September 23, 2011
SEAT and TyreSafe roll out winter tyres
A stagnant economy and freezing weather: two topics guaranteed to strike a chill in the hearts of British motorists. After last winter’s travel chaos, SEAT is getting behind a campaign by TyreSafe to encourage drivers to fit winter tyres.
This year October isn’t just about Halloween: it’s also Tyre Safety Month. The Spanish manufacturer might not be the most obvious partner for TyreSafe. But who could argue with the not-for-profit organisation’s motto that “Safe tyres save lives”. (I’m sure it sounds even better in Spanish.)
You might be banking on avoiding snow until your annual skiing trip next March — but that would be a mistake. Your tyres aren’t just affected by snow and ice on the roads. Once the temperature drops below 7°C the tread compound in standard tyres starts to harden and there’s less grip.
Winter tyres have several, potentially life-saving properties:
- A higher natural rubber content than standard summer tyres. This allows them to remain softer and more flexible even when you’ve got icicles hanging from your garage door.
- A different tread pattern for improved traction.
- A squarer shoulder profile and defined shoulder blocks.
Let’s not forget about sipes, either. They are the thin slits cut in winter tires to improve traction in snow and ice. In case you were wondering, “siping” was named after John F Sipe. The enterprising Mr Sipe cut slits in the bottom of his shoes to stop himself slipping over at work.
The network of 120 SEAT dealers is promoting the TyreSafe message that fitting winter tyres is necessary and not that much of a chore. In a chilling demonstration video, two SEAT Ibizas take to an ice rink to demonstrate how much longer an emergency stop takes in summer tyres.
With drivers up to six times more likely to have an accident in winter as in summer, it makes sense to switch your tyres now. After all, you wouldn’t walk around in flip-flops in December, would you?
September 22, 2011
Volkswagen Jetta Sport pulls its weight
“Tell me, what do we do on a caravan holiday?” asked a puzzled Jeremy Clarkson during the infamous “Top Gear goes to Dorset” episode a few years ago. If only that ill-fated trip had begun in a Volkswagen Jetta Sport 2.0TDI DSG, which has just been awarded the accolade of Caravan Club Towcar of the Year 2012.
To be fair, I don’t think we can blame their catalogue of misfortunes solely on the Kia Cerato, which was a previous winner of the Caravan Club’s greatest accolade. No disrespect to VW, but I doubt any vehicle could improve the Top Gear trio’s unenviable record of trashing the Great Outdoors. Still, it does make for great TV.
But back to the Volkswagen Jetta Sport, which picked up the top honour in its under £25,000 price class. It was then named overall winner of the 29th Caravan Club Towcar of the Year, held this week at the Royal Automobile Club in London.
To be eligible for this year’s Awards, vehicles had to be newly launched between 1 August 2010 and 30 September 2011, though substantially modified existing models could also qualify.
The Volkswagen Jetta Sport was put through its paces last month at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire. You won’t be suprised to hear that none of the “driving” or “caravanability” (is that even a word?) judges were drawn from the ranks of Top Gear presenters.
Apparently a key caravanability criterion is a vehicle’s ability to carry a set of awning poles. But when you’re on holiday it’s equally important to know how to react should the caravan go up in flames.
Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert was special guest at the Awards ceremony. He attended the testing sessions and also presented the Class awards to representatives of the winning manufacturers.
Other winners on the night included the Škoda Superb Estate Elegance 2.0 DSG and the Volkswagen Touareg Escape 3.0 V6 TDI. The latter came out on top in the £32,000 price bracket.
September 21, 2011
Jeep rocks the Goodwood Revival
Star of more gung-ho war movies than John Wayne, the Jeep is as American as french fries and apple pie. Last weekend’s sellout Goodwood Revival marked the centenary of Ford of Britain and the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain. But Jeep — celebrating its 70th birthday — also came to the party.
Thanks to a sponsorship agreement with the Goodwood Revival, the American 4WD titan was able to make a corner of West Sussex feel just like home — at least for a few hours.
With record crowds of 138,000 this year, there was no shortage of fans to enjoy the Jeep exhibition areas. For 50s nostalgia buffs there there was the classic Jeep diner and Jeep at March Motor Works, with a Jeepster displayed in a typical US garage of the era.
Elsewhere there was Jeep at the Earls Court Motor Show, where classic 50s and 60s Jeep vehicles rubbed shoulders with contemporary models like the all-new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Compass.
A great party needs the right soundtrack. Though a rock band calling themselves the Milkshakers doesn’t sound very rock ‘n’ roll to me, they were backed up by the Lindy Hop dancers.
Jeep Chrysler’s UK Brand Director Nigel Land was thrilled to have been part of such a successful weekend: “We were able not only to revel in the heritage of the remarkable Jeep brand, but also to show people the stunning new Jeep range of vehicles that we are selling today.”
Over the past seven decades iconic Jeep models have featured in every TV show from Desperate Housewives and Breaking Bad, to CSI . The indispensable Internet Movie Cars Database also reveals some of Jeep’s big screen highlights:
- Jeep Grand Cherokee — The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), American Pie (1999) and Death Wish V
- Jeep Grand Wagoneer — The Pelican Brief, Enemy of the State and 1994′s Lassie
- Jeep Wrangler — Vampires (1998), Evolution and After the Sunset
Many happy returns, Jeep!
September 20, 2011
DVLA personalised number plates just for Del Boy
Feast your mince pies on these! Those cheeky chappies at the DVLA have some personalised number plates to tempt fans of the much-loved BBC comedy show Only Fools and Horses.
Two of the star attractions at the DVLA Personalised Registrations auction next week would be of special interest to legendary Cockney wheeler dealer Derek “Del Boy” Trotter (made famous by actor David Jason).
DE11 BOY and EA57 END will go under the hammer on 28 September, with reserve prices of £3,000 and £1,000 respectively. As the DVLA’s Damian Lawson put it: “These two plates are proving hugely popular with immense interest from potential buyers already surrounding them.”
You could say that the Del Boy plate is the perfect follow-up to the DVLA’s eagerly anticipated launch of 11 series registrations in December 2010. You don’t have to be a fast talker like Del Boy to enumerate all the possibilities offered by putting that “ll” combination on personalised number plates.
The three-day auction isn’t taking place in Peckham, but in the much more upmarket surroundings of the Down Hall Country House Hotel, near Bishop’s Stortford. Even if you’re not a fan of Only Fools and Horses there will be plenty of other tempting lots on offer.
The “star” registration next week, with a reserve of a cool £10,000, will be 36 O. Or you could take a punt on the Number of the Beast with the 666 A plate (reserve price £3,000).
What about Lord Coe, a man with two Olympic gold medals and the chairman of the Olympic organising committee for the 2012 Olympics? Surely the perfect thanks from a grateful nation would be to buy him those distinctive BO55 COE personalised number plates.
That way, we’ll be all able to spot him as London comes to a grinding halt during the inevitable Olympic traffic jams next summer. Let’s be realistic — Seb will be taking a helicopter, won’t he?
September 16, 2011
Old meets new at the Regent Street Motor Show
London’s West End can be a no-go zone in the weeks leading up to Christmas. But this year the inaugural Regent Street Motor Show will provide a welcome relief from less-than-dazzling light displays, C-list celebrities and frazzled fellow shoppers.
On Saturday 5 November the RAC and the Regent Street Association will join forces to present a free motoring spectacular that will reflect the best of veteran cars and brand-new green vehicles.
The Regent Street Motor Show will cover more than a third of a mile of the famous London shopping parade — from Piccadilly Circus up to Conduit Street. The centrepiece will be the Concours d’Elegance, which will include around 100 19th-century veteran cars. Drivers and passengers will be in elegant period attire — so as not to detract from the beauty of the vehicles.
In a neat twist, the Regent Street Motor Show will act as a sort of crossover event for two major rallies centred around Brighton that weekend.
So, if you’re a fan of the annual London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, the Regent Street Motor Show will offer a preview of some of the vehicles taking part in Sunday’s rally.
For those more interested in eco-friendly cars than elegant motoring, the Brighton to London RAC Future Car Challenge will also take place on Saturday 5 November. Visitors to London will able to see some of the energy-efficient 21st-century cars that have just completed the run up from the South Coast.
Twentieth-century cars will also get their share of the spotlight at the inaugural Regent Street Motor Show, in a celebration of 1960s motoring. For a few hours “Swinging London” will swing again, as Jaguar E-type and Mini Cooper both celebrate a half century. (Feel free to turn up in a miniskirt or flares.)
The organisers are expecting crowds of up to 250,000 for the Regent Street Motor Show, which runs from 10.30am to 4pm. That figure would be even higher if they could find a 007 to get behind the wheel of the Jaguar E-type.
September 15, 2011
Putting in a bid for the Range Rover Evoque
Not content with being married to England rugby hero Mike Tindall, Zara Philips also took delivery of another object of desire earlier this month. She’s the proud owner of the very first new Range Rover Evoque — 2.2 litre in Stornaway Grey.
But with the first year’s allocation of the must-have model already sold out, the options for everyone else seem to be restricted to grand theft auto or good old-fashioned patience.
If those pictures of Zara posing outside Burghley House with her Range Rover Evoque made you green with envy, you could head over to the Natural History Museum next month. The Museum is hosting the London Press Club Ball on 13 October and a Range Rover Evoque is one of the prizes in the charity auction.
Modestly described as a “glittering upmarket event”, the London Press Club Ball will see more than 400 leading journalists, executives and VIPs raising money for the Journalists’ Charity.
Jaguar Land Rover is the automotive sponsor of the event, so it makes sense that a year’s driving of its award-winning Range Rover Evoque is the star auction prize this year. So, one lucky entrant in this “money can’t buy” auction will get an experience that’s superior to any exotic holiday — or even a honeymoon with Mike Tindall.
That’s not all. Jaguar Land Rover will also auction a special Jaguar driving experience at the Nürburgring, scene of Lewis Hamilton’s F1 win back in July. The company is also donating £15,000 to the Journalists’ Charity.
The Journalists’ Charity was set up 150 years ago to help journalists who have fallen on hard times. In a year dominated by negative stories about News International it’s tempting to speculate about the destination of some of the cash raised at this year’s Ball.
Will hard-up members of the Murdoch family qualify for a handout? Perhaps the lucky winner of the Range Rover Evoque could offer Rupert a free chauffeur service for the next 12 months — just to help him out.
September 14, 2011
Yo-Auto opens its doors at Frankfurt 2011
Cheap and green are not words I’d normally associate with Russian billionaires. But among the new faces at Frankfurt 2011 is the appealingly named Yo-Auto — a venture that teams the Russian truck maker Yarovit with Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim investment group.
Wealthy Russians put football teams and fast cars high on their list of “Must Haves” and Prokhorov already owns the New Jersey Nets basketball team. He’s ranked only the world’s 59th richest man, according to Forbes, which must give him the oligarch’s equivalent of an inferiority complex.
Still, Prokhorov’s fortune is estimated $13.4 billion — a sum that would purchase quite a few Yo-Auto cars. That’s because the new company isn’t about high-end motors. The aim is to produce eco-friendly hybrids that will cost less than $10,000 (around £6,200).
In December 2010 Prokhorov unveiled models ranging between $12,000-15,000 and covering the hatchback, van and crossover markets. This week Frankfurt got a look at the Yo Concept, which uses a range extender petrol engine. But Yo-Auto says that the first little Yos to roll off the production line will include conventional petrol engines.
Yo-Auto CEO Andrei Biryukov says they’ll have to buy car parts that are not manufactured in Russia. This would include electronics and some parts of the suspension system.
In August work began on constructing a new plant near St Petersburg to manufacture these budget-price vehicles. Yo-Auto envisages an initial capacity of 45,000 cars per annum, which would double during the second phase. The plant is due to come on stream in the second half of 2012.
The pictures of the Yo-Concept reveal a stylish design with capacious doors that offer easy access for partying oligarchs.
But you have to wonder how the Yo-mobile itself will fare when it eventually hits the roads. Though it promises to do an eco-friendly 67mpg, will a top speed of 75mph and a cruising range of 249 miles really cut it in the millionaire playgrounds of Europe?
September 13, 2011
Volvo unveils the Concept You at Frankfurt 2011
Car manufacturers love to fuel buyers’ fantasies by suggesting what a new vehicle can do for your image. But as Volvo’s Concept You arrives at Frankfurt, it seems the company’s modest aim is to make
life “less complicated and more enjoyable”.
The Concept You gives a strong hint about what Volvo’s next large sedan will look like. According to Stefan Jacoby, Volvo’s President and CEO, this means “contemporary Scandinavian design, exquisite craftsmanship and intuitive technology”.
After revealing the Concept Universe earlier this year, Volvo has been hanging around Twitter and Facebook to find out what potential customers really think about its new baby. Of course they’ve done surveys, too, to get feedback on the Concept Universe.
What’s the result of all those helpful Tweets? The Concept You has evolved with a more coupé-like profile than its predecessor, with the front giving a nod towards what the company calls “a more classic Volvo look”. (I don’t think that’s a reference to soccer moms.)
Let’s take a closer look at what Volvo’s “Designed Around You” strategy has done for the Concept You:
- It’s a large, luxurious sedan than combines classic Volvo elegance with “a new, sculpted Scandinavian form language”.
- The Concept You shows how Volvo’s new Scalable Platform Architecture (SPA) can open up dynamic design possibilities — as well as offering technological advantages.
- By including intuitive smart pad technology, Volvo shows it’s ahead of the game in offering “super-functional connectivity features”.
Volvo is keen to sell the idea of luxury and maximum driving pleasure — but without throwing environmental consciousness out of the window. Apparently it’s all about being “intuitive and uncomplicated”.
But once you hear more about the Concept You — hand-tufted wool carpets, hand-crafted walnut interiors and “FreshAir” subwoofer — I bet green is the furthest thought from your mind. It all sounds like the kind of “Scandinavian inspired environment” I could move into.
September 12, 2011
Own goal: Birmingham tops UK uninsured driving table
In footballing terms Aston Villa and West Bromwich Albion are currently lying mid-table in the Barclays Premier League. But when it comes to uninsured driving, drivers from the city of Birmingham are topping the table.
New figures released by the MIB reveal that the overall level of uninsured driving in the UK has dropped by 25 per cent in the last five years. In the West Midlands and West Yorkshire the news is not so good. The number of drivers without insurance in these areas is up to eight times the national average.
Leading the League of Shame for 2010 is Birmingham B9 (up from second place last year). Then it’s Birmingham B10 and B8, followed by various parts of Bradford. London can take some pride in the thought that none of its postcodes made the top (or should that be bottom) 20 this time.
MIB Chief Executive Ashton West spells it out: “We cannot stand by and let uninsured driving continue, otherwise the honest motorist will keep paying the bills for the injury and damage caused to people and property.”
Other alarming findings include:
- 34 per cent of all uninsured drivers are under the age of 30
- One in 10 of drivers in the 18-34 age group are are unaware that car insurance is a legal requirement
- Honest motorists are subsidising uninsured driving to the tune of around £30 per insurance premium
These figures come from the Motor Insurance Database (that’s MID for all you acronym lovers), which is managed by MIB. Since 2001 MID has been the sole central insurance record for the UK’s 34 million vehicles.
In 2011 MID has an important role as part of the Continuous Insurance Enforcement scheme. Registered keepers of vehicles who don’t appear to have insurance can expect a letter from MID reminding them of their legal obligations and of the penalties for non-compliance.
Drivers can avoid MID’s Big Brother approach by following some of the advice in the famous Monty Python sketch. Prices, of course, are subject to change . . .
September 8, 2011
On Yer Bike: Skoda Sponsors Tour of Britain 2011
They brought you the Yeti and now Skoda will sponsor the King of the Mountains Jersey at the Tour of Britain 2011 cycle race. It’s part of a deal that makes the company an Official Car Partner of the event, which runs from 11-18 September.
Of course there’s nothing abominable about Skoda’s association with the last major cycling event in Britain before the 2012 Olympics. Skoda’s longstanding links with the sport aren’t surprising, given that the company started life in the 19th century as a bike manufacturer in what is now the Czech Republic.
Skoda is already known as an official partner of iconic cycling events like the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. Now cycling fans and Skoda aficionados will be able to watch its fleet of 50 vehicles nipping round the highways and byways of Britain in a race that covers around 767 miles.
Sixteen teams of six riders will compete in the Tour of Britain 2011. Five of these will be supported by Skoda vehicles and this will include two British UCI Continental teams — Rapha Condor Sharp and Team Raleigh.
Unlike a lot of sports sponsorship, Skoda’s role will be considerably more active than hiding behind a Skoda billboard or handing out prizes to the stage winners. After all, this is a brand said to be “synonymous with energy and adventure”.
If you see some hapless rider impaled on a barbed wire fence (as in this year’s Tour de France) a medic in a Skoda will be on hand to patch him up. It all makes for a much more compelling story than anything yet dreamt up by TV advertisers.
The highlights — from a cycling and Skoda viewpoint — should be the three King of the Mountains sprints on each stage of the Tour of Britain 2011.
So after scooping the Auto Express Car of the Year in 2010 for the Yeti, Skoda will hand out King of the Mountains jerseys to some average-sized but speedy mountain men during the eight-day event.
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