nerdstrike

You sheltered people... Egypt, now that's where you surrender all hope of arrival intact. Argentina/South America too - no margin for error, no cars are dent free, and they curse you if you put a seatbelt on because you're saying you don't trust the driver... Italy is much nicer - lively but not too mad, at least if you don't mind a turn of speed. I had to wring every horse from my rental Panda to keep up with traffic. As for @LarmiqGt's questions, watch out for camouflaged speed cameras, especially in Germany, Netherlands and Switzerland. In Germany, the "Welcome to $stadt" signs mark the 50 kph zones, and the German police have no scope for leniency. Throw out the rulebook when you get to the Balkans and bring bribes.

Roads in the south east have been super greasy all week, and I've been having a ball with the wandering rear. The Primacies don't deliver much joy when it's cold and wet, and I've had a few hilarious failures to pull away on a gentle but wet slope with them, but they're hard wearing and surprisingly grippy when they're on form. Just not this week! I'd wear these tyres out (perhaps in an expedited way) then switch to something a bit softer

...when it falls off again, feel free to take some pictures to show us how you fix it once and for all. There's stuff clonking around in my doors, but I've not had the courage to pull the card off.

It does have a rubberised floor, so I presume it's intended for either keys or loose change.

Just for closure, the mirror was indeed replaced under warranty, after a most tedious 90 minutes with faulty showroom WiFi.

I'd also guess the battery was run down. Seized locks are possible but it's pretty new for that kind of issue. Presuming you wish to avoid damage to the car, and that the passenger door still opens (albeit a small amount), I'd look into getting some casters to put under the wheels so that you can push it out. Not easy, given proximity to the wall, and it depends a lot on how level and smooth the floor is, but it's a thought to get you in there. It could presumably be dragged out as well, but that's a lot scarier. See also: http://www.workshopping.co.uk/product/draper-expert-wheel-dollies-pair/23253/ AA guys will get the job done, but you might have to accept some damage in the process.

I think I'm most impressed by the coffee-table-sized intercooler. The whole car is bananas. I want to see the video of it making the lap record attempt.

Cleaner...? Higher octane fuels can burn cleaner, but octane rating is more about volatility and flash points. Pentane for example has a very low RON, despite being a cleaner burn than toluene at about 100 RON. Methane is super clean and has a 120 RON, but I don't think that proves anything. Raising RON can also have the effect of reducing calorific value and producing less power (see also the LPG and H2). The BRZ/GT86 is tuned for UK 97/98 RON - raising the octane rating further only serves to prevent detonation in tough conditions, or allows retarding ignition a bit more. You'd start to consider it if you're running a turbo and looking for every last horsepower, or just go straight to ethanol or race fuel for maximum boost without knock.

Number one candidate is the anti-roll bar links where they hook up to the suspension. These drop-links are often sacrificial if you hit a massive pothole. There is probably a headlight levelling sensor down there too.

In support of what Church is saying, according to Newton's law of cooling, to a first approximation the rate of cooling is surface area multiplied by the difference in external and internal temperature and a coefficient (which is defined by the radiator material and coolant). So if it's 10 degrees outside and your steady oil temp is 90 degrees, you have an 80 degree difference. In summer if it's 25 degrees outside, you would need to increase your radiator size by 23% or so to maintain the same heat transfer (read same power output of the engine) under the same steady load. Conventionally cars just run hotter instead and the coolant heats up until the differential is large enough to compensate. If you allow a higher target oil temp of 110 degrees, you only need 18% more radiator to achieve the same steady state. This is a super-crude approximation and overlooks the fact that the engine is not always at steady load, as well as the problems from your cooling system being too good such as slow warm-up and less efficient running under regular conditions. However, we can infer that a relatively small increase in additional cooling can make a measurable difference to your maximum temperatures, and that whatever you're reading on the highway at this time of year will go up by the majority of the difference in ambient temperature. @Church - so, that Kin Tza Tza eh?

4th attempt to even speak to service staff failed at Lancaster Toyota of Cambridge... Parts desk guy couldn't do warranty issue but a replacement mirror costs about £45+VAT, so not too bad when the warranty is gone. It wouldn't surprise me if the cold makes the adhesive brittle. If only they hadn't opted for an edgeless design!

It won't be when I can actually raise Cambridge Toyota service department on the darn phone. "We'll call you back" my arse. Thanks for confirming that this has happened to other units. It's good to establish patterns.

Glad you didn't get into real trouble! In a nutshell, this is why I have winter tyres, despite the fairly narrow situations in which they save the day. The main advantage in my book is having plenty of grip in the winter with it wet and foul, but you also have a shot at control when it gets worse. It is my only car, and I'd not bother if I didn't have somewhere to stash spare rims between seasons. Shocking! I tend to find mine overestimates by a couple of mpg versus the pump calculations, but still a mighty efficiency for the car! Don't forget to drive it vigorously too!

Primacy HP's are simply awful in cold+wet conditions. Since those are on the front, you need to be wary of understeer. The Turanzas sound like a middle-of-the-road tyre, hopefully they will grip a little better! My thoughts: Traction control off button is back left of gearstick, and re-enables above 29 mph, but you can disable it again when you go slower. GT86/BRZs communicate well when grip is short, so you shouldn't be surprised by the conditions. Pay attention to steering feel as a barometer of grip available. You should feel an exaggerated sense of peril compared with family cars, which should keep you from doing anything silly. The car is brilliantly set up to dance on the limit of grip. VSC is quite conservative - the car will neuter power if the wheels spin, and it will try to compensate for understeer. It's bad when you're driving sportily, but safe under marginal conditions. On sheet ice, you're on your own. Throttle control is pretty sharp, so be gentle. If traction fails entirely, putting weight in the boot can help, especially sitting a couple of dudes on the lip. Watch out for steeply cambered streets as the rear will slither toward the kerbs if the wheels spin. Snow socks can be had for about £40, but their use is very limited. Some bits of cardboard or fabric might suffice for getting you out of a rut Pack a shovel in the boot

Bloody hell, that's a lot of pictures. I hardly need to go there now!

BMW's S85 V10? That M70 engine is 75 cm long, and the S85 is slightly longer still! Then add a big radiator, and you have the 7-series bonnet that hid it!

Ok, I'll have a go: attach Bluetooth ELM237 or related OBDII reader to port, turn on ignition (no need to start car, but can help later for some real readings) sync with phone launch Android app "Torque Pro" Connect to car and make profile for it. Settings on main page -> Manage extra PIDs/Sensors -> add Custom PID PID 2101, name to taste, minimum temp -40, maximum temp 215, scale factor x1, equation AC-40, OBD Header 7E0 . I cribbed these settings verbatim from elsewhere and the results look legit ( but I can hardly confirm them without a more expensive solution, see Smudge above) Open dashboard Add new display (long press on an empty spot) Scan down list of sensors until you find oil temp as you named it above. The list is very long and mostly useless to you, but there's a few nuggets in there That's from memory, and there's some guesswork needed on the car's vital statistics to help Torque compute certain variables. e.g. a bad body weight will over- or underestimate torque and power figures. Volumetric efficiency is another poorly documented black box, that is probably mainly useful for fuel economy estimates.

There is that. But I also owned a Mk7 Celica which had this arrangement and left me without brake fluid when a seal went. I'm not fond of the design.

Yeah, disc+drum in a single unit, Toyota likes doing that.

That's a nice piece of fabrication! Hopefully it flows just as nicely!

The headlamp bulbs on my RX8 never went up until its ninth year when I decided to get something that didn't have me spannering in the snow! Headlamps are durable!

I give it a maybe. Quite like the wheels, but the spoiler and schnoz are a turn off. Plenty of room for hilarious intercooler add-ons though.

It shouldn't be a big deal to replace them all. Access and quality spares are the only bugbears. After staring at some images of the engine bay, it looks like a royal pain.

1935kg! That's almost Land Rover territory. Also, rear quarter visibility looks laughably bad, the interior looks like it was photoshopped together from F-type and BMW parts. It's more like they're after the XK than any of the sporty numbers cited in the review!