TECH SPEC: TOYOTA GT86
STYLING:
Seibon carbon fibre bonnet, carbon bootlid, front lip, HT
Autos sideskirts, Valenti taillights, Rocket Bunny rear diffuser,
carbon canards, carbon fins, Spec D bi-xenon headlights.TUNING:
4U-GSE 2.0-litre flat-four, Perrin Motorsport intake, custom
exhaust system with backbox delete, 6-speed manual.CHASSIS:
9x18in ET5 (front) and 10x18in ET0 (rear) WatercooledIND
JB1 3-piece wheels with brushed faces and polished lips,
215/35 (f) and 225/35 (r) Nankang NS20 tyres, Air Lift
Performance struts and bags, AccuAir E-Level management,
Racer X Fabrication rear upper control arms and toe arms,
Hardrace Extreme rear lower control arms.INTERIOR:
Bride Low Max seats, Sabelt harnesses, Agency Power
harness bar, Seibon carbon fibre rear seat delete, Nardi Deep
Corn steering wheel, NRG boss kit.HOT RIDE
knowing that they wouldn’t fit the car, and when I first
test-fitted them I quickly realised I was going to have to
add a lot of camber to the rear to get the wheels in.”
Thankfully the new-wave hachi-roku platform is well
catered for by the aftermarket, and the simple addition
of Racer X Fabrication upper control arms and toe arms
and Hardrace Extreme lower control arms got the rims
pointing where they should across all axes, and the brutal
Toyota was sitting pretty.
The next thing on Max’s to-do list was to address
the interior. While the stock GT86 innards are perfectly
pleasant, they’re not exactly exciting, so it’s all been
livened up with the stellar addition of Bride Low Max
seats with Sabelt harnesses on an Agency Power harness
bar, along with a Nardi Deep Corn steering wheel with
an NRG boss kit. Much better. Things have all come
together very nicely, haven’t they?
“Aside from the air-ride refit, I’ve done all the work by
myself – with a little help from my friends,” Max assures
us. “The way the ’86 is now, it certainly turns a lot of
heads when I’m out and about! I think this is mainly due
to people not having a clue what car it is, or thinking
‘How does that drive?’! Lots of people look at the car and
don’t understand, although I do get a lot of compliments
about it when I’m sat in traffic or at petrol stations... It
would be fair to say it’s hard to go anywhere unnoticed in
the ’86.”
This is hardly surprising. It’s not exactly a shrinking
wallflower, is it? This angry little coupé has a real Manga
vibe, accentuating the slinky stock lines into something
brutal, aggressive and uncompromising. Interesting
trade-up from an A3, right? So we can only wonder what
mighty machine Max will be levelling up to next...■