By We live in Toyota’s world. Their trucks have been indestructible since the ‘80s. Their luxury cars have been global conquerors since the ‘90s. Their Prius took over in the 2000s, and influenced the design of hybrids from dozens of different manufacturers, and pushed the world towards a greener future. Now, in an age where electric cars and fuel-sipping “hot” hatches dominate the lower third of new cars, there are few options for “fun.”
Fortunately, Toyota decided to let Subaru co-parent its first compact rear-wheel-drive platform in years and gave us something great. The Scion FRS, Subaru BRZ, and Toyota GT86 (collectively referred to as the Toyota 86) are fun, light coupes and come with a do-it-yourself gearbox, ticking all the boxes required for a Mazda Miata competitor. But what if it doesn’t quite settle you? What if you want more out of your ToyoBaru? The good news, there are plenty of ways to make your Toyota 86 faster, more nimble, and more unique. Here are our recommendations for what to do first!
VIDEO: 8 MUST HAVE MODS FOR THE SUBARU BRZ, 86, FR-S
Wheels and Tires
This one is a gimme. Almost every car benefits from wider tires and lighter wheels. The stock 215mm tires make for tons of sideways fun, and that width is great for learning the behavior of your chassis if you opt for a stickier compound. However, if you want more grip and better fitment, wider wheels with more offset can help fill out the fenders and make room for 235mm or 255mm tires.
The Volk TE37 from Rays has the classic tuner look, and give plenty of offset and width options. Enkei RPF1 wheels tend to be light and are available in lots of sizes too, but the TE37s and RPF1s are popular to the point of being overdone. There are tons of wheel options out there, from Advan to Wedsport and everything between. Pick what you like, but be wary of replica brands and inferior materials.
Dampers, Springs, and Coilovers
Subaru may be known for making rally cars, but the 86 is at home closer to the ground. When you’re cornering hard or sliding sideways, you want the most control possible over your car. On top of that, if you own a race car, you want it to look like a race car. Low is as low does though, so you can’t cut the springs and expect that to work well. Coilovers are bolt-in shock/spring packages that can change the ride comfort, height, and performance of your vehicle while adding adjustment options.
There is a boatload of coilover options available for the 86 platform. Unfortunately, it’s not a one-size-fits-all situation, as certain coilovers are geared towards one type of driving or another. Whether you want to drift and canyon carve on Fortune Auto or BC Racing coilovers, or corner hard on track with Bilstein B14s or Counterspace Garage CSG Flex coils, there’s something out there to fit your needs.
If you’re looking for something a little more budget-oriented, the SCCA spec suspension package for the Toyota 86 is a set of Koni Yellow dampers and Eibach Pro-Kit lowering springs. These will lower the car and give you solid performance around corners without being as expensive as a full set of race coilovers, but you don’t get the same damping adjustment as with a tuneable coil set.
Accessory and Crank Pulleys
Pop quiz: where are the places you can save unsprung weight? Brakes, check. Wheels and tires, check. Most of your suspension geometry, check. Engine pulleys? Check! The FA20D has a maze of a serpentine belt around all its accessories, and every one of those accessory pulleys (and the crank pulley!) is rotational mass. Lightweight pulleys let your engine rev faster and free up just a little bit of horsepower. Your car feels light around corners already, and now it’ll feel lighter in a straight line too!
Exhaust Pipes and Headers
One of the best things about driving a fun car is the sound. The stock exhaust system on an FRS sounds alright at high RPM, but it’s a little wheezy. There are a few easy bolt-on fixes for this. Axle-back exhausts can help with the exhaust note a bit, but don’t do much for performance as they’re basically replacement mufflers. Cat-back systems do exactly what they say they do: they run from the catalytic converter back. Catback exhausts are axle-back systems along with an upgraded midpipe at their simplest, or one-piece piping sections that go from a catalytic converter flange at one end to the muffler welded on at the back of the car. Catbacks are the easiest exhaust upgrade that will actually get you a little (read: 2-5) horsepower and free up a ton of weight. The stock cat-back is about 40 lbs, while single exit systems like the Tanabe Concept G are half that weight and more efficient at high RPM.
The most noticeable changes to exhaust sound and performance on a ZN6/ZC6 chassis come from new headers. The “boxer rumble” everyone is so familiar with thanks to the Impreza WRX and STi comes from uneven length headers. Even length headers mean each pipe leading away from the cylinder head is the same length before a collector; these are what come on your 86, and are often more efficient for naturally aspirated engines. Uneven length headers are better performing for turbocharged vehicles, as they have much shorter exhaust runners. Shorter runners mean exhaust gases can spool a turbocharger faster, meaning you’ll have a bit less turbo lag off the line. The characteristic “Subaru rumble” comes from that shorter set of intake runners on one side, as they alternate between short loud exhaust pulses on one side and long quiet pulses on the other. In short: if you’re running NA or supercharged, even-length headers are going to be more efficient and give you better power in the long run. However, if you are upgrading from stock, almost anything will provide better sound and flow since aftermarket headers usually don’t have catalytic converters. Keep in mind, these systems are the most complicated exhaust upgrade for your FR-S or BRZ short of a turbocharger manifold, and may not be legal if you’re in a place like California that doesn’t allow fun.
Air Intakes
If you’re upgrading your 86, it definitely needs to breathe better. First so you get more delicious intake noise, second so you can make more power! The FA20D’s stock intake system is well designed, but if you’re planning other supporting mods and a tune an intake is a worthwhile investment. An aftermarket air filter will protect against more particulate than the OEM filter, and many are cleanable and reusable. If you’re planning on driving the car hard, an upgraded cold air intake will not only provide cool woosh noises under hard acceleration, but can also help with throttle response and horsepower. Many intakes for the FA20D advertise an extra 8-10 wheel horsepower, but according to independent reviews they usually fall closer to 2-5 additional horsepower from the intake alone.
Boooooooooost
You can only squeeze so much power out of an FA20D. Intakes don’t add a whole lot of horsepower by themselves, but what if you could force more air into the intake rather than relying on traditional vacuum? Turbochargers and superchargers can make that happen, pushing around 8-10psi of boost on a basic off-the-shelf tune included with a supercharger or turbo kit. Superchargers will feel more linear, but turbochargers hit their peak boost lower in the RPM range.
10psi is regarded as the “safe” range for boost a basic forced induction setup on the FA20D without supporting modifications like larger injectors, intake, exhaust, and a tune. The FA20D is also somewhat limited on boost by its internals: the FA20DIT in the Subaru WRX is a 10.6:1 compression ratio and takes close to 20 psi of boost, while the FA20D has a much higher 12.5:1 compression ratio. If you want to go higher than 10psi, you should be aware of your air/fuel ratios across the entire rev range.
Tunes
Speaking of which, tunes! When you’re slapping on all your cool bolt-on mods and forced induction kits, your car’s ECU will reach a point where it can’t calculate and compensate for the increased flow. An off-the-shelf tune on an aftermarket header can get you in the direction of +20 wheel horsepower; companies like COBB, Ecutek, and OpenFlash make modules that can flash your ECU by plugging into the OBDII port in the cabin. A professional bespoke tune on a turbocharged car with all of the supporting fuel, intake, and exhaust mods can easily see wheel horsepower numbers in the 300-400+ range. Use caution in that range though, as with that much boost you’re testing the limits of the engine’s stock internals and coming right up against the maximum rating for the stock 6 speed manual drivetrain.
Brake Pads, Calipers, and Rotors
Oh yeah, after adding all those go-fast mods there’s one last must-do. What good is all that power if you can’t stop? The stock brakes on an 86 work okay considering the car is sub-3000 lbs, but the faster you’re going the harder they have to work. New pads will be your most effective modification: high-temperature brake pads from Project Mu, EBC, or Hawk are the key to avoiding fade during extended track sessions or autocross events. If you want the quickest stopping capability possible, big brake kits are available for the front and rear from StopTech, AP Racing, and more that bump up to massive 6-piston front calipers and 14” rotors, among other improvements.
The biggest improvements to any vehicle’s braking speed is in weight reduction and tires. No matter how big your brakes are, they will appreciate having to stop less mass, and from being attached to tires that can properly grip the road under them. Because of this, larger calipers and rotors are a lower priority than pretty much anything else on the table.
So What Now?
The ToyoBaru 86 platform is ready for all the mods and abuse you can throw at it. There are plenty of racing championships out there tailored at sports cars like the BRZ, FRS, and GT86, and plenty of mods for you to go out there and make your vehicle competitive. Don’t forget that the most important mod is the driver mod. Practice makes perfect, and no amount of money can replace skill. For all the cool bolt-ons and upgrades you need (aside from the aforementioned driver mod), check out the Motoroso Marketplace!
