Ekona

Pop the stock mid-pipe back on and you can. Am I right in saying the only issue you really have is an aesthetic one i.e. you don't like the look with the rear bungs in, but sound-wise that level is acceptable? For the sake of £35 you may as well try their option and if that still doesn't work then I think you'll have to give serious thought to an alternative exhaust

Yes, but you will need a bigger SD card to store them on.

They perform very well, as long as you have realistic expectations of them. As Stew says, there's a lot of weight to shift and while the engine is powerful enough to make that a non-issue on the straights, you will notice that it's not as tight in the corners as you might expect. The real beauty of the car is that it gives you so much feedback that it gives you the confidence to push on knowing it'll let you know exactly what's going on, and that's where you can make the cornering speed up. Get a decent set of pads on there (stock discs are fine) and a good set of tyres (A048s/R888s if they're only track tyres, or I love the PS2s on both road and track) and the basic car is more than enough. There's obviously a lot more you can do to get it to handle even better but they're the basics that I'd do before going anywhere near a track. Basically, the Zed is a very adjustable and fun car on track, and that's why I love it.

Something wrong with the existing thread? So basically they want to put some restrictors in where the flanges meet, correct? Sounds okay in principle, but then I'd ask why you wouldn't just get some smaller bore bungs for the end pipes made up, as you'd get even more noise restriction and still have the option of removing them to let the noise flow. In all honesty I'm going to say at this point that the K1 is probably no longer suitable for your needs, and at £295 a replacement backbox that's louder than stock is not a bad way to spend your money provided the quality is there.

Somewhere between 0000 + 6500 would be my guess. Seriously though, it all depends on a million and one things: Tyres, tyre wear, temp of the track, how much rubber there already is on the start, and more importantly just how little you care for your clutch and drivetrain. Just guess on your first go and adjust as necessary. Good luck!

Nah, my mid-life crisis has either come very early in my life, or I'm only living until I'm 50-something

There's a ton of 330i/d Beemers available for under £15K out there. The oil burner especially will save you a ton of cash on fuel yet be an absolute riot when you want.

Simple answer is neither. R34 is simply not driveable anywhere apart from the drag strip with that much power, and the R35 is full of Japanese lettering inside the cabin. Now this is a far more interesting ownership prospect for that sort of money, even if the seller does need a lesson in photography.

Like this one: Looks like a bloody rollerskate!

Or you could find a friendly local who will read the code for you if they've got an OBDII reader... Anyone volunteer? I'd do it, but it's a bit of a trek from here! Personally I'd get the code read rather than just clearing it even if you have to pay for the privilege, but that's just me. If you clear it and it goes and never comes back then no real harm done, but it's always nice to know why the CEL came on in the first place.

Interesting, my brother just booked his '07 at Glyn Hopkin in Bishop's Stortford for his P2, and he was told that it'd be £365... Given that a P3 is (supposedly) more involved than a P2, that's a very interesting cost comparison there when it's the same chain. I did try to tell him to haggle to remove the crap you don't need on the service and to supply his own fluids AND to tell them to stuff it and take it elsewhere, but his response was "But it's booked in now, I can't tell them to cancel!". He may be my brother, but he's a bloody idiot sometimes.

Tbh unless you've got the money to get the front done and then get the whole lot covered in Ventureshield (or similar) then you'll just be in the same position next year. I'm leaving mine until I can either afford to do that, or just before I sell the car.

I disagree, i bet when you add up the costs of having two cars it will be higher, its things like insurance you have to factor in. If you saw the recent fifth gear you'll see how impressive the megane is!!! But you'd have both cars on a limited mileage policy, as you can't drive them both at once! In all fairness though the insurance may well be a tad higher, but you offset that against what you save on fuel + tax. I don't watch Fifth Gear as the presenters make me want to rape my own face off, but whilst every review of the Megane I've read has been positive, it's still not going to be as much fun or as cheap to run as the Elise. If you only want one car then I'd go for the RX-8 myself, as you'd pick up a minter for under £10K and put the savings towards fuel + oil. Being RWD gives it a huge plus point over the Megane in driver involvement, it's much better looking and just as sensible.

It's a car, stop worrying and get out there and drive it! Get it done before, as it's only going to get chipped to buggery anyway and it might as well get chips from fun driving with friends than from dull runs up and down the motorway.

£15K gets you a mint S1 Elise/good VX220/average S2 Elise @£10K and a solid 2004 Mondeo diesel. You'll still spend less in fuel, tax and servicing, and you've still got a very fun car you can play with as well as something to transport things around in. That's a far more fun option than compromising with a FWD scrabble wagon IMHO.

That would make sense, and also explains why the car is just as loud with no exhaust on at all (just the cats) as it was with the K1 on. Yes, I tested it

Congratulations matey, really chuffed for you

DING DING DING Don't mix and match tyres, else you end up with the exact issues you're having. Change the fronts for Falkens (presuming they're the 452) and you should be fine. If they're not the 452s then I'd be tempted to ditch the lot and get either the 452s, Toyo T1-Rs or if you're feeling flush and want the best grip, a set of Pilot Sports.

Given that Thorney (or TMS) have managed to get some 'interesting' results on their dyno in recent years, I wouldn't place too much emphasis on those results. Mechanically they're good at what they do as I had my car worked on there a few times, but don't trust the dyno for peanuts. My car gets BPU as that's what's closest. It's also had Tesco and Shell and other random 97+ stuff in France and random motorway services. As long as you're putting in 97+ regularly, it'll be fine.

Yup, that's the bit. Any exhaust place worth their salt would be able to do it for you, no need to go anywhere too specialist and over the top. In all honesty if you can get a mate who can weld then it's a proper DIY job: You could even put the silencer on flanges so you can change it back out if you find you want the noise back or need to go even quieter.

I've got the K1, and to confirm you'd re-use the Y-pipe that came with the kit, but you would need to source an OEM mid-pipe from somewhere to use any other aftermarket exhaust, as the K1 wouldn't fit with anything else (at least, not without bodging it somehow). @Andy: A simpler option might be to get the existing silencer within the K1 cut out and a much larger one put in instead. The one that's on there is tiny and really does nothing to quell the volume, but a larger unit should do the job for about a 5th of the cost of a new exhaust.

Doesn't go down from the pax side or from the driver's side as well?

Programme TYpe? Dunno, but it lets you cycle through the different types of radio station available so you only get offered the ones that play stuff you want to listen to, rather than everything. That said, I've never managed to get it to work on any car I've ever owned.

Even more reason to keep the K1, as that little bundle of joy will be waking you up at all hours when it starts crying so you'll simply be getting your own back

A normal K-series no, but the VHPD version is a peach of an engine that proves just what a versatile design it is.