Lauren

A remap partially sorts it, but the right manifold makes a torque dip into a torque peak. As long as you have the second cat, you will pass MOT fine. Is it really that bad? No, it isn't, it's just that you notice it as it occurs 3-4K rpm which you tend to wander into a lot during daily driving. It doesn't matter if you're driving it hard as you are always above it. Changing the manifold and remapping makes it a totally different car.

I've got the EDFC Active Pro and have a mega sound system. Still not bothered with the dash cam, so that would be bottom of the list. I'd say EDFC then head unit.

Yep, that's it really and not missing gears of course. Gearboxes are expensive to repair so worth taking care of I think.

It's fine with stock power. The only issue seems to be when you go over 260bhp or so with forced induction. So you shouldn't have anything to worry about. I have very little experience with automatic boxes but I don't see why using the 'manual' option would cause an issue if you drive it well, so lifting a bit on upshifts and all that.

Having been in other people's cars and witnessed their driving, it seems that most seem quite hard on their gearboxes. Trying to change gear fast is a sure way to wear out your syncros and gains you nothing. Ditto with racing, most tend to try and change gear too quickly. It's the adrenalin and all that. I too have had this issue when I first raced tin tops and I learnt an important lesson in purposefully slowing down my gear change. American's aren't the best it seems when it comes to driving manuals as they learn on automatics. Most people IME do not do a good job of changing gears thinking that you should do it quickly when in fact doing it slowly is a far better option, so I would say that of the others that have had issues with syncros is down to user error as well. The typical syncro being shot on second is down to too many traffic light GP's. Also the number of those reporting issues with worn syncros is very low, so it probably says more about the drivers than an issue with the gearbox or an inherent weakness itself.

What Jeff reports is very unusual. I'd tend to put syncho issues down to user error. The boxes do appear to be pretty strong. Unless of course you have the auto which is made of chocolate. 400bhp+ on a manual box does not seem to be an issue . Auto is generally limited to around 260bhp though it's the torque that is the issue.

Those are the Summit ones. They won't cause any increase in harshness, that's not an issue. But money yes. You could just use offest bushes on the rear, much cheaper. Jeff said that there are some Whiteline ones that work like a camber bolt on the upper arms, so that might be a better option. Camber bolts for the front are cheap.

That'll be no problem anywhere, even Thruxton, you'll clear it by miles which is good. I'm hoping for under 95 at my next noise test! Reckon you could afford to lose the second cat?

Probably Summit. They are well proven by Fensport. Or perhaps the Cusco ones. I had my car polybushed (I've done 100K miles in it) at the same time the SPL arms were fitted. It made a huge difference. Okay certainly some inevitable wear in the OEM bushes after that mileage, but it really has made it feel better than new. I admit though, with the arms, thought I'd try some rose jointed ones see how I get on. The rear of my car is now very tight.

Those kart tracks are only really any good for practicing drifting. So I think trying to drive them quickly is what's causing the issue. There's a reason why I don't drive on kart tracks. I've tried it though the UK is excellent for great circuits, so there is no need. Cheap tyres is another factor of course. That 'real' track looked good to be fair. It must be difficult though given your location. Is there much around there?

Your toe is just terrible, it's all over the place. Things like this will be the likely cause in all honesty. The car isn't tracking straight at all. It's not going to feel good. As for adjustable rear lower arms, I have the SPL ones. Billet aluminium and things of beauty. Undoubtedly the best you can get. They are rose jointed too. £540. A lot of money, but they are just a lovely bit of kit. If you could you would, I reckon.

I'm really confused how that can happen and that badly. Unless your track surface is really bad, or you're doing hundreds and hundreds of laps. I do get some amount of wear on my outer sidewall, but it's nothing to worry about. My tyres take track work well though. What tyres are you using?

I think it depends a bit on which tyre you use. I get some wearing of the outer edge if that's what you mean by 'clipping'? But it doesn't really impact on how many miles I get out of the tyre and they wear evenly enough for it not to be an issue. I'm not really a 'penny pincher', but even with some wear on the outside shoulders of the front tyres they're still good for 20K miles, so it doesn't mean I need to replace the tyres any sooner due to wear on the outside edge.

Fair enough, Church. I've never used camber bolts as I already have coilovers with pillowball mounts. 2 degrees negative is plenty enough for track in all honesty. You don't need to go to to three degrees. Just go with pillowball top mounts, there's a bit more NVH but you get used to it and better feel to boot. Castor is less important as it is less relevant on higher speed corners.

Graeme, something to bear in mind is that when you put lowering springs on you will need camber bolts on the front and offset bushes on the rear or adjustable lower arms in order to get some camber adjustment. Stock settings have very little camber and a lack of camber on the front has a lot to do with the understeer it sounds you are experiencing. There rear like the front has no provision for camber adjustment so you need to add it. Lowering will generally increase the camber on the rear, but you need to check what it's at. Ideal settings for the road are 2 degrees negative on the front and 1.75 on the rear. You may not achieve that on the front with camber bolts though.

If the car has been lowered and you haven't had the geo reset or the previous owner didn't bother, then that's is a prime thing to get sorted. Do that first I would say. Tyres that have been sitting on a car and not used don't tend to fare so well. Get the geo checked first though.

Yes, good point! It's been posted up for a month, where are the bloody pictures?

You don't want to go under 3mm for the rear as they really tend to aquaplane at speed in heavy rain when they get low on tread. Sounds like you're better off swopping the rears to the front or getting a new set of tyres, but perhaps something better than the Goodyears. NS2-R's are definitely not what you want.

Well you should be able to achieve that with most coilovers. I drive my car and am in my 4th year of sprinting in it. It makes track set up no more than pushing a few buttons. Ride is good enough. Better in some circumstances than stock. Damping at higher speeds is much better than stock. Badly surfaced roads you'll notice more. I seem to be pretty tolerant of mine, I've adapted my driving and just go slower when it's bad residential streets that I drive around daily for work. However it's vastly superior as soon as you get a road that has a reasonable surface. Inevitably there is some compromise, but I think it's worth it. I've programmed mine to use the a good amount of the damping range, so it's soft at slow speeds but stiffens up as you go faster and add lateral and/or longitudinal G.

I haven't looked at the bit under the rubber, but look at mine from a random pic I took on Sunday: GT86 Rusty bonnet trim by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

So you want a setup that lifts the car? The only option is those airbag things Adam at Tuned UK has got on top of his suspension. Could be an option which fits with coilovers I believe. I can get over speed humps but have to put wheel over square ones and drive slowly.

So a bit out of date. Not ideal and not the best tyres, but sort of okay. That tyre size is okay, though I tried it on an 8" rim and found too much sidewall flex so stuck with a 215/45 on an 8" rim. I run Yoko V105's. The TEIN active suspension has worked well for me over the last 75K miles and 3.5 years I've had it on. It's a bit of a pain over speedhumps but rides pretty well generally. Certainly fine for a daily driver which is what my car is.

Yes, quite possibly. Do let me know.

If it's any help I have the TEIN setup with EDFC Active Pro which is active.

Does the Eibach Pro kit include bigger anti-roll bars as well as stiffer springs? I have a feeling it's like the Litchfield Handling Kit. If it is, it's shite which won't be helping your issue.