Audi’s legendary Quattro model is 40 years old this year. Just let that sink in for a bit because I am sure that if you are as old as I am and now on the wrong side of 45, you will remember the various adverts narrated by Geoffrey Palmer and have vivid memories of various Audi models in snow-covered roads doing the impossible.
THEGAYUK was invited to take part in the Audi Quattro Lego challenge. An opportunity for motoring journalists to really show how quick their motoring sections fingers were at building the Lego Speedline Quattro kit. The fastest build won the Audi UR from Audi’s heritage fleet for a week. A prize worth winning.
THEGAYUK or more importantly, I, did not do so well. I didn’t even make it into the top 10. I almost made it there with a 36 minutes but then I’d noticed I’d fitted the doors wrongly, hadn’t applied the window decal and more annoyingly I’d failed to make the rear spoiler properly.
The rear spoiler being my Achilles heel and almost resulting in the Audi having a kitchen sink drama with it being thrown across the dining room towards the sink. Building Lego against the clock is stressful and I’ve done CPR!
Once I’d corrected my errors our time failed to make it into the top 10 leader board but that was OK because what I had here was a fine Lego car to play with instead and it is a fine piece of kit from Lego. The most pleasurable piece of this build was none of it was designed specifically for the Audi. It’s all parts available from Lego and found in various Lego kits. Unlike some of their bigger models that use pre-moulded parts for a car like the Fiat 500, this was simply Lego and more enjoyable for it. More so because put together, the Lego Audi Quattro made a for a fine example.
(C) STUART M BIRD
The build starts with the construction of the chassis and builds up quickly from there. Attention to detail is quite fun with the gear lever and handbrake handle items added inside. Outside there are the usual attributes associated with Group B rally cars with bulges and wings.
Lego does a range of cars for almost every motoring enthusiast. Their kits are well worth looking at.
Electric motorcycles; The future or the devil’s work? An inevitability or a passing phase?
Ever since I visited one of Europe’s largest electric motorcycle dealers, English Electric Motor Co, I have been hooked. They graciously facilitated my inauguration to electric motorcycles.
There is, however, no substitute for living with a bike, so Zero was kind enough to lend me their SRS press bikes for a while, to give me an opportunity to do a real-world review.
Zeros’ SRS is a fully electric motorcycle, like all of their bikes, and in the Zero stable, the SRS is the biggest, most expensive, most capable bike they make.
Let’s run through some statistics. This bike weighs 230kg, which is around 20kg heavier than a conventional ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) motorcycle. For example, the Suzuki GSX-S1000 is 209kg and the Yamaha MT10 is 210kg, not bad at all.
Power is deceptive and stated as 110bhp, which doesn’t sound like much. Don’t let this dampen your enthusiasm, rest assured you won’t be disappointed in the performance from this SRS. To add some perspective, a Ducati Panigale V4 makes 123Nm torque, the BMW 1000RR makes 100Nm torque. The Zero SRS make 190Nm of torque… yes… 190Nm!! Make no bones about it, in sport mode, this bike is seriously fast.
Bear in mind also that the power and torque from an electric motor are delivered in a different way to an ICE engine. On a traditional motorcycle, as revs build, generally power builds too. With an electric drivetrain, the power and torque are linear, meaning you have very strong power available from the moment you twist the throttle if you want it.
Interestingly, it carries its weight quite low. Most of the weight is in the battery and motor, which is all below your knees. What would be the fuel tank on an ICE bike, is the storage box for the charging cable on the SRS.
Let’s talk about range. It’s usually one of the first questions people ask about electric motorcycles generally. It’s actually really hard to answer. This isn’t an excuse or me trying not to answer. There are a lot of factors that affect the range, such as temperature, riding style, type of roads and more. Batteries perform worse in hot weather for example and if you ride aggressively and in sport mode all the time, your range will suffer. The same applies to sustained high speeds such as motorways or dual carriageways, where the constant draw on the battery takes a toll on the range.
When I first collected the bike, I inevitably selected sport mode and spanked it for a few miles, quickly discovering the negative impact this had on the range. Fast forward a few days and by riding a bit more carefully, switching modes to soften the power and regenerate electricity in traffic, I could easily see 110 miles+ on a mix of roads.
Talking about rider modes, there are 5 on the SRS. You have the full-fat Sport mode which lets you have all of the power with reduced regenerative braking. You still have ABS and traction control though (which is a good thing). Next is Street mode, which offers slightly reduced power and increased regenerative braking. This mode is great for general riding. Next is Eco mode which restricts power and offers maximum regenerative braking. Top speed is restricted to 75mph. I use this is traffic to extend the range when there’s no point in using street or sport modes. There is also a rain mode which has the softest power delivery and least amount of regenerative braking. Rain mode is designed for low traction conditions.
Lastly, there is Custom mode. This is a mode that you can personalise, for example, maximum power with increased regenerative braking. You can also rename it. The team at English Electric Motor Co customised theirs and called it Beast mode.
Zero have taken a fairly traditional approach to styling on the SRS. They could have taken a more radical, futuristic approach, but I really like it, it looks great. There are some neat touches like the mirrors. They are mounted low on the fairing below the handlebars and actually look under your arms. It sounds odd but they are very effective. Quality of components is construction is outstanding. The bike is excellent and feels very premium and it’s the easiest bike to ride. Controls are absolute simplicity with no clutch, no gears and just brakes and throttle. The throttle is progressive and very smooth.
Handling is superb, this thing corners so hard. It’s a little short, but I like that, it helps to deal with the poor condition of our roads. The suspension is fully adjustable Showa front and rear and brakes are J-Juan radial callipers and are excellent.
“How long does it take to charge?” is another common question. Let’s do some man maths. The battery is 14.4kwh. Think of it as a fuel tank. If you charge up from a domestic 3 pin plug, you will see a charging rate of 2.3kwh. That means that every hour, 2.3kwh flows into the 14.4kwh battery, simple. Think of kwh as litres if you like. If the battery was empty, on a 3 pin plug it would take just over 6 hours to fully charge, which you would typically do at night when the electricity is cheap.
The maximum rate you can charge the battery is 6.6kwh on a type 2 fast charger such as the ones at supermarkets, shopping centres and fast-food restaurants. This means, if it was completely empty and you used any fast charger, regardless of the rating, it would charge the SRS at 6.6kwh and it would fully charge in just over 2 hours.
In reality, it is unlikely that people will fully charge ‘on the go’, but instead, maybe top-up.
On one of my rides, I stopped at a shopping centre in Milton Keynes and topped up for 30 odd minutes. In that time I increased the battery charge by 20%. It was simple and free.
Another big bonus of running an electric motorcycle is running costs. At home, you will probably pay something like 6p/kWh for your electricity. Let’s say 10p for the sake of man maths. If you charge at home, from a 3 pin plug, at night, a 14.4kwh battery will cost £1.44 to charge. Even better, if you charge at a shopping centre or McDonald’s on a fast charger, it’s usually free.
In addition to the minimal running costs, servicing is a far more economical affair. Remember, electric drivetrains are simplicity themselves. Very few moving parts, just an electric motor. No gearbox, no complicated engine with hundreds of moving parts. Servicing tends to be consumables such as brakes, tyres, drive belt and so on. The battery has a 5-year warranty and after that, is expected to last the lifetime of the motorcycle if looked after correctly.
To sum things up, the Zero SRS really is a great motorcycle. It is outrageous if you want it to be, or it can be a pussycat. It’s incredibly easy to ride and very well built. It’s pretty practical but not suitable for everyone. I love it and am very pleased to have had the time to get to know it.
Subaru has kept things very simple with the Levorg. There is one body style, one engine option, one trim level and one gearbox.
Actually now there are 2 engine options, but we’ll come to that.
The body style is estate car, the trim level is GT, the engine is a 2.0 L petrol boxer engine which produces 147bhp and 198Nm torque and the gearbox is a lineartronic CVT (constantly variable transmission). This is basically an automatic gearbox but doesn’t have set gear ratios like a conventional automatic gearbox.
With the Levorg, Subaru seems to have had a keen eye on active and passive safety. This is a very safe car with a 5 start Ncap rating.
Literature and advertising around the Levorg point towards the active and passive safety features of the Levorg. To that end, it has just about every safety aid that you can find on modern cars. For example, it has Subaru’s EyeSight which is a form of driver-assist technology, a vision system working through a pair of cameras at the top of the windscreen monitoring the outside world, which feeds into the safety aides in the car adaptive cruise, pre-collision braking, pre-collision throttle management and lane keep assist with saw warning.
This is a lovely car to drive, very smooth and the suspension is on the comfortable side of sporty. It’s not softly sprung which would bounce you around, but it’s not to stiff so doesn’t jar you or crash over potholes. Although the 2.0L boxer engine produces 147bhp, maybe it’s the CVT gearbox, but it isn’t fast. It’s fine around town, with plenty of initial acceleration, but when the road opens up and you want to press on, there’s not a great deal there. Then again, that’s not what the Levorg is about. Subaru symmetrical all-wheel drive is standard. On the Levorg it is a road-biased system which means it doesn’t have the off-road electronics like x-mode. Symmetrical all-wheel drive means that the drive shafts are all equal lengths and the engine and gearbox are placed further back for better weight distribution. This means power is transferred to all of the wheels equally, resulting in better road holding. The boxer engine also sits low, keeping the weight low, reducing body roll. It works well and holds the road very well.
It doesn’t have a great deal of ground clearance, and there is a subtle body kit on the car, so I wouldn’t be keen to take it off-road like the Forrester for example.
The interior is excellent. Our test car had covered something like 11k miles and was like new. No rattles or squeaks and nothing broken, it really is a quality interior. The seats are full leather front and rear and are electrically adjusted and heated. They really hug you and are quite sporty but are nicely shapes and very comfortable. When you climb in, it feels great. You will find leather on the seats as mentioned, on the doors and centre console and some on the dash. Where there isn’t leather, the plastics are a high-quality soft touch.
Our test car came in dark blue pearl, which I felt really suited the car. Exterior styling is sleek and sporty, but if I had one criticism I would say it’s a little anonymous.
In summary, the Levorg drives well, is well priced, looks good, it’s not quick and handles well, in fact, it could easily handle more power I’d say. Maybe one day we’ll see an STi version.
Like the 205 before it, though not a direct replacement for which it turned into being was like the 205 before it, much needed. Desperately needed to be frank. Peugeot had shot themselves in the foot by not having a suitable 205 replacement ready.
I was there to see the launch at the NEC. A kind Peugeot PR allowed me to climb over the fence and tickle the 206 Escapade models faux-suede bumper coverings. A car that was launched to the world the same time as Ford unveiled their outrageous Focus. Competition was fierce.
The 206 was as far removed from the new design language used by Ford for the Focus as could be possible and by Peugeot themselves. This was a new age for the dancing lion of Sochaux-Montbeliard. Penned by Pininfarina, the 206 was a very attractive car then and now. Unlike monstrosity that Peugeot designed in-house called the 307. The rear quarter of the 206 was also reminiscent of that from the 205. A great car that saved Peugeot from the depths of hell.
Speaking of that rear pillar treatment, its language made it onto the 5 door model too which was not the case with the 5 door 205. However, what Peugeot did on the 206 SW was unforgivable. They fitted really cheap feeling door handles hidden in the door frame to give it coupe-like lines in a box body. The SW was no shooting break like a Scimitar GTE famously owned by Princess Ann or TGUK’s previous motoring editor Alan Taylor-Jones (Tell him on Twitter about Ann’s connection with the GTE at @alantaylorjones. He loves to hear it) That cock-up still haunts me today on what might have been an otherwise perfect car in all its guises.
But we can forget the 206 SW because there were 2 models that were the main talking points for the 206. The stylish CC with its folding metal roof. Stylish that is if you ignored the convoluted boot top and bugger bars on top of it. What that was all about no one actually knew or could tell you about. Even the pressmen couldn’t tell you.
Another amazing thing about the 206 was it was just a little bit nice on the inside. Ignore the over grooved grainy plastics and the cabin was quite fresh looking. The electric window switches didn’t quite come to hand and you needed to look for them but nothings perfect.
In all its model guises had something to suit everyone.
Handling was high on the agenda and no matter what 206 you bought, it could always prove fun no matter what engine you chose from the long list of available engines to suit. From a light 1.1 petrol to a torque packed turbo diesel, the 206 in all its model guises had something to suit everyone. Everyone that is except the hot hatch driver. The 206 GTi was vaguely luke warm and even the GTi 180 with its big 17” alloys and bucket style seats was still somewhat off the pace by the pack leaders from VW and Ford.
But all this was forgotten when it came to the world rally championship and the rally weapon that was the 206 WRC. This was a super-compact car that stormed its way up the rally charts like the 205 before it. To add to the excitement for us Brits was the late Richard Burns (1971 – 2003 ) who would regularly bring home the points for Peugeot. The 206 WRC had big boots to fill and it filled them well. What it didn’t fill were the bumpers. On the road car, they looked good. On the rally car, they were enlarged to accommodate rally things so Peugeot decided to make a road-going rally special that you could buy. It was a standard 206 with the rally car bumpers. It looked a little Jimmy Hill as a result and it did not look like the rally car even with the optional rally pack of decals.
The Peugeot 206 falls into two camps on the GBU. If like me and you can’t look at the SW and CC without wincing well there are things you can do. For the SW, burn those door handles with a blow torch and the CC, strap a wicker basket to the boot like an old MGB.
The Peugeot 206 HATCHBACK. A good car that still looks good today. Trouble is because it’s had so many reinventions like Madonna around the world that no one at Peugeot actually knows if it’s still being made or not. You might still be able to buy them new for all Peugeot know!
Suzuki’s entry in the adventure bike fraternity is the V-Strom, previously also known as the DL.
This latest 2020 incarnation is known as the 1050.
It’s a 1000cc v-twin adventure-tourer although actually, it’s a 1037cc v-twin.
This is a good engine that has been around for a while now, first making an appearance in the TL1000R in 1997, a legendary bike. It also featured in the SV1000 which was a surprisingly good bike. A friend of mine had an SV1000. He fell off it in front of us all once, wheelying it. His excuse was he had just polished it and the seat was slippery.
Now, the engine takes pride of place in the V-Strom 1050, making 106bhp and 100Nm torque. This is an increase of around 6bhp on last year. Peak power is now at 8,500 rpm and peak torque is at 6,000 rpm, which is 2,000 rpm higher up the rev range than the previous model.
Suzuki has played with things like the cam timing and pushed the torque further up the rev range which makes this new incarnation of the V-Strom a lot of fun.
There’s a 6-speed gearbox but no fancy quick shifter. There is a slipper clutch of sorts thanks to Suzuki Clutch Assist System (SCAS) which also makes the clutch very light in operation.
The throttle is fly by wire and is very smooth. I didn’t experience any snatchy or jerky behaviour, it’s very polished, which leads us nicely into the electronics. There are a host of sensors, from lean angle sensors to crank sensors, wheel speed sensors, gear position sensors, gyroscopic sensors and more, which provide information for the various electronic systems on the bike. This information is used by systems such as the ABS and traction control.
You can choose between 3 rider modes, 3 traction control settings and 2 ABS settings. You can’t actually turn ABS off which may be an issue for more serious off-roading, but honestly, this is probably more of a touring bike than a hardcore adventure bike.
The suspension is 43mm, USD, fully adjustable KYB forks, and a KYB shock with rebound and preload, which all works very well, the suspension is great. There’s also a remote preload adjuster just behind your left thigh, great for adding some preload if you’re carrying a pillion.
It’s surprisingly fast when you consider it only has 106bhp, and there’s a satisfying rush of power in the upper rev range. It’s great fun to ride.
Brakes are excellent with 310mm discs at the front with four-pot radial callipers and outback is a 260mm disc with a single-piston calliper. They offer great feel and really are superb brakes.
At 247 kg it’s not a featherweight but it carries the weight well. Pushing around the workshop it felt pretty big, but as soon as you are on the move, the weight disappears. On the move, the V-Strom 1050 feels agile and handles really well.
I’m a fan of the old V-Strom, I remember I had one on test in 2018 and loved it. I even took one around Bruntingthorpe which was fun, scraping the pegs on a V-Strom on track.
The range is a positive attribute with this bike. Suzuki has fitted it with a 20L tank. When I picked the bike up, it was full and the range was showing as 201 miles. With just under half a tank left, the range was showing as 99 miles.
Overall, this is a great bike. It’s fun, it’s pretty fast and it handles really well. It’s comfortable enough to be able to ride long distance with no trouble too.
If there was a criticism, it would only be that the V-Strom lacks some of the toys that some of the heavyweights in the adventure bike sector have; electronic suspension and the like.
TGUK have reviewed Audi’s smallest offerings with its City Carver and Sportback and both cars we liked. But this little upmarket Inglostadt offering doesn’t really bring anything new to the small car market. There was a time when Audi decided to reinvent the car.
This was a time when the city car was given a big shakeup by the Germans with Mercedes and its A class that would fall over like a drunken sailor and Audi with its A2 made from the metal stuff that is more commonly used to make Coke cans. Both cars taking Avant-Garde styling to a new maximum.
Originally presented in 1997 and launched in 1999, the A2 was so far out there that you could be mistaken for driving a concept car from the design studio. For a small car, the aluminium shell was unheard in a market of cheap city cars where the Audi would do its battle. Along with the reinvention of the car, Audi had also tried to reinvent the small car price tag with it.
The shape was somewhat unusual too, being tall and slim with an unusual roofline. This was more than wacky flicks or a slip of the designer’s pen because the whole shape gave a CD figure of up to 0.29. Exceptionally low which the driving position wasn’t. The A2 was a talking point in the wine bars along with the bonnet that didn’t open.
There wasn’t really a bonnet to open you see. Instead, you had a service hatch in the grill where you could top up the screen wash and engine oil. So when the car overheated you were left wondering how because it’s air-cooled right? Wrong.
To get to the engine that you weren’t supposed to unless you were an Audi dealer, was to release some clips and remove the bonnet panel away from the car, leave it on the floor where you’d eventually trip over it. A novel idea if somewhat of a ballache. I still don’t quite understand what was wrong with a normal bonnet?
This was all new and revolutionary. The ’90s were a time to be alive for car design. Along with Audi and Mercedes, a few others had a go at reinventing the wheels and some outside Germany achieved the impossible. But Audi went for the small cars. They needed something to break to mould in a market dominated by the humdrum of Fiesta’s and Corsa’s that were so commonplace. To do this Audi did what they did best. They made it really expensive. So expensive that you could almost buy 2 new base Rover 100’s for the price of 1 Audi.
Audi, however, didn’t care. This was a car designed for a new era in city motoring. They gave us a boxy car with round corners that gave it exceptional aerodynamics clothed in an all aluminium frame so it weighed absolutely nothing and wouldn’t rust. Not that Audi was known for making rot boxes but aluminium used to construct a car was seen as an unseen luxury that you got on the Audi A8 super barge or the Jaguar saloons now found languishing with fridge freezers on the drives of shady houses.
On paper alone, it looked great. A totally new concept of construction and luxury with refinement only being there when parked on the driveway. For some reason, Audi had managed to make the A04 platform ride quite terribly. Germanic spring rates that would work well on an Audi A4 Quattro with all the prowess of a monster car did little to help the A2. The A2 did not need such ride attributes and yet it was fitted with them. The motoring press said it was a hoot to drive and it was but…
Not such a problem if going fast was your favourite past time but it wasn’t. You couldn’t nip down the shops at 70mph. Instead, you kept it slow and to the legal limits and were rewarded for your pain by great fuel economy of over 100mpg in the A2 TDI.
The Audi A2. The car that failed to reinvented the city car because it was too far ahead of its time. And that’s why it’s in the good section of The Gay UK’s GBU. Audi used its 4 rings of confidence to shake things us and make things different.
Just don’t mention the amount of cash Audi lost on each A2 sold!
I’ve always used full-face helmets, and always sports bike/race style lids. Open face helmets have never really appealed and I wouldn’t consider not wearing one, no matter where I was.
When AGV offered to let me try their SportModular flip front lid I was a bit sceptical, but I’m always open to new ideas, so thought I’d give it a go.
There’s a lot going on with the AGV SportModular so let’s start with a bit of a run down about the helmet and its features.
This is a 100% full carbon fibre shell, even the flip part of the helmet is full carbon, unlike many other flip front helmets. This is no easy task, it’s a very complex shape and tolerances need to be tight. The end result is a very strong and light helmet. It has the same impact resistance as a race helmet such as AGVs own Pista GP R (Rossi’s helmet) but with the practicality of a flip-up helmet. Another benefit of the full carbon fibre shell is that it looks stunning. Another benefit of carbon fibre construction is the weight or lack of it. AGV has created a flip front helmet with outstanding impact resistance and lightweight, just 1295kg (for the smallest size. The bigger sizes will weigh more).
To open the front, there is a simple forward hinging latch under the centre of the chin. This has been designed to prevent accidental openings and is simple to use, even with winter gloves and incredibly strong.
Ventilation is effective and simple too.
You have a centre chin vent which works by sliding up to close or down to open, nice and easy, even in winter gloves. You have a centrally positioned vent on the top which again slides back to open and forward to close, nice and easy, and there is an exhaust combined with a kind of flip-up spoiler which is supposed to reduce turbulence too. With the vents open, you are rewarded with a pleasant and noticeable little breeze through the helmet.
The visor has AGVs patented multistep visor lock mechanism and patented extra quick release system. This means it locks in the closed position and is opened with a button at the bottom edge of the visor in the centre. You lock the visor fully closed, or in a slightly open position which means as the speed increases, it won’t snap shut on you. It’s also an optic class 1 visor, so the best visual quality there is, and its scratch proof.
You will also benefit from the pinlock 120 which is included with the SportModular, and my helmet was delivered with a tinted visor which is an option. Both are excellent additions. The tinted visor is great for the recent fantastic weather, but as the sun turned to rain, it wasn’t too dark. Changing the visor is simple with AGVs patented multistep visor lock mechanism. It’s simplicity itself to use and very secure. It also has an incredible 190-degree field of vision.
Pinlock is actually a new experience for me but was a bit of a revelation. It’s really easy to fit and is very effective. If you haven’t used it, it’s like fitting double glazing to your visor. There are pins at the edges of the visor and a kind of secondary visor fits on the inside on your main visor, with a small silicon edge to make a seal. The end result is a visor that almost never mists up. It’s a simple but very effective system.
Finally for the visors, in addition to all of this stuff, there is an internal, flip-down sun visor. You flip it down by using a simple slider on the left-hand side of the helmet, on the bottom edge at the side. You push the little slider back and the anti-scratch sun visor drops down. Slide it forward and the visor flips back up. I’ve got a big nose and wear glasses and it was fine. It almost touched my nose, but not quite.
AGV have fitted the SportModular with a fully-removable lining as you would expect. There is a removable skull cap that can be removed, reversed and replaced, and has a warmer and a cooler side. To keep your head safe in the event of an off, there is a five-part EPS (expanded polystyrene) insert that provides differing densities at the top, front, rear and sides.
SportModular comes with two chin skirts, so you can create a tighter seal, or remove it altogether. The lining allows for glasses wearers to use the helmet comfortably and there are removable pads by your ears to allow the fitment of an intercom or communication device.
AGVs SportModular is available in eight sizes from XXS – XXXL and in a range of colours and finishes. Mine is the Ray Carbon/White/Yellow Fluo.
What’s it actually like to live with? Well, I’ve used it for a while now in all kinds of weather and on various bikes. I’ve probably covered a couple of thousand miles in everything from heavy rain to glorious sunshine.
Several observations spring to mind. One of them is the weight. Despite the integral sun visor and flip front, it’s a light helmet. Saying that I add weight unfortunately but sticking an action camera to it, and also a Cardo PackTalk Bold communication system. Despite this, it’s still a very comfortable helmet and can easily be worn for hours at a time.
As a newbie to flip-up lids, it took a moment to get used to it. I’ve always thought they looked a little odd, but actually they are a great idea.
I was worried I might look a little odd until I pulled up at some lights and a custom Harley pulled up next to me, low, fat back tyre, loud and the dude riding it was pretty damn cool. As I looked over to give him a sheepish nod, I saw he had a flip front helmet, flipped up.
Generally, I keep it closed, but when it’s really warm and at low speed, in traffic, I flip it up and it’s great. Also, when I stop or at petrol stations, I flip it up and can talk without shouting to be heard.
I found the flip front easy to open and close, but the visor is a little fiddly with winter gloves on.
Talking of noise, it’s a bit noisy. Not bad but certainly not whisper quiet. You should wear earplugs at speed although I have fitted the Cardo so can’t. I’ll do a separate review of the Cardo shortly for you all.
When all is said and done, It’s a really nice helmet, well made and with some great features. In my experience, it was comfortable and practical and I really like it.
A Sunbeam Rapier popped up on Twitter recently and it got me thinking about automotive exotica.
Today, exotica is an over used word and set for the expensive machines from Ferrari, Lamborghini and the like. Cars that the everyday man, woman, beast, boy or girl can only dream about or buy on a PCP deal.
In the early 1980s, there was a 70’s blue Sunbeam Rapier fastback parked down the road from the family home. Long, flowing and sleek with pillar-less doors and glass that vanished into the body, cut at the back with a thick black pillar and finished with a fixed window. Long because, at the time and still unusual today, it was built on the 98” estate chassis of the Hillman Hunter. It had 4 lights on the front and shiny wheel embellishers. That was always guaranteed to give the image of sporty styling.
Parked alongside our 1979 Datsun Sunny saloon, it looked so exotic. Like a million dollars of exotica with a hint of American muscle thrown into the mix. By the time I started to notice the Rapiers, they were obsolete from the car showrooms. The Sunbeam brand having been renamed Chrysler in 76 and the whole company becoming part of Peugeot in 1979.
That didn’t matter though because what we had here to a 5-year-old was eye candy. And a wanton lust for this sex machine even though I didn’t know what any of those words meant back then. I was desperate for my father to buy the family something exciting. In 1982, he bought a Nissan Sunny 1.3 DX. Nissan sold a coupe version of the Sunny. He could have bought that. I was devastated. The car in the showroom was the 1.5 GL model. It had door bins in the door handles. I had plans for what to put in mine. The DX didn’t have them! I lived a poor life as a child.
And so the posters on my bedroom wall changed with each passing fancy. Sadly there were no Sunbeam Rapier posters available so I had to make do with a Ferrari Testarossa and then the Coca-Cola Beetle. Affordable exotica was being overtaken with 80’s excesses and greed. Soon, boys up and down the country were actually wanting cars that actually went fast as well as looking fast.
It seemed Ford’s Capri was struggling at this time too. Its sleek practical 3 door shape being outsold by just about every hatchback with a spoiler on the back. Exotic lines, once the darling of the man who looked set to go places fast, no longer cut it with the affordable price tag in 1986. Affordable exotica appeared to be old fashioned. A bit naff and hairy chested. Suddenly exotica HAD to be expensive and HAD to be fast.
And there is nothing wrong with that as such. It’s just that with these changes of desire, there also comes an ability to be able to handle them. Something, many it would seem are so desperately lacking. You can’t open social media these days without someone filming a jerk in a hyper car having lost control 300 yards up the street. You never got that with the driver of a Sunbeam Rapier Fastback back in the day. It would have taken them 12.8 seconds to get to 60 and the top speed was only 103mph anyway.
To me, it’s always about style and never about going fast. In today’s clogged up roads, there are very few times in the daylight hours that you will actually find what was once termed “the open road” and be able to exercise your chosen 4 wheeled steed. Arriving is always favourable anyway so getting to your destination is a bonus.
And through the years, these affordable cars with exotic looks have slowly vanished from our daily grind on the rush hour commute. Take a look around you and the car in front will be an SUV. In front of that another SUV sub compact lifted car and in front of that another one.
What has happened is there are no affordable poster cars for today’s youth to dream about. There is nothing really exciting this side of a big BMW price tag. And even they are now making SUV’s with a misjudged use of the word ‘Coupe’ in them. It would seem sleek isn’t sexy anymore.
Today, we live out our fantasies on Twitter, Instagram and snap-chat. Some as influencers in vehicles that clearly are not their own while bragging about what coat they wore while a few have actually invested in them. And then there is that investment. Pictures flooding social media, garages packed with expensive cars. Cars that do very little except gather dust.
It is all getting a bit samey these days. And here we go back to my original question. Despite being told that the young aren’t really into cars anymore, are there any affordable exotic cars that the young dream of owning? What are they actually going to be able to aspire too? At £271,146, a Lamborghini Aventador isn’t going to be achievable for many and I’m quite sure it isn’t going to be a Sports Utility Vehicle they want either.
Look at it another way, a modest 2 bedroom house where I live is valued at £350,000 and it doesn’t even come with a garage. You’ll not want to park your car with a similar price tag on the street now, will you?
Many thanks to Andy from Twitter @addict_car for the Sumbeam Rapier pictures
This week I have been enjoying the Kia Stinger GT-S.
Kia describes the Stinger as a halo performance model. They say it is a GT car and not a hard-edged sports car.
I read a very cool quote from chief designer Gregory Guillaume (Gee-ome) which said: “the Stinger has nothing to do with being first to arrive. This car is all about the journey. it’s about passion.”
Stinger is a new direction for Kia, taking them into a new market sector. A 5 door, 5 seater fastback style grand Tourer. It is also their first Rear Wheel Drive car in the UK.
Our Stinger is the GT-S which means it has the all aluminium, 3.3 litre twin-turbo V6 engine, producing 361bhp and 510Nm or torque.
Interestingly, it makes peak power at 6,000rpm but…..makes its torque between 1500rpm and 4,500pm. 1500rpm! What this means is the engine is very tractable and you don’t need to rev it to get the most out of it, which is how a GT car should be. 0-62mph comes up in just 4.7 seconds and the top speed is 168mph
The Interior is beautiful. It’s not brash or ostentatious, it’s elegant and dignified. I would describe it as somewhere between a dull Audi interior and an unnecessarily conspicuous Mercedes Interior.
Seats, armrests, steering wheel, dashboard and gear shifter are all upholstered in plush Nappa leather. The centre console, Interior door handles & pedals have a brushed aluminium finish and there is a beautiful suede headlining.
Both front seats are electrically adjustable and heated and cooled and the driver’s seat has a huge amount of electric adjustment for lumbar and bolsters.
I actually found the seats firm but fantastically comfortable over a long distance. There’s plenty of room and they are very supportive.
Suspension on the Kia is excellent. McPherson struts at the front with multi-link rear suspension. It’s also Blessed with DSDC: Electronically controlled, Dynamic, Stability, Damping, Control
The car adjusts the suspension on the move, controlled by acceleration, braking and steering sensors. The driver can change the characteristics of the whole car by using the Mode Selector on the centre console.
There are 5 modes: Smart – Eco – Normal – Sport – Sport+.
Each position of the drive mode selector noticeably changes the characteristic of the car.
I’m sure you’ve seen this kind of thing before. Steering, gearbox and throttle become more responsive, suspension firms up and the whole car takes on a more sporty attitude.
In the Kia Stinger, the modes feel like well spaced gear ratios. They offer a very progressive, increased level of driver involvement by reducing the electronic intervention and increasing the fun factor, culminating in the full fat Sport+ mode.
However, even Sport+ has some electronic involvement. It will go sideways but the car still has your back.
If you really want to be a no holes barred hooligan, you can completely turn off traction control and stability control with another button on the centre console.
Brakes are fantastic. Kia have blessed the Stinger with 350mm discs on the front and 340mm on the rear, both with massive calipers. The braking force is epic and the feel is excellent. When you first press the brake pedal, Initial bite is quite gentle. There is no snatching or jerky braking, it’s nice and gentle. When you apply more pressure, the braking force increases significantly. In short, the brakes are excellent, they are the best of both worlds: easy to use around town, and provide immense stopping power when needed.
As a GT car, the Stinger really works. You can easily cover hundreds of miles in comfort, cocooned in a beautifully built cockpit, accompanied by the sweet but subtle song of the all aluminium V6. Slip the drive mode selector to ‘comfort’ and enjoy the relaxed, brisk journey.
Turn the drive mode selector to Sport+ and you can drive it like you stole it. If you turn traction control off, you can pretend you’re a bad guy in a movie being chased by the superhero. It’s fast, poised, you can slide the rear end at will and be a total hooligan if you want.
The chassis is fantastic. Whether you are cruising in comfort or being a lunatic in sport+, the car is never nervous and always feels predictable and controllable.
One of the most striking features of the Stinger is the price. This 3.3 GT-S is the top of the range car with all the toys. It is only £41,646.24. There are very few options available, the standard car has all the toys as standard. To get something like an Audi S5 with a similar specification, you would be somewhere in the region of £62,000. I would have the Kia in a heartbeat over the Audi.
If I had a concern, it would be over residual value. I would expect a BMW or Audi to have a stronger residual but, I don’t know.
This Stinger is very, very good and in my opinion, better than any financially equivalent GT car.
The Mitsubishi L200 Barbarian X is the latest in our series of lifestyle pickup reviews.
Mitsubishi’s L200 is now in its 6th generation with production beginning way back in 1978, and worldwide production topping five million vehicles so far.
If you’re looking for a pickup, you will be interested in some or all of the statistics, so here we go; There is an all-new 2268cc all-aluminium turbo diesel 4 cylinder engine producing 150bhp and 400Nm torque. Gearbox options are the new 6 speed automatic or a 6-speed manual.
The payload is up to 1080kg and gross train weight (GTW) is 6100 kg. Curb weight for the L200 is 1935kg and the towing capacity is 3100kg with a twin axle trailer.
At just under 5.3m long, this is a long vehicle and certainly doesn’t fit into a small, modern parking space. Width is 1.8m and feels no wider than most of the traffic around you. Lastly, the bed length is 1850 on this model. List price on the L200 starts at around £21,000, rising to £32,000 for what you see here, the Barbarian X.
Solid axle and leaf spring at the rear and double wishbones and struts at the front.
It wasn’t all that long ago that a pickup was simply a work tool. I remember early L200’s, Ford Rangers and many others, being pretty agricultural and basic. Over time, manufacturers have added more and more creature comforts. These days, manufacturers generally include at least one well-appointed, lifestyle type pickup in their range.
Mitsubishi is no exception with their L200. This Barbarian X model is like a luxury SUV inside.
Barbarian X comes with leather and Alcantara upholstery. The seats have sixpack quilted stitching, and leather features on door cards, centre console, armrest, and rear seats. The interior plastics are high quality and soft touch and after several thousand press fleet miles (aka hard miles) the interior is fresh, unmarked and doesn’t squeak or rattle.
Exterior styling is a bit contentious. In a time when manufacturers seem to be trying to soften the styling on pickups to make them less aggressive, Mitsubishi decided on a more bold approach to the styling. The front is particularly striking with angle and straight lines dominating. They call is dynamic mesh. One thing is for sure, it’s an imposing sight in your rearview mirror.
Side steps have been raised, in fact, the whole vehicle rides higher.
Pickups have generally lacked in creature comforts over here. In the last few years, things have certainly changed, and this L200 boasts an impressive list of active safety aids. Partly lead by legislation and partly by customer expectation, o modern pickup is very well specified. This Mitsubishi has every active safety aid you would find on a modern car. Mitsubishi proudly state this barbarian X has class-leading active safety.
As you would expect, there is a touch screen infotainment system. It’s not the last word in refinement but works well and has a good stereo.
What’s it like to live with and drive? It has a poor turning circle and is a little bit bouncy over potholes, to be honest. Mitsubishi have stiffened the suspension over the previous generation. There are stiffer springs but in my humble opinion, the damping could be better. It works much better with a bit of weight on the back and is very smooth then. Let’s put this into perspective. This L200 is a pickup, designed to work for a living. It’s also a serious off-road tool with increased ground clearance over the previous model and a host of off-road features such as a low range gearbox and locking diffs. It’s also a luxury SUV and all for £32,000. Bearing that in mind, there is bound to be a compromise. Saying it’s compromised seem unfair though, it’s very nice to drive. I did 5hrs on the road in it one day with absolutely no issues or complaints. It was a lovely place to be.
There are lots of good pickups on the market today, In fact, the line between pickup and SUV is becoming increasingly blurred with every new pickup released.
You could argue that Isuzu is one of the founding fathers of the modern pickup. Farmers and workers across the globe who need a serious workhorse have preached the word of Isuzu for years.
Isuzu introduced us to the D-Max in 2012, and it became the standard for rugged reliability and a serious workhorse. That is still the case, however, these days there is a rich vein of luxury running through the D-Max family. We have been fortunate enough to test several of the D-Max family; the mad Arctic trucks variant, the very cool XTR and now the Blade.
Our test vehicle is the D-Max Blade which is a double cab with all the toys.
Talking about toys, the range-topping D-Max Blade has plenty. In terms of practicality; LED projector headlights, rear load liner, roof bars, side steps, tailgate damper, privacy glass rear windows and ours had the excellent colour coded Aeroklas canopy.
Another cheeky little option ours had was the roof-mounted lazer light bar. You really need to see this to believe it, it literally turns night into day.
Inside, the D-Max Blade is a very nice place to be. Standard specification is very generous and includes such luxuries as; front and rear parking cameras, climate control, leather upholstery with heated front seats, 18″ alloy wheels, and a great infotainment system.
Isuzu has fitted the Blade with a 9″ multifunction touchscreen with DAB Radio and Bluetooth® connectivity (Apple CarPlay™ & Android Auto™) including Satellite Navigation. This features nine speakers (2 x front door, 2 x rear door, 2 x tweeters, 2 x roof mounted & 1 subwoofer) and a selection of USB ports and a HDMI port. It has a great sound and is easy to use.
As we have come to expect in modern cars, there are a host of electronic aids, and you know how these manufacturers love their acronyms, so brace yourself. Some are active safety, some have a more practical use, for example; ESC (Electronic Stability Control), TSC (Trailer Sway Control), ABS (Anti-Lock Braking System), EBD (Electronic Brakeforce Distribution), BAS (Brake Assist System), HSA (Hill Start Assist), HDC (Hill Descent Control), and Front, Side & Curtain SRS Airbags. I warned you there were a few. What this tells us is that the D-Max Blade is a very safe and capable pickup.
The 1.9-litre four-cylinder diesel engine puts out a little over 160bhp and a hefty 360Nm of torque, delivered between 2000 and 2500rpm, ensuring the D-Max has plenty of get it done power. Talking of working for a living, the D-Max will haul 1098kg which is more than most of its rivals and it’s is rated to tow a braked trailer up to 3500kg, so it will easily tow the race car trailer or boat.
On the road, the Blade is imposing as you would expect. It has huge ground clearance, tall tyres and isn’t light. Steering is slow and progress is generally sedate, but I love it. It’s essentially a big 4×4 and drives as you would expect. It rides well, better than some others I’ve driven only beaten by the Mercedes X Class (soon to be discontinued) and the Nissan Navara. The Blade has a solid rear axle and leaf springs at the rear with struts at the front and rides well. The suspension seems well balanced and does a good job of isolating the occupants from the horrors of our appalling roads, and you feel like you could go anywhere in it.
We felt obliged to test the Blade’s off-road ability and oh my, this is serious. Isuzu builds the D-Max to perform, and it is fantastic off-road. You would have to do something pretty crazy to get stuck in this.
To summarise, Isuzu’s D-Max Blade is a very well-engineered, well-proven, luxurious pickup that drives well and looks good. It has great standard levels of equipment.
The only thing to consider is that the D-Max has been around for a while and there is a new model waiting in the wings. A new Blade starts at £28,814 CVOTR* + VAT.
