Lauren

Well, I went with Mike who is in a wheelchair so we were tied to where we had to be position wise. I too dislike arena events which is why I generally go to much smaller gigs. I'm seeing Suede at the Manchester Albert Hall next Tuesday which is far more intimate.

I was so looking forward to this as I was absolutely gutted I didn't see The Libertines, the first time round. The band kicked off with some tracks from their new album, 'Anthems for Doomed Youth' (which to be fair is a good album with good lyrics and is nicely played). They had this feeling to me at least of never quite sounding tight enough in their sound. It was almost like Pete Docherty with his obvious talent, beautiful voice and real skill with the guitar, didn't quite give it his all. I found this a tad frustrating and fair enough, his amp packed up a couple of times, leading him to have a lie down during one track whilst the roadies sorted it out. There were as ever, some flashes of genius, but it was never sustained. So whilst they were good and my friend commented that they were better than he thought they would be, they never hit those surreal moments when you fully get that you are hearing something just so very special. When I've been to see Johnny Marr for example, the moment he launches into the riff for Big Mouth Strikes Again is a real heart in the mouth moment. Ditto with Suede and when they just waste everyone with Animal Nitrate. I also found it a bit of a shame that they had no interaction with the crowd really. There was no banter, vociferous one liners, which people like Morrissey are so famed for. It was almost as if they were a bit distant at times, just playing and not really engaging with the crowd. I think this took something away from it. Hearing some of the old stuff was good, but as other's have pointed out, the ommission of 'The Ha, Ha Wall' borders on the criminal. That said, Pete came on with an acoutic guitar and started singing Babyshambles classic, Albion, before flipping half way through into 'Music when the lights go out', and then returning back to playing Albion again. Bit odd that Pete launched his guitar right across the stage at the end, which was only just caught by the roadie, lest it would have impaled him otherwise! Overall it was good, but it was not amazing and I was not blown away like I so was the first time I saw Suede live, or Johnny Marr just everytime I see him. A big thanks to Mike for sorting out the tickets and for being good company. Car paid off! :) by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr Car paid off! :) by Lauren Blighton, on Flickr

Matt Le Blanc confirmed it seems. http://www.topgear.com/car-news/top-gear-tv/matt-leblanc-joins-top-gear I don't really know much about him, having not watched Friends for getting on for 20 years.

I reckon I ought to be along to this one. Not quite sure if the AE86 will be out of hibernation, though all I need to do is tax it.

Definitely pursue this, they must fix it for you.

I think you did fine, always a bit of an unusual situation if you're not used to it.

Pics please, Captain. Also may well be worth listing whether it has the flexi section on the replacement as that was a revision.

Seriously, go, it's just incredible. I hired a GT86 from Toyota and did a 1000kms in it from Gunma to Hakone and did all the cool roads and quite a lot of Tokyo traffic!

Like the 'Akina Speed Stars' sticker! I've done that touge run in a hired GT86.

Welcome aboard, you have been busy over the winter! Spring is coming, so look forward to catching up at some meets.

It might help with the sale if you can put up some pics of close ups of the wheels.

It doesn't normally. But given it's still so new, you could speak to them about it. I would expect it would require them to fit it though.

Wicked stuff, it's going to be a long two weeks!

As I see, got it now! Well, Stan is a great driver with talent, so you'll have to feel the force, it's the only way.

Stan might not be your only competition. Surely with the changes you are planning, you would end up in the same class as Adrian? So will Stan if he goes FI with a similar or the same setup as Adrian.

How much power does this V8 of your's have?

Just out drive him then. Competition is good, it makes you work harder.

It's not dog friendly, scrub me off the list please.

Will try and make this. Don't think it's a dog friendly pub though is it?

Nothing wrong with competing with Stan. With a massive amount more power you ought to be quicker. I heard Stan was going for a turbo setup, only what I heard of course.

Though I would suspect it will end up in a class of it's own, which means no competition...

I've got the leather/alcantara in my car which I do like. I've had various demo cars from my dealer on a number of occasions with full leather. I've usually had them for a day or so. I was worried that it would grip you less, but actually it's not an issue, the seat base feels a bit firmer in leather, but I didn't feel like I was sliding around as I have done in some cars with leather seats. Full leather seats became an option in Spring 2013 IIRC. Before that leather/alcantara was the only option.

You could doubtless check with the dealer group that serviced it, but I wouldn't expect to see much on such a low mileage car apart from the usual first service interval sundries.

I would seriously at least go for one with leather/alcantara or full leather as having heated seats is well worth it. Also it lifts the interior a bit. You won't have any problem finding after market parts for this car, it was made for the tuning industry, there is literally tons of stuff!

Well, in terms of choice, there aren't that many options. I guess there's the Aero with the bodykit and big wing on the back if that's your thing. Then there's the standard model which most people have. In terms of spec options the biggest one is whether to go with cloth interior or the leather/alcantara or full leather heated seats. Other options are mainly limited to stripes and things like sat nav and reversing sensors. But it depends if you're buying new or used.