GT86 ownership experience

[Moopig]

Hello All, after running for a year or so without a car and just using my van as transport, I've decided that a change is needed.
I've been looking seriously at GT86 and I was wondering how people were getting on with them now they are starting to get older and higher mileage and what they are like to live with?

My situation is I am 39, just under 6ft, have 2 small children (3yo and 6yo).
I need to collect from school twice a week, are the rear seats big enough to fit 2 children in the back relatively comfortably?

I used to do a lot of trackdays but my last one was now 3 years ago and I've heard from my friends that the cars taken to trackdays have changed significantly in this time and everything is a lot faster. I'd like to do occasional trackdays in it. What are they like on track? There is the usual 'underpowered' comments, are the massively outgunned?

Unfortunately my budget of £10,000 means I would be looking at older, higher mileage cars, so how have they faired as they've got older? Are there any known issues to look out for on the 2012-2013 cars with something approaching 100,000miles?

What are they like as a driving experience and how do they compare to the competition? Things like Megane RS, Astra VXR or maybe something like an Integra Type R?
Most information I've found is quite old now, so I was wondering how opinion might have changed over the years.

Any other information, reviews or advise would be gratefully received.

[MrSmith901]

I had one for a while, the engine is terrible in my opinion. A remap and manifold can improve it a bit, a supercharger or turbo is the more permanent solution. The engine feels strangled and doesn't sound great, in standard form. The rest of the car I really liked, the looks, the interior, the handling. Getting kids in and out was fine.

I have also owned a Honda Integra DC5, and as you mentioned that car as well, in my opinion, the DC5 is a lot better. The engine has drama and a great soundtrack. Yes it's front wheel drive but it handles amazingly well. If someone gave me the keys to both and said pick one, there is no scenario where I would take the GT86.

That being said the GT86 is good car, I just don't like the engine, with a few mods they can be made better and do well on track. Although you can say the same thing about a DC5 and the DC5 is better "out of the box". All just my opinion from personal experience.

[Moopig]

That's good to hear, I am probably looking for something that's a fun experience rather than for outright performance, I'd ideally like an Elise, but need 4 seats.
Its disappointing to hear about the engine, though I did suspect that might be the truth.
The only issue with Integra Type R is the rust really, as my budget would mean I'd also be buying the lower end of those.
Want a car to enjoy, not one that takes over my life with maintenance etc as I have other projects/hobbies to do that

[gazlar53]

I’ve owned one for 3 weeks now. It’s a 2014, 68k miles and cost £11500.00 private

If you get one that’s less than 10 years old & <100k on the clock you can get a Toyota warranty if you get a service, that’s what I plan to do later in the year.

My previous daily was a r56 mini jcw 2010. I’d been looking to try one of these for a while, reviews seem mixed but everyone seems to agree the chassis is pretty good so thought I’d give it a go. It’s my daily car, commute of 12 miles each way, mix of motorway and A roads. Im 39 too (well, nearly) 6ft 1 with no kids!

Interior
Seats are great, they remind me of mid 90’s wing back recaros, so supportive with the seat bolsters. I have the cloth interior, personally I prefer it to the leather but I can see that it’s not very hard wearing. There is some minor bolster wear from the previous owner. What is great though is that you sit in it, rather than on it. Cars with high seating positions don’t suit me so no worries here!
Layout of everything is good, all controls are within easy reach and you sit fairly low which is nice, might not be great for getting kids in and out though but at least the doors are quite big.
It’s typically Japanese so the plastics are fairly hard but generally the interior quality is better than I expected but obviously doesn’t have the quality feel of the mini. Not a deal breaker though. The clocks are good with the rev counter centre stage.
Heater is great but does seem to take a while to warm up, once it’s there though it’s like a furnace. I thought the buttons looked a bit cheesy in the pictures (as they look like nuts) but don’t look too bad in real life and don’t feel that cheap.
Back leg room is poor though, I’d say worse than the mini especially as you’ll need your seat quite far back. The trans tunnel cuts the seats too so there is an arm rest thing in the middle of the back seats.
Boot isn’t a bad size, I’ve just put 2 large rucksacks in it, with space for some day sacks. Seat folds down as 1 without a split so be aware of that.
Stereo is dated but does the job, upgrades are cheap though and the original does have Bluetooth and aux so I don’t think I’ll bother changing it.

Engine
I’m no car reviewer and I’ve only had it a few weeks (with limited chance the drive it) so take from this what you will. I think the engine is ok, it’s just short of 200bhp from a 2 litre lump. It doesn’t sound great at all though, I’ve read about the torque dip, but generally it’s not an issue for the way I drive (quite slow)! Fuel consumption is showing 37.1 since I’ve owned it.

Brakes
Took me a while to get used to these and thought at first they weren’t up to much. Quite like them now though,they’re not over servo’d so you get quite a good feel on the pedal but I just had to get used to using more force to get more brake.

Gearbox
Not great. Might just be mine but downshifts when cold, especially 2nd and 1st are really really stiff. This seems to be a common issue and I need to look into it a bit more. On the plus side, the throw is nice and the leaver falls straight to hand. Circa 3k in 6th at 70mph.

Handling
I need to use it more to really get a feel for it to be honest. I’ve not had it sideways yet is all I can say. Must try harder! Coming from the mini though it doesn’t feel quite as chuckable. I appreciate it’s a completely different kettle of fish and probably need to change my driving style to suit. Suspension is compliant though, where the mini would crash and bounce over everything this is much more comfortable with minimal body roll. Turn in is nice and sharp.

Overall I feel (in my very limited 3 weeks) that this a car you have to rag a bit to get the most out of, I think the more you put in the more you’ll get out and it’s probably best suited to a flowing b road rather than a stop start commute. I’d like to draw a comparison to the wife’s mx5 nc as this feels like this should be a ‘grown up’ version of that, I think in some ways it is but I think the mx5 just scores a bit higher on the ease of using it as a commuter as the engine and box is a little more refined.

Obviously to caveat all of the above, I’ve owned it 3 weeks and only really gone to work and back in the dark in single figure temperatures.

Hope that helps ??

Edited by gazlar53 on Saturday 21st January 11:24

[AnhBanhBao]

I’ve owned my 2012 for just over 2 years, am a similar age and height, and whilst I’ve not got kids yet, I do ferry around my nieces a couple of times per week, who are 2 and 7.

I honestly think it depends on how much you want one, OP. Might sound an obvious thing to say, but I’d wanted one since the Evo days in 2010-11, when all the concept articles were doing the rounds.

I’ve had no mechanical issues in 15k miles over these 2 years, and I have had the usual manifold and tune carried out to get rid of/reduce the famous flat spot.

I still love mine, but can see the day coming where it gets retired from daily duties, mainly due to the practical side of things. Getting out and squeezing kids/passengers in the back can get old quite quickly if it’s a regular thing.