Friday, 31 October 2014
Bentley & Vertu Make a Phone That is More Expensive Than a Small Car
For most people the latest generation iPhone or Samsung is deemed to be expensive at around £700. But Vertu make them seem like an absolute bargain.
Vertu have partnered with British luxury motoring brand Bentley to create the ultimate luxury smart phone.
Created in collaboration with Bentley, the phone costs an incredible £10,800 and is built around Vertu’s Signature Touch smart phone. It can be differentiated from the rest thanks to a nice Bentley logo on the front as well as custom tan coloured leather.
Features of the Vertu Signature Touch include a 4.7-inch 1,080p screen, 64GB of internal storage, speakers courtesy of Bang & Olufsen and a 13-megapixel rear facing camera. This special Bentley one features a range of Bentley wallpapers, and also a custom clock.
Just 2000 examples will be made. Do you think they will be snapped up?
Source: GT Spirit
Bentley & Vertu Make a Phone That is More Expensive Than a Small Car
Thursday, 30 October 2014
Breakdowns - Every Car has a Breakdown Sooner or Later
Those of you who read Motor Verso regularly will be aware that I have a 2004 Range Rover as my daily car and for most of the time I do love owning it. But when owning a 10 year old Range Rover you do need to be patient with it and expect problems.
I have owned the car for three years and spent less than £1,000 maintaining it. Which for a car that originally cost over £70,000 and is as complicated as this, is pretty good going.
Recently I had the latest blip though, and a pretty big blip too. On the way into office one morning the “battery not charging” light lit up in red on the dash…bugger, I could do without breaking down! I continued for another 3-4 minutes and luckily I wasn’t far from work and just made it. I had a quick look under the bonnet when I got there; the fan belt was still in place and the tension was good, so it seemed obvious that there was some kind of alternator failure. I called the AA to get the 3 tonne drained devil home where I would have the time and tools to take a better look.
Luckily for me the AA sent out a breakdown engineer that knew all about Land Rovers, he even turned up in a fully kitted out Land Rover Disco 4, so at this point I couldn’t of ask for any more. He took a quick look at it and said the alternator was on the way out and rather than towing it suggested I try and drive it home whilst he follows behind in case the alternator wasn’t up for the job.
So I nipped off home at midday to drop the car back home, I drove about 1 mile before everything electric on the car started flicking on and off and the car was bonging and dinging at me. It was far from happy, to say the least and I had 10 miles to drive across Birmingham City Centre. The inevitable happened, I was exactly halfway across a busy dual carriageway where there was nowhere to stop. Lucky me! I slowly managed to coast the car across to the hard shoulder at the end of the road where my new best mate in his SDV6 Disco 4 hooked me up on a tow and got me out of trouble.
It is worth noting that the SDV6 disco pulled like an absolute tank, I was shocked by the power of the thing, bearing in mind I was sitting in a 4.4-litre V8 Range Rover at the time of being pulled, some of the time it felt like I was driving. For anyone who likes 4x4s and crazy amounts of torque check them out.
Anyway, my point here is how import it is to have Breakdown Cover from the AA. No matter car you drive, sooner or later it is likely to experience a failure and you will need a way of getting your car either home or to a garage safely and the AA can sort you out.
Breakdowns - Every Car has a Breakdown Sooner or Later
Wednesday, 29 October 2014
If You're Still Thinking About Buying a Porsche 918... You Better Be Quick
We hear reports of the hybrid hypercar is nearly sold out!
Are you still looking at getting your hands on a Porsche 918 Spyder? You will need to be quick, because word has it that the hybrid hypercar is nearly sold out!
Porsche 918; Only 918 Examples to be made
We hear that, so far, Porsche has only delivered a little over 35 examples of the Spyder out of the 918 it plans to manufacture in total.
Source: Automotive News – sub. req.
If You're Still Thinking About Buying a Porsche 918... You Better Be Quick
Tuesday, 28 October 2014
The Road To Fast & Furious 7 Trailer
With the Fast & Furious 7 Trailer set to be released 1st November 2014, Universal Pictures have just released a summary video showing the highlights of all the films up to now. Enjoy.
Source: Universal Pictures UK
The Road To Fast & Furious 7 Trailer
Volvo S60 R-Design 7 Day Diary
Here are my thoughts on the Volvo S60 D4 R-Design after my week-long test drive.
Day – 1 First Impressions
The Volvo was delivered first thing on a Monday morning whilst it was hammering down with rain… not the ideal time to look around the car. Either way, from looking out of the window of my house it looked great. The R-Design body styling and solid Rebel blue paintwork sure make this car look the part.
Everything about the Volvo is engineered for practicality and you get a taste of that the first time you get into the car. Everything is where you expect it to be and it is just easy to use. A great example of this is the electric seating controls and central dash controls… you seem to feel like you know where everything is right from the start, well I did anyway.
Day 2 – Full of Technology
The S60 is rammed full of clever technology that will improve both the comfort and the safety of this car. On my first full day with the car, I was keen that I had a quick test of each of these just to get an understanding of what they did.
Day 3 – Let Volvo do the Parking for You
The Volvo S60 on test is equipped with its own auto parking technology called Park Assist Pilot. This system will parallel park the car for you. All you need to do is enable the system when you are driving past the location you wish to park in. The car will identify if a parking space is big enough and advise you to stop. Once stopped you then take your hands off the wheel and put the car into reverse. All you need to do is control the braking and the Volvo will accurately control the steering for you. The car will drive you back into the parking space, and you’re done. Worry free parking. I have tested this many times and it is faultless. I have demonstrated the system to a range of people and they are left with a look of amazement on their faces, as if the car is powered by magic. Take a look at the video below.
Day 4 – What Do Others Think about the Car
On the way out on Thursday I picked up a few friends, prime opportunity to see what others thought about the car. First off people love the Rebel blue paintwork, day or night the car seems to stand out. Next the interior design was highly admired, and when shown the safety features, people were overwhelmed that safety features such as those that are found on the the Volvo exist. Overall the S60 impressed everyone I came across, and there wasn’t a single bad feature mentioned about the car.
Day 5 –Country drive
I spent a few hours driving around the countryside; this was a good opportunity to test the driving dynamics of the S60. On the open road and working the car up to 60mph the 2.0-litre 181bhp engine does extremely well. The performance from the engine well exceeded any expectation I had from looking at the spec on paper. The S60 D4 engine is well matched to the S60 and in my opinion has the pick of the bunch with its power and performance.
Day 6 –Photo Shoot in the Woods
I arranged a photo shoot with Ross Jukes for first thing Saturday morning. We were hopeful to capture a nice sunrise, but sadly cloudy weather didn’t allow this, instead we managed to capture a very autumnal setting that really shows how impressive and individual the Rebel paint makes the Volvo S60 look.
Driving through the woods before the sun had come up was a good time to test the Active High Beam headlights. This technology blew me away! Once enabled the Volvo can sense when the high beam is required and turn it on automatically, but the most interesting part is when a car drives towards you, the Volvo will split the Xenon headlight beam to avoid dazzling the car coming up in the opposite direction. You can see the split happen in front of you, and the Volvo will dynamically track the another car until it has cleared the headlight coverage, then the headlights are reset for full visibility. What a useful feature.
Day 7 – A Very Appealing Package
After spending a week with the S60 I have done around 300 miles and on less than half a tank of diesel, which is incredible for a car of this size and performance. I’m impressed with the S60 overall, I love the colour, I love the design, and the technology inside makes you wonder why all new cars aren’t as sophisticated as the S60.
Highlights Video
Supplied by: Volvo
Volvo S60 R-Design 7 Day Diary
Monday, 27 October 2014
Porsche 911, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne all get Martinied up
We have a little treat for the eyes here; Porsche have dressed up their entire range for the 2014 Winter Olympics. I’m not too sure why Porsche were at the Winter Olympics, but its a good excuse to dress the cars up and show them off. Take a look at the gallery below shot on the streets of Sochi, Russia.
Gallery
Porsche 911, Panamera, Macan and Cayenne all get Martinied up
Saturday, 25 October 2014
Here is the Best Driver's Car of 2014
AutoCar have access to the latest and greatest cars before anyone else and they have worked hard to test them all and tell us what the best driver’s car for 2014 is.
Best Driver’s Car of 2014
Some times at Motor Verso we get a little jealous. Recently we saw the AutoCar team at the Castle Combe circuit in Wiltshire. Their task was to find the most entertaining and capable car from a selection of the best new performance cars from 2014.
Very, very jealous…
http://youtu.be/P4nabBh2xIE
Source – Autocar
Here is the Best Driver's Car of 2014
Friday, 24 October 2014
Baseball Player's Awesome McLaren P1 Looking Good
This year the first images of baseball player CJ Wilson’s McLaren P1 emerged online. CJ’s P1 is certainly the most outlandish and crazy looking McLaren we’ve seen to date.
Wilson also has a dabble in photography and recently snapped some awesome pictures of his P1 posing at the famous Grand Canyon in the US.
The wacky paint work makes the car look purple and pink from most angles but in different lights, has a hint of blue and even gold.
Making this P1 even more special is the fact that it features bright gold wheels as well as orange brake calipers.
The McLaren P1 has a twin-turbocharged 3.8-litre V8 engine mated to an electric motor to produce a combined 903bhp. As a result, it is one of the world’s fastest rear-wheel drive production cars.
Source: GT Spirit
Baseball Player's Awesome McLaren P1 Looking Good
Thursday, 23 October 2014
Awesome Rendering of the 6th Gen Chevrolet Camaro
6th Gen Chevrolet Camaro
2015 will be a massive year for Chevrolet with the release of the 6th generation Camaro. Prototypes have been spied testing around the globe in recent months and alongside the mystery surrounding what will power the car, the world is eagerly awaiting to see how the new Camaro will look. to give us a glimpse of one possible styling direction Chevrolet could take, a member from the Camaro6 forum has created a couple of renderings.
Under the Bonnet
Engine-wise, the 6th gen Chevrolet Camaro will be available with a 6.2-litre V8 as well as a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder currently used by the Cadillac ATS and CTS. We can’t wait to see the final release of this car soon.
Source: Camaro6
Awesome Rendering of the 6th Gen Chevrolet Camaro
Wednesday, 22 October 2014
Audi R8 Production Set to Move to a Bigger and Better Site
Since production of the very popular Audi R8 began back in the middle of 2007, the car has been produced in Neckarsulm, Germany. Moving forward however, production is taking place at a brand new facility in Heilbronn.
Moving to Böllinger Höfe, Germany
Before this production shift, some processes in the car’s production took place in separate locations within the Neckarsulm factory. Now all of these processes are taking place in the same area of the Heilbronn plant, dubbed Audi Böllinger Höfe. As a result, the company says the new facility provides higher efficiency with it also being home to an advanced logistics centre.
Mid next year, production of the second-generation R8 will also take place at Audi Böllinger Höfe.
Source: Motor Authority
Audi R8 Production Set to Move to a Bigger and Better Site
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Citroen DS3 Racing 7 Day Diary
I have previously reviewed both the DS3 DSport and the DS3 DSport Cabrio and now, here are some of my thoughts after testing the hard-core DS3 Racing edition.
Day – 1 First Impressions
Setting my eyes on the DS3 Racing for the first time was a real treat. I love the styling of DS3 and the Racing edition has an even bolder look. The model on test was in stealth black, with a black grill, black mirrors and a red stripe down both doors. The lower edge of the car, all the way round, was dressed in carbon fibre.
The design is a little crazy, but I like it! Sitting in the car for the first time I instantly fell in love with the huge racing seats, they hug you very close, letting you know that you are not in your everyday commuting car, you are in a track ready road car.
Day 2 –Getting to Know the DS3R
I had a bit of time on my hands, so I took the hatch out for a good spin and really got to know the car. The thing that impressed me most about the car was how much more immediate the power felt compared to the DS3 DSport. The engine has been tuned up to 207bhp, which is a fair chunk of power over the 155bhp DSport. This boost has moved the DS3 into a new league of performance, which is fantastic.
It is worth saying that you don’t need to be going full throttle everywhere to enjoy the additional power of the DS3R. Even on roads with 60mph speed limits you can safely enjoy the car’s power and the experience. This week was certainly going to be a good one.
Day 3 – Getting that Shot
We know the DS3R is one mean looking mother of a car and that is exactly how we wanted to portray it in the photography. So myself and Ross Jukes took the car to an active land fill site in utter darkness to attempt to perfect the ultimate firewall picture. The photo is designed to give the DS3 the ultimate demon look and after 3 hours of trying not to set ourselves, or the car, on fire we captured it. To be fair this was the second exposure that worked a treat, but we continued at different angles to see if it could be improved on.
Day 4 – Everyday Use
Although the DS3 is razor sharp and ultra-firm, you can still use it on a daily basis. I figure if you’re buying this car anyway, you’re buying it because you want the true Citroen hot hatch experience and with that comes feeling the paint on the road through that rock hard suspension. But who says that’s a bad thing anyway. I used the car as if it was my own for a week and truly enjoyed it on a daily basis, the only thing that was a little bit difficult for me was the small boot aperture, which is because of the Cabrio roof, but we all have to make compromises here and there.
Day 5 – Evening Photo Shoot
With every car on test we always try and capture the spirit of the car in the photography. The DS3R is a stealthy looking animal that is just waiting to be fed, so with the intention to make the car look exciting and snappy we took the DS3R to a badly lit car park to try and portray just a touch of the car’s crazy side. 
Day 6 – Is the Inside Cool Enough?
Of course it is, with a mix of carbon fibre, plastic, leather, and aluminium the interior of the DS3R is the best interior I have seen from Citroen yet. There is so much to love about this car. The flat bottomed steering wheel with carbon insert and perforated leather around the sides feels great in your hands, whilst the other touch points of the car such as the gear stick, hand brake, and door handles all have elements of aluminium which give them a real premium feel.
Day 7 – The Ultimate Special Citroen
Six days have gone by with the Citroen DS3 Racing and the car has had lots of glances and looks over the week. People have been intrigued to find out what is so special about this car, even to the point that they would approach me to ask questions about it.
The car appears to have it all, the looks are, in my opinion, pretty good and certainly very unique, the performance on the road is fantastic and lots of fun behind the wheel, and most shockingly the MPG is also very good. Overall if you want a performance limited edition hatch back and are happy to pay the premium, then you can’t go wrong with the Citroen DS3 Racing.
Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/a1h_qgsMItY
Supplied by: Citroen
Citroen DS3 Racing 7 Day Diary
Friday, 17 October 2014
Volvo to add 1,300 jobs, Speed up production in Sweden
The expansion of the factory is part of an £6-billion investment Volvo’s Chinese owners, Geely, are making.Volvo Cars is adding 1,300 new jobs and ramping up production at its factory in Gothenburg, Sweden, in response to increased consumer demand for its vehicles.
The jobs will support a third shift at the 50-year-old plant, called Torslanda. They will come online in the first quarter of 2015 as production of the XC90 crossover begins. With the addition of a new body shop, the factory will be capable of making 300,000 vehicles per year.
The additional employees will lift the headcount at Torslanda to 4,600 people. It comes as Volvo has announced a new agreement with its workers that will allow the factory to be more flexible and support the increased output. Volvo is forecasting further increases in production at the factory next year due to high levels of demand for the upcoming XC90, which launches as a 2015 model.
Volvo expects to have its best-ever sales year in 2014 and forecasts total volume of 470,000 vehicles.
Volvo to add 1,300 jobs, Speed up production in Sweden
Hertz Adrenaline Collection - Rent a Muscle Car
When planning any business or personal trip, long holiday or weekend away, if you need to rent a car it’s always nice to have a car that makes your trip that little bit more special.
Hertz Adrenaline Collection
To help solve this problem Hertz offer a collection of V8 American Muscle cars for rental in America. Take a look at the current line up below. You can rent any of the cars below for just one day or a month and there is no doubt it will make your trip one to remember!
Tried and Tested – Chevrolet Corvette Stingray
I tried and tested the service myself. I took the 455bhp Chevrolet Corvette Stingray out for one week’s rental and I can say first-hand the experience certainly perfected my trip from Miami to Key West. You can read all about the experience in the 7 day diary.
Hertz – Service
The service that Hertz offer is fantastic. There have rental collection points all over the globe and with a wide range of cars available from most sites. The Hertz staff that I met were all very happy to help and keen to deliver a professional and flexible service to give you the best rental experience.
There is a fine collection of powerful cars in the Adrenaline Collection, which will give any driver a thrill. Hertz provide a very flexible and welcoming service at their locations across the globe. And if you can afford to treat yourself to an upgrade once in a while, do it! You won’t regret it.
Hertz Adrenaline Collection - Rent a Muscle Car
Thursday, 16 October 2014
Hertz Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 7 Day Diary
I arranged with Hertz a 7 day loan and review of any car in their Adrenaline Car Collection for my travels down the east coast of America. The Adrenaline Collection is made up of a set of high performance American muscle cars. I went with the pick of the bunch, the 2014 C7 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray.
Day – 1 Picking up the Car
My trip started in New York, moving on to Philadelphia, and then to Washington, I then flew three hours down to Miami International Airport. Here I made my way to the Hertz car rental desk where the Corvette was waiting for me. I was greeted by the manager of the MIA Hertz rental service, Wayne. Who explained the premium rental options across the Prestige, Adrenaline, and Dream car ranges; you can get anything from a C-Class Mercedes to a Ferrari 458.
Wayne took me down to the collection area where I set my Eyes on the Corvette for the first time. He gave me an overview of the car and he was that excited about the car he wanted to see my expression as I fired up the 6.2-litre V8 for the first time. In an enclosed multi-storey car park firing it up sounded simply monstrous. I was very happy with my choice.
Straight from the airport I drove the Corvette 130 miles down the US1 to Key West. There is no doubt that this drive is one of the best drives I’ve ever done. They’re a couple of reasons for this; the obvious one is a 6.2-Litre V8 that was firmly attached to my right foot. The second was the scenery, driving through the Keys the road crosses several small islands that are connected by lots of long bridges that allow you to travel over the perfect blue ocean below. Listening to that V8 grumble left me smiling like a child for most of the way.
I arrived in Key West a few hours later and put the car to rest for the evening. It’s safe to say within less than half a day I was already in love with the Corvette Stingray.
Day 2 – Four Exhausts of Excellence
Up early the following day and off out into the centre of Key West, I was very excited about taking the car on the smallest of journeys. In the car park, hitting the start button of this performance car the V8 fired up again and so did my smile. This is a noise that I challenge any car enthusiast not to enjoy. It’s perfect. Have a listen to this sample.
http://youtu.be/dOZsOELMi04
Sadly most of the daylight hours the car was parked up while I was on a boat trip, but come nightfall I was back out in the car. With it being a warm evening, I was able to take the roof section out and put the panel in the boot. Driving the car around with the windows down and the roof off was a prime opportunity to rev it up and listen to that amazing soundtrack.
Day 3 – Americans love the Corvette
So far multiple times everyday people have been sticking their thumbs up, taking pictures, waving, and making comments about the car. It is clear that most people have a space in their heart for a true well-bred muscle car and the latest 2014 C7 model is the best representation of that to date.
Now that I had spent a little time with the car I was more confident about using its impressive power and I started to find more and more features about the car. One of my favourite features on the car was the secret storage area behind the LCD media centre screen. This was very James Bond-esk, and sometimes it really is the little things that impress. But there was lots more to love, including the electronic door handle which pops the door open with a simple press of the button rather using a mechanical handle.
Day 4 – Going to Miami!
After taking the US1 into Key West and experiencing the impressive scenery, I was looking forward to driving the Corvette back out. On day four I took the 130 mile journey from Key West to Miami and I wouldn’t have wanted to do it in any other car.
It is possible to configure the Corvette in five different drive modes. My favourite, as you might expect, was the Sport mode. Sport mode sharpens the throttle response, adjusts the steering, makes the suspension stiffer and opens a valve in the active exhaust system to make a lot more noise…perfect if you ask me. As you can imagine, for a few hours there was probably a lot of upset fishermen hearing the tail pipes scream as a silver Stingray travelled by. I certainly enjoyed it and so did a lot of the other people that I past by, great day.
The car is designed to be a proper performance car, but this trip proves that it can be used as a touring car for the long journeys too and still be fully enjoyed – you can even easily fit two suitcases in the boot!
Day 5 – Just how Desirable is it?
Arriving in Miami Beach and driving down Ocean Drive, where exotic cars are the norm, the Corvette Stingray still got a lot of attention, people were looking, taking pictures and pointing at the car. I was so shocked that the car got so much attention in this environment. Even parking at the hotel you could see the grin on the valets face when I pulled up.
This trip showed me that the 2014 Corvette is still a rare and highly desired car that appeals to a much younger market than the previous versions.
Day 6 – A Full Day in the Stingray
I planned a day out to the Everglades and was very excited that I was getting to take the 100 mile round trip in this 455bhp monster. Once out of town it was a great opportunity to open the car up a little and see just how good the 6 speed automatic gearbox really was. You can put the gearbox in manual and control it using the F1 style paddles behind the steering wheel and to give even more of a race car feel the Corvette has a head up display that will show you all kinds of information including your revs, speed, and selected gear. The gear shift is very quick in the Corvette and leaves you feeling in control of the gearbox the whole time. The 100 mile round trip didn’t take long enough from my point of view, but it did give me the chance to fall even more in love with the performance capabilities of this muscle car.
One of my favourite experiences with the Corvette came that evening, I went to a mini urban drive-in cinema, which was super cool. Pulling up to a drive-in cinema is a rare opportunity nowadays and doing it in a car as special as the Stingray was a privilege. If you’re not interested in performance, then the Stingray also works out well as a 2-seater cinema sofa with a large enough boot for all the popcorn you could ever imagine. On a more serious note, to listen to the drive in you tune in via your car radio and to add to the experience the Bose sound system really perfected the evening.
Day 7 – Do You Think They Will Let me Keep it? … I Doubt it.
It’s been one impressive week and sadly it was my time to return the C7 Corvette, the car had been a real thrill, it’s a serious driver’s car and when it wants to be it can be a bit of a handful, so part of me was glad I got to experience the car and it was going back in one piece, but I still didn’t want to hand it back.
Arriving at the airport rental drop off zone I was greeted welcomingly by a member of the Hertz team who gave the car a quick check over, confirmed that the car worked faultlessly in my care and then pointed me in the direction of the terminal so I could start my trip back home. All in all, a perfect performance car experience that can be ordered at your convenience.
Highlights Video
http://youtu.be/eyE01Fs8sug
Supplied by: Hertz
Hertz Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 7 Day Diary
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