Good for Business Both for Audi and for Customers – The New Audi A4 Avant. David Miles (Miles Better News Agency) reports… High flyers in the UK’s new car market are the premium brands of Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar Land Rover. With BMW sales up 14% for the first six months of this year, Mercedes by 18%, Jaguar up 68% and Land Rover 17% – Audi’s 4% increase looks poor; below … [Read more...]
News & Views
Our take on what’s been happening in the world of motoring
We appreciate that these days there are vast quantities of motoring news items freely available to all, from huge numbers of global sources. It would be impossible to bring them all to you through these pages – so we are not even going to try!
Instead, we will include selected motoring-related stories which we feel will be of interest. Depending on the item, we hope that they will also inform, encourage, entertain and provoke further thought!
Each item will be dated, and as new stories arrive, older posts will be archived chronologically.
Electric Car Recharging Becomes Expensive
Running an Electric Car (Especially a Plug-in Hybrid) Has Just Become MUCH More Expensive... Kim Henson reports. Power supplier Ecotricity has shocked owners of electric vehicles (of which there are estimated to be around 75,000 on UK roads) by announcing that from now on it will be making a charge of £6 for every 30 minutes of fast recharge/top-up for drivers using its charging points across … [Read more...]
Motoring For Fun – California Dreaming?
Glen Smale combines the lure of the open road, the enduring magic of Le Mans and a very busy week. From Wales to Le Mans by California… If you have never yet been to see the Le Mans 24-Hour race, but have wondered what it's all about, Glen Smale tells his story about having fun attending and yet also working hard at the 2016 event; the words and photos are all his... Once a year, around … [Read more...]
SEAT Ibiza FR Road Test
Keith Ward Test Drives a Sporty SEAT... THE Fiesta-sized and Barcelona-built Ibiza, available as a five-door hatchback, three-door SC coupe and a five-door ST estate, has traditionally been SEAT’s bulk seller over the last 30 years and was revamped at the back end of last year (2015). Nothing much to speak of externally, but with changes to running gear and an upgraded interior with the … [Read more...]
UK Car Sales Dip…
Euro 2016 has been an own goal for UK car sales, particularly in Wales. Robin Roberts reports... New car sales dipped in June after four years of sustained growth, and by over 6% in Wales as the national team stormed through the series. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said the industry had seen a cooling off in showrooms for a few months and it was too soon to attribute the dip of 0.8% to the … [Read more...]
Latest Audi A3 Models Arrive – News and First Impressions
Audi Gives Their A3 Family a Mid-life Refresh – News and Views. Summed up by David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). The Audi A3 family of three door Hatchbacks, five door Sportback, four door Saloon and the two door Cabriolet soft-top have received a mid-life refresh. These refreshed and ready to go third generation A3s adopt the brand’s latest styling changes, have new or improved engines, … [Read more...]
Motorway Madness? Turning hard shoulders into running lanes is a dangerous idea…
MPs want the brakes applied to Government plans for motorway hard shoulders to be turned into regular lanes. The concept has been suggested as a quick way of increasing motorway capacity but it has attracted criticism from motoring and road safety organisations. RAC chief engineer David Bizley, “Whilst supporting smart motorways as a cost effective and relatively rapid way of … [Read more...]
Kia’s First Quarter Century in the UK – and a Mini Road Test of the Picanto (in highest spec. form).
Kia’s 25 years in the UK and Growing Fast – and a review of their Picanto City Car. By David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). During 25 years of trading in the UK, Kia has sold over 750,000 cars. Almost half of those sales have been achieved in the last five years and the target is to reach the one million mark by 2020. Kia was established in South Korea in 1944 building bicycles, then … [Read more...]
Citroën’s Innovative New Suspension System
Citroën Springs Ahead… by Dave Randle. Above and beyond all its other innovations and achievements, Citroën is renowned for its ‘cushion of air’ ride quality. For over half a century it has developed and refined its ‘hydropneumatic’ and ‘hydractive’ systems until the late C6 and the still just present C5 represented the apotheosis of technical advancement in a world where it too often seems … [Read more...]
Beaulieu 23rd Spring Autojumble, 2016 – Showers to endure and sunshine to enjoy!
Kim Henson was there, and enjoyed it very much… Inevitably I enjoy all the Autojumbles at Beaulieu; the heady mix of thousands of vehicular components on offer to help with restoration projects, classic car upgrades or simply to keep an old vehicle safe, legal and on the road, is hard for me and for thousands of other enthusiasts to ignore. The social side of this gathering is great too; the … [Read more...]
Check your vehicle and caravan/trailer tyres BEFORE you set off for an excursion…
Your caravan or trailer tyres, like those on your car, could be in a bad way and MUST be checked... Bridgestone urges caravan and trailer owners to hook up with tyre advice; Kim Henson reports. With a May half term week almost upon us, and with forecasts of a long hot summer ahead, Bridgestone is calling on caravan owners to carry out some simple tyre safety checks, as many vehicles are … [Read more...]
Wheels-Alive News – New MG Sports Utility Revealed
Words and photos by Chris Adamson A new era for MG was unveiled in Battersea Park when the covers came off the marque’s first ever sports utility vehicle – the attractive and contemporary styled all-new GS. The brand’s forthcoming capacious flagship model was the star reveal during press preview day at the first modern day London Motor Show (for more from Chris about the Show, please click … [Read more...]
The (new) London Motor Show 2016
Report by Chris Adamson on the latest Motor Show to be held in our capital city... Battersea Park, bathed in spring sunshine, was the venue for the first all-new London Motor Show that showcased the best of British automotive design, engineering and pioneering work in road safety. HRH Prince Michael of Kent officially opened the event and took the opportunity to try out the Stop the Crash … [Read more...]
Suzuki Vitara new S Road Test
Keith Ward road-tests Suzuki's flagship Vitara LATEST to emerge from an ongoing radical revision of high-flying Suzuki’s whole model range is a tech-laden, flagship “S” version of their impressive high-stance Vitara chunky SUV. At £20,899 it zooms straight in as top dog, £900 above the Vitara SZ5, next down the trim scale, to complete the handsome new Vitara range launched last year. Both … [Read more...]
New Porsche book arrives – telling the 924/928/944/968 story
Porsche 924/928/944/968 – The Complete Story – a new book by Glen Smale Kim Henson reports... For Porsche enthusiasts it’s party time – the 924 is 40 years old this year, and Porsche celebrated this milestone with a press conference in Stuttgart, at the company's Museum. The 924’s designer, Harm Lagaaij, was on hand to address journalists. Lagaaij also explained the design background of the … [Read more...]
Bridgestone News: DriveGuard tyres represent a reassuring new defence against punctures, and Bridgestone is selected by Aston Martin as an official partner for the new DB11.
Kim Henson reports… DriveGuard ‘extended mobility’ tyres Bridgestone hopes that a diverse nationwide advertising campaign will gain traction amongst a huge audience as it launches its new DriveGuard ‘extended mobility’ tyre to the public, featuring cinema presence, television spend and full motion video boards in major shopping centres. Based on the theme that somewhere out there ‘there’s a … [Read more...]
Audi customer numbers increase…
Plus and RS Performance Models Arrive and More Q Sales from Audi By David Miles (Miles Better News Agency) Audi in the UK has achieved record new cars sales in 12 of the past 15 years and already has got off to a flying start for the first quarter of 2016. Globally Audi achieved record sales in 2015 with a 3.6% increase to reach a total of 1.8-million new cars finding new homes. Although … [Read more...]
Planned Circuit of Wales project in doubt…
The multi-million pound plan to create Circuit of Wales has stalled. By ROBIN ROBERTS (via Miles Better News Agency). Developers of the £357 Million 830-acres motor sport complex above Ebbw Vale, SouthWales have failed to get Welsh Government to underwrite the project and its future is now in great doubt unless it can be refinanced, but talks are continuing to try and rescue the … [Read more...]
Western Group of Motoring Writers helps Julia’s House children’s hospice…
The Western Group of Motoring Writers chose Julia's House, serving Dorset and Wiltshire, as one of the recipients of its charitable donations this year... Report by Kim Henson. As a result of its fund-raising efforts during 2015, the Western Group of Motoring Writers (of which I have been proud to be a member over the last 10 years) chose Julia’s House, a Poole-based organisation, as the … [Read more...]
New Ford Mustang – First Impressions
Must-Have a Mustang – Ford’s New Muscle Car Muscles-In to the UK... A new classic in its own time – driven by David Miles (Miles Better News Agency). Ford’s latest marketing strategy is ‘Un Learn’ as they try to remove our preconceptions of the brand and past products. It is therefore strange and inconsistent that they have been wheeling out nostalgia as a hook to catch owners wanting Ford’s … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 65
- 66
- 67
- 68
- 69
- 70
- Next Page »