Tom-Tom has developed a new system for commercial vehicle drivers to warn them when they are approaching a narrow road, low bridge or unsuitable route.The aim is to stop Heavy Goods Vehicles from damaging rural areas in Britain, and also prevent chaos on the roads.
All I can say is, it’s about time! I live in a little village in Kent, which unfortunately is a route between the A2 and the M20, so this means we have a hell of a lot of through-traffic using our roads. And a lot of this traffic is foreign-driven lorries and trucks driving to and from mainland Europe, meaning there are a lot of traffic jams. It would be so much easier if they stayed on the motorways and went the long way round, rather than take the short cut through the back roads, but unfortuantely this is what sat-navs are all about. If this measure can stop the number of trucks in Kent using unsuitable roads then I welcome it.
BMW has moved from cars into the world of barbeques! They’ve created a barbeque based on their famous kidney-grille featured on the front of their cars. Made out of cast iron, it probably wouldn’t score too highly in pedestrian protection tests, but while it would rip legs to shread, it’s pretty good at cooking massive pieces of meat!
It’s a one off for now, but BMW have said there is a chance they may actually make the grill and sell it through their range of branded accessories.
I suppose during a recession car makers must do what they can to make money, but somehow I can’t see this outselling George Foreman.. What’s next? Maybe a dip tray shaped like the Mercedes logo, or wings based on the Mini badge?
While a lot of car companies take their name after their founder – think Henry Ford or Enzo Ferrari – others have very interesting stories about how they came about.
Jaguar, for example, was originally the Swallow Sidecar Company, commonly know as S.S. with the big cat as its symbol. But after World War 2, the S.S. name was dropped as it was too synonymous with Hitler’s troops and the famous feline was adopted as their company name.
And, here’s another of my favourites – TVR was taken from 3 letters from founder Wilkinson’s first name, TreVoR.
Somehow, Trevor doesn’t have the same ring to it does it?!
One of my favourite car ads around at the moment is the new Renault Twingo one. It always makes me chuckle, and is very apt with so many of us looking for work at the moment.
Michelin have reported that a massive 36% of us are driving around with dangerous or very dangerously under-inflated tyres! Of the 4,500 cars they looked at only 45% had correct tyre pressure, and 6% had a puncture!
This is absolutely crazy – there’s no need for anyone to be driving around with under-inflated tyres. You should be checking your tyre pressure every month at least, and before any long journeys. It’s especially important to check them during the winter as we all know the lovely British weather can make driving fun at the best of times.
Look in your car’s handbook to see what pressure your tyres should be for your type of usage. Alway remember to check your tyres when the car is cold (ideally, stationary for about 2 hours). You can either check the pressure at home using an at-home kit (you can probably buy them in Halfords), or go to your local petrol station to use their gauge. Remember, under-inflated tyres can cause understeer and cause higher fuel consumption – possibly an extra tank of fuel a year! It will also cause the tyres to have a shorter lifespan, costing you more money in replacing them.
You should also check the general condition of your tyres, you know for like, holes and stuff (!) The legal limit for tyre tread is 1.6mm left in the centre 3/4 of the tyre, but this is the very limit! You should change them when it reaches around 3mm. Most tyre manufacturers include handy built-in tyre gauges – look for small rubber blocks roughly half the actual depth of the tread. If your tyre treads are level with these little blocks, change the tyres immediately as they are below the limit! Another trick is to use a coin and hold it against the tread, and it should cover the dotted rim around the edge of the coin.
Also, when buying a used car, whether it is a BMW 7 Series in Edinburgh or a Ford Focus in Surrey, and whether you are buying from a private seller or a professional dealer, it is always important to check the tyres, including the spare tyre, for any signs of damage or wear and tear.
Our tyres are our only contact with the road – they’re one of the most important parts of our car – don’t ignore them!
I need to get this car! Paint is no longer an option to cover cars – chocolate is the new ‘in thing’.
To celebrate the fact that Christmas is coming, a dutch Porsche dealer decided to cover a Porsche Carrera S in chocolate. As you do. The car is covered with an equivalent of 1,000 Dairy Milk bars, with the lights picked out with white chocolate to contrast. The choccy car is only staying in the showroom until Christmas… well not if I get my hands on it first!
Yum!
the best job in the world?
Now, where do I go to get my Ford Fiesta “choco-fied”?
BMW has just signed up to become the official vehicle sponsor of the London 2012 Olympics in a deal worth $67 million (why is this information never in £’s?). They will supply about 4,000 BMW and Mini cars to transport athletes, officials & other members of the Olympic community. They will also supply BMW bicycles for use inside the Olympic Park.
In keeping with the Olympics ‘green’ ethos, the cars will have to meet a certain emissions standard criteria set by London 2012.
BMW tries something a bit different...
It’s unfortunate that we have to approach a German carmaker to supply vehicles for our Olympics Games, but I think it’s great that Mini will be involved as well, being such an icon of British heritage. Plus BMW do make some sexy cars, so at least our Olympics cars will be classy if nothing else!
The least favourite car colour in the UK is, unsuprisingly, pink. In a poll of over a thousand motorists, carsite.co.uk found the pink topped the list of unpopular colours with over 29% of the vote – almost 1 in 3.
UK’s Ten Most Undesirable Car Colours
1. Pink 29.4%
2. Brown 16%
3. Gold 13.7%
4. Lilac 9.3%
5. Lime 9.1%
6. White 6.5%
7. Orange 5.5%
8. Purple 4%
9. Beige 4%
10. Cherry red 2.5%
My first car was a bright yellow R-reg Citroen Saxo. Although some people thought I was bonkers, I thought the car was fantastic. I could always find it when I returned to a carpark, my friends knew when I was coming along the road and would wave to me, and just seeing it put a smile on my face. The day I had to let it go was a very sad day for me.
Why don’t we embrace unusual car colours more in the UK? Sixty five percent of the cars on our roads are either silver, blue or black. How boring – let’s mix things up a bit! On garage forecourts in the UK today there are more than 150 pink, 250 brown and 1,000 purple cars just waiting for their next owner – so if you’re looking for a new car, why not pick something a bit different?
Ok, so they might not retain their value as well as a more common colour, but there’s always going to be a market for funky coloured cars (17 – 24 years old girls generally…). And if you invest in a pink version of a Ford Streeka or Mini Cooper you should have no problem attracting a buyer – there’s definitely a niche market. And besides, if a pink car is good enough for Elvis Presley…
Ok so I know that “green driving” is technically an oxymoron and doesn’t really exist, and that if we want to be green we should just give up our cars, but the fact is, most of us need to drive. But there are things we can do cut our emissions to do our bit to save the planet, and at the same time cut fuel costs saving ourselves a few pennies. So here are a few tips:
Change gear early. Around 2500rpm for petrol cars and 2000rpm for diesels is ideal. This saves revving the engine too hard and so reduces emissions and fuel consumption.
Cut the air-con. Use your air-con only sparingly and you can increase your fuel consumption by 1 to 3 mpg. However, prolonged non-usage can eventually damage the compressor so make sure you switch it on regularly. Check you are not overusing the heated rear window switch unecessarily.
Check your tyre pressure regularly. Under-inflated tyres can increase fuel consumption and emissions by 3%, plus under-inflated tyres can overheat which can cause a blow-out.
Plan your journey. Before you set out make sure you plan your route, as getting lost can increase fuel consumption considerably. A satellite navigation system could be a worthwhile investment if you drive often.
Avoid short journeys. Fuel consumption and emissions are at their highest during the warm up period so lots of short journeys will use up more fuel.
Check your cruising speed. When on motorways, driving at 65mph rather than 70mph can reduce emissions and consumption by as much as 25%.
Shift the weight. Are you carrying around more than you need? Extra weight can have a massive effect on your fuel consumption, so if you don’t need it in your car take it out. This also goes for roof racks when not in use – improve the aerodynamics of the car.
Be prepared. Try to read the road ahead to avoid heavy braking and acceleration – both which waste fuel and can make you an unsafe driver.
Turn the engine off. If you are stuck in traffic and not moving anywhere, turn your engine off.
Car buying trends suggest than women are ‘greener than men’ (as if we needed to be told – we are a naturally more caring species), although it would seem that reasons behind this green sales trend are economic rather than environmental. Of those surveyed by a BMW YouGov poll, only 1 in 5 recognised carbon footprint as thie chief priority when buying a car (25% of women; 15% of men). However, this figure was 0% in 1988 when a similar urvey was carried out by Ipsos MORI so the trend is definitely heading the right way. And with technological developments making cars greener and greener, soon we won’t have a choice whether we want to buy an eco-friendly car.
