Just what doctor ordered for the 86
Motoring Correspondent
Toyota announced recently they have upgraded their 86, but left the engine unchanged. However, RGMotorsport is celebrating a more significant event in their interpretation of what the 2+2 sports car should be like.
The Randburg-based tuning house recently passed their half-century of forced-induction conversions to the athletic coupé, making it one of their most popular upgrades ever. A total of 53 supercharged conversions have been successfully completed.
Most of these cars are driven hard and regularly. The company’s own research and development car is used for joy rides, demos and track days – but so is another, owned by Nelspruit enthusiast Andy MacLaurin.
He’s attended 53 track day/time-trial events, often leaving home in the early hours of the morning.
A strange coincidence that the number of cars produced and MacLaurin’s event count are identical. And here’s another: he was born in 1953, proving you’re never too old to have fun!
Since supercharging his car in November 2013, MacLaurin has made 218 track session starts, totalling almost 1 500 hot laps without the car missing a beat. The car has covered 84 000km in supercharged guise.
Says Rob Green, founder of RGMotorsport: “The 86 has always been a great car but as soon as it was launched in August 2012 there were questions about its lack of power. As the chassis and suspension had so much in reserve, we saw it as an obvious choice for an upgrade.
“Because immediacy of response is so important in this kind of car we went the supercharged rather than turbocharged route. The rest is history and it is one of our biggest success stories.”
The off-the-shelf conversion takes the stock 147kW/205Nm to 220kW/315Nm in a bolt-on installation of a V-3 H67BC Vortech centrifugal supercharger. A 63mm stainless steel de-cat exhaust system is fitted and the engine is then mapped.
The cost of a conversion is R112 000, including a six-month/20 000km warranty. A two-year/75 000km warranty is one of a number of options available.