News Roundup 18 February 2011

Unless you actively avoid motoring news stories you will probably have noticed that the Geneva Motor Show is nearly upon us. Electric and hybrid vehicles seem to be the big news with just about every manufacturer getting in on the act.

Land Rover seems determined to confuse 4x4-hating environmentalists. The Range_e is a plug-in hybrid turbodiesel with official CO2 emissions of 89g/km – that’s better than a VW Polo Bluemotion. On a full charge there is supposed to be sufficient capacity for 20 miles. Land Rover describes the Range_e as a development vehicle but it must point to a future production model.

Some manufacturers have had hybrid SUVs for a while, Porsche has a hybrid Cayenne and has announced a hybrid Panamera. The 159g/km CO2 figure isn’t as impressive as Land Rover’s but still represents an improvement over the standard car (218g/km for a V6 auto Panamera). The most intriguing concept of Porsche’s hybrids is the ‘Sailing’ feature, another word for coasting that switches the engine off when it is not required at speeds up to 103mph.

A more light-hearted take on the electric vehicle comes from Swiss company Rinspeed. The BamBoo looks like a latter-day Citroen Mehari and comes with a computer display on the front. Some of its features sound wilfully odd, like the inflatable roof and rear seats. The use of bamboo fibres in the cloth of the seats is a nice touch and I like the use of braided plastics for the glovebox lid – it seems like a creative and original use of materials.

If Rinspeed is frivolous Toyota has always treated hybrids seriously. The Japanese giant will showcase its various electric, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell technologies. There is a Prius+ which is a seven-seat version of the company’s famous hybrid; a Yaris hybrid concept that previews a production model; and the EV, an electric version of the Toyota iQ.

Coincidentally, I’ve had my own taste of hybrid motoring this week. It was time for my car to have its cam-belt replaced, a main dealer only job, and I was offered a loan car. This turned out to be a Honda Insight. It was very smooth, refined and easy to drive with very light controls. But it also felt heavy, although it isn’t, partly because it isn’t particularly quick and also because of the way it feels on twisting roads. For the type of person who buys an Insight a fun driving experience probably isn’t high on the list of priorities. The limited rear visibility, which makes reverse parking a chore, will probably annoy more people – parking sensors should be standard. My greatest annoyance was the eco driving prompt which ‘rewards’ economical driving by making leaves appear on digital plants in the instrument cluster. Now I may not be an expert on plants but I thought it was carbon dioxide that made them grow.

News Roundup 21 January 2011

Possibly the biggest car news story of the week, if not the most important, was the announcement of the Ferrari FF. Whether in a deliberate or coincidental nod history it is a luxury, high-performance, four-seat hatchback with four-wheel drive – not unlike the Jensen FF from 1966.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Ferrari says its FF stands for Ferrari Four (four seats and four-wheel drive) so Ferrari FF is actually a tautology. Whatever the name Ferrari claims the all-wheel drive system does not compromise the car’s ‘ideal’ 47:53 front-rear weight distribution. It also refers to the car having a transaxle. As I understand it; that means there must be one drive shaft from the engine in the front to the gearbox at the back and another drive shaft running from the gearbox to the front differential. No-one else has commented on this, it will be interesting to see what the FF looks like under the skin. Hopefully all the car’s secrets will be revealed when it is officially unveiled in Geneva this March.

If you are in the market for Ferrari’s latest offering then the Aston Martin Cygnet probably qualifies as affordable town transport. The compact, Toyota-based Aston costs just over £30,000 and production is due to start in April.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

Final news story to catch my eye was the report that discussions are taking place about exempting the oldest historic vehicles from the requirement to pass an annual MOT test. Justification for the move is given that the vehicles in question cover such small mileages and are usually well maintained so the safety impact would be minimal. Of course owners would be expected to maintain their vehicles in roadworthy condition – just as every motorist must.

Car of the Week – Subaru and Toyota RWD Sports Coupé

This week Subaru announced that it would show its Rear-wheel drive sports coupé platform at the Geneva Motor Show in the spring. As you might expect few facts have been revealed ahead of the official unveiling. The only thing we know for certain is that it will use a Subaru trademark flat-four engine.

Actually that’s not quite true; there is a Toyota version - the FT-86 – which has been seen at a couple of motor shows. Apparently the FT is about the same size as a BMW 1-series coupé and has room for four. It is also supposed to be light and power could be anything from 150-350bhp.

From Fourwheelsteer: Motoring Writer

If Toyota and Subaru can get the dynamics right, get details right – like the steering, gear change and pedal feel right – and price it affordably and it could be as big a success as the MX5 was for Mazda.

Autumn Time

The season of mists and mellow fruitfulness is upon us, which means it is time for the annual European Car of the Year contest. Voted for by a jury comprising of 58 members from 22 countries, the number of jurors representing each nation depends on the size and significance of the motor industry and new car market in that country. Each juror has 25 points to award to at least 5 of the seven finalists. No more than 10 points can be awarded to any one car and ties are not permitted. Furthermore each juror must provide a written justification for the way they voted.



The shortlist for the 2008 ECOTY has been released. From 35 eligible cars seven have shown the “right stuff” as potential Car of the Year material. Those cars are the Fiat 500, Ford Mondeo, Kia Cee'd, Mazda 2, Mercedes-Benz C-class, Nissan Qashqai and the Peugeot 308. Picking a likely winner from that lot is incredibly difficult. The Ford and Fiat are both highly regarded and both marques have a strong history of COTY winners. Only once, in 2005 when the Toyota Prius won, has a car built outside Europe been the outright winner – so it is unlikely that the Mazda 2 will win. Mercedes have only enjoyed one COTY win and nothing I’ve read about the C-class suggests that it could beat the Fiat of Ford. The Nissan might suffer because it looks like the sort of car we are supposed to hate – a SUV – or profit because it doesn’t fit typical classifications. The Peugeot will do well with the French judges but probably not any others where as the Cee’d could do surprisingly well.



I think this is the strongest COTY line-up in years. Only the Peugeot 308 and Mazda 2 seem incongruous – the Lexus LS and Land Rover Freelander might have been more interesting finalists but possibly not consonant with the spirit of the time. My prediction is that the Fiat 500 will win, the Mondeo will be second and it will be close for third place between the Mercedes C-class and the Kia Cee’d. Kia challenging Mercedes, who could have predicted that?