Monday, 6. June 2011
When my son changed his phone to enable him to gain access to the Internet he had the choice of two phones at the time (going back a few years). The first was considered a bit of a toy and was an iPhone. The other was a Blackberry. He asked lots of questions and did his own research. The iPhone certainly seemed popular and it had some clever apps on Read more »
Sunday, 5. June 2011
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I have the results of a very interesting reliability survey. Warranty Direct have surveyed 50,000 policies to conclude which cars, up to 10 years old are most reliable. The least likely to break down is the Toyota Corolla dating back to 1997 with a 3% chance of breaking down over a 12 month period. The least reliable car is the Land Rover Discovery Read more »
Saturday, 4. June 2011
Saab are set for a bumpy ride. No I’m not talking about suspension I’m talking about the proposed bid by Chinese manufacturer Hawtai to buy a 30% stake in its current owner Spyker for £134 million. The cash would have allowed the manufacturer to re-start production after a one month shutdown but the Hawtai shareholders refused to back the bid
and approve it. Boss of Spyker, Victor Muller, has reportedly continued discussions with other Chinese companies after flying out to China but after cutting off discussions following the Hawtai bid he looks to be struggling putting the future of Saab in doubt.
Any deal by a Chinese company will need to be approved by the Chinese Government. I find this all very sad as I am a supporter of Saab. I hope they manage to pull it off and survive. Any views on this? Please let me know. By Graham Hill
Friday, 3. June 2011
Image by Amplified2010 via Flickr
Police are to be given the power to issue on the spot fines for dangerous and reckless driving under plans revealed by Transport Secretary, Philip Hammond. This isn’t quite what it seems as it creates visions of the old bill stopping you for doing something silly, issuing you with a ticket and be expecting you to part with readies. The idea, expressed by Read more »
Thursday, 2. June 2011
On the question of economy Auto Express carried out a test to see what the real effect would be of driving a car faster over the same distance. They carried out the test using a Renault Megane Sport Tourer 2.0l diesel. They covered a distance of 70 miles on the Longcross Proving Ground in Surrey. They used this 2 mile circuit as it allowed them to set Read more »
Wednesday, 1. June 2011
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My gadget of the week isn’t really my gadget it’s a list of them courtesy of Auto Express. We are all looking at ways of saving fuel as it hits a new high every week so it was good of them to list out a few gadgets aimed at saving fuel and money. Top of their list is a portable sat-nav. It’s called the Vexia Econav (www.vexia.co.uk) and uses a car database to Read more »
Tuesday, 31. May 2011
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April saw an increase in the sale of premium cars such as BMW and Audi. Whilst new car sales suffered during the month the premium brands all saw growth. The companies that showed growth included Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, BMW and Saab. Jaguar was the only make to suffer with sales down 60%. BMW even got into the top 10 car sales with its 3 Read more »
Monday, 30. May 2011
Very few of us would complain about speed cameras placed in areas where there are a lot of pedestrians, especially elderly and children, if they help to avoid accidents. What most of us object to is the placing of cameras where clearly they are only there to make money. So how would you feel if information from your sat nav was being sold to police to Read more »
Sunday, 29. May 2011
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Another step closer to the combined car and computer. Ford’s new Focus will allow you to create a Wi-Fi hotspot in your car by using the 3G connection from a smartphone. Ford’s SYNC system accesses a phone’s signal via Bluetooth and shares it with up to 5 compatible devices, simultaneously allowing them to surf the Internet. The set up, due to be Read more »
Saturday, 28. May 2011
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Insurance company Swiftcover has revealed which car is most likely to be vandalised. It listed the top 5 vandalised cars with the number one slot being taken by the Lexus IS. They suggested that this could be down to the Steve Coogan character Alan Partridge who was linked to the car in his series. The top 5 cars in its Vandalism Index are: Read more »