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Battling through exam season (thought I'd grown out of that ) and that's really cheered my up, thanks guys

To be honest though, even as a main dealer you wouldn't be looking to add much more than

Nice letter It certainly used to be the case that EVO didn't organise the days themselves. We did a drift day for EVO at Silverstone which they branded as their own day, no problem with that. It was all done through Caterham and our days are tried and tested and very popular, but all they did was book far too many people on the day then gripe at us when they complained about it. Wasn't impressed with that, nor with half the EVO crew buggering off before lunch never to be seen again . Not surprised so few people go to their events now. I was at Oulton on Tuesday for an Easytrack day and there was a great mix of cars.

Maybe worth trying Northants Tyre on 01252 318666, Justin bought my current rear tyres from them and he reckoned they were pretty switched on. Just looked on Ebay: Dunlops and Pirellis for the front here Toyo and Kumho for the rear here www.mytyres.com can do the rears in Bridgestone RE010 or Kumho ECSTA Supra 712 and www.elitedirect.com have a smattering available for front and rear.

Just skimming the thread I'm sure I picked up almost a whiff of fatalism from some of the posts. At the end of the day you're in control as the driver - out of the hundreds of trackdays I've attended I don't think I've ever seen 2 cars collect each other, so the only thing you have to worry about is you making a mistake. We all make mistakes and I've seen some horrific driving (and sat next to some too) but it has to be a real howler to cause the kind of accident the NSX had. What happens is people get used to ragging, say, a 350Z on road or track and getting away with murder as most modern cars are rediculously forgiving. They then get into a more focussed machine and find out the hard way they've been getting it wrong all this time. You need to know what's wrong and what's right. Making an error in doing the right thing is usually correctable, usually the offs occur when there's a total failure of technique and a lack of appreciation of the consequences of certain actions. Looking at the pictures I'd put money on the fact that the error made was entering the corner too slow, accelerating to the apex to compensate (DON'T DO THIS) and lifting off when the car inevitably started to understeer. It's then very easy to be taken by surprise, overcorrect and/or keep the opposite lock on too long which is why it tank-slapped off to the left. This is also the most common error on the road, misjudging a corner and having to lift. I hate the term 'snap oversteer', what does it mean? What I think people are referring to is the violent oversteer reaction of a car resulting from some kind of provocation. You can't look at a car and say it has snap oversteer, you need to ask when. It could be on turn in, lift off, roll, power, anything. Once you indentify this you can make allowances. To be honest, I'll bet most of us have had a car sliding on the road at some point, intentionally or unintentionally. If it's the latter that's worse in my book and so why would you be any less dangerous and at risk on the road than the track? We drive serious cars which require a greater degree of skill and knowledge than a hot hatch. My solution? Get an instructor, book an airfield day or go to Silverstone/Bedford and learn safely how to handle your/a car at the limit and what actions create what consequences. You may chose never to use your skills on road or track but if you do they'll be there and it won't be a surprise. And I don't care what anyone says, everyone has the potential to be at least quick and capable. I'm only saying all this because it would be a great shame for people to be put off using such fabulous cars in their more natural environment

It's my understanding that on a basic level the owner has legal title to the car and the right to sell it (if his name is on the V5), but the Finance Co. has a beneficial interest for the amount of finance outstanding. If the owner with legal title sells, save for certain conditions, the new owner takes subject to the beneficial interest and he owes the outstanding finance (EDIT: I'm basing this on the transfer of land, but could apply here too). What it then comes down to, as you say, is the wording of the contract as to whether the current owner can sell, so any legal action relating to that would be in contract between the selling owner and Finance Co. Thinking about it, this action could result in the new owner losing the car completely so it's probably more important to check out the terms than worry about the finance itself. The joys of a law degree, I ought to add that these are only the amateur opinions of a struggling student and should not be relied upon, considered correct, your home will be repossessed etc. etc.

I don't think it's as drastic as losing the whole car. I always thought that if there was outstanding finance the creditor had a right to receive only the amount outstanding. E.g. if a car is worth

I've just cobbled together a quick compilation of some clips I spotted whilst crunching the video, avalable for a limited time only here! Apologies to anyone who's not as big a Eurovision fan as I am for the soundtrack, once Bibs has the footage I'm sure things will improve

To be fair there are a lot of variables. What Top Gear do would break a tank. The cars we use for public / corporate days at Caterham are standard and get abused something chronic, "not my car" syndrome, but that's what we're there for. That said they very rarely break, we only do about 2 clutches on each per year and maybe 1 head gasket (k-series ), everything else is routine oil changes etc. Their mileage is about 8k miles a year and we do slaloms (with donuts), drifting and circuit stuff. It all depends how you drive, personally in one day I did 23 laps of the Nurburgring in a standard routinely serviced 91k mile Clio Williams and drove home again without any problems. Others break them going to the shops. It's not all down to the individual car, just like some Esprit owners never have any of the major problems. For example, how many people sit at lights with the clutch down for minutes on end? From experience this will help prematurely knacker a weak release bearing sure as anything. I think people get hot hatches and the like because they can still absorb the punishment the average driver dishes out better than most low-mileage sportscars could and the repair costs are probably going to be less. It's also image and reputation, a Lotus will always break before a BMW - or will it? Most won't take the trouble to find out. It's just my opinion again gained from long experience, but with modern cars pushing the limits for headline power outputs the average driver has no idea how to treat a car approaching 100bhp/litre or over. I do think this is largely why cars are seen as more fragile these days, always remember: with great power comes great responsibility (sorry ). I also don't think anyone should be put off tracking anything, including Esprits (mine's going out on Tuesday ). It's a good idea to take instruction, not only will it keep me in a job, it'll make you quicker and safer and save wear on the car on and off the track.

Personally when I work for Caterham I don't feel I work for Lotus, I work for Caterham driving Caterhams. However, as a life-long Lotus nut I love the fact that lurking somewhere in the cars I drive is Chapman's genius. Someone said to me the only part of the original remaining is the Jaguar bumper mounts used as engine mounts, and I think they're gone now, but the S3 Caterham chassis isn't that much changed over the basic design Graham Nearn bought from Lotus in 1973. The S3 chassis, even those now made by Caged, is still very much faithful to the original dimensions. It is nice that the chassis designation continues too, i.e. S3 and S5 for the SV. The only time I refer to it as a "Lotus" is to counter the blank look I get when an average person asks what it is and I say "Caterham". I think that's why some owners like to think it's a Lotus, most people have never heard of a Caterham. People can relate to Lotus in a way that they can't with Caterham and I don't feel too cheeky referring to it as such. If you swapped the nose badge it would be hard to tell a S3 Lotus from an S3 Caterham because they are, in dimensions and design, the same thing. That's what distinguishes a 7-a-like from the real thing, even a VX220 is obviously different to look at than an Elise. It was certainly nice to see the 7 Club fielding so many cars at Brands and without Caterham, Chapman's design wouldn't have made 50. It's not something that can be looked at as a formula, what was made where, when and by whom. I don't think my M100 isn't a Lotus just because it's got an Isuzu engine, nor do I think my Esprit's not a Lotus because it uses GM parts and was built under GM ownership. Anything that can trace some of it's genes to the guys working at Hethel counts for me. That includes the VX220, Carlton, Cortina, Caterham and Kia Elan, but maybe not, say, a Proton Satria GTi and definitely not an Astra . All I can say is that I don't think anyone at Caterham sees the 7 as a Lotus, but I for one am very proud and conscious of its heritage.

Too true, when out in the Elan I subconsciously don't shave for a few days beforehand in a vain bid to appear more manly... I think the thing that niggles me with the Boxster, MGF, Mini etc. is that good/excellent cars though they may be they're designed to sell more on image than anything else. At least the Elan and Elise have a more defined purpose and weren't obviously pitched at the same market (although that doesn't mean they don't sell there and vica versa). Following that logic, those Elan/Elise/Boxster buyers who bought them for what they are don't care what Joe Public thinks

Yeah, I've got it on Sky+ for the time being. Not enough Esprits and the racing won't tempt me to keep it - do you want me to hold on to it? If you've got Motors and are around have a look this afternoon and see what you think, I can try and capture it if you want but I don't know if I've got the right gear handy to do it.

It was a programme covering the Elise Trophy so there wasn't much of the show to be honest, just the racing. A couple of brief shots of the guys parked towards the grandstand but that was it for us. Motors are repeating it at 16.00 today.

Just checked the listings, there's coverage of the Elise Trophy on Motors TV at 8.00pm Friday - hopefully they'll cover some of the day as well as the racing.

When I get my Elan serviced at Sinclaire's I do a similar thing. Last time I got them to do a 'B' service but had already done things like the brake fluid, so I asked them to leave what I'd done off the job sheet but still got a stamp for the full service. I also supply the oil and they're good lads, I trust them to use it!