Lauren

He's using 5/6kg same as me. This was a rate I asked for Tein to do for me, which was checked with Tein Japan and then air freighted over. The usual choice outside the stock 7/7kg setup which is a bit much on our roads is 6/6kg because when you lower the car it affects the spring rate and so pretty much everyone runs a 6/6kg or setup or equal front and rear. However I wanted the car to be able to transfer weight and particularly to load the front. I must admit compared to other cars with the 6/6kg setup I've tried the 5/6kg seems to help me alleviate understeer more. So driving say Spec K's car with 6/6kg I did notice more understeer. Depends what you like though of course. You will need offset bushes for the rear lower wishbones to get the camber right.

Hi Fpan, I just drove from Manchester to Gloucester this morning, went as fast as I could with the traffic, got 37mpg. You'll see between that and 40mpg I would say. My car doesn't drone at all with a non res Milltek and 2nd cat delete. It's no issue at all I've driven to Germany and back and also Italy and back. No problem, it's not that loud.

I've had a think about this and I think I know what the issue is with me and the revs in Keith's car. I was flat shifting, but due to the delay on the autobox the revs would climb higher as I went to shift gear. Obviously I'd never flat shift in a manual so that might explain it. I'd pull the paddle but the revs would climb higher by the time the box shifted up to the next gear. So stuff like that wouldn't help I guess. I honestly don't know if you are supposed to lift as you shift up with an auto, but I really have never driven an auto on track before Keith's car.

It's funny when I saw the pic of the front of them all on Facebook, I noticed all were at standard ride height, couldn't see the wheels of course. Maybe an OEM meet then?

I guess I must have been driving it harder, can't think of another explanation. Though I did drive it in Sport mode which kind of made it feeling like it was holding back all the time. That might not have been helping. But, yes, I do like to use all the revs! Spa is much faster though and there are good opportunities for a lot of airflow and longer gaps between corners, so less braking and accelerating, plus your average speed will be a lot higher round Spa. I hope your cooling problems are behind you now.

I do about 4-500 miles a week, mostly work. Then add to it with long trips all over the place for weekends and holidays. No need to drive a boring diesel. The manual gearbox is lovely. A lot of work went into the gearbox feel. I don't think the auto is going to gain much in terms of economy versus what you lose in driver involvement. What you have to remember is that the auto has longer gearing so this is where it will gain some in economy but obviously lose in performance in comparison.

I'm in year 4-5 of my warranty as I'm >60K miles. Just means a lot less is covered and a lot more is from your pocket i.e. wear and tear. What this actually means in real terms I've yet to find out. But don't worry, fpan most don't do the mileage I do.

Good stuff Keith, hope it works under pressure.

Here's a link to my trip two years ago where we went over the Alps twice to Lake Garda and back: http://www.gt86.org.uk/forums/topic/1551-the-italian-job-september-2013/?hl=italian Hope it helps. Reims is worth a stop!

Unfortunately the stock head unit is very poor in this aspect. A better option is don't spec Sat nav and just pull the stock head unit out and replace it with a better aftermarket one.

I was surprised Keith, how quickly your oil temp became an issue when driving on track. Think it took about ten minutes. These were twenty minute sessions after all. I did wonder whether your cooler was working at all, but if it was down to airflow, then it couldn't have been getting any. You'd think that there would be plenty of airflow on the track, but 135C is very high for a car with an oil cooler.

I agree, I think it's more down to fashion than anything else. The only thing to remember is that fashion comes and goes.

Clearing mud?

Sounds good. I admit though I coudln't cope without a plan! I drove over the Alps to stay with a friend in Lake Garda two years ago. Was just epic and we met up with other friends whilst there and convoyed back over the Alps again. Have fun.

Well, I do hope you find a way, Keith. I guess Woodbridge is the next target really.

You certainly need to learn the engine to wring all the power from it. But that said when you get busy and get down to work the reward of sharp throttle response as you work the chassis and move the weight around is intoxicating indeed. Sounds like you need to buy one then come on a trip to the EVO Triangle with us lot in North Wales. All good fun.

I could have taken you for a ride up the 'Lauren Triangle'. Maybe next time. Glad you enjoyed the test drive. If you're not so used to a front engined rear wheel drive setup, then it does take a bit of getting used to. It's the balance of the chassis that is so sweet and exploitable that for me is the selling point of this car. I've driven my car extensively around Europe including the Alps twice and de-restricted autobahn in Germany. It will cruise at 100mph all day no problem. The Gendarmerie in France were less impressed though and relieved me of 90 Euros, but covering distance in Germany was a synch really. You can certainly do long distances no problem. I drove from Calais to Basel in Switzerland in a day, no problem. Including the Alps where I didn't hold back I still averaged 35mpg overall which is pretty good really when you consider I did the Stelvio twice!

In a nutshell the closer the turbo is to the exhaust ports, the less lag there will be. Though admittedly it's a little more complicated than that.

Sorry 0.75m!

Sorry Keith, forgot all about this and ended up in retail therapy at the Trafford Centre and lunch with Mark at Yo Sushi. Really sorry!

It's pretty much the standard of measuring noise.

I must say with the numbers blanked out it does make it hard to really get what the size looks like!

The general rule of thumb is, if you think your exhaust is loud, then it will be too loud for the track. Your best bet is to go to your nearest circuit and ask them to noise test it for you. The most common way is 3/4 revs 0.5mm from the exhaust tip at a 45 degree angle.

Ah okay, well keep us updated if it solves it. The only thing with these is that they don't have a harmonic damper. Whilst it may well not be an issue, a stock pulley has one and you have to wonder that they wouldn't use one for the sake of it. But that said, I don't know of anyone that has had a problem. Mileage and time will tell of course.

What was the issue, just out of interest?