Lauren

Maz, have a go of my car, anytime. In fact if you've done the stage 2 mods to your SC setup, I'd very interested to try it as I feel it didn't get a fair comparison as I had driven Keith's car before driving your's and he has a bit more power. In terms of how quick the stepper motors react, they are extremely quick, they have to be really. But, they do react seemingly instantly to changes in G-load whether laterally or longitudinally. I think you'd be surprised at how quick they are. Given the adjustability and programmability of the EDFC Active Pro, I've been a bit of a student of Yukiko! But after endless playing with it, I've now got a really good road setup and something that I can easily switch to and play with on the track. It allows me to run full soft for speed bumps below 20 km/h and then for it to firm up to preset damper rates as I increase speed, so giving good stabiliy on the motorway and of course it will stiffen considerably once the g-force loads as you enter a corner. It's certainly a clever way of getting the most out of the suspension. I agree with you though a mono tube design is definitely preferable. I'd love to try a car with the Ohlins setup just so I can feel the difference.

That's interesting to know, nobody and I mean nobody has said that as to why aftermarket manufacturers specify matched spring rates front and rear. I may well have tipped the balance a bit more on my car then. I wonder given that technically speaking I understand what a rollcentre is and what it means, but had not considered it would have a big effect on such a small suspension drop. I understand how the roll centre can be messed up if you drop your car a large amount. Given I've gone effectively softer on the front, it may then make the car feel a little more lively at the rear end. Also we got Tein UK to revalve the rear dampers increasing the rate by 20%. I've taken my car on track and on a number of sprints and messed about with the EDFC settings. It seems to work very well just IMO of course. The turn in is very good indeed, very little understeer. It seems fairly easy to balance the car on the throttle but it is proper lively at high speeds if you throw it in at the top of 3rd gear or in 4th gear and you have to catch it quickly. But to an extent you might expect that much. To be fair I cut my teeth many years ago on MK1 MR2 SC's on track and they are a lot more lively when the rear goes at high speed, so it's not an issue in the 86.

Looks like it. I just got RRG/Fensport to sort out that stuff for me.

I found it on you tube googling for GT86. Try adding hot version too. I've had a quick look but can't remember what vid it is. https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hot+version+gt86

Yes, the game is alright, but yes you need a steering wheel.

I've seen the H6 done in Hot Version where Tsuchiya tested it.

You will need the offset bushes, Stephen for the rear so you can get the camber set. Obviously the front you'll be able to sort easily with the top mounts. If they are one way adjustable, then the dampers will allow tuning of rebound, but compression will be set. That is not a problem though. BC are 5/5kgs from what I understand. The 86 as standard has 3/4kgs springs so stiffer at the rear a balance I wanted to keep. 6/6kgs is fine though, I think it tends the car a little more to understeer, but not hugely so. I only know this from driving Keith's car though he has whopping 245s on his car all round which makes it more of a challenge to overcome the grip!

I run 30 psi all round James, though I've been thinking lately, I might try 35 on the rear to see if that reduces the grip slightly, but I think I'm trying to do the opposite of you! I think an 8" rim is optimal with a 225. I think you'll be fine though with a 235, I mean you haven't had those wheels very long so I don't blame you for not wanting to buy another set. FF cars like a Golf can tend to get on the power earlier, but you can improve your chances by the line you take, maybe it's worth looking into that. Tuition is a good thing, these CAT days seem popular, or you could pick a track and book an instructor. All these things help.

I'm more going on the guide that if lots of people aren't doing it already it's probably not worth doing. Hit the link but that takes you to a page of vids on youtube. Which one is it?

I think it's a compromise whatever you do unless you go £3K and up. I have a friend who does rallying who swears that you have to spend £8K and then the handling is amazing. I'm sure it is, but that's a lot of money. Yes, the TEIN programmable EDFC Active Pro uses current electronics in a pretty low tech way by putting stepper motors on the adjustable rods on top of the dampers. Though this may be seen by some as low tech, the stepper motors are very accurate and very quick, quick enough to react to changing lateral and longitudinal g-force on the fly. In practice it works surprisingly well and of course you can configure it to react in the way you want. You can also change damper force by speed which are pre-programmed settings. I fiddled with mine probably a bit more than anyone else who has them in the UK and after about 3 months and 10K miles of experimenting I've got what I think is a really good setting programmed in that means the car is comfortable at lower speeds, stiffens as you increase your speed then can really stiffen up if I chuck the car at a corner. On the straight it softens off again. Sort of the best of both worlds. Stephen is right bigger diameter monotube dampers are better, can't argue with that. If monotubes have good longetivity (like a twin tube setup) then they are a great option if you can afford it. I agree with Stephen about KYB's, but they are budget really and normally too stiff on UK roads. Japanese roads are generally smoother in my experience, they never have pot holes, but do on occasion have ridges which can be bumpy in places. I've also had experience with TRD dampers on my AE86 which seem to be made by KYB being way over stiff. This is a reason why I went for adjustable dampers that adjust automatically on the fly because I too was worried about getting a setup that didn't flow on UK roads. I also specced 5kg front springs on my TEINS (they come with 6/6kg) and 7/7kg in Japan. I had TEIN UK contact TEIN Japan and had it run by the engineers first before they would agree to airfreight a 5kg front spring. In a way I took a chance on testing the lower rate spring, but I wanted the car to weight transfer under braking so I could bring the rear into play. I've had no problems running a 5kg front spring, it's fine with the dampers and now you can spec that option from TEIN. They've been very helpful I must say as I'm sure Keith and Dave can concur, Yukiko knows her stuff and works hard to get an improvement. Really I've enjoyed being involved in the development of the product in the UK. It's all good fun. I feel with the geo changes, that the car easily outhandles a stock car, though it could of course be that I jump in Stephen's car with the Ohlins and realise there's another level. I think just do as much research as you can as choosing the right suspension for you is vital and if you can do it cost no object, even better!

If it was a good viable option people would be doing it by now.

BRZ has stiffer front springs so the rear end is less playful. Whereas the 86 has stiffer rears in comparison. The rear view mirror is what I call poverty spec i.e. looks the same as the on in my JDM 86 hire car. Clock dials are lower spec, though digital speedo is the same. It's just not as snazzy if you like.

Just out of interest, does the Ecutek have an input on the VVTi and how that aspect of timing is managed? I'm only wondering as this is the second car with an AVO turbo where the issue has occurred. Obviously a sample of two is not significant!

I think he should come to JAE in the Yaris if it comes to it. Can't miss JAE!

I wonder if it's a case of simply getting used to the power hike, James? After all you haven't had the Sprintex kit fitted that long, so it's more about adjusting to how the power comes in and balancing the throttle perhaps?

Oh dear. What mileage have you done, Keith?

Welcome aboard! We could certainly use a few more BRZs after two departed recently!

Coil overs are not for 'hard track' (not sure what that is?). When it comes to suspension the more you pay the better it tends to be. Coilovers simply allow you a greater range of setup options and those could be towards track or indeed road settings. If you are using stock springs whilst adjustable dampers is not a bad move, i.e., it gives you an element of adjustment, so it may improve things for you. I guess you can try it and see. It sounds like to me, what you want is more grip in a straight line. It may be useful to speak with someone who's into drag racing and see what they do. The V105's are pretty sticky in the dry, too much for liking I admit, (though I quite like them in the wet) but given that I'm not sure the difference will be that apparent when switching to a similar tyre.

It's a difficult one because you don't want to over tyre the car. I've got the same tyres as you albeit on 17's, but I think this tyre has too much grip for an NA, as the rear doesn't come into play as much as it used to on the Primacys'. So Primacys are way more fun for me. I think you can put wider tyres on the rear as after all many have, but it means zero fun when it comes to getting it sideways. I also think you'll struggle with traction with any tyre in 1st gear. But if you are not interested in drifting the rear out of corners then wider tyres are realistically your only option. Also a bigger sidewall means less direct feel and more sidewall flex, it will make it harder to get sideways though as a result which is, I'm guessing what you want. Also as Dave points out, slackening off your rear dampers may help.

You just need the image url and click on the picture icon in the reply window and put the url in there. Should work pretty easily. You haven't said what the spring rates are. Might be worth including that.

You could turn the traction control and all that off. Way more fun in my experience!

It really is simply a question of budget. All represent good value to a point but obviously you get what you pay for. I think the thing to be mindful of is that with some more expensive systems they are utterly brilliant but may need rebuilding sooner than some of the cheaper ones if that makes sense. The Ohlins are £3K plus fitting which is going to be in the region of £500 or so, so it's a lot of money. If you can afford it go for it I would say. I just couldn't justify that cost. I went for the Tein Street Flex with EDFC Active Pro which I suppose is very Japanese and you can programme it in regard of stiffening under G-force lateral and longitudinal and speed, so many permutations to get a good setup. I've worked quite a lot of mine and have been supported by Tein UK in respect of the development choosing my own spring rates. To be fair to Tein, Fensport & RRG they have provided an excellent service in working on this product and it was a lot to do with that that made me go for the Tein with the Active Pro. I just know that if any issues occur product support will be excellent and to be fair I got quite friendly with Yukiko at Tein so nothing is a problem. For me it was a toss up between that and the KW's. With the Tein and Active Pro I ended up spending £2.5K fitted so they're not cheap but I went for them as I liked the idea of having active suspension and being able to tailor it to my needs. I've had it on now for over 10K miles and got the setup very good, the car handles way better than stock as a result. But, if I had £3.5K to spend I may well look at the Ohlins as a better alternative. I did look at AST but was put off a bit by stories about their longevity. I think stuff like BC's represent good value for money though I admit I was put off them when I found out they were made in Taiwan. This doesn't mean they are poorly made but rather that the quality of materials may well be lower. Well, something has to give at their price point I would say.

Welcome aboard! That's some nice suspension you're going for, I've seen a few others start fitting Ohlins. Be interesting to see how you get on.

Great write up Keith, looks like you guys had a lot of fun and learnt a whole lot too.

Welcome aboard! Do you have a car at the moment? If so what is the colour, spec?