Well I picked it up this afternoon. Absolutely love it. Going to have to change my driving style a tad in order to 'make progress' as such, definitely not as point & squirt as the Z4 was. It feels so planted and the standard seats are great, ride isn't too harsh at all, infact better than what I'm used to. I think I'm starting to get what the Renault Sport range is about. Yes, the interior has questionable quality in areas (surprisingly few) and yes the stereo wouldn't look out of place in a first generation Clio but the important stuff they have absolutely nailed. It is a full fat with Cup chassis so a nice compromise. Not arsed about Recaros at all, fancy picking up some projector lamps however, and I want the Cup spoiler at some stage. It will however be going back to the dealers in the next week or two as there is a bit of a paint issue under the drivers side head lamp that I want sorting. It looks very flaky, almost like it's wrapped. Shouldn't really happen on an 18 month old car. Apart from that its perfect.

I've been given a route by my neighbour who was once an avid biker so I'm going to go for it Friday I think. Down to Pool Bank up through Farnley/Bland Hill up to The Sun Inn and then home a different way.

I'm up for the 10th definitely. Hopefully won't feel too much like a lemon not knowing anyone. (Down side of not having any petrol headed friends)

Oh maybe we can stand in the corner together. Whereabouts are you coming from?

Edit: Ordered the obligatory black PH smiley a few days ago too, should be here tomorrow!

About the paint under the headlight, think its to do with the moulding of the plastic. Every 200 has it that I've seen, unless it's something different. just some rubbish moulds/tooling. Car is pretty epic though

Instead of Farnley/Bland Hill, try going straight up the back road through Leathley to Beckwithshaw, far better road, especially for your car. Just before you hit Beckwithshaw, take the sharp left which takes you right over to the Sun Inn road. At the T-junction, turn right and The Sun is about 1/4 mile.

Then, carry on to A59, turn left towards Skipton and after a couple of miles, after you drop down the hill at Blubberhouses, turn left at the little "Swiss" church. This takes you up and back over the tops to Otley. Good roads

As a general rule, if you want twisty roads with tight bends and crests and dips then anywhere north of Otley/Ilkley/Skipton/Settle, northwest/west of Harrogate will usually provide, along with south of Huddersfield down to the Snake Pass area. If you want a mixture of twisties and long straights, east of the A1 and north of the A64. If you want mainly long straight and fast sweeping curves, east of the A1 and south of the A64.

Some of my favourites:

Ilkley > Skipton > [##] double back on A59 for some stupid speeds down to Bolton Abbey then more of the same to Blubberhouses > left turn up Greenhow Hill Road all the way to the end > 6265 to Grassington > 6160 to Kettlewell [#] and Buckden > left onto the awesome road over Langstrothdale (NEVER go on this road in near zero temps, it gets black ice and freezing fog like you wouldn't believe - I speak from bitter experience) to Hawes. From Hawes the choice is yours in any direction, they're all good roads. I usually go left to Sedbergh then either down to Kirkby Lonsdale or to the M6 and down 1 junc to J36 and then back along the A65 which I love if it's late night or early morning - excellent mix of fast straights and fast, predictable bends. Or you could go the other way from Hawes to Leyburn, then Masham, Ripon on your way back. The Leyburn to Masham road is pretty twisty and will keep you on your toes, straightens out a bit Masham to Ripon. The back road from Masham to Pateley Bridge by Leighton and Gouthwaite res'ies is not bad if you've not done it before.

[#] Alternatively you could hang a right at Kettlewell and go the 23 miles up over Coverdale to Middleham. If you like 1:4 hills, bends, crests and dips then you'll probably enjoy this road. It's not a fast road but it's quite involving and has a decent surface for the most part.

[##] Alternatively you could continue towards Skipton and then take the Grassington road (6265) which is another good hooning road if there's no traffic about.

If you get out early morning or late at night the A170 from Thirsk to Pickering is an excellent illegal speed road once you get clear of Sutton Bank. Then hang a left at Pickering and go up to Whitby for more illegalness. I love that road. Don't bother trying to do either of these through the day as they're both chocker with the 40mph-everywhere brigade and no fker will overtake them so you're stuck at the back of a 20 car convoy with no hope of ever getting past.

I presume you mean the right hand bend travelling from Beckwithshaw to Norwood? Never seems as tight as a right hander, I guess because you are on the outside line but yes, easy to catch you out coming up and over the hill from Norwood direction

Crikey, I don't usually need to scrub much speed off for that bend. But on ice, it is a nice fast approach to it.... hmm, I shall bear that in mind.

Here's the paint issue. 18 months old and its doing this?

Just off the Pateley to Ripon B6265 road between Blazefield and Fellbeck there is a road that takes you over the moors, pretty much dead straight until you hit a cattle grid and then a tight left bend, dropping down to a tight right down into the bottom of the valley, over the Skell Beck bridge and then a left hander up the other side of the valley and then back onto straight road. You can stop up on the top there and on a clear day the view is great. Also an ideal spot for photos of your car.
Forgot to say it ain't the widest of roads and it heads towards Laverton and Kirkby Malzeard.

er, isn't that a blind crest?!