Phil Offord

Cheaky little sod!!!!!!! Give me time......the mods are starting, so i will get there in the end......revenge will be very sweet....all be it in the wet weather

Can someone tell me how important the unsprung weight of a car is. I am looking at some new wheels, but have been told that the ones i like are heavy 13.5kg in an 18", or 14.5kg in a 19"? I thought that so long as the circumference of the wheel/tyre combination is the same or very close to the stock set up then there would not be any performance difference! I have seen some other wheels that in an 18" rim weight 10.5kg.......would i notice a difference when driving do you think, or is it all complete bo**ocks? Many thanks for help given Phil. O

Thanks Pete that sounds like just the job!

I think that i am going to remove my Blitz induction kit, refit the stock air box fitted with a K&N filter, as i am getting fed up with the wet fart/very under powered jet noises that i get when i am pulling away gently (I don't mind the noise when you are going for it). I am thinking of fitting a dump valve, but want one which only dumps pressure when you are driving hard......i.e no wet fart noises under gentle acceleration and gear changes. Can anyone recommend which is the best one for the job? Thanks Phil.O

I am finally at a point where i am going to fit the probe for my EGT gauge. Exhaust and turbo's are comming of as i believe i have a blowing manifild gasket, so it is a good time to get the drill out and fit the probe. Can someone confirm exactly where it has to be fitted? I think from memory it has to be before the turbos in the manifold....if so is there a prime spot for it? Any assistance greatly appreciated, as i only want to do this once! Phil.O

Thanks for all the advice John! I will probably go for the Pirelli's. It was the Asymetric that they where quoting me for. The rosso are £10 cheaper, but from what Pirreli say on their site, the asym's are for out right grip, and the rosso are if you want comfort and low noise levels!

one wonders i think that the manual car....especially with the power hike is alot more agressive on the rubber than the auto. Graham Simmons u.k car with similar mods felt much slower than mine in the passenger seat, but i know that it is very similar in speed, so i guess that the autos are a great deal smoother which shows in the rubber life. Also the tracking was out slightly...which has been sorted now! So if you where in my shoes which would you buy?

John, what tyres did you have on your car when you changed to a limited slip diff. Did you notice a big difference when the diff was changed....i am just trying to gauge in my mind whether what you where saying about the pirellis and grip would be mainly the diff element of the argument?

I must confess i didn't ask whether they were asmetric or rosso pattern, but from reading about the tyres on the pirelli web site, it would seem to me that the Rosso tyre seems geared towards comfort and low noise levels, as opposed to out right grip, but then i might be wrong. From what i can gather about the SO3's, compared to the SO2's, is that the 2's became much harder compound as they wore down, thus less grip....but would imagine that they lasted fairly well on the low tread limit. The 3's on the other hand are a dual compound tyre, similar to a motorbike tyre, so they are consistantly soft, giving consistent grip levels, which i would i guess mean that they will wear out even faster than the 2's..........who knows I think i am gradually talking myself into the pirellis....the SO3's are a bit too rich for my pocket.....especially for just 3000miles

right i need a new set of back tyres, and seem to have the option of two makes. Bridgestone SO3's at £267.50 each or Pirelli P Zeros at £215.55 each. I have SO2's on the car at the moment and have been well impressed with their perfomance, although it would have been nice if they had lasted a bit longer. I am just wondering whether i should save myself £100 and go for the Pirellis, but need to know if they are any good. I don't want to be doing Swan Lake again on the motorway, like i did with my old Toyo's. Any views would be welcomed. the size tyre that i am using is 285/30/18.