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Tuesday – Sour Milk

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Just how do you clean quilted, white leather seats? Not surprisingly, Malin the hound hasn’t had a spell riding shotgun in the Vanquish this week – not when the upgraded trim costs an extra £10,000.

One of the worst car trim disaster stories happened to a friend of mine many years ago. On the way back from the supermarket, he spilt a pint of milk on the seat of his prized Ford Escort.

In case you didn’t know, milk dries sour and the smell after a few days is just appalling. It’s impossible to get rid of but after lots of scrubbing, my friend thought he had just about managed it.

Right up to the point when he left the side window down, just wide enough for a neighbour’s cat to creep in and pee on the same spot as the milk. Imagine that in an Aston Martin…

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Thursday – Oversize And Over Here

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Jessica… The Camaro is the epitome of all the stereotypes we relate to America and Americans.

Its big, its shameless and it hasn’t even tried to pretend that burning fossil fuels has an environmental impact.  Who cares how much fuel you burns on the open road when everyone has the right to live the American dream?

All that is missing is a hand gun in the glove box…

We are, however, fascinated by the uncompromising and openly brash nature of the American psyche. Secretly, we would like to be part of that dream.

The Chevrolet is very hard to dislike. The seats are big and comfy and the interior is retro, without any soft lines or compromise to a softer, contemporary look.

The four-dial, clock style information unit (featuring information that you really don’t need!) is cool and takes you right back to the seventies.

The drive is as brash as the look, fast, with a firm foot required to slow down the vast engine, it’s miles away from the soft touch driving we have come to expect from modern high performance cars.

But left-hand driving aside, plus the fact that you have to be aware of being very wide on our bijoux country roads, the Camara is fun, ridiculous and very hard not to enjoy.

I did once own a giant Chevy Blazer. Again the idea was fun, the smell of old leather, the shift stick on the steering wheel, the throaty engine of huge gas guzzling proportions.

But the reality of driving it on English roads meant it did not stay long.  But for a while being part on an American stereotype was highly amusing, though impossible to keep up.

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Wednesday – Wood Powered Porsche?

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There just aren’t enough good reasons to drive the 911 at the moment. Work is piling up and the wet weather hanging over Britain rather dampens the spirits.

Today I used the Porsche for exactly what it wasn’t built for – collecting a couple of bags of wood from the Longleat Estate timber yard. Don’t worry, I lined the bonnet boot with paper and made sure I didn’t slam the lid on a rogue log. That would be an expensive mistake.

The woman at the counter couldn’t quite believe I was using a Porsche but at the end of the day, if the 911 is meant to be an everyday car, then it has to do everyday chores too.

Which would normally mean using the back seat for passengers, I suppose. I haven’t tried them myself but space is at a premium, especially for adult legs. And with a black canvases hood, it’s going to be pretty claustrophobic too.

Still, I’m at the wheel and back seat passengers are the last thing I want to worry about. Just give me the keys, I’ll drive.

 

 

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Tuesday – Attention To Detail

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Here are a few random reasons why the 911 Cabriolet is the best soft-top on the market. First, when you open the door after a rainstorm, the water doesn’t drip in to the cabin. Does your car do that?

Second, if it rains when the top is down, provided you don’t come to a grinding stop, you will stay dry. Such are the aerodynamics of this car.

Thirdly, there is a second sat nav screen that pops up in the instrument binnacle when you come to a navigation instruction. So, you have an overall map in the main dashboard that affords a general view – then the second explains graphically where you need to turn.

And finally, the wind deflector really is a work of art. Instead of manually pulling a deflector out of the boot and fighting to install it at the roadside, this one works beautifully. The frame pops up automatically, then the fabric material stretches over it.

You see, it’s the attention to detail that makes a great car…

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Saturday – No Legs

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You know that feeling on a dual carriageway when you move out to overtake and realise the power just isn’t there? That happened today when  the 92bhp 2008 just didn’t have the legs to get past a lowly old Volvo.

I can’t say our 1.6 diesel feels sluggish around town but at motorways speeds, you really need the 115bhp model – or the 1.6 VTi petrol that produces 120bhp.

The 2008 isn’t a car that I’ve really warmed to yet. It feels more like a small minibus than an innovative, mini estate that will fulfil the motoring requirements of Peugeot’s global family.

It just doesn’t have enough going for it to put it above the crowd of urban crossovers out there, like the funky Renault Captur and the bug-eyed Nissan Juke.

A car like this needs more than a crazy interior headlining and a rather annoying aircraft-style handbrake lever.

 

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Monday – Forget About The Price Tag

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A price tag of £18,995 seemed like a rather good deal for the 208 GTi – except today I discovered it does have a few important extras that push the cost up by another £1200!

So, options fitted include the gorgeous Shark Grey metallic paint (£495), park assist and cornering assist foglights (£300), plus the touchscreen sat nav upgrade and second USB port (£400). And I thought the second USB port was all part of the deal!

With a 0-60mph time of 6.8 seconds, a top speed of 143mph and all that GTi jewellery covering the car, it’s also worth noting that the 208 has an insurance group rating of 30!

We are also achieving a modest 37mpg for everyday driving, nothing like the 47.9mpg Peugeot claim in the combined cycle.

All that said, this is far and away the best hot hatchback I’ve driven for years. The styling is growing on me and if you could order one without all the bling trim, I’d even consider a 208 GTi myself.

 

 

 

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Sunday – Bulldog Looks

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If ever there was a British Bulldog of car design this is it. The Trax may be short on stature – 4.25 metres of it – but the front end looks like a mutt straining at the leash.

While the rest of the car is sculpted-out conventional SUV, that Chevrolet front end is what really bites you on the bottom. In fact, if you added a set of wider wheels and painted it black, the Trax would be a bruiser of a 4×4 to look at.

The only problem with having such a large front end is that wind noise can be quite intrusive at high speed – not helped by the elephant-sized door mirrors which are simply enormous!

However, the built quality is pretty rugged and robust. The doors shut with a reassuring thud and  the interior is practical, with 1370 litres of space if you fold the rear seats flat (356 litres with the back seats in place).

Right now I’m thoroughly enjoying the 128bhp diesel engine. You have to work it hard, which might be tiresome in the long run but it’s simply great fun to drive.

 

 

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Monday – Wind Assisted

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Jeremy Even if the Cascada doesn’t lure you to a Vauxhall dealer, you can’t help but be impressed by the folding mechanism of the roof.

Bank Holidays can be a mixed bag of weather but today we were able to enjoy the last throws of the summer with the wind in our hair. The roof lowers quickly, without the need to undo any catches and folds neatly into a large slice of your boot space. Never mind.

Our 1.4 test car doesn’t have one of those annoying wind deflectors that take up all of the back seat when in place. Instead, the aerodynamics are slippery enough to direct the wind well away from the cabin area, even at motorway speed.

It’s a hairdryer job if you are sat in the back but up front, the Cascada is very refined, especially with all four windows up. Your summer hat should stay in place and you can even hear the sound system.

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Wednesday – Ask A Policeman

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Jeremy  The policeman at the end of my road has been nagging me for ages to get hold of the latest Sorento. He’s owned his for five years and has, frankly, been far more excited about CarCouture’s latest arrival than me.

Now the latest version has been sat on my driveway for 24 hours, I am starting to understand just what he is raving on about. The new Sorento may be slightly more expensive that the previous model but it is an awful lot of car for £27,000.

There aren’t many full-size, seven-seat off-roaders about for the price and with the latest Kia styling both inside and out, Sorento represents great value for money.

Sorento is built on the same platform as the Hyundai Santa Fe, which we tested last month. Apart from the same mechanics, the bodyshell design states these are two distinctly different cars.The Santa Fe has a more streamlined front end, thanks to the Sorento’s more prominent bumper and inset fog lights. Sorento has a prettier back end, while there is little to choose from a side profile.

The key thing is that the policeman is in love with our Sorento already. Let’s see what he thinks tomorrow after I take him out for a drive…