This past weekend saw what was to be the final hurdle in Atomic's immigration process, to obtain British Citizen status and become road legal in England. 

The DVLA's (Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency) paper work had processed and arrived in the mail, so she was ready to be collected and was now wearing the UK road tax disc and a British license tag / plate. 

There was however a significant twist in the story during her the transition, well without going into too much detail, let's just say that following Atomic being away to have work done to comply with UK law, she was not returned to me in the same condition she left. I was, to be honest, devastated. However, I am delighted to say the company concerned has agreed to pay all costs to rectify what happened while the car was in their care and I have accepted that it was accidental, unfortunate and isolated and I am just happy that it will see Atomic returned to her full glory. 

So moving on to happier things, this afternoon, I put 100 or so miles down and got what I consider my first chance to try out the Z51 package on England's finest country lanes.

Now for those of you that have been to England, you will know exactly what I am talking about, but for those that haven't, our small countryside roads are long and twisty and are very narrow and not the best of surfaced either. They keep you on your toes as they dip and undulate in rapid succession, not to mention, taking you through blind bends and long sweeping dives and rises. Even keeping with in the speed limit on these roads (60 on many) can give you the sensation of being on a rally car stage, yet there is the chance to advance further... 

If you know these roads well and naturally choose those free from any other traffic, they are the perfect test to dial you in with any car. Having driven a good number of sports cars, including just about every TVR, a number of Porsches (including the 996 GT3) and of course my '99 C5, all have had their own quirks. I would have anticipated the GT3 to have been the best, but it was a bone crunching blur as at times, you almost hung on for dear life. It was fine as a box to tick as done, but not what I had hoped for. 

The C5 coped far better than I had anticipated, although it had two significant flaws, one was the back skipping sideways on sudden bumps, which always resulted in a part system and part driver correction, while the other was the excessive 'bounce' as the suspension tried to soak up the change in ride height.

I had experienced the joy of a 2006 stock C6 in the Californian Hills outside of Carmel last October and had really put the car through it's paces, in fact, it was that drive that sold me on the paddle shift and accelerated my desire to upgrade immediately, as it totally fulfilled my requirements given how and where I drive around the world.

So how would the Z51 deal with things today on a cold and lightly damp surface? In a word, awesome. There was no pitch, no roll, no bounce and no break outs at the back, it was simply perfect and only my own rule at breaking myself in and bonding with a car, held us back. 

I'm sitting here now at just after 8.30 in the evening and am lusting after getting back out in her again. Alas, rain is now pounding down and with sleet and snow forecast for the next few days, it may be a little while before I get the opportunity I had today, but as I have mentioned, 2500 miles of open European roads lie ahead in February, so I'll remain patient and simply sit here with a large grin on my face as I recount today to you.