Posts Tagged ‘review’
2011 Ford Focus Zetec TDCI Road Test
November 25, 2011 | 
Author
Earlier this month I drove to Northern Ireland, giving me an ample opportunity to put the all new 2011 Ford Focus through it's paces over a 1000 miles and varying roads. Here in Zetec spec, 1.6 115PS TDCI with stop/start, & fitted with the Appearance pack (tinted glass & 17" alloys - £525), Metallic Paint (£525), and a Centre Console (£250), giving a total OTRP of £19,895
Despite the 'all new' tag, it's still very recognisable a Ford Focus. Personally I'm a bit disapointed by this, when the Focus first came out, it was a bit of a shocker, and it seems a shame if you're starting with a clean sheet, not to do something new with the car. The biggest clue it's a new car besides the front bumpers is the rear lights have been moved off the rear C pillars and back on corner of the rear quarters.
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Despite the 'all new' tag, it's still very recognisable a Ford Focus. Personally I'm a bit disapointed by this, when the Focus first came out, it was a bit of a shocker, and it seems a shame if you're starting with a clean sheet, not to do something new with the car. The biggest clue it's a new car besides the front bumpers is the rear lights have been moved off the rear C pillars and back on corner of the rear quarters.
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Long Term Test – Audi Cabriolet 2.6E
I'd always liked the Audi Coupes, whilst I had the mk2 GTi it was always in the top handful of cars I'd like as a replacement, built in the time Audi's were the understated choice. Started looking for a coupe in 2006, didn't find any to spec, but found an 80k Audi 80E 2.0 saloon freshly MoT'd on eBay, and by the end of the night it was mine for a bargain £590. It might not have been a Coupe, but, it was solid, and at least let me cheaply find out whether I really liked one or not, even if it did have too many doors & too few cylinders.
It was such a good, cheap runner it was 3 years before I finally got round to thinking about time I had a coupe, and by then the Cabriolet's had dropped in to budget... So the hunt was on for a 2.6 Cabriolet, 2.8s were out as they need even more expensive Super Unleaded, 2.0s were definitely out as running the 2.0 saloon was slooow compared to the GTi I'd had. Preferably wanted a manual but with around 10-30 Cabs on Auto Trader nationwide it did make picking the perfect spec difficult. So it's quite an exclusive car, it's rare enough I even see another Audi 80 saloon or Coupe, another Cabriolet on the road is quite a very rare spot indeed, I can probably count on both hands the amount of Cabriolets I've seen on the road in two years. Read the rest of this entry »
It was such a good, cheap runner it was 3 years before I finally got round to thinking about time I had a coupe, and by then the Cabriolet's had dropped in to budget... So the hunt was on for a 2.6 Cabriolet, 2.8s were out as they need even more expensive Super Unleaded, 2.0s were definitely out as running the 2.0 saloon was slooow compared to the GTi I'd had. Preferably wanted a manual but with around 10-30 Cabs on Auto Trader nationwide it did make picking the perfect spec difficult. So it's quite an exclusive car, it's rare enough I even see another Audi 80 saloon or Coupe, another Cabriolet on the road is quite a very rare spot indeed, I can probably count on both hands the amount of Cabriolets I've seen on the road in two years. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Motoring, Review | 
Tags: 2.6 v6, audi, cabriolet, long term review, review | 
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Review – VW Golf GTi DSG
Following my recent accident, the insurance company promised they'd be sending me a hire car, they also said it'd be 'like-for-like', still when your car is smashed up just having wheels is a good start, but still half expected something us petrolheads would at best refer to as a 'shitbox'. So it was a nice surprise when the rental company rang the next day to say we're delivery a Golf, a GTi no less. As an ex mk2 Golf GTi owner, and the mk6 reputed to be a return to form from VW, I was half looking forward to seeing what this was like.
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Hello Jon Gotta New Motor
With the sadness of last weeks accident with my old Audi Cabriolet, which is almost certain to be written off. Full steam was set in to finding a replacement, as Audi/BMW 4 seater convertibles aren't the commonest car to seek, especially once you then also want to narrow your search further by
a) nice colour b) manual c) in bloody good nick d) 323 or 328 in the BM, or 2.6 or 2.8 in the Audi e) not too high mileage f) bonus points for nice toys &/or hardtop or LPG
Expected the search to take a few weeks, found a few contenders at the wrong end of the country, a few with all the right specs but in a horrid colour. Then managed to find a nice looking BMW 323i Cabriolet in Harrogate, nice colour, one of the right engines, all the bits it should come with & a hard top.
So here she is my new long termer, freshly collected this morning in Calypso Red
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Posted in Motoring, Review, Running Report | Tags: 323i, BMW, cabriolet, long termer, motoring, review | No Comments »
Review – Ford Transit LWB 17 Seat Minibus
Latest in the line of motoring review, is the Ford Transit Minibus. Bit of a curveball? Well most of these rentals are whatever I've had for the day job, today & tomorrow I'm ferrying people, so I've got the Transit.
This can only be described as the ultimate people carrier, never mind the 7 seater awful Vauxhall Zafari with next to useless seats 6 & 7 suitable only for pixies, Galaxies that you have to squeeze in to the back of for seats 7 & 8, or even my favourite, the Toyota Previa, with it's sliding seats, fab if you all want to get out, not so good if just one. With the Transit you've got seating for 17, all with seat belts, all with aisle access, and only a bit of neck bending, so even granny can use the back row.
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This can only be described as the ultimate people carrier, never mind the 7 seater awful Vauxhall Zafari with next to useless seats 6 & 7 suitable only for pixies, Galaxies that you have to squeeze in to the back of for seats 7 & 8, or even my favourite, the Toyota Previa, with it's sliding seats, fab if you all want to get out, not so good if just one. With the Transit you've got seating for 17, all with seat belts, all with aisle access, and only a bit of neck bending, so even granny can use the back row.
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