I don't think they are. What I've commonly seen are prospective owners who are trying to make an informed decision amidst the clueless automotive journalist anti-hype. This thread is for them, for those who are trying to see beyond the tripe and cliches I've outlined above.

I don't know, I've owned alot of cars, 4, 6, 8 cylinder, and a couple of rotories.

The 86's engine is nothing special and the standard suspension is average, it is a massed produced cheap little sporty car.

They do look good though, and if you drop some coin on upgraded suspension they can handle extremely well.

But is it a fast car, hell no, unless you drop a ton of cash on it.

To me they are the best looking econoboxes out there though, that's why I got one.

If people can understand that then they will be happy.

If people think or say they are a fast car on the street, they really haven't owned a fast car.

I would call it a nippy little RWD, like a MX5.

I believe, IMO, this is what a 86 is all about.

If you want a fast street car you need something different or be willing to drop the purchase price on modifications.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair…

People that say the car is slow clearly never been to a track or autocross before. Plenty of fast cars with low horsepower. Especially civics, miatas, and now the frs/brz twins

:slap: enough of that - :confused0068:


:D


humfrz

I thought we were talking about "it"?

I've never heard this said before about this car, it's suspension is much better than anything else in it's class. After driving the ND miata I can say even the club feels like it has more roll than this.

What specifically doesn't the suspension handle well in?

Damn. You mad bro?

Yes some care
 

Inam 70 owned everything from a GT 5 GT4Group A Corona GT and now the 86 gt with only 5000 on the clock.

I am not a hoon.
I give it an occasional squirt out on back roads or in the mountains.
I have no wish under our rules to get caught going 140 kmh and
Have my car impounded and then be written up in the local paper as the oldest hoon in the state.
I know howc to drive fast.
Owned a Brock group A
Did not end up splattered all over country side in thousand pieces
But I always remember the Bathurst solo who caught me accelerating past three semis at 160 kph and he chased me on his bmw racer caught me then as he wrote the ticket laughed and said I know its fast I know its safe
But mate you cant drive at those speeds on publics roads.

So the message here is not matter how good you think these frickin cars are you cant drive them like criminals.
And if you do it only takes some citizen to post his dash cam in utube and you are stuffed.

So grow up you guys or get onto the track and dont watch so much top gear.

Even the canon ball run in our open limited state has been banned when some ****head slammed into and killed marshalls.

And let us not forget old Peter Perfect Brockie and how he died.
Do you think you or your car as as good as he was?

Lol the very fact it has to run a strut bar like the gt4 celicas shows how piss weak the front end strut design is.
How old are macpherson struts?
1966? Or earlier?

Interesting article in this month's Evo magazine (November 2018 edition).. Lotus Exige S2 v GT86. Nice write up that doesn't dirty either platform but respects both for what they are: 'Both the GT86 and the Exige appeal to the same sort of driver, perhaps different stages in their experience. The Toyota's approachable limits, safe balance and absolute usability make it a great entry level sports car, but to make it the car that many think it should be - or that you might eventually to want it to be - it requires some major tweaks. The Exige, meanwhile, is so right, so serious, so impressive straight out of the box.. it's a car that you need to graduate to, and be prepared to accept more compromises with - but the rewards will make it worthwhile.'

BTW: Same mag also has a write-up about outgoing Subaru WRX STI Final Edition.

My 2017 with its sachs performance package suspension would oversteer like mad in the dry, in the wet it was like ice skating.

Played with tyre pressures for ages, to no avail.

My first upgrade was RS4 tyres, it was better but still not what I would call good.

Again with the tyre pressures, no real joy.

While I was researching handling options I got camber bolts because the OEM adjustability is non-existent, that is just a joke for a "sports car", actually I would say embarrassing.

Camber bolts gave me -0.5° at the front, rear was, again, non-adjustable, -1.25°L and -1.75R.

I ended up with MCA street performance coils and the MCA traction mod, the difference now is chalk and cheese.

I was able to wind in some much needed front camber, the dampening and spring rates are great for the street and work brilliantly on tight twisty roads, running through the "Nasho" now is a treat, it just grips.

I might expect more from a suspension package than most, years of motorsport taught me a thing or two about how a car is "meant" to handle, even for street duties, which, in the end, is where most of the miles are done, with no run off, or sand traps, just other cars, gutters, trees and innocent punters going about there day.

Whilst my car handles so much better now, and I can carry so much more corner speed, it is also much more controllable and brakes better.

Maybe if your punting along holding up traffic in the twisties you wouldn't find the limits of the OEM gear, but try and push, just a bit, and the limits are easily reached, you don't even need to push that hard for the arse to come out.

As for saying to keep the momentum up, all good, BUT, you need a better than OEM handling package to not end up either sideways, or of the track, in the end, if you keep it straight and on the track you're going to be slow.

Again, if you think the OEM car can handle well in these conditions I totally disagree, even with good rubber.

Want proof, don't ask on the internet, go to your local track and see how they compare.

Hell, I'm just a crazy old car hoon posting, no-one in their right mind should listen to what I say without doing their own sound experience based research.

I suppose you could just ask the internet. We all know how well that works.

People who just don't get it. This thread is for you!
 

That has nothing to do with the strut design. It's to increase the rigidity of the frame. It's extremely common in performance/sports cars. It's probably the lightest way to get some extra stiffness in the chassis. The only reason not to have them is if you can't because the engine gets in the way.

What? How old is the ICE? How old are rubber tires? You're grasping at straws.

Current Porsche 911 suspension:
http://image.superstreetonline.com/f...suspension.jpg

Porsche Cayman rear suspension:
https://caymanregister.org/images/FA...suspension.jpg

McPhersons are just fine. When the suspension is designed to have little travel (like on a 911, or a BRZ), the benefits of double A-arms and multilink setups quickly fade away, especially in a small sports car where packaging is important.

Nothing wrong with an enthusiastic driver/wanting to tweak/adjust and up/down grade ones car. It's your car and you do what pleases you and your bank balance. All cars from all sorts of backgrounds have been raced or race cars turned into roads cars.. examples below: