Right, back to the main message, and it is one that has been bugging me for quite a while now.

What is it with Aston Martin’s that people love so much? Yes, yes, I know the DB9 is a very pretty, but, lets face facts, it’s getting old, it’s technology is dated, it doesn’t produce as much power as a 6.0 V12 should, it isn’t THAT fast (Most “Hot” saloons will outgun it.), the interior uses a VOLVO Sat Nav, and, to put it bluntly, belongs in a car that cost’s £30,000, not over £100,000. And there never was anything “Groundbreaking” about the car.

Aston Martin seem to be doing much the same as BMW, riding along on the fact that people looking to impress OTHER people and “Keep up with the Jones’.” will buy one.

However, I am not extremely biased as you may think, I adore Aston’s of old, the Lagonda, DBS and V8 Vantage (Original!) are three of my favourite cars, but come on Aston, pull your finger out! Yes, by bringing out a good looking car, you have caught everyones attention, why not keep it and bring out something amazing, something that will blast everything else into the weeds?

Lets just look at some basics for a second;

Jaguar XKR: Seats 2 in comfort and 2 in the back, 0-62 4.6 seconds, de-restricted it will do 195MPH+, more equipment, better MPG and it costs £69,000.

Aston DB9: Seats 2 in comfort and 2 in the back, 0-62 4.8 seconds, 190MPH, and cost’s over £100,000.

Where is the logic? All that Aston Martin have done in recent years is the V8 Vantage, the DBS, the v12 Vantage and the Rapide (Which I will come to later…).

The V8 Vantage was a let down, not fast or exciting enough, the DBS is a confused and tarted up DB9 that is unsure as to what it wants to be, and the V12 Vantage? Awesome, but come on, it’s an old car with a bigger engine, and the bonnet looks like a cheap Chinese knock-off toy’s breastplate.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope Aston Martin really do have a come-back, such as Jaguar have been doing since 2008, but it just annoys me how slack most manufacturers have become in the last five years or so.

The new Rapide is a case in point. Only Aston Martin could bring out a car that is less powerful, slower, uglier, less fuel efficient and less practical than all of it’s competition, yet still charge up to £40,000 more for it. It has a useless boot, it’s not as good looking or as good to drive as the XFR, the interior is dated, and there is nothing new about it!

Could you walk past a top spec Jaguar XKR or XFR that is better looking (But still styled by the same man!), more powerful, faster, has more kit and is £30-40,000 cheaper to go and buy an Aston? I know I couldn’t.

So please Aston Martin, hear my plea.

SORT IT OUT!

For as long as I can remember, “Road Fund Licence”, or car tax to you and me, has been slowly creeping up. It’s was inevitable, along with the increase in fuel prices. However, in the last five years or so, it seems that the government have totally lost their minds!

In my opinion, tax should simply be added to fuel, therefore, the more miles that you do, the more tax you pay. It even works for large cars, as they use more fuel, it costs them more to travel the same distance, a pay off for owning a car that does poor fuel economy.

The current system was, clearly, thought up by mindless fools.

For this example, we will ignore the current “Showroom Tax” nonsense as I will cover this in another post, and concentrate on vehicles that are already registered.

The tax bands work on an alphabetical basis, going from “A” to “M”. And if your car emits less than 100g/km of C02, then you pay no road fund whatsoever, but, as the emitted C02 goes up, so does the cost, B is £20, C = £30, then a huge jump to £90 for D, £110, £125, £155, £180, £200, £235, £245, £425 and ending with “M” at £435.

This, frankly, is outrageous. My uncle owns a 3.0V6 Jaguar that is in tax band “L”, a years road fund therefore costs £425, but my uncle covers less than 6,000 miles a year, meaning he does not pollute much, however, his neighbor owns a Seat Ibiza Eco-Motive, and as this is an “Eco Friendly Car” and is tax band “A”, it costs £0 for a year of road fund, but the owner of the Seat clocks up 20,000+ miles a year.

Now I ask, who pollutes more? The neighbor obviously, but the government clearly doesn’t see it that way, or they wouldn’t charge us an extortionate amount just to keep the Jaguar on the road.

It is absolutely disgusting that motorists are being robbed left, right and center, just for using their cars. The government are totally aware that the automobile is an everyday essential, and no matter how much they tax using it, it will carry on being used. This, to them, is just an exceptionally easy way to make money. As simple as that.

I hope that now a new government is in that there will at least be some attempt to resolve this simply brainless idea.

There is a lot of controversy when it comes to fast driving, and if you ask 80% of people, they will say it’s a bad thing. But I make the argument that as an enthusiast, excess speed is acceptable under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, some people, who normally drive cars that look like they’ve slid through a branch of Halfords backwards, deem it acceptable to thrash around in town centre’s, driving like absolute lunatics. This, I do not endorse.

If you are out driving around, and there is a clear road, with no danger of injury to another party, then, in my opinion, a touch more speed can be called upon, so long as you are sure that you, and the car, are capable of handling the increased speed, if however you are in any doubt, do not proceed to exceed the posted limit, or attempt to drive a road with lots of corners “Enthusiastically”.

When I say about driving faster than the limit, I of course am not referring to trying to reach the maximum speed of your car, I am talking about enjoying yourself. To a car anorak, such as myself, finding a road with a long sweeping set of curves and a good road surface is automotive bliss, and we will react accordingly by slightly increasing road speed, using heel and toe to change down through the gears, hitting the apex, and accelerating out. This isn’t the tire screeching insanity that most people associate with driving quickly! Unfortunately, for enthusiasts, it is always the worst that get recognised, and the idiots screaming around in poorly modified cars are the crowd that get the most attention from the media and the public, and therefore, this gives the general conception that driving fast is reckless, when in fact, it can be perfectly safe.

For example, my uncle own’s a 3.0 V6 Manual Jaguar X-Type, this is a car that was designed for high speed travel and is perfectly safe at high speeds. (It has tire pressure setting for driving “Exceeding 100mph”) But, if we get caught doing the magical 100mph on a totally clear stretch of dual carriageway in the dead of night, we would lose our licence and be hit with a huge fine. However, a “Chav” in a poorly modified Corsa, weaving in and out through traffic in broad daylight would be hit by exactly the same fine. My uncle has many years of driving under his belt, and has never even had a speeding ticket, where is the logic in this?

Another point I try to put across is that to have fun, you do not need a high performance car. An Austin Mini is about as much fun as you can have on a twisty road.

It is unfortunate that the idiots ruin it all for the real car enthusiasts.

Have fun. And stay safe.

Why does anyone buy new?

I’m not talking about the wealthy who can afford to go and spend £60,000+ on a car quite easily, because they do it for an obvious reason. But why does the Average Joe ever buy a new car?

Last year, one of my friends told me that he’d bought a new car, after inquiring, it turned out he’d just bought a brand new, un-registered Citroen C4 1.6 HDi Semi-Auto, my first thoughts were that this was a frankly awful car, however, this feeling was replaced with horror when I found out that he’d just spent £12,000 on it. Yes, he went out and blew about 70% of his annual salary on a French, Unreliable, Ugly, Boring and slow car.

I suppose you are saying “Well, everyone likes different things” at this point, however, I have no problem with people liking different things, I have a problem with people being blinded by sales Jargon. The reason he bought it was because “It does nearly 50MPG!”. Yes, it might do very good fuel economy, but it’s just cost you £12,000! Where is the logic in that? Yes, another reason that he bought it was because it was safe, but still, there are plenty of cheaper, more interesting cars that are!

I suppose what I am trying to say is that you could buy that CItoren for £12,000 and kid yourself into thinking it was a good buy by telling everyone it does 50MPG, or you could buy the 1996 Jaguar XJ6 4.0 Sovereign I found with 60,000 Miles, Full Jaguar Service History, Original Bill of sale, 12 Months MOT and Tax for £1,900 and spend the £10,100 you have left on running it. The servicing, if you take it to a dealer, will be about £50-60 more each year, the tax £185 instead of £120 and it will only ever do 18-22 MPG, but, you’ve just saved yourself over £10,000 so who cares? You’ve got a car that has A/C, electric windows, electric mirrors, a harmon/kardon stereo with 6 CD changer, an automatic gearbox, electricly adjustable and heated seats, remote central locking, alloy wheels, and a 4 litre straight six engine! 0-60 in 6.8 seconds, 150MPH, all in near silence, for £1,900.

Even if you don’t want a huge car, you can pick up a top of the range (Sport Premium or Sovereign) 2003-2005 Jaguar X-Type 3.0V6 for about £6-7k.

It’s medium sized, fast, comfortable, fun to drive, has every option you could ever require and does 26MPG. All for £5-6k less than a Citroen C4 Diesel…

I don’t understand some people…

I’ve always loved BMW’s, my dad’s always had them, from E12′s, E28′s through E30′s and now to an E34, but I’m sorry, but what have BMW been doing these past few years? They used to mean quality, smooth and good to drive, all that they stand for now is the snob factor. “Look at me, I’ve got a sales rep job and a decent salary – BMW it is then.”

There is just no substance to the cars any more, even the “cooking” models used to be good to drive, they used to be brilliant cars, now they make the “M-Cars” good, and totally disregard the lesser models. They’re making posers cars, not “The Ultimate Driving Machine” as they so willingly advertise.

It’s such a shame when you look back on the fantastic BMW’s that have gone by!

BMW’s good cars :-
2002 Tii and Turbo,
3.0 CSi/CSL,
635CSi,
Every M5 bar the E60,
M535i,
E21 323i,
E30 M3,
M1.

Now what do we have? This new 5 Series is one of the most bland and anonymous cars I’ve ever seen, bar the current Audi A6, the X6 is just pathetic and useless, likewise with the X3 and X5, the 1 Series and 3 Series are boring and forgettable. “Aha”, I hear you cry, “What about the E60 M5?”

Well, my cousin (a typical BMW driver as well) has an 07-Reg M5 and it’s unbearable. It’s dated inside and out, too complicated, too uncomfortable, and just too busy to be used every day. It’s taken the “M-Cars” mantra and stomped all over it, it’s not a comfortable 5 Series saloon that just so happens to be crushingly fast, it doesn’t feel like a normal 5 Series (They had a 535d previous to the M5), it just feels too wired, too vulgar. It’s so much of a posers car that it should have flashing signs saying “Look at me and all my money!”. I’ve been out in a XF SV8 and XFR, and I’d take the Jaguar any day of the week.

The only two cars they are currently producing that I even remotely rate are the 335i and the M3. Both good cars, but I don’t really WANT one, there is no lust with them. I lust after a 3.0 CSL, I lust after an XF SV8 or XFR. But there is just no feeling with them any more, they seem to bring out cars (Just like this 5 Series) on the pretence that “Oh, it’s a BMW, some idiot will buy it.” There is no thought or effort. Look at the innovations of the XF, look what Jaguar did to show off. There is none of this with BMW any more. I think sooner or later BMW are going to wake up and find that the XF’s outselling this Grey Euro-Box 3 to 1 and have to get their rear into gear.

Could any of you honestly say you rather have – say – the 530d version on the new 5 series over an XF 3.0 Diesel “S” ?

I know I couldn’t.

Back in October 2008 I was out and about with my uncle, just out for a drive, and we came across a dealership full of classic cars. We went inside for a closer look, and something drew me to a car. A 1973 Austin Mini 1000. Now, I have always liked Mini’s but never really considered one as a first motor, but when I saw “Harvey” (He’s Harvest Gold, that’s the origin of his name) I fell in love with him.

He’s a two owner from new, 36,000 Mile Minter. Never Welded, Modified or Resprayed and Undersealed from new.

The asking price was £3495, and we considered buying it, we haggled and agreed on £3000, with a new battery, full service, 6 months tax and a fresh MOT. We went back later that week and took him out for a test drive. He was so much fun, and surprisingly nippy given his “massive” 37bhp output!

When we came back off of the test drive, the owner of the garage was there. We hadn’t dealt with him before, and when we mentioned the agreed price of £3000 he blew his top at the employee we had been talking to, saying that they’d be losing money and there was no way in hell he could sell it for that price. We were gutted. He could see that we were annoyed and said we could have it for £3200 with no MOT, no tax and no service. We in as many words, told him where he could put that offer.

I was totally gutted, it crushed me, I had my heart set on that car and it took me ages to get over it. But about 2 months ago I was around the same way as the dealer that was selling it at the time. I asked what had happened to my Mini, and found out it had been put in a local Maritime Museum. We went down there straight away, and found out it had been bought by an employee, so that the museum could use it in an exhibit. We left out name and number, and never expected a response.

A week later, a lovely man called Tony Stevens rang us. The new owner of Harvey. He is a classic car collector, and said he would be more than happy to sell it once the museum has finished with him, January 2010. I went down to his and went out in a few of his classics, including: A 3.9V8 Morgan, Austin 7 Ulster Rep, 1973 VW Bus and an Austin 10. Was great fun! After this, he said he liked me and my attitude towards cars and my general personality. He had said any time I want to come and play around with a car, I am more than welcome to go down his, and he’ll teach me a few things.

But the best news? He has PROMISED to sell it to me in January, and my uncle has promised as well!

He’s a 1973 Austin Mini 100 in Harvest Gold, A very Seventies colour.

I intend to do totally reverseable modifications, like:

Twin HS4 Su’s, Torque-Master Inlet, 12G295 (1275cc Cooper S) Head, 3-2-1 Exhaust Manifold into straight through system with Cherry Bomb Silencers, and possibly a Kent Cam Kit.

Shold be pretty pokey!

We got messed around by a mobile mechanic who managed to hack off the back box before realising that he couldn’t fit it.

Today though, it was fitted by a local garage, and it is one of the nicest things I have ever heard in my life, it sounds fantastic, not loud when driving normally, but when you give it some welly, it livens up, and goes insane.

For anyone contemplating getting one, you should!

P.S Video’s to be on “spac8″ on Youtube when I make some.

At first it seemed like a wise choice, but as I read deeper and deeper into the articles, I discovered many, many flaws, and what was clearly in a lot of cases, a very thin story covered with the authors speculation.

The news is seemingly always old news, nothing really ground-breaking, and is loosely factual and smeared with a good helping of photoshopped pictures. Also, the magazine has a large tendancy to “Cry Wolf” such as the Ford Capri replacement that was “To be with us in 2007″ and the Jaguar S-Type/X-Type 4×4 Hybrid due the same year.

The magazines use of the word “Official” is rarely in context, such as:

OFFICIAL – XJ to spawn reborn Coupe classic.

The Jaguar XJ has only just been revealed to the public – But already there’s a Coupe version on the way!

These are both quotes from the latest Auto Express (22-28 July 2009, Page 16), and they seem to be so sure it is to be released, but they happen to reveal the truth once you read on:

Auto Express has leaned that the Coventry based firm is CONSIDERING resurrecting the much loved, and extremely rare, XJC model…

So, it’s not “Official” at all, it is mere speculation and is extremely misleading.

It really annoys me that the magazines are so desperate to fill space that they are making up storys – ones based completely on rumour.

There is, however, one redeeming feature to my subscription, the book like “Evo” is sent through every month, and it is one of the best modern car publications that I have ever read. Likeable people, good quality writing, and no silly articles designed to be space fillers. Just a good honest magazine.

It really grinds my gears!

More posts to follow shortly.

Sorry I haven’t posted in quite a while, I’ve had quite alot on, with revision, exams, leaving school and such.

My uncle’s 3.0 Sovereign X-Type is 3 years old on June 23rd. It’s a manual, and my uncle is having leg trouble, due to nerve damage from breaking his back a few years ago, so is looking for an automatic. We have decided the best car to go for would be a Jaguar XF, as we are both head over heels in love with it, and we’ve been thinking about the best model to go for. We don’t really want to buy new again, so that rules out the new 3.0 V6 Diesel, so, we had a look at top spec Premium Luxury 2.7D models. After looking at the pro’s and con’s, we’ve decided it might not be for us, it’s a fantastic engine by all means, but will be significantly slower than our current car, diesel, and although the claimed Mpg is a whopping 38, most people struggle to get any more than 29-30.

Going by our previous decision, this also rules out the 3.0 V6 petrol, as this is 0.2 seconds slower again to 60 than the diesel model and has a book Mpg of 26.2. (Why anyone would choose this over a diesel totally puzzles me! Worse Mpg and worse performance!)

We both reckon the 416Bhp Supercharged 4.2 “SV8″ model would be the best to go for, as this has the most kit as standard (And if you are spending that much new in the first place, you are bound to go the whole hog and spec it fully.) and has depreciated the most. Example: Two new XF’s, a year ago, one a Premium Luxury 2.7d, the other a SV8, both fully specced-up. (The SV8 would still have more kit, as it has some options that are unavailble on lesser engines.) The book price of the diesel would have been c.£45,000, and the SV8 c.£60,000, even though the SV8 carries such a premium new, both cars a year on and with around 15,000 miles on them, would be worth about the same! (c.£33-35,000).

We don’t do many miles, so the fuel economy doesn’t matter unduly, although it is good for such a massive V8, returning around 20Mpg in the real world. (Less if you use the loud pedal excessively!)

So instead of diesel clatter, 207Bhp, 0-60 in 7.7 seconds and 144mph, we’ll have V8 Growl, 416Bhp, 0-60 in 5.4 seconds and a car that’s collared to 155.

Wow.

So my uncle might be buying the car of my dreams after all.

Hasn’t quite sunk in yet, as he was the one who came out with “I might as well go with the big V8.”

Absolutely awesome!

It’s the last of the E34 shape, with the M50 DOHC, 24v, Straight-6, with BMW’s VANOS variable valve timing and produces 150 Bhp @ 5900Rpm; and while it may not be the fastest car in the world, it’s smooth, fun, handles great for a big barge, sounds fantastic and has one of the best engines in the world underneath the bonnet.

The earlier 520i E34′s had a SOHC, 12v straight 6, which developed 130Bhp, but BMW were designing a new engine for the E39 shape BMW, and to get rid of the last of the old shape, and dropped the 24 valve in. It’s a fantastic motor, sounds great, has lots of torque for the size, and is reasonable on fuel.

It’s now done nigh on 140,000 miles, and doesn’t burn a drop of oil!

It had it’s MOT today, and even considering the astronomical miles, the emisions were fantastic, and shockingly close to the factory spec’s!

We paid £500 for the car, two years ago, and it was in need of a new clutch (The Thrust Bearing was getting a little noisy) and a service, so we got a genuine BMW Clutch for £250, and a full service for around £170-180.

When we bought the car, it was in an awful state, as the owner had let his children rampant in the poor old bus, there was moss on the carpets, the boot was FULL of sand and golf balls, the little centre console had orange juice spilt in it, and that went mouldy, and it was filthy on the outside too.

But five days of hard graft, polishing, hoovering, and general cleaning, had it looking almost new again!

It’s served us without a hiccup for two years, having nothing but tires and a set of back discs, what a wonderful car !

It’s gearing is set towards autobahn crusing, (It’s a German car after all !), so while the 0-60 isn’t massively quick, the book top speed is a whopping 137mph … I literally know of no other car that has a 1990cc engine and weighs 1600kg that can clock up that!

It’s still got it there too, we’ve had 125mph on a clear bit of road, and it was still pulling from that, only our guts made us back off, as we didn’t fancy losing our licence … and it’s funny that should come up, because the Welsh Bloke who bought it new (LMT BMW, Cardiff), had it for 8 years and had to sell up because he got caught doing 120mph in her! The police were not too happy to say the least, and revoked his licence!

It’s got no bangs, rattles or shakes. Not bad for 14 years and 140,000 miles eh?