The president of the USA Barack Obama said yesterday “he was confident “a viable Chrysler” would emerge over the coming months, however he stopped short of confirming that the company would file for bankruptcy.”
We are expecting that Chrysler will announce plans soon that it will be filing for bankruptcy protection. It is likely that current CEO Mr B Nardelli will be replaced by a member of the Fiat board which also confirms that fiat are likely to by a 20% stake in Chrysler.

This could see Chrysler’s $6.9 Billion worth of debt wiped out, 46 companies are still owed money which would be paid partly by the US Treasury

USA president Barack Obama also added
“It would be a very quick type of bankruptcy, and they could continue operating and emerge on the other side in a much stronger position,”

Chrysler

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Ok so you’ve just got your high powered car like a BMW M Series and you want to really see what it can do, then a track day is what you need.
You’ll need to sort out some track day insurance as your usual policy usually won’t cover you. But what you will get on the track is no police, no speed cameras and no pedestrians wondering about.
You’ll need to make sure you car is in good mechanical shape so it’s advisable to take it to your local independent garage and get them to check it over and state that your taking it on a track day, so that they know what to look for or what to do. Brakes and tyres will all receive a lot more stress on the track than they would on the road, so be aware that you could easily go through a set of tyres and accelerate wear on your brakes.

Things to do on the day that often get over looked.

You will need to take a helmet with you it will protect you in case anything untoward happens.

Taping your lights up with an x shape, using electrical insulation tape is advised as it stops glass covering the track if you crash or have contact with another car.

Topping your oil up to the maximum level is recommenced. During longer corners the oil will tip to the side of the engine and starve one side, so topping it up will help prevent this.

When on the track don’t stay out there for 1hr solid without a break, as you will soon boil your break fluid with the constant hard breaking and you engine will slowly start to get very warm.  Taking a cool off lap before a short break in the pits will allow your break to cool and will also cool your engine dramatically if you’re taking it slow.

Lancia Delta Trackday

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If you’re looking for a city car, or just a car that will do when you need to pop to the shops then the Hyundai i20 is ideal. Returning between 50 / 70 MPG you won’t be filling it too often. The i20 is definitely cheap to run and just as cheap to buy. The cheap price does reflect slightly inside with some of the build materials inside the cabin but there is lots of equipment within to keep you occupied.

The driving position is l20 is high which will suit the short people but people that are somewhat taller might feel slightly crammed in.  The entry level 1.2 litre petrol is the engine to go for its still got some life to it without compromising petrol MPG.  The little 1.4 diesel is a good little engine but it isn’t really worth it unless you’re racking up a lot of mileage.
The comfort model is the one to choose as it has the right balance between features and price. Electric rear windows MP3 connector alloy wheels and multi function steering wheel all feature in the Comfort trim.

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It’s not often you get something for free, and you be even more shocked when you find out that its Ferrari giving something free, no it’s not a 430 Scuderia.
Ferrari has released a free driving game for you to download, at 75mb for the download you would be led to believe that it’s going to be a load of tosh but stand corrected. There’s just not a lot to do within the game.

Your car choice is limited to 3 Ferrari’s at the moment a 430 Scuderia, 599 GTB Fiorano and a F612 Scaglietti. You do get the full Ferrari colour choice though such as Rosso Mugello, Avorio and Grigio Scuro. According to the Ferrari website the rest of their range will be available soon but no date as of yet. There’ll also be a online game mode which should be interesting.

The graphics to be honest are fairly sharp it’s no Gran Turismo but it certainly very good for a free game. All the graphics options are fully customisable, and you might be better off with a steering wheel or joy pad.

You can only race on Mugello at the moment which happens to be Ferraris test track but it’s still a nice circuit to race on, and once you’re familiar with it then your 430 will soon be hammering round. You can choose your number of fellow competitors from one too seven and also choose things like damage, number of laps, opponent skill and whether the cars are mixed or the same as you have chosen.

The scope for this game is potentially rather large; I just don’t understand how they will update your game with new cars without an update function.

Here is the link that takes you to the game download

Ferrari F430

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It’s funny how some things seem to slip peoples minds at the most important of times when it’s going to make them look good, yet when the bad times come they’ll blame someone else.

So the UK government and Alistair Darling have just announced the Budget, and they have finally confirmed what we all suspected about the Scrappage Scheme that it will go ahead and you will get £2,000 for a car over 10 years old. Well this is a great step forward in getting cleaner and more fuel efficient cars on to the road.  But we have a few small issues.

Firstly the government say you’ll get £2,000 which you will, but on second glance you’ll realise that your new car manufacturer is actually stumping up £1,000 of the costs. The Government now doesn’t look quite as rosey as it did 5 minutes ago. It also will make the Car manufacturers worse off as they are having to fork out the extra £1,000, which will make them less likely to give customers discounts.

Second item, what stops someone buying a second hand Ford Fiesta Popular from Ebay with 1 years tax and test for say £500, then 1 month later going and taking it to a local Ford dealer and getting £1500 off a new Ford Focus RS.
We think there are a few loop holes if you’re in the market for a new car even if yours is fairly new you can sell it privately whilst seeing what deal you would get from the dealer and then asking “well what if I did the Scrappage Scheme”

Lastly what’s going to happen to all these scrapped vehicles and will it affect the price of metal. Surely all these extra cars will be melted down but that all takes extra time space and pollution from the melting plants.

Old Porsche's Scrapped

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When buying a second hand car it’s often wise to get a HPI check carried out for your peace of mind and if its high value, then you’ll know if there’s any outstanding finance.
A HPI check will included

Outstanding finance, Previous damage, Stolen Vehicle, Plate Transfer, National Mileage Register, Vehicle Registration Mark (VRM) and Vehicle Identification Number (VIN), Vehicle identity, Security Watch, Valuation, Document Check and finally a CO2 Rating.

Costing £19.99 a HPI check on a second hand car is a good investment especially if it turns out it could of saved you from a costly experience.

If your spending under £5,000 on a car you might be happy with a few less checks which is where cartextcheck.co.uk comes in.
For only £3 which is paid over your phone bill you can have the following results within minutes. Stolen Vehicle, Written Off, Colour Changes, VIN No, Serious Damage, Owners, Year, Make, Model and Engine Size.

All you need to do is text ctc then a space and your registration number and send it to 83600.

Old Banger Car

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Mercedes are one of the big three German car manufacturers, but they also manufacture buses, trucks and coaches, so chances are you’ll have travelled on Mercedes without knowing it.
The first Mercedes was marketed way back in 1901 you can also take a look at today’s s class car and see what safety features it has, and it’s a safe bet that within 10 years your more common car will also have these features.

Mercedes-Benz Logo

129 countries sell the Mercedes brand with the work fleets such as large trucks and commercials available direct from the Mercedes factory.

Ask anyone to name a famous Mercedes and they instantly say the McLaren f1. McLaren are the main tuner for the Mercedes brand but AMG do all the in house tuning and occasionally Brabus will also spring up with a high powered Mercedes. All AMG engine are hand built by 1 person and feature the signature of the said maker on the engine.

McLaren F1

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Toyota has upgraded one of its small hatch back range with new and improved engines and new range structure.
The Toyota Auris has a new 1.6 litre petrol engine that is a VVT-i, which offers an extra 8BHP more and 131BHP for total power from the 1.6 VVT-i engine. Your MPP will also improve as well now producing figures of 43.5MPG and the emissions are also lower at 153g/KM from the older figure of 166g/KM.

You’ll get a 6 speed gearbox as standard and there is an optional gearbox from Toyota which is their Multimode box. Which enable you to either change gear via a paddle style shift on the back of the steering wheel or to use the automatic gears.
Using the Multimode will also help your MPG and your carbon emissions, your MPG will rise to 45.6MPG and your CO2 emissions drop to a lower figure of 146g/KM.

The diesel range has also been updated with all engines getting a lower CO2 and a higher MPG.

Your trims have also changed to a simple 4 selections T2, TR, T Spirit and finally the SR180.

Toyota Auris

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Alfa is releasing a very limited edition MiTo with only 46 been made this MiTo really will be hot stuff, and might be the only Alfa Romeo that doesn’t depreciate highly within its first year.
The Black Magic MiTo will get darker and larger 17” alloys and a nice power boost to 170BHP.
This MiTo Black Magic will be celebrating the 46th birthday of the Alfa Romeo Registry and will only be available to members and will be priced at £18,000.   

Alfa Romeo MiTo Black Magic

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Putting 189BHP into a small car such as a Corsa would result in a ultimate hot hatch, and that’s exactly what Vauxhall have done with their VXR incarnation.

A 1.6 turbocharged engine producing 189BHP has been shoe horned into the Corsa’s engine bay creating a great little sport hatchback. All that power does become hard to control once the ESP has been turned off, you’ll just see blue smoke coming from the wheel arches and you’re 17” alloys shredding through no so cheap tyres.

The gear shift is slightly tractor like and rather clunky which wouldn’t be so bad if the shift was quite short but there’s quite a long reach between gears, which on tight twisty roads makes gear changing more a hassle than a pleasure.  On a long distance trip the engine soon quietens down to a low growl and road and wind noises are minimal.

The Corsa VXR doesn’t really feel connected to steering although when you want it to head left it does so well and still offer stacks of grip and minimal body roll although on a pattern of left right tight corners you do start to sway a little.

Claiming 35.8MPG with some careful driving does sound reasonable but if you’re spooling that turbo up to often then you can see your MPG drop significantly. Been a group 16 you won’t see many young drivers in a Corsa VXR so worry not, unless there minted.  Contract hire and a lease purchase of the VXR wouldn’t be a bad idea as the VXR badge holds a higher resale value but you would be better looking a BMW Mini Cooper S.

Vauxhall Corsa 1.6 VXR

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