London

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Saturday – Start Me Up

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Jeremy I’ve got no idea what car Mick Jagger drives but it probably isn’t a Volvo. I know he stuffed his DB6 in a well-publicised accident in London in 1966 but even a quick tweak of the internet hasn’t come up with any more recent answers.

I should ask Jessica because she had a dance with him a few years back – I can see him in an S-Class, an Aston or one of the very latest Range Rovers that ooze quality from every rivet. You’re right – he probably has all three.

If he didn’t want to get spotted leaving a gig then the V40 would do the job. It’s fairly anonymous if he doesn’t want to get seen and, if he does, well it also rather cool in a kind of ‘man of the people’ something different type way.

Driving the V40 around this weekend, it’s turned plenty of heads. The profile looks long, low and very slippery, while sitting in the driver’s seat, it’s a very well thought out cockpit. I’m feeling less than anonymous.

Right, I’m off to watch the Stones do Glastonbury. The great unwashed will be passing my door tomorrow night and Monday on their way back home. If you are one of them and see Mick climbing into something interesting, do let us know…

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Monday – Cabin Fever

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Jeremy Another sunshiny day – just wish the sunroof in the Beetle would open a little bit further! At least when it gets too hot there is an electric blind to keep the heat down in the cabin.

For anybody who remembers sitting in the rear of the last generation Beetle, this one does seem to have more leg and headroom, despite the lower roof line. You can also lower the two back seats for a bigger boot space.

The Beetle cabin is very lovely place to be. There’s a neat centre armrest that just seems to sit at the right height, lots of cubbyholes and a trendy, drop down glovebox that looks very retro indeed.

I’m off to London today – tomorrow’s report will reveal how well the VW copes with the hustle and bustle of the Kings Road….

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Tuesday – Second Sitting

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Jessica My initial thoughts when I first got into this car were, what is the point? Surely driving something that looks like it is trying very hard to be flashy without the engine power to substantiate the bling is a hollow affair.

Why not buy a sports car that really is a sports car? Is this the equivalent to buying a fake Prada or Louis Vuitton bag? Is it good for the ego to look like a you are keeping up with the Jones’?

With these thoughts spinning through my head I set off on Saturday afternoon from London to find I needed to be athletic with the high set pedals to drive effectively in heavy traffic.

Trying to link in my phone via Bluetooth and understand the music controls linked to my iPod was a challenge – it was just as well the route the to M3 is a slow one, particularly with Beyonce as an attraction at Twickenham Stadium.  I’m not convinced that having to work in braille fashion to adjust volume and select tracks is conducive to a safe drive.

However, once I got in the car for a second sitting I began to enjoy it a little more, it can be pushed and if driven with determination it became more fun.  I still think the clutch needs refining to make the driving experience more sporty and less saloon.

I do like the aerodynamic dimple on the roof, a lovely touch. It’s just a shame the whole car is not thought through more effectively both ergonomically and aesthetically. Oh, and please say ‘no’ to the orange digital display – something less mundane would look so much better.

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Saturday – Pedal Low

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Jeremy Just back from a 300-mile round trip to horsey Newmarket in the RCZ – plenty of driving time to get more of a feel for the Peugeot.

What’s good about this designer coupe is that despite carrying only 156 horses under the bonnet, it feels remarkably composed and refined on the motorway. The 200bhp model must be even better.

What’s not so good is that returning via central London, the Peugeot was seriously tricky to drive in stop-start heavy traffic. The reason? It’s those high foot pedals again. Every change of gear was awkward. You also need to be aware that the RCZ also has a big blind spot in the door mirrors.

I’m still in two minds about this car. I like the styling, the concave rear screen, the curvy bits and the new front end. However, the driving experience and interior just don’t match the promise of the cool design.

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Saturday – Big on Style

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Jeremy ‘It’s not an Audi A1!’ A point I have made to a couple of interested onlookers as I drive the Adam this week. I think it’s mainly down to the contrasting roof colour – a popular options on the A1 – which gets the Vauxhall plenty of admiring glances.

The styling of the Adam isn’t retro cool – just modern cute. There are none of the old style buttons on the dashboard like the Mini or the Fiat 500, just a neatly laid-out look that works very well on the eye AND from a functional point of view.

I’m just back from a major Saturday shopping trip and had to use the passenger footwell for a few of the bags because of the lack of bootspace in the Adam. If I hadn’t had a back seat passenger I would have dropped the rear seats. Vauxhall should consider a more family-friendly stretched Adam – just like Fiat has done with the 500.

So, the little Adam is starting to grow on me. If I lived in London it would be a great city car. If only it was ore fun to drive on the open road…

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Sunday – Le Mans. Twinned With Bolton

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Jeremy After a day at sea yesterday, CarCouture has swept in to Normandy, home of the greatest motoring endurance race in the world. The Le Mans 24 Hours will celebrate its 90 anniversary this June and we’ve brought the BMW 6 Series Convertible to any petrolhead’s favourite French city.

To be truthful, the outskirts of Le Mans has little to recommend it. The 6 Series stood out like a diamond necklace at a fairground. With British number plates, it wasn’t always a welcoming smile either. However, the centre itself is incredibly beautiful. A walled Plantagenet city on the side of a hill, the BMW squeezed through narrow streets originally designed for horse and cart with surreal grace.

Jessica has a sore back after being bundled over by a runner on a pavement in London last week, so we’ve travelled down from Cherbourg with the 6 Series suspension on ‘Comfort’ mode. I’m itching to slip into ‘Sport’ because the 640d obviously packs a mighty punch for a large car. It is such a sophisticated touring machine, I could have quite easily carried on driving across Europe until we reached the Med.

Favourite features so far? Head up display on the windscreen, which can be usefully programmed to project our speed in KPH, rather than MPH, auto-dip headlights and the shape of the convertible roof. It has flying buttresses, like Le Mans Cathedral itself.

BMW hasn’t won at Le Mans since 1999 but tomorrow we are going out with a pro driver around the Bugatti Circuit in something interesting. More when I’m managed to settle my stomach afterwards.

And yes, Le Mans is twinned with Bolton. Not even the tourism office here knows why…

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Friday – Fashion Wagon Or Get Away Car?

Jessica Imagine shopping on a budget and finding a piece of furniture that looks well designed, has good lines and appeals to the expensive side of your nature, for a modest price.609648_santafe_050

That’s what this car feels like…………from the outside!

Once you get inside you realise you have been shopping in IKEA, everything is basic, utilitarian and clunky although the drivers seat feels like a guilty pleasure as it is like siting in a battered old arm chair.

This week the car and I have sat in London traffic visiting a London, back to its fashion roots ( it is used by models for London Fashion Week) where it was easy to handle, a good height for keeping an eye on cyclists, ignoring irate taxi drivers and avoiding buses.  We have covered the motorways, from the South West to Newmarket the home of British horse racing.

The car goes well enough, however you would not use it as a get away car and I don’t feel confident overtaking on a main roads as we are not talking throughbred under the bonnet here.  Once you are up to speed it is relatively responsive and there is some power there.

I wonder if, being basic inside it would be a good country car, mud no problem, space for dogs, lambs, children (their friends) and the paraphernalia of pony clubbers.

How it would manage pulling a trailer I don’t  know but it would be worth finding out.With the coming snow I am looking forward to seeing how it manages en route back to the South West!

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Tuesday – It’s no dummy

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Jeremy I have just driven our XC60 to London-based Rootstein, who are  the Rolls-Royce of mannequin makers in the fashion world that Jessica frequents. It’s a bright, sunny day and the doors of their Kensington fashion studios are highly polished and squeaky clean. Fortunately, the mirror image is sparkling enough to reflect the XC60, as it rolled driverless down the road behind me…

TheXC60’s  multi-function key has six options but not one of them can ‘apply handbrake’ remotely from where I watched gaping. The irony is that the XC60 is otherwise so incredibly safe it almost dispenses with the need for birth control. However, for some strange reason, is equipped with one of those push button handbrakes that screams ‘accident’ every time I don’t apply it.

W14 is fairly flat so I was able to out-sprint Usain Bolt before any damage was done. Then I used the front blind spot camera to squeeze into a parking space, with rear sensors on standby and the pedestrian airbag ready to bounce anybody who is unfortunate enough to get in my way.

For the drive home, I was able to relax in the knowledge that blind spot indicators would alert me if somebody overtook, lights at the foot of the windscreen would flash if the computer decided I was too close to the car in front. If XC60 doesn’t like my iPod playlist, I’m certain it would have probably switched to a more middle-of-the road David Grey too.