Ask MajorGav: Sam bangs the drums
PetrolBlog has been contacted by a reader looking for advice on what car to buy next. After 21 months of existence, this is a first for PetrolBlog, although depending on how the advice goes down, it could quite easily be the last time it happens. Still, if it’s good enough for Honest John, it’s good enough for MajorGav. I’ll have to buy a hat.
But in the meantime, here’s the brief received from the reader.
Darren’s Audi 80 1.8S: an update
Darren has been back in touch with PetrolBlog with a quick update on his wonderful Audi 80. It has been totally plain sailing recently…
No sooner had I mentioned in the original review that the car had generally been reliable, when Mr Sod made an unwelcome appearance, complete with legislation. Read more 
For fog’s sake – switch them off
FOG.
It’s such a simple three letter word and yet, for so many drivers, it seems so difficult to understand. As sure as night follows day, you can be certain that as winter rolls around again, countless drivers up and down the country will fail to deal with the simple act of driving in the fog. Read more
Recession buster: Jaguar XKR-S
I’ve cracked it. Where countless politicians and economists have failed, I think I may have found a solution to the economic crisis. Forget quantitative easing, interest rates and house building, the one thing that can drag us out of the recession is the Jaguar XKR-S.
You might need to bear with me on this… Read more
Rob’s Vauxhall Insignia: Long term update
Resident PetrolBlogger, Rob Griggs-Taylor is back with an update on his Vauxhall Insignia 2.0 EcoFlex Elite. For the earlier review, have a look here, or to follow Rob on twitter, click here.
In 1973 BMW launched the 2002 Turbo onto an unsuspecting market. It was their first turbocharged car, producing around 170BHP which gave it the ability to accelerate from 0-60mph in a whisker under seven seconds. It became a legend, partly because of the bright reversed ’2002 Turbo’ badging on the front spoiler, the fact that only 1,672 were produced in a two-year production run and because the turbo lag was epic. The power delivery was reputedly all or nothing, leading to some exciting rear-first exits to corners. Read more
Brief encounter: SsangYong Korando EX
Location: Bowood Hotel, Wiltshire
Date: 5th October 2011
Korando. It sounds like the name of a detective in a US cop show from the 1970s. He’d probably drive a Buick Riviera, have a penchant for a glass or two of Scotch and be a complete failure with the ladies. But he would of course be the world’s best detective and have an ability to solve a murder using nothing more than a doughnut and a discarded match. In short, Lieutenant Korando would rock. Read more
Brief encounter: Proton Exora
Location: Bowood Hotel, Wiltshire
Date: 5th October 2011
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) held a regional event in October that allowed motoring writers and journalists to test drive a selection of new cars. I managed to grab the keys to eight cars, one of which was the Proton Exora. Here are some thoughts. Read more
FailCar visits the NEC Classic Motor Show
Last weekend, FailCar took a trip to the Classic Motor Show at the NEC. Here he does his best for marital harmony by putting together a list of cars that should be part of our eBay watch lists. I’m sure I once read that divorce rates went up in the winter and that Christmas is a big contributor to this fact. Personally, I think the Classic Motor Show is to blame. But whatever, here’s FailCar…
I do love the classic car show, but for me it’s always a dangerous time of year. The nights draw in and all of a sudden the idea of having another winter project starts to pop into my head. I never really get that excited by the ‘exotic’ stuff on display, but what does get me excited is all the stuff that’s within reach. You know the sort of classics that can be had for a couple of grand, tops.
And it hardly seems fair that I have to go through the punishing temptation, so I figured this time round I would focus on all the stuff that’s ‘attainable’. Read more
Ralph Hosier’s Rover 75
Evo magazine’s tame engineer is back on PetrolBlog with some words on his Rover 75. For more of Ralph, follow him on twitter at @RalphHosier or check out his brilliant TechnoBlog.
What do you think of when you see a Rover 75? Flat cap, maybe? Or perhaps you see slow progress on roads near old people’s homes? Rover spent millions developing that image, unintentionally of course, but is it deserved?
Like many car enthusiasts I had dismissed the slightly bulbous retro styled granny wagon as being too dull and unreliable, but after a fellow writer waxed lyrical about the 75′s virtues I started looking into it in a bit more detail and found that there was a lot more going for it than I had realised. Read more
Ton’s view on the 2011 MINI Clubman
Ton Dumans, PetrolBlog’s Dutch correspondent, is back with some thoughts on his MINI Clubman. Over to you, Ton.
As luck would have it, I found myself sooner than expected in the position to replace my Honda Civic Hybrid as a daily driver. After having driven a sensible, cheap car for nearly three years, I wanted something a little less dull. A bit more me, rather than another dime-a-dozen chickenbox. Where do you start with this in mind? Honestly, I had no clue. Until a year ago, I had never considered a MINI. It simply had not occurred to me. This was until I had the opportunity to drive a colleague’s MINI Cooper that was being used on loan from a BMW dealer when his 116i was in repair. I was pleasantly surprised by a car that, until then, I had only seen as a nice shopping trolley. The car felt like a go-kart, and perhaps even more importantly, it put a smile on my face. Read more
FailCar rants: Flag-based road safety
It’s been too long since @FailCar has had a rant. Well actually, that’s not strictly true as he tends to rant quite a bit on twitter. But it’s all good stuff, as this piece of inspired thinking highlights.
Eighty-Miles-Per-Hour. That was the hot topic of discussion when the government announced that it was thinking about increasing the motorway speed limit. Now I don’t know where you stand on this and to be honest, I’m not sure I know which side of the fence I’m on either, but one thing I certainly don’t agree with is:
“We will get to places faster, it will be more economical and will help boost Britain’s economy”
What? That’s utter twaddle and I’m sure I don’t need to explain to anyone with a brain reading this that it’s simply not true. Read more
First Drive: New 2012 Suzuki Swift Sport
Location: Barcelona, Spain
Date: 31st October 2011
I’ll get straight to the point. The new Suzuki Swift Sport is a better car than the old model. There you go, I’ve said it. PetrolBlog’s Car of the Year in 2010 simply wouldn’t stand a chance in a playground game of Top Trumps. The new car is quicker, lighter, faster, bigger and more powerful. It’s also more fuel efficient and produces less CO2 emissions. Job done then? We should be congratulating Suzuki on the new car and asking them to prepare an acceptance speech for PetrolBlog Car of the Year 2012? Well no, not exactly. Read more
Car Geek Alert: Ullo John! Gotta New Motor?
Don’t ask me how I stumbled across this Alexei Sayle ‘classic’ from 1982 as I couldn’t tell you. But it has to be said, the video is a retro and classic car fanatic’s dream. I’ve counted 22 cars that could or should be identified by an avid car geek. Some are easy to spot, but others are a little tricker as either the glimpse is fleeting or the car is masked by something else. After two viewings, I’ve managed to identify 13 definite cars. See if you can do better. Read more
PetrolBlog introduces ‘Tollfoolery’
My trip to Barcelona to test drive the new Suzuki Swift Sport didn’t go entirely to plan. A couple of Sat Nav ‘fails’ resulted in me spending far too much time on the ribbons of motorways that surround the Catalonian capital. If nothing else, at least I can provide a glowing report on Suzuki’s decision to add a sixth gear to the new Sport. It makes motorway driving a great deal more comfortable.
The knock-on effect of this was that I also managed to visit a total of seven toll booths. Just as well I had pre-paid tag sat on my windscreen. Read more
