Niches

I recognise that there were many possible nichés within the older car market, say 5 years ago, but in today's market, there aren't any more, yet car companies seem to keep finding them and making a car to fill it. It's like they're creating an answer to a question that nobody has asked except the executives at the car companies. 

Let us take Audi as an example for this one. We all know their models, the A1 to A8, the 'Q' series of cars and now the incoming 'e-tron' series. Not that many cars (13 ish) but, taking in all the bodystyles, you're up to about 45. Now, while this may be a good thing for the company (many cars for people to chose from, therefore there must be a car for everyone) it isn't a good thing for the public. They're given too much choice, and are therefore more likely to pick a car that actually isn't for them. Let's be honest, who needs 2 versions of the standard (3door), sportback (5 door) and saloon versions of the same car (A3/S3) Another stupid thing is that the A3 and other variants start at 18,900 GBP whereas the S versions start at 30,000 GBP. And what do you get for your extra 12K? a stiffer ride, less comfy (but more supportive) seats, and a thirstier engine. Madness

US BMW website

UK BMW website. Notice the difference?

Another Company that does this is BMW. But they're even worse, because they have 34 models, but you can have any one of 466 variants. Yes, you saw that right, 466. And that's only in the UK, in the US, you can have even more variants. You can choose one of 3 4-series convertibles, before you get to the M4. Or one of 4 6-series convertibles. What's wrong with just offering one model and having a couple more engine choices BMW? or are you just trying to patronise the Americans? (No offence meant) I also don't understand the new numbering system for Beemers. The 3 coupé is now the 4, with a 4-door 4-series  in the works. That's already happened with the 1-series. (The coupé and saloon are now the 2, with the hatchback the only 1-series) Personally, I don't understand the motives behind this move, but who am I but a 15-year old boy? My dad went into a BMW dealership the other week and, whilst chatting with the salesman, asked why there had been a name change. the salesman didn't know, which goes to prove how stupid the move has been. 

466 Model variants. 

To conclude, car companies are trying to find too many nichés, and are filling them with pointless cars, then replicating those cars (The 2-series and 4-series BMWs have the same engines and the 1 and 3 respectively) to get more money. Probably. Stupid idea anyway, if you ask me. Sorry about the slight technical hitch here, I don't know what happened.

Older Cars

When I say older, I mean late 90's/early 00's not 50's and 60's. Just to avoid confusion. Anyways, I don't like older cars for several reasons. Firstly, the generally tend to be quite small. Take my mum's old car for example: a 1998 Ford Escort estate.

1998 Ford Escort estate. Not designed
for humans.

That was so small inside that me, at 5'2", couldn't fit in the front without moving the seat right back, and then I'd have to move it forwards all the way to get in the back seat. I was also getting to the point where my head was touching the roof when I was sat inside. Basically, these older cars aren't made for full-size humans to get in the back.

Another bad thing about older cars is the type of people that own them. For example, an early 00's VW Passat or Audi A6 will have depreciated so much that anyone could buy one, Like seemingly every Eastern European bloke in the area I live in. Now, don't get me wrong, there's absolutely

2000 A6. Polish drivers car of choice

nothing wrong with  these people, except for the way they drive. Especially the Audi drivers. They drive so close to the rear bumper of your car, it's like they're trying to mate with it, or they drive so quickly that they're risking their lives trying to get past. Stupid people.

The final thing is old people driving older cars. They'll drive everywhere at 10MPH under the speed limit, barely able to see over the wheel, and are responsible for more crashes than any other groups of drivers, except new drivers (But don't hold me to that one) They also drive around in poorly maintained cars, generally Vauxhall Merivas where I live, and complain that 'da yoof' are driving stupid cars. Stupid people.

Vauxhall Meriva. Car for old people

So, a shorter one for you today, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. Basically, 90's and 00's cars are stupid and should all be crushed or set on fire, in my opinion. Leave a comment to have your say, and to say what I should do next.

Golf

Golf cabrio. Forget about the EOS did we VW?

The VW Golf is now in its 7th generation, and it looks better than ever to me. I like how the Car has grown over the years, and is now one of the most popular family cars in the UK. It has many body styles (Hatch, Estate, Cabrio, 'plus') and many engines, so there's something for everyone. It also has a very upmarket interior, which makes it feel like a very premium car. There's even 4 'Hot' Golfs on sale: GTI (Petrol), GTD (Diesel), GTE (Electric) and R (I believe it is used instead of "R32") Now, whilst these sell well (Or so I'm told) VW have decided to think about a 'monster' Golf, or, to be specific, a 395BHP, 2.0 turbo 4-pot Golf "R400".

Golf R400 anyone? 

Stupid. This car is only in concept form at the moment, but VW has said that the car is 'plausible' which means that the're gong to make it. Whether it'll just be one, like the old golf W12, or a mass-produced monster to create a new niche of super-hatches, we are yet to know, but watch this space...

Golf MK7 interior. Not angled at the driver.

Anyways, back to the current Golf family. There are several things I like about them, not least the dash, that finally looks included into the car, and faced towards the driver without actually facing the driver. It means that front seat passengers are less likely to fiddle with the radio, yet still fiddle with all their climate control settings and the rear-seat passengers can see the sat nav, a standard feature in all golfs. The DRLs are pretty funky too, even in the base model. They do get better in the hot versions, and you can also purchase the light clusters separately, something which I don't think is a good idea unless you're qualified enough to seal them in properly.

 Next, I want to talk about the windows. In short, they're rather tall for the car, especially when you're sat in the passenger seat with it fairly low down (as I do, because I'm used to the CC) not only does it make the car feel incredibly light inside, it also makes the car seem bigger, because of the proportions and stuff. I don't know the science behind it. It just works and looks good. 

Golf VII GTI. Pretty.

Last point: Optional extras. The Golf has loads, and what may start as a fairly cheap 17K golf can soon be quite expensive when you add these extras. In most cases, it's cheaper to go for the next model up. Some of the options are a bit pointless, I think. Take the "Leather trimmed three-spoke multifunction steering wheel". 400 quid for something that's free in higher up models. That option might be a useful one though, so take the 103-pound bike holder for the roof. Pointless because what family doesn't have a roof-rack anyway? I can understand that option for cars like the CC, where a standard one won't fit, but on a Golf? My Dad used to have a MK6 golf, and his Thule roof rack that he bought for his Peugeot fitted fine. Fitted his A4 too, both cars which have roof rack options. Just buy a good quality one and save money on every car you buy. 

Automation

Personally, I think that the increasing automation of cars is more of a hinderance than a help. This is because it is giving the drivers less and less to do whilst driving, and while this may be a good thing for some drivers (Boyracers and tailgaters) it can distract normal drivers. Cruise control, one of the first automated features in cars allows the driver to keep a constant speed without having his feet on the pedals. This may be a good thing for long motorway stints, when you're in and out of average speed zones (Here in the UK anyway) but when you use it, you don't pay as much attention to your speed, so you could easily be speeding if you miss a speed limit sign. Good for the cops, but not for drivers. Yes, these mistakes could be stopped by using a system similar to the one in the new Golf (Maybe other cars too, I don't know) where there is a camera on the front that can see speed limit signs, and adjusts the adaptive cruise control accordingly (If ACC has been specced) Another thing that cruise control doesn't do is stop accudents; Say you're cruising behind a car at 70, and that car suddenly brakes. unless you were paying proper attention, your car would go straight into the back of the car in front. Again, a bad thing, but another one that car manufacturers have sorted with collision avoidance systems, which brake as soon as the car in front does (Another thing that has to be specced though)

S-Class. Autonomous.

Secondly, collision avoidance systems (CAS). They're good because they can stop an accident from happening, but if the drivers are good enough, accidents shouldn't happen. CAS can allow your car to slow itself down to match the speed of the car infront, but also stop your car if a crash is imminent. Whoopee for car owners, because they're less likely to have an accident, but it allows car drivers to be lazy and pay less attention, which can be dangerous when they drive a car  without CAS. Another CAS feature is one that I'm sure a few new cars have: Lane Departure Avoidance System (LDAS). LDAS allows cars to 'see' where the white lines on the road are, and stop the driver from going out of them accidentally, which can be a good thing (Stopping accidents) but it can be a bad thing; It gives drivers knowledge that the car will steer itself when their hands are off the wheel, something that enables the driver to reach across to the back to get their thermos, take his hands off the wheel and eyes off the road, and have no control over the car. If there were an accident, the driver wouldn't be able to avoid it.

Stereotypical autonomous cars

Thirdly, fully autonomous cars. Yes they exist, and yes, they are mass produced, not Passats and Prius' with cameras and GPS on the roof. For those of you who don't know, I'm on about the new Mercedes S-Class, which is fully autonomous up to 20MPH. This means that around town, this Merc will drive itself around town, which means more lazy drivers. The S-Class also has all the CAS systems, which  means lazy drivers with powerful, expensive cars, that are more likely to get into accidents.

To conclude then, I think that cars should be either not autonomous or fully autonomous, with no in between. Autonomous cars for the idiotic drivers, where they have no control at all, and are not allowed to drive normal cars, and normal cars for everyone else. Simples.

The Focus driver should have a fully autonomous car

Mercedes A-Class

The older Mercedes A-class' were never pretty cars, with their wedge-y shape, and high center of gravity, that meant they fell over a lot in the EURO NCAP tests (Something every new car has to do to be deemed safe on the road for those who don't know) I have also noticed that the wing-mirrors on them are strangely low, due to the wierdly low front windows (In proportion to the driving position) Another thing I dislike about them is the fact that you didn't sit IN them, you sat ON them; when getting into the car, you stepped up, and the floor was above the door sills, which is stupid unless the car's an SUV. For me, there was no redeeming factors. 

Old A-class. Stupid.

 The new one, however is majestic. I can clearly see that the design team have spent a lot longer making this car look nice, and it worked. The new A-class has learnt from its rivals (Golf, 1-Series and A3) and is now a good-looking car, whilst still going well (apparently) and being practical, whilst retaining the Mercedes luxury that a driver would expect. It also follows the curve with what engines and driving characteristics with its rivals, FF (Front-engine, Front-drive) for most variants, FA (Front-engine, All-Wheel-Drive) for the range-toppers, which I think is commendable, as this allows the A-class to truly compete with its rivals

New A-class. Not stupid.

 Although the new A class is a good car, it does have some down-points: When in AMG or one of the AMG-impersonation specs, the only roofliner you can have is a black one, which makes the car very claustrophobic. It also has the sunvisors too close to the driver's and passenger's heads, to make room for the long, sloping windscreen. The A-class also suffers from the same disease that all newer Mercedes' seem to be suffering from; a foot-operated parking brake. Now, that's not too bad, some drivers prefer a proper handbrake, others prefer the electronic ones, and Mercedes drivers must like the foot-operated handbrake, but what I think is the worst thing about these foot-handbrakes, is their positioning: right where the footrest should be. I think this is a bad decision because it puts drivers in danger. Say someone were travelling along the motorway at 70, and they were to put their foot on the footrest. In a normal car, that would be fine, but in a Mercedes, doing so will apply the parking brake, which can endanger lives on the road. 

Concept cars

MK1 TT

TT Concept car

VW W12

I think that concept cars are a great idea, allowing car companies to preview their new models and tech before they go on sale, and see what the public's reaction is, but I don't understand why some of the concept cars either A) never make it to production, or B) have very drastic changes before being made. Take the Audi TT for example, there was virtually no change between the concept version and the Mk1. This is a good thing, because it was a pretty car, whereas other pretty concept cars made it nowhere near production, like the VW W12, or the Alfa Fivorante. These cars should have made it into production, because they're pretty, and therefore would have sold thousands of units, and would make the companies millions. It makes no sense to me, but I'm not the boss of a multinational car brand. Oh well.

Alfa Fivorante

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.