Car number 66 (Yobbo) was collected on 4th March 2000, the chassis number of the car is SCCGA1117YHC69684.  We've got a personalised registration plate which I think sums her up, bought from the DVLA.  It looks like this:

I've seen and sat in car number 50-ish (apologies to the owner in Japan) and have updated the specs page accordingly.

Also we've decided to have some extras, like the 190 bhp upgrade engine management unit and cam timing wheel (you have to fit both). The cat will be coming off and a removable steering wheel fitted.

We attended the "Ride and Drive" day on 25th February 2000 which included a tour of the factory (who were actually making 340Rs) and 4 laps driving a 340R followed by 2 laps being driven (very quickly) by one of their drivers (Dave Minter took me round).

We also got a tour along the production line where they were building both 340Rs and other Elises at the same time, the line is that flexible.  It looked like about every other car being built was a 340R.  I was getting very confused about the wheels on the production line as every car seemed to have a different style of wheel fitted.  We were eventually told that the wheels put on the car while it is being built are not the final wheels that go on the car, they're just for moving it around the factory.

We actually found car 66 there in the final stages of production!  That was an added bonus as was the weather which was glorious.  Shame we weren't allowed to take any pictures (you have to leave any cameras at security).

The 340R looks gorgeous and drives beautifully (and sounds f***ing fantastic). The amount of grip available is frankly unbelievable from those tyres and the sports suspension (though I did avoid the wet patches on the circuit on purpose!) and the brakes are seriously good.  I did get it a little out of shape once, but recovery was a cinch (and that's by someone with virtually zero track experience). The Lotus test track is brilliant and they have plans to add even more features to it.  We also saw the new Vauxhall VX220 (is that right?) including sight of one going round the track with tyres a-screeching.

The best bit was the "Ride".  Sitting next to Dave Minter showing me exactly what a 340R can do was awesome!  The level of skill displayed warrants huge respect, I've never experienced anything like that before.  Many thanks for that, Dave, especially the sideways bit round the hairpin (and elsewhere)!

Big, big (no, huge) thanks to all the staff at Lotus who made it such an amazing day. Hi to Debbie again (who was pleased she got a name check here before), to Jon for being really friendly and informative, to Alistair McQueen for taking my wife for a spin, to Martyn for suffering my feeble attempts at driving a supercar round the circuit and to Karen for all her work. Most of all to Marie Smith who was in charge of the whole day and did a superb job shuffling people and drivers and arranging the extra ride for Helen.  We'll be back for more soon, we promise.

This report was published in an official 340R newsletter by Lotus in March 2000. Thanks Debbie!

The day we picked car 66 up and the weather was beautiful, if a tad nippy (especially in a car with no roof and no heating which is even nippier!).

It felt like I was ten years old again.  I woke up at 5:00 am and could not get back to sleep, I was that excited!  I took Stefan to work in Elsie then gave her a good wash and brush up before heading off to Haydon Cars in Salisbury to pick up car 66.  I had a huge emotional moment as I was finishing polishing Elsie as I didn't want to let her go, but I bet someone has fun in her so it didn't last long.

We arrived at Haydons to find two 340Rs in the showroom, cars number 64 and 66, were greeted by Ian and Will, our salesman, turned up shortly. Did all the paperwork and was given instructions on the car controls, etc. and then time for a quick photo shoot before heading off back home via the Stockbridge road back via Winchester.  The cat replacement is fitted already, but the 190 bhp upgrade and removable wheel have still to be fitted (they'll be done at the first service along with a re-spray of the bonnet which picked up two nasty stone chips on the test run that the garage did, I felt sorry for Will having to explain them away.  There are a few rough edges on the paintwork round the headlights which will be tidied up at the same time.

We had to have another trip out later in the day and so we did a quick tour round Bishops Waltham, Botley and Eastleigh.  Day 1 was rounded off by picking Stefan up from work in "Yobbo", her owned name. Nearly 100 miles on the clock already, only another 400 to go and we'll be able to go above 3,500 rpm (boy is that frustrating, the engine note is just beginning to get sexy at that point).

On the last run I noticed a slight fuel starvation problem for the first minute or so.  I'll have to keep an eye on that!

Chilly and cloudy start to the day, but it brightened up after lunch so we took a trip to Beaulieu.  Didn't go the the museum, just wandered around the shop, then had afternoon tea (how cute) in the Montagu arms, sat in the window and watched nearly every single passer by stop and ogle at the car!

Now got 144 miles on the clock. Only 356 more to go before we can have a *bit* more fun.

Some more miles under the belt, but still only about 700 due to appalling weather recently and I don't really want to get the car (and myself) too wet. Did have a cracking drive around the roads of Hampshire on Mayday bank holiday and ended up at The Flower Pot at Cheriton along with a Caterham 7, two Morgans, a Jensen Healey, an E-Type and a whole bunch of smart bikes. There is no doubt that having one of these cars makes people talk to you and they certainly nearly always do a double-take when they see the car.

No problems yet (touch wood) apart from a very intermittent rattle from the engine bay. I've got the hang of washing the car and we are planning a track outing later in the summer.

More soon.

In the middle of our summer holiday we both went on the beginners course of the Lotus Driver Training Experience at Hethel, and what a day that is!  It's quite humbling to find out how little I knew about driving a car on a circuit and at the really precise levels of control you have to master to be able to drive a car quickly around a circuit.  The Hethel circuit is excellent and the instructors are really good at teaching you the requisite skills.

First up was the staggered slalom, a coned off slalom course with the gates getting further apart from each other. Two sets of them, then a hairpin turn and a run back through them. The idea is that you have to go wide on the early ones and gradually accelerate whilst holding the right line, then brake for the start of the second set before big braking and the return trip.  I was amazed at how wide you were instructed to take the line into each gate, but after a few practice runs it becomes clear that that's the fastest way to take the course.

Next up was braking, which was initially terrifying.  First up is a braking in a straight line exercise where you have to stop the car in a straight line at a cone on the side of the track or earlier.  Cue lots of tyre smoke as I lock it up a few times before finding the optimum pedal pressure.  The next bit is brake, turn and stop in a coned off "garage" with a left snake in the middle of it (an emergency avoidance manoeuvre).  Enter it at 60 mph, brake as the nose of the car enters the garage (it's scary leaving it so late), turn left, feel the left front wheel load up (and lock up), release the brake pedal pressure a tad to let the wheel roll again and finally stop the car without taking a bundle of cones out.  I have to admit to taking a few cones out, but eventually got the hang of it (ish).  I think I'd need a few weeks of practice to be able to do it consistently, though!

The final exercise of the morning was the understeer/oversteer exercise on the roundabout at circle corner which had been given a liberal wetting in an Elise with front wheels on the back to make it slide more easily.  First up was understeer, hacking round and round the circle quicker and quicker until the front wheels start to lose grip.  You initially steer more to try and correct it but that doesn't help.  Lifting off the accelerator slightly and reducing steering lock sorts it out.  This was the easiest thing to do in the whole day.

Oversteer, however is a totally different (i.e. tougher) thing to get the hang of.  Again, round and round until the instructor tells you to violently lift off the accelerator.  When you do, the back end steps out and you steer the other way to correct it.  I did this naturally and corrected the slide quickly.  Trouble is, they are trying to teach you to *hold* the oversteer to get the car into a controlled slide.  To do this the instructor asked me to leave the slide later and later before trying to correct it and then going to full opposite lock, whilst keeping throttle control.  First result: I spin, forget to floor clutch and brake and end up on the roundabout in a stalled car (fun, though!).  Second time: pretty similar, but I keep the engine going this time.  I never did get the hang of holding it in the slide, but with a few more years practice, you never know.  I did manage a power slide on the track later in the day though (whee!).

Time for lunch, and then on to a short (south) track set of laps, which is the bit I'd been looking forward to.  Unfortunately, I was having so much fun I forgot to listen to the instructor.  I was just blasting around, missing most of the turn-in points and not progressively learning the circuit.  I got a justified dressing down from my instructor afterwards.

The final driving part of the day was a full 8 laps non-stop on the full circuit and this time I took it easier.  I was so pleased when my instructor shouted "floor it" as I entered the chicane and then said "excellent" as I left it.  At last I'd got something right and it really felt like it, too.  I'm sure I was lapping quicker and quicker, but no timing is done to back me up on that.

What I do know is that I had learnt a huge amount from a very skilled and patient set of instructors on a day out to remember.  A day, in fact that I would recommend to anyone who likes driving.  Many thanks to everyone who helped during the day.

Yes, it's taken us nearly 5 months to do 1,000 miles, so time for Yobbo's first service, which included the 190 bhp engine mod, new cam timing wheel, oil cooler, quick release steering wheel and a surprise removal of the induction valve (well a surprise for me when I started it up for the first time!).  The work was done by Haydon's in Salisbury in 2 days.

Was the upgrade worth it (£1000 worth)?  "Yes" is the answer in my opinion.  It's definitely quicker off the mark and seems noticeably more fluent throughout the power band.  It's certainly noisier at low revs (sorry, neighbours!) and the removable wheel (with "340R" logo) looks much better than the standard wheel fitted at the factory, though as it's a little smaller, it does obscure the top of both the tacho and speedometer, so you have to learn from the positions of the needles what speed you're doing!  I'm not sure I can see the shift light either, so I'll have to rely on my ears for that one!

A track day next, methinks...

Finally, Yobbo goes trackside and what a blast that was! Organised by Haydon's of Salisbury, 36 cars turned up. Mainly Elises in various guises, there were three 340Rs, a handful of Esprits, a lovely yellow Lotus Europa and a few others including a Ferrari and a Subaru.

100 decibel limit on the day made me sweat a little, but Yobbo made it with room to spare with her 97 db on the meter. An Esprit failed and had to have some remedial action taken to get it on track.

We were taken around in the Subaru to show us the racing line and then it was on to the usual track day routine of have a few laps, wait while the other five groups have their turn before you get another go.

I only managed to overtake the Europa on the track, but it was immense fun letting Yobbo go on a circuit (especially the two chicanes!), though I did have to ask Helen to slow down on her second session as she was scaring me!

Great day out, this one. Jenny Baker-Carr organised the first of these in 2000 which I missed, but I really want to go to future ones! Basically a track day for the MacMillan Cancer Care charity in memory of Jenny's husband who died of cancer, there was a lot more going on as well on the Goodwood circuit (which is excellent) including free skid pan sessions, go-karting, lawnmower racing, guest celebs (Richard Dunwoodie, Will Hoy and Anthony Reid)

Shortly after I got there a trailer turned up with this little beauty on board, A Lotus 69 which had been brought back from South Africa and had a new engine so was "running in"!

Here we are waiting in line for the first session of the day where there was a remarkably short queue to get onto the circuit (Well I did get there early!). Notice the car in front (the Lotus 69) and the Elan in front of that. I eventually caught and overtook the Elan at St Mary's after he kindly signalled me through. On the second session I went out in front of one of the T-Cars and was expecting him to catch me and overtake me within a lap. I didn't see him until the end of the 4th lap and I was quite pleased with that, but then I had just about got the lines worked out by then and was having some fun.

A great circuit, fast (especially the Lavant straight) and St Mary's is a cracker of a corner, all reverse camber, downhill (so you can't see where the track goes) and the first time around it it was much sharper than I thought, so much so I nearly left the track!

I'm beginning to think I shouldn't go on these Lotus driver instruction courses as they really show up how poor a track driver I am compared to the instructors (naturally) and a lot of the other people that attend. Arriving early on an overcast morning with a wet track as it had rained overnight didn't look too promising at first, but the weather stayed dry all day and the track dried out nicely apart from two scary looking puddles on the hairpin bend.

First surprise of the day was that there were 18 of us on the course (I thought there'd be less), including Tony Churley (Stelvio trip organiser), but we did have 6 instructors. Next surprise was that the fleet of instruction cars is now all Series 2 Elises in Silver and Blue.

After breakfast and a technical briefing on the day we headed off for the first exercise a huge slalom course covering a lot of the back straight with three sequences of 3 gates, a straight and a hairpin bend. A very busy course requiring much concentration and accuracy, which took ages to get used to. As ever, the key to each set of gates was to line up and get the speed right into the first gate and then keep the speed level whilst taking a smooth wide line into each gate before accelerating through the last gate.

Next exercise was power on oversteer round a roundabout of cones in the car park. We were delayed in doing this as the previous group had managed to put a car up the bank and onto a tyre wall and we had to wait while they dragged it off and got a spare car out.

Third exercise of the morning was the scariest, "trail" braking around a very narrow course coned off around half of the hairpin. The idea was you enter the curve at a steady 50-60 mph (depending on the confidence of your instructor), turn around the corner and about a quarter of the way around, slam on the brakes! Lifting off causes the back end to step out (the braking helps, too) so you have to get off the brakes, correct the oversteer and stop the car in a straight(ish) line. I managed to spin it more than 50% of the time, but still stopped the car in time. It's amazing how quickly you can stop an Elise in these circumstances, you really wouldn't believe it.

In the afternoon it was three long sessions of full laps, hopefully going quicker and quicker each time. This was mentally and physically exhausting, I found, but incredibly good fun.

Finally there were the demo laps by your instructor (We had Shawn Taylor of ST Racing), again totally humbling as he braked much later and not as much as I could manage, taking every bend quicker (and often in a different gear!) than I had managed. High points were the circle corner, the way he took the chicane (at some ridiculous speed) and the perfect line and balance at the entry to the first corner at the end of the factory straight.

Thanks again to everyone who made it another brilliant day out at Hethel.

It's been a long time since I updated this, sorry.  A Good Cause at Goodwood 2003 eventually happened (there wasn't one in 2002) and what an awesome day it was.  Huge thanks to the Good Cause At Goodwood team again for being immense fun and supremely well organised.

It's a while since I've had Yobbo on track and I'd forgotton just how much fun it is.  For some reason Goodwood seemed much better this time.  Actually I've realised why, it wasn't raining this time! It was wet early but the track dried out within an hour.  It made the first session rather interesting and I lost the back end twice going around the Lavant double apex corner and that was fun!  Later sessions were huge fun and the car behaved so well, no matter what (bad) line I took into the corners.

I got a few corners right and was only overtaken on one of the 4 sessions by a Sierra Cosworth who was blindingly quick, but I have an excuse in that I was held up for half a lap by a Morgan who was trying to make me pass him on the wrong side.  That was the second time that happened and it wasn't half annoying to have to back off and wait until the other driver realised that I was going to pass on the left as we'd been warned a couple of times by the course marshalls about this and I wasn't about to be flagged off the course.  I did catch the Sierra up before the chicane half a lap later, mind.

Still that's not to detract from a fabulous day, very well organised as ever and a nice collection of cars were turned out for the day, including the following:

but look what 30 or so laps around Goodwood did to the near side tyres (the off side ones are fine)! Note the really rough edge on the right side of the photo and the little rolls of melted rubber across most of the surface. They were really hot and sticky coming off the track and this picture was taken weeks later after quite a few more miles on ordinary roads! When I last went to Haydons I told Cos about the track day and said I'd take it easy as the speedo was broken and added that I always take it easy. He grinned at me and said "that's not the story your tyres tell me" and now I know what he meant.

Well Yobbo is 4 years old now, just been re-taxed and about to be serviced and re-MOT'd. Good news is the insurance has gone down this year. Haven't got any track days booked for this year yet (I don't do many). The stack display is still broken, I haven't got around to getting it fixed yet, I must do that soon. It's still got a working speedometer but the LCD display that shows the fuel, trip, odometer and other info is displaying garbage. It's a common problem with this unit. Costs about £600 for a new one, and a couple of hundred to get it fixed by Stack and will take 3 or 4 weeks during which the car won't really be drivable as I won't be able tell how fast I'm going and I rely heavily on the speedo to stay within the speed limits.