A second bite at the cherry

I’m often asked if it’s really possible to come up with an informed judgement on a new car after just an hour or two behind the wheel. The answer is broadly yes; having driven such a wide range of vehicles, you can use your senses to know what’s ahead of the competition, on a par or below standard. But sometimes a second bite at the cherry – and a second person – will reveal new issues that it would have been very hard to find out the first time round. The Kia Sportage that I’m driving over the festive period is an excellent example of that. With my wife, two children and a grandparent to get in the car, it was inevitable the former was going to have to sit in the rear with the kids. Within a few miles she was complaining of feeling queasy, something which never normally happens. Turns out that an adult sat in the middle of the Sportage’s rear bench seat is so high up they can’t see the road ahead, because the top of the windscreen is blocking it. That’s why my wife was feeling sick. We pulled over, swapped her to one of the window seats, put a child in the middle, and all was fine. These are the things that you never find out on a test drive, but which are vital to the real-world users who are actually going to spend their own money on these cars.

Winter tyres; the post-mortem begins

I’ve written before about the move towards winter tyres this year – most recently on this blog on 25 November – which it seems has caught the industry on the hop. A report from respected buying guide What Car? has found that stocks are running low. Following complaints from readers, the magazine sent reporters out posing as private buyers and discovered that finding winter tyres for the two most popular cars in the country, the Ford Focus and the BMW 3-Series, was much harder than expected. It’s an understandable situation; the weather so far this winter has been unexpectedly bad, and that’s resulted in calls for drivers to swap to cold-weather tyres – by journalists like me and the big motoring organisations – has been unexpectedly intense. It works as an excuse for this year, but it won’t wash again. The tyre industry has got 12 months to sort itself out and get prepared. Why? Because all the people who have bought winter tyres now will be telling their friends about how good they are at improving grip, and demand will grow exponentionally. If you’ve still not been converted, visit www.whywintertyres.co.uk

Caterham to break new ground... again

Caterham is expanding its product line-up and will unveil an all new model – not a new version of the Seven – at the Autosport International Show at the NEC, Birmingham, on 13 January. A statement from the legendary firm says it “marks the beginning of a new dawn for the company, but one that remains true to the lightweight, minimalist DNA of the legendary Seven and will complement its continuing global success.” Beyond that, the firm is keeping its cards close to its chest but what’s known is the car will be powered by a next-generation Caterham Motorsport engine. It’s not the first time bosses have tried to grow the brand’s appeal. The Caterham 21 was mechanically identical to the Seven, but with a two-seat roadster body it was designed to find a more mainsteam audience. Launched in 1994 with plans to build 200 a year, fewer than 50 were ever made.

In other news, I’m looking for a new sponsor. Swinton Specialist have been involved since the blog began but have decided the refocus their marketing activities. I want to thank them for their support, they’ve been great. So to pastures new; if you’d like to see your company logo on the blog please get in touch.

Finally have a great Christmas and thanks for supporting me in 2010.

Another motor show, another MINI

I’m only aware of the phrase Sports Activity Coupé being used to describe one car to date, and that’s the BMW X6. But now it’s appeared again, and it’s on the German firm’s other brand, MINI. This is the Paceman concept – somewhat smaller than the X6 – and it’s making its debut at the Detroit Motor Show next month. At 4.11m it’s the longest MINI to date – it’s a couple of centimetres more than the Countryman – but it’s much lower than its sibling. It won’t be slow either; power comes from the 211bhp 1.6-litre twin-scroll turbo from the John Cooper Works cars, though there’s no details on a 0-60mph time. Will this four-seater go into production? The company says it “could form yet another building block in the development of the MINI brand”. That probably means yes, though they say officially no decision has been made. Bosses are certainly not holding back in their desire to fill all possible niches. Personally, I think this is a better expression of the brand than the Countryman.

New VXR8 on the way in 2011

Vauxhall’s VXR8 super-saloon brought something new to the UK performance car market when it arrived in 2007. It replaced the Monaro, had bags of character and was good value. On the downside it lacked the refinement of rivals. Details of the next generation model have just been released by the Luton firm, and it’s not going to disappoint. Rear-wheel drive and with a 6.2-litre 430bhp V8 engine under the bonnet, why would it? It will hit 60mph in 4.9 seconds and go on to 155mph. The VXR8 is now based on Holden Special Vehicles’ E3 GTS model just launched in Australia - the old car was from the lower-spec ClubSport R8 - so it’s got revised front and rear styling, a new cabin and extra technology. New features include LED daytime running lights, sleek front wing vents and a revised rear spoiler. Making its VXR8 debut is Magnetic Ride Control, the suspension system from the Corvette ZR1 which adapts up to 1,000 times a seconds to road conditions and driver inputs. The VXR8 is on sale from March priced £49,500 and undercuts the Audi RS6, Jaguar XFR and Mercedes E63 AMG by between £13k and £29k. That’s money not be sniffed at.

First pictures of hot BMW 1-Series

Posting this today instead of Monday because I’m having the weekend off and don’t intend to be near a computer. BMW’s latest M-badged performance car has been unveiled and at under £40k it’s the most affordable of the lot. The 1-Series M Coupe – not the M1 for obvious reasons – is built around the same philosophy that all M cars have – useable performance through a hi-tech chassis, wrapped in an attractive sporty design. New exterior features include widened wheel arches, exclusive 19-inch Y-spoke alloys and dual chromed tailpipes. There’s also a discreet lip spoiler generating additional downforce and a rear apron with side openings echoing the look of the front air intakes. Even the trademark M car feature – the elongated chrome gill on the front wheel arch – is there, and the mirrors have come straight off the M3. There are three paint finishes Alpine White, Black Sapphire and the exclusive Valencia Orange that’s in the picture. The interior is exclusive to the car, with an M leather steering wheel and alcantara with orange contrasting stitching on the door trim, door inserts, handbrake, gear lever gaiter and instrument binnacle. Power comes from BMW’s 3.0-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine, producing 340hp, giving the car a 0-62mph time of 4.9 seconds. Get your orders in now, but don’t expect to get behind the wheel until May.

Is Top Gear magazine right? Personally, no

So Top Gear magazine has pronounced its verdict on the Car of the Year and it’s given the award to the Citroen DS3. Clearly no one from the magazine is over 6ft, because if they were, they might be aware of its shortcomings. Yes, it’s a fantastic piece of automotive design; yes, it drives like no Citroen has for years; but, no, it’s not built for the taller user. I adjusted the seat for leg length and couldn’t reach the steering wheel properly. I put that right and my knees were up against the dash. I would have thought comfort for all types of customer would be a consideration when judging these things, but obviously not. I have to agree with some of the Top Gear team’s other choices, though. The hot hatch award goes to the VW Golf R, a car the testers say is so good at doing everything it’s impossible to know where to start praising it. And they’ve given the coupe gong to the Peugeot RCZ, which I very much enjoyed. Can’t really understand why that didn’t make the final shortlist for the European Car of the Year award. It deserved to more than some than did. Like the Citroen DS3, for example.

New performance Audi... but at what price?

Having spent more than seven years on staff at Auto Express magazine, and still writing for it regularly now, I know how hard it is for a car to be awarded five stars following a ‘first drive’. And for a concept to get top marks is even more unusual; these are generally high-cost, one-off prototypes and the engineers don’t want you pushing too hard, just in case it breaks or you put it in a ditch. Because of that, it can be hard to judge just how good or bad the car is. But the Audi Quattro Concept – featured in the current issue – has clearly earned its stripes. Auto Express testers have been behind the wheel, and are full of praise. Colleagues at Autocar are similarly enthusiastic, suggesting it’s highly likely the coupé (above) will go into production. There is a legion of fans of the Eighties’ original who will be whooping for joy at that. The problem for them will be affording its spiritual successor, and even if they can, finding one to buy. The word coming out of Audi is that if the car gets the green light, it will be in the region of £100,000 and only built in limited numbers. While the original Quattro – enjoying renewed acclaim because of TV’s Ashes to Ashes – was expensive, you didn’t need a banker’s bonus to buy it. Audi is deliberately pricing fans out of its replacement and personally I think that’s shame.

Does 'win on sunday, sell on monday' still exist?

Fans of touring car racing, both in BTCC and WTCC formats, will know Chevrolet has had quite a good year. In short, a tuned and stripped-out version of the Cruze saloon that’s on sale in the UK won both titles (above). All very nice, well done Chevy. But for a brand that freely admits it needs to massively raise its profile in the UK, does motorsport success translate into showroom traffic and new car sales? It’s a question I posed earlier this week to Wayne Brannon, the president of Chevrolet Europe. He’s an impressive character, someone who started on the engine assembly line in Detroit opposite his dad when he was 18 years old and has worked his way up the ranks over the 38 years since. Here’s what he said; racing gives the Cruze credibility and creates enthusiasm among existing customers. It also breeds a passion throughout the dealer network. Employees come to the races, buy the merchandise, shout for Chevrolet and are unified around a common purpose. To Brannon that’s priceless. Crucially he didn’t answer the actual question, and you can read what you will into that. He also explained it’s possible to put a financial value on the amount of screentime the brand gets because the race-day cameras are focusing on the cars. He reckons that value is more than twice the amount of money he spends on the entire motorsport programme. Winning races does help brand awareness, but it’s good cars that create customers.