HiFi, in a car?

In the HiFi world, there are nutcases out there called audiophiles. I happen to be one of them, and until recently, we haven’t been able to experience music playback in cars at anything like the levels we expect in the comfort of our own living rooms. Car stereos have, however, been around for just about ever. In 1956, Chrysler vehicles had the option of having an LP player built into the dashboard. Then tapes came along, and with it, a new subculture of modified sound systems.

This following is going strong today, but it isn’t without its problems. Basically, the main issue is how these sound products are targeted. It’s an inescapable truth that most people who modify their mobile audio are young men, so companies target them by quoting outrageous wattage amounts and making the drive units look ridiculous. First, the wattage issue: I cannot, and will not believe that something like a 10 cm midrange driver could handle 100-200 watts; most of the time, it turns out these quotes are for peak power spikes. Normally, the average wattage of a 10cm driver would be more like 30 watts. Secondly, the components themselves: by putting ugly plastic covers over drivers, and amplifiers in garish boxes, speaker manufacturers hit their target market square on. No real effort is ever put into the sound quality, because the target market doesn’t care what it sounds like, just as long as it’s loud enough to wake up half the street.

This puts people who do want good sound quality in a bit of a mire, that is, until recently. A whole new generation of speaker systems have flooded the market, and who is leading the charge? HiFi manufacturers. These guys have taken all their values and injected their philosophy into a car environment. Ok, so there aren’t any kits you can go out and buy and install in your own car; instead, HiFi manufacturers have worked closely with car makers to tailor car interiors to get the best acoustic refinement from it.

So, what brands are doing this: Volkswagen, and it’s partnership with Dynaudio. Audi and Bang & Olufsen, who also works with Aston Martin and AMG. Jaguar and Bowers and Wilkins. Bentley and Naim, and a whole slew of other companies… and no, BOSE is not one of them *Runs away from Franco*.

A special mention has to be made for the Bang & Olufsen systems. They feature tweeters (the driver units that cover the high frequency range of the audio spectrum) that rise out of the dashboard, showing the driver unit facing up. A reflector above it then disperses the sound around the car. This makes for a more airy, natural presentation than most in car speaker systems that can be very in your face.

It is a well known fact around First Gear supporters that Franco and I have not yet passed our driving tests, so I reckon testing these sound systems are ideal for us. We don’t have to drive it, just listen to the music in a dealership. So, Ferrari? Lamborghini? Any chance of a test listen?

Roman

Motor racing started in a supermarket

We all know the source of all things is the supermarket. If you ask any child where their fruit and veg comes from, they'll reply Tesco. This is very amusing, but I'm not here to have a rant about that, I'm here to talk about the vehicle used to transport your food travels from its natural habitat: the shelf, to the checkout. Pushing the trolley around the supermarket must surely be the start of every rally driver, touring car racer and most ordinary people's dreams of driving.

There are so many different forms of motorsport which could adapted to trolleys. Lets start with the simplest of them all; drag racing, I'm sure at some point you've found a perfect empty aisle taken a monumental run up, then jumped onto the wheels to experience exhilarating faster than walking speeds. More experienced trolley racers will be able to control a trolley with heavier load of shopping, simple things like turning corners and stopping become more a lot more difficult, controlling the natural oversteer is a skill mastered after numerous trips to the shops. Some of the wannabe Ken Blocks take advantage of the oversteer and drift around between the aisles narrowly missing the shelves. To make the most of this new motor-less sport, find yourself some mates, or challenge rival shoppers in true Fast and Furious style, and map out a route from the entrance to the checkout. If you want to raise the stakes, why not race for pink slips by betting on your shopping.

As with all forms of motor-less sport, trolley racing comes with its dangers; beware of the metal tins of chocolates or bottles of beer usually stacked up in a blind spot between the aisles, you could cause some serious damage to yourself. Always begin with a trolley loads you can handle; too light and you might pull some wheelies, too heavy and you'll loose control and end up in the reduced items bin. Remember there are hazards such as old people hogging the aisles, or people in coloured uniforms pushing really big trolleys at horrendously slow speeds, so be prepared to stop quite hard. Last of all you will almost certainly be on CCTV, so if you are really nice to the race marshals (or security guards as they are normally known) they might let you keep the video.

Good luck!

Jaguar XJ

Jaguar XJ's have been in familiar guises for around several millenia, the only major thing changing on them being the shades of beige available on the seats. A few years ago, things started to get despirate. Jaguar was sent reeling from game changing designs like the E65 BMW 7-series, and the Mercedes S-class made the Jag XJ look like a Mahogany wardrobe on wheels, which is what it was. Then a savior-like figure started to make an impact on Jaguar, the name of that man was Ian Callum.

In 2006, he set the foundations for a whole new design bearing for Jaguars with the new XK, but wasn't until 2008 when the XF was released that one could really imagine what the next XJ would be like. The XF broke away from the incessant pandering to foreign markets who believed that a Jaguar should look good outside a country mansion; on the contrary, an XFR would positively disturb the old fashioned chic of a Devon Country House. The chrome air intakes alone would scare away foxes and other such cannon fodder for landed gentry.

This doesn't mean however that Mr Callum stuck the XF blueprints in the photocoppier and set it to 125% enlarge to design the new XJ. Oh no no, not at all... we need to look at the C-FX from 2007 to see where his inspiration has come from. When the XF came out, people were very angry (and rightly so) that it sported a sort of inflated, out of proportion representation of the C-FX's headlights. Thankfully the XJ has rectified it, sporting a focused front end that finally, and mercifully, does away with the dual lights of old.

For some reason, unknown to me, manufacturers have started to put large, prominent grilles on their flagship vehicle. Most recent evidence of this is the new BMW 7-series that has abnormally large kidney grilles standing proud of the headlights. Jaguar have seemed to adopt this same effect, which at some angles, namely at a 3/4 front view, make it look a little bloated. In fact, this car is somewhat of a phallic symbol; the size of V8s don't matter now, it's all about how big it's grille is.

The back of the car is more disappointing, not displaying the sort of taut rear end I was hoping for (rawr). Instead, the XF seems to have a curvy version of the Lancia Thesis' backside, which, unfortunately, doesn't gel with the front of the car. Little could be said of the side profile either, though the window frames give the car a much more organic look compared to a Germanic creation.

Aforementioned foibles quickly vaporise the moment one looks at the interior. Never, ever have I seen such a welcoming interior, with a peerless design. The closest thing I can get to describing it is that of a Riva yacht, mixed with a Sunseeker, it is that different. There is

an arc that curves from the door sills along the dashboard, which smacks of a V8

powerboat, not a car. It is of course conditional; the colour options are critical to getting the interior to look its best: the leather needs to be Parchment Semi Aniline with an upper fascia that is Bordeaux tipped with embossing, the headliner being Parchment as well. Match that with satin Zebrano, and quite possibly the most exquisite interior is made. Manly LEDs light up the instruments and various switchgear that act as expensive trinketry, all of which carefully skirt around the brash or uncouth side of the design spectrum.

This is a monumental leap forward for the Jaguar XJ, with a design that slots neatly into the 21st century, instead of sitting awkwardly like the old one. There are a few things to remember though: always approach the car head on, that's where it looks the best. Don't buy it in green, or there is a chance the justice police will convict you of crimes against design. Thirdly, only get the interior in the aforementioned colour scheme. Oh, and get the supercharged V8.

Roman

Learning to Drive: Clutch bite and roundabouts

Ok well it's been a while since I last posted, so I think it's a good time to talk about how far I've come with my driving lessons. Now, the clutch on a manual (or stick shift.. yuk!) is something that to me, is an arcane and somewhat cantankerous piece of engineering that should have been engineered out of existence about 50 years ago. So why is it still here, in this age of the anodised aluminium unibody Macbook Pros and high definition OLED televisions? It all comes down to the E word... the Environment.

The majority of automatic gearboxes produce more carbon dioxide than the equivalent manual variant. This is of course forgetting the magic DSG gearboxes that have two clutches, but they cost many monies. The reason (non double clutch) automatics haven't found their way into all cars is because they can sap the power of the engine, making the 0-60 time higher. Also, automatics aren't as efficient at handling the engine's power, so economy drops too. Basically, automatics should be avoided if possible (except the Jaguar XKR's ZF box).

So, unless you are very lazy or otherwise impaired, I'd suggest you learn manual. Well, atleast, that was my view until I started driving. It has taken weeks and weeks and weeks before finally managing to get the car moving off without it grumbling horribly. If you haven't driven, you probably won't know what clutch bite is, also, if you are a fairly experienced driver you too probably also don't know what I'm on about, since your foot automatically finds it out of muscle memory. It is that point in the clutch's travel where moving it any further would initiate the much enjoyed pastime of driving.

Clutch bite is a bit of a pain when you have to consciously think about it, and it can become nigh on impossible to find it quickly if you grip the wheel too tight. My previous lesson was all about junctions on a gradient, so for example when pulling out into a main road from a side road on a hill. This requires finding the clutch bite so that the car doesn't roll back. You'd think pressing the foot brake would suffice, but once you get your foot on that pedal, it's going to be really hard to re-find the clutch bite and move over to accelerator when you see a gap.

I am also working on my roundabout skills. These hideous creations still scare me, and I think the hardest part is spotting when it is safe to pull out, and having to make the decision as to whether or not one can pull out. It can be very tricky especially when cars don't indicate.

Roman

Learning to Drive

Learning to drive is something that has been a very long time coming for me, for 17 years (and 9 months if you want to be pedantic) I have been waiting to get behind the wheel of a car and be in control of it. Now that that time has come, I have since had a few lessons, and I feel it is a good time to give you all a rundown of my experiences.

I have been unfortunate enough to get lulled into a false sense of security formed by the continuos playing of Gran Turismo. These are the best games ever made, forget chess and Halo 3, there is nothing more satisfying than beating your best time 'round the Nurburgring in a Golf GTi. However, driving a real car in the real world is literally nothing like playing a slightly outdated but still much loved Gran Turismo 4 game. The first thing that will get you is trying to get into the drivers seat, it is an alien experience. Having stepped into the near side seat for so long, getting into the drvers seat is still a clumsy eperience for me. For some reason there's a steering wheel in my way which I have to negotiate past, and my left leg is unsure of itself, having always relied on the right leg stepping in first.

This is nothing, I repeat nothing compared to the shock you're going to get next. You have to turn to your right to get the seatbelt! Doing the little, subtle and deft shift to the left that allows one to see the seatbelt and therefore grab it was an art which I had mastered over the years, and now I have to go to the right! This is a cruel world I admit, but this is just mean. Here's where things get complicated. Your instructor will tell you to do various things, and you will soon be moving. And, and you've stalled... ok, don't panic. Clutch down, select neutral, restart the car, push down the clutch and go into first. This is the common pitfall with every driver, I tend to stall when I'm doing too many things at once, but as they say, practice makes perfect.

When you're up and running for your first time driving, changing gear will feel like the hardest thing in the world. When I changed gear the first few times, I'd make a hash of it; either letting go of the clutch too quickly, or not balancing the accelerator and the clutch well. As you do this more often, you will start to know what to do. Things gradually become more automatic.

Sooner or later you will approach something called a corner. These are rare, exotic things only really found in Europe, and this is where the great big round thing in front of you comes into play. Turn it to the right, and the car will move right, and well, you get the picture. The thing that you have to learn when steering is that you only need so much of it, depending on your speed and the severity of the corner. This seems obvious, but it will be tricky the first few times. Using the D-pad on a PS2 controller will give you full steering left or full steering right, so nevigating a corner in a game requires pressing the left or right button several times. In a real car, this is not the case. Steering is a smooth, fluid action, which prevents your passengers/driving instructor from vomiting over you.

Some corners are at such an angle that the A pillars will severly inhibit your view of the road. When I first experienced this, I was shocked and awed that after all this time cars have been on the road, not a single manufacturer has successfully brought an end to this problem. The solution is to of course try and look past the pillars, which requires some peering past them. It's not an ideal arrangement, and one which I hope to fix when I design cars.

Of what little reversing I have done, I can tell you that is is horrible and difficult. But then again I haven't done much of it and so I am very inexperienced with it. Junctions are what I am currently practising, and it takes an awful lot of multitasking. You have to start braking, and then the engine starts to grumble, clutch down, all the while looking left and right, palming into first. Use the clutch bite to crawl up to the dashed line, and if all is clear, let go of the clutch and onto the accelerator. You'll want to move into second pretty quickly if you've moved into a main road on the national speed limit.

I have also started doing roundabouts. Ominous and complicated, they are the current bain of my driving life. I can do U-turns, but anything else is still pretty difficult, just for heaven's sake use your mirrors and indicate!

That should be enough for now.

Roman

The Art of British

I am here to address with you today ladies and gentlemen a question that has been lingering with me for some time.. why the British car industry hasn't got its act together? This of course calls for a few paragraphs of sentimental gazing into the past that was a proud and well oiled British car industry.

Let's choose some highlights, I don't like the whole timeline thing... ehrr, the Rolls Royce Corniche. Quiet possibly the only convertible I would be happy to step into. This car first engrained its authority into my head when I watched Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, with Michael Caine pootling about in it in the South of France.

I recently saw a Bentley Mulliner Flying Spur, and it ferociously dragged my eyes over its panel beaten rear arches, leading in a smooth but strong crease to the front of the car. No other car in this modern age can do that. I can get excited when I see a Lamborghini Gallardo for example; but that's because one sees the sharp angular edges that define the air scoops, and the outlandish angles and surfaces. I know that it's a Lamborghini, and therefore know that it is good. What happened with the Bentley was different, it drew my eyes towards it. I did not know what it was, but I knew it was special. This is a car that does not get motor heads drooling over it, this is a car which the ladies of the Cote d'Azur swoon over. No modern car can do that, not even the latest Bentleys, which have lost their way, being the preserve of the football stars.

I have now come to the inevitable, the impossible black whole that sucks any article even remotely mentioning historic British cars into it. This dark void in space is of course the E-Type effect. Impossibly cool, retro in a non-cliched way, the Jaguar E-Type could never hit 150 mph, it probably leaves trails of carbon dioxide that would make a 4X4 look green, but my God, parked next to a shop window, seated in its armchairs, you will never have a cooler reflection. When you first see one, the first thing you'll notice is how small it is. You'll then realise just how special a car it is. The spoked wheels, the contoured bodywork with chrome detailing that is effective but not in your face, all make this a design ikon. It has been years before jaguar have managed to get that panache back into its models. It is of course the latest Jaguar XKR that has restored the link  between power and these Isles. Of course, that's not without a little help from Tata.

In fact, JLR as it is now known is owned not by Ford, but by the Indian Megabusiness. And here is the key to why Jaguar are starting to build world class cars again. Yes, our car industry needs backing by foreign companies, but it needs to be companies that are willing to act like a rich Father spoiling their children. Ford tried to impose its ideals onto Jaguar with disasterous effect. Take the X-Type for example. A horrible car for people who think Jaguar should be kept perpetually in the 1960s.

The only car companies that have managed to go it alone successfully are Caterham, Morgan and Lotus. These are companies with probably some of the best engineers in the world, and all they need is a caring adopter to sky rocket them into Ferrari territory.

Roman

Confessions of a Petrolhead

I feel it is time to share my reasons for why cars fill up most of my waking thoughts, as it is through one's own experiences and their environment that shapes the feelings and responses they get when they hear a yellow Ferrari 360 making it's unmistakeable baarp as it blips down a gear, before squatting close to its Pirellis and notch into hyperspeed. Personally, I make the noise a teenage girl makes after seeing Zac Efron pass them by on the street.

One of the earliest things I can remember as a young boy was being given a model of a Ferrari. I can't remember what model it was, probably an F40; but it had that Rosso Corsa paint job that links any ferrari I see now adorned in such a colour to a deep sentimentality enforced by my playing with this small toy car. Then I had a tiny green model of a Ferrari 308 GTB which I used to drift around obstacles on the carpet of my room, and for many years I wondered what the bumps at the front of the car were for. I now know they're lights big enough to light up the whole of the Monte Carlo rally.

I have always been able to draw well, and so instead of playing football, I'd pull out my The ultimate history of fast cars book and I would draw, and draw and draw. It was then that I realised what I would have to be when I was older, a car designer. Unfortunately, this was when the 'tuner' bug bit me (this is a condition that affects the majority of petrolheads, unfortunately, it hits most people when they are around 17 and so vandalise what terrible cars they have got with dodgy body kits, badly attached mesh, and poorly tuned exhausts. Fortunately this hit me when I was about 12, so I have had enough time to get over it). I used to be a frequent buyer of tuning magazines, and would dream of taking a standard mondeo, and dressing it up to look like the ST24. Oh happy days...

And then came Gran Turismo and consequently my deep love for Nissan Skylines. I have had a few interesting rides in cars (note: not drives), I have been in a TVR Carbera 4.2, which was a particularly brutal experience, with an engine so rooted to that of a race car's that it could charge to 60 mph in 3.9 seconds. Then there's the Nissan 350Z that was tuned to 500 bhp, and I happened to experience it on a wet track in a drifting challenge. And how could one not mention the Audi RS6...

So, that's why I love cars so much.

Roman