Unique Auto

Archive for March, 2009

Starting a business can be a precarious endeavour, requiring initial sizeable investment, long days trying to get the business off the ground and a lot of calls from the bank manager. Depending on the nature of yourbusiness, one of the most expensive initial outgoings is likely to be vehicles, especially if you require a fleet of light commercial vehicles or other cars. Finding space in the budget for hundreds of thousands of pounds is a very intimidating prospect, especially before your balance sheet even shows a profit. There is a solution available that can help alleviate some of this initial pressure and supply you, the business owner, with a viable and cost-effective solution; contract hire.

Contract Hire allows you to be more in control of your initial outgoings by providing you with all the vehicles you need on a pay monthly scheme. The system can work as quickly and easily as getting finance from a car dealership, you will be able to work through which payment plan is likely to suit your accounts best. By correctly forecasting your monthly income, you should be able to set up a workable finance scheme that will allow you to start seeing immediate profitability from the scheme allowing you to concentrate on your services rather than your vehicles.

Days Contract Hire have been providing such business solutions for many years now and have built up an enviable reputation in the industry as a trustworthy, family-run business. They are backed by an independent but financially safecompany, which will ensure that your investment is safe in these economically shakey times. They offer a series of you a convenient selection of finance options including Contract Hire, Lease Purchase, Rental and Personal Contract Hire. Regardless of your fleet contract hire requirements, Days Contract Hire are a great choice.

When you arrange a contract lease with Days Contract Hire, you are assigned a personal Account Executive, who will deal directly with you every time you need to contact them. This dispenses with lengthy phone discussions, as your account manager will have dealt with you previously and will have already built a rapport with you and your staff.

Contact Days Contract Hire for more information.

The range of Jeep vehicles are a rather peculiar import to these British shores after being taken to heart by Americans as a collective. I can understand why our friends across the Atlantic would take to them so readily; they’re big, brassy, aggressive and create quite a fearsome presence on the roads. The British palette for cars and vans is somewhat more understated. Rather than big gas guzzling vehicles, the British tend to lean toward more elegant and ecologically sound vehicles; accurately representing what has been labelled over the decades as ‘British Reserve’.

There are also a myriad of practical concerns to tak into consideration; American roads are long, straight affairs with little need for ultra-responsive handling. In contrary to this, to navigate across Britain, one has to deal with tiny,windy country roads and roundabouts, where pinpoint handling is more than desirable; it’s a necessity. So how can a montrous carbuncle of a vehicle be a viable automotive choice in Britain? Well, to be honest as I can be, it can’t.

The Jeep Patriot is a continuation of the Compass mould; a big, fuel hungry 4X4 with scant regard for other road users. If you see one of these gigantic roadhogs in your rear-view mirror, the overwhelming urge is to pull over, let it pass and hope it doesn’t drive over you like some kind of monster truck. As anyone would have predicted, the Jeep Patriot isn’t as practical as one would hope for.

For a country used to the elegance and luxury of the Land Rover vehicles, the Jeep Patriot is quite an eye-opener but for entirely the wrong reasons. It feels uncomfortable, cumbersome and inferior in comparison to any of the Land Rover models. When you check the price label though, you can see exactly why.

The Jeep Patriot is available for around £15,500 if you shop around, which for a vehicle of this size is laughably cheap. But I am a firm believer in the saying; “you pay cheap; you get cheap”. The Jeep Patriot is probably a workable choice for those of us who have genuine need for a mid-range powered 4X4, but if you’re just going to the supermarket, or taking the kids to school, then this becomes a unpractical and expensive nuisance.

The Jeep brand has a huge following in America, but I predict it will take a lot more effort in the refinement department to make this a desirable vehicle to the more reserved and practically-minded British.

What a beauty. Even at $250 000 the sheer looks of this car are enough to justify its price.  The sleek, low to the ground, beautifully contoured body perched just slightly above a set of incredible diamond turned twenty inch wheels, make this potentially the most visually stunning vehicle produced this decade. 

The 2009 DBS better be pretty though, because it will set prospective buyers back between two hundred and seventy and three hundred thousand dollars, but just as with any Aston Martin, there is more to this car than just a pretty face… 

Beneath the hood of this beautiful specimen sits one powerhouse of an engine – a 5.9 liter V12, with an outstanding five hundred and ten horses and a top speed of more than one hundred and ninety miles an hour.To reach 60 in this new DBS you should be targeting a civilised 4.3 seconds. 

The DBS’s initial launch into the automotive world was just eighteen short months ago, its beauty and performance took the driving world by storm then and Aston Martin hasn’t changed a whole lot since the original – they didn’t have to. 

New for the second incarnation are the diamond turned wheels which, aside from being absolutely stunning, manage to take an impressive four and a half pounds of weight off per wheel – that coupled with a portion of the body being made from carbon make this version almost two hundred pounds lighter than the DB9 which it is partially patterned after. 

The 2009 version also has an option for two rear bucket seats where the original just had a modest amount of storage behind the front seats. Maybe Ashton Martin was thinking about the busy mom who has to play taxi, fetching children from school. Back in the real world, there are not so many average family oriented parents to splash on such extravagance. 

For drivers, like myself, who would rather be immersed in their favorite music than hearing the roar of the massive 510 horsepower V12 engine rumbling beneath the hood, the 2009 DBS comes with an absolutely out of this world sound system – a ten speaker Bang & Olufsen sound system that is truly capable of making ears bleed should you have the desire. 

The 2009 DBS still uses the space age form of entry that every one fell in love with from the original – the ECU or “Emotion Control Unit” in lieu of using the more traditional keyed form or automobile entry. 

If you have more than a quarter of a million dollars to spend on your next vehicle and are still having doubts about the Aston Martin DBS, ask yourself this – if it was good enough for James Bond to use (and destroy) not once, but twice how could it not be good enough for you.

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Let's not split hairs about this; Volvo are never likely to produce a vehicle that will set hearts fluttering with excitement. It is laughably impossible to imagine a James Bond film in the not-too-distant future where Q introduces 007 to his new gadget-laden Volvo Diesel Estate. It is almost laughable to imagine a Volvo in any cinematic context other than possibly a dire independent Swedish film concerned primarily with the difficulties of livestock farming during Scandinavian winters. The Volvo range has never really appealed to me in a sensory manner; by which I mean I have never been able to picture myself getting excited by one, let alone sitting in one. If you find yourself parting with impressively large sums of money for a vehicle, you want it to enflame your ardour, set your pulse running and maybe even give you a shudder every time you start the engine. It never seemed remotely possible for the Volvo to be capable of this…until they unleashed the Volvo S80.

The Volvo S80 is something quite contrary compared to what I was expecting when tasked with this article; I was expecting something dowdier, less elegant and considerably chunkier. What I was presented with was an example of aesthetic and engineering expertise.

The Volvo S80, when kitted out to it's highest spec, isn’t a cheap vehicle by any means. At slightly less than £40,000 if it wasn’t a Very good car it would have to have been carved from Mount Olympus by naked, voluptuous maidens, overseen by Zeus himself. As it stands, it is an extraordinary vehicle that on initial impressions seems to outshine the various competitor models; the Volkswagen Phaeton and the Honda Legend included. There is, however, one competitor that would probably have something to say about this Scandinavian upstart. I speak of the impressive Jaguar XF.

A fully spec-ed Jaguar XF is around £15,000 more expensive than its Volvo counterpart, which is obviously going to push more people toward the S80, but Jaguars are infinitely cooler and more desirable than any Volvo ever created…and who can put a price on that? The basic model Jaguar XF is a few grand less than the fully spec-ed  S80 and I can’t help but think that because of the social kudos and Jaguar legacy, the buying public are going to gravitate towards the Jag.

The Volvo S80 does make a very good case for itself though. It has one of the most luxurious interiors I have ever had the pleasure of planting my bottom in and all the gadgets James Bond could ever want (barring missile launcher and ejector seat, naturally), including collision detectors, infra-red windscreen and an outstanding stereo system, which outperforms my rather expensive home set-up by a country mile.

The engines are slightly disappointing in comparison to other models available in the price bracket…and when I say “slightly”, I mean devastatingly. The 2.0 Litre petrol engine does 0-60 in an embarrassing 11 seconds, which is frankly unacceptable for a car of this price and potential customer demographic. This car is going to be used by executives who probably have important meetings to attend, deals to seal and the S80’s acceleration will probably hold them up exponentially. Realistically you would expect the 0-60 time to be roughly half of what it is. When you finally achieve 60, things improve: the engine is smooth, quiet and feels a cut above the rest (making it an excellent car choice for extended motorway driving). It’s just a scriminally disappointing fact that it takes what feels like a lifetime to get to a respectable speed.

In summary, the Volvo S80 feels and looks like an Executive’s Car, magnificently appointed with all the comfort and equipment to impress any driver. What it does lack is the engineering ‘oomph’ to match the aesthetic promise.

I really respect the Volvo S80, but I wanted to love it.

If you have any interest in cars and specifically, driving them fast, then you are probably already aware of the Mitsubishi Evo Range and all the wonderful things it does. If you are not interested in fast cars that feel as likely to attack you as a wounded animal, then this probably isn’t an article of interest for you. If, on the other hand, you’re one of those drivers who (rather foolishly) like to feel as though the Grim Reaper is sat in the back seat every time you sit behind the wheel, then read on.

The engineers at Mitsubishi have released the latest incarnation of their Evo Series, the Evo X, to something of a mixture of critical opinion. So far, opinion has been neatly split down the middle, with some reviewers hailing it as the ultimate in car-driving bragging rights, with other lamenting its rather limited BHP in comparison to the last generation ‘FQ’ series.

I sit neatly on the fence in this argument, as I know that on the surface, the Mitsubishi Evo X probably isn’t as impressive as its forebear. On the other hand I also know that anyone who buys this car, all £30,000 of it, is unlikely to leave it in the same condition as it comes from the factory. No, thats not the correct procedure if you own the Evo X.

The Mitsubishi Evolution X is the ultimate customisable car. Owners are known to install new bucket seats, stereos, larger exhausts, overhaul the engine to get better power and pretty much alter every screw and replace every component. Mitsubishi know this only too well, which probably explains why they haven’t overdone it on the quality of components. Why go to any discernible effort when they’re only going to be swapped to the owner’s custom specification?

With suitable tweaking and hours spent grunting over hot machinery, you can bet that the Evo X will be witnessed on the roads as a 400BHP animal rather than the slightly tame 291BHP we see here. Don’t get me wrong, 291BHP is still enough to rip the skin from your bones, but it won’t dissolve you or send you forward through a time dilation in the space/time continuum like the previous model could.

My considered opinion: Buy one, but customise it straight away.

Even when times are good, there are plenty of people who look to economize, and in buying a car, a cost-cutting double whammy is to buy a used hybrid.  After all, as everyone knows, a car loses value from the literal second it is driven off the lot, making a reliable used car a sensible decision. While hybrids are more expensive, it is well proven that they pay for the extra cost in just a few years from increased gas savings.

USED HYBRID CAR FACTS

The price difference between most used hybrid cars and used gas powered cars is not as wide of a gap as it is between new hybrid cars and new gas powered cars. Opting to buy a used hybrid car that is only a couple of years old can save you a significant amount of money since the original owner will have suffered the initial depreciation of value.

The sole caveat is the reason why the price difference sorted itself out: the battery. Hybrid batteries are typically warranted for between 8 to 10 years, and are generally expected to last at for a decade or more before their performance starts to drop off. Sad to say, those batteries will need to be replaced one day and a brand new hybrid car battery can cost thousands of dollars. This is an important consideration for anyone who intends to buy a hybrid, new or used, and drive it into the ground. Replacing the battery could cost as much as what you paid for the entire car at the time you bought it!

However, there are other ways that a hybrid car can save you money. They are usually half again as fuel efficient as conventional vehicles. For example, The Nissan Altima hybrid gets 35 mpg in the city, while its conventional counterpart gets 23 mpg in the city. This ensures that your hybrid car was a good investment, especially if you are someone that spends a lot of time on the road.  Hybrid cars are especially fuel-efficient in the city.

Lastly, used hybrid cars are very good for the environment. The technology involved obviously burns less gasoline to do the same job, with emissions that regularly meet the requirements for Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (SULEVs).

Overall, buying a used hybrid car is a good option for getting around the substantially marked-up sticker price for a new hybrid car. The same low emissions and gas savings rules apply to used hybrids as to new hybrids, so potentially a used hybrid will save a buyer even more money because they haven’t paid the hefty new hybrid mark-up. However, it is a wise policy to either get a used hybrid that is only 2 or 3 years old, to maximize the expected lifetime of the hybrid car battery.

The Brand New Ford Fiesta has been released and there has been plenty of wailing and gnashing of teeth since it first rolled off the forecourts. The overwhelming opinion is that Ford have triumphed, creating a vehicle that supersedes every other similarly priced small hatchback on the market. This isn’t fresh news though; Ford have achieved this virtually every time they have released a newer edition of the Fiesta. Here is a news flash that may surprise some of you out there in the real world: the brand new Ford Fiesta is actually no different to the previous model. Ok, so there are cosmetic differences, but the same engines are available with the same trims. Therefore, now would be an excellent time to find yourself a very cheap Ford Fiesta.

The last Ford Fiesta was an understated affair that essentially looked like a slightly scaled down Ford Focus. It was chunky, sturdy and above all, had the perfect engines to deal with the, often problematic, power/weight ratios. The dinky 1.25 petrol engine was more than enough to render the Fiesta the perfect, zippy town & city mobile. This is where the plot thickens and the bargains rear their heads.

As the new Fiesta was announced, the bottom fell through the international economy and no one was financially capable of buying cars anymore. Stocks built up and thousands upon thousands of vehicles sat in parking areas, just waiting for the chance to be shipped to a dealership forecourt. Like every other vehicle manufacturers, many of the older Ford Fiestas weren’t shipped out before the new edition was available to order.

The crux of my point is that these older Ford Fiestas need to be shifted and dealers who are selling these models are letting them go with ridiculous discounts on them; even more so if you consider a nearly new or ex-demo model.

If you are not too bothered about being on the cusp of fashion then you will be able to find a perfect Ford Fiesta for a lot less than the current new model. In the current economic climate, who can afford to miss a bargain?

A racing car that you can drive on the British roads; it’s all any driver wants from life. When stopping at traffic lights I still get the (rather immature) urge to rev my engine, as if challenging the person in the next lane to a drag race. In a Hot Rod this would be perfectly rational behaviour, in a Ford Focus it’s just slightly embarrassing. What your average common or garden driver is really looking for is a compromise between the Hot Rod and the Fiesta; a car that is practical, but can still get the heart racing when you put your foot down. With some considerable confidence, Vauxhall claim to have created this elusive amalgamation of form, function and performance in the Vauxhall VXR Range.

This definitely isn’t the first time popular car manufacturers have attempted this enviable feat. Volkswagen have been doing it for years with the Golf GTi ranges and Ford have a rich lineage of racing cars from the RS Cosworth. All of these cars are great to drive and all perform to very high standards. The only grievances I hold against them are the rather insulting connotations that drivers of these vehicles are often labelled with. What started off as a rather jovial and almost friendly “boy racer” has now transformed into the less agreeable “chavs”, “townies” and “neds” (dependent on your geographical location). These derogatory labels don’t seem to concern those who actually are chavs etc…, but the rest of us normal human beings want to drive these wonderful cars without the social stigma.

With the VXR Range, Vauxhall want to readdress the balance and have designed and engineered a car that goes like stink, but retains understated looks. That is until you take a look at the Vauxhall VXR8…which looks like it has careened straight out of a post-apocalyptic landscape in the year 3000 in a hail of fire and bullets. Alas, the VXR8 would be pointless if Vauxhall hadn’t installed it out with an engine that could strip paint from 20 miles. So let’s be thankful that they have done exactly that.

The Vauxhall VXR8 6.2 Litre V8 engine has a manic 431 BHP which when put to the test, will get you from 0-60 in 4.9 seconds. If you count that in your head, you can almost feel the raw power that the VXR8 must have. However, as the popular saying goes, with great power comes huge responsibility. If you push the VXR8 slightly too far, you will find yourself in a ditch with your face through the windscreen. To say its twitchy as speed increases would be something of an understatement, even on a dual carriageway you feel like you might flip at any moment in a huge tidal wave of explosions and noise.

My only fault with the Vauxhall VXR8 would be that it seems to create a drama out of everything, like some kind of stereotypical pantomime performer refusing to grow old gracefully. But unlike most criticisms, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the Vauxhall VXR8 despite all its tendencies toward fuss and commotion. Without descending into the world of horrible clichés, you genuinely feel like the Grim Reaper is stalking you every single time you put the key in the ignition, but for the exhilaration it is worth it. The Vauxhall VXR8 is a car of pure brilliance, but don’t even consider going near one unless you are either a) a skilled driver, or b) completely insane.

Alternative energy is on people’s minds.  They think about ways to stop using gasoline which tends to pollute.  That’s where the electric dirt bike comes into the picture.

electric dirt bikes

Zero Motorcycles produces one of these.  The electric dirt bike they make is quiet and runs very well.  As of August of 2008 they were already back ordered.  Of course only 45 had been produced by that time.  Their goal is to produce 2000 in 2009.  They intend to roll out a street version as well.

People often use an electric dirt bike to ride off road near the house.  This could include wilderness trails in suburban developments.  Neighbors would complain if people tooled around on loud gas bikes.  But the electric version makes hardly any noise.  That’s a reason people like them.

An electric dirt bike can be costly.  Gas powered bikes are cheaper.  They also have limited range.  A charge is good for 40 miles.  That’s good for about two hours.  People sometimes ride for an entire day.  They won’t find a socket out in the wild.

electric dirt bike

Some veteran off-road riders see the electric dirt bike as a novelty.  They don’t think it will last.  Some commentators call it a decent bike as a back up, but not an only bike.  But other people call them sexy and fun.

It was 2002 when Zero’s founder got interested in an electric dirt bike.  He became a motorcycle designer shortly after working as an engineer.  He disagreed with people who think electric cycles are slow and boring.  He dislikes off-the-shelf parts so many of the parts on his bikes are custom designed.

The big problem with an electric dirt bike is the battery.  Lithium ion batteries get very hot.  Zero needed an insulator around the batteries.  It’s a $4000 system that lasts for a little less than 6 years.  The battery takes about two hours to fully recharge.  That’s not bad.  The bike can go 0 to 30 in under 2 seconds.  Zero says that experienced riders are blown away by the performance.

Zero’s electric dirt bike costs around $7000, with a $300 shipping fee.  The only place to purchase is is on the Internet.  The company wants to become a huge concern

razor electric dirt bike

The electric dirt bike will have its day.

http://dirtcrazy.com/

People like to ride off road.  It’s called four wheeling or off roading.  There are many vehicles available for this hobby.  The Razor Dirt Quad is one of these.

razor dirt quad

This Razor Dirt Quad boasts an electric motor.  It has a lot of features specifically for off road driving.  That’s why it’s good for off roading.  People love to race it, or just ride around the countryside.  You may see someone driving around your city in one.

The engine is pretty amazing.  The Razor Dirt Quad Has a 350 Watt super quiet motor.  It’s hard to believe such a quiet engine can deliver so much power.  It doesn’t take much space to store it.  The list price is $330.

Kids like off roading too.  Someone over 120 pounds can’t ride a Razor Dirt Quad.  It isn’t made for big people.  Kids riding one should be supervised.

It has a lead acid battery.  It actually consists of 2 12 Volt batteries sealed in a casing.  It takes about eight hours to fully charge.  A charge delivers an hour of operation.  It travels just under 10 MPH.  It weighs in at 100 pounds.

razor dirt quad electric

The Razor Dirt Quad can be found at low prices.  It sells for only $299.99 at Amazon.  It’s $350 at WalMart.  That’s a savings of $50.  You could use an extra $50, right?

Compare Razor Dirt Quad prices online before buying one.  My Simon is excellent.  The price ranges from $300 to $370.  However it shows of the Amazon price at $369.95.  That certainly seems out of date.

Yahoo maintains an excellent shopping site as well.  It has the right price for the Razor Dirt Quad at Amazon.  It’s accurate and the best deal.

A Razor Dirt Quad search on Google comes up with 55,000 sites.  That’s a big number.  It also shows pocket bikes.  They’re off road motorcycles.  They’re much heavier than the Razor.  They travel much more quickly too.  Some of them have top speeds over 50 mph.

razor dirt quad bike

Amazon is the best deal for a Razor Dirt Quad.

http://dirtcrazy.com/