Day: May 13, 2015

2015 Renault Clio Sport Tourer – Second Thoughts

A few weeks ago I tested the Renault Clio dCi ‘Sport Tourer.’ Today I had another chance to sample the exact same model. This time I noticed something else, something about the steering. Something unwelcome. 

Renault Clio Sport Tourer. Not very sporty. Not bad but not sporty: www.renault.dk
Renault Clio Sport Tourer. Not very sporty. Not bad but not sporty: http://www.renault.dk

I observed this: sudden inputs to the steering around the straight ahead don’t result in sudden changes of direction. If you jerk the wheel left the car doesn’t suddenly point left. The car changes direction smoothly after a small, smooth delay. The jerkiness of the input is smothered. It’s not as if the car understeers (in a noticeable way). And it’s not as if there is play in the steering around the straight ahead: every bit of a degree of turning of the wheel encounters resistance. This means that when you Continue reading “2015 Renault Clio Sport Tourer – Second Thoughts”

Theme: Secondhand – MINI

I should probably have offered these thoughts whilst we were discussing ‘retro’, but a recent article on another site made me reflect on the plight of Mini, or should that be MINI?

4 generations of Mini/ MINI
Four generations of Mini/ MINI: http://www.caricos.com

I’ll dive straight in and state immediately that I abhor what BMW has done to the design of the Mini. If ever there was a lesson as to what can go wrong with second-hand design, this has to be it. When I see one of the latest generation 3 door hatches (to mention the 5 door would be more gratuitous, but unfair because there never was a 5 door version of Issigonis’s original) something stirs within me, and it’s not nice. Continue reading “Theme: Secondhand – MINI”

Theme : Secondhand – Forecourts & Small-Ads

A DTW Writer Seeks Professional Help

Road 2
I’ve tried in a previous piece to put forward the many logical reasons for secondhand car ownership. I’d like to think I am that logical person but there’s another side to it. There are people in this world who have trouble with relationships. Playing The Field, Commitment-Phobic, Philandering, Flirting, call it what you will. People like that get a bad press. Love Rats, Don Juans, Tramps – there are so many nasty names. But I know exactly how those people feel. Continue reading “Theme : Secondhand – Forecourts & Small-Ads”