Sorry, it's been a bit quiet

What with the bank holiday weekend, a family trip away and a lot of working from home for corporate clients – who don’t want me to blog and tweet about what I do for them – I’ve been a bit quiet on social media this last week. Those are the ups and downs of being a freelancer. Sometimes you're out to doing fascinating stuff, sometimes you're just at your desk banging out the words. However, all will change tomorrow when I’m out driving something that looks a bit like this. It's a movie stunt car with a control rig on top, so it's out of shot. Should be fun! I'll post a report on Monday.

Citroen cupholder woes

It’s a long time since I’ve driven a Citroen DS3. It was probably when it was launched, back in 2010. I love the exterior styling and the addition this year of a slide-back canvas roof for open-topped motoring only enhances its appeal, certainly for me. And yet as soon as I got in it, I remembered my two bugbears about the car. Firstly, the seating position doesn’t cater for the taller driver. If I put the seat where I want it the steering wheel is too far away and won’t come any closer. If it set myself up for wheel my legs are cramped. Secondly, there’s no cupholder. Not one. A quick Google search reveals I’m not the only person to moan about this. It’s not the only time Citroen has got this issue wrong. On the C5, the cupholder is there but hidden under the central armrest. You flip the top up to use it, but that then remains vertical so you can’t move your elbow back to actually get at the cup with your left hand. It means you have to reach under your left arm with your right to pick it up. It sounds petty, but a friend of mine crossed the C5 off his list of company car choices for that very reason. When researching his different options at dealerships, he didn’t even drive it off the forecourt because he said for amount of miles he did every year, the cupholder would drive him mad. 

Driven: MINI Paceman

 You’ve got to take your hat off to MINI, the master of niche-filling car design. There’s not a model big enough for families so it launches the four-door Countryman, but then manages to squeeze out a two-door coupé version of that as well. The Paceman lacks the practicality of its sibling, certainly from a family perspective as it’s a strict four-seater. So with ‘Aunty Alice’ visiting us this weekend it had to stay on the drive, which is a shame because it’s a fun vehicle to get behind the wheel of. The Paceman is as much a pleasure to drive as the other six cars in the MINI family, with quick, firm and direct steering that really engages the driver. Knee room in the rear isn’t great as my kids will testify, but if you wanted practicality you would have gone for the Countryman. What annoys me most is when I flip the front seat forward to let them in, it slides forward on the runners to create a space. Great. So why doesn’t it go back to the same spot every time? I then have to get in and readjust it to where I want it. Argh!

MINI on the Pace

I’ll write more about it next week when I’ve driven it for longer, but initial reaction to my MINI Paceman test car from The General Public might best be described as ‘head-turning’. I wasn’t expecting that – it’s just a coupé version of the Countryman after all – but the striking blue colour contrasted with the white roof seems to be doing the job. And if MINI are looking for confirmation that it will be a hit, look no further than Mrs Yarrow. She doesn’t give a monkey’s about cars even she commented on it.

You pay your money...

Driving a Dacia Duster at the moment, the reigning Scottish Car of the Year. According to the judges… “the private buyer wants real value for money and the Duster certainly delivers on that score. Our choice may not set radical new standards in any one area, but we believe it’s completely unrivalled in terms of its mix of ability, space, running costs and pricing.” I think that’s true with the last three of those four, but I would argue the point about ability. To me, it feels the last convincing of Dacia’s three products. I think the Sandero and Sandero Stepway offer far more in the way of acceptable performance. My Duster, a 4WD model, feels heavy and lacks poise on the road. It feels sluggish. I appreciate it’s cheap, and you pay your money and you take your choice. But people have been raving about it and I expected more.

Irritated

Just been into the garage to get the Jeep out because it’s a nice day. It’s been on a trickle charger for the last couple of months, supposedly keeping the battery nicely topped up. Except at some point since I last checked on it – probably a month ago – the charger has failed. It appears to be completely dead. And, yes, you guessed it, that means the car isn’t going anywhere. Arghhh!!!