Driven: Range Rover

Apologies for the lack of a blog on Thursday. I was halfway up a Moroccan mountain in the all-new Range Rover and internet access was hard to come by. It’s rare that cars costing £70k+ walk off with the European Car of the Year title, but I’d be surprised if this doesn’t make the shortlist. It’s hugely impressive in almost every way, from the Bentley levels of fit and finish in the cabin, to the quiet and refined way it deals with high-speed motorway cruising, to the outstanding resilience of the 4x4 system. This latter element came to the fore as we headed to 2,500 metres above sea level in the Atlas Mountains, much of it on rocky tracks that don’t see much traffic beyond donkeys moving goods from village to village. One of the most memorable drives of my life.

Driven: VW Beetle

Taxis should be black. So should hearses. But that’s about it. I accept some people like black because it’s classy, timeless, premium, etc. But there are some cars which absolutely shouldn’t be black, and the all-new VW Beetle is one of them. I must confess to being a little disappointed when I came home from Japan and saw it on the drive. Why would VW’s PR department not have the white with black detailing like the one in the TV advert? There’s also a very smart red and also a powder blue. Part of the appeal of those is you can have a matching gloss section on the dashboard to brighten up the interior. Check out the picture above. Anyway, the disappointment was soon tempered when I got out on the road because I really like the way the Beetle drives. It’s not particularly sporty, but it feels solid and on some twisty Cumbrian back roads over the weekend it proved to be an entertaining performer. The only downside is the fact it’s not a family car – there’s precious little legroom in the back, making it little more than a two-seater.

The car factory that builds car factories

I’ve been round a few car factories in my time. How many? No idea but they’re pretty much the same the world over. The unique elements are few and far between, but visits to the Bentley trim shop stand out for the hand-crafted nature of things. I’m writing this in Tokyo Airport waiting for a flight home and today I’ve been round a different type of factory. It’s the factory that makes factories. Zama Operation Centre is home to Nissan’s Global Production Engineering Centre (GPEC), the firm’s base for perfecting the manufacturing process on new models, before shipping the hardware, software and philosophy out to its plants around the world, including Sunderland. With the north-east site due to start assembling the all-new Note from next summer, senior staff are here developing the production line. They will continue to visit so the process of making the Note is as transferable as possible. At Zama they experience a fake production line, learn how the car will be built and fine-tune the process so back home everything is as smooth as possible. In short, they iron out all the mistakes once at Japanese HQ, rather than have staff at 20 plants round the world finding and solving the same problems. Today was the first time media have been let in and a fascinating place it is too. When the Note arrives in showrooms next September, I shall have a greater respect for what’s gone into making it.

Fearless Felix

No cars today, just me adding to the deluge of praise for Felix Baumgartner. Watching his jump live online and following comments on Twitter from people doing the same, I don’t think I’ve been so excited by a feat of human endurance in years. He’s got balls of steel and when he started spinning and tumbling over and over I wasn’t convinced it was going to end well. But hats off to him and his experience, he nailed it. Someone tweeted that it was our generation’s equivalent of watching man land on the moon, which seems a bit strong to me. But another comment was about how a global audience can now watch an event on the internet, which I do agree with, and also how that audience can comment and interact together via Twitter to become a community. A truly memorable hour of TV… but not on the TV. In other news, I’m heading to Japan later today for some Nissan-based fun. More on that later in the week.

Driven: Toyotas Prius+ and Prius Plug-In

Just driven two new Toyotas back to back, the seven-seat Prius+ and Prius Plug-In. They’re obviously related – the clue is in the name – and in the UK at least have been launched at almost the same time. You might expect some degree of uniformity of interior, but I’ve never seen two more different. Let’s start with the Plug-In, which at least has some sort of design theme running through the cabin. Yes, there’s a lot of hard grey plastic, but at least it looks like someone actually thought about what it was going to look like when it was finished. Which brings me to the Prius+. I can’t think of a dashboard / centre console arrangement in all the cars I’ve driven that looks worse. The picture above doesn’t really tell the story because it's too small. You really have to sit behind the wheel and ask yourself if this is the best Toyota could do for £29,000. Clearly the budget has gone on the powertrain and left pennies for the team who styled the cabin. It’s the worst mash-up of cheap and ugly plastics, odd shaped buttons, weird neoprene-like fabric behind the steering wheel and non-matching display screens. Clearly the story is the hybrid transmission, but when you could have a seven-seat Chevrolet Orlando for under £17,000 you’d have to really, really, really want a Prius+ to think this is acceptable. Toyota is a great company but this is an embarrassment.

Driven: Renault Clio

Writing this in my hotel room after a first drive in the all-new Renault Clio. Got to say I’m pretty impressed from every perspective. Particularly keen on the design, both inside and out. My Flame Red model came with a red dashboard top, plus matching stitching and head restraint detailing. Styling boss Laurens van den Acker and his team have done a proper job on the car, and it bodes which for the future of the brand, which desperately needs this car to be a hit. Too much gloss black in the cabin? Perhaps. I know it isn’t everyone’s idea of premium, but it does look good in here. Not sure how it will wear over the time; there’s a school of thought which says it gets scratched very quickly. The 1.5-litre 90bhp diesel – the only model I’ve driven so far – is responsive and nicely weighted through the corners. It’s not particularly sporty, but it’s easy to drive and has a engaging charm which I like.