5 MODS THAT ACTUALLY WORK

Handling, braking and acceleration. These are the top 3 things that can make or break the driving experience. In this installment of 86Bible I will explore 5 mods that actually work and can fit into any modest budget.

Driver mod
Tyres/wheels
Suspension
Brakes
Power mod

1. The Driver Mod

Ok I admit this isn't a real modification that you can go and buy... But it is the single best way to improve the performance of your car: seat time. By this I don't mean driving to your local car meet and downing a few kebabs (mmm kebabs). I mean getting out on track and to motorkhana events organised by your car club. These events will teach you how to turn, brake and accelerate (not all at the same time hopefully). The 86 is an amazing car off the showroom floor even with the Michelin Primacy HP tyres. The most fun I've had in my car was when it was bone stock sliding around at Queensland Raceway (My PB was 1.05 on the sprint track stock).

Lucas Mc (QLD Drivers Club).

2. Wheels/Tyres

We all know that you can buy new wheels for your 86 that are lighter and wider (looking at you RPF1s) and that you can put sticky tyres on those.. But did you know that you can achieve similar performance by buying replacement tyres for your stock wheels?

This is the budget option. There are actually some great tyre options that you can put on your stock 16"/17" wheels.

My top picks:

Can also be bought in the 16" size of 205/55/16.

Click HERE for Wheels Blog!

3. Suspension

MCM tested this some time ago and proved that tyres should come before suspension.

After you add sticky tyres, you are going to immediately notice more body roll and diving under braking. Solve this by upgrading to a good suspension set up, which will make you feel more connected to your car and the road. It improves handling, braking and acceleration. I have a whole-nother blog on suspension that I will link HERE.

4. BRAKES

If you're reaching the end of your pedal on track, then it is time to invest in some new brakes. There are many different options out there. The cheapest option is to upgrade your pads to Ferodo DS2500s. The pads have good street manners (all-be-it a little dusty) and are great on track too. NOTE: upgrading your brakes without having already fitted sticky high performance tyres will be a waste of money.

Rotor and caliper upgrades should be a last resort for when you are beyond the limits of the factory hardware. This usually comes faster along the upgrade timeline when you add forced induction. No point going faster if you can't consistently and repeatedly slow down.

I own the Essex AP Racing Sprint setup, this is about as good as it gets and has been tried and tested for the GT86 platform. I've been using this setup for over 3 years and have only been through one set of pads (DS2500), I plan to replace the rotors when the 2nd set of pads expire. This includes multiple track days and about 50,000kms of street driving, the pads have about double the friction material as OEM which last forever.

Fade? Never heard of it.

There are other Brake kits out there that can be sourced for cheaper (but have nowhere near the amount of track testing as the AP Racing setup), which I will talk about in future blogs specifically for big brake kits.

5. Power Mods

We are all guilty of doing this mod first. I myself put a turbo on my car before suspension, wheels, brakes and tyres. Because of this hindsight I recommend leaving this to last. It is fun having a shit load of power on stock everything else but you soon find yourself wanting more stability in your life.

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