Lauren

That's sorted it. I don't think it's my screen size it's 15" after all, so not looking at it from a small laptop.

The look all squashed on my MBP.

I must admit, I'm very much into my music and not the drum and bass shite you frequently hear going round McDonald's. I spent £3K on a pro-install, but I didn't really skimp on anything as I wanted to do it properly. Obviously for that money I've got a top of the range Alpine head unit with satnav and DAB and all that as well digital sound processing courtesy of an Audison Bit 10 and very good speakers. I ditched everything from the stock system using none of it. I also have a 12" sub and amp in the boot keeping all my boot space as the entire boot floor was replaced. The results are astonishing, but for that much money you'd expect it really! Obviously you could do it for cheaper, though a sub is necessary I think to get some depth to the sound.

More negative camber is all about the handling. Makes a big difference, getting rid of the understeer and the vagueness from a stock front end. Ditto the rear as it allows you to really sharpen up how the car feels and set the car up to how you want it. Stance is where you have a stupid amount of camber like over three degrees etc. I set my car up to handle, it's really nothing to do with 'stance' and all that.

They look good, shame about the pictures being distorted though.

2 degrees negative camber on the front doesn't wear the tyres excessively. I have 1.75 on the rear too, again not a problem. It certainly helps the handling and improves turn in.

The trouble is, the moment you put aftermarket wheels on a stock car, you will want to lower it. So maybe better to save to get both done. I could barely cope with driving around for a whole three weeks whilst I was waiting for my suspension to be fitted!

They all do it. I wouldn't worry about it.

I've been to Santapod about five or six times and though I have had some interesting days there, the lack of facilities, getting in and out and the Essex contingent seemed not to help my experiences. There are tons of other events on at circuits where you can actually go round corners if you so wish, also there are loads of static shows at some really good venues. Look at JAE as an example. Japfest is at Silverstone which ought to be good. Hopefully something will coincide with when you're not away.

Quite a comprehensive review there! I do know of someone raising the passenger seat 40mm which helped apparently with somewhere for the rear passenger to put their feet, so that might be an option. The stock audio is terrible. The JBL is a significant improvement but still not good enough. Thankfully it is easy to change all that, which is what I did. With a balanced system with a sub etc (not the tiny JBL one) and some control over the setup, it can help to drown out the road noise when cruising which I agree is quite high. I've done two trips round the Alps covering 2500 miles each time as well as a trip out to what was the old East Germany, some 1500 miles. It's great with the cruise control on, though just as much fun going up and down the various Alpine passes. You can actually improve the ride quality with some decent coilovers and a number of us have done that too. The stock car is just the beginning really. Just about everyone seems to individualise their car with aftermarket wheels, exhausts etc. The Primacy tyre is good fun, but they are not very progressive on the limit. Switching to some better tyres does make a good difference and you can still play if you want as long as you don't put silly wide wheels and tyres on of course.

Santapod is the worse venue ever in my experience. Over priced, dreadful facilities and a big influx of the kind of people who would never advertise Essex in a good light.

Yes, I get that, Ade. But when I did testing, it seemed to be the point where it really cost power and I really felt the deficit on the road and the track. Took about two laps as a rule.

If it's any help when I did a load of testing years ago on my supercharged AW11 with a big pulley I found that power dropped off once the inlet temp got over 70C. I could do this on the road, but my car had a big heatsoak problem at the time. Track is the true test, but if it's getting anywhere 70C, it's going to cost you in power big time really.

Mine's a non-resonated Milltek, Ross with with a secondary de-cat and over pipe. It really is perfectly liveable. I drove Kev/Debbie's and it was much louder, which I would expect make road driving on long trips a bit wearing. Mine doesn't drone at all at cruising speeds.

They're aluminium, Joe.

Very nice, keep an eye out for any meets, the season has begun so there will be many.

Yes, I've had the EDFC Active Pro for over two years in mine and around 60K miles. I notice there is EDFC II out now. EDFC Active Pro had only been out a couple of months when I had it fitted.

Yes, beautiful wheels, but expensive, though you'd be one of very few with them. Two options with regard to coilovers. Flex Z (non rebuildable) or Flex A's with the hydro bumpstops. You can have 6/6kg which most go for or 5/6kg which is what I have which tends to make it a bit more lively, but I like it. Then there's the option of EDFC Active Pro too.

Wow, you have been busy! Got to be wheels and suspension next?

Yes, of course, I misread that! I was thinking, well he's quicker than those in the TSS at Curburough so surely he's good enough! Hope you feel better soon. x

Yep bad clash with TSS this year.

You're certainly good enough to enter the TSS, Jeff. Doing it massively improves your driving anyway.

A93 is a great road indeed. I remember getting airborne in my old MR2 going up that road. Enjoy.

But not much chance of a conti 6 being available in stock GT86 sizes which is what I use.

Having tried them I prefer the Yoko's. In fact so much so I lost the Contisport Contact 5's before the first round still with plenty of tread on to go back to Yoko's. I think the Contis are good as a road tyre though, but they don't provide quite the grip levels of the Yokos.