Sky Motoring - Car Spy Blog

Twingo RenaultSport 133 - First impressions

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 01:20:47 GMT

Just driven the new Twingo RenaultSport 133 and first impressions are good, especially considering the £11, 550 price tag.

The car is available with both standard Sport (pictured), and £650 optional, Cup chassis from launch.

It seemed like the logical choice to start with the Sport spec car today. And it’s a great compromise between pointy handling and finely-tuned, well-damped ride quality in the best, supple Gallic sense.

Keener drivers might prefer a sharper turn-in and better body control in quick direction changes so hopefully the Cup chassis will provide this tomorrow.

What the upgrade undoubtedly adds is a quartet of super-sexy 17” alloys that are worth the asking price alone.

Roll on tomorrow…

Ford MD predicts Econetic Fiesta to be sales success

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 08:30:36 GMT

I’ve just been driving the new 1.6-litre petrol Fiesta and it’s an absolute peach. Come back later today for the full verdict but you really don’t need a sporting derivative when a standard model is this fun through the twisty stuff. Just as well, because Ford isn’t planning on introducing an ST badged Fiesta this time round. The Zetec S will be as sporty as things get as the blue oval concentrates on bringing CO2 emissions down further.

According to Ford GB’s MD Roelant de Waard, consumer priorities have shifted so much in the last year that he predicts demand for the new Econetic Fiesta (right), which produces just 98g/km, will outstrip that of any hot-hatch derivatives. Thankfully, this green little car should also prove to be great fun to drive.

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The BMW X6 - how could they get it so wrong?

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:42:04 GMT

You often hear people say that there's no such thing as a bad car today, but that's nonsense because I've just driven one. Pound-for-pound the new BMW X6 is probably the worst car you can buy today (G-Wiz excepted). Having lived with a Range Rover Sport for a year, I'm a bit of a fan of big lazy SUVs, but the X6 just doesn't work on any level. Here's a list of its key faults in no particular order:

- horribly harsh ride
- appalling rear-three quarter visibility that makes changing lanes a perilous act.
- rear headroom compromised by sloping roofline
- tiny boot for a car this size
- huge size makes width restrictors a major challenge
- steering not as crisp as we expect of BMWs
- heavy and thirsty
- ugly and ostentatious

BMW builds some of the world's finest cars - 335i, 535d - and even the X5 is a fine example of an SUV, but it has taken its eye off the ball with the X6. Don't do it.

Is Seat's design boss being wasted?

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:22:50 GMT

Do you think Luc Donckerwolke is bored at Seat? The man who penned both the original Lamborghini Murcielago and Gallardo has been at Seat for a good three years now and there doesn’t seem to be much Donckerwolke-style dynamism there yet.

Perhaps that’s why he’s given the nod to this new Lumina orange treatment on the Leon? (That's the one on the right if you were unsure) Something has to remind him of the good ol’ days, right?

I find it astonishing that the man responsible for two of the most significant supercars of the last decade is being lost/forgotten/wasted at a firm that is so desperate for his input.

The boss of SEAT should be allowing him to design cars with impunity. Maybe then the Spanish firm could finally have some ballsy cars in its portfolio, worthy of the brand’s proposition. After all, Seat is supposed to be the ‘Alfa Romeo’ of the Volkswagen group.

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This week I'm mostly looking forward to...RenaultSport Twingo

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:49:42 GMT

I’m off to drive the new RenaultSport Twingo 133 on Thursday and I can’t wait.

As a huge fan of the Clio 197 I’m expecting the Twingo to be a little ball of old-school hot hatch fun (it’s based on the old Clio after all) while the prospect of having a go in the harder Cup version is almost too much (do I need to get out more?)

The only downside to the Clio is the steering, which is artificial and almost completely devoid of feel. Let’s hope that the cheeky PlayStation-inspired pedals of the Twingo don’t mean that they’ve lost their feel too.

Come back Thursday for my first driving impressions.

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Route 66 - The Dream Road Trip Pt3

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 11:30:55 GMT

What I’ve seen today shocked me to the core. It got me so badly it’s made me hate interstates. Kansas is RUBBISH.

The chunk that used to be a high spot on Route 66 is dying a slow painful death. Rolling into Baxter Springs mid-afternoon was awful. It should have been bustling with people – but instead it was empty.

The only two places that were open? The route’s oldest convenience store (which was tiny and overpriced) and a Route 66 themed Diner (which served questionable ice cream) – though a local offered to take us to the famed ‘Rainbow Bridge’, mentioned in two guide books as a must see. It was painted all the colours of the rainbow and sat over a very pretty little bit of river. How could we turn down the nice lady’s offer? The once great bridge had been ruined. And also shot at. Nice.

We decided to get out of Kansas at that point.

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Liverpool FC goes motor racing

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 10:04:13 GMT

Liverpool FC may have won almost every trophy imaginable on grass, but now the number one team in Merseyside wants to go racing.

The club has just signed a five-year deal to race in the Superleague Formula. This is a new six-race season that sees football clubs from around the world compete against each other. Sounds a bit of an odd association, but AC Milan, Roma and even Tottenham Hotspur have already signed up. The single-seat racers will be powered by a 750bhp V12 and be identical apart from the livery treatment. No prizes for guessing the colour of the Liverpool car then...

Route 66 - The Dream Road Trip Pt2

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 12:24:52 GMT

Leaving Chicago was not an easy thing to do. It’d really gotten me out of my shell (though being British helps because most people think you’re all innocent and whatnot) and I liked it there – but with road trips being road trips we had to move on.

The next proper stop was Springfield, Illinois. En route we hit a small town called Pontiac – considering that’s what we’re driving it was a necessary stop…

This is the first ‘real’ Route 66 town where the only real income was a small museum dedicated to that long stretch of asphalt. Anyway – Springfield. We arrived late, hungry and grumpy. Food was number one priority. The problem was: the place was like a ghost town, apparently because the State Fair was around.

We headed to the fair and were treated to several games of volley ball. Sadly, the late entering team UK performed so badly, we were given hats in place of wooden spoons.

The following morning we had to move on to St. Louis, but our car gave us a shock. You know how softroaders in the UK can do a little bit of off-roading if they have to? Our Torrent can barely make it over a pebble. We had to get it up a steepish grassy hill and it chocked, spluttered and wheelspan its way into the ground. We got it out in the end, but these US SUVs certainly aren’t all they’re cracked up to be.

Audi R8 enters dyke, doesn't survive

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:40:09 GMT

We’ve all done it – borrowed our dad’s car and his best suit and headed down to the local car dealer to try and get a test drive in the latest model.

This Dutch guy’s dad obviously has some Ralph Lauren togs and a particularly flash motor as the salesman handed him the keys to a brand new Audi R8 and sent him on his way.

One straight road and an 125mph ‘moment’ later the lad ended up landing the R8 in a road-side dyke near Woerden in the Netherlands. Try explaining your way out of that one, son.

[Souce: autojunk.nl]

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Video: 650bhp Cooper S - Fastest Mini in the world

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 08:49:18 GMT

We love the Mini here at Sky Motoring – so much so that our man Jon runs a Clubman Copper D – but with a chassis as capable as the baby Beemer’s we’re always craving more power. Alistair Weaver even admitted that the 208bhp Cooper John Cooper Works could have handled more shove. But how much more is enough?

Well the guys at ABF performance in the good ol’ US think that about 650bhp is enough to make things interesting. The only problem is that, as Americans only race in straight lines and circles, they can’t exploit the Mini’s nimble chassis but have to put up with the eternal problem of loads of power vs. front-wheel-drive. Still, a 10.4sec quarter mile time with at 135mph is still seriously rapid.

[Source: MINI USA]

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