Month long review on my new car

So the reviews a week late by the time I probably publish this, I've been busy with my family back in town, and I had a few things to take care of within the first month, but without further ado, meet Cindy!

Ain't she pretty?

My 2025 GR86 Premium with the Performance Package, hence the 4 piston Brembos up front and 2 in the rear

Got her a month ago on the 6th, and since them, I've installed the following:

Mtec Clutch Spring (Best part, more in a min)

Rexspeed Sidemarkers (see above)

EightyZips Shift Boot

Billetworkz Shift Knob (both below)

Billetworkz Ebrake Handle

Cusco Drift Button

Cusco Wide Pedal

Verus Pedal Spacer (Removed, there's a reason the gas and brakes aren't next to each other, more in a min)

Perrin Master Cylinder Brake Brace

KN Filter

Charcoal Filter Delete (Best free mod)

US Spec cars with it are rated at 228hp, European and Japanese models without the filter are 235hp

And in it's own category, Driven.Media:

Hood Struts

Interior and reverse LED Bulbs

Wide Angled mirrors with blue tint

3rd Brake Light F1 Style blinker module

3rd Brake Light and Tail light overlays

See how the side and middle piece are blacked out?

OEM TRD Knob is already sold

Now, this ties in with the rest of the review, this car begs to be modded, you can't just get a Toyobaru and leave it stock, as in my opinion, the stock clutch spring is too aggressive for anything short of a pure track weapon; I've been driving sticks for over a decade and this was one of the few manuals that I didn't enjoy, it kicked right back, you had to be aggressive driving it, and I unfortunately wound up stalling it more times than I care to admit solely due to how it was.

With the Mtec, it feels factory in comparison, there was no reason I had to pay $40 for the part plus the install costs (I keep getting stuck with a few DIY parts, necessitating getting help with the shops). If I told you the OEM spring was aftermarket for track use, you'd believe me, and that to me is mind blowing, as I get they're meant to be tracked, but this isn't a race spec car, it has a back row that could fit two little kids, not to mention plenty of quality features.

Not the best interior pic, but look at the Alcantara seats, and the little seat heater switches

Now with the new clutch spring installed, its easy to drive fast, and unlike her big, older sister, you can cruise on 18 in 6th gear and still pull. Granted, we're not gonna actually win races in 6th, but unless I really need max power, I can casually pull away.

As for how she is overall, she's just fun! The name comes from my OC below

I can't find the original image, so she's the ginger in the middle. My Bronco is named after Ashley, the girl on the left, just need a truck for the girl on the right (Lina)

As I said before, she's fun; always the right amount of power, easy to get slideways, I can tackle twisty roads and traffic circles without touching the brakes unless I got a slowmo in front of me, and having sorted out the spring, you can drive her from here to Timbuktu! Hell, I even plan to drive her in winter, as other than the one or two snow days we'd get, its just generally cold and miserable at worst, not a snowocalypse like everyone's convinced we get, where they're like AWD or Bust and in all hysterics, are like

(Also, speaking of the kids, we're relying too much on saaaaaaaafety and stuff. I sat in the front seat of my parents starting at 3yo in the 90s and I'm not dead, you don't need a booster seat for a kid until their 8. Also can let them drink from the hoses and play in the mud, but I digress)

Listen, even if we do get a bad snow day, the roads are cleared the next day, and if I have to go out, I got Ashley. I park Cindy in my garage for the day, clear a path and we're golden. She's not a twitchy power ladened monster where you have to feather the throttle or you'll spin out, so even if there is ice and stuff, as long as the tires are good and tractions on, throw in a sand bag or two in the trunk and I'll be fine.

Life's too short to be ordinary, so why not get what you want? I'd rather die than drive a generic car with an automatic, and even when the time comes to have a family, I'll keep her and possibly get an older manual sedan or justify a VB or possibly a VC if they make them. I aspired to be like Jay Leno with his car collection, mine just won't be exotics and classics for the most part

Well, I'm "braking" things up per season, as I don't wanna get overboard, but for now, I'm getting 35% tint all around, and then going to do a Catback as well

APEXi N1 Evo Extreme Catback Exhaust

After that, hands up like the rounds up in Chopped, then for Fall, I'm going to swap my stock 215mm summer tires (Michelin PS4S) for 225mm Ultra High Performance All Season (Continental ExtremeContact DSW06+), then I'm between upgrading the brakes as they don't bite like I like despite the Brembos, or doing a short shifter.

Finally, for Winter, I'm going to do underglow, most likely Lowglow. For better and worse, Cindy isn't a powerhouse, you're not going to make a boatload of power without forced induction, and I don't want to sacrifice streetability and daily comfort chasing the power dragon.

There's always Misc. parts to add, and would love to do a subtle show build, especially wanna swap out the factory 3rd brake lights for something that doesn't feel dated:

Seriously, that looks similar to the FRS' one there!

But in due time, I'm still enjoying my girl.

Other options were the Acura Integra A-Spec or if I could, Type S, preown Mustang GT, POSSIBLY a VB WRX and some sort of wildcard I haven't considered.

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The thing is, Acura I felt was a little too pedestrian in comparison, even with the manual, and as I mentioned here, power ceiling on the L15 is low. Now to be fair, its comparable to the F24 in terms of limits, but the Toyobaru is lighter (2-300lbs), RWD and has different forced induction options. That and you know everyone would say "Why not a Type S for all the $$$ you're putting into her"

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The Mustang would be finding the perfect one, this one was kind of on me, but also I like to try new things out, and I never owned a Japanese car before, let alone a coupe. As I'll bring up below, I feel certain cars you just don't buy preowned, and knowing how I drive, even with a Prepurchase Inspection, I'd rather wait until I'm in a different situation to find the right Mustang down the road. That said, I don't regret my choice, just wish I had the $$$ to do all the mods at once

___________ VB: Never really a solid contender, a "just there" choice. As I said before in the A-spec review; "If you need AWD, WRX, although the manual's weak and you'll need to get a STI Drivetain swap for it if you plan to do mods. The STI swap will cost you $11-12k all and all, half if you can DIY."

There are countless articles, posts and videos stating the 6spd in the VB can't handle too much power, I don't have it in front of me, but as I recall, it's gonna go after a downpipe, intake, tune and intercooler basically, I could be wrong, but those are the most common mods, and for the transmission, not the clutch, the transmission, to go after basic mods isn't encouraging. If I had the $$$ for a STI swap, I'd consider one down the line, but yeah.

As for why the GR86? I just liked how the Toyobaru looked, and knew that after the clutch spring swap, I'd really enjoy it (Its definitely something I recommend). Cindy in particular had the package I wanted, I could install an aftermarket short shifter later, and while white's not my first choice of color, helps keep her anonymous as I got friends texting and calling saying they see me on the road, yet I'm not there. With Ashley, you know her, and you know its me.

Yes, she's still here. She's gonna be 4 in November and already got close to 72k miles on her, I just switch between the girls to not pile on the miles, basically 2 days Cindy, 1 Ashley. Before the clutch spring, it was truly a day and night difference just in the feel alone. Afterwards, its just Day and Afternoon; both are RWD basically, just you can feel the heft more on Ash, although she can go where Cindy can't, and I can throw people in the back.

Unfortunately, as of now;

There's no true fix as of now, so going to be relying on Cindy more and more. Before you ask btw, going to mod Ashley in the future, she's on the backburner for now, but in the future, better ambient lighting in the interior, finally installing the rock lights and a new grille, plus possibly different fog lights.

Yeah, don't do drugs! That, and you have to experience a Toyobaru, as the power figures seem underwhelming at 228hp/184tq, but then you realize its 2800lbs give or take with a LSD. Then while this still might not excite those who live and die by the spec sheets:

It's faster than a lot of cars on the road. As for weight, other than a Miata, the closet natural competitor you can buy new would be a Civic Si and a GLI, both are manual fwd sedans with LSD's, the former being 3000lbs and the latter 3500ish. Both will have it beat in terms of immediate tuning potential being turbocharged, but they feel a ton more pedestrian and honestly, I don't need the extra room. Again, they'll easily make more power and then win the race, but at the end of the day, both can't keep up in the twisties and don't have the same presence as Cindy.

Keep in mind, the avg car weights 3600lbs, this is 800lbs less, you don't need all the power, so other than the track ready stock clutch spring, you gotta experience it before you knock it. If you need room, they say an Civic Si and Integra A-spec are fwd GR86s, and if you insist on AWD, VB WRX.

I got a long way to go with Cindy, and I'll keep you posted with the progress, but figured I'd share this. Thanks for taki-

Oh, I was going to save that for another entry, but I figure I'll share. I'm on my last chapter of DND

Chipping away, and then I'm going to also finish cleaning up another story before submitting both to my editor. Then once that's all taken care of, I'll publish it. I'm getting a lot done this year, even if I'm not moving like I did the last two years (At this pace, I'll surpass '20 [169pgs] and '21 [182]. I may or may not reach or surpass '22 [256])

This year is more dynamic than the last few, there's a lot going on. I won't disappoint, you'll have new stories to read, just for now, be patient, as Mercury Retrograde is upon us! (Friday the 18th until August 11th) and I won't attempt to publish during that time, just wrap things up and also review and revise things.

That's it for now, thanks for taking a look, and happy birthday to my sister Stephanie! Thanks for taking a look, and have a great day now!