Yes, the auto takes a turbo
Ask about turbocharging an automatic GR86 and most of the answers you’ll find are people telling you to buy a manual. This owner didn’t want a manual. They wanted their car, with boost, done properly.
So that’s what this is: a 2026 GR86 ZN8 automatic, HKS GTIII-RS turbo kit, supporting fuel system, oil control, gauges, and custom dyno tuning w/ EcuTek. 208.3 kW and 322.6 Nm at the wheels on 98.
The HKS GTIII-RS kit
Same kit we fitted to the BRZ ZD8 build. HKS engineer it for the FA24, so the turbo, manifold, dump pipe, front-mount intercooler, and charge piping all go on without cutting the body. The GTIII-RS runs a billet compressor wheel in a compact housing, which is why it spools early and pulls to the top of the rev range instead of arriving all at once.
“Bolt-on” still means a real job. This install ran about 34 hours. The turbo’s exhaust housing needed grinding to clear a bracket. The Omni 4 bar MAP sensor needed a spacer we made on the spot. The ID1050-XDS injectors use different connectors to the factory loom, so we wired new plugs on both banks rather than using adapters that add resistance and rattle loose. That’s what fitting a turbo to a road car looks like. It’s the part you pay a workshop for.
Fuel and spark
The factory fuel system is sized for 174 kW, not 280-plus at the crank. Injector Dynamics ID1050-XDS injectors and a DeatschWerks DW300C 340LPH pump give the headroom to hold safe mixtures at full boost. A step colder set of HKS M45HL Super Racing plugs handles the extra cylinder pressure.
Oil control
The FA24’s factory stamped sump is a known weak point once you add boost and sticky tyres. A Verus 3D-printed aluminium pan went on, with the turbo oil return plumbed into it, a heat shield fitted between pan and exhaust, and Penrite HPR 5 5W-40 to finish. While the sump was off we cleaned the mating surface back to bare metal.
Gauges
The owner wanted to see what the engine is doing, so a pair of Defi 60mm gauges went in: boost and oil pressure, run through a Defi Control Unit on a painted twin-gauge holder. Sensors are plumbed at the engine and wired through to the cabin. Factory-look finish, no zip-tied A-pillar pods.
Tuned through the factory ECU
This is where the automatic matters. The tune is done on the standard ECU with custom dyno tuning w/ EcuTek, which means the factory transmission control keeps working exactly as Toyota built it. Shift logic, torque management, and all the factory protections stay in place, now calibrated around boost. Nothing changes about how it drives in traffic.
The result
208.3 kW and 322.6 Nm at the wheels on 98 RON. The full run is on the dyno results page, and the package itself is our GR86/BRZ Stage 3.
In an auto the power is easy to use: the torque converter keeps the engine in boost between shifts, so it just pulls. Road tested, logged, and handed back as a daily.
