the torque - a view from inside the motor industry

Who decides whether the design of a car is good?  What should be a fairly complex question is actually really quite simple.  You….and me….and him….and her.  We all do.  It is much the same as deciding whether Marmite is irresistible or the Devil’s food.

In other words, we are all individuals and we are all blessed with the intellect and freedom to make judgements and choices.  And, fortunately, we are all different so we don’t all chose the same partner, the same clothes, the same house or the same mode of transport.   

A recent Daily Telegraph Saturday motoring supplement featured the ‘100 UGLIEST CARS OF ALL TIME as chosen by Daily Telegraph readers’.   You might think that I am offended that no BMW product ended up on this list - but I am not.  In fact I welcome it.  If everyone liked our cars it would suggest to me that they were becoming bland. 

The thing I dislike, though, is car commentators proffering their view on a car’s appearance.  The dismissal of a car as ‘ugly’, ‘poorly resolved’ or even gorgeous has become commonplace in the assessment of any car.   But why should their opinion on design be relevant?  After all, many commentators aren’t the most sartorially elegant so how can they comment on style?  I have eyes, magazines print plenty of pictures – I can make my own mind up whether I like it or not.  As a reader, I look to a journalist for an assessment of the car’s performance, handling, ride, economy, comfort, value for money and so on; in other words all the things I cannot glean from pictures. 

I find design very interesting, but I cannot claim to understand its intricacies…and neither, in my view, do any of the journalists I know.  I love the look of Bang and Olafson Hi-Fi…but I’ve no idea whether it is any good aurally.  I’m not a great fan of No 5 by Jackson Pollock but someone paid over $100 million for it.  Who am I to criticize such a purchase and judge it not to be artistically significant enough to justify this price?

Back to the safer ground of motoring, there are cars I like and those I loathe, just like anyone else I suppose.  Looking at it from a non-BMW perspective, high up on the Telegraph’s list of ‘ugly’ cars was the Citroen 2CV.  Personally I like the look of it, so did the millions of Frenchmen who bought it in their droves.

By contrast the article highlights the Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne and Jaguar XJS – none of which would grace my drive, irrespective of who I worked for.  But one’s man’s meat etc……clearly quite a few people would disagree with me because they have bought one.  Personally, I think the Jaguar S-Type is one of the most poorly-resolved pieces of design in recent history and yet some patriotic commentators suggested it had all the classic Jaguar design grace and panache.   Hail the new king of the Executive car market they said.  If ever there was an example of how the press failed to get it right, the S-Type is it.  But, again, that’s only my opinion.

So, next time you read an article in which the journalist makes a judgement on car design, do yourself a favour:  ignore it.  Unless, that is, that you personally know the writer in question and have seen his or her choice of clothing, curtain material and lampshades.  The truth is that their weighty counsel is nothing but a display of whether they like it or not, not whether you will.

It’s a week since I returned from the international launch and media first drive of the new BMW 3 Series and I thought that this was an opportune time to judge the initial impressions of the car.

This car has a big job to do.  With recent updates from the immediate competitors – Audi A4 and Mercedes Benz C Class – the compact executive market place has never been so crowded.  It’s also never offered such a wide and diverse range of models, variants and specifications to enable discerning buyers to select the car that perfectly, and without compromise, fits their lifestyle.  To highlight this, the new BMW 3 Series Saloon and Touring is available with a choice of 11 engines, six in the Saloon and five in the Touring, and in a total of 25 different models.   

On the launch, the journalists had the opportunity of driving the new 330d with its all-new 3.0-litre diesel engine.  This new engine develops 245hp and 520Nm of torque. Impressive numbers and to put it into context, it’s not that many years ago that BMW’s famous M cars were delivering similar horsepower output and far less torque, and this engine is a diesel! Alongside it was the 335i, powered by the twin-turbocharged 3.0-litre engine that has the accolade of winning the coveted International Engine of the Year for the last two years in a row.

So, what’s the reaction?  I guess that it is best summed up as ‘the best just got better’.  But those are my words. Car magazine said; “The A4 is the new kid on the block but it still can’t get close to the 3-series dynamically. Which leaves the Merc C-class to fight its corner. The BMW’s new tech gives it an advantage, it’s a lot more interesting to look at inside (despite the limited cockpit changes), and it’s quicker, cheaper, greener and more economical than a C320 CDI. Case closed."  See the link here - http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/Drives/Search-Results/First-drives/BMW-330d-facelift-CAR-review/

So, successful then?  Absolutely, and I see no reason why the new car won’t continue the sales success that all previous 3 Series models have enjoyed.  With over 12 million 3 Series sold since launch in 1977 and approximately 45 per cent of all BMW’s sold in the UK wearing a 3 Series badge, this new car has a big shoes to fill.

I know that this is meant to be a blog about the automotive industry but having been away for a while, it would be remiss of me not to recognise the passing of one of the world’s greatest spectacles - the Beijing Olympic Games.

Prior to the Beijing games, the news was full of horror stories of poor air quality and slime in the sailing water let alone the human rights issues, all that threatened to derail this most important sporting occasion.  However, credit where credit is due, the Chinese pulled it off without any apparent hitch.  Better than that, they provided the world with a spectacular event of epic proportions.  And I’m sure that the soon to opened Para-Olympics will be just as good.

And this has got me wondering about what London 2012 is going to be like. 

The firework holders from Beijing’s closing ceremony had only just started cooling down when the UK government’s expectation management started.  We shouldn’t expect the same extravaganza as had been witnessed in China - London 2012 is going to a far less grand affair.  Not surprising as we’re expecting to pay less than half that was spent in Beijing.  We also shouldn’t expect the torch to undertake a world tour.  Again, not surprising as it caused so much controversy and rioting this time around.  Instead, it’ll visit many of Britain’s quintessentially picture-postcard villages – how quaint!

And what will happen when the torch arrives at the new stadium, currently under construction in East London?

The patriotic part of me wants the London 2012 Olympics to be a games we can all be proud off, with UK medals galore and the regeneration of one of the most deprived parts of London thrown in for good measure.

The realist in me sees it another way. 

As our chosen athlete arrives with the torch aloft ready to enter to the adulation and applause of the packed stadium, they will asked to go round the block a few more times because the stadium isn’t quite finished yet.  Once they get into the stadium, the gas that powers the traditional perpetual flame will be far too scarce and too expensive, so we’ll have to settle for something a little greener, maybe a low voltage light bulb?

Once the games get under way, I can see our ludicrous Health and Safety officials taking over. “So Mr Athlete, you’ve got a javelin and you want to throw it from this line towards the crowd at the other end of the stadium?  Can’t allow that I’m afraid, more than my job’s worth.”  

And beach volleyball just isn’t going to work on any of the UK beaches.  Have you seen the summer we’ve had? And they’d all have to be wearing ‘Kiss me quick’ hats!

I know that this sound cynical and very defeatist and I wish that I could be more positive about the outlook but you’ve only got to look at other government projects to see where I’m coming from.  The Dome, need I say more.  

So let’s just celebrate the success of our athletes and hopefully our papa-Olympians too, and keep our fingers crossed that with the minimum of government interference, the UK can pull off an Olympics that we too can be proud of.

Like everybody in the UK, I’ve been watching the Olympics, cheering on and celebrating the success of the UK sports men and women.  For once, it’s a great British success story and rightly, the entire country is behind each and every athlete as they strive for success. 

One of the interesting things it highlights to me is the power of the media to create overnight celebrities from competitors in what would normally be considered niche sports.  Under normal circumstances, nobody would pay any attention to the World Cycling Championships, or the World Rowing Championships, or whatever both are actually called.  However, because the Olympics commands the world’s focus for a fortnight, hero’s are created.  I guess that it also helps if you’ve got a good British name like Bradley Wiggins – you simply couldn’t make that name up.

Now I started this by saying that it is right that we should get behind our competitors and celebrate their success, but don’t you think this should apply across the board.  The reason for saying this is the competitors outside of Olympic sports, some of whom are the most anonymous World Champions the UK has.

Andy Priaulx is the best example of this I know.  If Touring Cars was an Olympic sport, you’d see his face in the Olympic highlights television programme and on the front cover of every newspaper.  But clearly it’s not.

Who’s Andy Priaulx I hear you say.  That’s exactly my point.  Andy Priaulx is the three-time FIA World Touring Car Champion having previously been European Touring Car Champion the year before.  He’s the only Brit ever to win three consecutive FIA Championships in a row and has, in the past, been called the Michael Schumacher of Touring Cars, such has been his success and domination of the sport.  And yet very few people have ever heard of him and he never gets stopped in the street and asked for his autograph.

Why? Television coverage or, in his case, lack of it.  Although it’s the most entertaining form of motorsport I know, coverage of World Touring Cars is relegated to Eurosport rather than prime-time BBC so you’ll never stumble upon it or him.  Which is a shame because unlike any Olympians, racing drivers actually risk their lives every time they get in a car, such is their dedication.

So when you’re watching the sailing, or rowing, or BMW biking for that matter, spare a thought for the UK’s unsung Champions.  Better still, tune into Eurosport and cheer on one of the UK’s greatest champions that you’ve never heard of.

Yesterday the internet was brimming with news of an impending recall of over 200,000 BMW cars, including 2006 model year 3 Series, 2004-06 model year 5 Series and 2004-06 model year X3 vehicles.  Engineers had found that the passenger seat sensor mat may have become damaged during vehicle use.  In essence, if the air bag warning lamp, and the passenger air bag “on-off” lamp are illuminated simultaneously, there may be an issue that needs addressing.

However, what wasn’t clear from any of the reporting was that this issue is isolated to US and Canadian-specification cars. For those of you reading this in the UK, this doesn’t affect UK cars so you needn’t worry.  Cars built to an American and Canadian specification have a different airbag system fitted and the components affected by this recall aren’t fitted to UK-specification cars.

So there you have it, clarification just in case you own one of these cars outside of the Americas and might be starting to worry….