Paris preview

Writing this early as Thursday is press day at the Paris Motor Show and there will be no time for blogging for me. Writing this from my hotel room,which about an hour ago had a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower in the far distance. Now, under an almighty deluge, the famous landmark is a less obvious. This afternoon I've had a ride in the all-new Range Rover, missed the unveiling of the Vauxhall Adam because of crap Paris traffic, fallen asleep in the back of a car because I was up at 4am this morning and failed to be impressed with the hotel wifi. Is it too much to expect, these days, for a page to load in less than 30 seconds?! The cost of this room is obscene - I know because it's written on the back of the door - yet they've got the equivalent of dial-up speeds. Amazing. Let's hope tomorrow goes better.

Aston Martin's heart to beat again

I spent Thursday at Newport Pagnell, Aston Martin’s spiritual home. When I last visited it was the fully functioning hub of car assembly operations. That was the summer of 1998 and all I can remember of my factory tour was the traffic on the busy Tickford Street – which bisected the site – stopping to let two green-overalled employees cross. They were pushing a chassis on a wheeled trolley from one department to another. That’s how Aston Martin used to make its cars but things have changed radically. Manufacture is now at Gaydon and Tickford Street is in the middle of redevelopment. There’s a new showroom and the Works division – where the service work and restorations take place – is getting a facelift. That’s one side of the road but on the other it’s derelict. The land was initially sold to a property developer but eventually ended up in the hands of Tesco. Sensing what was likely to follow, the local authority quickly arranged preservation orders on three of the original Aston Martin buildings. They including Sunnyside, the small house just a few metres back from the road which was Aston Martin’s world headquarters for many years. The result is a stalemate and the area is badly overgrown. The likely scenario is that Tesco will get bored and sell it back to someone for housing. It’s to be hoped that happens soon.

Driven: Hyundai Santa Fe

Yesterday’s trip to Farnborough to drive the all-new Hyundai Santa Fe was notable for two reasons. Firstly, it took me three hours to get there across the morning rush hour, and then more than that to get back in the mid-afternoon. No obvious reason, just volume of traffic on the M25 and A1. I’ve concluded there’s no such thing as the morning and evening rush hour anymore, just all-day chaos. Let's hope today's trip to Aston Martin goes better. Thankfully neither road is involved. The second thing was the Santa Fe itself, which is a very impressive five or seven-seat SUV. It’s easy on the eye, got a functional but attractive dashboard layout and masses of practicality. The only slightly let down is access to the third row of seats, which is pretty tight. As I’ve written before, it’s model that’s pretty popular in rural Suffolk. With the MkIII now here, I suspect there will be a good few MkIIs on the used forecourts pretty soon. It’s the Hyundai model with the most repeat buyers.

An interesting weekend

Had to get recovered home by the AA, the first time that’s happened in 24 years of driving. The family went up to Great Yarmouth as my wife was running in a race there on Saturday afternoon. Our Ford Focus has been misfiring a bit over the last few weeks but nothing major. I drove it to Surrey and Northants last week from our home in Suffolk and it was fine. On the way to Yarmouth on Saturday it started to get worse. On the way back, at about 8.30pm, serious problems. Slowed from 70mph for a roundabout and then found I couldn’t get faster than about 30mph. Not ideal on a fast-moving dual carriageway. The hazard lights came on and we limped to the next filling station. The AA were obviously having a busy night as they sent a local contractor, who concluded I wasn’t going to make it home and called for the flat-bed. In the end, we were home two hours late. So a big thanks to Kerley’s of Norwich and the AA for looking after us.

Cobham MSA opens for business

By the time you’re reading this, Britain’s newest  motorway service area (MSA) will be open for business. I spent some time there yesterday, to tour the facilities and meet the CEO of Extra, the company which has built and will run Cobham, between J9 and J10 of the M25. Serving one of the UK’s busiest stretches of motorway, within three years it will be hosting 12,000 vehicles a day. It’s the biggest one in the UK; the site is 60 acres, has a 75-room Days Inn hotel, a Regis Business Centre and the country’s biggest fuel forecourt. Yesterday afternoon, with roughly 12 hours to opening time, it didn’t look much like a service area. A reported 400 hard-hatted construction workers and shop-fitters were putting the finishing touches to it, and amusingly lining up at the KFC franchise – which was testing all its equipment – to get their lunch for a minimum cash donation. 

All-new Range Rover unveiled

Couldn’t make the grand unveiling of the all-new Range Rover in Richmond Park last Thursday night. However, I’d already been to a technical seminar on the car at the Land Rover HQ and had its intricacies explained to me by various engineers and designers. The big story is the weight reduction; the aluminium bodyshell is a staggering 180kg lighter than before, and the overall total is down by 420kg. It’s also 10 per cent more aerodynamic and the resulting performance figures are hugely impressive. The old 4.4-litre V8 diesel would get to 60mph in 7.4 seconds, but had CO₂ emissions of 253g/km. Its replacement, a 3.0-litre V6, has identical performance but puts out 196g/km. There’s also a 22 per cent boost in fuel economy, up to 37.7mpg, and if you want an even cleaner version, in 12 months there will be a diesel hybrid. The V6 will be mated to an electric motor, resulting in 45mpg and CO₂ of 169g/km. Can’t wait to have a drive.

Driven: Audi A3

There is much to like about the all-new Audi A3. The exterior design is timeless, the overall weight is down massively and it drives very well indeed. The thing that felt like a bit of a disappointment was the interior. Yes, it’s all very smart with soft-touch plastics and nice brushed aluminium detailing. But I couldn’t help thinking it was a bit dull. There’s a fine line between an understated and subtle interior – Audi’s description of the dashboard – and something lacking character or any kind of ‘wow’ factor. Maybe it’s just me. Posting this a few hours early from a Heathrow hotel. Away to Amsterdam in the morning for a Ford product news announcement. More on that next week.

Driven: Chevrolet Camaro

For reasons I can’t truly explain, I’ve always been fascinated with American performance cars. When other teenagers had Countach and Testarossa posters on their walls, I had a Corvette. I think it’s the fact that for decades they’ve managed to blend ridiculously oversized V8 engines with unique exterior designs and crap plasticky interiors… and get away with it. The new Chevy Camaro is another example, though the cabin quality isn’t as bad as some. With a 6.2-litre petrol engine hidden under a power bulge bonnet, 20mpg on the combined cycle and CO₂ of 329g/km, it’s never going to be mainstream. But it’s so gloriously un-PC that I can’t help but have a soft spot for it. The Camaro isn’t even trying to have low emissions, and I like that about it. On sale from £35,000 as a LHD 2+2 coupé and convertible, this is the fifth generation of the Camaro since its debut in 1966. Now as then, it’s all about the styling and performance. It will hit 60mph in 5.0 seconds – 5.4 for the cabrio – and go on to 155mph. Yes, it lacks the refinement of virtually every rival but that’s part of the Camaro’s appeal. And I rather like it because of that.