kris

Should have gone 30 at the back

I'll soon enough be putting coilovers on mine with the OEM rays, got 30mm spaced at the back and will probs go 20mm at the front. I'll be going alot lower than 25mm, probably as low as it will go without being really silly as the roads near me aren't too bad. I reckon rear arms will be a must, or maybe just archwork, opinions? Tyre wear isn't a massive issue as I don't do that many miles at all.

I think it looks really good

I'm with you on this one, if you have 20k aside to do this sort of thing, then I'd personally get something like a noble M12 for 25k, then upgrade bits and bobs on that. Would be a weapon! VXR8

Unless you've got the cash or a real need to change the engine, I'd stick with the VQ and consider supercharging or a twin turbo.

Its £147 just for the pair I had at the back

Cheers boyos. rtbiscuit: Its already lowered and so far no issues. Think the tanabe springs are 30mm iirc. I'll need the archwork when the coilies are on though.

Thanks again for the comments Once I've washed the wheels again i'll get some side on pics, a sunny day will also really show off the gunmetal. I really can't stress how much better they look in the flesh! I had a spirited drive to work and granted I didn't really push it but there was no rubbing. There seems to be ok clearance though. When I get coilovers I will sort the arches out. Would love to have a real low wideboy look with these. Its very underestimmated how much a low wide setup can transform the look of a car. Front spacers are on the way!

Cheers for the comments My rays have gunmetal spokes and a silver lip. Alot more noticeable in the flesh! Hopefully with coilies and a nice camber setup it should look alot better.

After making the decision to keep my rays and powdercoat them, I also wanted to fill the arches properly. I didn't really feel that the eibachs space out the rear far enough so I went on the hunt for some 30mm spacers, I saw a couple of pics on the american forums and it looked good. Only problem being that there is no 'off the shelf' supplier here in the uk. So I got on the blower to driftworks and they knocked me up a custom set of 30mm spacers. Came to £147 for the set but definitely worth the extra cash. Don't think anybody on this forum has done this yet, could be wrong though. I arrived home yesterday to be greeted with these So this afternoon I set about fitting them. When the wheel was test fitted I had a few concerns about how close to the fender it would be when lowered back down. Especially with my tanabe springs. My concerns soon subsided when I got it back on the ground again! Before: After: I really do think it looks good, even though is only 5mm more than some eibachs. I was concerned that I might need archwork with the lowering, but I think it will be ok. I'll soon find out about any scrubbing issues when I next go for a long drive. Opinions please

Would definitely be interested in the solid black with no logo.

Minis shouldn't be driven by men, and as much as I love the Golf R32 I still think they are overpriced. Don't want an evo at all? There are good examples about for the money you want to spend. Also if the M3 is too out of your price for the year then maybe try a 330? How about a mazda 3 MPS? A very underestimated hatch. Maybe a focus ST or Astra VXR? Always worth looking at everything as you never know you might actually like something that you had completely ruled out previously

Thanks for all the comments ChrisI - yea myalloys were very good and would recommend them to anybody. Really good service and the finish is perfect Chris - These are the ones I had off you, I'm back up in stoke at the moment but had a call from my housemate this morning telling me my spacers have arrived Will get them on start of next week and i'll get a thread up. Will pm you the link. I agree about the rays, TE37s would be better but as far as standard wheels got they're great.

All depends on the qaulity of the system. I noticed a slight loss of low down torque after I fitted my K2 catback. But to be honest its to be expected with a cheaper system but the noise makes it worthwhile. I had a supersprint catback on my civic type-r and I noticed gains straight away, but that was a quality exhaust. Any gains you see if at all should be much higher up the rev range.

Thanks komier I've never been a fan of chrome wheels, and the problem over here is that the winter would kill them! You would definitely need a winter set of rims.

Cheers, I wasn't keen on the idea at first but definitely grown on me. mine are the same ................ better to do some pics when the car is clean and the sun is shining (if it ever does again) What do you think about the Brembos ? ....... needs a different colour with GM IMO Yea I know what you mean, when they're clean and the light hits them the finish is great! I know what you mean, not really sure what colour to go for. Depends on the theme of the car I suppose. Maybe black? I think I would like to see pics.

Cheers I think I need to get rid of the tanabe springs and bang on some coilovers once the spacers are on. The pics do not do the rims justice, when the sun sits on them they look great

Got the zed back from myalloys in basingstoke this afternoon. Basically I had them done in 'shadow chrome'. Its all done in the same paint but with less put on the lip to give the desired effect. I don't think anybody has done this to their rays yet. Myalloys did a cracking job and very pleased with the service! Car is lowered and spacers are currently being shipped. Sorry for the crap phone photos but its all I had time to do before it went dark. car is filthy aswell so once the 30mm spacers are on and its clean I'll do a proper thread.

Getting them done at myalloys in basingstoke. Usually get them done at top marques in stoke-on-trent for £200 (and they do a really good job) but don't frequent the area much anymore. They didn't want to do two colours so its a shadow chrome with less paint on the lip to give the effect of a silver lip. but the sides of the spokes look black from different angles. very hard to explain and hopefully pics should show it up! Price came to £300 all in. Thats drive in drive out with centercaps and balancing etc. I'm confident in their work but the Rays cost me £300, the powdercoating was £300 and the custom spacers weren't cheap so I should have really just saved for some rotas or similar!

My rays are currently in being powdercoated with an anthracite centre with the lip in silver. Also ordered 30mm rear spacers from driftworks Will post up when they're on.

As I said before, tinting the windscreen and front sides is illegal full stop. All the rears can be done to whatever tint you like

The law as far as I know is absolutely no tint on windscreen or front sides. On the rear window and side rears you can do whatever you want I think it changed from the percentage measuring in 2008? I'm sure somebody will correct me if not.

I use purple haze & blue velvet The shine on yours looks good. I think I'll go for light fantastic. Its so difficult to get a good shine on silvers and gunmetals!

Which dodo juice wax to GM owners tend to use? I've got a pot of Diamond white in the garage from my ST ownership.

Anything inside the window is a violation as it affects the reflectivity of the plate. I'll see tomorrow about any exemptions to the rule like if you can blag it by proving your on the way to a garage etc.. I assume you mean attached to the back of the visor facing out of the window? That's it .... I ran my TransAm like that for a while without problems ... but that was then ....this is now Well like I said its definitely a violation but I'll check for exemptions. Whether you get pulled over or not is luck of the draw, depends where you drive, depends where certain areas are cracking down on boyracers (not that applies to you but they're on the lookout for plate violations because its an easy ticket). Traffic officers (or traffic perverts as we call them) will just go to town on things like this. Its just a question of how long until you get pulled. You might be lucky and get away with it for the rest of your zed ownership but like I said its all luck of the draw and depends on the kind of area you live in and your local force.