Monday February 17
Down to Lexus to collect the IS 300h hybrid saloon for a test drive. I've never been the world's biggest fan of hybrids - too much promise, not enough delivery is the usual problem. They give their utmost in lab testing, where the short runs done for the official economy tests show their consumption at its best, but it all falls apart out on real roads where you might actually need, you know, some acceleration or something. The new IS though is really rather impressing me. I like the styling for a start - not everyone will agree, but I think Lexus design is finally starting to find a niche for itself, and if you can accuse the IS of being a little over-styled in places, then at least its distinctive. Gorgeous interior too and lo and behold, decent economy from a hybrid at long last? I got close to 50mpg, which, considering I spent much of my time foot down in Sport mode (to better appreciate the faintly comical fake V8 noise piped into the cabin) isn't a bad result.
Tuesday February 18
Back into conventional diesel-land today with Volvo's XC60 D4, and its new generation of Volvo 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine. It's a brave move by Volvo, committing itself to one basic engine architecture and sinking a great deal of its own (and Chinese owner Geely's) money into the project, but it has paid off big time. It's smooth, powerful and efficient and still has a faint hint of that old Volvo five-cylinder warble. The only problem is that the XC60 itself is ageing a bit now, and not especially gracefully. Still comfy and nice, but the ride quality needs work and it's too small inside. Better to get that excellent new engine in the lower, leaner, better V60 I reckon. That's a car that BMW and Audi should be a bit scared of.
Wednesday February 19
Normally, of course, I test cars for a living but I'm fascinated by all things mechanical and so jumped at the chance to have a test of Christopher Ward's latest high-end watch, the C1000 Typhoon. Christopher Ward, if you've never heard of it, is a fascinating company - a small, London-based watchmaker taking on and beating the Swiss giants at their own game and for a fraction of the cost. I'm lucky enough to own a CW watch myself, a C60 GMT, and it's as handsome and reliable as any Rolex for a tiny fraction of the price. The new watch is a moody, all-black affair with design inspiration taken from the latest generation of Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft and it's utterly gorgeous. I especially loved the big, clear, handsome typeface and it got me thinking how wrong many car makers get the seemingly simple job of creating instrument dials. Too often, we climb aboard expensive new cars and are immediately confronted with messy, cheap looking clocks. They're the things you spend most of your time looking at, so why not make them as gorgeous and expensive looking as the outside? Audi and BMW usually do an excellent job, but the likes of Maserati (the Ghibli's dials look like they're out of an old Punto), Jaguar Land Rover (Range Rover and XJ's electronic TFT instruments are ghastly) and Renault (which seems committed to big, ugly LCD speedos at the moment) all need to visit www.christopherward.co.uk for some inspiration.
There are some odd ones out there too. The Opel Insignia used to have the handsomest instruments around but the new facelifted version has (partly) ditched them in favour of a big, bland electronic screen. Actually, of the mainstream brands probably Skoda and Peugeot (whose new 308 has Aston Martin-style 'clap-hands' dials for speed and revs) probably makes the nicest and clearest clocks.
Thursday February 20
Typical. The storms are raging again and instead of being able to stay home and wrap up warm, I have to drive from Dublin to Nenagh and back for a meeting. My companion for the trip is a 1.4 TSI Volkswagen Beetle. Which as I look out the window, doesn't seem to be the best possible car for the job. Still, needs must and the happy outcome is that in spite of driving rain, standing water and howling winds, the little (well, not so little these days) Beetle gets me there and back without an iota of fuss. It tracked straight and true through all the water and I never even once noticed the traction control or ESP lights flashing. A surprisingly capable car then, and a faithful friend when the weather is awful. Maybe it was that little ducktail boot spoiler keeping me on the straight and narrow...
Friday February 21
Off to the flicks with my sons to catch a preview screening of The Lego Movie. I adored Lego as a kid and whenever I went suspiciously quiet, my mother could usually find me sitting cross-legged on the bed, crafting yet another arcane design out of interlocking bricks. The film is terrific, anarchic fun, although cars, even Lego ones, feature only fleetingly. It did cross my mind on the way home though that Lego cars now have ever more relevance to real cars. After all, with Volkswagen's MQB matrix, PSA Peugeot Citroen's EMP2, Ford's EUCD+ architecture and so many more, building a real car is these days more like building a Lego one than ever. Take a piece from here, a piece from there, a block from over here and hey presto, new car. If you ever start to wonder why car makers' ranges have expanded from a handful of models to a bewildering array of metal, here's your answer - they've made it too easy to tinker...