JamesP1991

Got confirmation this morning from Chris though that my kit was dispatched last Friday, so looking forward to it all arriving

One thing to note too, the stock primacy tyres, due to their low rolling resistance nature are quite loud when it comes to road noise, so I have been told any way, as I still have them fitted and haven't yet switched to alternative rubber. So that could be a factor too

In regards to the manifold design, Chris has changed the joints for a dual layer joint design after some early minor issues. This upgrade happened before I ordered, but apart from that he has reported no big issues yet from long term owners that are 2+ years into ownership. In terms of cooling mods, I will be ordering a Kate Cool oil cooler after a couple of months once funds are available, this is designed to fit perfectly with the SBD kit and is a reasonable price, so it is a no brainer for me. At the start of next year I will probably look to replace the radiator too for a more efficient one over stock. I need to do my research for them though. October/November time I am going to upgrade the brakes to Stoptech pads and discs with new fluid, and also fitting 235 section soft compound rubber at the rear. I need to look into tyres that have a good longevity/grip compromise. 250-260 at the wheels is what I will aim for, I am going to keep boost conservative and treat her gently until I get the oil cooler fitted. I don't have the luxury of doing everything in one go as I lack the funds, so as long as I am sensible and look after the car it should be fine doing it in the stages I have planned.

Absolutely Lauren, and if I didn't have total faith in the kit I would not have wasted my money on it. This wasn't a simple spur of the moment purchase. I have been speaking to Chris from Speed by Design for around 4 weeks now. His responses were brilliant and he gave me as much material and images as I requested. Any questions or issues I had regarding the quality he answered and it has made me feel totally at ease surrounding the kits quality. He also allowed me to join the owners group on Facebook for the kit, which has over 327 members from the States, Europe and Australia. I was able to ask numerous questions and get a feel for the feedback that was given, and pretty much all have been running for 2 years with no issues whatsoever. The kit over the past 2 years has been improved a lot, with a tweaked manifold design, new MAF pipe, new wastegate spring and a Garrett GT3076R turbo upgrade available now. I am happy to share my experience with everyone on this forum, and any problems I have with this solution I will be sharing on here, but Chris has confirmed that there is a 1 year warranty on ALL kits sold, so if I do have any issues whatsoever he is happy to cover them

That's not too far then On a longer second drive you'll have more time to exploit the car and see how it performs, what kind of things are you looking to pinpoint on a 2nd drive then?

To be honest I don't care what badge is on it, as long as it does the same job and the build quality is good, it's not something that bothers me in the slightest.

Looking much better fella!

Welcome to the club fellow Essex member, whereabouts in North Essex are you based E.T? There are quite a few members this way now and we should certainly arrange a social meet sometime! I am based in Colchester so if you ever fancy a ride in a car before you buy or want to meet up once you have yours and you are near I will be more than happy to help Essex isn't that large after all! You'll have a cracking time here, plenty of like minded petrol heads for sure with all 1 joint love for this car!

Blitz Intake pipe has been provisionally sold to Matt (Remal) so only the panel filter is left guys! I'm looking for £25 or a sensible offer near so get in quick before someone beats you to it

Just picked up your PM Matt and will reply now for you

Whereabouts in Essex are you buddy? I don't mind taking you out for a ride in mine!

Car looks lovely and clean without the spoiler by the way mate, glad you are enjoying the experience so far

For me and the pesky climate control settings, I normally leave it manually controlled and just adjust the fan accordingly with the temp set around 18-19c. One thing I do find tricky sometimes is demisting the front windscreen. It appears to steam up quite quickly sometimes and is a bitch to get rid of it on cold mornings. Either I am a delinquent or the auto setting will do it for me and I have just been a silly bugger up to now!

I'd say you'd buy this car because you enjoy a pure and raw driving experience... You don't buy it to cruise down motorways or be comfy around town and to be honest I wouldn't want to be buying the car for that purpose any way, as you'll always be disappointed. Yes it can be a bit laborious in traffic, but on that Saturday afternoon, when you are at the start of your favourite back road and the Tarmac ahead is clear, there isn't a single car out there outside of Caterhams or Atom's that'll deliver a more fun and direct driving experience... After over a year of ownership, I still get out the car after an evening hoon with the biggest smile on my face, and any BMW or Scirocco is not going to be able to do that to the same degree for you. The beauty of this car is that it is both so accessible and easily modifiable to create something you personally want. Don't like something? Change it! There is such a strong aftermarket following now you'll be hard pressed to find any two 86's the same. But as Nicebiscuit says, you buy this car for a specific purpose, so if you buy it expecting something else or start to comparing it to others you will always leave disappointed.

Thank you, it was desperately needed

After the trip to Goodwood last weekend and general road activity my car looked like it had eaten a massive swarm of flies, so I thought it was about time to whack of out the wax and give her a clean given it was a beautiful day today! Here were the results:

They are 17x8" ET35's Nick!

Nothing special buddy, I spend all of my money on aftermarket parts so I never have any left for nice cleaning products haha! So this was just a halfords special wax and polish job

Ohh I do apologise Nige! I was reading a notification that Keith (Keethos) had liked one of my posts before replying to you and so my brain was obviously thinking one thing and my fingers were typing something completely different! Either that or the sun has well and truly got to me haha! Hmmm that's interesting to note to be honest, if it means I have to switch insurance companies then It'll be a hindrance I'll happily go through if it meant I can keep the kit on the car.. If someone like Adrian Flux are happy to have the beam slightly altered then I probably wouldn't even bother replacing it further down the line. Anything to make my life easier at the end of the day.

Very similar but not the same Keith, the basic concept is similar but there are differences, although I will be able to use the GReddy install guide for the most part, making my job easier! When it comes to front mounted turbo kits, pretty much all of them are similar in one way or another. Yep already aware of that Nige, cheers for the heads up though! I've looked at images of other people's builds who own the kit and also spoke to them about it and the notching that needs to be done isn't too bad.. There is a compatible aftermarket crash beam that can be used and I'll purchase that a couple of months after putting the kit on, and in the meantime run the car with it cut.. It's not something that bothers me at all and is a relatively easy job to do.

I think it would suit the car massively! I need to have a play around on photoshop first though

Yes I know! To be honest I just got bored waiting for developments N/A that just weren't happening and I don't have a massive budget to go and give someone to make the parts custom tailored to the car, so this was the best solution I'll be getting a set of red rally armour mud flaps next month and then I am going to try and build a custom lightbar with my uncle to sit on the bonnet. Similar to the style of the 037 Lancia: Want the car to be different and think the road rally car look will look good if done properly, plus it is a nice project to mess around with

Sorry to hear that! Can't imagine seeing the GT86's at Goodwood helped distract you from the wait

If only

It will be When do you think the front wings will be finished buddy?