Church

Quieter? No. Reasonably quiet - yes. For example this catless fujitsubo frontpipe that deletes 2ndary cat is slightly even quiter then stock frontpipe with cat. Of course catless header on top of that will rise loudness, but if all other bits in exhaust but decatted ones are not on loud side, eg. Q300 for catback, 2.5" piping, result imho should be quiet enough.

Mike: "Proper spare" - full size one? It will also be heavier, you'll need to order boot liner from Australia with needed rise for it in middle, it will rob space from not that big boot to begin with. Imho space savers are reasonable compromise if one weights all pros & cons. As for price of one? There were several threads around in past how to get fitting donut wheel for cheap from subaru brakers. If one wish, simpler to find out part numbers & order just 'native' mount screw & foam dish on top instead of previously suggested Aygo foam cone. £287.12 sounds .. overpriced, mildly put.

BTW, if you had square setup (at very least when using primacies), why not rotating to even out wear / get more out of one set / change it in one-go? I know that i got some 3-5 extra track days by doing that from stock primacy set and by then they all evenly started showing cord out of rubber, lol

They don't last forever. Can be worn as quick as other tires .. if one goes to track, not just daily driving As to OP case .. i'd prefer same tires on all corners. No matter which is better, which worse, but i wouldn't want to change front-rear grip balance just because of different tires fitted to car's ends. Though of course not that it matters much when not pushing car much.

As i usually often push it way more then previous 'normal' cars, be it flooring from standing starts or higher speeds in turns (still within legal speeds though ) when daily driving on every occasion i can to hear engine noise & tire chirp, even though that is everything but ecomiling way of driving .. so no .. after 20K miles i'm still loving this car. Driving it rises my mood, not just on track, everywhere. And feeling extra enlightenment if return to driving it after having temporary to drive in other cars, to get back seating pose and controls placement around me fitting like glove, much sharper steering/braking/handling. This car really sometimes makes one choose longer back roads instead of fastest routes just because driving it is really enjoyable, not plain travel from A to B, that should end sooner so that more time can be spent in more fun ways.

I'd love to get alloy space saver. But seems that no such for 5x100 exists, google finds some only for bmw-s/mercs/audis with different PCD . Still, even steelie is better then default pre MY2017 useless tire repair kit.

Remember to do proper alignment when you dialed coilovers how you want. Change of ride height changes also geometry, toe/camber, as our suspension is not some double wishbone suspension that may keep geometry at different heights, but McPherson front, multi-link rear. It will also improve handling/grip with everything else staying same, so why not do it.

So far from everything described new in kouki main selling point in my eyes is track mode, as VSC is one i daily drive with 99% of time on public roads, then "allows a bit more angle" & "doesn't cut in as harshly" would be what i'd love to get, but most probably due that being closed binary code in ecu or TC firmwares and due 2017's ecu flash firmwares not being backward compatible, unchanged VSC with all it's flaws will be there in my zenki forever.

Spare wheel instead of tire repair kit .. one of 1st mods i did on my zenki . I'll keep current aygo cone, pictured wider foam dish (IIRC FR-Ses on other side of pond had similar) wouldn't let me use spacesaver donut wheel's inside for storage as much as i'd want to. BTW, how usable were stereo controls on new wheel, or you didn't tried those?

Slight toe-in in rear for alignment imho may help not just on track to allow opening throttle sooner out of curves, but also on low-grip on unfitting tires, to less fight with babying throttle, no?

Willtl: dunno. I've been even on track when wet/rain on primacies .. they seemed ok for fun laps, and just like brakes heated less, they wore less .. wet in summer though. Imho lack of grip in wet NOW can be attributed rather to low temps & them being summer tire.

Willtl: stock are not THAT poor. They have limited grip, but that can be pro aswell (for example to intentionally give car easy power-oversteer nature even with stock NA limited engine power, also less rolling resistance = greater fuel economy). For someone not hardcore tracking, or eg. just learning / familiarising with car, they can be used just fine, and their main drawback might be their too high price relative to alternative tires. Grip is not the only tire characteristic. Also noise, threadwear speed, economy, comfort, progressiveness, handling. Even extra rubber shoulder on stock primacies might be wished feature for some to protect against kerb scrape wheels. If all you want is more grip and at specific driving ways (eg. overall, or on track, or in winter), then yes, there are many alternatives better on that and often cheaper then stock. But i wouldn't call primacies crap/shit in general by all accounts. Most from those that call them so simply have different wishes/priorities/preferences/usage specifics, that other tires fit them better. That doesn't mean it is same way for everybody.

If you mention pads .. worth also finding out type of pad shapes used, if it's common enough among brake pad vendors to broaden choice, and if it's relatively cheap type.

"Whale tail" spoiler .. IIRC that way were called spoilers like these of old porsches:

Imho another potential drawback for STs might be a bit less rust resistance vs eg. KWs, might matter if driven daily in winter-salted-roads, no?

Twins rear seats are almost unusable for anybody but smallest kids. Interior is cheap. But it's pleasure to drive, unexpectedly much for a price. Even more so on track (even if stock). A5 .. i don't expect to be sporty, it's more of grand tourer. Comfort and straight line speed. Not as much fun as 'drivers car' (imho of course). At the end .. why not testdrive both & decide what is closer to your heart wishes? Everybody is different, everybody may like & prefer different things. I love twins, i also use it as only car daily, but perfectly understand that some may find features in other cars more pleasant/important or practicality/family transport needs may put it below their 'practical enough' for daily driver. To each his own. Personal feel in testdrives when driving in & seeing their interior in person may matter much more then any internet advise.

Completely different cars targeting completely different niches. As to which is closer to what you want, only you yourself can decide. Practical family saloon moving you, many passengers and lot of cargo comfortably around or small sporty coupe for driving fun. Suggestions might help if cars brought up for comparison were similar enough, i don't see it for this pair. Decide what matters more for you, choose accordingly.

"not working well", yeah, probably too hyperbolic wording. "not working well/not optimally" probably would be better. I understand paying for making something better. I wouldn't want to pay for making something work worse. Making braking/stability/wear worse is not something i'd want to pay for by own money. With stock brakes or with properly designed BBK with stock-like brake bias imho different pads front-rear is what will make brakes worse. Tires & brakes are two things i'll never compromise with on whichever car (including worst econofamilycars or cargo transport) i'll ever own and whichever way i'll use it (only DD or track or mixed).

Cases where usage of different pads can be justified if there is mismatch & brake bias shift in brakes themselves (eg. only aftermarket fronts that match badly rears, or vendor itself didn't properly made bias of their BBK, if bias shift is with his BBK both front & rear), or owner installed aero that changes grip bias a lot from that of stock grip bias or uses staggered tire/wheel setup. One shouldn't mix for other reasons, and given importance of brake subsystem in car, it's not best choice to reduce braking performance or reliability (eg. making braking path longer due one end locking way before other end is fully loaded, or not working well with electronic nannies, or car handling loosing stability with nannies off when hard braking, or overheating/wearing one end too much) for just slight savings of changing fronts only. And if different pads are used to compensate non-stock bias or even more so if brake vendor advises to do so .. i'd stay clear of it's products, as that would tell he didn't care enough to ensure right bias, just thrown something roughly fitting together from his part bin to quicker market product.

Depends on proper bedding. And then there comes problem that it's much harder to bed well track pads during daily driving's braking, and even more so - in cold weather. And even more so if one uses BBK, from what i've heard. So many track pads users, that don't switch prior/pre trackday pads, enjoy 2-3 quiet days after tracking, with squeeling returning, once bedded layer is worn off. Some hybrid pads might be daily-driving beddable too, but in general one has to sort out one's priorities which matters more, pad performance on track OR quietness daily driving. OR swap pads.

As my holder (brodit's) is by central vents, i routed it's cable from below of long dash panel (of fake carbon finish). This way cable part outside is < 10cm. As for this cellphone pocket .. pitty that it's unusable for most modern smarthpones, if one has smart keyless system :(, and i have almost nothing else to put there frequently of that size, usually using for misc items center console box below armrest or glovebox. Usable width is only in models with normal mechanical ignition key, without start button next to this pocket.

After warranty change to 65Ah battery i never seen issues of completely drained one, so i'd say it's worth doing.

Given on mostly 4.5K-redline being most common on track (and where i'd want extra roar to hear), imho quietening below 3K is wise move. Should also quieten cold starts with no tune mods at all.

knightrider: and temps are another issue for summers@winter. At cold temps rubber compound hardens too much to get enough heat into tires when daily driving, unlike for softer-compound winter (or at least all-season) tires. But that just one of many variables/explanations for reducing grip for summer tires. At the end if winter tires are not officially required it's about two things - climate in country and how safe driver wants to feel when driving in winter. Choice is made harder due UK weather being somewhere on border with relatively warm winters and not much of snow, so i guess both camps won't convince/convert drivers from opposite camp. I can only hope this thread won't turn in yet another flamewar. My own choice if i'd live @UK & car would be my only daily driven one would probably be getting all-seasons for winter (not for whole year, with proper summer ones in summer) if living more south, and proper winter ones in northern part. I don't want to risk myself, car, others and i don't want ever to get stranded due weather. Even if for just one or two days per year seeing real ice/snow hailstorms, i'm used to rely on car for transportation. For all my driving history i learnt to never skimp on tires & brakes on any car, no matter how sporty it is or isn't. Written off vehicle due crash damage or injuries/fatalities due savings in those areas are simply risks personally i am not willing to make.

BTW, imho it's not as if ours are actually very quick to loose traction. Just that: we are used to/remember/compare to relatively very good traction from summer (i could easily go +20kmh in curves in Twins relative to "normal family cars" on similar tires/in similar weather) normal hatches that have high probability be driven before these & we might subjectively also compare to: often weight a bit more + + usually have narrower tires per weight pressing more/gripping better per contact patch area (even stock width of 215 might be a bit on wide side for "normal" hatchbacks + + they may have less power/weight (though also other way around, many having forced induction standard, thus having higher torque then ours) most often have FWD .. that not exactly doesn't easily loose traction if having same way summer tires driven in winter, just that one instead doesn't feel wheel spinning interfering much in daily driving, due most often wheelspin not requiring corrective driving inputs for that just straightening car out, letting flooring without minding anything in straight line. If i really would go as slow as i did back then on my corolla on average, i'm sure that on similar tires it wouldn't differ too much from what i have now. But it's too much fun to drive quicker now, pushing more - so yes! Easy to loose traction [tm]