SteveSmith

It was a good day and despite the ridiculously cold, wintry weather in the morning, I seem to have developed a really rather stupid looking beetroot tint to my face... Great to see folks again and meet some new people - I really thought we did the marque proud, especially as we covered all of the last 6 or 7 decades of Loti

OK great - in that case I'll aim to be sat waiting there by 7.30am

That car park at the Birchington/Margate roundabout on A299 looks good - what's your ETA there and I'll make sure I'll be there waiting ?? My daughter may decide she still wants to come. If not, I'll ask around to see if anyone else wants to come.

Having just got back from a work trip to Chad, I've just caught up with this thread. It doesn't make a lot of sense for me to go to the services first to meet up with the rest of you but I don't yet have my pass and it's too late now to post it to me, right Bibs? Any suggestions? I could aim to meet you outside the entrance but that may prove tricky logistically. Also, probably just me now without my daughter. She just got Guinea pigs for her birthday and they're way more fun than planes and cars...

Update on Clooney and Damon. If you want to do a bit of celebrity stalking, they're just down the road from me: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2336751/George-Clooney-Matt-Damon-Pontins-resort-Camber-Sands-film-scenes-The-Monuments-Men-D-Day-anniversary.html

Nope - that was a copy of Andrew's post that Alan used.

Ooops - in my autistic desire for tidiness, I dropped Alan & Jan off the bottom of the list yesterday... Now rectified: 1. Sparky + missus, GT3, yellow, S75 LCF 2. Sonny - V8 - Reg tbc 3. Barry Sheraton, Elite, Yellow, 296 WKM 4. Paul Sheraton, Europa, Black, RUW 762L 5. gt111 + Ivo - S1 Elise, Yellow, S108 ACG 6. Steve Murnane- S2 Elise, AO51 NTW 7. Stuart Barnes - V8GT yellow,V390EAN 8. SteveSmith + 6yo daughter, SE, blue, G282UFM 9. Roy SE 10. Martyn SE, White, G950 EOV 11. Mattthesparks + misses , Stevens ESPRIT X180 turbo, blue, F265 UPA 12. Temple + Jan, GT3 Yellow R380 XJW

Lets tidy this up a little 1. Sparky + missus, GT3, yellow, S75 LCF 2. Sonny - V8 - Reg tbc 3. Barry Sheraton, Elite, Yellow, 296 WKM 4. Paul Sheraton, Europa, Black, RUW 762L 5. gt111 + Ivo - S1 Elise, Yellow, S108 ACG 6. Steve Murnane- S2 Elise, AO51 NTW 7. Stuart Barnes - V8GT yellow,V390EAN 8. SteveSmith + 6yo daughter, SE, blue, G282UFM 9. Roy SE 10. Martyn SE, White, G950 EOV 11. Mattthesparks + misses , Stevens ESPRIT X180 turbo, blue, F265 UPA

Agreed - I'd get to more gatherings if I could, especially as I have my car running nicely now and want to use it as much as possible, but an 80 mile round trip is too much for me for a mid-week evening if the turnout is low

Ah well - on further consideration, I don't much fancy an 80 mile round trip to visit an empty pub no matter how good the pies quizzes are... Maybe next time then

Just wanna check that this is still happening as take up seems, erm, low If it is, I'm trying to decide whether to take the Esprit to work with me and then head straight on up the M20 afterwards (5.30pm ish) and stop off at Bibs' place en route or go home first and head out again for a 7.30pm arrival at the Moat. Thoughts ?!?!

If there are pies then I really ought to do my best to pop along, especially as the car is running so sweetly at the moment

Erm.... Whoever just moved this from Lotus/Motoring/Cars Chat to Esprit Chat - its an article about the Evora and Lotus generally with a nod to the Esprit... Just sayin'...

So (sorry Sparky ) I got my Esprit into a magazine in a great article extolling the virtues of the Evora S IPS and Lotus generally Take a look at Page 110: http://www.joomag.com/magazine/insidekent-may-june-2013-issue-18/0861801001367305795 I'm chuffed to bits

I'm in 1. Sparky + missus, GT3, yellow, S75 LCF 2. obione + my missus!, Turbo, black, K85 OAG 3. Sonny - V8 - Reg tbc 4. Barry Sheraton, Elite, Yellow, 296 WKM 5. Paul Sheraton, Europa, Black, RUW 762L 6. gt111 + Ivo - S1 Elise, Yellow, S108 ACG 7. Steve Murnane- S2 Elise, AO51 NTW 8. Stuart Barnes - V8GT yellow,V390EAN 9. SteveSmith + 6yo daughter, SE, blue, G282UFM

I'm fairly sure I'll be free that weekend so my SE would like to volunteer

There's also a nice little feature on Bond and his cars, women etc on the Beeb news site at the moment. Lovely white S1 in the Roger Moore section

So alternating V-Power and Tesco Momentum 99 should give you the best of both worlds - quality detergents from Shell and flame thrower fun from Tesco. Every little helps

Bibs - are you saying/suggesting that V-Power isn't all its cracked up to be and should be avoided ?? (I've just put £50 worth in my car...) Back in the Optimax days, it was always the fuel of choice for performance car drivers so I'm just wondering what's changed ??

Clocked up a load more miles in the car this afternoon and finally felt right to take my father in law out in it (he drives at 50 on motorways, 40 on national speed limit A roads... you get the picture). Managed to scare the s**t out of him but made him grin from ear to ear The car is still performing faultlessly and is such a pleasure to drive. I even spotted another Esprit whilst out - D**GSG a red S3 - which must be local as I spotted it back in February driving right past my house. He seemed as chuffed as me to have shared the same piece of road at the same time !! Anyone else have any 3k stumble descriptions as I'm still feeling this mild flat spot around the 3k mark ??

Mmmmmmm another Wherry I'm about to start an Admiral's Reserve - maybe when they're good to go, we should have a Kent TLF beer festival ?!?

Sorry folks - I'm most likely going to have to bail out of this as I've got lots of work issues requiring my attention over the weekend. Its still possible I can make it but unlikely

Soooooooooo, a little mid-week progress report. Decided I'd take the car out this evening for a run around the locality to see if it's still behaving itself... Started it up from cold and let it idle to temp - all very smooth. Got it out of the garage and off we went - VERY smooth. No poor running, no horrible stumble - just a beautiful late summer evening drive. 15 miles later I arrived back home having had the best drive in nearly 9 years of ownership. I finally have the car of my dreams I do just need a bit of assurance from you guys about the well known 3k RPM 'stumble' associated with the standard factory SE/S4/S4S chips. Does it feel more like a mild flat spot around the 2800-3000 rev range ?? I ask because that is what I am now experiencing (with a standard S4S chip) and am hoping its not some residual ongoing electrical issue. If anyone can describe the 'normal' known stumble to me, I'd really appreciate it.

Alan - is that the big Riverhead Tesco ?? I'd be glad to meet up with you there first and will aim to be there by 8.30am. I'll call / text you if there's problems, otherwise assume I'll be joining your convoy