Grand Touring: What would you do to the Twins?

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by why?

However if you take the rear seat out and the passenger seat out the added storage capacity is gigantic.

I must be missing something obvious, but if you take the rear seat out all you really gain is the space for the bottom cushions and the thickness of the backseat. You then end up with an unlevel bed. Not even sure why you would take out the passenger seat, unless racecar, but then you aren't worried about storage.

Originally Posted by why?

If you get 21 mpg in a twin you are either driving it in a city or flooring it constantly. I'm not the only one that has hit 40+ mpg on long highway drives.

Yea, I average over 33MPG (no real city driving) and pretty much every stop light or stop sign is a 0 to 60 challenge event. About the only thing I don't do is speed, I'm usually no more than 10MPH over the speed limit.

[ROFL it's Waffle]

Pretty sure this is why some people opt for car-top cargo boxes.
https://www.thule.com/en-us/cargo-ca...ar-top-carrier

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by why?

Of course a light car from the 80's weighed around 1800 pounds. The twins are a boat comparatively. Heck the Mk2 Supra weighed about what our cars weigh now.



The road noise is sort of nuts if you don't like that type of thing. It is obvious the car was designed to spit every tiny noise from the trunk area right to the front windshield.

However if you take the rear seat out and the passenger seat out the added storage capacity is gigantic.



It would be amazing if people bought 2 door cars like they use to. Even Mustangs and Camaros sales are sliding down.



If you get 21 mpg in a twin you are either driving it in a city or flooring it constantly. I'm not the only one that has hit 40+ mpg on long highway drives.

The m4 is the definition of a luxobarge.

I live in LA, even the highway is considered city lol.

[NWFRS]

I think a larger naturally aspirated engine would have gone a long way to making the FRS/86 a proper GT. And better sound deadening. I think the automatic gearbox is excellent as-is. The first things I did to my '13 were a Katskinz leather re-upholstery and smaller wheels with more sidewall rubber. It's a decent enough "GT" for the price point. I'll do some kind of power upgrade in the future.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by NWFRS

The first things I did to my '13 were a Katskinz leather re-upholstery and smaller wheels with more sidewall rubber. .

How much of a difference did the extra sidewall make? I've thought about doing this myself (I hate low profile tires)

[NWFRS]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

How much of a difference did the extra sidewall make? I've thought about doing this myself (I hate low profile tires)

At first I thought I could tell a big difference in ride quality and noise reduction. But that was 20k miles ago and now I don't really recall how it felt before. But I certainly like the look better. The European-market cars came from Japan with 16" wheels if I remember correctly and they have shit roads throughout most of Europe. I thought that was telling. In the end I'm not entirely sure what the difference was. I still think the stock suspension feels terrible-like it's tuned for a nice smooth racetrack rather than real-world commuting. The important thing is that I'm very pleased with how the car looks and drives now. With so many on the road it's nice to look a little different without being slammed or Rekt-Bunney'd-out.

[N1rve]

Originally Posted by NWFRS

At first I thought I could tell a big difference in ride quality and noise reduction. But that was 20k miles ago and now I don't really recall how it felt before. But I certainly like the look better. The European-market cars came from Japan with 16" wheels if I remember correctly and they have shit roads throughout most of Europe. I thought that was telling. In the end I'm not entirely sure what the difference was. I still think the stock suspension feels terrible-like it's tuned for a nice smooth racetrack rather than real-world commuting. The important thing is that I'm very pleased with how the car looks and drives now. With so many on the road it's nice to look a little different without being slammed or Rekt-Bunney'd-out.

I agree about the stock suspension. It's pretty stiff for real-world driving. Though I think it was made softer as the years went on. My friend's 2015 BRZ was pretty compliant.

[DarkPira7e]

I'd get a 16" wheel to run a larger sidewall tire (I have this for my car's snow tires)
I'd get a 3.91 or 3.73 rear diff to reduce harshness in 1st gear and give 6th lower rpm for cruising
I'd make the driver's seat powered- I like manual seats but the power seats in my 3000gt VR4 made it a dream to adjust during cruises to Maine or wherever else life took me. It was nice to be able to adjust the bolstering and lumbar, as well as height and tilt.

[why?]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

I must be missing something obvious, but if you take the rear seat out all you really gain is the space for the bottom cushions and the thickness of the backseat. You then end up with an unlevel bed. Not even sure why you would take out the passenger seat, unless racecar, but then you aren't worried about storage.

Yea, I average over 33MPG (no real city driving) and pretty much every stop light or stop sign is a 0 to 60 challenge event. About the only thing I don't do is speed, I'm usually no more than 10MPH over the speed limit.

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

How much of a difference did the extra sidewall make? I've thought about doing this myself (I hate low profile tires)

I took out everything behind the front seats. The biggest gain was being able to lean the the front seats back a few inches more, which I really like. I took out the passenger seat to remove the carpet and clean under it. I was originally going to put it back in but I'm lazy. I very much do not recommend this if you care about NVH. I can still have a conversation over bluetooth with the stock stereo, but for instance on the highway if you turn the iphone all the way while not connected to the stereo it is hard if not impossible to hear. I also removed the headliner because it is too low and as I sat my head rubbed it.

I also run 205/55 16's year round. I use general all seasons, because I really liked them on my Yaris. Compared to the stock tires you lose some of the top handling, but that's about it. They raised the car just enough that I don't scrape over the crowns of the road any more. I still can't get into the craziest of rain gutters without scraping. I would go smaller but looking at tire weights it doesn't seem worth it unless I could somehow get 14's, which you'd need to switch the hubs somehow and is more involved than I have any need to get.

[dhuang]

I just got back in the BRZ after road tripping in the 4C for a month.

While cruising on the highway, I would stay below 72mph or above 65mph because the exhaust drone would get to me -- I ended up using earplugs for the long boring stretches. Speaking of stretches, I'd stop every hour to stretch because the Alfa beats you up, and constantly demands your concentration.

The BRZ felt absolutely Lexus-like after that experience. I guess my definition of "Grand Touring" is different than most.

Reunited!

[Kiske]

GT means a bit more to me I guess. :/ I am kind of surprised that I haven't came across any build as outlined below. With everything people do to these cars luxury isn't really common.

My formula to try would be something along the lines of what I'm already on the road to.

-Remove the floor and headliner and install Dynamat the thing to knock the road noise and the tin can sound when it rains. Foam tape a few thing behind the door panels and under the dash (rattles.)

-Softer suspension with a slightly lower ride height than stock (0.5".) Stock wheels are fine with a nice, taller tire.

-Larger Capacity FA20 engine (bore/stroke,) slightly reduced compression and a low maintenance supercharger setup on flex fuel. Allow it to run from shit pump to e80+ so you don't need to track where to fill up on your long drives. Pair it with a longer 6th gear for hwy cruising.

-Swap out the door speakers and add an OEM + Trunk mounted sub. I'm sure a better head unit could be found but, I'm not terribly fluent in audio for cars these days.

-Lastly and probably the biggest hurdle is the interior. IMO to get it to a modern GT spec the thing needs the dash stripped and then reupholstered with softer/plush, luxury materials and nice stitching. Anything that is raw plastic has to go. The center console, pillars, door panels, ect... The Front seats need swapped with something like a Recaro Sportster GT. Buttons such as the climate control knob's need to changed out to some robust metal, this applies to the Trac/VCSC buttons too.

[gravitylover]

Originally Posted by Dadhawk

How much of a difference did the extra sidewall make? I've thought about doing this myself (I hate low profile tires)

My winters are 205/50's and there's a noticeable difference. Part of it is definitely the softer durometer rubber but they are quite a bit more pleasant on rough pavement and seem to make pothole or sharp edged bumps a little bit less jarring. I think if I was going to try to soften the blow any more I'd go 16's with a stiff sidewall so they don't break down too much in corners. I'll probably wait until I can afford to "rally it out" before I go in that direction.

[gravitylover]

Another way of figuring the criteria for what a grand touring car is might be to look at what was running in events like the Mille Miglia in 1960-70-80.

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by Kiske

GT means a bit more to me I guess. :/ I am kind of surprised that I haven't came across any build as outlined below. With everything people do to these cars luxury isn't really common.

My formula to try would be something along the lines of what I'm already on the road to.

-Remove the floor and headliner and install Dynamat the thing to knock the road noise and the tin can sound when it rains. Foam tape a few thing behind the door panels and under the dash (rattles.)

-Softer suspension with a slightly lower ride height than stock (0.5".) Stock wheels are fine with a nice, taller tire.

-Larger Capacity FA20 engine (bore/stroke,) slightly reduced compression and a low maintenance supercharger setup on flex fuel. Allow it to run from shit pump to e80+ so you don't need to track where to fill up on your long drives. Pair it with a longer 6th gear for hwy cruising.

-Swap out the door speakers and add an OEM + Trunk mounted sub. I'm sure a better head unit could be found but, I'm not terribly fluent in audio for cars these days.

-Lastly and probably the biggest hurdle is the interior. IMO to get it to a modern GT spec the thing needs the dash stripped and then reupholstered with softer/plush, luxury materials and nice stitching. Anything that is raw plastic has to go. The center console, pillars, door panels, ect... The Front seats need swapped with something like a Recaro Sportster GT. Buttons such as the climate control knob's need to changed out to some robust metal, this applies to the Trac/VCSC buttons too.

A sub in the trunk is going to take away a ton of baggage space isn't it? A gt needs space for stuff.