How to be cool (Lesson 1):

1) Drive along Copocabana Beach Road in the Sun
2) Window down, elbow out, stereo on
3) Impressively screech to a halt outside beach cafe full of scenery
4) Strut in leaving car running, stereo on
5) Nonchalantly buy cigarettes, greeting cafe owner as friend
6) Strut back out to car and athletically leap in
7) Sit, ponder on apparant geography issue with missing steering wheel
8) Notice similar steering wheel to my left
9) Quietly get out of car, walk around other side and get back in where steering wheel is, amid hysterical laughter echoing from Cafe

Slink off, window up, elbow in, stereo quiet, wondering where to get cigarettes in future Read more

The worst driving I've encountered has to be 30ish year old blokes in the lumbering piles of junk like Fronteras, Mavricks and Terranos.

They are always tailgating some poor sod or trying a pointless overtaking manouever in a vehicle obviously designed to compensate for lack of personality / wedding tackle.

I was just on my way back to work from lunch. An old sierra behind me staying a reasonable distance as we drove through a 30 mph limit industrial estate, with lots of people wandering around getting their lunches etc. About a foot behind him is a Frontera. Anyway we all turn off the main road through the estate. At this point it's pretty obvious that you are going somewhere on the estate and will be stopping and turning off again. The Frontera driver decides to overtake the Sierra. However the Sierra driver wants to turn right into his works. Much squealing of tyres and honking of horns later the Sierra has turned off and Frontera man proceeds to race until he's a foot behind me. All I can see is the pedestrian killer bars in my rear view window... Luckily I can swoop away to the left as I enter my place of work. He speeds off - no doubt in a hurry to close some multi-billion pound deals or count paperclips.... I'm sure any accident would have been blamed on the Frontera drivers excessive speed but it would be missing the point. The guy is obviously a to**er.

I think the reality dawns on these people that they've bought 2 tons of a sick automotive joke, invented by a marketing team and cobbled together by half-arsed engineers to hit the forecourts quickly. They must get so little satisfaction from driving these trucks on the open road they need any opportunity to feel superior to other road users. Hence stupid overtaking and tailgating....

On a similar note - I saw the aftermath of a motorbike accident some months ago. Long clear 60 mph road with a roundabout offset to the right so 'straight-on' really is straight-on. Biker managed to hit the roundabout whilst trying to go straight-on and kill himself. The accident report was in the local papers on-line site yesterday. He was travelling at at-least 71mph and was double the drink drive limit. Accident blamed on his speed...... I've gone through this RAB (it's a well designed on that you can see over and observe all approach roads) at pretty high speed when the roads are very quiet. If a modern sports bike couldn't handle it at 71 mph then Honda engineers ought to be lined up and shot... Could the fact he was pissed have been the major factor? OK, so being pissed and hitting a sign at walking pace isn't going to kill you. But surely the coroner could see that his impaired judgement led to him doing that speed and aiming himself at a sign? Muppets....

Rant over, apologies to anyone who has the misfortune to own a Frontera...

Piers Read more

I get the impression that the new look Impreza is not as popular as the last one. Consequently a discount may not be out of the question - indeed I noticed that the dealer in Bristol was advertising new ones for £18.5k some £3k off list.

Anybody thoughts? Read more

Travelling on our motorways I am struck by the frequency of skidmarks which veer quite violently (say 45 degrees or more) into the barrier or embankment.

A lot of people clearly leave the road, sometimes ending up quite high on the grass slope or through the hedging, with it seems, little warning.

Ok so the long straightish ones are from panicked tailgaters or where someone has pulled out carelessly, but the violent curvy ones, often with a spin involved?

Are these caused by tyre blowouts? Read more

I've just received my Vectra back from the Garage after breaking down with what was initially diagnosed as a faulty Camshaft Sensor. I had just filled up at a Garage when the Engine Management System warning light came on and she just died. The eventual diagnosis was that I had a tankful of Petrol contaminated by water. This wasn't a back street garage, but one of the largest brands on a busy dual carriageway. Luckily it's a company car and Overdrive, the maintenance company, will be attempting to claim the cost back from the Garage - I wouldn't fancy my chances as a private driver trying to do the same. I haven't seen the final bill but the notes stretched to 2 pages and I'm sure I saw 33 in the unit labour column - I assume hours. Has anyone else experienced this sort of thing before and what was the outcome with the garage?


Robin Read more