Hyundai i30

There's a new medium sized hatchback heading the way of Europe. Korea is investing more than £200m in a new factory in the Cezch Republic to offer the Hyundai i30. This should offer another choice in the Astra and Focus sized market.

All versions of th (1.4, 1.6 petrol and 1.6 and 2.0 litre diesel) will come with ESP, air con, alloy wheels and integrated steering controls. A good selling point should be the top safety ratings in NCAP testing.

Hyundai is sometimes thought of as the cheap alternative to Euro brands but I'd feel comfortable buying one of these for the reliability and range of features. Whether I'd buy this particular model however remains to be seen. I think I'd rather go for the Coupe - a car still in my wish list...

The BTCC 2007

You may have seen the coverage on ITV4 of the BTCC. Whilst Formula One has been very exciting this year, I can't help but feel that the public are missing a trick. These are cars going extremely fast around a track - but these are cars you could realistically own and drive. Wouldn't you rather watch that? It is fast becoming my number one sport to watch and the drama is just brilliant. Why not give it a watch next time it's on?

Motorway Driving

Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. Do not hog the middle lane. That is all.

Obscured Signs

So there I was, below the speed limit but a little faster than I probably should have been going given that I was totally unfamiliar with the road. Out of nowhere, I came to a 'give way' that was signed (apparently) but was also made completely unreadable due to the bushes and overhanging tree branches.

I'm not sure if my car has ABS but it does have good strong new brakes. An older car could well have simply shot through the junction hurtling into the path of another car. Yes, there's a lot of road in the UK, some of which is infrequently travelled. Nonetheless, is that an excuse? This was a dangerous situation that could have easily been avoided if the council had been doing its job. After all, what do we pay road tax for?

Petrol

Here in the UK, there's now a variety of Unleaded available:

Unleaded 95 (Standard
Unleaded Plus 97
Super Unleaded 99
Super Unleaded 102

The numbers relate to the octane rating of the fuel, or rather how resistant the petrol is to early detonation or ignition if you prefer. The higher the rating, the more clean the 'shot' if you will. More powerful cars will perform better with higher octane fuel; even a normal car could well benefit.

The average UK car is rumoured to have a 1.6 litre engine. I'm guessing this is a median rather than a mean figure. Regardless, I have a reasonably nippy 1.8l Vauxhall Astra pumping out 125bhp. I like to keep it in reasonably good form under the hood, even if it is muddy on the outside from my last hiking trip.

As such, I tend to use Unleaded Plus 97. I'm not sure I noticed a massive increase in anything, though I'm fairly convinced the fuel consumption was lower. Maybe I got a few more miles out of it. However, 97 is noticeably more expensive. As such, I've decided to mix octanes (not sure if this is recommended though). I'll let you know how it goes. I might even go crazy and go up to 99, but then I doubt a 1.8l would benefit much from that sort of fuel...

Great Coupes

I thought I'd give you all a list of some great coupes after a somewhat long absence:

Nissan 350Z
BMW M Coupe
Jaguar XKR
Lotus Exige S
Maserati Coupe
Audi TT
Toyota Celica GT
Mazda RX-8 (Five door I know)
Peugeot 407 Coupe V6

Subaru Impreza vs Mitsubishi Evo

MSN has a fantastic new article on the two cars - both of which the latest versions. Apparently the Evo is the more hardcore of the two but I bet you'd still be hard pressed to get either of these car types (even older models) in less than insurance group 17.