S18 RSG

I just went on the internet and bought new pads. As long as they're better than stock (which they will be), does it really make that much difference? (This is a rhetocrical question)

Ride quality is great. Springs are fairly soft for aftermarket coilovers (5kg/mm all around), which is stiffer than stock, but in my experience nowhere near stiff enough to feel uncomfortable. They require a little bit of setup however, as the damper settings can be a little fiddly to work out, but once you've dialled them in, they're great. A few people who have experience of GT86's have commented that my setup is one of the best they've tried, most negative comments you will get about these will be from people who haven't tried them

Not sure if this will help you, but this is a route I designed a while back for my previous club. This is a route we drove multiple times, usually over 2 or 3 days, staying at a few hotels along the way. There are a few other roads you miss out on by taking this route, but I think on balance you probably experience the most diverse routes this way. https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.4536713,-4.0807882,9z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s10kiEJIMl6CDKEP58a-uUJNNoE6g

Depends how far into Wales you're willing to come, but all around Brecon Beacons there are some phenomenal roads (black mountains were used on old Top Gear hundreds of times). A little further north you can go to Elan Valley, which is perhaps a little trickier for passionate driving, but some epic scenery. Then of course up in North Wales you have Snowdonia, Evo Triangle, Llanberis and loads more. You could honestly spend 3-4 days just touring Wales and never get bored.

It's pretty straight forward. Once you've removed the front plate, there are two screws holding the "brick" in place. Just undo them, then remove the screw thread clips and you're done. I drilled holes in my plate in the same locations as the holes for the brick, and used slightly larger white bolts to hold it. Works well.

Still too far away from me I'm afraid. Somewhere a little closer to the M4 and I'd be there, but a 5 hour round trip for lunch is a bit much :/

Welcome. Congratulations on having more self control than 90% of members on here. One year without any modifications is some achievement. The question is, did you join the forum looking for inspiration to start modifying? If not, I hope you realise that's one potential drawback It's very difficult to stop spending money when everyone else around you is

Not sure if you guys keep up to date with Australian news, but luckily for you...neither do I. However, I did see this article pop up today http://techau.com.au/mass-production-of-carbon-fibre-solved-by-csiro-and-deakin-costs-set-to-crash/ No doubt it's a few years off yet, but potentially exciting for the car industry, and especially the aftermarket industry.

Bought mine as a daily driver to keep the Porsche for weekends. Ended up completely replacing the Porsche and previous car, as I use the 86 on weekends too. For the first year of ownership (pre-turbo), I loved every day with the car, it would always make me smile or sometimes even laugh with it's handling characteristics. Since install of the turbo, I can still smile when going around a corner, but now gurn like a child whenever I touch the throttle, because of the screamer. Couple that with 35+ mpg average, and there's no reason for it not to be a daily, or a weekend weapon, so it's both

He's a cocker spaniel, so not massive, but it doesn't take a huge dog to realise how small our cars actually are inside

I honestly don't know whether he'd cope being in my car for 3 hours each way. He's ok in the van, but I don't know how he'd handle it lol

I'd love to head up, but I'm on dog sitting duties while the parents go to the Motorhome show in Birmingham, so I doubt I'll be able to make it Have fun all

I didn't get home til 1am this morning, so when I woke up at 6 ready to leave, my body made the executive decision to stay in bed. Probably for the best, as I was still shattered. Hope you guys had a good day.

It was only that cheap as they had an old blower on the shelf they needed rid of. Standard price puts it right up against the rest of the kits at close to £5k.

There's been a lot of discussion about tyres in the past few days, and judging by that evidence, you'll struggle to get one definitive answer. It really depends on your budget. A good, relatively cheap and well tested tyre is the Yoko V105 as Jeff mentioned, in a similar price range are the Hankook V12 Evo 2 and Vredestein Sessanta's, both of which have great test results with magazines/online articles. On the more premium end, you have the Michelin PS4, Continental Conti6 and Goodyear Eagle F1 Asy 3. All those mentioned above will be significantly better than what you have without doubt, and should have no problem handling all weather conditions.

@xxJaRxx I know I have a reason to be biassed here, given what choice I made, but I too looked at the Jackson Racing kit through TTS, as they had a special offer of £3,000 fitted and mapped when I enquired. I still chose to go elsewhere. Having tried the Harrop, Avo, HKS and TD Turbo, my personal ranking was TD > Harrop > Avo > HKS. I imagine the JR supercharger would drive similar to the HKS, which I found had a similar power delivery to what I'd expect of a turbo, but without the theatrics of the noise. The Harrop was a great example of what a supercharger should feel like IMO, and I imagine is similar to the Cosworth. Not a great deal of drama, just a faint whine and plenty or torque everywhere. It makes the car feel like it's got a bigger capacity engine, as opposed to forced induction. If that's what you're after, I feel like twin screw is the way to go. The reason I was initially against the turbo setups, was that I didn't want to spoil the stock power delivery. I didn't want a car with no power down low, and all power coming in one big lump at 5k, like the old school Jap turbos. Both the Avo and TD setups changed my opinion of turbo setups for these cars, as both gave similarly smooth power delivery to that of a centrifugal supercharger, with great top end power and equally useful low end grunt, with the added benfit of the great soundtrack from the external wastegate or blow off valves. Much like yourself (it seems), I was slightly put off by the lack of information and testing in the UK for the JR/Kraftwerks kits, and eventually wrote them off completely when I considered the potential nightmare in the case of an issue. I decided it would be much better to go with one of the 3 big GT86 tuners, for proven trust and support, and personally enjoyed the package TD had to offer, at an exceptional price point, and with potentially more future-proofing than any other kit (turbo or supercharged) on the market. Hopefully this helps in some way, but no matter what you choose, I'm sure you'll love it.

As the guys mentioned above, pop along to the meet on Saturday. By the looks of the list, I'm the only forced induction car going so far, and mine's turbo, not supercharged, but will be more than happy to take you for a spin.

Well I haven't had a proper play yet anyway, for multiple reasons. Weather, needing new brakes (Mike advised me to change them within a couple of thousand miles), and tyres being close to needing replacement (maybe 3mm left, which no doubt isn't helping the grip). But as I know I need new tyres soon anyway, I figured it was best to go for something that'll take the power well, rather than just assuming it's down to the weather or w/e. Throttle sensitivity might be something I'll chat to Mike about, but it's something I've gotten used to.

Hmm, ok. Seems like a similar situation to that of Lauren's, and why she's stuck with a narrower tyre. What's worth mentioning though Dan, is that there is a difference in power delivery between yours/Rob's setups compared to mine. While the TD kit is, to my mind, a very smooth power delivery for a turbo, there's no getting away from the fact that there is a distinct "on" position for boost, whereas yours are both building boost from much lower in the rev range. I think Mark agreed with me when I last spoke to him too, that the throttle on the TD map is very sensitive. Seems like 80% of the power comes on with the first 30-40% of the throttle, so even the slightest movement of your right toe can get the tyres spinning. If I drive it like a sensible person, I absolutely agree that 225's are fine. It's only when I get on it and go for a spirited drive that I start to lose a bit of confidence, which I feel would have to be helped by a little more grip.

Sure, there's nothing wrong with what you're saying, and for the most part, I agree, but as much as the theory carries over, it's still a very different story comparing 200hp to 275hp. Where I agree with what you've said, is that you're right saying a 235 tyre might be plenty, especially a stickier tyre like the PS4, however I still don't know whether it will be enough for what I want, given how small the difference is compared to my current setup. While it is, as you say, very easy to control straight line grip with the throttle, it's not something I want to have to do. If I can upgrade the levels of grip in such a way that makes the car as it was as stock, albeit significantly faster, then that's what I'll do (and certainly what I'm aiming for). It would be a bigger disappointment for me to spend £400-500 on a new set of tyres, and find I'm still having the same drawbacks as currently, than if I were to find the car had too much grip. If someone was to chime in and assure me that they have a setup that works in a way that it sounds like I would enjoy, I'd go for it, but so far the most relevant information I have to go off, is Mark's feedback, and experiencing Mike's demo car. Both cars with the same power as mine, both struggling to put down their power on 235 tyres.

And yet most tracks completely ignore their noise limits in order to have the F1 at their facilities. F1 cars, even after their turbocharging, are still well into the 120's or even 130's. I remember the monumental headache I had after a day of F1 at Silverstone many years ago, although I believe that was in around 2008, when the cars were significantly less restricted than they are today.

I think I conceded that the car was never going to be as fun to throw around when I went for the turbo. Part of the fun of the stock car is that it's fast enough to have serious fun, but "slow" enough to drive it almost flat out most of the time without getting in too much trouble (I know it's not slow, hence the " "). Admittedly, since I picked up my car from TD, it's been Autumn or Winter, so I've not had chance to try it in decent weather, but I have no doubt it's going to require a lot more concentration and effort than it used to, to have even nearly as much fun. That's one downside I feel to increased power (not that I would change my decision). Interesting. In what way do you prefer it? Don't get me wrong, I find it entertaining how easy it is to spin the wheels, however, knowing how easy it is to overwhelm the tyres in a straight line has made me less confident in the corners. I feel like with an upgrade in grip (something in line with the upgrade in power), I'll have the confidence to start having fun in it again. It's a bit of a fine balance really. Too far, and it becomes a sticky track car (which is fine if that's what you want), but not enough, and it becomes a little lairy. I feel like I'm closer to the latter than the former.

You gotta remember though, tyre sizes aren't just about handling. Running a 225 with nearly 50% more power than stock means I can barely enjoy the power, as it's spinning up 1st through 3rd (sometimes even 4th in damper conditions) when I get on it. Going to a 235, I would say, is hardly gonna make a difference. In fact, I know Mark is running 235's and I'm sure he said he had some traction issues at that size. A 245 I feel would be ideal. The problem is, a set of PS4's in 255/35/18 are cheaper than a fair amount of tyres at 245 (only Yoko V105's and Vredestein Sessanta's are cheaper, of those I would run anyway), perhaps due to the more common size, so while it may be a little wider of a tyre than I had planned, I feel it's justified. Also, 255/35/18 and 255/40/18 are what BMW, Mercedes and Audi all run on OEM 8.5J wheels. Now I'm not saying that's all the proof we need, but it shows that it's clearly a fine setup.

Malvern Tyres (not sure if they're Nationwide, or just Wales) can do them for £135 fitted. Gonna pop by on my way home and see if they can't knock that down to £500 for a set of 4 (£125 each). If so, I'll probably get a set on order.

On stock(ish) power, I think you're probably right. A sticky 255 will probably take away some of your ability to steer the car with your right foot. With FI, I think a sticky 235-255 is probably about right to get back towards OEM levels of fun, without uncontrollable fear of death.