England

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Saturday – Biblical Heatwave

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Jeremy We’ve just enjoyed a game of tennis in sweltering heat and then slumped into the Mazda2 for a comfortable drive home. How the rubbery ginger did we ever survive ten or 20 years ago without air conditioning?

We just expect city runabouts to come equipped with cold air these days and the 2 is no exception – let’s face it, driving around London without it would almost be unbearable.

The Mazda has an especially good air con unit that is so powerful it even reaches those in the back seats. And because the cabin is pretty compact, it doesn’t take long for the whole car to cool down in an English summer heatwave.

The present weather reminded me of a story about a guy who got frostbite in his toes after driving up the M1 with the air con blasting at his feet! Remarkable? Well, maybe after 40 days of this sort of weather it might be more commonplace…

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Sunday – CR-V Does Dorset

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Jeremy This weekend we have brought the CR-V on a trip down the A303 to beautiful Beaminster, in Dorset. We’re visiting friends who organise Buckham Fair (www.buckhamfair.co.uk) with their neighbour Martin Clunes.

If you were trying to tell an American how beautiful England is, you would probably end up describing the area around Beaminster. Thatched cottages, local events every weekend and the sort of winding, narrow roads American’s hate!

The CR-V is perfect for this kind of terrain – it’s not a monster like the Range Rover or X5 and can squeeze into passing places on country lanes. There’s a lot of that going, especially in the summer when the tourists descend on the coast area around Bridport.

The CR-V has a really useful reversing camera that lights up the navigation screen when in use. It’s especially good because the CR-V does have some substantial rear pillars that restrict over the shoulder visibility.

And we are getting 45mpg out of the 4×4, which I think is pretty decent too. It’s too hot to have the sun blinds open on the glass roof but in the cooler evenings, the extra light it affords is brilliant.

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Sunday – Rain Stops Play

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Jeremy We’re just back from the England vs India cricket final at Edgbaston. Suffice to say, we have a convertible on test at the moment so the weather was appalling and not a single ball was bowled while we were there. So we decided to leave at 3.30…. and then the game started as we drove back down the M5!

With rain lashing down, at least the little D3’s 155bhp petrol engine can perk me up a bit. Maybe it ‘s just the compact size of the Citroen but it feels faster 0-60mph than the official 8.2 seconds claimed. The six-speed transmission is also very precise and just encourages you to flick up and down through the gears at leisure.

I’m not very sure anybody actually realises this is a convertible either. If I hadn’t told Jessica the Citroen had a soft -top, I’m sure she wouldn’t have guessed. Well, until she hit the motorway and the wind noise went up several decibels.

I’ve also decided the postbox boot, hinged to open upwards, isn’t for me. The aperture for putting items in is too small and to reach inside means almost getting down on my knees.

Forecast for the rest of the week is looking better so let’s hope I can get the roof down properly soon.

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Sunday – Daft Pug

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Jeremy – It felt like the whole of England was out today – doing what English people do best. Queuing and shopping.

Fortunately, that meant the Wykeham Arms in Winchester was quieter than usual and a 50 minute dash down the A303 past Stonehenge was well worth the effort.

I downloaded the new Daft Punk album onto my iPod for the trip but it only took a few miles before I became frustrated with the RCZ‘s music system. I judge an entertainment system by how intuitive it is – this one isn’t.

Once the iPod is connected, all its functions are taken over by the Peugeot. I eventually had to stop the car and scroll through the ‘artists’ painfully slowly on the RCZ dashboard interface before I realised this could also be completed by the stalk control on the steering column.

Now, you really do have to know the workings of your stalk control and remember them because it’s totally hidden behind the steering wheel itself. Having the controls on the front of the steering wheel would be a much better and safer system.

There are lots of things to like about the RCZ but quite a few features, that would be annoyingly simple to rectify, that aren’t.

 

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Thursday – It Really Does What It Says On The Tin…

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Jeremy I have a friend who lives in splendid isolation, near Cordes-sur-Ciel, in France. She is spending her retirement camped by the swimming pool but earned part of her estate from dreaming up the advertising slogan ‘it does what it says on the tin’.

If Maddy was road testing the Sorento, that would probably have been her headline. It’s not the most remarkable 4×4 SUV but if you want a no-nonsense seven-seater for a modest price, look no further.

With England bathed in sunshine today, it’s not been hard to find excuses to get out of the office. I’ve dropped the back five seats of the Kia and been to the dump, picked up a lawn mower from the service garage and swotted up on the form for Badminton Horse Trials this weekend. It’s bound to rain…

The Sorento is going to come in handy, no doubt battling for a space in a muddy press car park with assorted Land Rovers and Range Rovers. We will be six-up with three dogs, so it should be a true test of the Sorento’s resolve!

Today I’ve struggled a little finding a good driving position in the Kia. I either feel too close to the pedals, or too far back, which results in me constantly crashing the gearbox because I’m depressing the clutch far enough. It’s happening so much I’m wondering if it’s my bodily proportions.

Otherwise, the leather seats in the KX-2 model are big and comfortable, like your favourite armchair. There are three proper seats in the middle row while the rear, fold-up pair are for little people only.

This model also lacks a sat nav as standard but the radio console is touchscreen and setting up Bluetooth for a mobile phone is the easiest system I have used to date.

Fingers crossed for good weather this weekend…

 

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Friday – Don’t Mess With My BMW

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Jeremy It’s a typically French thing to do. Having lived in the Midi Pyrenees for 18 months I feel justified in saying that many French people have no respect for cars.

So perhaps I shouldn’t have been that surprised when a woman on the Brittany Ferries ship lazily opened her car door against the bumper of the 640d and didn’t show a trace of remorse. Even though I was sat in the driver’s seat and at least four other motorists saw her do it, no apology was forthcoming.

The upshot? Well, if you are going to whack the door of a Citroen Picasso against a robust BMW, chances are you will come off worse. Her year-old MPV now has a lovely crease in the paintwork and the Beemer is unblemished.

It’s ironic that we took the 6 Series Convertible to France hoping for sunshine. It poured down for most of the trip! Today I’m hoping to finally drop the roof as England sees the first signs of spring. Will let you know how it goes tomorrow…