brillomaster

is your car uk registered with no recent changes to registration number? if so, should be all the old records on there. check to see what the mot says online, whether it now states the MOT is valid to 8th October. https://www.vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ im not aware of their being any change to MOT - my car was MOT'd on the 10th, but the new MOT certificate showed new expiry 26th October 2016, so a year after the 2015 one expired. And my car had a reg transfer two months before. I'd check it online, and then query it with VOSA. I wouldn't loose sleep over 2 weeks less MOT, but it is annoying.

doing 40mph in 6th is fine for simply cruising... you probably need about 20 bhp to cruise along at 40mph, which 6th gear can comfortably provide. Obviously don't expect much acceleration from 1300rpm, but the engine is perfectly happy with doing sustained running at that speed. theres a reason why autoboxes shuffle up gears as quickly as possible - my beemer driven gently in full auto mode never goes above 1500rpm.

This was mine: Loved that car when it was working, but unfortunately the 7 months I had with it were all too short, and it spent a lot of that in the garage (Steering rod ends, boost leak, clutch, extensive sill repairs, clutch again...) When the engine went bang as well after all the work i'd had done it pained me to split the exhaust and wheels and sell the car for scrap, rather than fork out another £1500 for a replacement engine. In hindsight I might have done differently, but the demise of my 300zx did lead me to a 350z, which is ultimately the better car, 3 years completely trouble free motoring. However whereas the zed is relatively dainty, the ZX was a proper beast - low, long, wide, very loud and made a lot of power, no electronic driver aids if you get it wrong. I remember driving home after picking it up and spinning the wheels in 3rd as the boost kicked in, which was a tad sphincter clenching!

Very nice, used to have a LWB TT manual myself - didn't know they made any TT shorties, thought they were all NAs... also thought they were all slicktops - so much kudos for finding a SWB targa top, TT manual, they must be like hens teeth! loving the interior and seats, the only mod i'd really recommend is a 99spec front bumper, never got on with the standard one, really dates the car IMO. but a 99spec one would be sweet. Have you turned the wick up on the engine yet? when I bought mine it had intake, intercoolers and exhaust all done, so a quick chip from zedworld free'd up another 60bhp or so. admittedly the clutch struggled and then eventually the engine blew, but if you've got a forged build already you should be alright!

when literally cruising, probably about 1500rpm, so would normally change up as soon as possible really. Unless I require any kind of acceleration, in which case i'd drop a gear pretty sharpish. i'm pretty sure that if you're stuck in a line of traffic doing 40mph with no prospects of overtaking, the best fuel economy is to put it in 6th. motorway cruising doesn't really count as nobody in their right mind would cruise along a motorway in anything other than 6th gear, just cost that's the highest gear. but ideally i'd be cruising at a lower rpm for better economy. All that said, pick up is pretty poor below 3,000rpm, being an NA engine it does need some revs to make power.

how easily could you get a decatted system through an MOT? and also, have I missed something but what was Berks-gate?

yep caught me out as well. the inside of my discs were completely shot when the were inspected, outsides still nice and shiny. still hopefully posting on here will make a few others check their discs more thoroughly! I'm guessing that's the original discs, how many miles had they done? Mine went at about 65k.

Also the EVO tyre test is very good: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-EVO-Magazine-Performance-Tyre-Test.htm Although doesn't test the MPSS or the Bridgestone S001, which likely explains why those brands are low down the order. anyways, read up on tyrereviews.co.uk anyways, best site I've found for tyre tests.

Here you go: http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2015-Top-5-Summer-Performance-Tyres.htm MPSS first, GY Eagle F1s in second. Bridgestones don't even get a look in. Although i'm sure it would have been different if they'd have tested my fav Acceleras!!!!1!1!!21!

little bit worried how quickly i clicked on this thread

surely the summary is pretty clear 'While it's true that some car makers recommend putting premium fuel in their high-end models, what about most of us who drive regular cars?' the zed isnt a regular car, its a sports GT where the manufacture specifically states 98ron or better. yes, putting premium in a car thats not designed for it is a waste of money, but if your car says to use premium only, you'd be wise to do it!

Saw a few zeds in Florida when we were there a couple of weeks ago... Figured they probably weren't anyone's on here!

if the engine isn't overheating then its at the correct operating temperature. adding bonnet vents may reduce the amount of cooling that the radiator will need to do and perhaps put a smidge less load through the water pump, but the engine will still run at the same temperature. What you need to do is increase the amount of cold air getting into the engine, and to do that you need a well designed, well shielded cold air induction kit. as mentioned, cold air = denser air, more air + more fuel = bigger bang.

You can't say that without a few details Gonna be getting the remap done, optimising the turbo to increase boost, reduce lag and lower boost threshold. Hoping for +60bhp and +80 lbft - should take it to 370bhp and 370lbft torque.

do it! relatively cheap for the day at the moment, £169 currently. Great mix of cars already signed on, from the humble clio to the mighty GTR, sure you'd be in good company. http://www.javelintrackdays.co.uk/trackday/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.browse&category_id=1052itemid&vmcchk=1&Itemid=1

well there we go then, must be doing something right!

apparently its always going to be a bad one, but its always the same. in leamington we'll get at most a week of snow in early february. for that reason, i'll carry on exactly as normal. in fact i so couldnt care less, im going to be giving the beemer a considerable power increase just before winter.

Hahah yeah well we're off to Bedford on the 24th October with Javelin, so avoid that one! nah in all seriousness i've definitely progressed as a driver, anticipation and awareness of what a car is going to do when and then how to correct it or prevent it from happening in the first place it have definitely improved - its got to the point where we can feel the grip level changing as the tyres heat up, so we can feel when the tyres have had enough and have to come in, rather than just doing 6 laps or whatever. my goal is always to be smooth - smooth with braking, throttle application and steering, and hopefully the guys on here that have been in a car with me on track dont think i'm too bad!

i would say if you want to learn to drive the zed better on the road, you need on-road tuition. if however you want to hoon a car round a track, do trackdays. I personally wanted to hoon a car as fast as a possibly could round a track - so I have a track car. I personally don't think doing 3 years and 20 or so trackdays has taught me much about how to drive on the road, other than the limitations of crappy tyres! Reason for that being that I never ever drive on the road anywhere near as fast as I drive on trackdays - try and drive quickly on the road and you quickly realise that the two things that allow you to drive quickly on track are completely absent on road - that is, plenty of run off if you get it wrong, and wide well sighted corners. also, when driving on a track, you can pretty much drive any car as hard as possible - whereas even a small hatchback would be too quick for UK roads when driven flat out. You might be very lucky and find yourself on a deserted piece of well sighted A road where you can drive a little faster, but the majority of the time, keep it on a track. maybe if you want to improve your zed driving, then take the Zed on a track and find out just where its limits are - I suspect you'll be surprised at how high they are! then realise that you'll never drive that quickly on the road! but my most important piece of advice is... get out on track. doesn't matter what POS car you're driving, hooning anything round a track is way more fun that anything you'll ever do on a road. if its a disposable car, even better, as you wont be wincing every time you bounce it off the redline, jump it over the kerbs or bits of it fall off.

we've recently switched out insurance from admiral multicar to Esure multicar, after 6 years I think. Esure quite a bit cheaper and were fine with the modifications I've made to my beemer. Alternatively, sell the barryboy saxo and buy a proper shed, like a Volvo estate diesel!

do you mean companies are flat out refusing to insure him as a named driver, or were you thinking of using the 'can also drive other vehicles with the owners permission' part? if its the latter that normally starts from age 25...

Acceleras?

indeed, theres actually a company that specialises in airfield trackdays in the southwest that would be perfect for a first time out in the zed. check out keevil and hullavington airfields, simple track layouts but nothing to hit, even if you spin you'll be unlikely to leave the tarmac. http://www.motorsport-events.co.uk/

why spend £2000? spend half that and get a car thats faster... a BMW 328i. added advantages being space to take a second set of wheels to trackdays, plenty of weight to rip out and cheap readily available parts. or maybe a 330ci - will feel a lot more like the zed so in terms of tuition it'll be better than an mx5, which will feel quite different. Plus when the back goes, you have a few seconds to consider what you've done, then maybe apply some opposite lock, a few seconds to neutralise the slide and gather it up again, all very civilised and great fun.

nice one, glad to hear the day went well with no problems. yeah would be good to see some vids!