Cars, Driving, and the rest...

Speed limits to be reduced?

2005-12-23T10:08:00.000Z

The government is set to review speed limits in the UK, and the net result of it will mean many speed limits will be reduced - many 30 zones will become 20, and NSL roads will become 50 or 40 mph in places (in some places, this is already happenning!). The government is asking local authorities to review speed limits on A and B roads in their areas.

However, despite calls to raise the motorway speed limits to 80 mph, and despite the fact the laws are ridiculously outdated, the government is dead set against it.

Don't you just love our government? Wankers!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/12/16/nspeed16.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/12/16/ixhome.html

2006 Civic Type R confirmed for the UK

2005-12-23T09:56:00.000Z

Honda has confirmed that its hot "Type R" Civic model will be launched in the UK next year. They have not released technical specs as yet, but I expect the latest model will feature a 2.0 or 2.4 litre nautrally aspirated 16-valve engine, and in true VTEC fashion, will be endlessly revvy. Perhaps the picture below is an indication of what it might look like - this is the Civic SI concept...

This model appears to have a carbon fiber bonnet for lightness, and has a stylish coupe bodystyle - the 21st century CRX. The engine will likely have more power than the outgoing model, and I'd expect it to produce anywhere up to 240 bhp. This should be good enough to propel the car to 60 in just over 6 seconds and on to around 150 mph.

Toyota Corolla "Compressor"

2005-12-12T21:25:00.000Z

The current shape Toyota Corolla is certainly a competant car, but not exactly one to get the old pulse rate running any higher, even in what was its hot hatch form, the 189 bhp T-Sport, a car with reasonable but uninspiring handling, and a very, very peaky engine that did absolutely nothing below 6,000 rpm.

Toyota hope to redress the balance with this new car, the Compressor. The current T-Sport is to be discontinued as the engine does not meet modern emissions standards, so in steps the new model.

Unfortunately, the new car seems just as peaky - in fact, if anything, its worse - with its peak power now being produced 400 rpm higher up the rev range than before. With only 158 lb ft, its not exactly the most torquey motor in the world, and so, according to Driven, this remains a dissapointing hot hatch.

Read the review here

New Vauxhall VXR twins

2005-12-12T21:14:00.000Z

Following hot on the heals of the new 237 bhp Astra VXR comes two new cars with the VXR branding, both bigger brothers to the Astra - the Vectra VXR (pictured) and Zafira VXR.

Out of the two new cars, the Vectra is perhaps the more interesting model... it uses a new 2.8 V6 twin turbo engine, which produces an impressive 252 bhp and 262 lb ft of torque, good enough to propel this manic repmobile from a standstill to 62 mph in 6.5 seconds, and on to a top speed of 161 mph, more than enough to get even a police officer testing the capabilities of his new toy into hot water ;-)

Read the Driven review of the Vectra VXR here

The Zafira VXR is the replacement for the Mk1 Zafira GSI, which boasted the same 197 bhp 2.0T powerplant from the previous Astra GSI (which incidentally, now features in the new Zafira SRI). It seems fitting then, that the new Zafira now boasts the same 237 bhp powerplant from the Astra VXR. It also shares the same suspension set up. The Zafira, being a bus, carries a lot more weight however, and this reduces its 0-62 acceleration to 7.2 seconds - which is still pretty scorching considering the type of vehicle it is.

Read the Driven review of the Zafira VXR here

Golf GTI Mk2

2005-12-12T20:38:00.000Z

Yesterday saw my previous car finally make its way to its new owner, a guy from Southampton, who bought it for a mere £320. I am glad it is on its way to an enthusiast - this guy has had lots of cars, and plans to put a 1.8T VAG engine in it - should have some serious performance. With that in mind, I post here a little review of my old baby.

The car in question is one of the last Golf GTI's, an 8-valve big bumper model. By modern standards, the 1.8-litre engine is pretty weak - with a mere 112 bhp output at a relatively lowly 5400 rpm. However, it does only have 920 kg of weight to haul about, making a 121 bhp / tonne output, which is not too bad. Its not bad off the mark, and posts a respectable 8.3 second 0-60 time, but its lack of grunt makes itself felt somewhat above 60. Here, the GTI 16v is a better bet, but even that is not quick by modern standards.

Despite its relative lack of power, it always feels nippy, the ingear performance is not bad thanks to a decent 118 lb ft of torque, much of it available from low revs. Many people report the 8v to be a punchier engine than the 16v due to the torque coming in low. Now that I drive a 16v car, I can say that I'd imagine it might respond better at very low revs, but much above that, it'll be much of a muchness, and at higher revs, the 16v cars will have the legs on it. At least it sounds the part - although the engine is pretty rough and ready sounding, its loud and boomy and gives the impression of a good turn of pace.

So, we've established that the performance is nothing special, so what of the handling? The handling of this car is superb. It does not have particularly high limits, but its easy to get sideways, very composed, and predictable. It has a thankful lack of understeer, but oversteer is always there if provoked. There is no traction control, or on this particular model, power steering. In fact, the only thing I could criticise on mine was the throttle response - a bit slow, but then thats a digifant trademark, so I've heard. Other than that, this car represents a very pure driving experience.

My car had covered over 130,000 miles when I'd got rid of it, and although not superbly reliable, it was reasonable for its age. It did need a lot of work.

As a pure driving experience it is hard to beat, but it also cannot be denied when compared with a car of the caliber of the Clio 182, that hot hatches in general have progressed quite a bit. The Clio is faster, handles better, is safer, and more comfortable. However, it is not as "pure". In terms of absolute fun, I am not 100% sure whether the Clio is better... both are extremely good fun in their own right - the Clio on the whole is definitely easier to live with day to day though. The Golf Mk2 GTI is a car any hot hatch enthusiast should try at least once.

Speed camera money to go to the treasury

2005-12-12T20:33:00.000Z

A bit of "better" news? Money from speed cameras is now to go to the treasury instead of "Safety" camera partnerships. Apparently, the government will also urge the partnerships to improve road design and signage, and to deploy cameras as a last resort. Whether this happens remains to be seen, but if it does, then I guess it's a step in the right direction.

In response to the news, Paul Smith of "Safe Speed" said:

Road safety progress cannot be restored until DfT bites the bullet and scraps all speed cameras. They distract drivers, give false safety priorities and damage the police-public relationship. The side effects are so wide ranging and so deadly that they will go down in history as the Thalidomide of road safety. Without speed cameras road safety progress would have continued and road deaths would be down to around 2,000 per year by now."

"Road safety has its foundations in psychology because crashes take place when road users make mistakes. Speed cameras increase pressure and make mistakes more likely. "The only safe speed is one that enables a driver to stop in good time if a hazard develops ahead. The dream that increased speed limit compliance will improve safety is just that -- a dream without foundation.

"Government claims of increased safety at speed camera sites are based on useless, flawed and misleading studies."

Personally, I am not holding my breath on this one......

Foreign drivers in UK now face on the spot fines

2005-12-12T20:26:00.000Z

According to the Telegraph, at the end of 2006, the UK will fall into line with the rest of Europe and dish out on the spot fines, for motoring offences such as speeding. I guess if they do it, we may as well join in too!

Click here for article

Bus numbers drop

2005-12-09T08:17:00.000Z

Apparently, the government looks unlikely to meet its targets for public transport users in all areas of England by 2011, despite growth in London:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4512412.stm

The seeming reason for the growth in London is that they actually have a reasonable quality service, unlike everywhere else in the country (although they are until now, using ancient 50 year old buses).

The fact is, the bus service here in Newcastle has been a shambles ever since it was privatised. Nice decision from the government. Where I live, just outside of Newcastle on the outskirts of County Durham, I pay £2.30 for the privelidge of standing on a bus while it travels the 7 or so miles to Newcastle City Centre, and thats one way! The buses are slow, dirty, smelly, noisy and uncomfortable. They have no leg room. At best you'll get to share a tiny seat with a fat old granny who smells of piss, and at worst, you may find yourself on one of the many infamous "last bus", on a friday or saturday night, where they can be down right dangerous.

Not to mention the fact the buses are horrendous polluters, it just adds insult to injury. They have implemented bus lanes and yet have not reduced journey times. Its not just the buses either, the Metro (local train system in Newcastle) runs half as many trains, and it costs a frankly ridiculous £1.30 to go one stop.

Despite all of that, we will get congestion charging here in Newcastle like in other parts of the country, and its nice to know that whichever way we plan on doing it, we'll be buttfucked by the government. Its a great country we live in, where, they want us not to use our cars, but will not give us any attractive alternative, that is cheap, regular, comfortable and safe. The fact that the councils here in Tyne & Wear plan on re-imbursing local businesses for lost trade adds insult to injury. They know it is a bad idea, but they are still going ahead with it anyway, because they are greedy and want the governments money, and bugger everyone else. I am starting to think the death of our city centres may be a good thing to show this bunch of muppets that what they are doing is a bad idea.

More bad news for drivers?

2005-12-09T07:50:00.000Z

Steven Cameron, the new leader of the tory party is making the environment a top priority in his coming term(s) as leader. He claims that environmental issues are "some of the most serious challenges facing society".

Nothing is said directly in the article, but surely this gives him "Carte Blanche" to pick on car drivers, as we all know they are evil, dirty machines that throw out tonnes of pollution. With the all three main political parties against the driver, the future looks bleak for car enthusiasts in the UK.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/4512202.stm

Talivan locations for Tyne & Wear

2005-12-08T21:57:00.000Z

I stumbled across this website the other day:-

http://www.safespeedforlife.com/

If you visit the site, and click on the camera maps, it gives you the locations of all cameras in the Tyne & Wear areas, and even more usefully, contains the locations of the mobile cameras (talivans). It's actually quite alarming how many different locations there are listed in that site for mobile cameras. There are a few surprising omissions too, but I'm not going to go into those, as it'll just give the greedy scum ideas.

Mobile Police Station caught on camera!

2005-12-08T21:52:00.000Z

This story on pistonheads made me chuckle, it tells of a mobile police station being gatsoed on the A1, near St. Neots, who was apparently exceeding 50 mph in a 40 mph zone. The officer who was driving, Sergeant Ted Bloodworth faces a £60 fine and 3 penalty points. Unlucky chump!

http://www.pistonheads.com/speed/default.asp?storyId=12631

Essex Police get away with it...

2005-12-08T21:46:00.000Z

According to the BBC website, Essex Police vehicles were caught more than 5,000 times on "safety" camera's in the first six months of 2005! Full story here:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4506470.stm

Despite that, there were no recorded cases of officers being disciplined, or fines handed out for the offences. According to Essex police, any officers who were caught on camera did so for an "entirely legitimate purpose". Yeah right! One rule for them, one rule for anyone else?

Renault Sport Clio 182

2005-12-08T20:43:00.000Z

Well, as this is a new blog, and I'm trying to get some content on it, I'd like to tell you all about my new toy, that I've owned for the last few weeks, it's a car who's image I've not always agreed with, but nevertheless, I still like the way it looks and was drawn by its rave reviews. That is one of the last of the current Renault Sport Clio's, the 182, so called because it develops 182 PS in European figures (180 bhp in our money).

With 180 bhp to propel 1100 kg of car, this makes it quite nippy as you would expect. According to Autocar, 0-60 is done in 6.3 seconds. 0-100 in 17 seconds. 30-70 in 5.8 seconds. As you can see from these figures, it is pretty quick. Unlike the current trend for turbocharged petrol and diesel hot hatches, this is more of a hot hatch from the old school. The naturally aspirated 2.0i 16v engine needs revving to see its best, and accelerates at a frantic rate from 5,000 rpm all the way to its 7,250 rpm red line. Beneath that, its still quite torquey and willing, not too gutless, unlike some 16v cars, but still, it much prefers to be kept above 2,500 rpm, and it definitely does not like being below 1,500 rpm, where it almost feels like it'll stall!

Its not all just about the pace though, this engine sings an excellent note too, a very revvy engine which is not shy about singing either, a gravelly roar resonates around the cabin under full load, yet the car can be quiet when need be.

The performance is not necessarily the best thing about this car, although it is mightily impressive, especially considering its only a naturally aspirated 2.0-litre. That award has to go the handling, which in true French car fashion, is sublime. It has loads of grip, almost complete lack of body roll, and goes sideways very well, albeit at high speed - you really don't want to fuck up in this car. Nevertheless, it does boast traction control and ESP, if you need it. For everyday driving, it does not intrude. When you want to have fun, knock it off though!

that's not all though... The amount of feel this car gives you is incredible and it really does add to the experience. With a wheel in each corner and such informative handling, this is like driving a refined go-kart. The firm suspension has slight drawbacks, the car can be a little skittish on poor surfaces, but that's the drawback of firm suspension. Nevertheless it's still a car you can travel from A-B at fairly silly speeds, and luckily, the 280mm front discs are man enough for the job.

The specification is quite impressive too. This car comes with half leather, half alacantra seats. It comes with all the sports trimmings, like drilled pedals (probably just covers, but still), a bit of aluminium in the cabin and door sills. You have electric windows, central locking, category 1 alarm, immobiliser, cruise control, speed limiter, cd player, climate control with air conditioning, power steering, ABS, 16-inch alloys and a few other things that I've probably forgotten about. All in all a very good specification for a fairly cheap motor.

If you were buying new, you could also specify the cup spoiler and suspension pack. With the former, you get some skirts and spoilers you don't get on the standard one. Might make it look a bit meaner... but still I kinda prefer the stealth look myself, even if the twin pipes are a bit of giveaway. The cup suspension pack is actually suspension and wheels. Revised springs give it a 3mm lower stance and you get anthracite alloy wheels. Mine was second hand, and these options clearly were not specified. Still, the standard car is still great, and in reality, the very slight differences you might notice with the Cup pack probably aren't obvious unless at the very limits of the car's ability.

It's not perfect though (what is?). For a start, my car makes a whining / squealing noise at high speed, most noticeable in high winds. The A167 central motorway in Newcastle is the ideal place to show this up - a gale force wind is all it takes for the cabin to be filled with an annoying high pitched squeal at 80 mph upwards. It's been back to the dealers once, with no success. Not much of a problem at the moment, admittedly. I have to say it does not idle the most smoothly either. Maybe that's a side effect of tuning a 2.0 engine to 180 bhp? The gearbox definitely does not like to be rushed either - rush it into first from neutral, and you can hear it "clunk". Rush it through the gears, and you might mess up your gear change. The rain sensitive wipers take some getting used to, and are annoying - spray your screen, and watch as it wipes too many times and smears the screen. The wipers are on the wrong side too, so you get a dirty patch of windscreen on the drivers side. Not a good design. In fact this car has a lot of electronic gizmos that will probably cause some problems later in life. Not that this car was ever going to be a long term prospect. The visibility compared to some cars is odd too... maybe I'm just used to VAG cars, and Nissan's, but the view is slightly "distorted" especially out from the rear. Not too bad admittedly, but worth mentioning. I've parked up a couple of times at work, and not realised that I've only been 1 cm from the wall. The bonnet is short and stubby, but almost "feels" even shorter than it is at times from the drivers seat. Something I'll have to watch, if I want to avoid an expensive bodywork repair bill!!!

It is enjoyable to drive in the extreme though, and for now, I am glad to have it. I'm sure it'll rattle, squeak and have gremlins - it is French after all. Someone did say to me that once in my life, I should own at least one French hot hatch. Well here it is, and it really is great! You feel almost like king of the road in this thing, such is its potent mix of performance and handling, and high degree of involvement. I'd recommend one of these to anyone!

Mini Cooper S Works GP

2005-12-08T20:33:00.000Z

My first post on my blog is about a car that unfortunately, I don't particularly like - the Mini, and I don't mean the original. Nevertheless, the forthcoming Mini Cooper S Works GP (a bit of a mouthful) is to go on sale from summer next year.

Expect to pay £22,000 for this beast. A few tweaks to the intercooler, cylinder head, and a remap has liberated a measly 5 bhp, to boost the power from the standard model to 215 bhp. However, they have also lightened the car, by a whole 40 kg. The claimed 0-60 time of this car is 6.0 seconds, and a top speed of 145 mph. Should be a hoot to drive, but I'm not sold on its looks, and the price is shocking! Still, thats "Bini's" for you!

Welcome!

2005-12-08T20:13:00.000Z

Welcome to my blog! I have decided to do this blog to give me something to do, so I will write about my passion at the moment, which is mainly about fast cars and driving. This blog could have so easily been yet another site, rambling loads of bollocks at people who don't know me, and don't give a shit. At least this way, someone might actually be interested in what I write!

The main theme of the site will be about cars. Mainly hot hatches actually. I have no interest in Ferrari's, Lamborghini's or anything like that... well thats a lie, I do have a passing interest, but as I'll never be able to afford them, I'm not going to afford them much time here either. I'll also try and give the latest news about the governments "war on the motorist" here in the UK. On a lighter note, I'll be reviewing some of the best driving roads here in the North East of England.

Apart from that, I'll have a couple of other items on.... I have an interest in hifi, computers, TV's and most gadgets for that matter. I also tend to like booze and birds, among other things.

With all that said, enjoy!