Sonic
Totally Hooked
Even after the warning it was like a ‘jump scare’ scrolling downwards…*Dirty car trigger warning*
GR86 What did you do with your GR86 today
- Thread starter Kiwi Greg
- Start date
Put quite a bit of air in the tyres with the drop in temperature taking pressures low, and reluctantly joined the 'headlights are too dim' brigade. They're fine at night when travelling without other cars around, but at twilight or when SUVs are shining in my eyes there's not as much visibility of the road ahead for my liking - quite hard to make out road surface imperfections etc.
At the same time, they're obviously a very cool/brilliant light so other drivers are quick to flash every time I'm pointing up a hill, it's just not reflecting enough of that light back to me off the road. And this was with a freshly cleaned car :/ On the plus side, the lack of scatter is a great help in fog, they're really good fog lights!
Also, cold mud does not help traction on summer tyres
Pulling out of uphill junctions invites the tight diff to come and play quite often..
At the same time, they're obviously a very cool/brilliant light so other drivers are quick to flash every time I'm pointing up a hill, it's just not reflecting enough of that light back to me off the road. And this was with a freshly cleaned car :/ On the plus side, the lack of scatter is a great help in fog, they're really good fog lights!
Also, cold mud does not help traction on summer tyres
Pulling out of uphill junctions invites the tight diff to come and play quite often..
MorrisM
Dedicated member
- Feb 4, 2024
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Bit nippy this moring but great not to hear any cold-weather cabin rattles.
Mute101
Obsessed member
Today I looked at changing my insurance cover....
A change in circumstances (ditching the use of a very knackered pool car and getting a top up on wages as a car allownace) means I may start using my GR for work so had a quick check so see what adding another 12,000 miles and full business use would be and for the remaining 10 months it was coming out an extra £240 which was less than I feared.
Slighty torn as its 14 months old with only 2,000 miles on it, but cars are to be enjoyed right?
And i've always planned to keep it till I (or it) drops.
Also the I think the wife gets a little anoyed that it sits on drive most of the week.
I'm in Essex so unlikely to see the extreme weather our northern friends get and have been using it all yeat round anyway.
What do you good chaps/chapesses think?
A change in circumstances (ditching the use of a very knackered pool car and getting a top up on wages as a car allownace) means I may start using my GR for work so had a quick check so see what adding another 12,000 miles and full business use would be and for the remaining 10 months it was coming out an extra £240 which was less than I feared.
Slighty torn as its 14 months old with only 2,000 miles on it, but cars are to be enjoyed right?
And i've always planned to keep it till I (or it) drops.
Also the I think the wife gets a little anoyed that it sits on drive most of the week.
I'm in Essex so unlikely to see the extreme weather our northern friends get and have been using it all yeat round anyway.
What do you good chaps/chapesses think?
Go for it. The best thing about the GR86 and it's predecessor is that it's a fun driver's car that can be used perfectly well day to day. Heated seats, Android Auto, aircon, cruise control, parking camera, 34mpg...it's not a Caterham 7. It's nice to have the opportunity to tuck the car away for the winter and keep its value, but you can still take care of it and drive it year round.
I've recently had to make the same decision; when I bought the car I was working from home or occasionally commuting by train. Made redundant earlier this year and took a new job which meant being in an office I had to drive too (although granted only a couple of days a week). At first I was a little disheartened as I thought the GR would purely be for fun, but before COVID I was commuting every day in my GT86 and doing 18k a year, and that was no problem. I'm now probably going to be doing 8-10k a year and a large portion of the commute is actually along some fun B-roads. So as long as you keep on top of maintenance, keep the underside clean during the worst of the winter months and just take it easy when you're just commuting, I don't really see the issue.
How many miles a day/week do you plan to do?
If you cherish it as a nice car I would avoid making it a daily, because:
- you won’t enjoy its sportiness in traffic
- the cabin is not insulated much, you’ll start noticing that you put the volume up a lot to combat the road noise
- the ride will feel bad on potholes if that’s your daily commute, due to how low and stiff the suspension is
If the commute is under an hour and on well maintained A or M roads - sure, go for it.
If you’ll be doing 2hr (one way) on mostly potholes you’ll start hating it. Especially if you’re older as well, I saw so many posts with drivers over 50 selling it on soon after buying due to these things
Oh one more point - it would cost you waaaay less driving a cheaper economic diesel over long distances.
Nick
Totally Hooked
2nd year service done today. Can’t believe how quick that time has gone. Just over 17k miles now, and the inspection done showed all is still good. No issues with the dealer not having an oil filter, all very pain free.
Silver Fox
Totally Hooked
- May 7, 2022
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Hi Nick, which branch did you go for this time? I need to get mine booked in soon (although I was quite late last year so have a bit of breathing space).
Nick
Totally Hooked
Got it done at Listers in Stratford Upon Avon, same as last year, after Coventry branch couldn’t fit me in for weeks. Dropped it off at 9am, and it’s only 5 mins walk into the town so spent the morning there, and then I collected it at 1pm.
Alistair31
Totally Hooked
Ventured out in the snow briefly to try the Goodyear 4season tyres, pretty impressed.
Less so the brakes, they really don’t like the cold.
Less so the brakes, they really don’t like the cold.
Mute101
Obsessed member
3 or 4 days a week it’s only a 32 mile round trip on A & B roads. 1 or 2 days a week I need to venture twice as far. (I can do both commutes on mostly larger B roads)How many miles a day/week do you plan to do?
If you cherish it as a nice car I would avoid making it a daily, because:
- you won’t enjoy its sportiness in traffic
- the cabin is not insulated much, you’ll start noticing that you put the volume up a lot to combat the road noise
- the ride will feel bad on potholes if that’s your daily commute, due to how low and stiff the suspension is
If the commute is under an hour and on well maintained A or M roads - sure, go for it.
If you’ll be doing 2hr (one way) on mostly potholes you’ll start hating it. Especially if you’re older as well, I saw so many posts with drivers over 50 selling it on soon after buying due to these things
Oh one more point - it would cost you waaaay less driving a cheaper economic diesel over long distances.
And, touch wood, the traffic isn’t terrible everyday.
Some days it will be needed to travel a 5/10 miles to appointments.
Cheers for the replies, food for thought.
Well I broke the CC2s traction yesterday for the first time, on a single track road, icy corner about 8am. One of the moments you wish someone had been filming it. Nothing to see here, move along, move along...
MorrisM
Dedicated member
- Feb 4, 2024
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Drive it daily and you’ll learn far more about the car than those who don’t.
My office is a 60 mile round trip and I do that 2 or 3 days a week. About 2/3 motorway and 1/3 B-roads. It's no real bother as I'm also lucky enough to not need to be in until 10am so I can miss the morning rush hour at least.
I finally got to the dealer to change all oils for Ravenol ones today! I’ve ordered couple TRD GR oil filters, so they’ve used that one 
And then I took the car for a well deserved wash
And then I took the car for a well deserved wash
rotweilerc67
Absorbed member
- Feb 1, 2023
- 50
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bf1_irl
Devoted member
Sorry to see thatAnyone used paintless dent removal before?View attachment 32784
..but yes have used PDR before and was impressed how good it worked!Hope you can get it sorted soon!
Biff32gtr
Obsessed member
The Dent will come out, but that looks like it definitely needs paint, sorry budAnyone used paintless dent removal before?
Sonic
Totally Hooked
Yes, most successfully too. I had a heavy gate dropped onto my NSF wing. See within my 'Members Cars' thread here, here and here. As long as the paint isn't split you should be okay, otherwise it'll probably require a more intensive repair. What happened? Did you get whacked by an exit barrier trying to escape a car park?Anyone used paintless dent removal before?
