New in town

[skeg808]

We recently moved here after 18 years in Japan.
Left a few cars back there in the garage (Civic TypeR and a 40th Anniversary GR86) but brought my supercharged GR86 with me.

Still dialling in the damper settings for the horrible roads here... but having fun so far!

 

[Duke]

Another JDM GR86 makes it to the UK. They’re becoming common as muck!

Welcome

 

[Gibbo78]

Welcome! Nice garage collection.

Road conditions are a national embarrassment, we have now signposts that are literally falling down due to rust and decay at ground level.

Thankfully the GR86 makes as good as job as it can in keeping things flowing as much of the time as possible!!

You might want to spend time learning how to master the inbuilt sensor: PHAT - Pot Hole Avoidance Technique

 

[Hachi-roku]

Car looks great! Would be good to know wheel and tyre specs and if you managed to avoid butchering the 1/4 panels to clearance the tyres with such an aggressive looking stance.

As said the roads are for the most part here now resemble the backdrop to a scene in black hawk down. If you’re not a million miles away from the Welsh border there are a few choice bits of tarmac that are in pretty good shape. Unfortunately for me it’s a 90 minute or so run for me to get to the start of them and I’m yet to manage it.

 

[grzoostuff]

Welcome to the fold, nice tail lights mods.

 

[skeg808]

Car looks great! Would be good to know wheel and tyre specs and if you managed to avoid butchering the 1/4 panels to clearance the tyres with such an aggressive looking stance.

As said the roads are for the most part here now resemble the backdrop to a scene in black hawk down. If you’re not a million miles away from the Welsh border there are a few choice bits of tarmac that are in pretty good shape. Unfortunately for me it’s a 90 minute or so run for me to get to the start of them and I’m yet to manage it.

Wheels are a 18x8.5j with a +45 offset - these are specifically made with a face to fit the GR86 but there is plenty of clerance even with the GR brakes - took 6 months for rays to deliver them even in Japan!

Tyres are 245/35/R18
There is a 20mm spacer on the front wheels to get it flush but it fits fine without it. Only barely passed the IVA inspection but without the spacers its no issue.
Front camber is set at 3.5deg (measured its just under 3deg)

Quater panels are stock including the inner liners. With the harder springs on the HKS coilvers it has never been a problem.

Only rubs very slightly at full lock over bumps.

 

[skeg808]

Welcome! Nice garage collection.

Road conditions are a national embarrassment, we have now signposts that are literally falling down due to rust and decay at ground level.

Thankfully the GR86 makes as good as job as it can in keeping things flowing as much of the time as possible!!

You might want to spend time learning how to master the inbuilt sensor: PHAT - Pot Hole Avoidance Technique

Or the 'dont drive after rain' rule which I have come to discover is a necessity. My new pot hole radar is not honed in yet!

The narrow roads dont bother me at all after living in Japan for so long but for some reason it freaks my wife out...

I might have to do a post on my history of cars from almost 20 years in Japan. Had the chance to own some great JDM cars over the years.

 

[skeg808]

Welcome to the fold, nice tail lights mods.

I highly reccomend the Valenti tailights. They are as good as the OEM in quality and the smoked out versions look great.

The JDM cars have steering synced headlights which I find really good on windy roads so I never went for any of the aftermarket ones as you loose that functionality. Most of the light mods I find look too over the top anyway. In Japan I had a smoked film on the lights which gave the car an even meaner look but it wouldnt pass MOT here.

 

[Hachi-roku]

Wheels are a 18x8.5j with a +45 offset - these are specifically made with a face to fit the GR86 but there is plenty of clerance even with the GR brakes - took 6 months for rays to deliver them even in Japan!

Tyres are 245/35/R18
There is a 20mm spacer on the front wheels to get it flush but it fits fine without it. Only barely passed the IVA inspection but without the spacers its no issue.
Front camber is set at 3.5deg (measured its just under 3deg)

Quater panels are stock including the inner liners. With the harder springs on the HKS coilvers it has never been a problem.

Only rubs very slightly at full lock over bumps.

Appreciate the lengthy reply so thank you for taking the time to type it out

The stance/fitment on your car looks pretty much what I want to achieve. I’m dead set against fitting wheels that require the car to be butchered but I’d found it an utter minefield to wrap my head around how to achieve it when digging around online.

The Americans seem to run 255 widths and just get happy grinding the 1/4’s to bits and it seems the Japanese are similarly un phased. Some of the tuner comparison type videos with the likes of Sard, Tein, HKS etc are all well and good but I don’t speak a word of Japanese and the subtitles are usually worthless. The cars seem to run widths between 235 and 265 and beyond but even if the wheel specs are thrown on a graphic the body mods or cambers required to fit tend to be MIA.

I had noticed that TE37’s are a bit of a rabbit hole with SL, Saga etc and different face variants so all round a can of worms!

Im presuming the rear is similar 3 ish degrees neg camber ? If so how do you find it for road rather than track ?

TIA

 

[skeg808]

Appreciate the lengthy reply so thank you for taking the time to type it out

The stance/fitment on your car looks pretty much what I want to achieve. I’m dead set against fitting wheels that require the car to be butchered but I’d found it an utter minefield to wrap my head around how to achieve it when digging around online.

The Americans seem to run 255 widths and just get happy grinding the 1/4’s to bits and it seems the Japanese are similarly un phased. Some of the tuner comparison type videos with the likes of Sard, Tein, HKS etc are all well and good but I don’t speak a word of Japanese and the subtitles are usually worthless. The cars seem to run widths between 235 and 265 and beyond but even if the wheel specs are thrown on a graphic the body mods or cambers required to fit tend to be MIA.

I had noticed that TE37’s are a bit of a rabbit hole with SL, Saga etc and different face variants so all round a can of worms!

Im presuming the rear is similar 3 ish degrees neg camber ? If so how do you find it for road rather than track ?

TIA

245 on an 8.5j is about the limit you will get to without major modifications in either suspension and/or body panels. A lot of people in Japan are happy to go wider with all the negatives that come along with it.

TE37s are the only wheels I trust to not bend. After a lot of time tracking cars in Japan I have bent just about every other wheel around but my TE37s have always held up to any amount of curb bashing on track. I guess it helps with the potholes here in the UK too...

Rear is about 2.5 neg camber. You can't get that with stock suspension components, need to change the lower arms and if you want more it will require other components to correct the toe etc.

This is about the limit of camber for driving on roads that have weird ruts or camber. It tracks ever so slightly but not enough to make driving difficult.
If I was tracking this car a lot I would want a lot more camber plus some caster angle in the front and a bit more camber in the rear, but it would wander all over the road for regular driving.

 

[Hachi-roku]

I’d noticed some of the Japanese are as keen on super stretch, stanced to oblivion frame banging look or meaty fitment but to hell with the arches I’ll grind them and fit over fenders. Neither remotely appeal to me!

All sounds positive! I’m also wary of destroying the ride (given the abysmal roads) so will be aiming for a road friendly coilovers given I’ve no intention of tracking the thing and would be nice for it to not be unbearable when I get around to taking a driving break around the alps.

I think the most aggressive camber I’ve had previously was around 2.5-3 ish on the front end of my EK9 Rx, it was perfectly fine in the dry but it was definitely ass puckering if you found standing water on a motorway ! The 86 isn’t my daily so it doesn’t come out of the garage unless it’s dry out anyway.

 

[skeg808]

I’d noticed some of the Japanese are as keen on super stretch, stanced to oblivion frame banging look or meaty fitment but to hell with the arches I’ll grind them and fit over fenders. Neither remotely appeal to me!

All sounds positive! I’m also wary of destroying the ride (given the abysmal roads) so will be aiming for a road friendly coilovers given I’ve no intention of tracking the thing and would be nice for it to not be unbearable when I get around to taking a driving break around the alps.

I think the most aggressive camber I’ve had previously was around 2.5-3 ish on the front end of my EK9 Rx, it was perfectly fine in the dry but it was definitely ass puckering if you found standing water on a motorway ! The 86 isn’t my daily so it doesn’t come out of the garage unless it’s dry out anyway.

These days 90% of what I see in Japan is for looks and nothing else. Fully stock mechanically with a lot of body parts for what they call "dress up". The STI and TRD parts can be included in your finance when you buy the car new so a lot of people get full kits and then everyone looks the same.

I have always been about getting the car to drive how I want it first then a few small things to add some flare. I had the STI front lip on my BRZ and it was near impossible to drive it anywhere!