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

[JGR86]

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

 

[JGR86]

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.