Gentlemen, start your engines!
Hello, is this thing on?
MINI for sale
Well, I've finally done it. The Mini is now officially for sale . Let the fun and games begin.
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Candidate: Nissan 350Z
So, the VX220 ticked all of the ’fun’ boxes, but neither of the sensible-shoes boxes. How will the 350Z fare? On the surface, the strongest card the 350Z holds is its kerb appeal. It’s subjective, but to me, the car is a work of art. Perfectly proportioned, and beautiful from every angle. Its attractiveness is not the only string to its bow, however. It’s pretty quick too, even if it is just shy of my ideal 6.0secs to 100km/h. It holds the road pretty nicely too, based on my 2 test-drives. And it’s a tin-top, which is definitely my preference; greater structural rigidity and no faffing with a leaky and/or awkard roof. Crucially, I can even get in the 350Z with a helmet on - a requirement that’s ruled out plenty of other contenders. When it comes to practicality, however, it’s another compromise. The boot is suitable for long weekends away, but that’s about it. Just as with the VX220, you can forget about trips to B&Q. But then, I...
Game on!
It’s started again. I’ve started out on the test drives. Five years ago, I took a week off work to test drive a load of different cars in an attempt to decide what I would get next. This weekend, I took my first proper test-drives in five years. I can barely believe it’s been that long, but I guess it must be. Even when trying to negotiate a deal on a Clio Trophy, I don’t think I took a test drive. Stupid, or what? Regardless, Saturday saw me searching (fruitlessly) for a particular garage in the Benton area that had a VX220. Clearly, map-reading’s not as much of a strength of mine as I thought. Never mind. I did, however, find and drive a couple of 350Z’s. :) The first was an import with a stupid nosecone and an equally stupid price tag: 16k for an 03 import is just daft. The dealer was pretty close to home too, so I got to try it out on roads I know well. While it felt just as planted as the Mini, it failed to blow me away. Acceleration was on...