GR86 Insurance Write-Off to Track Ready - GR86 Clubsport Build

Hi All, after a long time lurking, I decided to make an account as I finally have a build thread worth starting.

I purchased the car, crashed, mid-last year and have so far repaired it and started building it into a track/clubsport car. First post will cover the rebuild and repair, which was completed in February this year, and some subsequent posts will follow shortly, to bring the build up-to-date.

Background

This GR86 started life as a track day fleet car, used for teaching performance driving alongside a couple of GR Yarises, a BMW M140i, a few Swift Sports, a 718 Boxster T, and a 718 Cayman GT4. Despite the FA24's reputation for oil starvation issues, this was the most reliable car in the fleet by a wide margin, and also did more laps than anything else, simply because it was the most fun to drive.



After surviving a lot of hard driving with zero mechanical issues, its near-death came from an unfortunate incident on a wet highway.



The damage looked worse than it was. Chassis structure and all major mechanical components were untouched and the car had mostly cosmetic/body damage, and by pure luck the impact didn’t trigger the airbags (the metal twisted around the sensor). But between the repair cost and Toyota’s Porsche-like parts pricing, the insurance wrote it off as a total economic loss.

The Rebuild

This is where my story with the car begins. I picked the car up in running but damaged condition and spent the next several months sourcing parts before starting repairs. One useful thing to know if you're ever in this position (at least in Slovenia): Subaru parts for the BRZ/GR86 platform are drastically cheaper than Toyota branded equivalents. For example, the front fender is roughly 6x the price from Toyota vs. Subaru (~1500 EUR vs ~250 EUR). As Subaru pricing was quite favourable even compared to the used market, I sourced all parts, shared between the chassis directly from the official dealer and found the rest through parts-out listings across the EU. Once everything was gathered, the car was towed to the body shop for its makeover.


[PHOTO: Zunx_media]

Repair work included full panel replacement and repair, as well as some oem part replacement, which got damaged in the crash (front and rear headlight and taillight, AC and engine radiators, windshield washer fluid reservoir, etc.). Additionally, since a lot of the suspension components needed replacing anyway, I used the opportunity to upgrade the suspension with some Pedders top mounts, 14mm camber bolts, SPC rear lower control arms and SPC rear toe arms. The car also received a new set of Michelin PS5 tires in 215/40/18 for daily and weekend duties.





When the repair process was finished and the whole car was painted, it was time for a quick alignment, so the car drove straight (a more serious, track-focused alignment would follow shortly). And there it was! A rebuilt car in perfect working condition, ready to receive its first (well, besides the “while we’re in there suspension components” ) mods. But first, lets see how it behaves in the current, stock-ish form on track!


[PHOTO: tkusarphotography]

Will keep this thread updated as mods and trackdays go on. Questions are welcome

Current Build
(Will be updated as the build progresses)

Chassis / Suspension

• Pedders front strut mounts
• 14mm front camber bolts
• SPC rear lower control arms
• SPC rear toe arms

Body / Exterior

• Stock

Engine

• Stock

Brakes

• Stock

Wheels / Tires

• Stock 18” rims with 215/40/18 Michelin PS5

Interior

• Stock

Update 1

Waiting for the body shop to finish work took a while, and as in the meantime I couldn't drive the car, I did the most logical thing and started buying parts .

The first to arrive was a set of Protrack One's in 17x9 ET38, finished in matte gold, which I managed to get on sale for 50% off at the time! These will serve as the track setup. I had a set of 225/45/17 Nankang NS-2R tires left over from my previous GT86, so I mounted them on the Protracks - even though 225 is a bit stretched on a 9J rim.



The fitment was tight. Front tire-to-strut clearance was closer than I'd like, and the rear wheels looked like they just barely poke past the fender at stock ride height, but I figured this would not be a problem on track thanks to negative camber gain under compression.

The car had already survived plenty of trackdays on smaller local circuits with no issues, but I wanted extra insurance before taking it to a bigger track with longer, high-G corners. A few companies have recently released high-capacity oil pans to address the FA24's known oil starvation problem. After some research, I went with Formula Delta, as they seemed to have put in the most development time and testing into their solution. I managed to get a pre-order through, and the pan arrived a few weeks before the car's repair was finished.

In the meantime, Gktech also had a sale going on, and my friend was ordering some parts, so I joined in on the order and ordered some clutch springs, shifter springs and a fuel starvation door flap. With all of the parts, I took the car to Enigmamotorsport for the install and a proper alignment.



They dialed in the alignment at -2.3° front / -1.5° rear camber, with slight toe-out front and slight toe-in rear. The Formula Delta pan went on, and the oil was switched to Mobil 1 0W-40 FS, overfilled by 0.7L per Formula Delta's recommendation, for which independent testing also shows that this amount results in basically negligible pressure drops with no real downside.

Then it was finally time for the car's first shakedown on a private local trackday on a smaller circuit. The mods made a noticeable improvement over stock. My biggest gripe with the car before was a lack of clutch feel, which made it unpredictable accelerating from a standstill and also made clutch-kicks inconsistent. The softer of the two springs definitely made the clutch pedal a lot more predictable. The shifter springs also added a more weighted feel which took some getting used to, but I like the change, even though it offers a smaller improvement than the clutch spring.

The track itself is a small go-kart circuit, which turns out to be really fun in the GR86. Since I'd bought another set of stock wheels, I had two good take-off wheels left from before the crash, wearing Michelin PS4s with some outside-edge wear, so perfect for finishing them off. I ran the Protracks/NS-2Rs up front and the stock wheels/PS4 in the rear, and had some fun sliding it around.


[PHOTO: Zunx_media]

Compared to how it felt pre-crash and pre-mods, turn-in is noticeably quicker now, the car is more stable and predictable mid-slide, but also snappier in transitions, which requires quicker hands to keep up.

Overall, the car passed its first post-hibernation test with no issues, and the mods made a clear, noticeable difference. Next step is a proper trackday to really see how it behaves, but more on that in the next post.

Interesting read - Thank you!

Thanks for the write up. looking forward to more updates

Picking up from where I left off. After the shakedown, I booked the car's first proper trackday in May on Pannoniaring - Hungary. The track is an almost 5km long lap, which is very flowing and rewards high corner speed so low power cars aren’t at a huge disadvantage.

The trackday was organised by a company FULLGAS and sponsored by Hoosier Racing Tires. A few weeks before the trackday I got a surprise email from Hoosier, asking if they could shoot the car on the track and use it as their marketing material and in return, they offered a complementary set of their Hoosier Trackattack PRO semi-slicks in 245/40/17. Safe to say, I was very quick to agree to this deal

So off came the NS-2R’s and the Protracks were thrown into the back of the car, set to leave for Pannoniaring. Here, I have to point out one of the best features of the GR86 as opposed to other cars in its class - ability to carry all of the track essentials in the back and still comfortably drive there and back. I loaded 4 wheels, 2 20’’ tires for my buddy’s Porsche as he would mount them at the track, tools, clothes, spare parts and other essentials.





We arrived at the track the day before the event to register and drop off the wheels so the tires would be mounted the next morning. Huge thanks to Hoosier for the free set of tires and the mounting service.



The next morning I arrived at the track, eager to try out the Hoosiers, but first things first, we had to change the old brake fluid as I didn't know what type was in the car and how old/degraded it was. We changed the fluid to Motul RBF 660 which should hold up well to track use, together with braided brake lines that were already on the car when I bought it.



Then it was finally time to hit the track! All I can say is WOW, what a toy. The character of the car is something that is quite unique nowadays, as the light chassis makes the turn-in telepathically quick and after, the car can be steered mid corner using the throttle.

I was also very impressed by how the Hoosiers performed. It took quite some time to get used to just how much grip the tires offered as opposed to the previous NS-2R’s I had. That being said, I couldn’t explore their full potential, as because of the grip the tires offered, other things became the limiting factor. Despite the fact that the stock suspension is really quite good, with the level of grip the Hoosiers offered, it just couldn’t cope anymore. There were large amounts of body roll, and if there were any imperfections on the track, like hitting the curb or a small dip, it would really unsettle the car. Additionally, even though the car had a lot of grip, due to the inadequate suspension, it didn't feel confidence inspiring.

But the biggest bottleneck turned out to be the OE Brembo brake pads that came on the car, even though they were pretty much brand new. I made the mistake of running the first session in Track mode to get used to the car, which means the rear brakes are used to help stabilise the car. As I came off the track after the first session, we heard a strange metal-on-metal noise. As I stopped the car, I also noticed that the rear wheels were completely covered in brake dust. Upon inspection, the rear brake pads were completely worn out and the backing plate was starting to make contact with the rotors… yikes.

Fearing that my trackday came to an end, my buddy with a GT86 happened to have a spare set of OE rear pads with him and was kind enough to give them to me. A quick pad change later, I was back on the track - this time with traction control completely OFF as to not use the lifeline I was given with the same mistake. Unfortunately, the front pads weren’t up to the job as well. After two “code-brown” moments where I nearly went off track due to the car not braking hard enough, I decided to take it easy on the brakes for the rest of the day. When I later removed the front brake pads at home, they also had large cracks in them… not nice.



That being said, I was still satisfied with how the day went. I managed to do a 2:19:XX lap, which was also the goal for me, but with better suspension and brakes (and of course driver), the car has potential to go A LOT quicker.

Current Build​

Chassis / Suspension

• Pedders front strut mounts
• 14mm front camber bolts
• SPC rear lower control arms
• SPC rear toe arms

Body / Exterior

• Stock

Engine

• Formula Delta FA24 high capacity oil pan

Brakes

• Stock brake pads and rotors
• HEL braided brake lines
• Motul RBF 660

Wheels / Tires

• Stock 18” rims with 215/40/18 Michelin PS5 (Daily)
• Protrack one 17x9 ET38 with 245/40/17 Hoosier Trackattack PRO (Track)

Interior

• Stock