Lauren

Sounds good. Need to think of where to go. There is actually a fantastic pub up in the hills called the Hangin Gate where they cook all local produce and the owner is a bit of a talent in the kitchen. Am open to suggestions of course as long as it's not that minging Banana place!

Makes quite an interesting read: http://www.norfolk.police.uk/safetyadvice/roadsafety/advicetoroadusers/howlegalisyourvehicle.aspx For example, exhausts: Now, I've never heard of this being applied. In some ways it would be better to simply set a measurable sound level. Some exhausts are bloody annoying being stupidly loud. After all there a lot of cars out there that wouldn't pass circuit noise tests. Also stretched tyres: Now, with no specification given, it's fairly meaningless. It's also not a type of tyre it is simply how it is fitted in relation to tyre and rim width. Now, I like having a little bit of stretch on my tyres. But, I looked into it and it's not outside specs, so would showing a link to a website be enough to quell concerns, I do wonder. Seems like this would be hard to enforce, though I guess anything too extreme is asking for trouble really. Here's one I really wish was enforced!

My tyres seem to wear pretty evenly. I didn't put on too much negative camber to affect it. That's why I went for those settings.

I've not noticed any impact on braking distances in the last 20K miles or so with those settings.

If you put more negative camber on it will improve turn in, but in a way it will make the rear more lively if you dial out the understeer. I have done this and far prefer it. Nothing worse than understeer IMO. Oversteer I'm happy to deal with. This is a car with a very well balanced chassis and that's the point really. I've got 2 degrees negative camber on the front and 1.75 on the rear. It works very well, but it does make the car a fair bit sharper than stock settings. It's my preference of course. It's key here to adapt your driving style to the car. Any different car will handle differently and what works on one car may well not work on the other. I think you will be blown away by how good the car is as a package after a trackday, wait till then!

The first one, I don't quite understand. The second one is a matter of technique, the car is actually pretty neutral in it's handling, but does always yearn to be steered by the rear end. You could make it less so by fitting BRZ springs. You could also change your driving style and adapt it to the car. Must admit, I've not experienced this. Pretty much all oversteer I get is the fault of my right foot. MPG YMMV of course, but I get around 37mpg average doing 400 miles a week. Even just local driving I see around 35mpg. To use the engine you need to rev it. Learn to enjoy it. Sounds like you don't like the car?

We'll all be at Oulton Park!

Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Well this was a last minute meet and I admit I had a nagging feeling the day before that I should get out and drive my car for pleasure (rather than work for a change). Also being my car's second birthday, I thought it fitting that I should go and do the EVO Triangle in North Wales just as I did on the first full day I had the car with only 50 miles on the clock! This time, there was no worries about running in of course as I now have over 54,000 miles on the clock. I put up on Facebook at 10am on Sunday morning, when I thought, let's just do it and Jamie kindly offered to join me. We met up in Mold and drove along the A494 to the A5 where we pick up the B5401 to take the route up to the 'Triangle'. For those not in the know this a route popularised by EVO magazine for testing cars. This is my fourth or fifth time and I first drove it in my AE86 back in 2011. It's a good mix of roads with the A543 being the highlight in my opinion with great visibility at the top on a road that winds and rises and falls with some great cambers on some well sighted corners. For the first 'lap'. I followed Jamie and he went at a good pace. The road was clear but had meltwater on it from the melting snow which covered the sides. In a few places there was still snow on the road! With this in mind, I didn't feel that this was the time to flat out, but nevertheless we hit a good pace with Jamie leading. On the way back up towards Lake Brenig we stopped at the lake (as in that pic in the car park) for walkie for Indy a chat and the inevitable coffee in the cafe there. It really is a beautiful place and Indy really enjoyed herself in the snow. Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Stunning scenery too! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr We really ought to have stopped on the road, but it was a little difficult to park with the laybys being full of snow. Next up, my turn to lead and wow, did I enjoy this. The car just came together and I could feel every nuance of grip. Temperatures were low we saw 0C at one point, but the grip levels were suprisingly consistent and my winter tyres gave me confidence (I'm really starting to change my viewpoint in regard to these!). Obviously with snow on the sides of the roads going wide was not an option as it would have just dragged you off the road. Nevertheless I was seeing 100mph in places and just loving being able to really lean on the car and sit it down round the faster corners. It never ceases to amaze me, just how much speed you can carry. Yesterday reminded me just why I love this car so much, there was just so much feedback coming through the wheel, the seat of my pants and it just gave a feeling of total confidence and before long my speeds were increasing and I was really getting into the groove. This is a car you can just play with and when you get in the zone it is just magical. To me, that is what driving is all about and that to me is the essence of the thrill of driving. Even on the way back I had some seriously good fun (sorry Jamie about you getting stuck behind the traffic) along the A494, it was just epic and there I was just weighting the car up for one corner and transferring it over for the next, the stuff of heaven to me when you can just manipulate the car and get it to really flow from corner to corner. I think we need to go back and do it again! Thanks, Jamie for coming along too!

I must admit, I'm not getting the appeal of losing power at the top end for more torque (that I don't really need) lower down the scale.

The only thing I would say is that if you are going on track you must get your car within a reasonable noise level or you just won't be able to go out pretty much anywhere. Aiming for 95db at 0.5m @45 deg away from the exhaust tip is a safe bet.

I do about 400 miles a week so it only takes a couple of days before it's filthy!

Welcome aboard! Plenty of members around Essex way, so plenty going on around there.

Stock side stripes, yes. My car is absolutely covered in salt, James, nothing I can do about it really, they put salt on the roads it ends up on my car. It's like a salty sheen on it at the moment!

The pics of the roads were taken two years ago. This time there was snow at the sides and sometimes on the road!

Clashes with TSS at Woodbridge which is a shame.

Get in touch with Richard at RRG. 01625 869 900.

It won't cause any problems with VSC, traction or ABS. That's just not true. If you are going 225/40/18s, I would go for an 8" rim. Also look at the offset. Stock is 48. Around 38 or so is better is it will push the wheel more out to the wheel arch. As for speedo readings it's simply a matter of working out rolling diameter. A 225/40/18 is about the same a 215/45/17 anyway, nothing to worry about. You'll find your speedo over-reads anyway as they all do. None of this is an issue though as simply check your speedo against GPS to see how far it's out then you know where you're at.

I think it's 7 for autolocking the doors when you hit the start button. I did this as for the most part I drive alone, so feel safer with the doors locked. Think you can also change it so that when you unlock the drivers door it does the passenger too. I decided to leave as is for safety reasons.

Next time, Mike, we'll do it again soon, I thoroughly enjoyed the drive out I must say.

From two years earlier! Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Untitled by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Thanks for letting me know, Keith.

After putting this review on IMOC-UK as well (the other club I help run), one of the guys there ordered one in the same spec today! His name is George and I reckon he'll be coming for a remap, Adrian.

Interesting and a good reference, apart from the Americanisms! Also there is absolutely no such as a 'Cold Air Intake', it can only ever receive ambient air!

It's a 2.2 if that makes a difference, Keith! The Rav does have a lot of space in the rear, so it's good in that respect. It loses out boot space on the downside to it's rivals though. Depends if you put your kids in the back or the boot I suppose! See if you can beat the stock 9.6 seconds, Adrian!

I admit, jumping out of my 86 into that, was a bit of a shock, but the longer I spent with it, the more I liked it. Getting back into my car was quite an experience. I was struck at how much more grip the winter tyres have on my car. I might have underestimated them!