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30 agosto Electrical oddities strike long-term VolvoRichard Aucock writes: Often, when I select 1st gear in the long-term Volvo, the air recircs.
When I go for 3rd, the heated rear window wakes up.
Go for 5th, and the independent temperature split left-right goes to pot.
What's causing these dramatic technical gremlins? Well, it seems it's my gearstick technique. I'm holding the lever all wrong. Look.
No, no, no! The manner I always hold the lever - it's all wrong! So, I'm having to force myself to learn a new technique. Weirdly tricky, this. Course, it could also be down to the ergonomics of that swoopy centre console. But hey - it looks cool. For that, I'm prepared to learn...
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28 agosto Volvo eco challenge continuesRichard Aucock writes: There's no pleasing some people. No sooner had folk been impressed by my eco score in the Volvo C30 DRIVe long-termer, than I was challenged to beat it. What, 83.3mpg not good enough for you? Alright, then...
Again, this was achieved after a genteel cruise up the M1. Speeds? Well, above truck pace, due to the fact that I had to be somewhere. Otherwise, nothing special. Well, apart from the result. Thing is, for some, I know even this won't be good enough... --- Links Share It
26 agosto Newspaper warsRichard Aucock writes: The man on the left is reading The Independent. He is the motoring correspondent for The Independent. The man on the right is reading the Financial Times. He is the motoring correspondent for The Financial Times.
This image was taken in a posh house Land Rover took us to for coffee on the Discovery 4 launch. Good to see company loyalty remains strong among the press corps. Naturally, MSN Cars had its laptop out at the time... --- Links Getting extreme with Land Rover Technorati Tags: land rover,discovery 4 Share It
24 agosto Sat nav satisfactionRichard Aucock writes: Renault has already impressed us several times with its cool new TomTom sat nav system. Why? £450, full integration into the dash, and better usability than many maker-fit systems. We’ve now tried it in a Clio, too. We remain excited. See, sat nav can be so expensive, the cost is simply disproportionate for supermini buyers. So, few buy it. Goodness, Ford hasn’t even engineered the new Fiesta to offer it as an option. That’s why Renault’s budget solution is so smart.
Here, though, the setup is a bit different to the Laguna. It’s controlled by a remote, instead of built-in controls. But this are easy to use, the satin-rubber finish is nice, and the remote even has its own neat little moulding in the cupholder.
There’s an SD card slot, too. The benefits of which are? Much easier map updates than normal sat nav, Renault told us. You can do it online, rather than going back to the car dealer. This also means you can save all your stored addresses on your home computer, too.
What’s more, added our man, you can also personalise it, just like you do a regular TomTom. Yes, this does indeed mean you can get directions from Homer Simpson playing through the factory fit audio system, if you so wish.
Be quick if you’re really keen, though. Renault’s launching it on a TomTom Edition special model - £360 more than a regular Dynamique, but adding cruise control and speed limiter on top of the TomTom nav. Good tip, Renault insider. Thanks for the (ahem) guidance. --- You're meant to clip the apex, Dan... Share It
Mazda MX-5 mk1: Oh no. This is going to be expensive.cj hubbard writes: *Sob* The bad man pictured here has just come and taken away ‘our’ mk1 Mazda MX-5.
Apologies for the dreadful camera phone picture quality, but I just couldn’t stand to leave it and get a proper camera from the office. Look, it’s not just me. The MX-5 is sad to go…
Frankly, I think it’s completely irresponsible of Mazda to be sending out these little cars for us to try. Because, quite simply, I am going to have to buy one now. What? You thought the title meant I’d crashed it? Anyway, anyone in the market for an 05-plate Ford SportKa SE with below average mileage and a totally amazing service record? Or for that matter, anyone got a pre-cat 1.6 MX-5 they want to sell? Let me know. Seriously. --- Links: Retro Road Test: 1966 Ford Anglia 105E ---
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Wind powered Porsche Panamera not what you’re thinkingcj hubbard writes: And you thought the Porsche Panamera couldn’t look any more, er, challenging? Not us, obviously. But you. Possibly. Direct from the Porsche press website:
Another of those I’m not sure how I missed it when it was first released kind of deals. Yeah, surfer dude. Right on.
Still, maybe it’s a new eco feature. You know, like how they attach kite sails to container ships now? I certainly doubt it would have helped Dan go any faster… --- Links: News round up [here’s looking at you, SEAT] --- Technorati Tags: ---
Reality is a work in progressSee this Ford Escort:
It popped up amongst our 2009 Ford Fair coverage. I’d just taken some photos of a really rat Fiesta when I came across it. And my immediate response - having been up since 4am, driven the Anglia from Hemel to Silverstone, and taken somewhere in the region of 300 photographs by this point already - was that some poor misguided soul had attempted to rat look their rather too modern ride. And I said so in the gallery caption. However, it turns out I was wrong. The Escort in question belongs to Andrew Porter, it’s a work in progress, and he was rather cross with my snap-description. Oops. So by way of an apology, and in recognition of some genuinely impressive hands-on spannering, here’s a little bit more about the car. The most remarkable feature of the entire project comes on the inside.
Yep, that would be a mk1 Ford Focus dashboard, that by some manner of voodoo - which is to say considerable retro-engineering effort - Andrew has managed to fully install and get functioning inside the Escort’s shell. Custom flock finish, and all.
Beyond that, however, Andrew’s Escort boasts blended swage lines, a WRC rear spoiler, custom speaker pods, and a long list of future plans - including custom-fitting arch extensions from a much earlier model (and being a five-door, this also seems to mean fitting front arches to the back...).
Though it may not be to everyone’s taste, the point is a huge amount of time and effort has gone into the car so far. The only reason it was at Ford Fair at all is because a bunch of Andrew’s mates from the Ford Enthusiast & Owners Club had convinced him to bring it. We look forward to seeing the finished machine. Additional images: Andrew Porter --- Links: In Pictures: Ford air 2009 – Europe’s biggest Ford festival Retro Road Test: 1966 Ford Anglia 105E Early start for Ford Fair 2009 Bentley Supersports in action at Goodwood --- Technorati Tags: Ford, Escort, modified, modification, Ford Fair 2009, Automotive Events, Inside Track --- Share It:
19 agosto The Loudest Car in the World [or, Part Two]cj hubbard writes: I’ll admit it. The monster previously reported to be the scourge of anyone with ears in Hemel Hempstead has been under my behest the entire time. Its fearsome noise my doing. After all, I could have deactivated the silencer-bypassing Sport button.
This is the Maserati GranTurismo S. And it is The Loudest Car in the World. I find it... confusing. Let’s clear up the fuss over the noise. You think I’m going hyperboleic? I promise you not. This Maser is loud and ridiculous in the same way that the previous generation Ford Fiesta ST Mountune was loud and ridiculous. But then, that was a £15k hot hatch giggle, not £88,000 of serious grand tourer.
True, it is a rather more sophisticated sound than that emitted from the tin can tailpipe of the Fiesta. But it is also even less subtle - given said £88k in sultry sportscar is already visually attention seeking. The noise screams COMPENSATING, MUCH? Popping and crackling, growling and wailing, the GT S meanders along at 35 sounding all the while like it’s doing 140. Is this cool? I think not - although I will allow that pedestrians falling over in shock whenever you downshift the gearbox does add a certain sense of occasion to your arrival at every roundabout and junction.
Switching off the Sport mode reinstates some additional tubing and quietens The Beast. And as with so much of this car, the noise is divisive - Dan loves it, I’m inclined to think it basically embarrassing. Yin and Yang and universal calm the GranTurismo S is not; it divides more than it rules.
Take the looks. I can’t deny the car has sensational simmering presence at the kerbside. The bodywork heaves and curves so much as to look like it's been merely draped over those tremendous 20-inch anthracite alloys. The appearance is utterly evil, of the kind you know will show you a bloody good time - before inevitably crucifying your heart.
But it is just so vast. Ideal for a grand tourer, yes - what makes it tight on a British B-road endows significant interior space. But the S stuffs the g.t. brief with limited boot space, really uncomfortable seats and rock solid suspension. Continent crossing demands a much more cosseting embrace. What exactly is the point of this Maserati? Surely if you wanted a hardcore sportscar, you’d buy one...
Even the interior details dissect me. The dash layout, the large, fixed paddles for the electro-actuated semi-automatic gearbox, the vista over the bonnet - thrilling.
Yet the satellite navigation appears to have been rescued from a Peugeot. There’s a large sweep of plastic in the dashtop that must have been graded by Fiat. The analogue clock is a tacky disgrace. There are so many bizarre squeaks during low-speed maneuvers it’s like a colony of gerbils are in charge of the steering mechanism. The electronic beeping upon selecting reverse seems more akin to a Lexus than an Italian exotic, and the passenger side mirror stuttering in its attempts to reposition and guide you to the kerb is just hilarious.
I have come to respect this manic Maser. It passes slower traffic like a guided missile. Driving it is certainly An Event, and sure, it’s got diva drama in excess. But could I ever love it? No. --- Links: A modern tale of urban terror [or, Part One] Getting extreme with Land Rover --- Technorati Tags: Maserati, GranTurismo, GranTurismo S, loud, noise, noisy, sound, supercar, grand tourer, hardcore, On the Road, Inside Track --- Share It:
18 agosto MX-5: most wanted Dan Trent writes: We’re spoiled rotten in this job. I mean, in the last two weeks we’ve had two Maseratis, an Audi R8 V10 and a Jaguar XFR in the car park. You’d expect a fight for the keys to any of those. But the battle for the rights to the Mk1 MX-5 we had delivered yesterday was in a different league! Like the climactic gunfight in a spaghetti western, silence descended on the office, eyes flitted around the room and fingers twitched, the keys to a £1,500 Mazda the prize. Why the fuss? Well, having won the tussle I can tell you. This MX-5 is, without question, the most fun car I’ve driven since, well, I can’t remember. And, yes, that includes the aforementioned Maseratis, R8s and whatnot. Well, perhaps not the GranTurismo but we’ll return to that later. Anyway, 20 years on the MX-5 is more relevant than ever. I even got up at 6am to take the long way to work and enjoyed a fabulous roof-down blast along the back lanes without even troubling a speed limit and arrived at the office, huge grin on my face and gabbling away like some loved-up teenager. But why have we got this car? Well, Mazda has bought a fleet of Mk1s to send out on press loans alongside the new facelifted Mk3 to celebrate two decades of MX-5.  But what’s so great about the Mk1? It’s just so honest and simple. And small – you can place this car on narrow roads like no modern car. And it does great skids on roundabouts too, thanks to the ‘best quality’ rubber. Seriously, would you really trust a tyre called ‘Fate’? Although what they lack in grip they make up for in fun, my MX-5 owning brother cursing the day he swapped his remoulds for a set of grippy Goodyears. Oh, and I’ve also customised ‘our’ car by removing the horrible rubber pad on the steering wheel to reveal the Momo centre boss. It’s now at least 5% faster as a result.  I predict bloodshed come 5:30 tonight – if the fight for the keys was bitter last night it’s nothing on what’ll happen later. Dan --- Links: Crazy Car Day Porsche? Nah, I'll take the MX-5 thanks Ian's MX-5 long termer The evil Maserati --- Share It
17 agosto You’re meant to clip the apex Dan, not destroy it
Dan Trent writes: Making sure you clip the apex of the corner is one of the fundamentals of finding the racing line. Get that right and all the rest – turn in points, where and when to get on the power – will flow from it. And on track in my 172 Cup last week on the Renaultsport trackday at Cadwell Park I was clipping them nice and aggressively, racer style.
A bit too aggressively on one particular corner as, with a tremendous bang, my wing mirror made contact with the plastic post marking the apex.
Hmm, there’s aiming for the apex and there’s aiming for the apex. And clipping it is fine. So long as there’s nothing in the way… Reminds me of the time I went playing skittles in the R8 V10!
Oh well, guess I got my line right at least! I had to spend the rest of the session driving past the remains of my mirror, hoping nobody would drive over it before the marshals had a chance to retrieve it over the lunch break. Thankfully the casing is fine – if a little scratched – and all I’ll need is some new glass. Dan Track photography by www.stownsend.com --- Links: ABS is for wimps? The Clio says ‘non’! --- Howdy neighbours!
Dan Trent writes: I’ve been moving house this weekend – hence the Eco-Start Mercedes Sprinter that brings start-stop technology to the van world. One of the attractions of the new place is that it includes two designated parking spots, although I fear I may have been stretching that somewhat with the Sprinter. That’s probably got the new neighbours tutting already but they need not fear – there’ll be a lot of different cars occupying that spot over the coming months but they won’t all be as big as the Sprinter! It will need a good clean out before it goes back to Mercedes though – that last load of plants in their pots made a bit of a mess. Time to break out the mop and bucket again I suspect. Dan --- Links: --- Share It
13 agosto One of these cars is exempt from the congestion charge Dan Trent writes: I know he said I was banned from driving it after my leaden right foot ruined his average fuel economy but while Peter was off ragging round the Nurburgring in a Jaguar XFR I had need of a car for a trip into London and his Smart long termer was the only one available. Why drive though: surely you'd have to be stupid to even contemplate it? Well, when I last did it on the train the combination of peak-time travel and two tube journeys meant it cost me nearly thirty quid. Financially at least taking the car is a no brainer.  Anyway, to the point of all this. Why did I photograph the Smart next to a Lexus? Well, one of these cars is exempt from the congestion charge on the grounds of its green credentials. So which: the diesel powered city car that - officially - does 83.1mpg on the urban cycle and emits 88g/km of CO2? Or the luxury hybrid limo that takes up nearly twice as much road space, emits 219g/km of CO2 and will, by the same measure, achieve just 25mpg? Yes, according to Transport For London the greenest, most appropriate car for London's streets is the Lexus, despite the fact the snoring chauffeur in the driver's seat was probably emitting more CO2 than the Smart. Proof, if nothing else, that the congestion charge has been corrupted from an attempt to free up the city's streets into a misconceived and muddled 'green' tax that has little to do with the reality of the situation.  Fine, if you want to cut traffic levels charge vehicles - all vehicles - that want to enter the zone. But exempting a car just because it has an electric motor assisting the petrol one on environmental grounds simply throws open a loophole those with the means to do so will happily exploit. And if you're in any doubt just check the driveways of the bigger houses surrounding the congestion zone - likely as not you'll find the Bentley and Range Rover joined by a Prius (perfect for those essential shopping trips into town) meaning, ultimately, even more vehicles on the capital's roads. Doh! Transport For London is apparently looking into this right now and will report back on its findings next spring. Let's hope they make it fair by either scrapping the charge altogether or removing all exemptions and, for better or worse, levelling the playing field for everyone. Dan --- Links: Crazy car week (AKA, Dan ruins Peter's average fuel consumption) Long termer: Smart ForTwo CDI --- Share It
Volvo's belting birthdayRichard Aucock writes: Volvo invented the three-point seatbelt 50 years ago today. Which is why the company spokesman is to speak on 26 radio stations throughout the day… and why he arranged for cakes to be sent out.
Yes, cakes. Well, you don’t often get to toast the half-century of something that’s saved a million lives in its time, do you? And, as we’ve got a Volvo long-termer in at the moment, we decided to share it with the car itself.
We first tested to see if it really was a seatbelt cake, by checking if it clunk-clicked on every trip. Along with 95 percent of adults, it did indeed so.
But, being a cake, it was most interested in being eaten. Only fair of us to oblige, with a ceremonial cutting on the C30’s bonnet. CJ did the honours, and is now tempting the rest of the office into fatness. Good job three-point seatbelts automatically adjust to all shapes and sizes of stomachs, really.
Here’s to you, three-point seatbelt; our beltlines expand in your honour.
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12 agosto Getting extreme with Land RoverRichard Aucock writes: This is what greeted us when rounding a corner on yesterday’s Range Rover Sport 2010 test drive.
I kid you not. An icy chill of fear. Had one of our fellow scribes had an off? Stacked it into the trees? Were they hurt? Just look at the angles… the tyre marks... Fear not. Nope, this wasn’t an 'incident'. Merely part of the test route. Turn left, drive down near-vertical ridge, drive upstream through a fast-flowing river for half a mile, cross a rickety wooden bridge, drive back up a sheer cliff face and stop for a nice cup of tea in the middle of nowhere. Well, if you boast that your range are The Best 4x4s By Far, you need to take every opportunity of showing it off… read more about it, and the 2010 Discovery 4, on MSN Cars soon. --- Technorati Tags: land rover,discovery Share It
A modern tale of urban terror [or, Part One]cj hubbard writes:
A dark menace has descended upon the fair town of Hemel Hempstead. Its approach heralded by the sound of rolling thunder [that’s absolutely no exaggeration, by the way], echoing off the walls and buildings like the onset of apocalypse, tumbling away with a bassy finality that hints of nothing less than the certainty of death and the cold loneliness of infinity.
Rumours and whispers amongst the honest townsfolk speak of an indefinite shape - sleek and glossy, blunt yet organic, and fluid, absorbing light yet also reflecting it. Oozing over the roadspaces on anthracite discs of gargantuous proportion, hugging the ground like a still warm slab of molten evil, spat from the volcanoes of Hell itself to strike fear into the innocent and the tainted, alike.
Some have glimpsed this deathly shadow, moving amongst the secrets that lurk at the corner of every eye. Some have even braved the terror-strikening noise, and dared to look full upon it - only for the thunder to pour full into their ears, rise in pitch, in timbre, above all in volume, and reach down into their very souls building suddenly, inexorably into an incredible banshee howl even as the dark menace, this mysterious black shape, disappears with unearthly celerity, and invariably into the night. The velocity like lightening to the beast’s thunderous noise.
Those who have seen the shape, withstood the sounds as of fear being ripped from the very air, and still somehow survived to tell the tale, they have sworn - on bibles, and other such appropriate religious paraphernalia, including XBoxes and iPhones - that the dark monster bears a script upon its hind-side. And they swear, those of the brave who remain lucid and capable of ocular focus despite their wildly vibrating brains and eyeballs, that the script, it says... Maserati.
--- Links: The Loudest Car in the World [or, Part Two] Alone in the forest, our man goes hunting… Jaguars Emotional farewell to the Exige New Infiniti. Code name: Mmmmmm… --- Technorati Tags: Horror, terror, Hemel Hermpstead, thunder, lightening, Maserati, On the Road, Inside Track --- Share It:
11 agosto MOT forgetful? Here’s a solution.cj hubbard writes: Are you prone to forgetting things? Even important things - like the date of your car’s MOT? Then here’s a clever little gidget that costs peanuts and should sort you out.
It’s called the Electronic MOT Reminder Device - catchy, err, no, but I could probably stop typing now and you’d still have a pretty clear idea about what it does. It’s a little self-contained electronic sticker that you attach to the inside of your car’s windscreen, then simply set and forget. Activate it on the day of your car’s fresh new MOT, and it will sit there all passive and stuff, perhaps with the MOT renewal date written in the handy space provided. In our case, the nice people at USER who developed the device have filled that with the MSN logo; similarly garages might want to specify a bespoke design to give out with the MOT certificate to remind their customers where to come back to once the lights start flashing.
Flashing lights? We did say this was electronic, remember. So while not much happens for the first 10 months after activation, when the 11th ticks around, suddenly a little yellow LED begins blinking. Every 30 seconds. To remind you to book that MOT. Should you still not manage it, the 12th month (and expiry of your MOT) is greeted by a red LED flashing every 20 seconds. Surely, you’d get the hint? If this thing doesn’t help you stay on the right side of the law, nothing will. And the best bit? It presently costs just £2.99. Get your very own by clicking here.
I haven’t got an appropriately imminent MOT to test it out with, but I have activated the device and stuck it to my computer - so if there are any reliability issues I’ll let you know. And, of course, as a 12 month timer, you could always use the device to help you avoid goofing on that all important anniversary or birthday. I wonder if its makers have thought of that... --- Links: A5 Sportback debuts new “Audi driver replace” Apollo 11 Owners’ Workshop Manual, a small review ---
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10 agosto Alone in the forest, our man goes hunting ... Jaguars Dan Trent writes: Fresh from his assignment shooting Lotuses at the Nurburgring last week, snapper Jochen is, right now, training his sights on our Peter. He's out with Jaguar having driven over in an XFR for his first ever lap of the 'ring and, as these shots from the webcam at the Nordschleife entrance show, there's a variety of Jags there right now, including a C-type. Rich pickings for Jochen it would seem.  Dan --- Links: Alone in the forest our man goes hunting Lotuses Nurburgring webcam --- Share It
Alone in the forest, our man goes hunting Lotuses Dan Trent writes: Much as I'd like to be everywhere at the Nurburgring at the same time I haven't quite yet figured out a way of being both at the wheel and photographing myself doing it, Narcissistic as this sounds. There must be some sort of remote control, light beam activated set up I could come up with like the ones they use for wildlife photography but sometimes it's easier to entrust things like this to the people who really know what they're doing.  People like Jochen from Frozenspeed, a Nurburgring local and man with an intimate knowledge of the Eifel forests and where to bag the best shots of passing Lotuses. Or anything else for that matter.  Trackside photography is a thankless task, even on conventional circuits like Silverstone. Distances covered in seconds by an F1 car take forever on foot, especially if you're having to haul heavy camera gear around. And tramping round to far flung corners really takes it out of you. But Silverstone is only just over 3 miles round. And flat. The Nurburgring is 14 miles, and rises and falls 300 vertical metres. And some of its most photogenic spots - like the famous Karusell - require a good hike through the forest to reach.  My thanks then to Jochen for bagging some ace shots of the Lotus on track last week. The Exige looks awesome even at a standstill. But seeing it fully loaded up in the Karusell, electric blue paintwork vivid against the trees, it looks totally in its element and that and my video lap are playing on a constant loop in my head, even a week on.  Yes, I know, I should get out more... Anyway, if all this looks like fun drop the guys at RSR Nurburg a line and get booked into one of their Lotus trackdays - their fleet of new Exiges is ready and waiting! Dan --- Links: Frozenspeed Dan's 'ring lap in the Exige You wait for one Exige... RSR Nurburg Lotus trackdays --- Share It
09 agosto Renault sat nav leads the wayRichard Aucock writes: If you want sat nav built into a new car’s dash, you usually have to spend an absolute fortune. On my Volvo long-termer, for example, the nav kit is an obscene £1,750. Yes, it’s a great system, but I’d simply never pay this.
I’d buy a TomTom instead, for a few hundred quid. I’d put up with the messy wires, and the awkwardness, and the need to remove it every time for security, and pocket £1,550. But if only there were a compromise…
Enter the geniuses at Renault. To spending huge swathes of cash developing a bespoke nav system, they say non: instead, take an off-the-shelf TomTom set-up, and build it into ther car’s control systems. The recent test Laguna came so equipped.
I was intrigued. And, within 5 minutes, sold. In the old Ibiza Ecomotive long-termer, I had an add-on TomTom unit, so was familiar with the interface. Here it was again, exactly replicated, in the Renault – only, and here’s the genius part, navigated by Renault's built-in controls.
The BMW iDrive-style controller is a bit fiddly to get used to, but learn it and it’s utter genius. Destinations can be entered, via postcodes, in seconds, it calculates fast, and the subsequent plotted map is shown within the dash, in full colour. It’s always ‘on’, never has to be removed, and looks entirely factory-fit… only without the cost.
See, this is £450. Instead of, say, the Volvo’s £1,750. A few hundred more than a standard TomTom, for which you get a brace of controls, full integration and total convenience.
Renault is the first maker to adopt this approach, and it’s utter brilliance – full marks to them, particularly as it’s also offered on the Clio supermini and other models, too. Who’ll be the next to follow?
Whether rivals’ll have the foresight to programme in a tiny little colour model of the car itself onto the display, as Renault's done, is another matter... my, it even 'drives' along the road as you do. How totally cute!
Wonder if Renault matches it to body colour..?
--- Links Long-term arrival: Renault Laguna Coupé Share It
06 agosto Video: Tiny Car vs. Giant Excavatorcj hubbard writes: Upon seeing the opening still of the below video, you can probably guess what’s going to happen. Except it doesn’t go down quite as you might think.
Water, eh? Strong stuff. --- Links: Pikes Peak video goodness: “‘Fiesta’ Spanish for ‘Crash’” I do not care that this is an advertisement --- Share It:
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