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July 03 Volvo DRIVe drives onRichard Aucock writes: Volvo doesn’t stand still. No sooner had it launched a 64mpg C30 – and no sooner had MSN Cars put it to the test for 6 months – it then went and previewed an even better one. Add Start/Stop, yield 72mpg and 104g/km, QED.
As I’m the C30 man here, I nipped across to have a shot. You can read my views on it soon… but, while I was there, I managed to collar some Volvo execs. Why had my car become out of date so fast? Seems it’s all down to pride.
‘Volvo has been heavily criticised in Sweden, for producing unenvironmental cars,’ director of CO2 Peter Ewerstrand told me. ‘We know this is unfair – but wanted to prove it, too. Our engineers thus got to work.’ The first result was the original C30 DRIVe – and they haven’t stopped since.
‘We’ve got a 139g/km V70. A 159g/km XC60. And a V50 load-lugger that emits little more CO2 than a Honda Insight.' And reason why Volvo won’t be rushing out a small hybrid Prius rival any time soon. ‘What’s the point? Current cars are just as economical, and somewhat cheaper…’ Ewerstrand even said a 94mpg C30 perhaps isn’t that far away.
Where does that leave today’s range? This is where we were confused – we assumed the DRIVe was getting Start/Stop as an addition. Well, it is… but the non-start-stop version will also be sold. This will be £250 cheaper and average 62.8mpg.
Why Volvo’s doing this, we don’t know. All that extra economy, for just £250 more? You'll save that in fuel costs alone, never mind retained values. In addition, the Start/Stop version also gets our car’s cool rear diffuser and hatch spoiler; the standard DRIVe has to do with just the shiny Libra wind-cheating alloys.
Odd. But, it could make our long-termer a real rarity. DRIVe-look C30, lacking Start/Stop? We’ve known full-on limited editions with a shorter lifespan; what price collectors seeking them out and bidding high in 30 years’ time? Makes me half tempted to leave a time capsule hidden in it somewhere…
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July 02 So GTI, where’s the magic?
Dan Trent writes: Clearly CJ really rather likes the Golf GTI we’ve got in at the moment. Not hard to see why – it is a spectacularly good looking car and turns heads like few others. Not bad for a mere Golf! Criticising it seems almost unfair. I mean, it looks fabulous, goes like stink, handles brilliantly, doesn’t use outrageous amounts of fuel, is comfortable and well built, etc, etc.
And yet I can’t help but find myself pining for the previous Mark 5 version. Maybe the old rose tints are clouding my vision but that car felt just that bit more raw and exciting. Seems weird to moan about a car because it’s too good but the new grown-up GTI seems to have lost something in the transition from Mark 5 to Mark 6. Dan --- Links: --- Share It
July 01 Ibizas in the moonlightcj hubbard writes:
Well, all right – more like Ibizas in the florescent light. I’m currently on the launch of the SEAT Ibizas FR, Cupra and Bocanegra – three hot SEATs, one fun time. They’ve quite a heritage these cars. Especially the Cupra. And so SEAT has collected examples of all the previous versions and plonked them on a patch of grass in the middle of the hotel. If you’re anything like me, you’ll be particularly enamoured of the white original pictured above. It’s a Cupra GTI 16v, which was (apparently – feel free to prove me and the SEAT UK PRs wrong) never sold in the UK. Just check out that interior upholstery amongst the images in the short gallery below.
Full first drive of all three new SEAT Ibizas is coming soon. With 1.4-litre twincharger engines, up to 180hp and standard seven-speed DSG transmissions they ought to be a riot. But are they? --- Links: Official: sleek new SEAT Ibiza ---
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Panamera is up the creek without paddles Dan Trent writes: I’ve been back in Germany again, this time to drive the Mercedes E63 AMG – the latest in a long line of V8 powered mega Mercs and an interesting comparison with the Porsche Panamera I was driving last week.
Anyway, like the Panamera the Merc has a seven-speed gearbox, even if it works in a completely different way. At least AMG has opted for proper paddle shifters – big, aluminium jobs engraved ‘up’ on the right and ‘down’ on the left. Easy, right?
So why does Porsche still persist with the confusing two-way shifters for the PDK gearbox? At dinner on the Panamera launch we put this to a Porsche drivetrain engineer he sighed with weary resignation. It seems we journos all get very excited about this and moan incessantly about the buttons. Owners, on the other hand, are apparently happy with them – a clear case of differing opinions between those who write about cars and those who actually go out and buy them.
But will Porsche relent and go for the one up, one down system everyone else seems to have settled on? Don’t hold your breath, though our man did concede it might be offered as an option one day. In the meantime tuners like Gemballa will sell you a paddle-equipped wheel for your PDK Porsche
Nice to know somebody is listening! Dan --- Links: Mercedes SL63 AMG video roadtest --- Share It
June 30 Flat out in the Panamera
Dan Trent writes: The Porsche Panamera Turbo will, its makers claim, do 0-62mph in four seconds dead with the Sports Chrono pack and run out to 188mph. Not bad for a luxurious four-seater coupe weighing not far off two tonnes. Will it though? Only one way to find out… God bless the Autobahn eh? And the novelty of being able, legally, to drive at speeds that would see you locked up back home never wears off. For the record we did see an indicated 300km/h – just 2mph short of the 188mph official maximum – but, dur, the camera wasn’t running. So you’ll just have to trust me on that one. There’s so much technology on this car too, like air suspension that lowers the car by a massive 25mm in its sportiest setting. And this awesome folding rear wing that pops out above 56mph and then adjusts in two further stages at 100mph and 127mph. This being a Turbo you get an even fancier, expandable version:
My personal preference? Well the Turbo is awesome. But – and the Porsche people are going to hate me for this – my favourite was this Panamera S on 20-inch wheels with PCCB ceramic brakes and a manual gearbox in place of the PDK double-clutch transmission the PR people wanted us to concentrate on. I got the impression the Porsche PR team realise that if they let hacks drive a manual car they’ll usually witter on about how great it is and how much more involving it is to drive when in fact most customers couldn’t give a stuff and will tick the box that says Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe. Fair play to them – Porsche’s double-clutch gearbox is one of the best in the business, not to mention the one with the best name.
Reminds me of a drive in a manual Cayenne GTS on the launch. I’m no fan of the Cayenne but I had such a hoot driving it I almost renounced every bad word I’d ever written about the thing. In my giddy overexcitement I asked the PR guy how many manuals Porsche has sold. ‘About 33,’ he said. What, per cent? ‘No, 33…’ No doubt Porsche is expecting a similar take up on the Panamera. Dan --- Links: --- Share It
June 29 In the car park at AMG…
Dan Trent writes: You approach the AMG factory through the unassuming town of Affalterbach, near Stuttgart. Making your way through a nondescript industrial estate you suddenly enter a strange utopia where everyone drives a car with a growling 6.3-litre V8. It’s like a permanent rumble in the background as cars come and go. And a quick scout around the car-park reveals a just extraordinary concentration of Mercedes heavy metal. Such as… A long-wheelbase G-Wagen – not bad looking for a 30-year-old car!
An SL Black Series, the carbon fibre, V12 bi-turbo uber SL.
A previous shape E63 AMG – the replacement for which we’re driving today.
A very cool SLK55 on black wheels – I like!
A retro W124 E-Class on BBS wheels – I wonder what’s lurking beneath that bonnet? Perhaps the 5.6-litre AMG ‘Hammer’ conversion offered on these cars that really kickstarted AMG’s reputation for souped up Mercs.
An E63 test mule, complete with body disguise, mismatched wheels and a thick layer of grime. Wonder how many laps of the ring that bad boy has done?
No creature comforts for the test drivers, that’s for sure!
Another Black Series SL? Can’t move for ‘em!
Some interesting benchmarking exercises going on here. BMW X6 fair enough … but Toyota Prius?
Ah, 911 Turbo. That makes a bit more sense!
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Alfa Romeo cost cutting in action? UPDATEDcj hubbard writes:
This is one of those instances that’s sure to bring loads of sympathy from anyone who isn’t a member of the motoring press. But a range-topping Alfa Romeo MiTo 1.4 TB 155 Veloce was dropped off at the office this morning. And we’ve only been left with a quarter of a tank of petrol.
Now, some might say it’s indicative of Alfa Romeo not wanting us to drive this car very far. The MiTo has certainly gotten some mixed reviews since its introduction last year. However, the reality is that no matter what the car, test vehicles are always delivered with fuel tank brimming. Or at least, they always were, up till now. Yes, you’re right, that does mean we spend quite a bit of our time swanning around creating CO2 emissions that somebody else has paid for. Hence the total lack of condolences on your part, I’m sure. And exactly why should Alfa pay for the petrol we use to test its cars? The interesting thing will be to see whether this is a one-off occurrence, or an early warning of how tight costs in our fragile industry have become. Oh, and having the dials labelled in Italian? That’s a lovely, characterful Alfa Romeo touch. Not something you can say about the MiTo’s tacky plasti-chrome gearknob… UPDATE: All joking aside – and there was quite a bit of it above – the fuel level turns out to have been an error on the part of the delivery driver. Alfa continues to endeavour to deliver its cars fully topped-up. How many motoring journalists return the favour is an entirely different matter… --- Links: In the car park: new Volkswagen Golf GTI ---
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June 26 MSN Cars on Volvo's boatRichard Aucock writes: When Volvo invited me for a day on a boat, I naturally said yes. All these Ocean Race special editions made me curious to see the link to road cars; My gran also used to watch Howard’s Way, so I fancied trying the white deck shoe lifestyle.
I was to take part in the Round The Island race around Cowes. Volvo sponsors a huge sailing boat, and I was fortunate to snare a place. It’ll rock, I thought, as I stood in the cold at 6am, eating an egg roll.
Now, as I live in the Midlands, I don’t have that much experience of boats and water. So, climbing on was a step (on)to the unknown. Just time for a safety briefing – basically, shout and wave if we fall off – before the satisfying hum of the engine swept us to the chaos that appeared to be the start ‘gathering’.
Surrounded by boats, I had not a clue what was going on. Nor did I as masts were raised, sails were unfurled and engines turned off. We were off, I was told, at 7.30am. But, as these things are reliant on the wind, it wasn’t a water-swishing race away from the ‘grid’. More a glide…
What was causing our slow start? Reeds on the propeller. Which, as it wasn’t turning, was acting as a bit of a brake… soon sorted, mind, by the dexterity of crew member Henry.
Skipper for the day was a hero – Olympic silver medalist Nick Rogers. Despite the lack of wind, and fools such as we journos trying to help out, we (or he and the top crew) soon made up for a slow start by catching up with the boat that mattered – our rival Volvo yacht. A fascinating half-an-hour dice saw us eventually box them in behind another boat and sail past, to much cheers on board.
6 hours in, and I’d got a bit of a sweat on. Why? Because, for 4 hours, I’d been grinding. This is where you take up the slack from the ropes when the skipper decides to change tack (don’t you know). Hard work? You bet. Took two of us, and it really was pretty intense.
Mind you, at least they didn’t get me doing this.
There were incidents along the way – including a ‘minor’ incident with a rock hidden below surface. The other crew were playing it safe, by making sure sufficient depth was kept below the boat. Pah. We had an Olympic medalist in charge – so chose a route through the famous Needles that saw us in seriously shallow waters. It was very quiet on board at that stage…
Paid off, though. By the end, after around 8 hours, we were all shot to pieces – but, amazingly, had the same boat with a paid-up pro crew in sight! At the line, we were in the top 10 of all 1700-odd competitors, which really was a bit of a result. And, overall, with handicaps, we came 16th. Superb. And reason why, one day, I may just get into this sailing lark… --- Share It
June 25 In the car park: new Volkswagen Golf GTIcj hubbard writes:
Ohhhhh, yes. The new Volkswagen Golf GTI has just arrived at the office. I’ve only driven it from the front of the building to the back, and already I sound like Churchill the nodding dog. VW has worked some proper magic with this car – it looks and feels fantastic immediately. Prompting vaguely Gollum-like mutterings from yours truly, albeit in a rough approximation of a northern accent.
Yes, you’re right. I probably do need a nice soothing cup of tea or something. The SportKa looks a bit forlorn and grubby in the background; guess it knows which car I’m taking out tonight. One other thing before I close. We’ve had a few test cars turn up with minor-but-weird damage recently – the Audi S4 in particular – but this just about takes the biscuit.
It seems something has been at the rear window rubber on the driver’s side.
A dog? Wolverine? Or – more likely – a photographer? I wouldn’t mind betting that’s a really awkward part to replace… More on the new Golf GTI very soon. --- Links: First Drive: Volkswagen Golf GTI (2009 onwards model) In touch with my inner Frenchman in the Kangoo ---
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So, Panamera, at last we meet…
Dan Trent writes: Panamera: is it good Porsche (ie, GT3, Cayman S, Carrera 2) or bad Porsche (Cayenne, 911 Turbo Cabrio)? Well, the question will be answered very shortly because I’m here in Munich to drive it, a rendezvous with the Zugspitze - Germany’s tallest mountain apparently - via some derestricted Autobahn the itinerary for the day.
First the big question: does it look any better in the flesh than the somewhat … challenging shape we’ve seen in the pre-launch photos. Um, no, it doesn’t. Those 911 styling cues only really suit one car, and that’s the 911. You’d have thought they realised that when they came up with the Cayenne. No matter, the proof is in the driving and on that score big things are expected. To that end I’ve bagged myself a Turbo, in tasteful gold paint for maximum bling effect. Nice.
Watch this space… Dan Share It
--- June 24 BMW 320d surprisePeter Burgess writes: Our 7 Series BMW is in the dealership for a bit of work. As the parts weren’t immediately available, a loan car turned up from Avis. Not a 7 Series or even a 5, but a rather scabby 320d M Sport automatic. I don’t mind. As long as I have wheels for a few days, I can live with it.
But I don’t have to simply live with it. This car is simply amazing. Slip it into Drive, tickle the accelerator and you are away up the road as if the police were on your tail. Two hundred yards is all it takes to be inspired by the sheer rush of engine torque that surely makes this one of the quickest cars you can buy from zero to 30mph. This 320d is refined and quiet too, making a mockery of many petrol cars, even before you consider the possibilities of 50mpg. There’s a “but” of course. Without any extras it comes in at £30k and the ride is firm enough to rattle your bones. Two grand more buys the equivalent 5 Series, much more my cup of tea. Peter --- Links: ---
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June 23 2009 Beaulieu Hot Rod and Custom Car Daycj hubbard writes:
Took my Dad to Beaulieu on Sunday for the 2009 Hot Rod and Custom Car Drive-In day. It was staggeringly brilliant. 500+ cars, 4,000+ visitors – you wouldn’t believe there are this many quality hot rods in the UK. I took pictures of pretty much everything (sorry if I missed you), and you can see the whole lot in the full gallery by clicking the link below. It may take a while to load… £16.75 each to get in was a bit of a shock, but that’s the admission price for the museum. And as we took the time to fill in a Gift Aid form, we can actually come back almost anytime we want for the next year and get in for free. Which is excellent stuff. Beaulieu has also just opened a World of Top Gear display – literally on Friday, and just in time for the 13th series. Here you can view cars from all sorts cars and contraptions from the show – including the Reliant Robin Space Rocket (spot the picture in the gallery?), the double-decker racings cars, the reasonably priced Suzuki Liana, etc, etc. I would tell you more, but the queue to get in was so long Dad and I decided not to bother. A full list of Beaulieu’s features and attraction can be found on its website. And if you like hot rods, this coming weekend 27-28 June is the NSRA Nostalgia Nationals at the Shakespeare County Raceway. Hot rod drag racing all weekend – including a Run What Ya Brung for pre-‘73 vehicles. Smokin’… --- Links: Top Gear returns [warning: there are still spoilers] French Revolution at the Ace Cafe ---
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You say Countach 'not ugly' Dan Trent writes: It looks like my selection of the Lamborghini Countach as one of our Top 10 Ugly But Fast line up seems to have upset a few of you on the message board! Looks are always a subjective choice and it's good to hear what you all think so keep the responses coming. In my defence let me just clarify one thing about the inclusion of the Countach though - I was specifically referring to the hideous 25th Anniversary edition, not Countaches in general. Regard: Original Countach LP400: wow!  Final edition Countach 25th Anniversary: Yeuch!  Glad we got that cleared up anyway! And I notice with some satisfaction nobody seems to have questioned my inclusion of the Porsche Cayenne Turbo S. Dan --- Links: Top 10 Ugly But Fast MSN Cars message board --- Share It
June 22 Bug graveyard…cj hubbard writes:
…is what you get if you chase a 612 Scaglietti along almost the entire length of the A31. I pitied the fools stuck in traffic on the M3. But got my comeuppance once I eventually caved and joined the M25. Yesterday evening was not good for motorway traffic. Remind me to tell you about the SportKa’s new cam. --- Links: 1,000 prancing horses in Hong Kong ---
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June 20 Transformers: Revenge of the Fallencj hubbard writes:
I should explain: I’m a bit of a cinema geek. Not in the film school sense. And I don’t go to the movies to be harrowed – I don’t enjoy harrowing in general, why should I pay good money to sit in the dark and be harrowed alongside a bunch of apparently disturbed strangers? I go to the movies because I want to be entertained, in a bubble of complete reality denial where I don’t have to think about anything except enjoying what’s happening on screen in front of me. So I like blockbusters – well-made, well-played action movies – films that are clever with plots and dialogue, films that make me laugh. Not necessarily all at once. I’ll take what I can get. And I loved the first Transformers movie. Hopefully that should make clear what sort of cinema goer you are dealing with here. I’m tempted to suggest that Revenge is even better. For starters, where the first film was jaw dropping for considerable periods of time, the second is total visual effects pornography. The action sequences are relentless, detailed, precise, convincing and above all entertaining, and my mind goes numb if I even begin to consider contemplating the thought of the computer processing power that must have been expended to make it so. The Transformers – and there are many more of them this time – are simply incredible. It’s also very funny, with perfectly phrased comic dialogue and brilliant timing. This sort of thing always goes better when the cinema is full, so maybe that helped. But even a couple of characters that verge precariously close to Jar Jar Binks territory managed to just about avoid becoming irritating. That said, one of the weaker elements of the entire film is one of the other comic characters – so director Michael Bay hasn’t got it completely right. Be warned, however, that not only is the film immensely violent – albeit mostly through the slightly displacing medium of computer generated robotic aliens ripping each other to pieces in spectacularly catastrophic displays of technological destruction – it is also full of sexual references and questionable language. The scant regard for human casualty as a by-product, juxtaposed with such blatant sexuality is probably supposed to represent the circle of life or something, but it will prompt any vaguely social conscience you might have into occasional concern about the film being rated 12A. Such is the way with much modern cinema; parents, it’s clearly your responsibility. I’m not going to give you any plot spoilers – if you’re already a fan you’ll know what to expect. The cast is full of familiar faces as well as several new ones. Central pairing, Shia LeBeouf and Megan ‘yes she is’ Fox, show a well-pitched sense of added maturity, the parents remain in full effect for comic relief, and the whole thing is so well paced that even scenes that should be utterly daft and hopelessly ridiculous just seem to gel into the cohesive overall whole. I cannot wait for the third one. So much so I am going to see Revenge of the Fallen at least once more in the cinema before the inevitable purchase on DVD. If you like this sort of movie anywhere near as much as I do, you owe it to yourself to see it on a big screen, oversized and overpriced fizzy drink to the one side, huge box of popcorn on the other. Fantastic stuff. Oh, and since this is a car blog, I probably should also mention that there are plenty of tasty automotive moments throughout. The Audi R8 is a curiously satisfying one, for some reason. UPDATE: a friend of mine sent me a link to this item on the Guardian newspaper’s website: You review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen It says almost exactly what I would expect, but doesn’t change my opinion of the film one little bit. But should put my opinion into further perspective for you. :-) --- Links: --- Technorati Tags: --- Share It:
Father’s Day: don’t paniccj hubbard writes: Tomorrow, Sunday June 21, is Father’s Day. And in case you’ve forgotten, here’s a trio of last minute gift ideas.
They’re all products from Haynes – which has been rather successfully branching out from its standard workshop manual fare for several years now. It might be a little late to get them in the shops – due to various unpreventable circumstances, the stuff only arrived in the office yesterday afternoon – but you could always purchase them online, and wrap up a copy of the receipt printout as a form of IOU. Anyways, here’s what we’ve got.
My Dad’s Cortina, by Giles Chapman, is a nostalgic exploration of that quintessential Dad-ride, the Ford Cortina. History and trivia and classic photographs it’s a great looking little tome – though possibly not the best idea for a Vauxhall family man… It’s RRP is £8.99.
This one will look great on any Dad’s bookshelf – it’s an Apollo 11 Owner’s Workshop Manual. Yes. That Apollo 11 – the one built by NASA. The book covers the history of moon landing but also includes detailed technical information on the landing craft and other elements of the historic mission. This RRPs at £17,99. Speaking of the moon landing, Top Gear’s James May is presenting a couple of documentaries on the subject on Sunday evening – following directly after Top Gear on BBC Two at 9pm, then switching to BBC Four at 10pm. A perfect excuse to sit down and chill out with the old fella (meaning your Dad – not May), continuing on from TG and the British Grand Prix.
Finally, the one I’m really excited about – the Build Your Own Internal Combustion Engine kit. A complete box set containing everything your Dad needs to construct his own miniature internal combustion engine – complete with light-up sparkplugs and noise emitting diode. Don’t forget to spring for a couple of AA batteries as well. £24.99 from the Haynes website.
It even comes with instructions disguised as a miniature Haynes Manual – which is a lovely touch. I think I might have to have a go at building this one myself… --- Links: Top Gear returns [warning: spoilers!] Flappy paddles for your Porsche NASA History Apollo 11 30th Anniversary ---
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June 19 So long then F1, it’s been fun Dan Trent writes: In a neat but unfortunate symmetry it seems Silverstone – host of the first ever world championship race in 1950 – could be the scene of the death of Formula 1. Or, at least, Formula 1 as we know it. As David Coulthard correctly observed on breakfast TV this morning, the politics and power struggles are as much a part of the F1 soap opera as the action on the track. But somebody really needs to get in there and bang the heads of FOTA, Max Moseley and Bernie Ecclestone together and convince them that they really need to sort this out. An optimist at heart I can’t see how there’s any realistic alternative to a deal coming about somehow. But it seems to me the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone stand to lose more than FOTA if a split does come about. And Moseley’s uncompromising stance seems less and less about pragmatism and more about ego. If one man’s pride is the reason top flight motor racing crumbles into disarray it would be a real tragedy but the biggest losers, inevitably, will be the fans. The racing will go on. But will anyone be watching? Dan --- Links: F1 teams confirm breakaway Statement from the FIA --- June 18 Bosch – and the generic carTom Evans writes: Every two years Bosch holds a jamboree for the world’s car journalists and flies them in from all over to their test track at a place called Boxberg, 150km or so south-east of Frankfurt. It must cost a fortune to put on but Bosch – a long term focused company like most in Germany – decided that they do it, despite the ghastly economy. A full write-up of what we did and saw awaits a proper article, but here is the lighter side of the trip… Sadly we travel by bus from the airport to our hotel, so we can only watch as lucky folk sail by on the ‘bahn at speeds that would get them hauled off to jail as being disgracefully dangerous in any other country. For some reason they are not disgracefully dangerous when the law allows it though, and indeed autobahns are no more dangerous statistically than motorways. Perhaps this is because most of the time it is not possible to drive flat out since the traffic is too dense, which is why true bahnstormers get out of bed early or stay up late… Bosch is one of those vast companies that everyone has heard of but still people don’t know much about. It’s probably most famous in the UK for its white goods (I have both a washing machine and dishwasher from them), power tools, and lawnmowers. A capitalist charity Interestingly enough, it is essentially a charity, its founder Robert Bosch having basically given the company away in his will after his death in 1942. So while a large capitalist enterprise with annual sales of 46 billion euros in 2007, and 271k staff worldwide, its profits it gives away. The automotive arm of Bosch is its biggest division, but because nearly everything it does it sells to car makers and not end users, this activity is largely hidden. However it does supply virtually every car company in the world with kit, ranging from relatively mundane stuff like fuel injection systems right through to the cutting edge of next-generation technology such as adaptive cruise control, automatic braking, and all manner of video-guided warning systems. It played a big part in the Tata Nano project The generic car On the trip were some notable press folk, and none more notable that Steve Cropley, editor-in-chief of Autocar and something of a doyen of motoring journalists, having edited magazines like Car in its heyday. An affable Australian who has lived in the UK for nearly 30 years, he has seen and done quite a lot. We discuss the fact that companies like Bosch are to car companies what arms companies to countries: “you need to buy this kit, because the other guy has just done so.” The morning is taken up with long PowerPoint presentations on Bosch’s view of the automotive world, delivered in German but translated on headsets. As such a big and influential player, what they say matters. One amusing thing that struck me is that the company was forever putting up slides of cars to illustrate something or other. Now because Bosch sells to everyone, it cannot even as illustration use any car in particular as this would seem like terrible favouritism. So we had a wonderful examples of Bosch’s illustrators making pictures of modern up to date cars that were not any car in particular. The reality is that front and backs often got a bit confusing… Exhibit 1:
I reckon something of a Lexus IS at the front, and BMW 3 Series at the back Exhibit 2:
Harder to call. The front this time is I reckon a bit BMW 3 Series, while the back something of an Audi A4. Exhibit 3:
This is quite an interesting one. I think it reminds me most of a sort of modernised Rover 25, the sort of car that might have resulted from yet another facelift for the car around 2007, had Rover lasted that long. The headlights are rather Ford Focus RS however… And thence off to the test track. It is not unlike Millbrook which I visited only last month, in that it has a big high speed oval circuit at its perimeter, with various twisty test circuits within. First up is a go in a rather tasty white VW Passat CC V6 DSG, designed to show off the active electric steering system. I think the CC is a great looking car and I can’t wait for my long termer to arrive in July.
For a big car it’s quite a deft handler, with switchable settings to make the steering lighter or heavier as needed. It was lovely to gun it on the oval, before a speed gun reminded me that I was exceeding the 160 km/h limit a tad. Fortunately the Bosch engineer sitting beside me – like all of them – was friendly and didn’t seem to mind. Thence a go in a VW Touran which can switch between LPG and petrol at a touch of a button, offering potentially huge running cost savings:
Bosch had a giant Freightliner truck there too, which was equipped with some sort of clever ABS system. I didn’t have a go, but it looked fun on the water-run.
Then into a Peugeot 407 equipped with a radar and video based warning system. Somewhat counter intuitively, I had to drive straight into a bouncy arm attached to an Opel Zafira. The car got upset and sounded an alarm and as I lightly touched the brakes, it butted in and drove the pedal to the floor. All of which is quite reminiscent of the kit in the marvellously high-tech Honda Accord long termer I handed back in April. The car even ran a Windows XP diagnostic system.
Thence to a BMW 530i, with an even more advanced prototype version which puts the brake on for you, even at high speed. Now cars like the Volvo XC60 have systems like this for low speed, but this one works with a very long range radar AND a camera which can spot problems a long way off, sound alarms and activate the brakes if necessary. As we discovered, it will not always stop you crashing (only into the rubber arm in our case), but it will greatly decrease the impact speed. Since impact speeds exponentially grow the impact force, even a small reduction in impact speeds can make a big difference to this, the most common type of crash of them all. A system like this will be mandatory on all new EU-made lorries around 2014, such is the tiresomely common occurrence of trucks careering into traffic queues on motorways… Then a slalom course in an Audi A4 TDI, showing how the active electric steering required so much less effort than a normal hydraulic system. People are a bit sniffy about these new fangled systems, saying they lack feel, but I can’t say I’m one of them – it does seem better.
It was a boiling hot day and I was glad that all the cars had air conditioning. Here Nik Armistead (center), head of PR for Bosch in the UK, enjoys the sun with a couple of German colleagues.
And thence back to the airport for a hassle free trip back to LHR. An enjoyable and interesting couple of days which was very useful to get up to speed on the latest technological trends in the car industry; as I say, look out for my formal report from the day shortly on the main MSN Cars site. Tom Chevrolet staff make their choiceRichard Aucock writes: An array of colours were available to sample on the recent Chevrolet Cruze launch. But which has an official thumbs up - that of the press officer for the brand? This one:
Tired of silver cars, our man went for something that MSN Cars thoroughly approves of. It meant he couldn't get his first-choice diesel, though. The only cars in this colour were 1.8 LT-spec. No fear; it's a nice engine. And there's a stack of equipment inside to help soothe the higher fuel bills. --- Share It
Cruze clues to new VauxhallRichard Aucock writes: The Chevrolet Cruze is also, underneath, the new Vauxhall Astra. Good job it fared so well in MSN Cars’ hands, then.
But, drive it without knowing this fact, and you’d still have found clues. Such as here:
Yes, that’s a Vauxhall Insignia column stalk. And here:
Correct – that is a Vauxhall Insignia light switch. What’s this?
A Vauxhall Insignia audio control button, that’s what. And this?
Electric window pack, from an Insignia. Made by our old friends, Vauxhall.
Vauxhall bits abound in the new Cruze – yes, even the sat nav screen is Vauxhall spec, with Vauxhall graphics. It doesn’t detract from the car (think if it like a Bentley Continental GT using VW Phaeton bits. Well, kinda). Instead, it adds further substance to what is already a very impressive, solid, well-rounded new model.
Cruze: sure is a surprize. --- Share It
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