Lexus shows GM’s Saab folly February 28, 2010
Posted by richard in : Green cars, News clues , add a commentLEXUS will open the 5 doors of its all-new CT 200h next week at Geneva.
This car is a masterstroke. It will take Lexus into the premium mainstream and give the brand instant sustainability. It will do what the A3 did for Audi, and ought to have Lexus car dealers in raptures.
Thing is, it’s so obvious, you have to wonder why they… no, forget that. It’s here, that’s the key. You have, instead, to wonder why blimmin’ GM didn’t let Saab so something similar!
I’ve yet to find out, but I reckon the CT 200h will use something related to the Prius platform, or the Auris platform (which, in upper-spec guise, has the prerequisite multi-link rear suspension). It thus needn’t cost a fortune to develop, nor take a million years or more to make reality.
GM’s Vauxhall/Opel, of course, has the Astra platform. Which is simple, cheap to produce and flexible enough to be made in a variety of guises. While no class-leader, the old-shape model was decent enough, and the Astra Sport Hatch proved there was loads of flexibility in the hard points.
How stunningly delicious would a premium compact Saab hatch been, then? Sporty styling, lots of aircraft cues (think Astra Panorama windscreen…), punchy turbo engines and a mad, torque-steering VXR-engined Aero Turbo range-topper to please the enthusiasts.
Computer-controlled damper availability – something you still can’t get on a Ford Focus, note – would have injected some extra Saab fan cool factor. And I’m sure they could have reconfigured the instrument pack to slot in a turbo boost gauge.
Vauxhall Astra TwinTop? What a great Saab 9-2 Convertible it would have made. Even the petrol engines are, Saab-style, called ‘Ecotec’.
It would potentially have been great. Fantastic. Brought to life all those great concepts that the firm continually showed. But, while it was mooted for years, GM ummed and aahed and never committed the money.
Had it have done, I’m almost sure Saab wouldn’t have floundered and fell from its grasp. The new Lexus could also have had a mighty all-new challenger to compete for the limelight at Geneva, too. Yup, a gen-2 Saab premium compact, based on the much-improved platform of the latest Astra.
Alas, it’s yet another car industry if-only…
Ad 1 Car 0: Vauxhall Vectra February 27, 2010
Posted by richard in : History , add a commentADS for cars can be as great or as tragic as the cars themselves.
So, in the first of a decidedly ad-hoc series, I’ll dig out some YouTube links to some of the most striking. And, in James Alexander Gordon-style, score them.
The first? A win for marketing and a resounding defeat for engineers: the Vauxhall Vectra. Even Bjork wasn’t enough to rescure it (and getting the licence for Play Dead, when the Icelander was in her heyday, can’t have come cheap).
Let’s shoot right back to 1995, and the days of Atomic Clocks and non-adjustable steering columns*…
* Of course, if you want to recreate a Vectra’s compromised driving position, go for a brand-new Vauxhall Corsa S. Stunningly, that doesn’t come with an adjustable steering column as standard, either…
BBC 6Music must be saved February 26, 2010
Posted by richard in : Technology , 3commentsBBC 6Music is a resplendent beacon of absolute and unbridled brilliance. It rocks.
It is witty, erudite, intelligent, entertaining, pure, diverse, and plays music that would be on anyone’s Godlike playlist for eternity. It is a digital station the BBC should be proud of, which the Governors should be streaming to every naysayer in the country in order to prove just what its unique structure makes possible.
Instead, it is rumoured 6Music will close.
This is tragic. Inexplicable. This, if it is true, would be a monumental loss, and not just for the Motoring Research office where I work, at which you will hear 6Music for 12 out of every 24 weekday hours.
6Music is a digital station. This is why the listenership is not huge. This is why pure numbers should not drive decisions such as that which is rumoured. (Not that the listenership is all that tiny, anyway).
After all, just this month, the BBC Trust recognised this, and praised it for the impeccable diversity it offers. Rightly so. Because it is an authentic, joyous, delightful treat to listen to, always.
The groundswell of support for 6Music is thus understandable. Because it is not just an asset, a token piece of output that, if quelled, will save a few pennies (is £6m a year really that much of a drain?). This, BBC execs, is the reason why I and hundreds of thousands of others are so evangelical about the Corporation, about the diversity that you proclaim, about the mission to which you say you aspire.
To close 6Music would destroy this support. It would malnourish those hundreds of thousands of loyal listeners. It would kill one of your world-class assets. It would be unjust, unfair. It would be tragic.
Please, BBC Trust, tell us it is not true. Please #saveBBC6Music.
Please.
Skoda inspired by Volkswagen Golf February 23, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , add a commentSKODA has just launched the Superb estate to the UK press, prior to its on-sale date this Friday (26 February 2010).
Much delight from me on a brief launch visit – particularly with the value, the space, the rear legroom, the prices, the lush ride and the sublime 1.8 TSI engine.
For under £19k, it’s an utter, utter bargain. If I had a growing family, I would have one – full stop.
During the drive, though, I was amazed to find yet more to love. (If you know me, or visit here on occasion, you’ll know I’m not kidding, either).
Yes. The Skoda Superb estate has an oil temperature readout. Just like on a VW Golf GTD.
Almost as good as that, the dials do a fancy full sweep when you turn the ignition key. Just like on a VW Golf R.
It also has a rechargeable magnetic torch in the boot, that will shine a bright-white LED for 2 days non-stop. This isn’t like a VW Golf at all. But is just as car geek-pleasing.
I’d get me coat, naturally. But I lost it in the Superb’s 1865-litre boot. Ahem.
Colour lightens weird journo mood
Colour lightens weird journo mood February 21, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , 1 comment so farBOLD colours are pretty badass. I love ‘em. Give me a colouring book and some BIG BOLD MARKERS and I’m sorted.
So it’s always appreciated here when car makers do colours well. Particularly when they’re backlit and glowing from one of my favourite motoring preoccupations, dashboards.
As promised in my knee-rub of the Golf R’s dials, here’s why I love my SEAT Exeo ST long-termer. Yup, its headlight switch.
Stay with me. Or, even if you don’t, savour the image. It’s like this:
• Backlit in red
• When the lights are on, the sidelight symbol changes to green
• As it’s auto lights, when the function is active, this glows yellow
It means you get a veritable light-like kaleidoscope of colour at night: red, yellow, green. For nutters like me, it’s so unexpectedly appealing, it’s a treat to stop at traffic lights and stare.
Don’t unduly worry. We mutterers had a calling that means such things are, as you perhaps have gathered from this blog, everyday occurrences. Last week, for instance, I spent 10 minutes chatting with colleague CJ about the weighting of column stalks on said long-termer.
That’s a blog in waiting there too, I tell you.
In the meantime, I’ll get me coat.
Journo in petrol engine love shock February 19, 2010
Posted by richard in : Technology , add a commentNOWADAYS it is rare for motoring journalists to get excited over mainstream petrol engines.
Yes, we love our 6-pots, and get super-excited in these dying days of the V8. There’s an ethereal silence when we behold a V12.
But cooking new 4-cylinder 1.4s and the like? Lord, no. Even though the majority of small hatches sold are petrol engined, we still like to eulogise over the crazy money diesels. Well, quite right, given how good the modern diesel is.
Anyone who chooses, say, a 2.0 petrol Mondeo over its diesel equivalent really does need to ask a few logic-based questions.
So I wasn’t really expecting much from the Citroen C3 1.4 VTi 95 I had in this week. Starting it up, and hearing the familiar old PSA XU cam-clatter kinda reinforced my lack of whelm. And the god-awful digitally on-off nature of the throttle had me yearning for a nice 1.6 HDi 90.
An hour later, hat was eaten. This engine is brilliant. Smooth, powerful, torquey, classy in vocals and peachy in ability to take on Maybachs heading north on the M1, I fell in love. 1.4 VTi? One of the modern small car engine greats, it is.
And you don’t need to be a Citroen fan to enjoy it, either. PSA management is sharp, alright – it collaborated with no less than BMW on this unit, perhaps explaining why it’s so fantastic. This means not only is it in the Peugeot 207, it’s also in the MINI.
Never driven a MINI One, or a MINI First. Seriously must get one out – because if the engine’s as good as it is here, that car could be a bit of an understated peach. Certainly preferable to the – shock horror – clattery and not-so-loveable MINI Cooper D diesel…
First Impressions: Citroen C3 2010
Is the Giulietta an Alfa Romeo Rover 75? February 16, 2010
Posted by richard in : History , 5commentsALFA Romeo will show the sexy Ford Focus-rivalling Giulietta in public for the first time at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
It’s a make-or-break car. Lordy, how many times have we heard that before?
Thing is, how many times has it been proven right..?
Fiat Group boss Sergio Marchionne has already gone on record to say Alfa Romeo is currently not cutting the mustard. It’s the weakest brand in the giant Fiat Group portfolio – and, when you consider that also includes Chrysler and Lancia, it’s quite a dubious honour to hold.
Alfa Romeo is unbowed, though. It’s going to take its final chance and damn well make the most of it – with a product-led recovery that will be centred around the Giulietta.
But can Alfa do it? My mind swifts back to another ill-judged pronouncement of leadership intent to drive the PR guys up the wall. Yes, Bernd Pischetsrieder, on the eve of the Rover 75 launch at the British Motor Show back in 1998.
Forget the car, muses Keith Adams on the brilliant AROnline: Bernd ensured that, with pronouncements such as ‘short-term actions are required for the long-term future of the Rover Group,’ the chat of the launch was not of 75, but of the health of the firm building it.
So recounted motoring writer good guy Steve Cropley to Adams; ‘…we were all a bit stunned,’ he said, ‘both by the content and timing of what Bernd Pischetsrieder said. We had all been feeling pretty enthusiastic about the 75 and the unveiling had gone well… it seemed bizarre, even grotesque, that the company’s top man should choose to undermine the moment so thoroughly.
‘He deflected the media from praising the car the way they would naturally have done, deflated the workforce who must have been on a high, and introduced a degree of buyer uncertainty that could have been avoided.’ No wonder the reaction in the firm was one of gobsmacked amazement.
Shoot forward a decade and a bit, to the Giulietta, to Marchionne saying ‘Alfa has been underperforming for some time’ and ‘it’s our problem’ and we ‘have to rethink our objectives and be realistic with ourselves,’ to cue many pairs of eyes on Alfa in Geneva.
Will he complete his ‘doing a Bernd’ in Geneva? I’ll join the throngs during the press conference next month and find out…
How Ford would have made a Rover
How torque curves will change in the future February 14, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , 3commentsTORQUE Talking is not only the name of fine industry man Duncan Forrester’s blog, it’s also what I like talking, when I’m not discussing ride.
Oh, believe me, it’s a night to remember, if you get me in the pub.
I’ve munched on the shape of torque curves before, and how they’re slowly changing from Peak Practice to Table Mountain. And, in the future, they will continue to do so.
Indeed, they’ll do it completely. Become big, flat boxes. Why? Because the car of the future WILL be driven by an electric motor. Whose key characteristic is maximum torque delivery from 0 rpm.
As soon as you press the accelerator of an electric car, all your Nms are there at your disposal. No delay, no build-up and no waiting for your little torque mountain-climbing men to summit the side of the low-rev cliff-face until the stick the conquering flag of their home nation atop the 3500rpm sweet spot. Or similar.
This means torque will become an absolute. You’ll see a number and instantly be able to judge the strength of an engine. Just as we look at 0-60mph to rate speediness, so we’ll view torque to rate strength. All the mystique will be removed.
Indeed, this is why all the fledgling electric cars right now are not even bothering to discuss hp. Because it’s even less important than it already arguably isn’t. Torque is what will talk. (Quite right, too. After all, hp is but a function of torque in the first place…)
Incidentally, note I earlier said accelerator. It is, of course, not a throttle. That’s why Vauxhall Ampera chief mused to me recently, that perhaps it should be renamed ‘speed variation device’…
Why Ford Econetics break the rules
RenaultSport past to inspire turbo future
Golf R dials cool blue point February 12, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars , 1 comment so farVOLKSWAGEN made our jaws drop in the 90s with its blue and red dials.
The key to it was, yes, the blue background, rather than the red needles. Red needles? Pft. We’d had them for years – it was a proper old school sporting trick, up there with punched leather steering wheels. And shiny black bits for the dash. And strict adherence to primary colours for seat trims.
There’s reason to salute Austin Rover here, too. The Maestro bringing us illuminated needles made VW’s work of genius over a decade later all the more (ahem) illuminating.
By Lord, though, did the R32 cause my dropped jaw to fall off. Years after people had genuinely started buying VWs for the blue and red dials, VW gave us super-special dials for its superhatch. With, yes, BLUE needles! On an ice-white background! Rrrubrubrub!
And so they continue in the latest Golf R.
I had to photograph and film them. See, if I hadn’t done so, I would have to stare at them while driving, and would crash. Indeed, my dially preoccupation would be complete if I called up the oil temperature readout, too.
Details such as this make cars. Well, they do for me, anyhows.
Look out soon for my thoughts on the lights switch backlighting illumination of my new SEAT Exeo ST long-termer. I know, I know – you can’t wait. I promise you, it’ll come soon…
Volkswagen Golf R dials on YouTube
First impressions: Citroen C3 2010 February 9, 2010
Posted by richard in : Minutiae of cars, flickr , 2commentsFIRST impressions are everything. And so on. And on. There are a billion quotes or more I could reference. Which have given me an idea.
Here, I’m going to share those first few seconds, miles and minutiae of new, interesting, intriguing or plain cool cars with you.
Motor industry God, Richard Parry-Jones, said it was all about the 50 metre test*. Here’s a loose variation on this – something so new, I don’t even have a fancy title for it yet.
The first car to be sat in for 5 minutes, driven for a couple of miles then parked up again while I have a cup of tea is the new 2010 Citroen C3.
Head over to Flickr and let me know what you think of what I thought.
Oh, and once I’ve actually driven it some meaningful distance, I plan to post back here with more rounded impressions. Just so’s you can compare suspicion with, hopefully, a bit more reality.
Share here what you think of what I fleetingly think and share with you…
* ‘You can tell how good any car is within 50 metres from the ways it responds to your inputs and provides feedback,’ Parry-Jones told Brian Appleyard in The Times. ‘It should feel connected and coherent. If you work hard enough, you can do this for ordinary customers at ordinary prices.’
Motorsport and Twitter aim for Groundswell
