Dynamic Turtle

Thankfully I had the MOT done last month

Interesting, thanks for the tip.

Do these come with the Whiteline ARB package I just ordered via Abbey (the £315 one) or are they sold separately? If not, is there any point installing the WL ARBs without them (i.e. with the OEM links)?

Please see the attached picture. Is this something to be worried about? I managed to tear the mesh going over a dip into a car park at 2mph (argh!). The exhaust note has not changed at all and the car seemed to work just fine - no noticeable change in characteristics. But is this something to be worried about? Thanks, DT

Looks bloody immaculate, well done for keeping it so minty.

One of those rear camber arms looks a bit bent, no? Sure it didn't take any accident damage?

@TomS it depends on the car. Merc does a great job of making 600bhp pretty uninspiring in the e63. A very large amount of excess weight, auto-shifting, safety technology, muffling and soundproofing numbing what should be a visceral experience. Electric drive is only going to make things worse...

Question for re the gtr and any other exotica at this price level is not the buying, it's the maintenance. I think you've really got to experience the highest highs to warrant spending 6-10k(?) a year keeping these machines tiptop. If it's going to be humdrum 97% of the time i would (personally) find a 4k bill twice a year irksome in that context. Nice problem to have though

Lexx i don't have a dB meter andi wouldn't trust a phone app. Also difficult to accurately test "drive by" conditions hanging my phone out the window. 88dB does seem subjectively low though.

Hi guys i just wanted to know if any of you have breached noise limits with custom exhausts at track days and been prevented from racing? The miltek is one of the "quieter" exhausts and should be fine ticking over, but it can rasp loudly @ 3500rpm so drive-by noise might be an issue. Anyone have a similar set up and experienced problems? Fyi thinking bedford next wknd which has a 88db drive by limit IIRC. Thanks, DT

Should be able to report back over the weekend - pondering a track visit to test the new gear out...

Hastings zedder here (chowns hill), saw one on seddlescombe rd north today, black 2006 with alezan, blonde mid age female driver (how rare is that?!), and a silver zed turning up park rd. Good stuff

2 hours? That's bloody cheap/quick, but I've put the coilover option on hold for the time being anyway and am going with the ARBs first to see if they do the trick. if not, I'll look at coils in a few month's time as and when I can find some decent ones at a discount. no immediate rush...

Thanks Lexx - I don't have any jacks or access to ramps though. I really am embarrassingly useless at anything manual and suffer from acute soft southern wuss syndrome...

Briggsy I'm great with spreadsheets but not with screwdrivers - I can just about change the pads and top up the oil, that's about it Thanks for the heads-up on the Whitelines, £70 cheaper than the Eibachs but still a bit toppy in material terms!

Sorry for the delay in getting back to y'all, had a busy day. Thanks again for all the advice, there have been some very detailed responses from the community and is the reason why this forum is so awesome. Let's clarify some points. It seems that achieving a more compliant ride over sh*tty tarmac and bumps whilst simultaneously obtaining sharper handling performance and turn-in are mutually exclusive without a substantial investment in the right gear (or buying something with a Lotus badge). Given the choice I'd rather maintain the slightly nervy performance over bumps and crests and focus on reducing body roll slightly, which is leading me to focus on the ARBs rather than coilovers (or lowering springs). I also want to maintain a nice motorway cruise ability and I'm worried that stiffer coilover damping rates might turn longer journeys into a chore? Incidentally, I'm still on the original dampers 9 years / 68k miles later, what kind of life can one reasonably expect from these components (inc london speed bumps and potholes)? I've been slightly surprised by Abbey's quote for the work but I didn't realise just how much time it would take to fit the coilovers and I also didn't realise I'd also need a separate camber kit as well. The Eibach ARBs also seem mighty expensive for a couple of bent metal rods so I'd rather wait until I can source a used or discounted pair (or stiffer 2006+ OEM jobbies) and get them fitted and aligned later. I'm not changing the polybushes back to rubber, end of. I've paid for them and they're not going anywhere! Cheers, DT

Now there's a man with the right priorities; sports car first, warmth and shelter second!

Thanks for all the great advice guys, massiveley appreciate it. Will reply in more detail later when i get home. Cheers, DT

That's the Japanese and their robot cars for you...

If it's any consolation to the E36 M3 owner, on my last visit to the ring (november) sabine schmidt was blasting her...E36 M3 around. If it's good enough for her it's good enough for us! My friends and I will likely be getting a track modified 3.2 for giggles next month to save busting our daily drivers (a GT3 and Exige S lol). They're a performance bargain IMHO and whilst undeniably chavvy they're the pinnacle of retro-chic in Nurburg (along with air cooled pork).

Thanks Jake, the car's with Abbey at the moment and i will speak to them about what they can do. Why did you go for coilovers before ARBs and subsequently not bothered with them? Just want to know because it seems like people tend to go for the latter before coils...thanks, DT

OK that's a negative on the switch, sorry.

OK chaps after some near misses on the handling side I think it's time to sort our the Zed's suspension because I feel like I'm getting a little too much body roll in/out of fast corners and the pot holes are a bloody nightmare too. I'm happy with the speed of the car, the HEL brake lines are upgraded and the pagids resist fade and bite hard. New MPSS are going on my standard 18" rays later this week and I want to get the suspension sorted before I pay for the geometry work. I've had the superpro bush treatment all round so that's sorted. What's the next step? After researching the forum it appears that uprated ARBs are typically the first step, followed by coilovers? I have the budget to do both but would prefer to stagger it unless advised otherwise. Not too fussed about lowering but a 2cm drop would be bearable but nothing more. And please NO ADVICE FROM TRADERS. You pop-up at every opportunity to market your wares (it's getting a bit tiresome TBH) and while I understand you have a business to run and want to be active in the community and I respect your experience in these matters, sometimes we just want advice from users and those without a product to sell. Once I've garnered some opinion I'll contact the usual suspects for options and prices. Anyway 1) ARBs, ARBs + COs or just COs to begin with? 2) Uprated ARBs seem to be bloody expensive for a bit of bent piping? Are they pretty much of a muchness? 3) CO options - I don't want to do this on the cheap but would appreciate a range of price/performance options 4) Any idea how many hours a garage should reasonably undertake to complete ARB or ARB+CO work? I'm not chasing nurburgring lap times and simply want a more confident turn-in and handling over lumps and bumps. I absolutely do not want a harder ride than the standard/OEM set-up because my Zed is a GT, not a track weapon. It needs to retain a decent degree of cruising comfort (for the lengthy periods I seem to spend on motorways these days). Many thanks, DT

That's a bloody cheap price - clutch/fly is usually an £800 job on its own, no?

I bet that bodykit has really improved the drag coefficient... 0.29 > 0.92?