captain

I miss a blast through the Mendips or Wales as the sun comes up. There is no countryside and it is just, well, desert. You have to go a long way to find twisty roads and then, there's no pub at the end with a pint and a bacon sandwich.

Well, one answer is they have all been Photoshopped using different emphasis on each one. The surreal background in one is just lowering the "Clarity" when converting the RAW file in CS5. Others have high contrast, film grain, low saturation, lots of fill light etc. etc. The other answer is - it's Dubai - it isn't real! The car is on a building site on the Palm Jumeriah behind The Fairmont Hotel and the view is Dubai Marina. None of this existed 10 years ago. If you Google Map it you can see the piece of land I was on.

I know it sounds like a truism, but it does not feel "instinctive". If you are right-handed then holding a wheel with your right hand and changing gear with left feels "correct". When pushing on, in LHD you are using the wrong hands at the vital moment. Added to this, the gear change on the GT86 is not as slick as i would have hoped and I have found myself going from 5th to 4th instead of up in to 6th and other mistakes. I guess i will get better at it.

Good to hear from you Struan. Hope all is well. The car is fantastic but the roads are not! You have to leave the city for about 2 hours to get to the twisties so I intend to do this next week and hopefully post a video. The SL55 AMG was awesome was maybe next time......... After we shot the above pics we drove out to the desert and managed to a) get stuck in sand and I had to push put whilst Mel reversed and got stopped by the cops for doing doughnuts in a deserted car park. Type in "Endurance City terminus" in to Google maps and that's the car park. What are the chances of that? I told him I was testing the car and he checked my license and told me to behave.....

Thanks. Go for a drive in one, you might be converted.

Nice pictures!! Whoever took them must be a bloody legend......... Still got this on your wall?

Getting quote for Litchfield supercahger as i write.......

Hey pal - good to see you haven't killed yourself yet. Probably deaf though...... Getting the car washed in an hour and will attempt a nice photo-shoot if I can focus

I like this car

Good night was it ? The trouble iwht a Dubai brunch is they start at 12 ans you are in bed ny 6 and wake up at 2 in the morning with the worst hangover ever. I keep on saying i won;t do them but every other week,................oh dear

Paid 80,000 AED so 13k sterling. Good deal seeing as the owner (Porsche Cup driver and runs a motorsport company here) added 4K of mods. If I wasn't completely mullered right now i'd get in it and go for a blast. Hic.......

Well. Not sure about the nudity. Where?? I missed it. Goy back from the champagne brunch about 6 hours ag o and jsy woke up - 2.20 AM here, How much Bpllinger can you drink in 4 hours....er.... about 30 glasses. Also gin, sambuca, red wine and some other stuff. Played "the finger game" wiht some Northern monkeys from leeds..........oh dear Bloody mother effing hell. No need to win the lotery. Just wake up tomorrow and tell your boss to f off and get on a plane. Earn X 4 here and have a blast.........

GT86 it is - but modified already. Pearlescent white with the following: Milltek unresonated exhaust (the loud one) Full Eibach suspension upgrade Oz Racing Allegerrita 17" gunmetal rims Continental Contisport tyres Pics to follow as only just got it a few days ago. Got to say it FULLY deserves all the awards. The only comparable car for handling was the Cayman R and i haven't had a chance to really push it yet. Gearbox the only disappointment (not as good as my 20 year old Mark 1 MX-5) but other than than, an absolute hoot. Getting in and out is a bit of a struggle for my old bones

Ha ha! One of them is right and one of them WAS on my wish list. You're good.

Lambo just above my budget. Weather is only unbearable for 3-4 months. Then there is 3-4 months of "Spain in August" and then 3-4 months of absolute bliss. See new thread for the identity of the new motor. Might be a surprise.....

So. Been in Dubai now since August last year and think I will be here for good. Obviously it is car heaven here so i can't carry on renting a Focus for 300 quid a month any more. The problem is, what to buy? The wish list started like this: 370Z/GT-R Z4 - M Coupe Caymen/Boxster/911 AMG SL55 Mustang/Challenger/Corvette Test drove most of them and for various reasons, nothing made me that excited. I'll qualify that by saying they are all exciting (SL55 AMG. WTF should have been added to the back of that thing! Wheel spin just about constant) but driving in Dubai is very frustrating. You are NEVER more than 500 metres from a speed camera or a speed bump so the really fast cars above are just about unusable except for posing so out go GT-R and 911. Secondly, I realised I just don't like big cars except for driving around America so goodbye to our US friends. The AMG was top for ages but I just thought that it is big, too fat and how often would I put the roof down? Even today, it is 30 outside and slightly humid. That really left the smaller Porsche's, BMW and 370. Drove a Cayman Type R and at 33 grand it was much cheaper than UK but nearly every car here is a Porsche and nearly every car gets in an accident and as it would be my daily driver as well, i couldn't justify the expense or the risk of accident or depreciation of using it daily. Boxster kind of fell by the wayside using the same criteria as Cayman and also, when would I put the roof down? So I bet by now you are saying "it's a 370". Well. No. Felt good but not special and that engine sound! Awful. Also, why are the seats so high like a bus driver's? The M Coupe was a valiant second. Perfect in every way (2 doors, looks great, nice sound, handles fantastic, rare) except a little old and i wanted something newer. Before I reveal all, can anybody guess? The last clue to add is that i like to drive flat out so because of the limiting nature of the roads here, as well as the above "must haves" it has to be, well, slowish so I can thrash it before I hit the next bump/camera. Here are the criteria again: 2 door Good looking Good sound Great handling Rear wheel drive Rare(ish) Less than 3 years old Manual Small Less than 15k sterling Less than 200 bhp Easy to mod Anybody??

VERY nice at the moment in Dubai. About 30 degrees so cool enough to do things as opposed to the summer when it is so hot it is almost indescribable. Imagine the hottest UK August day and then going jogging. Wearing a duvet. For example, just about to set off for an outdoor champagne brunch at La Meridien Hotel (unlimited top bubbly Veuve Clicquot/Cristal etc. for 4 hours!!!) and then maybe a little snooze by the pool. Might take the new motor (see thread coming up later) for a little spin up in to the mountains in Al Ain tomorrow to catch the sunrise. sorry....... showing off now over.

Not really expensive surprisingly. Paid 100 quid for 2 nights with a 2 for 1 deal. Even at 100 a night I thought it was good value considering the room and view was so nice. The roof bar and pool are amazing. Pool View from room Room