Also have a look at this, a Ferrari F40 wrapped in a carbon black – normally I’d think its sacrilege to ticker such a classic but I actually think its looks pretty savage…

Can’t wait to see what “Gran Tourismo 10″ might be like in 10 or so years time. They’ll probably be beaming it into our heads in a virtual reality that will be indistinguishable from real life! Fingers crossed anyway..

Everyone loves the introductions from the Top Gear presenters – so here is a bunch of them:

Some say he can play guitar with the clutch…and his carbon fibre beard is chizelled in the most streamlined way…

Some say that all his pot plants are called steve.. and that he has a life size tattoo of his face.. on his face..

Some say, he’s actually dead… But the Grim reaper, is too scared to tell him…

Some say He’s contracted every STD known to man, and that he has inflatable breasts to get him out of speeding tickets. All we know.. is

Some say he nighted the queen….and that he saved the Queen from God….

Some say that he can hypnotise sheep, and that if he could be bothered he could swim the Atlantic ocean – underwater.

Some say, that he is one of the protons in the Large Hadron Collider, AND that he creates miniature black holes every time he sneezes.

Some say, that he once co-presented a brazillian show about blimp disasters, and that once, he actually punched God.

Some say that he once killed a girrafe with just his feet and that he has a black belt in paper maché…

Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground…

Some say he is 5foot tall with lead in his feet,others say 6feet with tall with air in his head….but he doesnt care what you say. You’ll only know him as ..The Stig!

Some say he was the one who actually pulled Excalibur from the stone and that he is the rightful king of England, all we Know is………

Some say he sucks the moisture from ducks, and if you lick his chest it tastes exactly the same as picililly…

Some say he gave birth to Chuck Norris,and that the mother was superman!

Some say he has no understanding of queuing.

Some say, he once modeled for page 3… and his feet are made from dog leather.

Some say he naturally faces magnetic north, and that all of his legs are hydraulic… all we know is,

Some say he’s wanted by the CIA, and that he sleeps upside down like a bat… all we know is,

Some say his ears have a paisley lining, and he’s been banned from the Chelsea Flower Show… all we know is,

Some say that to unlock him, you have to run your finger down his face, and that if he was getting divorced from Paul McCartney, he’d keep his stupid whiny mouth shut!

Some say he can swim seven lengths under water, and he has webbed buttocks…

Some say that because our producer rigged a phone vote he has a new name,

Some say he knows two facts about ducks, and that both of them are wrong …

Some say he never blinks, and that he roams around the woods at night foraging for wolves…

Some say he’s wanted by the CIA, and that he sleeps upside down like a bat…

Some say his skin has the texture of a dolphin’s, and that wherever you are in the world, if you tune your radio to 88.4, you can actually hear his thoughts…

Some say he appears on high value stamps in Sweden, and that he can catch fish with his tongue…

Some say he is illegal in 17 US states, and he blinks horizontally…

Some say that his breath smells of magnesium, and that he’s scared of bells…

Some say he naturally faces magnetic north, and that all his legs are hydraulic…

Some say that he lives in a tree, and that his sweat can be used to clean precious metals…

Some say that his heart ticks like a watch, and that he’s confused by stairs…

Some say that his voice can only be heard by cats, and that he has two sets of knees…

Some say that he’s terrified of ducks, and that there’s an airport in Russia named after him…

Some say his skin has the texture of a dolphin’s, and that wherever you are in the world if you tune your radio to 88.4 you can actually hear his thoughts…

Some say that he has no understanding of clouds, and that his earwax tastes like Turkish Delight…

Some say that his politics are terrifying, and that he once punched a horse to the ground…

Some say that his tears are adhesive, and that if he caught fire he’d burn for a thousand days…

Some say he can swim seven lengths underwater, and he has webbed buttocks…

Some say that his heart is in upside down, and that his teeth glow in the dark…

Some say that his ears aren’t exactly where you’d expect them to be, and that once, preposterously, he had an affair with John Prescott…

Some say he has a digital face, and that if he felt like it, he could fire Alan Sugar…

Some say that his genitals are on upside down, and that if he could be bothered he could crack the a Vinci code in 43 seconds…

Some say his ears have a paisley lining, and he’s been banned from the Chelsea Flower Show…

Some say that the outline of his left nipple is exactly the same shape as the Nurburg ring, and that if you give him a really important job to do, he’ll skive off and play croquet…

Some say he invented Branston Pickle, and that if you insult his mother he will headbutt you in the chest…

Some say that on really warm days he sheds his skin like a snake, and that for some reason he’s allergic to the Dutch…

Some say that his first name really is The, and that if he went on Celebrity Love Island they’d all be pregnant including the cameramen…

Some say that he once threw a microwave oven at a tramp, and that long before anyone else he realised that Jade Goody was a racist pig-faced waste of blood and organs…

Some say that he once had a vicious knife-fight with Anthea Turner, and that he is in no way implicated in the Cash-for-Honours scandal. All we know is that he’s called Lord Stig

Some say that he is a CIA experiment that went wrong, and that he only eats cheese. All new know is that he’s not The Stig – he’s The Stig’s fat American cousin

Some say that if you lick his chest it tastes exactly the same as Piccalilli, and that at this week’s Brit awards he was arrested for goosing Russell Brand…

Some say that he sucks the moisture from ducks, and that his crash helmet is modelled on Britney Spears’ head…

Some say he isn’t machine washable, and all his potted plants are called Steve…

Some say his scrotum has its own small gravity field…

Some say because our producer rigged a phone vote, he now has a new name…all we know is, he’s called Cuddles…

Some say he’s banned from the town of Chichester…

Some say in a recent late night deal he bought a slightly dented white Fiat Uno from the Duke of Edinburgh…

Some say he gets terrible ezcema on his helmet…

Some say if he’d been the video ref in the World Cup Rugby Final he would’ve seen that it was of course a try you blind Australian half-wit…

Some say to unlock him you have to run your finger down his face…

Some say if he were getting divorced from Paul McCartney he’d keep his stupid whining mouth shut…

Some say he thought Star Wars was a documentry…

Some say he recently pulled out of I’m a Celebrity because he’s frightened of trees….and Australia…Koo Stark…and Ant…and Dec…

Some say he knows two facts about ducks, and both of them are wrong…

Some say 61 years ago he accidently introduced Her Majesty, the Queen, to a Greek racialist…

Some say when he slows down, brake lights come on in his buttocks…

Some say if he’d been the manager of the England football squad last week he wouldn’t have been a feckless-ginger-gum-chewing buffoon who ruined it for all of us…

Some say he once lost a canoe on a beach in the northeast…

Some say he once did some time in a prison in Canterbury because his teddy is called “The Baby Jesus”…

Some say that after making love, he bites the head of his partner, and that he’s had to give up binge-drinking now that it ‘s got to £1.18 a litre.

Some say that each of his toenails are exactly the same as a woman’s nipples. And that he thinks the credit crunch is some kind of breakfast cereal.

Some say his droppings have been found as far north as York. And that he has a full-size tattoo of his face – on his face.

Some say that he is not allowed by law, within a hundred yards of Lorraine Kelly. And that he’s never seen an episode of Top Gear because he’s a huge fan of Midsomer Murders. All we know is he’s called Bergerac.

Some say it’s impossible for him to wear socks. And he can open a beer bottle with his testes.

Some say his droppings have been found as far north as York. And that he has a full size tattoo of his face, on his face.

Some say that he is not allowed, by law, within 100 yards of Lorraine Kelly, and that he’s never seen an episode of Top Gear, because he’s a huge fan of Midsomer Murders!

Some say it’s impossible for him to wear socks, and he can open a beer bottle with his testes!

Some say that he sleeps inside out, and that he once had full sex with Russell Brand’s answering machine.

Some say his favourite ever song is Forever Autumn by Justin Hayward, and that he has the world’s largest collection of pornographical material.

Some say that he invented November. And that if he had won the World Championship in Brazil last weekend, there might have been one photograph of him without his father, gurning in the back of shot.

Some say one of his legs get longer when he sees a pretty lady. And that I haven’t done one of these for some time and I’ve forgotten to make up a second thing.

Some say that he doesn’t like to get his helmet wet. A point that was proved last week when he was caught in the back of shot by an eagle-eyed viewer.

…All we know is,

It’s out. The Stig doesn’t live in a tree, his ears are exactly where we’d expect them to be and he’s not actually called The Stig – or Cuddles.

The identity of The Stig has been revealed as former NASCAR and Formula 3 racing driver Ben Collins, who actually lives in Bristol.

The 35-year-old’s identity has, in fact, been a fairly open secret in the motoring world for a number of years -MotorTorque speculated on the story in June 2008 – but had never hit the mainstream; until now.

Recent contractual disputes surrounding the proposed release of Collins’ autobiography have lead to suggestions that The Stig could be on his way out.

The previous Stig’s identity was exposed similarly in an autobiography. The black Stig was revealed as Perry McCarthy, a former Formula 1 driver shortly after he left the show.

In homage to the tame racing driver, we’ve collated as full a collection of his famous introductions as you could wish for.

Some say that he’s banned from the town of Chichester, and that in a recent late-night deal, he bought a slightly dented white Fiat Uno from the Duke of Edinburgh…

Some say that he gets terrible eczema on his helmet, and that if he’d been the video referee at the World Cup Rugby Final, he’d have seen ‘ of course it was a try you blind Australian half-wit’!

(On African Stig) Some say he’s seen The Lion King 1780 times, and that his second best friend is a cape buffalo… all we know is, he’s not the Stig, but he is the Stig’s African cousin.

Some say that as we speak he is actually relaxing in the resort pool, and he is, he is actually.

Some say, he has a stripy top, just like mine…

Some say that one of his eyes is a teste. And that he was turned down for I’m a celebrity because people have heard of him…

Some say he invented the curtain, and that he recently submitted a £20,000 expenses claim for some gravel…for his moat…

Some say, he has twelve GCSE’s, all in Domestic Science. And that he has been producing artificial sperm for years. Even though we have repeatedly asked him not to…

Some say, that on Thursdays he becomes incredibly bulbous. And that recently pigs in Mexico started to die of something called “Stigflu”. All we know is, he’s highly contagious!

Some say, that he cut that man’s hair [pointing at a man in audience]…

Some say that in the autumn, all his arms go brown and fall off. And that if he wrote you a letter of condolence, he would at least get your name right. All we know is, he’s called the Stog.

James: You mean the Stig.

Jeremy: That’s what I said. I said it.

Some say that he has some terrible plans involving the moon. And that he was turned down for a place on I’m a Celebrity because he is one.

Some say his new Christmas range of fragrances includes the great smell of Wednesday. And that he was turned down for the job of EU President, because his face is just too recognisable…

Some say that the drinks cabinet in his car contains fourteen different types of custard. And that while he has been known to leave his house in a bit of a hurry, he’s never once hit a fire hydrant…

Some say that his discharge is luminous, and that even as we speak, he is appearing on the main stage at Glastonbury performing his most famous hit, Superstition…

Some say there are 17 different reasons why he’s banned from the Northampton branch of Little Chef, and that his favourite airline pilot is Mark Webber…

Some say the Scottish released him a little bit too soon. And that he spent all week pushing an effigy of Rubens Barrichello through his desk fan…

Full info here:  http://www.autoblog.com/2011/10/13/2012-lexus-lfa-review/

On this tiny little dirt road, apparently our often overprotective government, think its perfectly ok to do up to 80kph while driving on it. I’m a pretty quick driver but I don’t think I would do 80kph on this road. After this straight it gets pretty twisty and downhill – I drove down it at probaly not more than 30kph or so. Doing much more would be a but silly, and that says a lot coming from me! ;)

However, this photo taken above, on the same day, shows a very wide, smooth, straight, 2 lane dual carriageway – which apparently they think its unsafe to drive more than 60kph – 20kph slower than the one vehicle wide dirt road.

Now yes, they are temporary signs – but regardless - it’s ridiculous - how in the world do they expect us to take them seriously? Where is the sense in this? For a considerable amount of time there were parts of the M50 where they set a speed limit of 60kph – 99% of people completely ignored it and went 100kph or so anyway. Completely defeats the purpose really. Why can’t we have some sense applied to the roads in this country?

I hunted down as much info as possible by asking friends for advice and searching all the forums, which really helped me a lot. In the hope of helping others too – I thought I’d write all my tips and advice down in a blog post – if you have your test coming up – study and know this, practice, and you’ll be fine.

General Stuff:

Lessons – Get them – no matter how good a rider you think you are, get a pre-test at least. There are lots of little things you might not think of that you can fail for easily. Definitely get a pre-test at a minimum, but do it early, weeks before your date. Practice is key – In the few days up to the test, whenever you are on your bike, ride like it was your test, do not be lazy. It’s very hard to just “Switch it on” for the test and start doing everything perfect. Sometimes you do know exactly what to do, but you can just make mistakes and forget stuff. Try talking to yourself and narrating your actions – it actually works!

Wear all your gear, boots trousers, Yellow reflective jacket with L plates -and make sure it’s not brand new looking, dirty it up a bit. Park your bike in backwards so you can drive straight out and not have to reverse. Know the road signs, especially Clearway, Bus lane, Contra flow bus lane, pedestrian zone etc. Look the part and answer questions confidentially without rambling, and you are already off to a good start.

He’s going to ask you all about your bike, how to check oil, brake pads, adjusting chain tension etc – know all this inside out. When he asks you to get on your bike, put your right hand on the bar and hold the brake before swinging your leg over.

When out on the road – be confident. Don’t drive stupidly slow and carefully – he will fail you. Drive normally but just drive as near to the speed limit as possible at all times. Driving too slow is one of the main reasons for failure. Don’t hold up traffic. If in a 50kph zone, you can get away with doing a 33/34kph a few times – just don’t do it consistently.
Don’t worry if you make a mistake – you can get away with a few and still pass- but you don’t know, he might not have even seen it! Don’t give up, give it your best at all times and relax…

Exaggerate your observations – move your head, not just your eyes – if he can’t see you looking – you did not look – so make sure he sees you. Indicate early and manoeuvre – but not too early. Look into approaching junctions early.
Check mirrors every 20 seconds or so. Don’t look at one mirror and then the other immediately, look straight ahead for a second or two in-between. Check your mirrors every time before you slow down, or even come off the throttle.
Look out for stop signs – made sure to put your foot down at/before sign – regardless if there is not traffic.
Keep elbows down especially on lifesavers – if your arms are straight when you look over your shoulder, your bike will turn slightly when you do a lifesaver – this can send a false indication to the driver behind you.

U turn: Mirror and look behind you, but keep your hands on the handlebars, do not take your hand off to look around. Don’t drive too far forward before turning, be confident. Turn your head all the way around and look back up the road, do Not look at the opposite curb. Lean into it, drag back brake, feather throttle if needed. Don’t kit the curb whatever you do, you won’t fail if you put a foot down. He may ask you to do it again. Don’t forget to mirror, indicate, lifesaver and pull in on the other side. Practice these a lot.

Obstruction Overtake Manoeuvre: Mirror, indicate, lifesaver, move to other side of road. Mirror, indicate in, lifesaver, move back in. Practice this, I actually fcuked mine up even though it’s something we all do all the time on the road.

Theory Questions:

When would you use dipped headlights?
Dusk/ dawn, built up area, traffic coming towards you, travelling behind traffic, in fog/snow.

How/Why would you  skid / loose traction?
Oil, Diesel, leaves, gravel, ice, rain, metal plates, bad tyres, improper use of Brakes or Throttle. Also because of bad tyres. Know the minimum tread depth: 1mm.

When can you overtake on the left?
When turning left or vehicle in front of you is turning right, or on dual carraigeway/motorway and traffic in the right lane is queuing

When would you use a lifesaver?
Junctions/Roundabouts/Moving off/ Changing lanes.

Continuous white line – can you cross it?
Generally no. Exceptions – For emergency and access.

Sequence of lights at a pelican crossing?
Green-amber-red-flashing amber-green

What’s the rule for entering a yellow box junction?
Enter as long as you can drive out of it. Exceptions – Turning right and even at that provided you wont be blocking/obstructing traffic as a result.

Who can give traffic instructions?
Members of the Gardai, or if there are roadworks, you have to obey the instructions given by the workers.

How do you recognize a zebra crossing?
Black and white striped poles on either side of the road with a flashing amber beacon, zig zag lines on the road leading up to it, and black and white markings going across the road for the crossing.