Have you recently purchased an eco-friendly vehicle on the premise that it is exempt from paying road tax? Well we hate to break it to you, but by 2016 you’re going to be paying over the odds like the rest of us!
The government plans to reduce the road text exemption threshold from <100g/km to <85g/km, meaning that the wave of Bluemotion, Ecomotive and Econetic vehicles will all be within the taxable threshold. The idea came after talks at Westminster aimed to meet the tough EU target of cutting average car CO2 emissions from last years 138.1g/km to 95g/km by 2020. It has been made clear that the road tax exemption band must also be slashed in order to maintain revenue. Industry insiders suggest that by 2016 only vehicles recording values under 85g/km will be exempt from road tax, directly affected by this will be the likes of ford with their Fiesta Econetic which scores a low 87kg/m which is sadly 2g/km above the specified threshold! The whole prospect is depressing for motorists, and we can’t help but feel like we might be getting slightly ripped off…

Ford's New ECOnetic!

The thing is, however, that the correct set of tires can make a massive amount of difference to safety, and performance. Breaking distance, grip, handling – all are effected by whether the tires suit the situation, or whether they are even fit for purpose. Tires can be a failing point on a MOT – but checking the tread and overall condition once  a year simply isn’t enough to ensure that you are safe. After all, rubber tires are thrown through a whole host of stressful and demanding situations every time you curve around a corner or slam your foot down on the brake – twisting and stretching the rubber, essentially distorting it. Eventually, the tire will simply give in and need replacing.

When the time does come, however, what tire should you choose? You’ve seen the Formula 1 races, with the tire changes and the important decisions between wet and dry tyres, hard and soft. Well, the same in many ways applies to your car, although hopefully you’re not going to be bombing along in the hundreds of miles an hour!

First off, you need to consider the make and model of your car – certain tires won’t fit, and other ones will. Once you’ve identified the possibilities, you need to think about the season, or the weather. For wet and dry situations, where you want comfort, a touring car tire will do the job nicely. However, in icy, cold and snowy weather, you might want to consider a safer set of winter tires, which are especially good in wet conditions. Fast cars with sporty engines may perform best with performance tires on that can help with your cornering. There are so many possibilities!

Be safe, be sensible – if your tread is down or your tires aren’t right for your car and your driving, you should go buy car tires now and make sure you’re as safe as possible!

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Ever wonder why you can’t seem to get the miles per gallon that you were promised when you purchased your car? A Whatcar? report has shed some light on the subject,
looking closely at the stated MPG figures for the allegedly most economical cars in the UK and comparing them to their actual values. Studies show that some of the ‘most economical’
cars on the market drain between a quarter and a third more fuel than figures suggest, costing the average motorist hundreds of pounds extra per year!

Despite many cars achieving values in excess of 70MPG, most struggle to break the 50MPG barrier throughout day to day usage. So what is the cause of these fallacies? According to Whatcar?  these ‘official figures’ come from ‘New European Driving Cycle’ testing, which consists of intervals of short runs on a rolling road, where the car is put through an acceleration phase, cruises for a brief period, and is then decelerated under closed experimental conditions. All manufacturers lines are subject to this testing, so there is no deception at work, these test are performed on the basis that it will create a level playing field which all cars can be tested upon.

However all is not as it seems, some manufacturers manipulate their cars for the testing period, studies highlighted the propensity for manufacturers to cheat the system by tuning their engines for maximum efficiency during the test, i.e. a turbocharged engine could be tuned to ensure the turbo charger did not kick in during the test cycle, the engine could then be returned to it’s original efficiency level, including the turbo charger, yielding a far greater level of fuel consumption overall!

The whole system is clearly in need of renovation, If car makers are able to manipulate their engines before a test run, then return the car to a less efficient state, then the whole premise of a fuel efficient and eco-friendly vehicle becomes purely a deceptive marketing technique.

The Perhaps Not So eco-friendly Golf Bluemotion

Research at Newcastle University is going towards the development of driving aids to help extend the stay of elderly motorists on our roads. Many elderly motorists give up driving as it becomes increasingly difficult with degenerative sight, hearing and reaction times. Many members of the elderly community feel isolated by the lack of independent transportation, and thus the project could reap considerable benefits towards the quality of life of the elderly in the UK.

The research is part of a £12 million pound SiDE (Social Inclusion through the Digital Economy) Project, fronted by Newcastle University, which looks at the use of technology to improve peoples lives.
Researchers at the university have converted an electrical car into a mobile laboratory, the “DriveLAB” has satellite navigation functions, night time driving systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Participants concentration, stress levels and driving habits  can be captured via intelligent optical wear that can track eye motion and driving habits.

One of the main developments of the research materialised into a bespoke sat-nav which was able to help drivers find a route they were comfortable with, (i.e. avoiding right turns, due to lack of confidence making right turns and judging on coming traffic).
The sat-nav would also utilise local landmarks as cues for users driving in unfamiliar locations. Professor of intelligent transport systems, Phil Blythe of Newcastle University, stated: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in rural areas, driving is essential for maintaining their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.” If the ability of elderly drivers can be augmented then there should be no question of driving competence in elderly drivers, backed up by Michelle Mitchell of Age UK, who said: “Ability, not age, should determine how safe someone is on the road”.

Independence for the Elderly

However, you’re doing nowhere near as well as the latest insane automotive creation. The engineers behind the Lamina, a Honda generator powered car, have managed to achieve a stonking 584MPG, albeit in a vehicle that can only reach 25 MPH. In addition, the vehicle looks completely insane, a glowing gold bubble that would certainly turn heads and raise eyebrows. When it’s that cheap to run, however, you can probably put up with all the staring and mockery in the world!

Where has this car come from? It was designed by built by a team of engineers from the California Polytechnic State University for this year’s Shell Eco-Marathon held in Houston, Texas. That means it isn’t something you’rte likely to see in a showroom near you any time soon, Even so, it’s exciting to see auto tech head in this direction!

We started out this challenge with quite a lot of reservations about electric cars. We know, quite simply, that they aren’t a finished technology, that we are very much still in the early phases of market penetration. We were, quite frankly, scornful. But you know what? We’re really going to miss the Leaf when it goes – we’ll miss the nippy drive, the low-down grounded feeling, the looks we get from other drivers and pedestrians. Quite involuntarily, we’ve fallen in love with the thing – if we could only go on long country-wide drives it would be spot on!

So, what is it like as a driver – or a passenger, for that matter? What is this seemingly space-age car actually like inside?

Well, some elements are as you would expect from an electric car – the blue touches, the lights, the slightly Star Trekkian design. However, really it feels a lot like any other car, just without the fuel gauge, and with a battery bar instead! You won’t be scared off, and I imagine this is a conscious design choice from Nissan to prevent electric cars seeming intimidated!

Beige and blue...

Everything inside the car coordinates. We aren’t personally much fans of beige (the entire interior has a tendency to show up and attract dust, maybe electric cars have a static charge?!), but there’s no denying it’s finished well, with a coordinated look throughout and some nice tactile touches on the wheel and curving shapes to the dash.

The vital measurements...

It’s very easy to tell where you are power wise, and it’s endlessly entertaining to see the remaining charge go up and down as you navigate the hills and the troughs! You soon get a feel too for what draws on power – one big limitation being the heating system, which doesn’t ever seem to be particularly effective. You do soon learn though, which helps!

The Drive/Park toggle!

The most space age part, perhaps, is the toggle. You pull it where you want it to go (right and up for reverse; right for neutral; right and down for Drive) and then let go – it flies back to the centre, and lo and behold you’re ready to go! The speed in reverse is fun though disorientating to begin with – in fact, the nippiness overall makes this car great fun to play with!

Music, warmth and magic (Kind of...)

Does the Nissan Leaf look like the type of car you want to drive?

A turbocharger is a device that will force air into the combustion chamber of an engine. The compressed air mixes with the fuel and ignites, resulting in a stronger power stroke than would have been achieved if air was drawn in as normal. This is known as forced induction and takes advantage of the principle of the internal combustion engine to add power without changing the operation of it. Turbochargers can be added to existing engines when more power is needed and they are a more cost effective alternative to a larger engine that would cost more to run and would emit more toxic gases. If you are looking for a cheap second hand car with a turbo then you can find the used Audi A6 for sale on any used car website.

A super charged engine is very similar in that it uses the forced induction method to increase power and efficiency, but they are not as good as turbo chargers. The main reason for opting for a supercharged engine is better throttle response and the ability to reach full-boost pressure instantly.

Turbo chargers are common in Formula-1 racing as large amounts of money went into researching how to gain an advantage over competitors before the 1970s. The results were faster, lighter cars with more power, which led to some dangers. In the 1980s, limits were placed on how much power could be generated by a turbo charger as a means to keep the sport from becoming far too dangerous. These days, turbo charged engines are banned from F-1 racing outright.

If you are interested in adding super- or turbo-charge to your existing engine, there are many websites that will walk you through the process and tell you what you need. But if you lack the know-how (or the inclination) to do it yourself, many garages will offer the service. Make sure you get a good quote.

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Citroen’s campaign has been launched on Facebook and you have to download an app in order to design your car (therefore be warned that Citroen will proceed to advertise on your timeline if you decide to do this). Their model gives you the chance to edit 5 areas of the car… 3 or 5 door, body colour, detail colour, interior colour and equipment, and the most popular one will then be turned into the new bespoke C1 Connexion. It isn’t the widest range of areas but it could still be done well with some imagination. Once it has been created you have the chance to win it, which is enough incentive to get us designing straight away!

Are you going to design one?

VW’s campaign is similar in many ways, although you don’t need to download anything to your Facebook, so it is ad free. The Polo Principle (the name of VW’s campaign) also offers people quite a lot more freedom than the Citroen, with pattern designs, colour designs and the option to completely draw your own design. The best of these designs will be made into a car in May that the winner can drive around for two months, which, in our opinion, is a pretty pathetic prize for such a wealthy company.

How about this design?

The best thing about the Citroen competition, in our opinion, is that the winning car gets chosen by us, the general public, and so they could end up, by a well-orchestrated campaign, being forced to make a car that has a hideous colour combination, that nobody would ever want to buy. Unfortunately VW have planned ahead and their top 40 entrants will be being chosen by a panel of judges, much less fun for us, but much more chance of an attractive design being produced.

But regardless of the pitiful prize from VW and the ads we are going to get from Citroen, we just can’t pass by the opportunity to make our dream car, and possibly a couple of nightmares ones too. Fingers crossed everyone else likes them too and we end up winning a car!

We’re  currently reviewing the Nissan Leaf, and will have some awesome insights for you in the future. For now, however, we’ve take the Leaf on an awesome urban tour of our local town – the lovely medieval Warwick. From pub to hairdressers to (of course) the beautiful castle, we show you a electric car doesn’t have to limit you at all!

The most exciting thing? Driving this car doesn’t have to end it two weeks – if we get enough “Turn On”s then we can win  one of our very own. A blog car, if you will! So, we need your help to win!

There are three ways you can help:

1. Tweet about our challenge using the hashtag, #NISSANLEAFCAR22

2. RT any of our #NISSANLEAFCAR22 tweets from our Twitter account.

3. Hit the “Turn On” button for my fellow writer, Lauren Crane, by hitting the button at this link.

All help appreciated! PS. The video is below: