Category Archives: Motoring News

Young people falling out of love with cars?

June 22, 2012   simon

Kids today, eh? They seem to reckon a smartphone is cooler than a car. Car companies are concerned that young people in cities are increasingly likely to avoid buying a car. It has already happened in Japan, where sales of all but the smallest city cars have been in long-term decline for over a decade. Now the worry is that it could happen in Europe as well – even when (if?) the recession finally ends.
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James Bond Car Exhibition – Bring Your Own

June 21, 2012   simon

The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu is exhibiting cars from 50 years of Bond films – and is asking anyone who owns the same type of car to bring theirs along too. This is not simply an invitation to those lucky enough to own a silver Aston Martin DB5.

A huge number of different cars have been used over the years from the exotic to the everyday. The list of eligible cars runs to dozens and includes semi-classics like the Triumph Stag (Diamonds are Forever) and even a traditional rear-engined Skoda 105 (The Living Daylights apparently, although we can’t remember that one).

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Saab 9-3 nearly new – £13,599

June 18, 2012   simon

The news that Saab is to be saved (or maybe not) by a multinational consortium, has been celebrated by Motorpoint, which has 2011 9-3 models in stock. The 9-3 1.9 TTiD 160 Turbo Edition Estates are available from £13,599 – which compares to a list price of £24,120 when the car was last on sale. The cars have around 13,000 miles on the clock. That means they have suffered a theoretical depreciation of almost £1 per mile, although nobody was actually paying list price for Saabs last year.At around the price of the most basic pre-registered Focus estate, the Saab 9-3 estate might be worth a look.
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Audi wins again at Le Mans as Toyota wins respect

June 18, 2012   simon

Audi have won the 80th Le Mans 24 Hours, claiming their 11th victory in 13 years and taking a clean sweep of the podium.Andre Lotterer took the chequered flag in the #1 Audi R18 e-tron quattro to win his and his co-drivers’, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler, second successive Le Mans. Their diesel hybrid car finished the race one lap ahead of the #2 car of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Rinaldo Capello with the traditional diesel R18 Ultra of Mike Rockenfeller, Oliver Jarvis and Marco Bonanomi third.Unlike last year which ended with one of the closest finsihes in Le Mans history, the 2012 edition was a typical endurance race, a war of attrition where reliability and accidents played their parts as much as outright speed. As we’re in the middle of Euro 2012 it seems appropriate to say that the Le Mans 24 Hours was also a race of two halves.
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Renault electric car does 1,005 miles – in a day

June 16, 2012   simon

A Renault Zoe (a Clio-sized hatchback due to go on sale shortly) has run for just over 1,000 miles in 24 hours to demonstrate its range and fast-charging system.The distance of 1,005 miles, achieved on the speed ring at the Aubevoye technical centre (CTA) in Normandy, France, was 26% further than the previous record of 795 miles. The record attempt was helped by the use of Renault’s new Chameleon charger. This makes Zoe compatible with any socket and any power level. Zoe was therefore able to be fast-charged at 43 kW, regaining 80% of battery capacity in under thirty minutes – that is a charging rate you definitely should not try at home.
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