GR86 What did you do with your GR86 today

Now it’s warmed up I fitted the smoked rear light kit I got
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I changed the 3.9 differential of my GR86 with automatic transmission to my old GT86 differential fitted with a MFactory 4.67 final drive. 😏 The first 3 gears are slightly shorter than the manual transmission gears now and the car feels much more powerfull than before.
I think the 0 to 60mph/100kmh time should be nearly one second faster now... i will test it when it's dry outside.
 
OPC100 said:
Just been on a drive to Shaftesbury for a mooch around.

Love the views on Park Walk.
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And the architecture of the old town.
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Then onto a little drive around these places and the wider area of the Cranborne Chase.
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Parked up at the top of Zig Zag Hill to watch the other cars go by.
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Saw some good stuff from ST Fiestas and Focus, Hyundai i20N, Jaguar E type coupe, Volvo P1800, a bay window camper, Porsche 911 997 and two classic minis. Plus loads of bikes.

Ready to go back down the hill.
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Then a stop off to one of my favourite spots.
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A really enjoyable day out. And the s**tbox 4 cylinder did okay too.😁
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Lovely stuff - a few hours well spent I reckon…
(And I like the sound of zig-zag hill 😵‍💫 - is it famous and I’ve been living under a rock..?)
 
jb1750 said:
Lovely stuff - a few hours well spent I reckon…
(And I like the sound of zig-zag hill 😵‍💫 - is it famous and I’ve been living under a rock..?)
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I think it won a poll for twistiest section of road a few years ago. It's on a fairly well-known route from Shaftesbury to Sixpenny Handley and on a nice day you see all sorts going up / down it. I've found turbo nutter rally cars better for it due to the low speed corners. I'm sure the GR Yaris would be epic going up it, my Integrale used to be good fun on it. 😁
 
Just got back from a 170-odd mile round trip for a relative's 21st birthday party. A splendid trip. The car continues to impress and exceed my expectations.

Today's highlight was just how much better the GR is than the GT at the motorway cruise. Much improved engine flexibility makes for a more relaxed drive when you want it.

Compared to some cars there's some road noise at higher speeds, but I do not mind it at all due to the lightweight purposeful nature of the car. It can't be that bad, the other half fell asleep on the way home (although she had been on the pinot).

Driving 'with purpose' shall we say and managed 36mpg (indicated) overall. Have now covered 1234 miles!

Happy Easter to you all.
 
What I have done with my GR86 today is: Give it the day off, after last night's long around trip.

We used the other car (the modest yet great driving Japanese supermini) to go for Easter Sunday lunch.

Crucially, this means I was able to appropriately hang up my Corneliani unstructured spalla camicia jacket for the journey. Which was nice.
 
Silver Fox said:
Any idea when this will be?
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No. It happened two weeks ago (Monday before last) and they said that they didn't expect to even have the replacement wing until the middle of April. And it will need a couple of weeks for the new paint to settle before it can have the ceramic coating reapplied. I reckon it will be another 3 weeks at the very least.

Sods law that we've had fantastic weather this Easter weekend, when I would have had plenty of opportunity for some early morning drives. And I'm on leave all next week too.
 
Conscript said:
No. It happened two weeks ago (Monday before last) and they said that they didn't expect to even have the replacement wing until the middle of April. And it will need a couple of weeks for the new paint to settle before it can have the ceramic coating reapplied. I reckon it will be another 3 weeks at the very least.

Sods law that we've had fantastic weather this Easter weekend, when I would have had plenty of opportunity for some early morning drives. And I'm on leave all next week too.
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How annoying. Through zero fault of your own too.

As my mum would say - "absence makes the heart grow fonder".

How you get it back as soon as possible and in perfect condition.
 
OPC100 said:
That looks like an orange 10 year anniversary edition you have there. 🤣🤣🤣
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Shame it's only the door that looks like that! Haha!
Silver Fox said:
Nice - I chuckled at the slightly unnecessary 'garage' text there, just so you're sure!

Hope you have a good week in Cornwall.
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Named all the DOE lines when I installed them to know what was what, but yeah - doesn't much look like a kitchen does it! 🤪
 
Thought I'd dump some thoughts down again since it's been a while. It's the right section too since I did do it this morning.

In my younger days, most Saturdays involved picking parents up from the pub then going for a spin somewhere. Normally to somewhere on a coast to see if anyone was fishing (as I did a lot back then) and to have a stroll, a chat, explore the car a bit which my parents always encouraged. Not done as much of that as I'd have liked in recent years so picked him up and went for a spin. It's so easy to bimble through the villages on the way and you almost want to only do just that. Prewarned him I'd push a little in parts and the car was great as usual. I'm starting to tune into it quicker and the adjustment from bimble mode to say 7 tenths is smoother. Inputs are getting more accurate and on corner exits, its getting away cleaner, going through bends is predictable and at a bit more speed still composed. It passes the dad test even if it's a struggle for him to get in an out.

Dropped him home but by this point I was wide awake and it was 1am. 1/4 tank of fuel left so thought I'd play some more with track mode and headed to the next town to a road I like. Easter Saturday into Sunday morning the roads here are always dead. I think only early hours of Christmas morning beats it. Meant I could push as I wanted but nothing silly. I've said before about it's operating window and once it's there it comes alive. Heel and toe is natural, even braking seems better and the way it pulls now past 6k is far better than I expected. Convinced it's still getting quicker and has more power than advertised. Exhaust is spot on and with over 1k on it now has mellowed a little, to the point I wouldn't mind a little more intake noise, now the synth is off. Once it's hotter it pops more too on downshifts, making a well executed heel and toe all the sweeter.

At no point did I think I needed more power. The stretch of road I was on I know well and is one of my benchmark roads to know how a car/bike is. Glancing at speedo before braking and it's matching most things I've taken on it. It's a true momentum car and carries it so well. Once tyres were warm, it has plenty of grip. Unlike the last 86 where you'd need 2nd in particular corners you can use 3rd and power out and it grips up and goes. It can still slide but takes some provocation or be heavy footed at the wrong angle. Am interested to see what a geo tweak would do for it as I know it made the last 86 better again. Kept an eye on oil temps and it touched 105c briefly but cooled back down fine.

Happy with my run I slowed down as I got to the next village and started the cruise home. Came off the next roundabout to see blue lights ahead. Traf pol had pulled a young girl in a newish 5 series. One cop was dealing with her, the other one scowled at me as I went past. Presumably because he'd heard me coming 😅. Overall a good run. What I have found is I don't waste the car anymore and savour it. In past cars I would chase and chase clear road but this leads to frustration so I don't do it and is harder on the car long term. If it's not on, I bimble, overtake if I can and don't screw it. What we all look for is those increasingly rare occasions where it's a clear run and you can fully explore what the car can do, even if only for a few minutes. It's like a treat and feels better when it happens. Of course the only issue with this is when I got home I'm still full of adrenalin so forget sleep for a few hours.

Almost 4k in now and for out the box I'm very happy with it. Future plans will be better pads and fluid as that's a no brainer. Lighter wheels eventually but that's a way off, a geo tweak and some camber bolts. It doesn't need any of it. If I don't do any of it I'll still be happy with it. I like to fiddle but only when I've got what I can out of it as is, then improve it. Adapt yourself first. Apart from commuting, next big distances will be Japfest, then Scotland in May. Really looking forward to that.
 
Dal3D said:
Checked the garage cam to see he's still tucked up and asleep with his big brother whilst we're in Cornwall for the week :ROFLMAO:(y)

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I'll have to get myself one of them!

Presently in Portugal for three weeks visiting my daughter.

All I have is the Jaguar remote in control app on my phone that confirms the car is parked, locked, at address ...... (GPS) and the car is "asleep"

As @Silver Fox rightly stated in an earlier post "absence makes the heart grow fonder"

Enjoy Cornwall!
 
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