Oli,
Sadly I'm not going to the rolling road but if you're my way your welcome to have a ride and see what you think.
I had been pottering around in my stage 2 ed30 for months, it was everything I expected - smooth yet progressively powerful.
Stage2+ delivers far more urge in every gear and has a wider band of power allowing you to happily short shift if feeling lazy but
pressing on you really have to watch the rev clock as gear changes are required in the blink of an eye.
6th gear is a somewhat surreal experience as I've never driven a car that doesn't appear to run out of puff.