HJ's long term test of the Prius is interesting but IMO demonstrates that it doesn't make economic sense for the majority of motorists to buy one.

I will concede it is innovative and is probably a foretaste of our motoring future. However for a car little bigger than a Focus, at £17.5k - £20k it is too expensive to be a serious proposition, even with the artificial incentives from the Government and Ken L in London.

Fuel consumption is good in urban motoring, but not outstanding overall. If the Government gave £4-5k back as a grant it would become a reasonable proposition, but I can't see many being sold in the UK at current prices.
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Sorry if this has come up before, but it's passed a few minutes for me :

www.dsa.gov.uk/mockpaper/theoryintro.htm#

The DSA allows you to take a mock driving test online. Done the first one, 100%. Will try the other later.

Didn't have a theory test back in the days I took my test, so it's interesting to see this.

Lee.

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Lee
MINI adventure in progress Read more

I thought a user test might give a useful counterpoint to HJ's review here....

I recently had a Polo 1.2 Twist as a courtesy car for the day, so had chance to throw it around a bit on some Norfolk roads.

First impression inside was 'hello Skoda' - a rather square dash design with monotone plastics actually make it look cheaper than it really is. Looking at an old model Polo (the one with the revised dashboard), I couldn't help thinking both the design & finish were rather better in the older model....

Surprise no 2 was the engine - maybe mine had been flogged to death as a courtesy car, but I don't know where all the 'peppy' performance the reviews I read had gone - mind you, since it weighs as much as a Golf IV, 65bhp isn't a lot... but at least it's fairly smooth. The fuel economy wasn't brilliant, mind.

The biggest shock was the handling, though. I have previously driven the Fabia with the 1.4 100bhp engine, and was pleasantly impressed - smooth over bumps but with good grip. By comparison the Polo was rather fidgety at speed. Cornering was good up to the limit, but the breakaway was rather sudden and alarming.

Sum up ?
Well, it does look classy, but I couldn't help thinking if it was my money, I'd go buy a 2 year old Fabia 1.4 16v instead and save a lot of money. Read more

Prompted by the reference to 12v electrical sockets which are mentioned in a different thread, I think all mid-spec cars should have:

1. Multiple electrical sockets, and in more useful places. One on the dash for the RoadAngel or whatever, some in the back for the kids, one or two in the boot and under the bonnet. And they should be decent sockets, not these silly 'cigar lighter' things which are huge and waste space.

2. A standard radio interface (I know there have been several attempts)

3. A standard mobile phone interface, connected to the speakers and with a built in microphone. Just purchase a standard holder for your make/model of phone and plug it in.

4. The hazard-light switch in a common position.

There must be some others ... Read more

Last week a car was abandoned outside my ATC Squadron building. It's tax expired at the end of Jan 04, all the doors were open and the front nearside light was smashed. One of my cadets told me that it belonged to a local drug dealer (I've learned it's best not to ask how he knows that sort of thing!)

I checked on the Manchester City Council website as to who I should report it to, and I saw that since 1 July 2003 GMP have been responsible. They are supposed to investigate and remove the vehicles within 24 hours of reporting, and can do so within 30 minutes in urgent cases.

So I phoned the police and reported it. A while later a security guard at a nearby construction site told me he had reported it the night before as youths were driving around the field in it. I forgot to say that we are located at the edge of a large field with about 20 or more football and rugby pitches.

2 days later and the car was still there.

It was still there again on Monday, so I reported it again.

Last night I passed by 4 police officers who were manning 1 speed trap on the main dual carriage way from the end of the M56 into the city. As this road is on the opposite border to the field, I stopped and reported it to them. They were not interested.

So I called it in yet again, and this time expressed my concerns that we had since seen young kids playing in the car, and that we had concerns the vehicle could be pushed up against our compound, and if it was set on fire it would take our building with it, and that would be a dangerous fire for the fire brigade to deal with.

The car is still there today, over a week after first being reported, and now has more damage than just the headlight.

To twist the knife further, the police stables and kennels for South Manchester back onto our compound too, and mounted officers will have been passing the abandoned car on a daily basis.

Maybe I should call up and tell them that someone is speeding in the car, and that they could come and make money from them? Read more