Lauren

LOL! It did feel a bit brave going in there. All good fun. Nothing on video I'm afraid, Keith, no filming or pictures whilst in the maid cafe, but they liked us so they took pictures with us on polaroid then decorated them for us! Nagoya tomorrow morning on the Shinkansen bullet train, first class of course!

Good luck with your new venture, Sarah. Sounds like a good move! Realistically this isn't a practical meet for me to make given where I live, but I wish you all the best.

Blog has been updated for day one. Had an entirely bizarre experience today, we went to a 'Maid Cafe' in Akihabara which is 'Electric Town', so a geek wonderland for Mark. Yes we were the lucky ones to get called on stage to make meow noises and do bonkers hand gestures and clap like school girls. I think Mark was a little scared of it all, but what a totally bizarre experience! Meow, meow!

Also Patrick at Rogue has stripped and built a racing GT86 with a V8. Google Rogue Motorsport.

I'm having a go at doing a blog of our Japan trip: http://laurenblighton.blogspot.co.uk

Yes you do, Keith, it's either there or it's not. Also if you find a spot on your route where it drops out it will always drop out. Some places are terrible generally in rural locations, but it's a case of YMMV. For me, I listen to 6 Music so I can only get it on digital. The quality is much better though.

I must say having had DAB for well over a year now, whenever I go back to FM, if I'm driving another car/courtesy car etc, I can't get over how crap FM is. The difference in quality is marked.

Not driven it in a GT. I reckon though with my car I could go quicker. I'm keen to go back there as I've driven that track more than anywhere else, it's just finding the time to do it.

Standard. Avon ZZ3. This was 2004.

I think he wants to see what mine is like if I read it correctly. Always good to check out what is available I reckon.

LOL. It's a personal hate of mine when people use Americanisms, like 'headers', 'sway bars', 'gasoline' etc. The car was totally stock save for having no interior and full roll cage and safety equipment such as fire extinguishers etc.

Why does he want to go in my car then? Confused!

No probs, I'm at Blyton Park tomorrow afternoon. My car isn't on track but I can show you on the road.

Yes, I read the article, popped through the letter box last week. I think it's a pity they didn't concentrate more on what the car drove like rather than just doing the description. No mention of the suspension or anything I notice.

You need to post a price please, Dave.

Sorry was a joke about you calling them 'sway bars' (anti-roll bars). No pushing home, car was supplied and transported by Mazda UK.

I did a 1.50 round there in an RX8 in 2004. Sway bars what are they?

Hello Dave, welcome aboard. So what car do you have? Colour, spec, mods?

Hi Dan, there are a few BRZ owners on here, but there really is only a few. I don't think any are actually competing in motorsport. Ed (above) does trackdays but I don't think any other BRZ owners that I know of do. Though they all have modifications.

I'd just get straight in there, Keith, what has happened has happened and needs must!

Indeed. I'm just worried if you were going to take it on track it doesn't sounds like it would pass the noise regs.

My springs are significantly stiffer than stock, Keith. 5/6kg versus 3/4kg of standard. I went for a 5kg front spring rather than a 6kg (as you have) for two reasons. Firstly to have a reasonably proportional setup to standard which has a stiffer spring on the rear or softer spring on the front depending upon how you look at it and secondly because I wanted to ensure good weight transfer under braking to mobilise the rear end as it suits my driving style. Having light wheels is always a win/win really but this didn't affect why I chose what I did. But yes, agree adjustable dampers make sense and if the car is to be lowered, then stiffer springs will need to be the result anyway.

Dampers are dampers. Springs are shock absorbers. Most people (I blame the Americans) call dampers, shock absorbers when they are nothing of the sort. Confusing eh? Tbh there is probably not much you can do without costing yourself a lot of money. You may as well play around with tyre pressures and see if that helps. Your wheels are very heavy indeed. I guess the answer would be uprated dampers (and likely springs) or simply lighter wheels, which would be cheaper I would estimate.

I think the supercharger will make it a little louder and of course you'll get a whistle. I'm sorry but it sounds way too loud to me.

I really wouldn't worry about it, doesn't look bad at all to me.