Tester’s notes

Cadillac’s back. Again.

2008-08-07T15:11:22Z

Cadillac’s periodic attempts to relaunch itself into the UK market have many similarities to the sort of multi-franchise Hollywood blockbuster where an ageing action star is called back for further chances to get blown through windows while wearing a vest.

Cadillac could even pilfer a movie tagline for the third go at launching in Blighty in less than a decade: ‘this time it’s serious.’

GM is determined that picky Europeans will be made to fall for its top-drawer brand, and (ultimately) to see Caddy as a viable alternative to a premium German badge.

The General has even gone to the considerable expense of building a right-hand drive version of the new CTS, a car that will only sell a few hundred a year in the UK.

On first impressions of the CTS, Caddy still has a fair way to go before BMW or Mercedes retreat in blind panic. But there’s plenty to like about the new car (especially with the cheaper, smoother 2.8-litre engine), and when diesel and estate versions follow, it will be able to challenge across a decent chunk of the market.

And despite it’s flaws – including the sort of ignition key that would leave you feeling shortchanged if you’d rented a Chevy Malibu – the CTS isn’t without its charms.

GM is particularly proud of the particularly intricate front wing, which the company reckons is one of the most complicated panels ever to be stamped from a single piece of steel.

According to design boss John Manoogian, VW boss Ferdinand Piech was seen examining it closely on the show stand at the Geneva show, before turning to his entourage and announcing that it couldn’t be made from metal.

“At last, we get to be the benchmark on something,” says Manoogian.

If Cadillac can keep up its current rate of progress, it won’t be the last time it leads the way.

Technorati Tags: Cadillac CTS General Motors GM Ferdinand Piech BMW Mercedes

How loud is too loud?

2008-08-01T16:45:18Z

We've just had a bit of a play with our Vauxhall VXR8 long-termer, fitting Walkinshaw Performance's Power Pack.

The kit comprises a revised air filter, an ECU upgrade and a stainless steel exhaust that lifts the regular VXR8 rumble up to 92dB. It also frees up an extra 30bhp.

Thing is, I've been wondering ever since the car came out of Walkinshaw's workshops if I've done the right thing. The performance exhaust that's been fitted is only the 'minor' upgrade, you see; Walkinshaw also produces a V8 Supercar unit that turns the volume up to 110dB - and accompanies it with a cacophony of crackles and backfires. So I've been torn between driving a car that sounds like a Bathurst racer, and, er, living with one.

Today, I got my answer, for Vauxhall has helpfully fitted the V8 Supercar unit to its latest press demonstrator, the LS3-engined 6.2-litre VXR8. After five minutes I was nearly biting the steering wheel with frustration, because it sounds fantastic.

And after six minutes I felt content. Why? Because I'd started to get annoyed at the intense noise and cabin boom being created by exhaust explosions. Frankly, I couldn't wait to get back into our long-termer, to enjoy the mix of great V8 noise and, er, motorway cruising ability.

We don't do much performance modding at Autocar, and this incident shows why. As it is, we've struck a fine balance and genuinely added meaningful enjoyment to our VXR8 experience.
But if we'd ticked the wrong box (and spent a lot more money), we could have ended up with a hooligan of a vehicle riding roughshod over many of the original VXR8's best qualities. Cars are there to be ruined, as well as improved.

Technorati Tags: Vauxhall VXR8 Walkinshaw Bathurst LS3 6.2-litre V8

Chrysler cooler than Chevrolet?

2008-08-01T11:24:44Z

I still don't quite understand muscle cars. Actually, that's not true. What I really can't work out is the logic of muscle car fans.

A recent telephone conversation with hot Yankee metal 'superfan' Colin Goodwin made me realise this. I think we were supposed to be talking about Renault Twingos or some such, but that rapidly turned out to be too dull a conversation for me to even remember, so we turned to the subject of the new Dodge Challenger.

As I had driven it earlier that week, Colin wanted to know what it was like. The answer, apart from the fact that it looks so good that it even if you saw Angelina Jolie dressed in an orange catsuit, the Challenger would still win the prize for Sexiest Orange Thing Ever, is 'good in parts'.

It feels well built, it stops, grips and steers effectively (though not enthusiastically) and it bellows down the road with extreme ferocity when you really put your foot down. But the steering is lifeless, and the engine and gearbox can feel a little lethargic.

All of which is fine - muscle cars just have to sound good and look amazing. But there is a problem in my eyes, and it's called the Chevrolet Camaro. This will be powered by the latest LS3 GM V8, which is a much better engine than the Chrysler Hemi, and its chassis is based on the Holden Commodore HSV (also known as the Vauxhall VXR8), which is a much better chassis.

I explained this to Col. And his response? "The thing is, young Rigby, none of that matters, because Chryslers always have been - and always will be - much cooler the Chevrolets. One day I'll explain that to you."

Can anybody else see what Col means? I'm willing to be educated.

Technorati Tags: Chevrolet Camaro Dodge Challenger Angelina Jolie Holden Commodore HSV Corvette

Who needs a Prius?

2008-07-30T12:00:00Z

So after taking some flack about the alleged weight of my right foot – and the fact I can’t manage to get my Ford Mondeo 2.0-litre TDCI over 40mpg under everyday use – I nabbed a Mondeo Econetic that was sitting in the carpark for my journey home last night.

Basically a slightly eco’d version of the 1.8 TDCI, the Econetic gets lower rolling resistance tyres, revised gearing and some aerodynamic tweaks to deliver a claimed combined mpg of 53.3 – compared to 50.4mpg for the standard 1.8 TDCI Zetec.

Anyway, to slash 50 percent out of a long story, I ended up mounting a one-man fuel economy run in the thing: aircon off, 70mph scrupulously observed and trying not to use the brakes unless strictly necessary, just to see what it was capable of delivering.

By happy coincidence I was sad enough to have done something similar in a boggo 1.8 TDCI last year, when I managed to record 53.9mpg according to the trip computer.

I thought that was impressive, but the Econetic knocked that into a cocked hat: see my slightly wobbly mobile phone pic for confirmation of a stonking 62.0mpg after 127 miles of motorway, B-road and urban sprawl. Granted, trip computers aren’t always completely accurate – although the one in my 2.0-litre Mondy is always close to the depressing reality.

For a car that weighs 1505kg – and which doesn’t get electric power steering, a part-time alternator or engine stop-start, breaking 60mpg is a remarkable achivement. And, for the record, it’s also 10mpg better than I’ve ever seen on the trip computer of a Prius.

Technorati Tags: Toyota Prius Ford Mondeo Econetic 1.8 TDCI Zetec

What’s the 7-Series like to drive?

2008-07-28T11:24:11Z

I’ve just got back from our first go in the new BMW 7-Series – a technical presentation about all the new tech that’s been crammed into it, and a chance to take it for a spin in the controlled environment of a test track.

And, if early impressions from the Miramas track in France are anything to go by, the new 7 will be more suitable to British roads and driving conditions than any of its predecessors.

The new four-wheel steering system, integrated with the familiar active steering, makes it feel remarkably agile for such a big car. The adjustable damping of the suspension means the car can offer both limo-like refinement (in ‘Comfort’) and genuine athleticism (in ‘Sport’ or ‘Sport Plus’). The latter setting cuts intervention from the car’s built-in stability control to a minimum, but keeps other traction preserving functions.

Granted, our test cars were pamper pre-production models, but in default suspension mode they rode noticeably smoother than the current car – which had been laid on by BMW for comparison purposes.

Engine noise in the 740i I drove was extremely subdued, too. Okay, it’s lost the V8 engine of its predecessor, but the 7 has never been the sort of car you drive next to acoustically reflective surfaces so as to sample its bent-eight exhaust note. The new motor’s increased frugality and lower emissions will be of far more concern for most modern drivers.

From the driver’s seat the car feels spacious and well-built, and its modern interior feels properly focussed around the driver. Neat details include an instrument panel that stays entirely black until the electronic dials go live.

A proper verdict will have to wait until we get one onto the open road. But at first glance the new 7-Series looks modern, capable and dynamically accomplished.

It’s certainly got the sort of kudos to carry itself in the golf club carpark – all the ingredients for success, in other words. But the big question will be that of how well it manages to fare in the current economic climate.

Renault Koleos in "not bad" shocker

2008-07-17T15:39:14Z

It would be fair to say that, after a while in this job, you approach different new cars with different expectations.

And it would also be fair to say that I approached the Renault Koleos, newly arrived on these shores, with my expectations flying somewhere below ankle height.

I mean, just look at the thing: with its teetering stance, grafted-on corporate front end and full complement of soft-roader design cliches. It even boasts an inclinometer – the sort of pointless detail that I remember from the 1980s Fiat Panda 4x4.

Renault is the last major manufacturer to bring a mid-sized SUV to market, so we probably shouldn’t have expected anything particularly original. But even so, on first impressions, it looks like a me-too product that was carefully engineered to slot into the exact centre of its over-full market segment.

Yes, there’s a but. Because, looks aside, the Koleos is actually a pretty decent machine. I’d be lying if I said that it won me over to the point where I actually want one – but after three hours of rush-hour motorway and a dozen miles of rapid ‘A’ road I can confirm that it drives far better than it looks.

The interior plastics have a strange, cheap smell to them which takes some getting used to them. But the cabin is spacious and comfortable, the familiar Renault dCi diesel engine combines solid urge with quiet manners and – at motorway cruising speeds – the whole thing feels planted and impressively refined.

Granted, the handling isn’t going to give the Ford Kuga any sleepness nights and the low geared steering has only a distant relationship with what the front end is up to.

But, if I was asked to sum the Koleos up in two words they’d be “not bad”. Faint praise, but praise nevertheless…

Europa finally makes sense

2008-07-09T11:00:33Z

There was one good way, it seemed to me, to test the worth of the improvements of the recently revised Lotus Europa SE: subject it to a long, fast trip.

When the car was launched in 2006 it was billed as the right choice for Lotus owners who wanted a reasonably refined touring car, still with the great driving values of the Lotus Elise and Exige to which it was closely related.

But the original Europa S fell short of expectations, and was never a match for the mainstream competition.

After deliberation, I decided to tackle what I always think of as the Jim Clark heritage route — from Lotus’s Hethel HQ to Duns, Scotland, where Clark lived. That seemed especially appropriate since it’s 40 years since the great champion died at Hockenheim. Plus, a round trip of 700 miles is just too far for key faults to stay hidden and offered the ideal opportunity to really test the Europa’s mettle.

You can find a summary of the latest improvements in our first drive, but the bottom line is that we arrived back from Scotland, having driven briskly to the Borders and back, in decent physical condition and having returned near enough to 30 mpg for the entire trip.

The Europa really does make much more sense now. With these revisions in place it has become a viable, longer distance alternative to the Exige and Elise.

For the driver prepared to compromise in favour of top-drawer steering, braking, performance and roadholding, this is now a decent option. It’s still rather raw compared with mass-market equivalents, such as the TT, but then it feels more special, too.

Would I buy one? Not sure. I’d want to satisfy myself that an Elise wouldn’t make more sense. But I was definitely attracted to the sheer grunt and passing power of the turbo engine. The rearranged price - the entry-level Europa now costs £27,950 - makes the car seem a much better proposition, as well

Put it like this: the Europa used to be beyond the pale. Now it’s a contender.

Manual Cayman is automatic choice

2008-06-30T11:42:49Z

I've just spent the weekend - yes, most of it - driving a Porsche Cayman. I'm gradually coming down from my high, but I'm still pretty convinced it's the best car I've ever driven.

It's nowhere near being the fastest, or the most powerful, or the quickest point-to-point; but it's got to be the sweetest-handling thing I've driven. And, best of all, it's converted me back to manual gearboxes.

I've driven so many cars where the gearbox was clunky, or the throw was too long or too flabby, or the gate was asymmetrical, or the clutch was in the middle of the footwell, that I'd pretty much decided that a good car was an automatic.

And now the Cayman has turned it all on its head.

You've got to hand it to Porsche... when you take it off the gear lever, that is.

Kuga in the wild

2008-06-23T13:30:55Z

I've just spent a weekend driving the new Ford Kuga in the Alps. It coped superbly with the winding Alpine roads over the moutains from Geneva to Courmayeur and it is genuinely stable with some fun adjustability on the throttle.

What was almost more revealing was its performance off the main roads. We watched a Land Rover Defender scramble its way up a very steep gravel track and then promptly set off after it.

OK, there wasn't ever going to be any doubt that the Landie would race up and go much further than we would, but belting up the slope after it brought home just how enabling a 4x4 SUV is for families with an outward-bound lifestyle.

It also reminded me how much easier it is to drive a car with traction control. In a big, old 4x4 you spend your time waiting as the knobbly tyres suddenly dig in and grip, then have to fight the locked differentials, which ruin the steering. With traction control and modern hybrid tyres, you simply point and squirt, and the car does the rest. And the ride's better.

All in all, I came away feeling that a new Kuga, fitted with a roof rack, could be the number one choice for a skiing holiday. And there'll be one in the showroom before the next snow fall.

Inside the Insignia

2008-06-05T15:30:08Z

You won’t believe the interior of the new Vauxhall Insignia - particulary if your memory of cabins in Luton cars consists of cliff-faced fascias formed in ultra-durable plastics, plus knobs and switches straight from the Early Learning Centre.

In detail and perceived quality, it’s close to matching BMW and not so far behind Audi. Vauxhall believes the expanding success of Chevrolet as GM’s new worldwide ‘entry’ brand gives them permission to move Vauxhall upmarket — though not to the extent of hiking prices — and their designers have taken full advantage. Design boss Mark Adams reckons the work with Insignia will “lift all GM Design”, and will have special impact on the new Astra, due in 2010.

The Vauxhall designers talk a lot about the Insignia cabin’s “warmth”, and when you slip behind the wheel, you’re struck by it. It comes partly from the soft-feel dash, the much-improved perceived quality (fine-needled instruments, upgraded materials, close tolerances, new switch and control designs) but much of it comes from the harmonious sculpting of dash and door caps, which form an eye-pleasing wraparound shape that works well with the fairly high centre console.

Vauxhall will have four trim styles, but only two levels. There’s an everyman level (which is far from being the old ‘poverty’ spec) then luxurious, sporty and progressive levels versions which buyers choose more according to taste than price. Various forms incorporated in the exterior shape — a “wing” in the front and rear lights, a “blade” formed in the bodysides — are echoed in the sculpting of the fascia and doorhandles.

The result is a cabin about as far from a Vectra as it’s possible to get, not because the Vectra was so bad but because Insignia takes things so far further on. Why all the progress? Because Mark Adams felt GM Europe’s interior design had fallen a step behind the progress of its exteriors. Now they’re even, and the buyer will benefit.

Click here for the full story and more pictures of the Insignia.

Joining the £100 club

2008-05-30T09:55:23Z

I had a landmark moment yesterday. It may have already happened to you, but for the first time it cost me more than £100 to fuel a car.

Perhaps appropriately it was a BMW X6, whose 80 litres of diesel each cost £1.31.

I’m going to keep the receipt along with other knick-knacks I put away, because I suspect I’ll remember it for a long time. I know really it’s only the first of many but, somehow, standing at the pump receiving mean stares from a woman filling a Mini Cooper, it felt like my consumption had reached a peak. We’ll remember these times. One day they won’t make cars like the X6.

Maybe I’ll even show my grandkids. “Here’s an early mobile phone, all it could do was make phone calls,” I’ll say. “Here’s a ticket from the first competitive game at the new Wembley: Stevenage versus Kidderminster,” I’ll mutter. “And this, this is from the first time I spent £100 filling a car with fuel. Back then beer only cost £3 a pint, cigarettes were legal and you didn’t even have to wear a hi-vis jacket when leaving the house – although it was recommended.”

“Dearest Grandpapa,” they’ll reply, bored and nonplussed. “What’s a car?”

Tomorrow's technology today

2008-05-23T12:15:43Z

Full credit to GM for being brave enough to allow me to try an engine that's as far as seven years into the future - although it sounded like a diesel from 27 years in the past.

That's because the highly advanced new power unit is still in the early stages of development, and it had been installed in a current-generation Vectra to give us a glimpse of the motor GM hopes will radicalise internal combustion.

The powerplant in question goes by the distinctly unsexy soubriquet of Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition, or HCCI for short, a technology that promises the possibility of combining the emissions cleanliness of petrol with the economy of diesel.

You can read about how it works by clicking here, but the gist is that by combining both spark and compression ignition it should combine fuel savings with cleaner running.

There's still some way to go. As installed in this Vectra, it produced the sort of knock last head by drivers of the Leyland Sherpa van. It also had a low rev hesitancy that made it easy to stall, and a stutter as the motor transitioned between compression and spark ignition.

The technology will be improved and brought to market, though: Mercedes and Volkswagen are also actively pursuing it. And proof of GM's seriousness lies in the cylinder head of the new corporate 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol motor, which has been engineered to be compatible with HCCI ignition. I'm looking forward to experiencing the finished engine.

Scirocco: an Audi by another name

2008-05-21T10:52:34Z

Now that our first drive of the Scirocco has hit the internet, let me share a fascinating view on the new coupe from the man who oversaw much of its final development, Ulrich Hackenberg.

When we met at the Nurburgring a couple of weeks ago to participate in the final validation test with a group of Volkswagen engineers, Hackenberg was quick to draw parallels between the Scirocco and one of the cars that was developed during his watch as head of research and development at Audi, the TT Shooting Brake.

“Look at the two in direct profile,” he said pointing to one of the three pilot production prototypes that were on hand, adding, “You’ll discover many similarities, especially at the rear end.”

I only ever saw the TT Shooting Brake in the metal once, but Hackenberg is right. The Scirocco is remarkably similar. It is the proportions that link them. More than that, however, there’s the fall of the roof towards the rear, the shallow rear side windows and the angle and shape of the hatchback.

First revealed at the 2005 Tokyo motor show, the TT Shooting Brake proceeded the arrival of the IROC concept – the car that indicated Volkswagen’s intention to bring the Scirocco back after a break of 16 years - by nine months. After some deliberation, Audi bosses decided to forego production of the former suggesting the added investment was prohibitive, while Volkswagen’s strategy was clear from the outset – the Scirocco would definitely be built.

However, there is more than just the styling linking the two coupes. Hackenberg reckons the interior packaging, and more specifically the rear, is close to a 100 per cent match.

Yet while share similar styling and packaging there is one thing that separates the Scirocco and TT Shooting Brake. When the latter was revealed it ran a 250bhp 3.2-litre V6 engine and a Haldex four-wheel drive system. Right now, Volkswagen is denying the Scirocco will get either of these.

Britain's most pointless car?

2008-05-15T10:16:19Z

I grabbed the keys to a Citroën C5 last night; I’ve been impressed by the looks of and, to a certain extent, the approach behind the French firm’s latest saloon, so I was keen to sample it for myself.

If anything, I’d hoped that a spell behind the wheel might allow me to see past Citroën’s ludicrous marketing campaign for the C5. In case you’ve missed the television commercial – and if you watch F1 on ITV then you’ll struggle to do that – it shows a tiresome man displaying lots of Germanic traits that generally irk Britons, then tells us that the C5 is unmistakeably German (as if this would be a positive), then points out that it is, of course, French.

It’s as if some Citroën marketer piped up, “Of course! The reason British BMW and Merc drivers have forked out their hard-earned on those brands is because the cars are built between knockwurst lunches by sword-fighting Bavarians!” (An alternative view being that it’s because they are better engineered, more reliable and hold their value more effectively.)

Anyway, I digress. The C5 in question was a 2.7 HDI Exclusive, effectively the range-topper with a V6 diesel engine. It costs, wait for it, £24,395 – which makes it, I believe, one of the most pointless cars on sale in the UK today.

Now, put aside for a second the fact that the Mondeo outshines the C5 in almost every area of dynamics (except, perhaps, ride quality). Fact is, you don’t even need to look beyond the C5’s own range to find a car that renders the 2.7 HDi irrelevant. It’s called the 2.2 HDi, it costs precisely £3000 less, wants for precious little on the spec sheet, emits 51g/km less of CO2 and manages 9.9mpg more on a combined cycle.

Alas, it is a whole 3mph slower in terms of top speed and the 2.7-litre model will have raced a whole 0.4sec clear in a dash from 0-62mph. But I’d live with it. Or rather, I’d give it a second glance before committing to a Mondeo 2.2 TDCi.

Bertone's fantasy car collection

2008-05-14T11:46:17Z

Every so often in this job, we get lucky enough to live out deepest-rooted dreams, and so it was for me in Italy last week.

I was there to do a story about the Bertone BAT11 concept that you can read about in next week’s mag, a handsome recreation of one of the company’s 1950s one-offs. The venue for the story was Stile Bertone, the company’s design centre, housed in a wonderful architect-designed building which features a wing full of Bertone’s most famous car designs.

The classic collection reads like a world’s best list - Alfa Giulietta and Montreal, Lamborghini Miura and Countach, Lancia Stratos, Iso Rivolta — and all kept in running order.

After an hour or so chatting, Bertone’s Scottish-born design director David Wilkie made the offer of a life-time: “We could get a couple of cars out of the collection for you to drive if you’d like...”

What to choose? No question really, it had to be the Miura, the first mid-engined supercar, and a car I’ve lusted after since I wore short trousers. And a second? Go on then: the Lancia Stratos, which I first glimpsed in well-thumbed copies of Autosport magazine in the days of black-and-white pictures.

Given that it hadn’t run for a while, the Stratos fired-up pretty easily. When the Miura wouldn’t catch, Bertone’s technicians did the obvious and jump-started it....with the Stratos. Is that a Guinness record for an exotic jump-start?

Myself and an equally-chuffed snapper Stan Papior each had a run around the grounds of the design studio.

The Miura had the star quality you’d expect of a 1960s Italian supercar — arms out, legs bent driving position, little rearward vision, unassisted steering that was heavy at parking speed but lightened-up as we got quicker, a gearchange that required firm yet accurate pressure and brakes of dubious bite, even at very low speed. The engine was terrific, running pretty smoothly, if noisily and all accompanied by four-star fumes. Fabulous.

Just getting into the Statos’ cramped cockpit was hard enough: I am in even greater awe of rally maestros like Sandro Munari who tamed the tiny Lancia. I still can’t work out how they squeezed in a roll cage and left room for the driver and navigator to wear helmets.

On our short track, the Stratos was amazingly nimble. With deference to its age and value, I wasn’t exactly pushing it to the limit – but I could still sense the fabulously sharp steering would devour Col de Turini hairpins with a flick of the wrist. The fabulous Ferrari V6 was as eager as when it was new, there’s no doubting the Stratos is still supercar-quick.

What a great day.