VolvoXC60

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Friday – Sunny Side Up

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Today I had my first opportunity to see the 40 cars entered in this Sunday’s  World Solar Challenge. It’s 35C in Darwin and there’s no shortage of sun – although it wasn’t a good session on the test track for our British team, Cambridge University Eco Racing.

Their unorthodox, slimline design was being touted as a potential contender in the 3000km race down to Adelaide, powered only by the rays of the sun. But after a crash on public roads earlier in the week, the UK’s only entry in the race rolled over during an early morning track session.

The ultra-light, teardrop-shaped car was damaged and taken away for repair. However, organisers say there are now genuine safety concerns over the stability of the vehicle.  Will it be on the start line this Sunday? We’ll have to wait and see.

Earlier I enjoyed a more stable and entertaining ride in the remarkable Stella car, built by Dutch students. Capable of carrying four people, it’s the closest you will get to a conventional car in this technology packed event.

The Dutch machine built by students from Eindhoven University of Technology, can travel 420 miles on a sunny day and creates twice as much energy as it uses!

 

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Thursday – No Lights, Action

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You know it’s going to be an interesting week when the pilot comes on the intercom to tell you that the runway lights have failed. He doesn’t wish to alarm us but it’s the first time this has happened in his 25 year flying career…

Darwin is Australia’s northern-most capital city – and that means just getting here can be a challenge. More than 60 nationalities make up the population of 100,000 and the city has been flattened twice – once by the Japanese in World War Two and then by Cyclone Tracey in 1974.

According to The Rough Guide, ‘it’s now a hip city to visit, rather than the just the end of the road for lost souls’.”

It’s also the start of the road for the 40 teams taking part in the 2013 World Solar Challenge. I arrived at the hotel in the early hours of this morning with a nicotine-addicted taxi driver. Little did he know that he was churning out more emissions that these machines will produce during the entire 3000km trip to Adelaide.

I’m here covering the race for the Sunday Times, Metro London and CAR magazine. Over the next few days I’ll be posting as much as I can on the build up to this quirky event, wi-fi and jet lag allowing….

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Thursday – Ripping Yarn

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If a car looks like a four-wheel drive then shouldn’t it be a 4×4? Does the estate version of the Peugeot 208 need to be ‘jacked up’ so high off the ground and why has a very large cat scratched inside the headlining on my 2008 test car?

These are just a few of the questions Car Couture will be seeking to answer over the next week that we drive the 2008 crossover.

Let’s start with the ‘ripped’ headlining. This is, according to Peugeot, a ‘roof wave – an exclusive roof decoration that cuts through the cloth to the metal above. I can’t help wondering if it will still be stuck firmly in place ten years down the road. Maybe it pays visual tribute to the Feline model, a trim above our Allure version…

The 4×4 issue will have to wait until I can find some dirt to play in but I rather like the raised height of the 2008. Combined with a low loading lip, it makes the car exceptionally easy to pack. Which is good because I’m off to Longleat to load up with wood for the October that lies ahead…

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Wednesday – Significantly Blue

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Jeremy Just off to London for significant birthday celebrations tomorrow. A few early cards have been dropping through the letterbox – one from a friend in Wales who I don’t see often enough.
I called for a chat and showed him the crazy blue R-S on the blog. His response? ‘I’m colourblind but even I can see that’s blue!’ Which sort of sums up the paint job!
Rain is falling in the west today and that has made the roads super slippy. I found this out on the Malmesbury bypass earlier when I gently tweaked the accelerator on the exit to a roundabout.
With 542bhp going through the back wheels, perhaps it wasn’t a surprise when the rear end suddenly took on a life of its own. It fell back into line just as fast but this sort of car demands you get some track experience before even attempting to use it to the full potential…

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Wednesday – Wet Wet Wet

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Jeremy Come camping in Wales… Even Jason Plato smirked yesterday as I left Silverstone, after telling him Jessica and I were off on a four day walking holiday in the Élan Valley. He had obviously seen the weather forecast.
We met a group of friends at the camp site and were midged to the edge of reason before retiring to sleep in the back of the Discovery. It was probably all that kept me sane in the crazy night of rain that followed.
I can’t tell you how much rain fell but it’s still falling now. at least last night I got to know the Land Rover intimately. Pop the back two rows of seats flat and you have enough room for an inflatable mattress. While the rest of the 30-strong party suffered in sodden tents, ours were pretty luxurious surroundings.
We walked for three hours today and soaked to the skin, I made an executive decision to book in to a hotel at Devil’s Bridge and empty the Discovery of wet clothes and one bedraggled dog. For a brief moment i felt like we had let the side down, as they are all camping on a bleak hillside somewhere. actually, maybe not…!
No picture today – wifi at this establishment must have been affected by the rain too.

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Tuesday – Cool in the Cotswolds?

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Jeremy After a week driving the sublime Jaguar XJ, it would be easy to assume the arrival of a Korean SUV might leave CarCouture a little flat. However, first impressions of the new Santa Fe are extremely favourable. On the outside, it cuts a thoroughly modern look, with more aggressive styling, lower front bumper and a stylish hexagonal grille.

Inside, it’s pretty sorted too, although there’s a good deal of plastic trim and a centre console that may not be to everybody’s taste. The console packs in a lot equipment on the Premium model but even the infotainment system is common-sense straightforward and easy to use.

Fitted with a 2.2-litre diesel engine, modifications to the new model mean it is 120kg lighter. The Santa Fe is certainly no slouch with smooth power delivery from the automatic gearbox and low noise levels inside the cabin.

This seven-seat version has two fold-flat seats in the boot. It looks a little tight for adult headroom in the back row but folded down, there’s a huge boot area. The dog loves it – whether adult passengers will feel the same in Row 3 remains to be seen. So far though, the Santa Fe is holding its own in the Cotswolds…

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Monday – A Thoroughly Modern Jaguar

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Jeremy I’ve taken to parking the XJ front-end on to my office window. The white paint job doesn’t offend me any more – even if the bling grille looks as ostentatious as a Breitling Superocean watch. Parking it nose first also means I can ignore the back-end – the only blemish on an otherwise sublime executive saloon.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder but the high, box-like bottom of the XJ makes me wince each time it peeps into view. It reminds me a lot of the brilliant BMW 6 Series – a car only flawed by a rear-end of equally disproportionate proportions. I love the rear lights of the XJ but the metal bits inbetween are a letdown.

The XJ cockpit is near faultless. A heady mix of high quality leather, discreet chrome and a low-slung dashboard, it has buttons and dials in all the right places too. The massaging front seats are the height of opulence but once you’ve used them for a week, you wonder how you are going to survive a long journey ever again.

It’s just as luxurious in the rear and every bit as upmarket as the best of Mercedes or Audi. The boot space is a little lacking – perhaps another reason why they should redesign that rear-end asap.

XJ is a fantastic, high quality machine that in 3.0 V6 guise is as good to drive as anything on the market. Sort out that heavyweight bottom and it would be difficult to match.

 

 

 

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Saturday – Tara Fitzgerald In Our XJ

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Jeremy You might imagine an actress who has starred in films like Brassed Off, Sirens and Hear My Song would be used to climbing in to luxurious limos like CarCouture’s XJ. However, Tara Fitzgerald loves her old Volvo estate and admits to us that she hasn’t been in anything quite as swanky as the Jaguar in years.

“I walk as much as I can around London but when I go down to my house in Cornwall, we cram everything in to the Volvo.”

I collected Tara from Milton Keynes, where she is currently staring in an RSC production of The Winter’s Tale. We are supposed to be walking and talking in the countryside near Silverstone, for a feature in the Financial Times. Then it started raining and didn’t stop.

By the time we return to the Jaguar, the Waking the Dead actress has boots caked in mud, a sodden coat and is drenched. “That’s the trouble with a car as posh as this – you feel bad about making the seats muddy and spoiling the leather.”

I show her the XJ’s massaging heated seat button and ask if she likes the car. “It’s incredibly plush but when I think of a Jaguar, I have a certain image in my mind and it isn’t shaped like this car.

“Maybe Jaguar wanted to move on from the classic design but this model doesn’t stand out in the crowd. I wouldn’t have known it was a Jaguar until you told me.”

Tara is about to star in the third series of Game of Thrones on Sky. “It’s the biggest production I have ever worked on. There were about 100 people on set and it has been filmed in incredibly exotic locations all over the world. However, they shot my scenes in Northern Ireland!”

Would she buy an XJ? “It’s not really my sort of car. I love the interior and the gadgets but I’m used to something slightly more practical.”

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Friday – Supercharged Smooth

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Jeremy Something strange has been happening in the XJ. When I pull away from a junction, big cars in the rear-view mirror become small very quickly. What’s odd about this is that I’ve not really been trying that hard – the ZF eight-speed gearbox has remained in ‘Drive’ and so far, I’ve only slipped into ‘Sport’ once.

What’s even more impressive is that the new V6 engine is so smooth. It feels totally unflustered and glides away at pace without a hint of strain. Jaguar has a long history of building performance cars but the XJ encapsulates the company ethos in one slick machine.

There will be purists who bemoan the loss of the 5.0-litre V8 engine in the XJ but the 3.0 makes the saloon a much more sensible prospect in the current age of austerity. Besides, it still produces 335bhp and CO2 emissions have been cut to a more respectable 224g/km.

The XJ is also so very easy to drive. There’s minimum fuss whether you are bumper to bumper in town, or opening up the throttle on a A-road. The sound from the exhaust isn’t quite the rumble of the old V8 but an 825W Meridian sound system more than makes up for that.

Right, I’m off to Milton Keynes to perform chauffeur duties for CarCouture’s celebrity guest. CarCouture will reveal her verdict on the XJ over the weekend.

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Thursday – Goodbye Back Seat Driver

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Jessica This car is pure couture internally,  a feeling of consideration craftsmanship and  luxury emulate from the LCD dials, to the infinite seat positions and gear system that silently retracts as you turn off the engine.  Leather trim with stitch detail takes you back to deco drinks cabinets or hand crafted thermos flasks for Gatsby style picnics.  The car is extensively branded,  however in this case it adds to the experience of being encapsulated in pure luxury. I am reminded of Alexander McQueen AW13 in the sheer attention to detail and satisfying intake of breath every time you take it in.

The display panel cleverly allows the driver to navigate and pick a radio station whilst the passenger  watches tv, armed with a pair of wireless headphones, negating the chances of back seat driver syndrome…….good news for women drivers every where.
Pick your journey times to coincide with key sporting events and it may well save on divorce lawyers down the line!

Externally the look  is more ready to wear, the distinctive design purity of the interior do not extend to body lines or features.
Sitting on your driveway  the Jag XJ could be mistaken  for any other large executive car, that said,  in times of austerity is it better to keep the luxury hidden and not scream pay rise to the neighbours?