to cross Germany with...

Once I crossed the passage between Denmark and Norway with the ferry, I was in for something totally different, though. The twisty, and variable gradients of road surfaces in Norway made for pretty much the best driving experience I've had so far. It's difficult to explain, but there is something so good about the way it feels to turn the steering wheel in this car. It's just pure candy to drive in the mountains.

The power I lacked on the autobahn was absolutely perfect here. Not a single moment driving in Norway feeling like I needed more power. Driving up slopes was perfect with little torque, just another excuse to slot down a gear, and rev it out! Just the overall handling is sublime: Perfect steering feel, very stiff and very responsive, the rear feels a little loose compared to the front when you poke it. Pretty much how this car was designed, and very satisfying to feel the behaviour of the car when you're playing around.

Though, I felt something like a curve, or cliff in the handling. It feels sharp and agile up to a certain point where it suddenly goes very soft. I'm guessing it's the tyres that go out of grip, but I'm not sure. Somewhere the suspension feels to go slightly soft when you go past this point. Or I am just talking rubbish, which is very likely as well. Neither did I really have a lot of faith in the tyres when going 200km/h...

Anyway, my sister couldn't wait to get a drive in it. Here we are, what pretty much is driving heaven in this car, with spectacular backdrops:

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Here it is with my sister's Mazda 3. Spectacular car as well: Gorgeous design, very comfortable, full leather interior, built-in sat nav, heads-up display. Pretty much a full option for the price of a bone-stock 1-series. And this is the 2L engine she has in there. No chance the German rivals can beat this car at this price level:

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Waiting for the ferry back to Denmark. This car got a TON of attention. At some point there was a circle of people around it, and I was starting to wonder whether I had done something wrong. Appeared an MX-5, an Impreza, and a C30 T5 were on the parking lot as well, and the owners wanted to have a look:

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Came across this in Germany. Looked very futuristic, and very cool. Germany being once again an example. Also credit to Denmark for having a charging point for electric cars nearly every 60km:

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A total detail of the paint is probably coming up next. It's covered in bugs. So I'll have to remove the existing paint sealant layer, clean the paint with a clay bar, and put a new layer of paint sealant and wax on it. It is dirty.

Scheduled maintenance also coming up in 3,000km. Judging by the costs to fix a rear bumper, I best prepare my wallet...
 
At about 180km/h the car gets really noisy, and at about 200-210 km/h it's just too loud inside to make it a nice experience. Flimsy built quality I assume. No point in putting on any music at these speeds either, you just cannot hear anything else than wind noise.
Some dynamat like material and a days worth of your time would fix most of that up. ;) I would assume that Toyota didn't add much in the way of NVH suppression to keep the weight down. You don't have to cover the entire inside of the car with it, just any holes or gaps would help.
 
Damn, it's already a year since I've owned the GT86...

It's due for its yearly maintenance tomorrow. Right now the odo reads 32,500km, so I've put about 17,500km on the car since I purchased it. That's more than what was on it since its first registration in 2013.

Anyway, some minor bugs and glitches here and there that I'm having the dealership look at. The brakes squeal when lightly braking at low speeds, the driver's side window still squeaks at me when I close it, and recently the Smart Entry system has been messing about with me. Sometimes it'll unlock without me telling to, sometimes it won't unlock, and sometimes it won't even recognize the key being near it.

As far as the drive goes I have 0 complaints. Starting to crave more power, but as long as I have factory warranty, I'm not doing anything to it.

It gets a clean every week, a wax every month, and a new layer of paint protection every 6 months. So the paint still looks very good. Some love marks and swirls, but they are inevitable. And they aren't scratches, so no problem there.

In the year I've had it, I've had the best driving experience I've ever had in the Norwegian mountains, I've had my first accident, and my first speeding ticket.

I would upload more images of it if I for some reason wasn't having such a hard time figuring out how to post images in this thread from my Android phone?
 
Car fully serviced, all issues fixed! 👍

They're replacing the rubbers on the driver's side. They've re-aligned the window, so it doesn't squeal anymore when I close it. But they wanted to replace it to be on the safe side.
 
Noticed this this evening:

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Will look into it to see how to fix it. Might simply be the bulb that's dead.
 
I might actually do that, yes.
The installation is really simple. I might install an LED interior light while I'm at it.
 
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