HOT RIDE
Bride Low Max seats, Sabelt harnesses
and a Nardi Deep Corn steering wheelalso had a carbon bonnet, splitter, sideskirts and custom
exhaust system, although there’s no way we can level
an accusation of rolling someone else’s build here. The
rest of the car was bone-stock and, and as our intrepid
adventurer would soon discover, the air setup wasn’t all
that great and would ultimately require ripping out and
redoing. Still, the bones were good and Max was eager
to get started.CARBON FOOTPRINT“I originally purchased a set of Japan Racing wheels,
which I fi tted with spacers and loved to start with,” he
says. “I slowly started adding bits of carbon to the car –
fi ns, bootlid, canards, and the rear seat delete – and it
was at this time that the issues with the old air-ride setup
really needed sorting; it got to the point where the whole
system needed reinstalling. I took it to Plush Automotive,
who did an amazing job on the car and had it back to
perfect in no time!” Max was also busy replacing and
upgrading some of the mods the car had come with, and
the next step was a big one: he decided to splash out on
his fi rst set of pukka 3-piece wheels.
“I ordered them from SSEuros in the States,” he
says. “They arrived two days later! I had ordered themand you fi nd humble roots: “My fi rst car was a VW Polo
9N3,” he recalls. “I always wanted to own a modifi ed car
since I saw other people driving slammed cars on the
road when I was much younger. I put the Polo on JOM
coilovers, although other than that it stayed fairly stock.”
After he sold that, Max bought himself a facelift-8P
Audi A3 TDI (no swapsies here, a slightly more traditional
approach), and set about turning this into his fi rst
properly in-depth project. The A3 was bagged on an Air
Lift 3P set-up over Rotiform SPF cast wheels, along with
a few RS tweaks and subtle mods... but then his eye was
caught, magpie-like, by a shiny thing.
“After around eighteen months with the Audi, I saw
this GT86 on Instagram on the Grizzatrading page, where
it had been posted for sale or swaps,” he says. “The
post was up for a few weeks and nobody had seemed
interested in it; I messaged the guy offering to swap my
A3 for the GT86 and to my surprise he was up for it! We
met up at Early Edition, where we were able to look at
both cars together and come to a deal.”
You can almost feel Max’s inner child wriggling with
excitement at this point. While the Audi was nicely
put together with quality bits, a sports car is just in
another realm to a diesel hatchback. This would be an
outstanding addition to his cerebral Top Trumps wishlist.
Besides, there was further motivation at play: “Around
that time, I was Instagram-following a lot of GT86/FRS/
BRZ owners in America with stanced cars,” he explains.
“In particular, @K1llionaire who owned a fuchsia pink
Rocket Bunny build with insane camber. I always loved
the aggressive style of this car despite the majority of my
friends thinking that camber looked stupid! When I fi rst
saw this GT86 on Grizzatrading I loved it straight away,
and at that point I knew I wanted to build a stanced ’86.”
When Max got the Toyota, it had already received a
few mods, chief among them being the air-ride swap. It
COVERING ALL ANGLES
Camber is a polarising issue. Some love the vibe, some can’t see the point. But
hey – your ride, your way, right? “It’s my favourite mod on the car,” Max grins.
“Everyone has their own opinions on camber, and the majority of the GT86
platform owners hate my car. The Facebook groups especially dislike anyone
adding their own fl air to the cars! My view is that they were never particularly
quick in the fi rst place, but they have a unique look. They’re built really well and
handle great when stock, I agree – but for me the car is not built just for speed.
I would like something faster, sure... although that said, I would consider doing
a track build on this Toyota and changing the wheels and camber setup for
something more track-focused.” See, that’s one of the key points that people
seem to miss – love it or loathe it, it’s not like it’s irreversible. It’s OK to change
your mind. But for now, Max is loving the look, and so are we!