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27 febbraio Return of the GTERichard Aucock writes: What inspired Ferrari’s latest 599 GTB Fiorano Handling GTE?
What else, but the equally esteemed Vauxhall Astra GTE?
Whether this means Ferrari has produced a remarkably hard-riding 599, converted it to front-wheel drive and engineered in a jaw-dropping combination of torque steer and lift-off oversteer remains to be seen. --- BMW seeks inspiration from British Leyland Bolt plays the field
MX-5 is damagedIan Dickson writes
It’s a sinking and infuriating feeling to discover a [insert expletive of choice] has damaged your motor. So imagine my fury the other day when I found the passenger side front wing on my MX-5 long-termer had been pranged. And no, the owner didn’t fess up. Do I know who it is? Well, I’ve got my theories but I’ve no way to prove them, so it’s an insurance job for this one… although this car belongs to Mazda so they will repair it. Make your own claim though and that is a few years wiped off your no claims bonus if it isn’t protected. Anyway, the damage is superficial but pretty severe (I reckon it will need a new front wing if not a door as well), so the car has gone now for repair. In the meantime, I’ve got a Civic Type-R Championship edition in. Come back next week to see if it has worked my teeth loose over the weekend… that’s if some plank hasn’t reversed into it first! Anyone any horror stories about rogue damage? Share them here…
Porsche Silverstone experienceIan Dickson writes
Buy a new Porsche and you aren’t just buying one of the finest automotive creations known to mankind. The price of your purchase also guarantees you a driving course at Porsche’s impressive new driving centre at Silverstone. I tried it out this week for the first time when I went up there to drive the new Cayenne diesel and Cayman/Cayman S. So, how does it work? Well, pop along to your local Porsche dealer - for Porsche dreamers you can pay £275 - put in an order, and you’ll be sent to the Silverstone facility where Porsche’s damn handy instructors will show you how to get the best out of your car.
There are loads of tracks to try out; a short but technically-demanding ‘handling’ course which replicates a typical B-road – albeit much, much smoother – a low grip track which replicates a greasy road, a skid pan where you can practice your sideways skills and a kick plate which will test your reactions as it propels the car into a skid. For Cayenne fans, there is also a demanding off-road course which, while not as much fun as hammering around the circuits, nevertheless demonstrates how capable this big ‘soft-roader’ is off road. The catch? Well, you have to buy a Porsche as I said, or come up with £275. But, you don’t have to use your own cars as Porsche has a massive fleet of about 60 cars for you to rag, er, I mean try.
Porsche has also built a modern Experience centre where you will be treated to lunch, and if you’re buying a car, all the Porsche options are on display so you can decide on colour and spec while you’re there. There’s also a rolling display of classic and modern Porsches, including an ultra-rare 550 Spyder – a la James Dean – which is worth a nifty £1 million.
It’s a fantastic day out. I just need to come up with another excuse to visit… Driven: Porsche Cayenne Diesel Blog: are Porsche paddles any good? Blog: fighting fit with Porsche
Are Porsche gear change buttons still no good?
Tom Evans writes: We seem to be having a bit of a Porsche-fest right now at MSN Cars; I’ve just spent a couple of days hooning about in a new model Carrera 4S cabrio, and then have had a brief run in a Turbo cabriolet this morning into work. I am not necessarily a 911 person, doubting about the wisdom of putting a big powerful engine right at the back of the car. But there you go. I like the 4S – its grip is amazing – you can just stab the power coming out of a roundabout and you just know you will stay perfectly in shape. And it is very fast indeed; because it's relatively low down in the 911 range, overshadowed by the likes of the GT3 and the rest, you think it will be cooking - but not at all. The new touch screen sat-nav is awesome and loads better than before, and nice to see support for iPods and other music players too. And this car has the new 7-speed PDK dual clutch gearbox. The good news? It’s much better than the Tiptronic. The bad news? It’s still not perfect. Why? Well, Porsche continues to fiddle about with stupid little buttons, while everyone else went off to paddle-land years ago. So, the Porker has 2 buttons on either side of the wheel, you pull to move down a gear, and push to move up. Fine, except if you are a motoring hack like me you are used to the by now near industry standard of pulling left to go down and pulling right to go up.
Grrrrrrrrr. I have had heard say that Porsche insist on this individual stance in the same way that they insist on other things, such as having the engine in the wrong place and having no interest in fripparies like adaptive cruise control. Still, Isabelle enjoyed our brief fun run, cue usual Tom cheesy shot:
I exchanged the 4S for a Turbo this morning at 7am today. It is in dazzling white, and I enjoyed a nice run into central London on a sunny morning with the roof down, with half of town thinking I was a bit of a show off, and the other half with perhaps more negative thoughts. One cabbie on Park Lane asked me if I was off on a hot date... The Turbo is still in pre re-skin mode, and this reminded of the changes this has brought. So this old model has a fairly hopeless sat-nav system, no support (that I could find) for iPods and whatnot, and =/- rocker switches for the Tiptronic which are awful, though still better than the dreadful thumb switches of a few years back.
When the Turbo gets the reskin treatment it will be well back in the game – but still not perfect. Tom The pen is mightier than the … car?
Dan Trent writes: The launch schedule has been busy of late which means two things. One, my carbon footprint is already off the scale barely two months into 2009. And two, my pen collection has swelled considerably. It’s all those car launch press conferences you see. You might have this romantic idea that a pen and notebook are the basic essentials in this job. But car hacks are hopeless at remembering such things. That’s why we have to hang out with photographers, whose capacious bags inevitably conceal a writing implement of some sort. Anyway, launch organisers recognise how useless we journos are at even the most basic tasks so handily lay on pens and notebooks at press conferences for hard working hacks to
From top to bottom we have Mercedes (good weight but ergonomically lacking), Renault (good to hold but too light and flimsy), Mercedes again (too skinny), VW Golf (good shape but insubstantial), BMW (doesn’t work properly), Honda (good weight and balance), Audi R8 (carbon, aluminium, good weight) and finally Jaguar (good all rounder). Read into that what you will. Jag also presented us with a fancy pen in a box on the recent XFR launch…
…which looks far too nice to actually use. But there is only one king when it comes to launch writing equipment blags. Yes, stand up Porsche.
Yes, that’s an embossed aluminium case. Yes, those are good old fashioned pencils. Yes, it’s a lovely object. And no, I would never, ever consider actually removing one and using it. So I always make sure I’m seated next to one of the photographers in a Porsche press conference. I’ll endure the long suffering tut, the rolled eyes and the awkward pause as he rummages around in his camera bag for a broken old biro if it means preserving the untainted perfection of my Porsche pencil case. Right, I’ve got some writing to do. Anyone got a pen? Dan --- Links: ---
25 febbraio Computer's not even there to say noRichard Aucock writes: It’s a perpetual gripe of mine. Car makers, LISTEN TO ME. You spend big on making eco models. Developing low drag bodies. Retuning the engine management. Basically, generating quite otherworldly economy from everyday cars. Such as, the 63mpg Astra Ecoflex (yes, 63mpg) we’ve got in at the moment. Then, what do you do? Not fit any means of monitoring this.
Yes, the Astra is yet another example of trip computer dumbness. It doesn’t have one. The whizz-bang VXR does, and will scare the wits out of you and your wallet at the press of a button. But this, the eco-minded model, driven by eco-minded folk? Nothing. Just one proudly trip-computer-button-less stalk:
That’s not enough. The display, as if to reinforce this startling omission, laughs at you…
… despite there being a button clearly labelled ‘Board Computer’.
The fuel gauge hardly budges, but what’s it actually doing to the gallon? I have no way of accurately finding out.
Just brim it, use it and refill it, you fool. That’s what you’re telling me. Ah, if only. So economical are these cars, you can do 900 miles or more on a tankful. Even on my mad commute, that’s hard to do in the few days we have the car. Which means I’ll have to take Vauxhall’s word on how green it actually is (an excellent 119g/km of CO2, for the record).
GM isn’t the only guilty party here. SEAT left one out our old Ibiza Ecomotive long-termer too, while boggo Polo Bluemotions didn’t have one, either. Ah well. Come back next week. They’ll probably send us a people carrier with all the seats taken out, or something… --- It's a big car with a weeny thirst Eco-ness in a 911
BMW seeks inspiration from British LeylandDan Trent writes: It seems the new Mini wasn’t the only thing BMW pocketed when it pulled out of Rover back in 2000. That cabinet full of plans and drawings for British Leyland’s back catalogue? It seems to have ended up in Munich too, the new 5 Series Gran Turismo – BMW’s rule breaking, category redefining 5 Series Gran Turismo – apparently a modern interpretation of the old BL Princess. What next, a new BMW version of the Allegro? Dan Princess:
5 Series GT:
--- Links: Scoop – BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo --- Share It
24 febbraio Audi TT RS – you heard it here first!
Dan Trent writes: Ahead of its Geneva debut Audi has released info and – bizarrely – an MP3 recording of the exhaust note of its new 300hp-plus TT RS. This is, of course, deeply geeky or – to put it a little more gently – highly evocative for people who remember the distinctive five-cylinder rumble the old 80s Quattros used to make. Actually, no, that’s still really tragic. Oh well. Here’s another picture of some fast, turbocharged five-cylinder Audis.
And this time next week we’ll be looking at the car in the flesh on the Audi stand at the Geneva motor show. And asking the PR people exactly how they can sell a TT for Cayman S/M3 money… Dan --- Links: ---Share It
Fiesta not so Econetic?Richard Aucock writes: What’s the difference between a big BMW 7 Series limo, and a green Ford Fiesta Econetic. About 0.5mpg.
We’ve got a factory-fresh Fiesta Econetic in on test here at MSN Cars. And, as the above (grainy – well, it was 5am) picture shows, it’s not as economical as the BMW! Two factors. 1: it’s factory-fresh. Was delivered to us with just 23 miles on the clock. And, from experience, I know how long this 1.6-litre TDCi takes to loosen up.
Second, my average speed hovered around 75 rather than 65. As the Fiesta is pulling 2000rpm at 60mph, this means it’s revving higher, and using more fuel. Answer? Obvious – a six-speed gearbox. Even so, I was still stroking it, as is my way (today, stroked it even more gently back to the office. Got 55mpg).
Is it the widest trip computer display disparity between two cars, ever? After all, ‘officially’, the Fiesta does 76.3mpg. The BMW? 39.8mpg…
--- 23 febbraio Killing time with Ford and Audi Peter Burgess writes: It’s Monday so it must be Nice. This is a double header of some magnitude, rolling both the new Focus RS launch in with Audi’s cabrio version of the A5 and S5. Two new cars in three days is a great use of time and also, by this afternoon’s experience, a lot of fun.  First up is an early start collecting fellow scribbler John Simister from this home on the way to Heathrow. We’ve been pretty canny here, getting Honda to collect my test Accord from right outside Terminal One so we can dive in and meet up with the Ford crew. Then it’s onto Nice courtesy of BA and the mouth-watering line up of Focus RSes for our delectation.  There are three colours on offer for first adopters of the RS: Ice White, Performance Blue or (Kermit) Ultimate Green. Only Ice White is included in the £24,995 list price so we go for that. Our test route takes us up into the mountains behind Nice, winding around to Grasse and then back down to the coast to make our way to La Mas de Pierre hotel in St Paul de Vence, one of the nicest hostelries you are ever likely to stay in. Good job there isn’t a recession because then we’d never get to stop in places like this...  I won’t tell you much about the RS except to say it’s massive fun – the full first drive will go live very shortly. It does, however, have some stunning Recaros, a neat doubl-layer black roof spoiler and the scariest grille you’ll ever see in your rear-view mirror. This is not a car for shrinking violets. Tuesday we start early to get the full second day route in before meeting up with Audi back at Nice airport. Then it’s into the A5 and S5 cabriolets to our overnight in Monaco. Good job there isn’t a recession... Peter --- Links: Focus RS revealed Audi S5 cabriolet --- Rubbish RoverRichard Aucock writes: Rover. It’s rubbish.
Yes, that indeed is a Rover rubbish bin, proudly cleaning up Coventry, and almost causing me to miss my rare opportunity to go ahead on the lights it's situated at. Talk about brand association. With marketing schemes like this, is it any wonder Rover is no longer around? Heavens, even this guy couldn’t believe it.
Memo for car makers: watch your brand association carefully… --- Everybody wants to be German!
It's a big car with a weeny thirst...Richard Aucock writes: Check this out. Our long-term BMW 730d. How economical?
Yep, 54mpg. An early morning run down the M40 saw to it. As ever, this wasn’t me crawling down at 28mph (the trucks would soon see to that). No, it was simply letting the big limo sit there at 65-70mph, engine pulling around 1700rpm, watching the world go by.
There is no greener big car on sale. That figure is better than many superminis, which are nearly half the size and weight. What’s more, all this was in leather-lined, 5Live-cocooned splendour. Crafty lot, those BMW EfficientDynamics engineers. Word is, next on their to-do list is nuclear fusion and the banking crisis. --- Eco-ness in a 911
Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart: fighting dirtycj hubbard writes: Good looking car the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart. Like a little terrier.
But white paint on a press launch? In the Cotswolds? After snow and rain? Oops.
We did offer our profuse apologies to the car-cleaning guys – especially since we drove the car in the morning, and others were set to try it in the afternoon. By which point it needed to be clean again…
But we weren’t the only ones – the Colt with its lights on in the background of the first picture came back looking even worse.
Was it fun, they asked? Was it ever… Full first drive coming soon. --- Links: ---
Meals on wheels, Clio Cup style Dan Trent writes: A tricky dilemma this weekend. A family gathering meant a trip across country to the Cotswolds and a perfect opportunity to continue the bonding process with my new Clio Cup. But we were also obliged to contribute to the catering with a dish of potato dauphinois. The combination of said sloppy spud-based dish and inevitable B-road high jinks didn’t bode well, CJ's experience last year underlining the perils of untethered potatos in hard charging Clios. I guess I could have just taken the rather more sedate Skoda Fabia Greenline I’ve got on test instead. But I was itching for a proper blast in the Clio and the cross country route is ace.
Time for some bungee cord action, a double layer of foil and, should it all go horribly wrong, some cardboard to protect the immaculate interior of the Clio. Course, if it got that bad I think dealing with the combined wrath of my girlfriend (who actually made the dish) and my aunt (intended recipient) would have put the state of my boot lining some way down my list of immediate concerns. But it worked! I had a ball on the back lanes and arrived without decorating the boot with potatoes, garlic and cream. I think I’m really starting to get on with the Clio now too and it felt like we were really on the case. Three things suggest otherwise though. First, my long suffering girlfriend managed to nod off, second the trip computer said I recorded an astonishing 34mpg and third – and this really is shameful – whilst reckoning myself quite highly from out of nowhere I got overtaken and left for dead by … a Volkswagen Eos. Hmm. Must have been the spuds upsetting my weight distribution or something. Dan --- Links This one didn’t try and kill me – so I bought it! Top 10 great green cars, including Skoda Fabia Greenline ---
21 febbraio Porsche puts journo through his pacesRichard Aucock writes: Porsche is in great health. And soon, thanks to the German sports car maker, so will I. A little known fact of Porsche’s magnificent Silverstone Driving Experience Centre is the ‘Human Performance Centre’ element. The what?
A hi-tech lab, that’s what – dedicated to analysing people, not cars.
Porsche needed a guinea pig, to see what changes can be made to the lifestyle of the average journo. Step forward one Richard Aucock.
I’m going to tell you all about it soon. But, suffice to say, top 10 World Ironamn finisher Andy Blow put me through my paces. And how.
I had my body mass analysed.
My eyes tested.
My strength assessed.
My reactions monitored.
And my aerobic response gauged.
By the end, I could not stand up. What did I discover? Well, the feature’s coming up in a few weeks – for now, let’s just say that any drivers doing through this scheme will soon be as fit as a butcher’s dog. Me? There’s work to be done…
--- Boxing not so clever in Sicily This one didn't try to kill me - so I bought it! Eco-ness in a 911
20 febbraio El Stig crashes out
Dan Trent writes: Hanging out trackside at the Jag launch unearthed plenty of amusing banter from the predominantly British crew, all enjoying the Spanish sunshine and seemingly ready to dish the dirt on the international journos who’d come before us. Some Spaniards had caused a fuss by getting arrested on the test route, Jag’s bluff Ulsterman PR chap saying “I wasn’t bothered about them – I just wanted to get my car back in one piece!” Another Spanish journo apparently arrived at the track in his race suit, fancying himself as El Stig and announcing his intention to go drifting. Before understeering off at the first corner in a cloud of locked brakes.
The Jag crew weren’t doing much to encourage restraint though, manning the pitwall like the Muppet’s Statler and Waldorf and mocking any passing hack with the temerity to actually use the marked braking point at the end of the 150mph straight. Real men do it at 200m apparently, the apparently immortal Mike Cross leaving it later still when I was alongside him.
The pressure on I left it until well after the cones, the XFR’s brilliant brakes and clever stacked downshift system saving me from my own El Stig moment. I trust the guys on the pit wall were impressed but I wasn’t about to try it again! And my cone count? I may have clipped one but thankfully no repeat of the R8 experience.
Still, even if one of our contingent managed to spin the D-type in the car park at least the Brits weren’t as scary as the Gulf state party. Chatting with the track instructors – our Racy Ladies man Danny Buxton among them – it seems a love of vmax runs along straight desert highways (and an inclination to ignore the advice of the instructors) meant terrifying attempts to turn into corners at over 100mph. Suffice to say, the Jag’s DSC stability control was working overtime. Dan All pictures by Jaguar --- Links: R8 cone incident reconstruction Riding with Jaguar’s Mike Cross --- Share It
19 febbraio ‘Please be careful, it’s worth £5m…’
Dan Trent writes: A proper ‘did that just happen?’ moment yesterday on the Jaguar launch. ‘That’ being driving a D-type Jaguar. A D-type Jaguar raced at Le Mans in 1957 by legendary British racing driver Mike Hawthorn. A D-type Jaguar worth, gulp, at least five million quid.
OK, I only drove it around a car park. And, as accurately predicted by the everyone looking on, I stalled it the first time I tried to pull away. Damn. Second time round I managed to get it going OK, my chaperone Tony O’Keefe from the Jaguar heritage collection nodding in approval as we trundled off.
At least I didn’t spin it like the chap who went after me. Whoops – straight back to the pits and slapped wrists for him. What a piece of history though. And what a car. Easily one of the most beautiful racers ever, the D-type won at Le Mans in 1955, 56 and 57 and, according to Tony, would hit over 190mph on the famous Mulsanne straight at Le Mans. It didn’t like going slowly, that’s for sure, the engine spluttering and truculent before clearing its lungs with a fabulous roar and, hell, I’m at the other side of the car park again. Still, the brakes were surprisingly strong and even at these speeds it was an amazing experience and going by the pictures it really did happen! Dan --- Share It
There’s a stone in my BMWRichard Aucock writes: BMW’s EfficientDynamics is fiendishly clever. Has to be. How else can you have a 7 Series that produces 245hp, hits 60 in 7.2secs, yet averages 39.2mpg? We’ve previously explained in depth all the features that contribute to it: low-drag alternators, engine stop-start, special tyres and so on.
But one really, err, cool feature is ‘active cooling’. What’s the point in having a hole forcing cold air into the engine, when it’s already chilled enough, thank you? The engine actually has to work harder to offset this. Daft. Far better, then, to shut a flap when it’s not needed. Opening when a blast of air is needed, before closing again.
Our big 7 has this. Which, undoubtedly, is contributing to a motorway average of 44mpg. Lord knows what you do when a stone, somehow, gets jammed in there, though. As it is now.
This guy clearly didn't consider that eventuality, did he now.
So - can’t get into the sealed chamber. Can’t drag it back out through the slats in the kidney grilles, either A conundrum. Where's Richard O'Brien when you need him. At least it’s not going to get sucked any further – well, certainly not until we get some warmer weather. Looks like it’s staying put, then.
And how did it get there? Stoned if I know. --- Testing cars is a dirty business, but, etc...
18 febbraio Jaguar is in safe hands
Dan Trent writes: The ‘I’ve been driven by Jaguar’s Mike Cross’ story is as old of the hills and has, in various forms, been written by many of my esteemed colleagues in the motoring press. But now it’s my turn, the Jaguar XFR/XKR launch I’m on providing opportunity to chalk up a career milestone by sitting alongside Jaguar’s chassis guru and witness first hand his godlike genius at the wheel. Take notice, because Mike is the guy in charge of making Jags handle the way they do. And if that’s the case the company is in good hands. A lap with Mike is a lesson in how good car control makes things happen in slow motion. Quietly spoken and with a soft midlands accent, Mike’s legendary ability was demonstrated as we flew over a terrifying third gear blind crest on the Monte Blanco test track we’re using for the launch. I’m sure I saw Mike’s eyebrow twitch very slightly as the back of the XKR went light but otherwise his expression remained unchanged as he smoothly dialled in a turn of opposite lock, kept his foot in and ignited a rooster tail of tyre smoke behind us. Holding the slide for what seemed like an age, face utterly impassive, he gathered it all up and then flicked it the other way for the following left hander. The faintest glimmer of a smile flickered across his face as we came back into the pits, a sign that he may actually be human after all, even if his driving abilities are in a different league from most mere mortals.
Full story on the cars to come soon but, suffice to say, with Mike’s input there are some big grins on the faces of my journalistic colleagues as we head for dinner. Dan --- Links: --- Share It
New Lotus Evora on road!Richard Aucock writes: Normally, when I walk though motorway service station car parks, someone tries to sell me a watch. Today, it was a car. Who? Lotus. Which just happened to have an Evora parked up in Peterborough Services as I stalked through for caffeine.
I spotted it in the corner of my eye. That’s a funny Elise, said my brain, which then checked itself, and said to me, ‘ey up.’ Eyes obediently followed. Sure enough, it was no Elise. But Lotus’ new Cayman-fighter, undergoing final on-road trials.
So, set between a MkI Skoda Fabia and a BMW Z3, how did it look out of the glare of glamour girls and motor show lights? Not, I have to say, an instant beauty. Sure, details like the cut out on the front doors were nice, and the body sculpting seemed very pro and very ‘Lotus’.
It is also, proportionally pure ‘Lotus’ – bulging rear panels emphasising the mid-set engine, wheel-at-corner and low, compact, nuggety dimensions suggesting terrifically pointy manoevrability. It a car looks like it can handle, this does.
Check out how seriously dated (and, surprisingly, small) it makes that BMW Z3 look, too.
No, it’s the details that I’m not sure about. the rear looks plain, heavy. The headlights seem fussy and overdone. The rear three-quarter somehow reflects a tuned Japanese SupraSXGT-R-type thing (though the colour may not help here). In short, I had a few doubts as I stood there.
Saying that, though, they DID fade as I took it in. It grew on me, in a 10-minute gawp (and this in itself could prove significant). What’s more, the interior looks delicious, with mass-market standards and detailing seeming evident. Yes, the column stalks are Ford, but who cares, when the modern interior seems so enticing? No shots, alas - the driver had tipped their seat up, so camera phone said No. Here's one of a 'vital testing wire' instead.
Lord knows, it might also be a Lotus you can get in and out of easily. The driver hadn’t chosen a space with nobody parked next to them, as seasoned Elise drivers do. What’s more, they hadn’t felt the need to leave six foot of clearance between the car next to them, either. Nor were there coins scattered on the ground, fallen from trousers pulled every which way as drivers swear and scurry.
Good job. Don’t want to risk damaging that nice new Nokia phone, now. --- Links: MINI Convertible chills in Austria Lots Of Talk, Unexpectedly Subdued --- Share It
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