Tweedbean 151 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 1 hour ago, Deacon said: I've used Japanparts quite a few times and always found them to be really good. Thanks I've just placed my order the the STI lip kit all round and some JDM interior parts. Fingers crossed 1 Deacon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3782mc 5 Report post Posted May 13, 2020 12 hours ago, Deacon said: Last bit of the exterior pieces arrived recently - STi rear spats I’m still amused that you were somehow charged £1 less in import duties, despite the fact that we placed our orders at pretty much the same time 😂 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tweedbean 151 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 On 5/13/2020 at 9:22 PM, 3782mc said: I’m still amused that you were somehow charged £1 less in import duties, despite the fact that we placed our orders at pretty much the same time 😂 Quick question, I had an email today with tracking info with Fedex from Japanparts. It says it will be delivered this Friday, at which point do I get the import duty bill? When Fedex get it to the UK before delivery? At delivery? Post delivery? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 32 minutes ago, Tweedbean said: Quick question, I had an email today with tracking info with Fedex from Japanparts. It says it will be delivered this Friday, at which point do I get the import duty bill? When Fedex get it to the UK before delivery? At delivery? Post delivery? Mine didn't come via FedEx so I'm not sure sorry. Most of the stuff I've ordered from Japan in the past has been pre delivery but I did once have something where the bill didn't appear until almost a month later! 1 Tweedbean reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tweedbean 151 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 27 minutes ago, Deacon said: Mine didn't come via FedEx so I'm not sure sorry. Most of the stuff I've ordered from Japan in the past has been pre delivery but I did once have something where the bill didn't appear until almost a month later! Either way I'm very excited as I was expecting over a month with everything going on, where as its looking like just under 2 weeks. Even if I dont have a BRZ to attach them too as its now at the bodyshop. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
will300 812 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Tweedbean said: Quick question, I had an email today with tracking info with Fedex from Japanparts. It says it will be delivered this Friday, at which point do I get the import duty bill? When Fedex get it to the UK before delivery? At delivery? Post delivery? My import duty bill took a month with Fedex. 2 3782mc and Tweedbean reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
James18 50 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 1 hour ago, Tweedbean said: Quick question, I had an email today with tracking info with Fedex from Japanparts. It says it will be delivered this Friday, at which point do I get the import duty bill? When Fedex get it to the UK before delivery? At delivery? Post delivery? My FedEx bill was post delivery. And was seemingly a random figure plucked out of their arse 😆👍🏼 2 Tweedbean and 3782mc reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
3782mc 5 Report post Posted May 20, 2020 Yes my experience with FedEx (and most couriers) has been the same, I normally just got with JapanPost for that reason in which case RM or Parcelforce handle the charges and they tend to be pretty accurate with the calculations. 1 Tweedbean reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted June 9, 2020 New ATC wheel finally arrived today. It's a magnesium and carbon frame with leather and weighs in a 1122g. It's dished so brings the wheel 20mm closer and it's a 350mm rather than 360mm diameter. 4 Neil-h, BRZ-123, will300 and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Neil-h 29 Report post Posted June 9, 2020 Ooooh that’s a little bit nice. 😍 Almost seems a shame to cover the metalwork with an airbag (assuming your fitting it). 1 Deacon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted June 9, 2020 12 minutes ago, Neil-h said: Ooooh that’s a little bit nice. 😍 Almost seems a shame to cover the metalwork with an airbag (assuming your fitting it). Agreed. I love the fact they've not only embossed the word magnesium, but even gone to the effort to paint it red even though it'll be covered by the airbag as you said. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted June 16, 2020 Finally got round to fitting the new wheel And weighed the OEM wheel 1 Lauren reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted June 21, 2020 The alcantara I had on my dash panels and binnacle cover had started to fade (on the binnacle cover mainly). It's the second time I've had it done so I decided I'd try something different. I saw a member on the FB group have some of their panels flocked by a company called For Flocks Sake so decided I'd give them a try too. Panels arrived yesterday and I fitted them today. The red is beautiful - much deeper than it seems to come out in photos. Fingers crossed the flocking resists sun fading a little better. 1 benmmellor reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted July 24, 2020 Finally got round to fitting the STi rear spats and swapped back onto the track wheels ready for next week at Bedford Also took the car into Rogue to get the diff oil changed after the 500 mile run in period for the 4.88 FD. I'd also been having an occasional issue with one of the manifold sensors so got that swapped and also had the alignment checked post fitting of the steering wheel as the wheel was slightly off. 1 Lauren reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 8, 2020 After Bedford on 30/07/20 I decided to try some new track tyres. I narrowed it down to Nankang AR1's, Toyo R888R's or Yokohama A052's. However, the more I researched on each, the more undecided I became! Therefore, I decided to go with something completely different as a stop gap until next year when I'll have hopefully decided which of the three mentioned I want to run (along with the advantage of not having to store them over winter which track tyres always seem more sensitive to). I decided to try a set of Accelera 651 Sports. These are cheap as chips and seem to get a lot of very good reviews. As a stop gap they look perfect. I went for a 255/40/17 to suit my 9" wheel as advised by their UK importers. I weighed the 651's at 11.3kgs a corner. While I was doing this I also weighed one of the Maxxis Victra Sport VS5's (245/35/18) that I use as my daily tyre and which come in at 10.8kgs a corner. The 651's are being fitted in a week or so, so I'll report back what they're like on the road after I've done a few miles on them. I'm at Anglesey on the 24th and Bedford on the 28th so they'll get a good try out on track then. 1 will300 reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BOBEL 73 Report post Posted August 8, 2020 Great thread mate, long time lurker but I don’t post much.However I’ve a lot of experience with both the Nankang AR1’s and Toyo R888R’s, both are great tyres, when the AR1’s were first released the price difference made them a good choice, however they have recently crept closer to the R888R and for the money in my honest opinion the Toyo’s are the better of the two.I’ve found the R888R to hold up better when lapping hard, where as the AR1’s would tail off faster, don’t know if that helps in anyway but just my 2 cents worth :-) 1 Deacon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 8, 2020 4 minutes ago, BOBEL said: Great thread mate, long time lurker but I don’t post much. However I’ve a lot of experience with both the Nankang AR1’s and Toyo R888R’s, both are great tyres, when the AR1’s were first released the price difference made them a good choice, however they have recently crept closer to the R888R and for the money in my honest opinion the Toyo’s are the better of the two. I’ve found the R888R to hold up better when lapping hard, where as the AR1’s would tail off faster, don’t know if that helps in anyway but just my 2 cents worth 🙂 That's very helpful thank you. Price is virtually identical between the two at the moment but usually the AR1's are more expensive. I've had a few people give feedback suggesting the R888R are the better choice so I'm definitely leaning that way currently. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
AJ124 118 Report post Posted August 10, 2020 I have a set of AR-1 on the way, I was between the two also. But managed to get a silly deal on some AR-1's through a friend. I will let you know how I get on with them. 1 Deacon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 10, 2020 49 minutes ago, AJ124 said: I have a set of AR-1 on the way, I was between the two also. But managed to get a silly deal on some AR-1's through a friend. I will let you know how I get on with them. Definitely be interested to hear how you get on with them Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 19, 2020 Bought some new wheel nuts for when the tyres were swapped. I was really impressed by these - they are open ended nuts which the red piece screws into using a special tool they provide. They've even gone to the effort of sealing it with a rubber o-ring. Took the car to Rogue Motorsport to swap the new track tyres on and give the car a quick check over before the two trackdays I have coming up next week 4 Lauren, MangoNo5, Ignited and 1 other reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kono 14 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 hold on a sec while i just pick my jaw off the floor......k. OMG this looks so tidy. I love seeing when people put a lot of time and effort (and money) into the small details and this has really paid off. Nice work! 1 Deacon reacted to this Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 6 hours ago, Kono said: hold on a sec while i just pick my jaw off the floor......k. OMG this looks so tidy. I love seeing when people put a lot of time and effort (and money) into the small details and this has really paid off. Nice work! Thank you! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 On Monday me and @will300 did a trackday at Anglesey. The weather was amazing (probably the best I've ever had on a trackday) and Anglesey itself is just an amazing circuit. Few pictures and a video of the final session of the day before it was cut short by someone unfortunately putting their car into the wall on the pit straight The 651 Sports had done about 180 miles by the time we arrived at the track. They were a bit slippy for the first and second sessions but then got much better as the day progressed and as I found their sweet spot for pressures. By the end of the day I was left pretty impressed by them and they showed minimal signs of wear. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 Just continuing the tyre story today, along with several other members of the club, I did a trackday at Bedford. In contrast to Anglesey which had the most perfect track day weather I've experienced, Bedford had probably the worst leading to much of the morning being red flagged. The 651's were nowhere near as happy in today's weather (it was definitely not a day suited to a track tyre). They need some temperature in them to get them working properly and the torrential rain today meant it was really hard to get the temperature they need. This meant they were pretty slippy. I did about 90 miles on track today and it was very noticeable how much more grip people like @will300 had in comparison on road tyres. They did however get me home and back with no dramas in some pretty torrential rain on the motorway both on the way to and from Bedford. No tyre was ever going to be fantastic today due to the weather. After Anglesey I was really pleased with the 651's but after today a little less so (possibly unfairly). It would have been nice to have a dry day to give them a proper test on a circuit I know well but sadly it wasn't to be. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deacon 1357 Report post Posted August 28, 2020 This is how the tyre is looking after about 500 road miles, the Anglesey day and Bedford Wear looks pretty good and they seem to have coped with the heat at Anglesey well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites