Lauren

Yep by all means, if you want to go wild in a hotel for a night, that's cool by me. Shall I put you down for dinner at the aforementioned pub? Loads of hotels near me, just search for hotels, Manchester airport. We are about 20 minutes drive from TD.

Very cool, looks about 5 degrees of negative camber there!

Here you go: Jolly Thresher 229 Higher Lane Lymm, Cheshire WA13 0RN Saturday night food at the Jolly Thresher: 1. Lauren 2. Mark 3. Steve 4. Mike 5. Please add you name if you fancy it as I'll need to try and get a booking pretty quickly. Reckon I'll book the table for 8pm.

I would say that it's worth learning to heel and toe even when you're not on it as it encourages more finesse. I find I can do it at any speed, even when driving pretty slowly. Obviously I don't do it for every single downchange, but probably around 90% in just driving around suburbia as I do these days.

Kev, where are you staying? If you want to stay at mine, let me know!

I don't think it's going to make a significant difference on track Keith. I think the real benefit is general road driving. Though the increased throttle respones will help with balance. Ross, we are thinking of going out for a meal Saturday night in a pub near-ish Alrtrincham way. See the TD thread.

Steve, you're probably a 20 minute drive from the pub, maybe less. Anymore takers? I reckon I'll have to get on this tonight.

I'm not sure if anyone who's local or staying near-ish to Manchester on the Saturday night is up for a social? Perhaps we could book at able at the NW monthly meet pub? It is Easter weekend though, so booking a table may be something I need to look into pretty quickly. http://jollythresher.co.uk

I'm doing it late morning. I'm not sure if anyone is out for a meal/curry I'm guessing on the Saturday night? I live two miles from Manchester airport (Heald Green). Makes hotels a bit pricey unfortunately.

Rich, if you can already heel and toe, keep doing that. Far more satisfying once you've cracked it. I don't think the flat foot shifting adds much really. I prefer to control the throttle myself when changing gear.

Ross, I think I have pretty much the same as you. Injen Induction kit Milltek over pipe Milltek second cat decat pipe Milltek non-res system. Yes, totally agree so far, Ross. I really need to pile on some miles by next Sunday to give a full appraisal. I'm doing a 'Lauren Triangle' on the Saturday, so that'll help I think.

Yes, Keith, I am wrong. I admit I am wrong. I suppose I just really got used to how it was and adapted my driving to suit. Now I'm adapting my driving to not having these issues which really were worse than I thought. I don't know about that 193bhp run, Keith. I got 201 on both occasions with 60,000 miles driven inbetween sort of says otherwise.

Mike told me that it doesn't need to be the first map. It will stay in whatever map you select.

Yeah, even after only having my car remapped this afternoon, I can see the obvious advantages of having different map options. If you're worried about how it might by someone else, you can put it in the lower power map as there's a massive difference. Also you don't have to keep selecting your favourite map, it just stays on it. So no need to fiddle at all when you've got it done. The auto blip is something tha people will want to have the option of having on or off. I admit I asked for it not to be put on as I heel and toe by default and it would seriously annoy me. But for those learning how to heel and toe, it might be useful, or great for someone who just can't master it.

I think I've learnt something here. It's the first time I've had a car remapped. I think the headline figures do not tell the story. The increase in mid-range torque means you can use any gear over a longer rev range and actually that's pretty useful. Gaining something pretty much everywhere also does no harm either. When I think about it and I need to try it a bit more, actually the throttle response being so much sharper at higher revs, really helps. I noticed that when I had to slow the car down to about 4500rpm in fourth on the entry to a corner, meant I could get back into the meat of the power band more quickly. My exit speed was a bit silly to be fair, but you have to try these things! I reckon it'll make a big difference on the road. We shall see.

I've just booked the Blyton Park day. You're welcome to come out as a passenger in my car, happy to do the same in your's. Also everyone else there will be more than happy to the same, as we are a friendly bunch. Just need to get the Premier Inn in Scunthorpe sorted for Friday night.

I think Blyton is a great place to lose your track virginity. Donington is the 2nd best circuit in the UK IMO. It's utterly brilliant and the Craner Curves/Old Hairpin combination is right up there, just behind Eau Rouge, so it's special for that. I reckon you could do it after a day at Blyton. I think really just be a bit cautious on your entry to the Craners, because what happens there has an outcome on the exit of the Old Hairpin! Blyton though it's flat, which is the only pity, has some really good technical sections. The section from Bunga Bunga through Port Froid really teaches you a lot about balance and at high speed, with the only risk for the most part being a 100mph spin accross some concrete. So it's great in that aspect. Jochen into the Ump and then the exit into the start of Lancaster will teach you a lot about weight transition and braking and throttle as well. I've driven a lot of tracks and Blyton is fast moving up the rankings for me. We'll be using the outer track. I really must make this one! http://www.blytonpark.co.uk/blyton-park/the-circuit-map/

Yes, I have noticed that I can floor 2nd gear a little earlier than I would normally, so it's actually quite a big help in that situation. I will post more observations as they unfold. The trouble is, this week may well mostly be 2 miles to work and back everyday!

Seriously do a club track day. If it's any help I used to work for Bookatrack and have run the pitlane on hundreds of track days over the years. Car to car contact is so rare on a well run day that's it's not worth worrying about. Obviously if you went out on track at say Japfest or Trax or pretty much any event at Combe where the public attend the standard of driving is so poor it's simply not worth the risk. People with no experience are the biggest risk after all. When you go on track for the first time, you don't get the feeling of speed you might expect as tracks tend to be pretty open. That's the first mistake people make. So if you're nervous about track days, the Ring is not the place to go. They take no prisoners there. And some experienced German local is not going to mess about with you, they can be pretty serious. The Blyton Park day in July would be ideal for you and it's not even that far away! It's a safe track with plenty of room and I'm sure a load of us will be happy to show you the ropes. Also book some instruction. I'd fully recommend that after you've done at least a few days elsewhere, go and do one at Cadwell Park as it is the most similar to the Ring. It's my favourite track as well. I didn't go to round the Ring till I'd been driving on track for six years, done a bit of racing and I had already driven pretty much everywhere in the UK and Spa five times by that point! That was 2006! Preparation is everything, really. You'll get so much more out of what is the greatest track in the known universe if you've worked on your technique and all that and gained expericence before you go.

I think you have to be somewhat realistic with remaps on NA cars. I guess another way to look at it, is that compare my car to a stock car which would see no more than 190bhp and likely around 185bhp at the flywheel, I've got considerably more and corresponding torque as well. As you say it's about making the best of the mods you've got. I suspect that my Injen Induction kit had the effect of leaning the fuel out a bit, which helped my car make the power it did without a remap. However, driving the car now is like night and day to what it was. This is mostly down to the increase in throttle response, which is frankly astonishing. When I selected map 3 with full power and stock throttle, I honestly thought it was broken! I took the car out with Mark driving with it in map 3 just for him to confirm that it felt like it always does in regard to the throttle. As you can see from the graph, the biggest gain is mid-range torque and I can feel that. It's obviously harder to feel the smaller gains elsewhere. I need to assess the throttle response at higher revs, though I did fly the famous M56/Manchester airport exit, properly giving it some at high revs and it did feel very responsive indeed. These are fast 4th gear long sweeping bends where you can really push the car. The answer to your question, is give me more time to evaluate it, as I've not driven a huge amount of miles since getting it back. But I think probably for the increase in throttle response alone, it's worth it.

Good point, Mike, well spotted! But, that GT86 is a basic model one, so it may well be the case that the higher version gets the same screen thing going on as the BRZ.

I've been a couple of times, though not for ten years now! I expect it's got more expensive. One thing I would say, is don't think about it until you've done a number of trackdays in the UK first. The Ring isn't the place to learn the basics of track driving. There is too much going on for that. Learn the whole circuit on a game first and do hundreds if not thousands of laps. It massively helps. The Ring is a very exciting place, but you have to have your wits about you, particularly so when you have to put up with bikes going past as well. They are very fast in a straightline but pretty useless round corners. Also be patient, so much to lose, so little to gain and all that. Don't time yourself from bridge to gantry, it could be a recipe for disaster (see my comments about patience). Watch yourself on the faster sections, there's hardly any run off and remember if you do clout a barrier, unlike anywhere else, you will be paying for that barrier and any lost time for the public. It can costs you thousands of Euros very easily. Not to mention the damage to your car. You will happen on the odd coach going round and then you have the bikes and then lots of very quick Porsches of the GT3 variety that will monster you everywhere. So you have to be switched on I would say. It's a mega experience and really is amazing, but it's incredibly dangerous. I'd love to go back, but I keep finding excuses not to go, as there possibility of an off at the Ring could make me seriously poor. It is not for the inexperienced. But please don't let me put you off!

Yes, but the GT is likely to be largely the same in terms of instrumentation as we haven't seen any pics of the GT86 dash yet. I think the differences will be so slight between models it's likely easier to have just one thread.

Okay, remap done and I have only driven it home, so only a few chances to redline it as such. Here's the graphs: Today my car only managed 193bhp which is odd, as it's managed a consistent 201bhp before on two previous runs. Remapping saw it climb to 207bhp. So a bit more, but obviously not a huge amount. You can see from the graphs there is an overall improvement throughout which is mostly defined in the mid range. That's useful for picking up at motorway speeds of course where you notice it most. In terms of performance gains at the top end, well, I can't really tell any difference. One thing I will say, is that the throttle response is mega sharp. In fact going back to a standard throttle response makes the car feel madly lethargic with the initial dead spot no doubt amplified by the now super sharp throttle. I had to get Mark to drive the car with the stock throttle in Map 3 to tell me it feels like it always did! This is the before and after today: Remap 20 March 2016 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr This is the before (based on previous runs I've done) and today: Remap 2 by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Here's what my four maps do: Map 1 full power increased throttle response Map 2 Full power, flat foot shifting and launch control, increased throttle response Map 3 Full power, flat foot shifting, launch control less throttle response Map 4 95 RON less throttle response. Overall the main thing you notice is the throttle response. The car is producing a bit more everywhere but not enough to really notice the difference, apart from the torque in the mid range increasing. But I suppose I have to realise that I've got a few mods already and compared to what most stock cars make it is then a reasonable increase when you put it all together.