JamesP1991

That's a shame fella I will be at a couple of other events this year including Japfest 2 in August hopefully, so might see you there instead? I think you added me on Instagram the other day? I will make sure any sound clips get uploaded there too

I guess that is the beauty of this car.. different strokes for different folks!

A bit of launch control combined with a low amount of fuel in the tank will see you beat that fella

DO IT DO IT DO IT! Honestly it transforms the car. I had all my goodies installed weeks before the map obviously, so on the drive up to Fensport and back I could do an almost back to back comparison. I had a lovely drive through a back road afterwards last night and with all bolts ons properly mapped it just brings the car alive! Higher rev limit (7600rpm), soft limiter, pulls hard from 3k rpm with much stronger mid range (no torque dip) and slightly more top end. It all just enhances the driving experience. Whilst at Fensport Adrian persuaded me to also purchase the M Factory shorter final drive and lightweight prop, so after the Summer when I have had the chance to save up some money, I will probably be going back to get all that installed, along with some camber bolts and suspension bushes! I haven't even thought of cosmetics outside of the wheels, however I am starting to like the idea of keeping it stock looking and start transforming it into a bit of a sleeper. Would prefer to spend my money on bits to make it go faster rather than look faster I keep meaning to capture footage, so will attempt it tonight if I can. If you are at the hotel on Friday though mate, I will be more than happy to take you out in it so you can get a feel for the changes and then it can contribute to your decision

So yesterday evening I got my first chance to properly test the Launch Control. There is a quiet road down by the side of a local park so did a couple of practice launches with different RPM down there to see where the sweet spot is... Found that just below 4k on a dry road is when she hooks up best with minimal wheel spin. But what made me smile the most was the sound, I was literally giggling like a 5 year old the entire time. It was quite enclosed down there with bush lines either side of the road, so when I was popping off the launch rpm it reverberated around the entire area. I will make sure I get some footage with my step brother filming or something, as the thing just sounds so raw now with pops and bangs also happening on the overrun and in between shifts!

Can't go wrong with the old primacy's, nothing beats that progressive breakaway off roundabouts in 2nd gear! Plus they do give a lot of grip in bone dry conditions It's compound is made of harder stuff than Chuck Norris too!

That offer from Chris at Tarmac was what caught my eye, didn't have the money at the time as it was a few weeks back now, but £500 for pads, lines and discs from Stoptech sounded like a great deal.

Lauren easy on her brakes?! Never I don't believe you Intrigued to follow this thread though, as I too will be upgrading the brakes over the next couple of months so will see what suggestions are thrown your way Lauren. I keep looking at the Ferodo or Stoptech pads, with stoptech discs, so will hold off to see what others have to say about the candidates first.

Ahh so literally only a day apart! Glad you had a load of fun on the way home though Keith, have you played around with any of the features yet like launch control and flat foot shifting?? Certainly I am a very happy camper ☺️

With a decat manifold I'm sure yours still sounds fairly fruity What I'm interested in is the noise difference between your EL and my UEL, as through videos you can't really gauge it! Looking forward to seeing your car in the flesh

Sounds like a good solution to smoothen it out to be honest, I'm not phased by the harshness of it, but obviously plenty of people would welcome the change to make it less "clunky"

Yeah when your doing normal driving it does just get in the way. But as I said, it is going to be something I'll use when I'm feeling lazy but want to give the car a bit of a Spanking. When I was out with Adrian, he said the system is so fast and takes away the stress of heel and toe.. He even wants it on the GT86 R but a software issue is stopping it from work! With flat foot shifting though, it certainly has the ability to scare a few people on the road haha! In between shifts the car sounds like a machine gun Not something I'll be doing too much when the five o are about

When did you get this done fella? As I was only there yesterday getting my work done The manifold looks awesome in the flesh, you must have been so chuffed on the drive home!

Yeah I just wanted to make sure it all got bolted on before next weekend I chose such a heavy duty one simply because it was available at the time. Nige had it for sale at £250 for both clutch and flywheel with only a handful of miles put on it. I checked the retail and it was £660, so as value for money goes it was a steal, plus it covers me for any future engine mods I do! It is certainly more satisfying and I won't use it often, but on those days when I'm feeling a bit lazy, I can just switch it to map 3 and get the benefit of it. Plus it is so useful when you just want to concentrate on braking and cornering technique. When it comes to flat foot shifting, I tested it quite a bit on the way home and when you are bolting through the gears I felt it certainly was quicker... Plus it is idiot proof to my mind In regards to the second cat, I will probably just stick it in once a year, its not really a hardship for me.. Especially when I still have 18 months before it's first MOT any way.

Yeah good point! Mine is @jamesparker91

On the drive home I was beaming from ear to ear Nige! I can't wait to fettle with it again within the next couple of months Yeah I have to say, the first 10-15 minutes on the way home were quite tricky haha! Getting away from junctions and roundabouts was a nightmare, but that was due to getting used to the new feel and weight of it, there really is a lack of travel! But once you are on the move it is sensational, so direct and just allows you to bang the gears in! What clutch did you choose again Nige? Going to have to start bulking up your left leg in preparation to push the pedal down! Haha

So yesterday was the day I got to visit Fensport for the first time. I had a fantastic day talking to Dave and Adrian about my plans whilst watching the car be pulled apart and then back together again. It was a long day, getting up at 10 to 6 in the morning and not getting home until 6.30pm but well worth it in the end! Arriving at Fensport The morning was spent taking out the gearbox and replacing the clutch and flywheel with the heavy duty ACT version from Nige. I also had a tiny leak in the gasket connecting the overpipe to the manifold so I replaced that whilst we had the exhaust bits off. I was astonished at the difference with the Flywheel and how much weight I have saved. The stock flywheel came in at 9.4kgs whilst the new ACT version only weighed 4.6kgs. After we weighed it, Dave took it back to the workshop and started fitting. It was all assembled back on the car by lunchtime, so I stopped off for some food. After lunch it was time to go out with Adrian to get the car mapped. Obviously this was the most exciting part of the day as I was intrigued to see how the car responded to the new map, after having no cats, a full exhaust system, Borla UEL manifold as well as the intake system optimised. The whole process was mesmerising, after Adrian had a bit of drama with his laptop playing up, he took initial readings of my car and then drove out to his favourite mapping road. After installing the base UEL manifold map, we did 1 3rd gear run and then pulled over into a lay by to see how quickly my car responded. He was surprised how little fettling he needed to do. There was perhaps small improvements to be made in ignition timing later on in the rpm band, but maf sensor readings were good. The biggest thing he was quite surprised by however was the exhaust flow readings. On the first run my car was floating around the 167-169 mark, which apparently according to Adrian is within the top 3-4 86's he's mapped in the country. I guess that is the advantage of having a completely straight through pipe with no cats! We did 4 more runs to improve the ignition readings, along with a 3rd and 4th gear pull. To finish off he also did a pull from low down in the rpm, he did the old trick of getting me to look out the window and guess what gear he was in. I said 4th but it infact was 5th! I was shocked at the difference! With the UEL Borla manifold and the map, the car pulls hard from 3000rpm onwards and dip is nonexistent! Adrian was very satisfied and moved onto explaining and implementing the racerom features. We had a good laugh testing the flat foot shifting and auto blip through a few tight corners. The 4 maps were split into Adrian's typical format. Map 1 being full performance, map 2 adding flat foot shift and launch control, map 3 adding auto blip and map 4 being a low fuel quality map. Once we got back to the workshop, Adrian adjusted the idle speed to 900rpm to cater for the lighter flywheel and gave me a redline of 7800rpm in 1st and 2nd gears, and 7650rpm from 3rd through to 6th. So what are my thoughts from the journey home? Well the ACT 6 puck clutch is quite tricky in traffic, it does judder quite a bit and is quite vicious in its delivery, but once you get going it is incredibly precise and feels so positive. I did purchase a positive shift kit on the day, and combined with the clutch, the gear changes are awesome now. By the time I got home I got a feel for the clutch in traffic and although there is a slight increase in tranny and clutch noise it is well worth it! What about the car then? Well there is no torque dip at all now, car pulls strong from 3k rpm onwards and on the motorway it makes overtaking so much easier! Car has come alive with more power, pulling strong all the way up to 7k rpm even with the UEL manifold installed. Whilst I love to heel and toe myself, auto blip is so handy when you want to get a lick on and be precise with the car under braking and cornering. Flat foot shifting is something else, with the car banging on the limiter in between gears, which combined with my no cat setup makes the car sound like an animal with pops and bangs! Overall I am hugely pleased with the result, I have yet to test launch control, but will find a quiet road this weekend and give it a blast! With all my bolt on mods installed, the map has breathed a new lease of life into the car, making it a raw aggressive beast! Massive thanks to all the gang at Fensport, I had a lovely day and both Dave and Adrian were so helpful and insightful.. A very happy customer indeed! Next on the list is a lightweight prop, shorter final drive, bushes and camber bolts which I'll be going back to Fensport after Japfest and the Summer to get installed! Looking forward to seeing how the car develops

I did wonder who added me yesterday on Instagram! Fensport have also created an instagram account too

Welcome to the club guys Will have lots of fun both on here and in the car for sure!

Cheers fella! It does seem very reasonable for the money! I don't mind a bit of extra noise and vibration to be honest, i am after all already running probably the loudest 86 in the country haha!

Cheers for the feedback Keith, was curious as to whether it was a bit of a gimmick or actually worth the money. Seemed worth a punt as it is rather cheap! One of many little accessories I'm probably going to end up buying whilst I'm there haha

So not long now until Friday and I finally get to travel to Fensport, it has been a long time in waiting! I've been looking this week at a few other bits I'll probably get whilst visiting. One thing that did catch my eye was the white line positive shift kit.. Has anyone had any experience of it on their car and what do you make of it?? Just wanted some feedback before I go on and buy it really

Looking good mate, I am sure you will have a few smiles on the way home from Fensport today after the engine has been properly mapped to accommodate the new goodies

My first attempt with a traditional trolley jack was unsuccessful because of that. Luckily I also had a low profile trolley jack (one of the really low ones) and because my car is only lowered 25mm it just managed to sit underneath the front splitter!

I'll be happy to give whoever is interested a spin in her so they can hear it. I wouldn't trust the Milltek systems at all. I have had many friends who have had VW's (a milltek favourite brand) in the past that have been tuned and all of their Milltek exhausts rusted away, failed or had problems. I am not too sure on the answer to that, but my appointment with him is on Friday so will be able to give a definitive answer when I get back home