Is the Perodua Myvi cooler than a Peugeot RCZ?
What’s cooler? A Perodua Myvi or a Peugeot RCZ? You may say that this is a rhetorical question. No debate needed, the curvaceous and stylish RCZ is much cooler than the boxy and style-free Myvi, right?
Wrong.
You see, two things happened today. Read more 
Utilitarianism: Skoda Roomster Scout 1.6 TDI
The Skoda Roomster is quite a familiar sight on Britain’s roads. It’s hard to believe it’s nearly a decade since the concept was unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show and six years since it finally made its debut. The Skoda brand has come a long way since then, picking up awards left, right and centre and producing some rather interesting cars. By way of an example, I only need to point to the likes of the Yeti, Superb estate and Fabia vRS.
The result of Skoda’s meteoric rise is that the Roomster has been largely forgotten. It strikes me that it’s become the embarrassing uncle of the Skoda range. Slightly oddball in character and not quite sure which box it’s meant to fit into. For every family I see in a Roomster, I see an elderly couple seemingly on their way to a garden centre. Read more
New Suzuki Swift Sport: New and improved?
The new Suzuki Swift Sport is more of an evolution than a revolution. Suzuki has taken the same basic recipe for the previous Sport, made a few tweaks here and there and created what a marketer may call a ‘new and improved’ car. I’ve never really understood that phrase, but in the case of the Swift Sport, it seems to work.
As I discovered on the European launch last year, the new car is in many ways a massive improvement on the old model. Apologies for repeating myself, but the new Swift Sport is quicker, lighter, bigger and more powerful. It’s also more fuel efficient and produces less CO2 emissions.
Case closed then? The new Swift Sport is the one to have? Well no, not really. Despite spending a fantastic week with the new car, I still can’t shake the feeling that the old car is better. I know I’m probably a lone voice and it’s a highly subjective opinion, but I didn’t quite fall head over heels for the new car in the same way as I did with the old one. Allow me to explain. Read more
Dear SEAT, please build this for Mii
I love the Volkwagen up! and the Skoda Citigo. For me, they were two of the most interesting cars on display at the Geneva Motor Show. They are highly relevant, cost effective, cute and customisable. What’s not to like?
But as I said in part two of my Geneva Unconventional report, I was left feeling a little disappointed by the SEAT Mii. For a brand that prides itself on so called Auto Emocion and Enjoyneering, the Mii just seemed like the poor relation of the up! and Citigo. For me at least, it was almost as though SEAT was lacking in confidence. So the news that’s coming out of the 2012 Wörthersee GTI tuning festival is rather encouraging. Read more
Three: Darren’s Volkswagen Sharan
Taking a break from writing about his lovely Audi 80, Darren Leslie is back on PetrolBlog with some words on his Volkswagen Sharan. After the recent Ask MajorGav feature on 7-seaters, PetrolBlog will be getting a reputation for practicality and common sense. Blimey.
Three. It’s a harmless enough number in the general scheme of things. Defined as ‘the cardinal number between two and four’ by YourDictionary, it can generally be described as ‘not big’. In fact, I can, off the top of my head, think of many numbers that are bigger, and only two that are smaller. And apparently, three is the magic number. Well, it isn’t when you combine the word three with the word children. Especially where personal transportation is concerned. Read more
PetrolBlog drives the Nissan Juke-R
Last week, Nissan announced the unthinkable. It’s going to put the Juke-R into production. They probably would have made less of a stir if they’d announced that they were going to develop a 480bhp rear-wheel drive Nissan Note GT-R. When I had the chance to get up close and personal with the Juke-R last year, the team was adamant that it was purely a concept. The chances of a production Juke-R coming from Nissan were a million to one, they said. But still, they come. Or words to that effect. Apologies to Jeff Wayne. Read more
First Drive: 2012 Peugeot 508 RXH HYbrid4 Limited Edition
Peugeot chose a couple of obscure locations for the UK launch of the new 508 RXH Hybrid4. A new and exclusive hotel and golf resort near Knutsford was nice enough, but given the car’s target market and tax friendly positioning, I did wonder if the nearby Knutsford Services on the M6 would be a little more apt. I was paired up with David McCourt of Manchester Confidential and given a road route designed to test the car’s prowess. It soon became apparent that we were heading for Manor House Stables, a racehorse yard partly owned by the footballist, Michael Owen. More on this later. Read more
Eco warrior: Fiat 500 TwinAir
I’ve never been a dedicated follower of fashion. When it comes to clothes, I’ll always err on the side of comfort. I’m also unlikely to jump on a bandwagon, choosing instead to wait for the next wagon, even if means I stand waiting in the rain like a sad chump.
It’s a similar story when it comes to popular culture. If a television channel constantly plugs a new show or insists on using the phrase ‘live and exclusive’, I refuse to watch it, choosing instead to catch it when it comes around on ITV4 or Dave. I’m also one of the rare members of the human race who doesn’t own a copy of an Adele album. Read more
Rob’s long term Insignia: the end
Resident guest blogger, Rob Griggs-Taylor is back on PetrolBlog with some final words on his now departed Vauxhall Insignia. Over to you, Rob.
The name Vectra became synonymous over its lifetime with the words ‘lame’ and ‘rubbish’. Despite being popular in terms of numbers sold it was universally panned by the motoring press both in written and audio visual mediums. Vauxhall apparently withdrew all their advertising from BBC publications after a critique par excellence by one well known motoring show, seemingly preferring to pretend that all was well instead of improving the product. Read more
Golf in sheep’s clothing? Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TSI
It must be tough being a Skoda Octavia vRS. Despite being a genuinely brilliant hot hatch in its own right, it can’t quite seem to shake off the shadow of its brother, the Volkswagen Golf GTI. Face it, the Golf GTI has a badge, a heritage and a level of credibility that the Octavia vRS can only dream of. Whilst the Golf GTI needs no introduction, the Octavia vRS needs a chapter and verse just to get itself noticed.
Yes, it’s fundamentally a Golf GTI in different clothes, but is it about time the Octavia vRS shook off its Primark image and stood on its own two feet? PetrolBlog spent a week in the company of a very blue vRS to find out. Read more
Dawn Raid: Volvo V60 T6 R-Design Polestar
4.28am. That’s the time the alarm was set to go off. But it didn’t get a chance to, because at 4.24 I awoke and by 4.25 I was out of bed and getting dressed. Even my alarm clock gets a day off on a Sunday.
Funny how during the week, the alarm is greeted with a swift smack on the snooze button as I savour every second in bed. But with the thought of a Dawn Raid ahead of me, things are different. By 5am, I was in the car and heading for the Shell garage at Sourton Down. As the highest point on the A30, I thought it would make a suitable point for the start of my pre-breakfast challenge. Read more
Jaguar Land Rover: The overlooked
PetrolBlog is usually your chosen repository for automotive waffle and bunk so we were slightly surprised to receive an invitation from the nice people at Jaguar Land Rover to experience its range.
Never ones to turn down the opportunity to try something new we sent Rob Griggs-Taylor to the National Motor Heritage Centre at Gaydon on a slightly overcast day, where a mouth-watering range of cars were lined up for his convenience. Makes a change from Skoda Favorits and Shatchbacks, eh?
First Drive: Alfa Romeo Giulietta TCT
Alfa Romeo has high hopes for its new TCT semi-automatic transmission. So high in fact, that it chose the International Space Innovation Centre* near Didcot in Oxfordshire as the venue at which to launch the new Giulietta TCT. If you’re aiming high, why not reach for the sky and go beyond? But then there’s a buoyant mood around the Alfa Romeo camp right now, not least because the manufacturer enjoyed a solid 2011, including its highest yearly new registration figure since 2002. And of the 11,563 cars registered, some 7,113 were Giuliettas. No doubt Uma Thurman had a part to play in that. Read more
Fusing horror with pain: Bentley EXP 9 F
“Customer and public reaction will be analysed following the unveiling of EXP 9 F at Geneva 2012, with the aim of refining the concept further. Above all, Bentley will be listening carefully to the reaction of customers and potential customers throughout the world, prior to making any definitive commitment to production.”
This is the penultimate paragraph of the press release that accompanied the announcement that Bentley will be unveiling the EXP 9 F concept tomorrow morning at the Geneva Motor Show. And I’m very, very glad the paragraph was there, as before then I was just about to give up all hope. Read more
Electric Shatchback: Renault Fluence Z.E Dynamique
The 14th of February 2012 was the day I finally got to drive an electric car. Yes, PetrolBlog has propelled itself into the 21st century by experiencing what some people predict is the future of motoring.
That point is debatable of course. There are alternative fuels in development and electric cars have some way to go before they can be considered a realistic alternative to the internal combustion engine. Not only are the cars costly to buy, but there just isn’t the infrastructure to support a nation of electric cars. What’s more, the charging time and the anticipated range of an average electric car just isn’t enough to satisfy most drivers.
But like it or not, electric cars are becoming more common place and can now be seen as just another model in a manufacturer’s range of vehicles. In a relatively short space of time, they’ve gone from being the slightly eccentric uncle in the corner to the perfect dinner party guest. Read more
Nissan’s crazy Juke-R
There’s a lot of waffle and bunk on the internet surrounding the Nissan Juke-R. For example, there’s a rumour that the bigwigs at Nissan HQ knew nothing about the concept and weren’t best pleased when news of its existence emerged from Europe. I suspect the story is the stuff of internet legend, but I rather hope that parts of it are true.
There’s something delightfully old school about the story. I have visions of a couple of chaps meeting in the bar after a work and, following a few of pints of Old Thumper, somebody makes the point that “we’re not using the GT-R enough”. A direct quote from Nissan. Read more
Nissan Micra: Have you driven one?
It was Craig that came up with the idea for the Real World Reviews, so it’s good to see some more words from him arriving in the PetrolBlog inbox. Here he presents a rather solid defence of the Nissan Micra. Good stuff, Craig.
Have you driven one?
This should, in my opinion, be the first question levelled at a critic of a car’s performance in order to work out if what follows has any substance. Anyone is entitled to comment on the aesthetics and those who’ve sat inside and twiddled all the knobs are justified in critiquing the ergonomics; however, those who would calmly place their pint on the table and state ‘of course, the 458 is a far better drive than the LP670-4′ had better have some miles under their belt in each. Read more
Real World Review: Fiat Panda 100HP
The Fiat 100HP is a car I’ve coveted for some time. I’ve even come close to buying one. Twice. Reading Antony Ingram’s review has done little to dampen my enthusiasm for this brilliant little pocket rocket. Antony’s is in the right colour too. If you’re thinking of buying one, buy his. Go ahead, do it. Do it.
I bought the 100HP somewhat on a whim.
By that I don’t mean that I had a big pile of cash lying about and dropped it all on a Fiat – more that I wasn’t really expecting to see it when I went car shopping back in late 2010, to replace my old Mazda MX5, that had met its maker thanks to the attentions of Mr Sneaky Thieving Bastard. Read more
PetrolBlog looks at: waterless car cleaning
It’s a measure of how far behind I am with fresh content on PetrolBlog that I used this car cleaning product way back in September 2011 when I still had the Honda Accord Type-Shed. It’s also a measure of how different my priorities are these days when I remember that the last time I actually washed one of my cars was back in November. Oh dear.
Once upon a time, washing the car would be weekly chore. Actually no, it wasn’t a chore, it was something I actually enjoyed. Today though, there are too many other things to worry about, meaning the weekly car wash has turned into the quarterly scrub, wash and polish. I guess the days when I reviewed new cars for PetrolBlog have a small part to play in it. A car would arrive spotless and then leave a week later covered in dirt. Read more
Happy New PetrolBlog Score
PetrolBlog is thundering headlong into 2012 and is fast approaching its second birthday. Of the 243 posts that have been written, there have been a number of reviews, at the end of which I try to reach a conclusive verdict on the car ‘what I’ve driven’. It’s a personal opinion of course, but I believe a conclusion should be drawn.
In 2010, I gave the Suzuki Swift Sport the title of PetrolBlog Car of the Year. This wasn’t based on a scoring system or any kind of scientific measurement, more an emotional attachment to a car that I fell head over heels in love with.
But as I started preparing the shortlist for PetrolBlog Car of the Year 2011, I realised that I perhaps needed something a little more scientific than my gut instinct. It ties in nicely with a piece I’m writing on what exactly is a ‘PetrolBlog car’? Some kind of scoring system would help matters tremendously. Read more
