Saturday, 29 March 2014

Subaru VIZIV 2 Concept

According to Subaru, the new VIZIV 2 crossover concept is "introducing the future of All-Wheel Drive vehicles."

VIZIV stands for Vision for Innovation and Subaru is using it to showcase how advanced hybrid technology can be used with "Subarus All-Wheel Drive (AWD) while also indicating at a future design direction for Subarus production vehicles."

The powertrain uses a new 1.6-litre turbo-diesel DIT (Direct-Injection Turbo) Boxer engine and three electric motors, one to power the front wheels and one on each of the rear wheels which operate independently.

We are looking at a possible future generation of hybrid technology powered Subaru AWD vehicles.

Saturday, 1 March 2014

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé

Roomy and sporty Coupés from BMW. Four frameless doors and a large boot.

A great example is the BMW 435i, which is powered 6-cylinder TwinPower Turbo petrol 225 kW (306 hp) engine and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds.
Average fuel consumption is quite modest at 28.3 to 29.0 mpg (Steptronic transmission: 30.9 to 31.4 mpg), accompanied by CO2 emissions of just 193 to 189 g/km (Steptronic transmission: 178 to 174 g/km).

Sunday, 16 February 2014

The hi tech new Peugeot 108

PEUGEOT has just launched its new city car - the new PEUGEOT 108. It is clearly targeted at today's connected generation - it features a large touch screen and the Mirror Screen function, including the new MirrorLink and AppInCar connectivity protocols which will linkup with your smartphone seamlessly. The Mirror Screen function operates using MirrorLink technology for telephones running on Android, RIM and Windows, and by AppInCar for telephones running on iOs.

The car is available in two body styles: the PEUGEOT 108 hatchback and the PEUGEOT 108 TOP! convertible which can be personalised in various ways.

By opting for the PEUGEOT 108 TOP!, the customer has the freedom to choose the roof colour: Black, grey, Red Purple. They can decide to suit their taste, according to the body colour chosen. Among the eight colours available, two are exclusive to the model: Aïkinite, a golden copper, and Red Purple, an unusual violet. Reserved only for the 3-door hatchback, two versions of two-tone paint are available: Red Purple and Gallium Grey or Lipizan White and Aïkinite.

The customer can then select from the seven personalisation themes and three interior ambiences. The personalisation themes comprise exterior stickers, shells for the door mirrors, interior stickers, floor carpets, key fob shells (mechanical, plip or Keyless Entry and Starting card) while the three interior ambiences determine the colours of the finishers on the dashboard and centre panel.

Red Purple PEUGEOT 108 5-door hatchback, covered with diamond shaped motifs playing with the light.

PEUGEOT 108, 3-door with two-tone paint, marrying Red Purple with Gallium Grey on the upper parts of the body.

The PEUGEOT 108 offers a choice of six trims. Curitiba cloth is exclusive to the Access trim level. On Active and Allure trim levels, the PEUGEOT 108 hatchback is trimmed with Carolight cloth, a revisited tartan, the PEUGEOT 108 TOP! convertible with Rayura Aïkinite cloth. Leather, exclusive to the Allure trim level, is available on both body styles.

At 3.47m long and 1.62m wide, the PEUGEOT 108 is has quite compact dimensions. According to their press release, its reduced overhangs and turning radius of just 4.80m allow it to avoid with obstacles with ease. The driving position also provides excellent forward vision.

When loading the boot, the PEUGEOT 108 reveals one of its many strengths. The Keyless Entry and Starting card allows the doors to be unlocked, the tailgate to be unlocked and partially opened with just a press on the appropriate button. On opening the tailgate, the shelf automatically folds away against the rear screen and reveals a boot that is generous for the category: 196 litres with the puncture repair kit, 180 litres with the spare wheel. Loading is easy with the low sill, just 77 cm, and a wide 1 metre space between the wheel arches. The initial volume can be extended to 750 litres by folding the 50/50 rear seat backrests.

As for safety, the car comes with a set of six airbags fitted as standard: two frontal airbags (the passenger airbag can be switched off), two lateral airbags at the front, and two curtain airbags covering the front and rear seats. Finally, for the safety of children in the car, the two rear seats are equipped with IsoFix mountings.

As for the engines, there is a choice of four 3-cylinder power units:
- 1.0 e-VTi68 5-speed manual, 88g/km CO2,
- 1.0 VTi 68 5-speed manual, 95g/km de CO2,
- 1.0 VTi68 5-speed electronic, 97g/km CO2,
- New Puretech1.2 VTi 82 engine with 5-speed manual gearbox, 99g/km CO2.

There are two tyre sizes used, 165/65 R14 or 165/60 R15. They are continuously monitored by the Indirect Tyre Under-Inflation Detection system.

The braking system includes as standard, ABS, Electronic Brake Force Distribution, Emergency Collision Braking System and switchable ESP. The braking system is completed by 247mm ventilated discs at the front and 200mm drums at the rear.

Friday, 7 February 2014

Volvo Concept XC Coupe

The Volvo Concept XC Coupé was unveiled in January at the 2014 Detroit Motor Show. It won the 'Best Concept Car' title as well as the award for 'Best use of Colour, Graphics and Materials'.

The difference between the two-door, four-seater Volvo Concept XC Coupe and the Volvo Concept Coupe include the larger 21-inch wheels, accentuated wheel-arches and a taller roofline.




Monday, 3 February 2014

Tuesday, 14 January 2014

Dash Cams to the Rescue: HP Car Camcorder f200 review

An increasing number of motorists in the UK are installing in-car dashboard cameras or dash cams, as they are more popularly known. The mini video cams are fixed discretely on the windscreen of your vehicle. The main reason is the rise of the so-called "crash-for-cash" scams.

There are gangs who stage fake accidents in order to make fraudulent insurance claims. Their modus-operandi is to slam on their brakes suddenly and causing the vehicle behind to crash into them. The Insurance Fraud Bureau estimates that the annual cost of these fraud cases amount to around £392 million (1). This highlights the importance of this issue and it is no wonder that many van owners and operators have also started to install dash cams in their fleet of vehicles. In the event of an accident, the accurate recordings of the events can prove useful in legal proceedings and insurance claims.

Another possible benefit of installing these cams is that the drivers would probably drive more responsibly as they are aware that the cams are running and recording their entire journey as well. Thus, they can encourage safer driving.

On the other hand, you may want to just record the beautiful landscape on a trip. I wish I had one during our amazing driving trip to the Scottish highlands and the Isle of Skye last Easter.

There are a range of dash cams out there with prices ranging from around £10 to over £100. Their quality and features vary widely as well. Anyway, I was delighted when I was given the opportunity to review the HP Car Camcorder f200. The camera is quite small and discreetly fits behind the mirror. However, the power cord dangling down was quite annoying and I may have to run it along the top of the windscreen.


The camera supports micro SDHC cards up to 32GB. However, the spare card I had at home was only 8GBs. It has a 2.4" LCD Color TFT screen at the back which helps to position the camera and is surprisingly clear. I plugged the power cord in and started playing around with the menu which was quite easy to navigate.

First of all I changed the dates and time and then formatted the memory card. I then realised that it had started recording. The camera allows for total hands free operation as you can set the camera to start recording as soon as it detects motion. It can also be set to start recording automatically when it detects a collision or sudden braking situation. You can select the sensitivity but I think that it defeats the whole purpose as you would want to see the events leading up to an accident as well - before the collision actually happens. Fortunately, I did not get the chance to test the automatic collision recording feature and I hope it remains that way.

I recorded a recent trip to my son's school. The camera has a wide angle fixed focus lens F2.4 and records in full HD (1920 x 1080) including voice recording. It also has a built in 3-Axis gyro force sensor which keeps the images steady even on bumpy Coventry side roads.

On playing back the video on our TV, we found that the quality of the video was really good. I could easily read the car number plates and the distant landmarks we passed on the road were really clear. Check out the short video which I uploaded on YouTube.



I definitely recommend this camera. Prices of the cam varies widely depending on the online retailer, from £85.50 to £114.54.

This review was sponsored by Tesco Compare van insurance

Related Link: Insurance Fraud Bureau

Wednesday, 1 January 2014