Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008 blog 15 July 2008 by Ben Oliver Did you go to the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2008? Are you wondering how the experience could possibly be improved upon? Here’s my tip: do whatever it takes to score a drive up the hill. If it means... Read more ...
Why I bought a Peugeot 107. By Gavin Green 14 July 2008 by Gavin Green I have just bought a new car. The priorities were: low insurance category (to enable 18-year-old son to use it), fun to drive, small and easy to park, good fuel consumption (low CO2 band also helps... Read more ...
CAR drives a Nissan GT-R up the hill at Goodwood 11 July 2008 by Ben Barry ‘Okay, light them up!’ Queue to drive up the famous Goodwood hill at the Festival of Speed and, just before the start line, you’ll find yourself in the tyre-warming area. Great if you’re in a... Read more ...
Supercar Blogs 10 July 2008 by Car magazine Will supercars survive ask Gavin Green By Gavin Green Read more ...
Why Boris Johnson is wrong to scrap the new London Congestion Charge 09 July 2008 by Ben Oliver Oh Boris, you mop-headed moron. Embarrassing deputy-resignation aside, you seemed to be getting it so right; reintroducing the Routemaster bus, reconsidering the western extension to the Congestion... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 British Grand Prix race report 07 July 2008 by Tom Clarkson People thought Lewis Hamilton couldn’t handle pressure. Mistakes in China and Brazil last year cost him the 2007 World Championship and pessimists had begun pointing to this year’s Canadian and French... Read more ...
Crunch time for the US auto industry, warns Gavin Green 07 July 2008 by Gavin Green General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – America's ‘Big Three’ car makers – are in trouble. There are rumours of an imminent declaration of bankruptcy from Chrysler; Ford has been in a pickle for years;... Read more ...
Why it is crucial that Lewis Hamilton wins on Sunday 05 July 2008 by Andrew Franklin This weekend sees Lewis Hamilton gear up for his second British Grand Prix. It’sa race he must win, not only to get his championship challenge back on track, but also to regain his confidence and... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 British Grand Prix preview 25 June 2008 by Tom Clarkson Silverstone marks the halfway point of the 2008 season. Ferrari look like they’re going to walk the constructors’ championship, but four drivers – Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, Kimi Raikkonen and Lewis... Read more ...
Shocking safety in electric cars, by Gavin Green 24 June 2008 by Gavin Green News that there will be more recharging points dotted around London in the expectation of a boom in electric cars is, in theory, welcome. For once, a government or council is partly financing our fuel... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 French Grand Prix race report 23 June 2008 by Tom Clarkson The only surprise was the order of the red cars. Until half distance in the race, Kimi Raikkonen had been the quicker Ferrari driver all weekend, but a broken right exhaust left him down on power and... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 French Grand Prix preview 20 June 2008 by Tom Clarkson Magny Cours gets a bad rap. Too much cow dung and not enough nightlife is the most common complaint. In reality, though, the track’s location is no more remote than Silverstone, Hockenheim,... Read more ...
Are you VXR enough? 20 June 2008 by Adam Towler I’ve never liked the Vauxhall VXR's gear knob. Too short, anatomically plain weird, and finished with hefty stitching so coarse it can scrape your skin off. I’ve just never understood who thought this... Read more ...
A Porsche supermini? Don’t be ridiculous 18 June 2008 by Ben Whitworth I read Ben Pulman’s recent blog on Porsche’s proposed ‘hatch’. While every manufacturer needs to keep a beady eye on its Corporate Average Fuel Economy figures, I presume Porsche would be tackling... Read more ...
Hummer sales nosedive, hybrids outsell trucks… the revolution has begun 16 June 2008 by Gavin Green Just as the Greenham Common women did not get rid of cruise missiles in Britain, so eco agitators have played no significant part in persuading America’s masses to go green. But just as one is now... Read more ...
Why Porsche needs a supermini 13 June 2008 by Ben Pulman The latest rumour to fly round the internet is that Porsche is planning a new hatch for 2012. No, not the hatchback Panamera saloon (we’ll see that a lot sooner) but a mid-sized hatch, based on the... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Canadian Grand Prix race report 09 June 2008 by Tom Clarkson We mightn’t know what it’s like to race a Formula 1 car at 220mph, but we know about red traffic lights. Red means stop. So when Lewis failed to see the red light at the end of the pitlane on lap 20... Read more ...
My first race and my biggest crash, on video 09 June 2008 by Ben Barry For a baptism of fire, it was biblically wet. I’d been invited to pop my racing cherry in a Jetta TSI at the VW Racing Cup, Rockingham and everything was starting to go horribly wrong. First, the... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Canadian Grand Prix preview 06 June 2008 by Tom Clarkson The feel-good factor surrounding the Canadian Grand Prix makes people do the oddest things. Jenson Button swam the length of the two-kilometre rowing strip behind the paddock on Wednesday ('the water... Read more ...
Time up for trucks. Why pick-ups are the dinosaurs of the car world 05 June 2008 by Gavin Green Just as the Greenham Common women did not get rid of cruise missiles in Britain, so eco agitators have played no significant part in persuading America’s masses to go green. But just as one is now... Read more ...
Rolls-Royce Phantom adventure across South America 04 June 2008 by Jeremy Hart Day 14 – The finale of our 5000-mile Rolls-Royce adventure: Chile to Argentina. Nothing is ever predictable in South America, especially when you travel by Rolls-Royce Phantom. Just as getting into... Read more ...
Renault Avantime: a gorgeous curse? 03 June 2008 by Ben Pulman My commute to work is very dull, a steady 30mph for three miles. Not particularly interesting, and not particularly fun. Except that halfway along is an unassuming used-car dealership. Every morning I... Read more ...
Latest Honda advert – the extraordinary art of modern publicity 30 May 2008 by Tim Pollard Did you see the live Honda TV ad last night? At 8.10pm on 29 May, Honda streamed a three-minute film of 19 skydivers jumping out of a plane and – with a bout of exceptionally nifty formation flying –... Read more ...
Motoring is fast becoming a luxury, says Gavin Green 28 May 2008 by Gavin Green ‘Driving in the US becomes a luxury’, says an article in the FT, complete with doleful quotes from a Houston-based woman who can no longer afford to refuel her monstrous Ford Expedition (a giant 4x4... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Monaco Grand Prix race report 27 May 2008 by Tom Clarkson As soon as Lewis saw the rain on race morning, he had a good feeling about the Monaco grand prix. Rain raises the bar through these tortuous streets: the visibility is terrible and the road markings... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Monaco Grand Prix preview 23 May 2008 by Tom Clarkson At 2pm on Sunday, Monaco will become a ludicrous place to stage a grand prix. The race will be a 78-lap procession: no-one will be able to overtake and the Safety Car will be deployed following the... Read more ...
Why our speed limits need an overhaul 22 May 2008 by Gavin Green Plans to reduce the speed limit on small residential roads to 20mph, to be championed by road safety minister Jim Fitzpatrick, are welcome. The current 30 ‘built-up area’ limit – just under half the... Read more ...
The woes of British roadworks 15 May 2008 by Gavin Green I write from the island state of Richmond-upon-Thames. For weeks we’ve been cut off from the outside world, the Burma-of-Britain, our only source of exterior communication the internet or phone. Road... Read more ...
Ferrari California vs original 250 California 13 May 2008 by Tim Pollard Is the new Ferrari California a worthy successor to the original of the 1950s and ’60s? The 250 California is one of the most sought-after models ever to wear the Prancing Horse badge, especially in... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Turkish Grand Prix race report 12 May 2008 by Tom Clarkson Tyre wear dominated the pre-race paddock chat in Istanbul, but in the end the Turkish Grand Prix will be remembered for two fantastic human performances. Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton were a class... Read more ...
Tom Clarkson’s 2008 Turkish Grand Prix preview 09 May 2008 by Tom Clarkson Of the new generation tracks, and by that I mean the eight tracks on this year’s calendar that have been designed and built since 1999 by Hermann Tilke, Istanbul Park is the most demanding, both... Read more ...
Please don’t relaunch the MG SV! Let sleeping dogs lie 07 May 2008 by Ben Whitworth I read the news that William Riley was resuscitating the MG SV with alarm (click here to remind yourself of the story). I had the misfortune to drive an SV when it was launched back in 2003. And it... Read more ...
Why a Ferrari can be greener than a Fiat 02 May 2008 by Gavin Green Gavin Green blogs on why Gordon Brown's carbon tax system is wrong, and offers a simple, honest solution that is probably far too straightforward to ever be adopted. If Gordon Brown really is the... Read more ...
Another British supercar: brave or barmy? 01 May 2008 by Ben Pulman Why do eccentric Brits insist on launching ever-more powerful supercars? Those Freds in sheds, bashing away at another 200mph thriller - ignoring the fact that the economy’s going belly-up and the... Read more ...
My first Porsche experience, by the office junior 28 April 2008 by Ben Pulman I’ve had four memorable Porsche drives. Well, three because the first involved me sitting still in the 996-generation 911 as a schoolboy. I was in the showroom at Porsche Centre Hatfield and going... Read more ...
Porsches aren’t just about the horsepower 28 April 2008 by Chris Chilton While chatting to Arash Farboud, the man behind both the original Farboud GT and the new Arash supercar (with a naming policy as imaginative as that he's going to be stuck if he ever builds a third),... Read more ...