Motoring News » Motoring Trvia

A272 An Ode to a Road that is the worst in the South

Alan — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 15:38:08 +0000

To Dutchman Pieter Boogaart and his wife Rita, it is the Epitome of England.

A272 An Ode to a Road was written and designed to prove their point.

A272 An Ode to a Road that is the worst in the South

It became an instant cult classic and has enjoyed many reprints, although it has been out of print for quite a while now,. This year, however, is its 11^th anniversary and its back, with 272 pages and fully revised, improved ad augmented by none other that Pieter and Rita themselves.

Dutchman Pieter Boogaart was a man with an obsession that last a decade, and resulted in a guidebook of the like that nobody had ever seen before, and concentrated on an area never fully explored before, the A272. There are 3 texts that wind their way continually throughout the book, which simultaneously explore the A272, the countryside that it passes through and also extra commentary. There are also 100s of colour photos paying homage to this epitome of England.

Now with even more wonderful additions like:

The Southwater Iguanodon sculpture in Lintot Square
Oberon’s Palace in the Collector Earl’s Garden in Arundel
The new follies at Woolbeding
An astonishing life-size Archangel Gabriel at South Harting church by sculptor Philip Jackson
The Heritage Sundial in Horsham which was unveiled by the Queen – stunning and unique
And Pieter’s award for village Millennium monuments … the extraordinary bronze column in Cocking

Pieter Boogaart is the European Secretary of the Folly Fellowship. A noted book reviewer and teacher, he lives with his wife and collaborator Rita (an art historian and lecturer) in the Netherlands.

Pieter and Rita will be on a whistle-stop tour of the A272

FOR JUST A WEEK from 1^ST to 7^th NOVEMBER.

THERE WILL BE A CHANCE TO CATCH THEM FOR AN INTERVIEW DURING THIS TIME.

This book is crazy, informative and hugely enjoyable.

Jeremy Paxman on Newsnight called it “Astonishing”.

Art Quarterly called it “A Bound Folly”.

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Best performing cars of 2010

Alan — Sat, 29 Jan 2011 15:29:26 +0000

The five best performing cars of last year were announced this week by Euro NCAP. In order to be considered each car must have earned the five star rating from the orgniazation and achieved a high overall performance score.

Over the course of 2010 Euro NCAP put 29 vehicles through crash testing out of which 65% made the cut to receive a five star rating which is low compared to the 90% than received five stars in 2009. The sharp decrease shows that the standards for a five star rating are now higher, which is bad news for the Landwind CV9 and the Citroen Nemo who were the last two cars in the rankings with two and three stars respectively. Conversely, this year the top achievers by category are

• Executive category: BMW 5 Series
• Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
• Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
• Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
• Small MPV category: Toyota Verso

To be top achiever means that the car accomplished a high combined score based on the scores in each of the individual four areas of Euro NCAP’s assessment, while notably exceeding the thresholds for a 5 star overall rating. In addition to the top five achievers, the Suzuki Swift, Kia Venga, BMW X1, VW Sharan/Seat Alhambra,Citroen C4 all exceeded the 80% mark in overall score putting them on the list of best performing cars of 2010.

Dr Michiel van Ratingen, Euro NCAP Secretary General says: “Every year, car manufacturers constantly work to innovate and make their cars better and safer for the driver, whatever the size of the vehicle. The presence in these categories of high performing 5 star cars demonstrates car manufacturers’ commitment to safety for all sizes of vehicles.”

Euro NCAP is now performing Electronic Stability Control tests as part of the overall assessment. Since 2009, Euro NCAP requires ESC systems to be fitted as standard and will from now on be measuring its performance when testing the vehicles. ESC is meant to reduce the number of deaths and injuries resulting from crashes in which the driver loses directional control of the vehicle, including those resulting in vehicle rollover.

The full list of cars tested in 2010 is published on the website. Next results will be released on 23rd February 2011.

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The Craziest Car Insurance Claims

admin — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 12:00:13 +0000

When it comes to car insurance claims, there are a number of accidents/collisions that insurance companies regularly have to deal with. These ‘standard’ car insurance claims involve things such as people failing to stop in time and hitting the car in front of them, people reversing their car and colliding with a static car/object or people losing control whilst driving, causing damage to their car and other surrounding cars/objects .

However, not all car insurance claims are that straight forward. There are plenty of claims made that verge on comical. Whilst the drivers of the vehicles may not find their claim particularly funny, those not involved in the collision often do see the funny side. Money Supermarket looks at some of the wackiest and weirdest car insurance claims that motorists have made.

Worryingly, these claims are all genuine! Click on the graphic below to read about some of the craziest.

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Top Gear Stig imposter on our motorways

Alan — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 07:39:37 +0000

Forget global warming and the worlds financial meltdown, a far more serious situation has come to light, a fake Stig driving around on our nations highways.

An innocent driver named Martin was thrilled when he thought he saw the BBC Top Gear’s, The Stig driving down the M55 as Martin returned home from Blackpool with his wife.

Sure he had seen The Stig, he followed the driver for an additional thirty minutes into the Forton Service Station near Lancaster off the M6 and then asked for a photo with the driver. However, the BBC announced that the mysterious Stig was in fact an imposter and is looking into what occurred.

Martin stated that he had become quite excited as he was just driving along and while on the motorway you never expect to see someone famous.

A spokeswoman for the BBC stated that an enquiry has been launched into the imposter that is pretending to be the Stig and noted that the next Top Gear live tour will not be on the air until November.

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Lewis Hamilton Races Past Thierry Henry in Reebok ZigTech

admin — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:15:48 +0000

“I’m getting old. The guy was fast, very agile.” Said Thierry Henry after being out run by Forumla One driver Lewis Hamilton at the US launch of Reebok’s ZigTech footwear.

It’s only recently that the world has come to realise just how hard racing drives, especially Formula One drivers have to train for their sport.

Jenson Button’s Triathlons have helped to dispel the myth that drivers simply get into a car and drive while Lewis Hamilton’s sponsorship by Reebok looks set to take training sessions to a new level with ZigTech.

Once the duo had cleared the zig-zagging obstacle course and the cheering crowd quietened down, Reebok explained the technology behind their new ZigTech footwear.

The concept of Reebok ZigTech trainers is inspired by the energy transfer of a slinky. So when running, the power generated from the impact of the heel strike ripples along the zigs of the unique ZigTech sole, chanelling energy throughout the step and propelling the athlete forward at toe-off. The end result is a shoe that provides superior cushioning and energy return to enhance training sessions by allowing the wearer to run further and faster for longer with less fatigue.

“You look at them and think, wow, they’re realy different,” said Lewis, “but they feel great to run in and put an extra spring in your step.”

Reebok is marketing their ZigTech footwear as an ‘energy drink for your feet’ because the unique sole not only propels you forward but also reduces wear and tear by up to 20% on key leg muscles.

The combination of energy return and cushioning reduces the impact and strain on the glutes, shins and hamstrings. So by taking the heavy impact out of running, the leg muscles won’t get as tired and can be exercised in the action of running, which is more rewarding to the athlete instead of absorbing foot impact.

Lewis Hamilton is set to be the poster boy for the UK’s ReeZig Reebok ZigTech marketing campaign. But whether ZigTech trainers will become an efficient athlete’s training aid or a popular teenagers lifestyle trainer remains to be seen.

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Jenson Button working as a cab driver in Sandwich, Kent

admin — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 14:58:20 +0000

We’ve got some video coverage of Formula 1 World Champion, Jenson Button, working as a cab driving job in Sandwich, Kent.

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Weird Thai Drink Driving Fake Crashes

Alan — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 05:21:42 +0000

The Thai police force has adopted an unusual scheme aimed at lowering the number of drink driving deaths.

They have set up a series of fake car crash scenes, complete with smashed up cars and “dead bodies” intended to highlight the consequences of driving while drunk.

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1cm of snow causes massive traffic disruption in the UK

admin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:08:33 +0000

As a tiny amount of overnight snowfall in the South East caused traffic chaos, TomTom’s HD Traffic service were able to record that on the nation’s roads there was some 1935 miles of traffic in this morning’s peak rush hour on major roads, with the longest queue delaying drivers for nearly 2 hours on the M1 between J14 Milton Keynes and J10 Luton Airport.

The chaos included 896 traffic incidents on major roads, with the longest traffic incident causing some 2 hours of delay in longest traffic incident. These figures do not include local roads, which from our local experience here in South West Surrey is likely to have seriously underestimated the overall impact of the snow which seemed to immediately to turn to a thin layer of ice as it hit the roads following an overnight frost.

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West End goes traffic free for Christmas

Alan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 09:22:50 +0000

The West End is seeking to up the amount of Christmas shopping that takes place this year by removing traffic from its streets.

For the fifth year in a row the buses and cars that normally travel along Regent and Oxford Street’s are being rerouted for what is known as VIP or Very Important Pedestrians Day.

During this time many of the shops are also offering relaxation zones and entertainment in an attempt to encourage shoppers in need of a little pampering. Retailers in the West End are hoping to increase the area’s sales from last year when till’s rounded out at about £150m.

Representative Jace Tyrell from the New West End Company that represents the local West End retailers said that now that most people have received their last pay-cheques before Christmas and the area is hoping for an excellent amount of Saturday sales.

One of the key entertainment areas to check out will be the Selfridges Pop Up Panto, which will feature 30 panto dames performing to kick off the midday shopping.

Boris Johnson, the London mayor, stated that with last year’s VIP day boasted 1.5m shoppers and the day continues to be successful for the area.

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UK motorists admit to talking to their cars!

admin — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 19:20:53 +0000

UK motorists are talking to their Toyotas and speaking to their Seats according to new research by one of the UK’s largest used car websites which revealed that 75 per cent of motorists admit chatting to their cars.

The findings from a motors.co.uk poll of 1,200 drivers, found that 44 per cent (529) ‘sometimes’ natter to their Nissans with a further 31 per cent (373) of motor mouths claiming to ‘always’ converse with their car.

And following in the footsteps of Basil Fawlty and Knightrider, a surprising 21 per cent of men admit to talking to their cars at least ‘sometimes’. Only a silent minority, 25 per cent (298) of motorists claim never to gossip with their Golfs.

But why are so many drivers babbling to their BMW’s? The rise in the popularity of in-car sat navs could explain why more motorists have become comfortable communicating with their cars.

However not all car talk is idle chatter, some luxury models like the Jaguar XF now have a voice activated command system giving drivers a reason to mutter to their motor and the Mercedes E-class has a voice warning to tell drivers about upcoming road signs. Even the humble Austin Maestro MG from the 1980’s had a vocal warning when running low on petrol.

According to another survey from motors.co.uk, a quarter of drivers (26 per cent) admit to having a pet name for their motor such as Pablo the Prius, Connie the Corsa and Sexo the Saxo. This was despite only (21 per cent) of people giving their partner a similar term of endearment.UK motorists are talking to their Toyotas and speaking to their Seats according to new research by one of the UK’s largest used car websites which revealed that 75 per cent of motorists admit chatting to their cars.

But why are so many drivers babbling to their BMW’s? The rise in the popularity of in-car sat navs could explain why more motorists have become comfortable communicating with their cars.

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