THEGAYUK

Day: 7 January 2016

  • CAR REVIEW | Volvo V60

    ★★★★ | Volvo V60

    Estates have taken a bit of a battering in the last few years.

    It seems that these days the default choice for those needing more room for cargo, dogs or dead bodies is a chunky crossover rather than a long-roofed car. All is not lost though, Volvo (who else?) is now offering a dash of off-road appeal to its V60 estate with this Cross Country model.

    So what does it take to make the Cross Country variant? First, the suspension is jacked up by 65mm, not a vast amount but enough to give a noticeably loftier viewpoint on the world. Next, Volvo add silver skidplate effect bumpers front and rear with matching side skirts. Finally, you get chunky mud and snow tyres beneath plastic wheel arch extensions. All-wheel drive is an option but only on the most powerful engine.

    While those changes may not sound like much, they do toughen up the V60 by a significant amount giving it a little more presence on the road. That the normal V60 is a pretty handsome thing doesn’t hurt at all. Inside feels very well put together and is attractive in a sober, Swedish kind of way. It may not immediately appeal but it proved to be a wonderfully calming, well-made environment in which to clock up the miles. This was helped by excellent seats with plenty of adjustment, clear instrumentation (especially with the optional TFT dials) and easy to follow sat-nav.

    Our test car came with keyless entry and start. As long as the key was on you, you could unlock the car with a tug of the door handle and fire up the engine with the push of a button. You could even lock it again without the key fob in your hand. Nice. Once I was inside and ready to set off, I did notice the gearstick seemed a little bit too far back in the cabin with the cupholders unhelpfully beneath your arm as you changed gear.

    On the road, the gearchange action itself was long but not unpleasant. Not that you had to stir the stick much, even with the lowest power engine the V60 CC proved surprisingly rapid. The 150hp unit may have been a little loud (although easily masked by a quality sound system) but had plenty of grunt; it always seemed faster than the 9.1 second sprint to 62mph suggested. Unfortunately thanks to those chunky tyres, there was a bit of torque steer and a fair amount of wheelspin even in second gear.

    Pushing the V60 CC around bends highlighted the issues with putting a car on stilts. Turning the car into a bend over a crest could unsettle the rear while it did float a little over bumps too. The steering was well weighted but lacking any real feedback. To be fair though, it’s unlikely you’d buy one of these for its handling prowess. In a relaxed cruise it proved effortlessly comfortable, refined and pretty economical too. Over my usual mixed route, I was averaging around 44mpg. It’s just a shame that rough road surfaces did make things get a little jiggly. Yes, you can call it that.

    I was also a little disappointed with the load space, or rather the lack of it. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still plenty more than something like a Ford Focus hatchback but not anywhere near as much as you’d think for a car of this size. Unfortunately in giving the V60 its svelte shape at the rear, boot space has been sacrificed. At least the cargo bay is a decent shape with no lip. On the subject of negative points, while the V60 CC range starts at £30,000, you’re looking at around £35,000 for an AWD model.

    In summary, there’s a lot to like about the V60 Cross Country. The driving experience and high-quality interior combine to offer a relaxing experience while real world economy is more than acceptable. While you could argue that not offering AWD with all engines is a bit of an oversight, most people will buy these for the looks rather than for any off-road ability. Rivals may be cheaper but I doubt they’d feel quite this plush. Is it worth the premium? I think for many the answer will be yes.

     

    Loves

    Relaxing to drive

    Performance

    Looks

    Loathes

    Boot smaller than expected

    Lack of traction

    The Lowdown

    Car – Volvo V60 Cross Country D3 SE Nav

    Price – £30,995 (£35,545)

    Power – 150hp

    0-62mph – 9.1 seconds

    Top Speed – 127mph

    Co2 – 111g/km

  • 11 Things You Won’t Miss By Quitting Booze

    11 Things You Won’t Miss By Quitting Booze

    I drive a Prius, I’m a vegetarian and I voted Liberal. I am your worst smug nightmare. I thought that life as I knew it would end, the parties, the laughter the falling over in the ditch… but it hasn’t and in fact, I can still outstay my welcome, be the last to leave a party and fall over at any time as required. It wasn’t the booze after all. Here are the 11 things you won’t miss if you go sober.

    1) White wine guilt.

    You know the feeling when you wake up after a heavy night and you think back to the conversations you had the night before and then it hits you, you started calling everyone a c**t for no particular reason, except for, at the time, you were passionate about particular cause and it seemed like the only word that fully explained the cause – and then you realise that “everybody” included your boss, mother, local vicar and the street cleaner.

    2) Lengthy debates about shit that doesn’t matter

    I like to debate and I’ll happily argue a point, even if I don’t agree with the point that I’m debating. If the person opposite is a good sparring partner I’ll even argue that Trump is the planet’s saviour. Being sober, of course, I’ve realised that I don’t need to take the debate to its natural conclusion of a 5AM-we’ve-drunk-everything-let’s-start-on-the-Archers-cause-there’s-nothing-left, drunken dribbling train wreck. I can just leave it now.

    3) Saying too much.

    I was a bit of an over-sharer – I still am to a certain extent. And it surprises me how much people, especially in business will give away when they’re drinking. Secrets and inside info are traded away for another glass of Blossom Hill. Next time you’re out on a do with a client, just ask a few probing questions, they’ll open up about all sorts of stuff that ultimately, sober, they’d never tell and you know what, it all leads to point 1.

    4) Having spent the best part of a week’s wages on one tragic Saturday night.

    Dear god when I look back at how much money I spent buying rounds over the years, I could have bought a house, a yacht and a reasonably sized pony. Now a Diet Coke (£2) and I’m anyone’s (not really). What did spending all that money get me? Nowhere. And in the morning when I wake and I look into my wallet, I don’t feel point 1.

    5) Grey saggy skin.

    Honestly, I’ve not aged. People always assume I’m still in my twenties and I’m happy about that. I don’t get Champagne face anymore. That look as though you’ve stood with your face too close to a Corby Trouser Press for too long.

    6) Repeating myself, repeating myself.

    Have you ever notice how dumb people who drink sound. First off we’d get irate about something and then we’d bulldoze our beef into any conversation and repeat, repeat and repeat until we pass out. We never listen to advice and we just keep on repeating…

    7) Night buses

    I take my smug car everywhere – I never have to endure a chip stinky N91 night bus ever again. Sure I’m missing all the dramz, the light petting and Camden, but I can get all of that on LBC on the wireless.

    8) Spending a fortune on cabs

    I no longer have to spend a mortgage on a cab getting back to wilds of north London. Are you hating me a little now, I would I’m sounding really self-righteous.

    9) Piling on the pounds

    Before, when I was drinking, I just couldn’t seem to lose weight. Pounds just seem to be constantly piling on, no matter how much I ran, went to the gym or ate less cheese. I’ve lost over a stone and excitingly the weight hasn’t crept on again. When you consider a bottle of wine has 600+calories in it and you drink maybe 3-4 in a week – you’re looking at 1800-2400 extra calories a week – a full day’s worth of calories extra. Over a year that’s 93600 -124,800 extra calories that you’re probably not burning off.

    10) Apathy

    Come wine o’clock – which could be from 5:30 PM in our office, I just wouldn’t get anything else done. My mind would literally shut off after the first sip and then after a glass, I’d become something of a less evil Jabba the hut crossed with an average British voter (completely apathetic). Goodbye, no energy and goodbye to the excuse monster.

    11) Depression

    For me, the greatest thing about not drinking anymore is less anxiety and general depression. I couldn’t work it out. Every few days, I would get an uncontrollable bout of depression. Really deep and out of nowhere. It wasn’t until I released that it was always 2 days after a bender of a night that I realised my anxiety and depression was being brought on and exacerbated by alcohol. In the year that I’ve stopped, I have two, manageable down days – as opposed to two a week.

     

  • John Partridge Doing Big Brother To Pay For Sick Mother’s Care

    John Partridge has opened up about his reasons for taking part in this year’s Celebrity Big Brother.

    John Partridge, the openly gay EastEnders’ actor, has opened up about the reasons why he’s taking part in Big Brother – and it’s for his mother. His mother suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.

    She was diagnosed in 2010 and John was along with his husband Jon Tsouras, up until March, his mother’s primary carer. Since March however, his mother was moved to a care home as John felt he could no longer meet her health needs.

    Speaking about the care the ex-EastEnders’ actor said,

    “My mum has Alzheimer’s, I pay for her care and it is expensive. The honest answer is I’m here to pay her bill.

    “Unfortunately she only lived in a two-up, two-down, in a Northern town, so the money doesn’t go very far.

    “That’s why I’m here. I’m not ashamed of it. I don’t care what people think – people say all sorts of things when you want to do a program like this: ‘you’re washed up’, ‘they’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.’ I unashamedly say, ‘You can say what you want, but no one takes cares of my bills other than me and that is what I am here to do.”

    CBB continues tonight from 9PM on Channel 5

  • Chad Michael Murray Gets Naked For New Film

    Hollywood hunk Chad Michael Murray shows off his assets.

    Chad Michael Murray bears all in his new movie Other People’s Children. Although there’s no UK release date yet it hasn’t stopped screengrabs from the film making their way onto the internet.

    NSFW Looking more rugged that usual, Chad plays a “rugged, sexy street dweller”. If you want to see more click here.

  • Winston McKenzie “Homophobia” Sparks 350 Complaints To Ofcom

    Winston McKenzie’s anti-gay slur has racked up over 350 complaints.

    Over 350 complaints have been formally lodged to Ofcom after Channel 5 broadcast an anti-gay jibe by London Mayoral hopeful and ex-UKIP politician Winston McKenzie.
    Winston McKenzie entered the Big Brother house on Tuesday night to a wave of boos after revealing that he would have to keep his back to the wall if there were any gay people in the house.
    During his VT before his entry McKenzie said,

    “I could cope with a homosexual in the house – as long as he keeps his back to the wall.”

    The controversial ex-boxer has in the past likened same-sex adoption of children akin to child abuse – a comment for which he was nominated by Stonewall for Bigot Of The Year in 2013.

    Ofcom revealed that 352 complaints had been made and a spokesperson for the regulator said,

    “We will assess these complaints before deciding whether to investigate or not.”