Recreation and Sports

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Wednesday – Pulling It’s Weight

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Jeremy I’ve always towed boats but this is the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire and that means horseboxes. The ‘Glossy Possy’ who live here aren’t short of a bob or two and you are judged by the size of your horsebox – just like actors always want the biggest Winnebago mobile home on location.

There are no ponies grazing on our lawn but Jessica has owned a few in her time. Her grandfather, Jack, was the youngest member of the British equestrian team at the Berlin Olympics in 1936!

Mitsubishi UK are based just up the road in Cirencester, so hard-working Shoguns and L200’s are as common as muck with the equine set. But they shouldn’t rule out the Outlander, mainly because it has an impressive tow weight of two tons – more than many key rivals.

And with just the front two rows of seats in place, the boot space is massive. Plenty big enough for two or three large dogs, although if you pull out the two third row seats at the rear, luggage capacity is severely  limited.

 

 

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Sunday – Squeezed Out

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Jeremy 20-inch Vulcan wheels in gloss black – £550 each. That’s just the alloy wheel and doesn’t include the tyre. So you can imagine how irritated I was when I tried to go past a caravan on a roundabout near Chippenham tonight, then suddenly found myself being squeezed out by an oblivious woman at the helm.

I doubt I was travelling at more than 30mph but suddenly, the gap between the horrible caravan and the XKR-S  became very tight! I crushed the brake peddle as the woman cut directly across the two lanes and ignored my presence. How noisy, bright and wide do you want a supercar to be madam?

It’s one of the perils of owning a supercar with low profile tyres. A curb stone might as well be a sharp knife, waiting to slash a gaping hole in your wallet and empty the contents on a regular basis. Tonight there was a slight squeal from the rear off-side rubber but a quick check revealed no damage. Phew!

On a lighter note, this weekend we have also managed to cram two twentysomethings in the back seats of the Jaguar. Unless you have friends who are very bendy and don’t suffer from a neck disorder, don’t ever try it yourself. The backseats of the XK are for very small children or a pet pooch only….