Civic Pride… Kim Henson assesses Honda’s 1.8 i-VTEC Sport version. Dynamically styled, providing eager performance and with an excellent, proven reputation for reliability, it is no surprise that Honda Civics are liked and respected by the buying public. The current Civic range was updated in the spring of 2015, notably featuring revised frontal styling (incorporating a new front bumper … [Read more...]
Contributors
Don’t be Tyresome! – Kim’s Tips
DON'T BE TYRESOME; STAY SAFE! says Kim. The difference in the dynamic behaviour of a vehicle fitted with tyres in good condition and correctly inflated, compared with one on defective/worn out and probably under-inflated tyres is, quite simply, amazing. In order to be sure that the vehicle will respond as designed to the controls, to safely steer round a bend, brake, accelerate and so on, … [Read more...]
Motor Sport Recalled At Beaulieu…
Sir Stirling Moss opens ‘A Chequered History’ – incorporating two new motorsport sections – at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu in Hampshire, Kim Henson was there… It was 53 years ago that Sir Stirling Moss retired from motor racing, after an awful accident at Goodwood, and indeed he was fortunate to survive it. Therefore it is an immense tribute to his bravery and driving skills that … [Read more...]
New Mazda 2
Kim Henson takes a close look at Mazda’s latest supermini… Whichever way you look at the figures, the Mazda brand is going from strength to strength, with U.K. sales increasing at an exponential rate in recent times. In large part this is due to the rapid and comprehensive introduction of new models, all with with built-in ‘buyer appeal’. In fact, with the launch of five new models planned during … [Read more...]
Peugeot 308 SW Allure THP 110
Big-hearted, but powered by a compact 1.2 litre three cylinder petrol engine, Peugeot’s stylish 308 estate is assessed by Kim Henson… About a year ago as I write (4th March 2015) Peugeot’s 308 was crowned ‘European Car of the Year’ at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. It won the award by a handsome margin too, scoring 307 points, compared with the runner-up BMW i3’s 223 points, and the … [Read more...]
Check your oil – save your engine!
Here at Wheels-Alive we have long appreciated the crucial importance of maintaining engine oil at the correct level (as well as carrying out regular and frequent oil and filter changes). Indeed, often we have witnessed the sad and expensive consequences of not maintaining oil at the correct level. The engine oil serves to keep apart metal components working in very close proximity, minimising … [Read more...]
Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – Best Of Both Worlds?
A Plug-in Hybrid Electric Sports Utility Vehicle? What a good idea… Kim Henson test-drives Mitsubishi’s innovative 4x4 Outlander PHEV... It takes some doing to combine, within a single Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), electric propulsion (primarily for local runs), a petrol engine, four wheel drive, true practicality in a range of roles, and cost-effective operation. However, with their already … [Read more...]
BMW 218 Active Tourer
Kieron Fennelly tries BMW's stylish front wheel drive 218 Active Tourer The last decade has been a confusing time for BMW purists: the range has expanded bewilderingly and the three roundels badge now seems to adorn all manner of crossovers, hatchbacks and hunchbacks (which BMW calls ‘GT’s). Gone are the high revving, naturally aspirated straight six and V8 petrol engines, replaced by … [Read more...]
The Porsche 924 Carrera
Author: Roy Smith Published by: Veloce [www.veloce.co.uk] 320 pages Price: £75.00 ISBN: 978-1-845846-45-9 Roy Smith has a happy knack of uncovering relatively obscure chapters of motor racing history and bringing them into the light with compelling new detail. His recent series of books on Alpine was typical, researching a subject little known outside France and even there not especially … [Read more...]
Volkswagen Passat
VW's latest Passat is actually the eighth generation since they introduced the name in 1973. By Tom Scanlan It's a completely new car and, as pretty well all manufacturers are managing at the moment, offers more efficiency in terms of fuel consumption and up to 14% cleaner emissions. Some of this is down to a weight saving of up to a massive 85 kilograms. Of course, no new car would be … [Read more...]
BMW 335d xDrive
WOW! Yes, if it’s wow you want, here’s the car, says Tom Scanlan Of course, there are loads of cars that can wow us, but this one also offers so much more, especially, in the Touring version tested, practicality for the family driver. The car weighs well over two tons (even with BMW’s ‘lightweight’ engineering) and has 313 hp at 4,400 rpm. This is an impressive, but not huge, figure. But the … [Read more...]
New Ford Focus (December 2014)
Tom Scanlan drives the new Ford Focus... Ford’s new Focus includes the new Ford family front-end look and a re-designed interior. New engines, including 1.5-litre diesel and 1.5 petrol are expected to deliver fuel efficiency improvements of up to fifteen per cent, along with lower emissions. Ford says that the already excellent driving dynamics have been further improved with a stiffer … [Read more...]
Audi A3 Sportback e-tron
Tom Scanlan tries Audi's latest fascinating A3... The car has a combination of a re-worked 1.4 TFSI petrol engine producing 150PS and a 70 kWh electric motor. Total maximum output is 204PS. As a 'come and buy me' incentive, Audi has endowed the e-tron with some upgraded equipment over the non-hybrid equivalent Sportback. However, the whole package costs well over £5000 more, even taking into … [Read more...]
Tesla Model S
Tesla? What’s that? Well, petrol-heads would know, even if there’s no petrol anywhere near it... by Tom Scanlan The designers of these American 100% electric cars have achieved a lot. The cars themselves are the ultimate expression so far of what can be achieved using just electricity. Their performance is in the supercar range and they are extraordinarily impressive to drive. Until very … [Read more...]
Brakedown…
It never ceases to amaze me that some people drive their car until either it comes to a complete halt, or the vehicle makes so much noise that the driver must be aware that something serious is wrong. Usually this sort of noise occurs just before the car comes to an involuntary standstill, but in the case of a car recently brought to me for attention, it might not have been able to stop at … [Read more...]
Freeze a jolly good fellow… A true winter’s tale
Grumpy, me? Well for once, today I almost smiled, and others who happened to be in my workshop at the time were seen to be concealing grins (at the very least). Please agree that you won’t smile, nor laugh, nor titter, when you read this – and I promise that this story is true. Recently a new customer had brought his car to me for a pre-MoT check and service, which I duly started to carry out. … [Read more...]
MG Electric Vehicle Concept car – on the road
An electrically powered MG? Certainly! Kim Henson reports. During a recent, fascinating tour of MG’s assembly plant and Technical Centre at Longbridge, Birmingham (to read about this, please click HERE), I was given the chance to test-drive a prototype of MG’s ‘EV (Electric Vehicle) Concept’ car. This is a small, electrically-powered, front wheel drive four seater, built on a … [Read more...]
Wheels-Alive visits MG at Longbridge, Birmingham
Some 90 years after Cecil Kimber created the first MGs, Kim Henson makes a pilgrimage to the Birmingham factory where today’s cars bearing the MG name are assembled… Before we start, I have to confess to rather more than just a slight personal interest in the factory where the current range of MGs is assembled, and in the adjacent Technical Centre where the cars were designed and developed … [Read more...]
Porsche 928
Author: Brian Long Published by: Veloce Publishing [veloce.co.uk] 204 pages UK rrp: £50 ISBN: 978-1-903706-30-5 The Porsche 928 is one of the puzzles of the first century of the automotive industry: How did a company steeped in the Germano-Czech tradition of race-bred rear engined air-cooled cars come, almost out of the blue, to build a front engined, water cooled GT which never had the … [Read more...]
Jaguar lightweight E-type: the autobiography of 4WPD
Author: Philip Porter Published by: Porter Press Ltd [www.porterpress.com] 320 pages Price £40.00 ISBN: 978-1-907085-17-8 Philip Porter is a well known Jaguar enthusiast and historian. He owns amongst others HP 9600, the original E-type fixed head prototype and as well as founding the Jaguar XK and E-type clubs, he has written extensively about the marque. His latest book, the Autobiography … [Read more...]
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