Goodwood Festival of Speed

In June of this year, I'm going to Goodwood, and I am looking forward to going, and bringing you all the news from the festival regarding new cars and stuff like that. Leave a comment as to what you think will be previewed there, as well as what you want me to go see.

Bentley

Bentley are generally seen as a rich/posh persons car, and this is probably true for 60% of owners, but they had a rather poor spot in the 90's, where their quality went downhill. More recent Bentleys have become extremely pretty nowadays, after their split with Rolls-Royce, as they were in the early 20th century. I only mention this because today, on the trip up to Wales, we were driving behind the Queen's State Limo, which happens to be a bespoke Bentley, and it was an amazing thing to look at. With its long wheelbase, massive windows and the sheer exclusivity, this car was really something to behold. Personally, I think exclusive car companies like Rolls-Royce and Bentley should go back to what they used to do in the 20th century, and hand-make cars, bespoke to their owners wishes, so that there would be more exclusive beauties like the queens car on the roads, for us mere mortals to appreciate. 

The Queens car. 

Insurance

Now, I know that insurance isn't exactly "Cool car shots and news" but I thought I might as well talk about it, because it's something that I feel strongly about. Insurance prices are extraordinarily high, especially for younger drivers. Now I accept that this is because of Boy-racers, and their attempts to impress their girlfriends and mates by driving fast in their modified 0.9l Peugeots, Citroens and the like, and eventually crashing, but I believe that insurance companies charge such extortionate prices not to cover these idiots, but purely to make millions upon millions of pounds of profit. I believe that insurance companies should be run as not-for-profit organisations, with just a bit set aside for paying out to people, so that prices can be driven down for the motorist. Another good idea that I think most Insurance companies are missing out on is the Black-box scheme, where the insurance company can see how a person drives, and alter their insurance cost accordingly. I believe that offering a Black-box scheme will lower the cost of insurance to the ordinary teenage motorist, as well as making sure that the people who drive erratically have their premiums forced up so high that they can't afford to drive. Win-win really. Any responses please comment

Typical Boyracer car. Peugeot 106. 

Quick note

Just to say, you may have noticed that I'm fairly VW biased. That's because I am, with my dad having owned VW's for 3 years, at the moment having a CC (18 months, 75,000 mi) my mum having a Golf (3 years) and my mum's partner working at a VW dealership (Golf GTD, 1 month, 120 mi) so although I do have a fair bit of VW in me, I do try and be less biased, but I do ask that you consider that this is MY blog, and if my influences creep in, I'm sorry

Dads CC

Skoda CitiGo

Now, recently I went on a young-driver training course, for under 17's, which I actually found very fun and informative. But I want to talk about the cars that were used: Skoda CitiGos. Honestly, they were shit ('scuse the language). I know that they were chosen because of their low price, but honestly, these models, 3 door bog standard ones, didn't even have height-adjustable seats - a no cost option. they did, however have them painted in different colours, red and white, which does cost. It made no sense to me, either. The clutch was also on its way out, after being driven a whopping 600 miles. Probably from people driving on engine noise and getting the gear shift times wrong, as the Skoda has no rev-counter. My dads car (VW CC) has done over 75,000 miles and is still on its first clutch. The windows on the Skoda were wind-down, something which I wouldn't expect from a mid-market brand. No mirrors on the sun visors either, something which even the Dacia Sandero has, which is cheaper. Good looking car though, easily the prettiest Skoda at the moment. Based on the VW up!, I could easily see the influences. In short, it's the same car, with different front and back bumpers. I hope the VW is a lot nicer on the inside though, being a more upmarket brand. Just sunvisor mirrors, electric windows and height-adjustable seats would be enough, frankly. 

Skoda CitiGo

Scirocco

The Scirocco (Sorry if I butchered it) is a pretty car, there's no two ways about it. Personally, I'm a fan of the sporty styling, nice interior and the way it goes. Now, that last point, I can't vouch for that last point particularly well, as I've only ever been a passenger in one (as I'm only 15 at the time of writing) but those experiences in Sciroccos have been great. I've been in all models, from the base ones to GTS and R models, and have witnessed the small developments over its 6-year life (again, at the time of writing) and I have been amazed at how well the Scirocco has stood the test of time, and it has only now had a facelift, which can be seen in the picture. With the facelift, I honestly think VW have far surpassed themselves. It looks great. The design team have said this was a move to bring the Scirocco more in line with the current generation of Volkswagen cars, but I think this is a preview of what VW has in store. The grille, for a start, is unlike any seen on other VW's, as are the large light-y air-intake-y things under the main lights. The wheels on this show model are a bit naff, but there'll more than likely be other, larger wheel options when the car is available for order, later this year. Anyways, good car, great facelift, I like.

The 2014 onwards Scirocco

Long time, no see

Well. 2011. 3 years. To be honest, I totally forgot about this blog, but I think I'll start posting again, see how long I can keep at this. It may be only 5 posts again, but I'll try