Monday Sep 16
I don't feel I've quite recovered from the long days that surrounded last week's Frankfurt Motor Show, but it's time to dig out the passport again and board a 7am flight back to the same city. This time it's for the international launch of the new Opel Insignia, which only made its world debut at the show last week.
Actually, I'm cheating a little bit, as I'm joining the UK group (aka 'Vauxhall') on their rotation. The Irish media won't be here for another couple of weeks and our Dave will be there to get the full Irish low-down. For now this is a useful early chance to drive the revamped car, in particular the all-new Country Tourer model. You can read a bit about that car here, but I'll have a first drive live soon too, which we'll update later on when Irish market information is available.
I drove two versions of the Insignia on a variety of surfaces in Germany, including derestricted autobahn and streaming wet country roads. Overall the car is very good. The exterior updates work particularly well with dark colours and the new dashboard is, in general, great. It's the improvement in refinement that really stands out though, with wind and road noise particularly well suppressed. The Country Tourer feels no different than a regular estate, yet can do way more. We believe it'll come in under €25,000 as well and have few direct rivals in Ireland.
Although not big sellers here, I tried two of Opel's new petrol engines as well, the 1.6-litre and 2.0-litre SIDI units. SIDI stands for Spark Ignition Direct Injection and they're turbocharged as well, producing 170- and 250hp respectively. As well as being quiet, they have loads of torque. Somewhat surprisingly, I preferred the character of the smaller engine. Not that either will make a dent on sales in Ireland.
Spent some time with Opel's snapper getting some bespoke shots of the Country Tourer in the pissing rain. Felt sorry for him standing out in it, but he did a good job considering. He seemed a little obsessed with getting a shot that featured these cows as well as the cars and actually, this one was taken while I was reversing back up into position.
Managed to write up two drives on the plane on the way home and hit the leaba at about 11:30. Long day.
Tuesday Sep 17
The whole CompleteCar.ie team met up at the offices of The Sunday Times to discuss an exciting new project for the end of the year. We can't say too much right now, but we'll tell you all about it soon enough. Dave and I went together in my test car for the week, the Citroen DS3 Cabrio. It's the top-of-the-range DSport 155 THP model, which is the same as we drove on the international launch of the car and it's really good fun, if a little firm around town. This black model is the least feminine version I've seen as well.
Earlier in the year I tested a 1.4-litre HDi version, which would have been fine other than the awful automatic gearbox it came with. There are few compromises between it and the DS3 hatch, though the boot opening is miniscule and rear visibility with the roof all the way down appalling. Still, it's a likeable car in general and a worthwhile alternative to the Fiat 500C.
Wednesday Sep 18
I'm writing this today and maybe it's a form of procrastination, as I have a full day at my computer ahead - the only one this week. I've got to file copy for my weekly Sunday Business Post and Evening Echo motoring pages, do some Irish Motoring Writers Association (IMWA) admin and a whole lot more besides. And you thought all we did was mess about in fancy cars...
Thursday Sep 19 & Friday Sep 20
For the next two days I'll be out and about with Laurie, one of our pro photographers. We have a lot to do, including shots of the stylish new Audi A3 Saloon, the 300hp Audi S3 hot hatch, the fantastic BMW 4 Series Coupé and Dacia's spacious new Logan model. Fingers crossed for good weather in the Dublin and Wicklow areas.