Ford B-MAX: final report

So the B-MAX goes back to Ford this week, minus a fully functioning door mirror on the driver’s side (see previous update). After three months with me, it’s now got more than 5,200 miles on the clock and has seen every kind of action. There have been plenty of motorway blasts, but also lots of low-speed around-town mileage. The 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine has been genuinely impressive in all environments. It doesn’t sound, feel or perform like something so small. The only downside, as with most new cars these days, is getting anything like the official combined fuel economy is almost impossible. I consider myself to be a pretty economical driver – I’ve done the eco-motoring courses and put the theory into practice. But I’ve reset the average several times and each time it settles around the 40mpg mark, no matter how I drive it. Ford’s figure is a somewhat unrealistic 55mpg. More on the car’s practicality later in the week.

SEAT Leon: it's not an off-roader

Bit of an embarrassing situation last night when picking my son up from Cubs. Rather than being in the village hall they were out at a local campsite lighting fires, and I turned up to collect him the SEAT Leon I’m driving at the moment. Access is via a narrow track and when a car was coming the other way I pulled off to the side to allow it to come through. I failed to spot the boggy area in the verge, the front wheels dug in and I couldn’t get out. Ten minutes later, a fellow dad with a Land Rover Freelander and a tow-rope, and everything was fine again. But not before several others had got out their cameraphones to capture my humiliation for posterity. The stick I’ve taken in the last 12 hours…

Ford B-MAX: update 7

Unfortunately the Ford B-MAX has met with incident. My wife Emma was driving it down one of Suffolk’s narrow rural roads last week just outside our village. When she saw a car coming the other way she slowed to a crawl and kept very left – it’s the way we do things round here. Sadly the other driver did neither of those things and they clashed door mirrors. Needless to say, with a very loud bang just inches from her right ear, Emma was left somewhat shaken by the whole experience and phoned me in tears, embarrassed by the damage that had been caused to a car that’s not ours to damage. But she was also angry that the the other driver didn’t bother to stop, presumably because her door wasn’t hanging off by the wires. Some people don't deserve a licence.

Driven: Jaguar F-Type

So the embargo has been lifted and I can now tell you what I think of the Jaguar F-Type. If anything beats this my Car of the Year title, I will be genuinely amazed. Driving the two-seater convertible on the empty roads around Pamplona, Northern Spain, is about as much fun as I can ever remember having in a car. The route was sensational and the F-Type more than matched it. Whichever of the three models I drove, it was hugely enjoyable and engaging experience. The car looks stunning, particuarly from the rear end where those horizontal lights pay tribute to the E-Type. It drives exceptionally well; it’s light, agile, responsive, extremely flat through some serious high-speed cornering and makes a fantastic noise. The little snorts as you change up through the gears and the ‘pop, pop, pop’ on the over-run put a stupid grin on my face that never left. Absolutely loved this car.

Roads to die for

I thought I’d driven most of the great roads in Europe, but it would appear not. Never been to Pamplona, northern Spain, on a car launch but would certainly like to go back. Was there over the weekend to drive the all-new Jaguar F-Type. I would love to tell you all about the vehicle but driving impressions are embargoed until Wednesday. Come back on Thursday for my thoughts on the car. Meanwhile, back to the roads; just stunning – tight twisty bits, switchbacks like in the photo, wide flowing corners, straights through valleys where you can see two miles ahead – and so little traffic it was ridiculous. Sunny weather, roof off. Lovely.

Nicked for speeding. Again.

So I’ve been caught speeding again, the third time in 13 years. Previously it was 36mph in a 30 zone and 57mph in a 50, so with 35mph in a 30 I’ve set a new personal best. That’s the lowest speed they will prosecute in Suffolk, where I got photographed driving the Ford B-MAX. Here is my excuse, and yes, I know it’s a well-worn argument but it doesn’t stop it being right. It was 4.30pm on a Saturday afternoon going through an A-road village. I came round a wide corner and the camera van was sat in the lay-by. He was the only vehicle or pedestrian to be seen. And yet just last week on the A14, there was a boy-racer and three mates in a modified Corsa driving like a complete tool. He was speeding, weaving aggressively around the lanes, undertaking and generally causing everyone else to back off the throttle just in case. Did he get stopped? Will he be on the same Speed Awareness Course as me? I very much doubt it.