www. l i f eonca r s . b l o g spo t . com

I s s u e 1 3I s s u e 1 3 j a n u a r y 2 0 1 3j a n u a r y 2 0 1 3

SPEC

IAL ISSU

E

Jaguar XKR-S: thanks to having no less than542bhp at its disposal the Big Cat’s flagshipXK was easily the fastest - and priciest - carLife On Cars got to test in 2013.Image by David Simister

2 Life On Cars

2012 was a great year formotoring, but it wasabout so much more thanjust the cars.

don’t get me wrong,there have been somespectacular new arrivals. iwill, for instance, neverforget the rumble andthunder of the morganthreewheeler, and theexplosion that was theJaguar XKr’s accelerationwill be forever etchedinto my memory. therewas also the marvel ofhow much peugeot’spartner could swallow,the delicacy of the toyotagt-86’s handling, and thewant-one factor of theland rover defender X-tech. all great cars.

But there were also themoments machines alonecan’t provide, like seeingfirsthand how ormskirk’smotorFest pulled in evenmore punters than last

year’s event, or watchingtexas follow theproclaimers at CarFestnorth. there were greatroads too, including onei’d never have found wereit not for getting slightlylost in Snowdonia (sorry,chaps). if the mayanswere right and 2012 wasthe last year to hold a carshow, then what a highnote to end it all on.

this year’s been avintage year for cars,shows, and automotiveexperiences, and i canonly hope that’s reflectedin this special issue ofLife On Cars. Sit back,read on and enjoy what’sbeen a great year forpetrolheads.

Life On Cars wishes bothof its readers a MerryChristmas and a HappyNew Year

Editor david SimisterdESignEr david Simister

www.lifeoncars.blogspot.comE-mail david.simister@hotmail.co.uk

photography:manufacturer photography courtesy of the Society of motor

manufacturers and traders (as newspress); all other photography bydavid Simister, Katie massam and Cornelia Kaufmann.

read Life On Cars each Wednesday in The Champion newspaper, andon the web at www.lifeoncars.blogspot.com

© life on Cars 2010

Car of theYear 2012

David Simister

Editor, Life On Cars

Best event4With 2012 proving something of a vintage year for car and bike nutsthere was plenty to keep petrolheads entertained - but there was oneevent in particular which impressed more than most this year

In this issueIn this issue

2012’s hopefuls8the quintet of cars which proved particularly impressive and enjoyablethroughout this year this far, picked from a cast of dozens of motorslaunched over the past 12 months

Car of the Year10this year Life On Cars has been lucky to try out the Fiat panda, thelotus Evora S, and just about everything else in between. But the bestof this year’s bunch, by the narrowest of margins, was [cont. page 8]

Best bargain20how an ancient sports car survived its baptism of fire to provide awhole summer of bargain open-top thrills

3Life On Cars

2013 is coming18david Simister picks a few hot tips for the biggest motoring hits of thenext 12 months.

Best road12a true petrolhead enjoys a great road as much as the great car theytackle it with. this award honours the windy stretch of tarmac whichexcited and terrified Life On Cars the most in 2012

Driver’s hits14there were plenty of cars worth seeking out simply for the thrill ofdriving them alone. the best driver’s car of 2012 is a bit of a classic inthe making, thanks to its balance of poise and punch

Special award16Which goes to the set of wheels which somehow defies all the othercategories but still manages to impress Life On Cars anyway. this year,a salute to a one-man effort which impressed with its sense of fun

Camera, action!6there were some cracking car moments at the cinema this year, andLife On Cars thought it only fair to recognise them. hence the creationof the inaugural movie of the year prize for best automotive film

Best surprise17the biggest shock to the system from a year of driving dozens of newcars had to be the small car everybody laughed at - until they foundout just how good it was to drive

Life On Cars4

SiXty poUndS. that’swhat set CarFest northapart, even before i’d gotthrough the gates.

the car show ChrisEvans organised, to raisefunds for BBC Children inneed, was easily twice asexpensive any motoringevent i’d been to before,but then this was quiteunlike any show i’ve beento before. it was a great,if slightly pricey, weekendfor petrolheads and theirlong-suffering families.

you got all the classics -miles of them, in fact,and endless parades ofthe automotivearistocracy - but at thepoint when most carshows end the musicbegan.

as darkness fell, theCholmondeley estatestopped being a car showvenue and became amusic festival, with theproclaimers, paloma Faithand texas keeping thecrowds entertained untilalmost midnight. Best ofall, Chris himself stoppedgawping at all the carsand put on a great show,making it one of the mostentertaining days out ofany kind i’ve been to.

CarFest north is in thetop level of car showswhen it comes to ticketprices, but it’s worthbudgeting for because it’sbig fun, and it all goes tocharity too.

Go to the Life On Carsblog to see more fromCarFest North 2012

Event of theYear 2012

hitting just

the right note

5Life On Cars

Chris Evans blendedmusic and cars to create

a great event, despitethe price

live and let drive

Life On Cars6

The jewel in a year of great on-screen moments for carsleft Life On Cars shaken, but not stirred at the cinema

Movie of theYear 2012

live and let drive

7Life On Cars

“SomEtimES the old waysare the best.” it’s perhapsthis line, repeated twicein Skyfall, which sums upthe Bond film’s nostalgicvibe.

2012 has seen plenty ofgreat petrolheadmoments at the pictures –hence the creation of thisaward – with both Taken 2

and The Bourne Legacy inparticular keeping fans ofall things automotive atthe edge of their seats.But daniel Craig’s thirdouting as Britain’s bestknown secret agent has

proved a particularlyspecial treat.

not only was there athrilling chase in thefilm’s opening sequence,starring an audi a5, aland rover defender andsome very tight turkishstreets, but director Sammendes brought the astondB5 out of retirement forsome wonderful scenes inthe Scottish highlands forthe film’s climax.

the thing i love mostof all about these scenesis that, in much the sameway the daniel Craig

movies have tried to takeBond back to basics,devoid of Cgi andgadgets, so these shotstake the dB5 away frombeing a cheesyautomotive cliché andremind car nuts what itreally is and what it doesbest; it’s a classy,handcrafted gt car,designed to wind its wayover mountain passes inspeed and comfort.

action-packed the dB5scenes aren’t, but theymake you want to bethere.

The jewel in a year of great on-screen moments for carsleft Life On Cars shaken, but not stirred at the cinema

Car oF

the Year

2012:

the Final

Five

The automotive achieverswhich stood out from therest after being given The

Champion’s road test treatment...

...and why some impressivenew arrivals haven’t made

the final shortlist

8 Life On Cars

Car of theYear 2012

The nearly carsThe nearly cars

THE car I really wanted in the final five –

but it just missed the cut, by the tiniest of

margins – was Suzuki’s Swift Sport, which

is wonderfully engaging to drive but lost

out because simply because some of this

year’s contenders offered more

innovation.

Another surprise is the Range Rover

Evoque, which loses its place to the Jag

because the saloon’s better looking and

nicer to drive, but for both to impress

shows just how Jaguar Land Rover is

going from strength to strength.

Also missing the cut is Vauxhall’s Ampera,

which offered a lot to like but loses out as

the eco contender because Renault’s

Twizy gives a much bigger grin for a

considerably lower price.

The biggest disappointment of the year

was Hyundai’s Veloster, which didn’t

match up to its coupe rivals in the driving

stakes. A pity, because its sister offering

the i30 is one of 2012’s more impressive

arrivals.

Honourable mentions also go to the Fiat

Panda, VW Up, and the MINI Roadster.

7

Life On Cars

“Plushly trimmed and politically correct it isn't but

the GT-86 is the steal of the century if you're looking

for a driver's car with a sense of mischief. It's been

worth the wait.”

Life On Cars - October 2012Toyota GT-86

“The Twizy is odd and impractical but it puts a smile

on your face and has a definite ‘want one' factor.

Which for me makes it a landmark in the world of

electric cars. ”

Life On Cars - June 2012Renault Twizy

“ The Jag's better looking than a BMW 5-Series, more

characterful and more fun when it strays off its

natural habitat of the motorway's outside lane. Jag's

XF is all the executive saloon you could ever ask for”

Life On Cars - June 2012Jaguar XF 2.2D

“Despite being friendlier and more manageable than I

could’ve have hoped for it is completely unlike any-

thing I’ve driven before. It is a sort of cross between

the open-air buzz of a microlight and the vintage style

of a Sopwith Camel fighter plane with the deep-

throated roar of an old TVR thrown in.”

Life On Cars - March 2012Morgan Threewheeler

“Peugeot’s been back on form since the RCZ but the

208 comprehensively beats the Fiesta in every area. It

is an astonishingly accomplished supermini.”

Life On Cars - December 2012Peugeot 208

10 Life On Cars

NO, Life On Cars hasn’t taken leave of its senses. This

year’s Car of the Year really is a car lacking a roof,

doors, windscreen or even a fourth wheel.

All five of the cars which made the shortlist this year

could have won. The likes of Autocar and Evo have

raved about the Toyota GT-86, for instance, and I can

see why; at £25,000 it’s the bargain driver’s car of the

decade. The XF, in 2.2 diesel form, is arguably the best

saloon on the market today and it’s the car Jaguar

should have made years ago – that it beat Jaguar Land

Rover’s other big hitter, the Range Rover Evoque, into

the shortlist, says it all. The XF is all the car you could

ever ask for.

The 208’s remarkable too; three years ago Ford’s

Fiesta was the Life On Cars favourite of 2009 and it’s

ruled the supermini roost ever since, but Peugeot’s

effort has well and truly knocked it off its perch. From

its crisp handling to the quality of its interior, it’s a

superb product.

But what I was looking for in the winner was

something radical, which excites as much as it

impresses, and just as the Focus and DS3 Racing

proved tricky to pull apart last year, this year choosing

between Renault’s Twizy and Morgan’s Threewheeler

was the toughest choice of all.

For all their similarities – they’re both open-air, rear-

drive, two-seaters with an emphasis on lightness and

fun – they couldn’t be more different, with one a £6k

electric ecomobile which just happens to be a hoot to

drive, and the other a £30k sports car which just

happens to be surprisingly sensible when you want it to

be.

The Renault is a true triumph of engineering because

it’s cheap, fun and the first electric car I could actually

see myself owning, even though deep down I wish

they’d offer the option of a tiny petrol engine for all

those enthusiasts, like me, enthralled with its

Renaultsport-tuned dynamics.

I love it... but I love the Morgan more. Not only is it

something which takes motoring and makes it into an

unforgettable experience, but it turns heads quite

unlike any others, uses weight to keep costs and

pollution down, and it has a quality and feel cars

costing twice as much would be proud of.

It’s utterly mad, but it’s a deserving winner.

11Life On Cars

Car of theYear 2012

WINNER : Morgan ThreewheelerWINNER : Morgan Threewheeler

the best things

Come in threes

the Fast

and the Curious

Life On Cars12

Every enthusiast enjoys a great road as much as a great car.It’s just that some roads are so much greater than others

Road of theYear 2012

13Life On Cars

real inspiration.Both north yorkshire

and the lake district havesome truly stunning roadsbut in north Wales they’realmost ten a penny, fromthe bleak beauty of thellanberis pass, thechallenging curves of thegreat orme, and theclimbs and dips of thehorseshoe pass. But it’s aroad i discovered byaccident that proved themost memorable drive ofthe year.

head out of Betws-y-Coed on the a5, pointyour car towards

it WaS an automotivegrudge match, played outon the wonderful, windingroads of north Wales.

in the blue corner werethe sports cars – a Fordpuma and a mK1 mazdamX-5 – while in the redcorner the rover metrogti and the superchargedVolkswagen polo gti werefighting it out for hothatches. after hundreds ofmiles, there was no realvictor, but the roadsthemselves proved the

llangollen and take aright at the little villageof pentrefoelas. theroad’s more of a track atfirst, threading its waythrough farm after farm,but eventually the cattlegrids give way to achallenging little routewhich heads into themountains of Snowdonia.after hundreds of feet ofclimbing, you take a righttowards Ffestiniog, andbefore you drop backdown towards the seayou’re rewarded with areal treat.

the road hangs to themountain side, with just a

slate wall to protect youfrom a sheer drop, butbeyond that is awonderful panoramaacross the Welshmountains, plunging downto the irish Sea. it’s everybit as good as theButtertubs pass, but withthe added benefit that it’sone of Wales’ best keptmotoring secrets.

the B4407 frompentrefoelas and theB4391 to Ffestiniog.Whether you’re in a Fordracing puma, an mX-5, ametro gti or asupercharged polo, you’regoing to enjoy the ride.

Best Driver’sCar of 2012

Photos by Cornelia Kaufmann

14 Life On Cars

the suPerCar

to drive all daYThe Lotus Evora S might well cost the thick end of £60,000,but it’s so good you’ll want to drive it until the sun sets

So it’S two on the trotfor lotus. Where the EliseS was my favourite drivinghit of 2011, so its bigger,faster brother takes thisyear’s honours.

Which is a surprise,because not all of mymemories of the Evora Swere ones i recall happily.it’s hard to forget the fueleconomy – one of theElise’s stronger suits –because in a week’s worthof press-onmotoring thesuperchargerbrought the3.5 litre V6in the Evoradown to aslittle as20mpg.there’s alsothe memoryof nursingthose widearchesthrough aparticularlycongestedKendal one-way system,the next-to-useless rear seats and,worst of all, theimmobiliser from hell theparticular car i testedcame fitted with. Wherelife with an Elise was adoddle once you’dsqueezed into it, theweek with lotus’ rangetopper was more of achallenge.

But being the bestdriver’s car isn’t aboutpracticality or fueleconomy or running costs– it’s about things likehandling, feel and punch,and on these fronts thelotus excels because it’seffectively two cars inone.

For starters, it’s themotorway cruiser theElise never can be, and

while i can’t pretend it’sa Jag XF it’s not that faroff when it comes tocomfort. it’s sumptuouslytrimmed, rides with aremarkable level ofsoftness for a supercarand comes equipped withsatnav, cruise control, akiller sound system and soon – all the toys you’dexpect, basically, from anexecutive saloon. head upthe motorway to the

lakes, as i did,and you’llarrive relaxedand unruffled.

yet it’s onlywhen you getthere the otherEvora – theBEttEr Evora –emerges. plantyour foot downand thesuperchargerinstantly surgesyou forward,and thanks tothe light bodythe 340bhp atyour disposal ismore than

enough. What’s more, ithandles just as sweetly asthe Elise does, even if thethrills, thanks to thesumptuous trimming,aren’t quite as seat-of-your-pants.

therein lies thewonderful paradox of theEvora S; you could happilyuse this car every day onthe motorway, but youwon’t want to becauseit’s such a joy to driveeverywhere else. it is acar you’ll want to driveuntil the sun goes downand the fuel runs out.

Would i have one on myEuromillions dreamshopping list over themuch faster Jaguar XKr-Si also tried? you bet iwould...

“You could

happily use

it on the

motorway,

but you

won’t want

to because

it’s so good

to drive.”

thE key thing toremember about the Cubis it’s a riot to drive.

Even though it’s beencrafted by hand in aworkshop in Bootle by theandersen motor Company– hence amC – it isessence a blend of someof my favourite motoring

ingredients – light weight,and open top roof and thebest bits from the originalmini – in a brand newpackage. not only does ithold up as a qualityproduct, but it’s a giggleand gets lots of curiouslooks.yes, for the £12,000asking price for the

factory built version youcould get a brand new,BmW-engineered mini butthat’s missing the point –true, the modern car ismore sensible but theCub, a faithful recreationof the original mini mokeof the 1960s, is much,much more fun. it’s all

the joys of driving aclassic mini, still one ofthe best handling smallcars ever made, withadded al fresco thrills.

it’s a bit too niche toeven come close towinning Car of the yearbut the little Cub made abig impression.

Life On Cars

mini

marvel

The gong that goes to the car ineligible for Car of the Yearbut somehow too memorable to go without a mention.

This year, one of the most exciting drives came from a carcrafted in a Bootle workshop rather than a huge factory.

Then again, the AMC Cub isn’t exactly an ordinary motor...

Life On Cars16

17Life On Cars

The gong that goes to the car ineligible for Car of the Yearbut somehow too memorable to go without a mention.

This year, one of the most exciting drives came from a carcrafted in a Bootle workshop rather than a huge factory.

Then again, the AMC Cub isn’t exactly an ordinary motor...

Special Award2012

eleCtriC

shoCKSurprise ofthe Year 2012

I REALLY wanted Renault’s Twizy to be

rubbish. It wasn’t.

To say this was 2012’s biggest surprise is an

understatement – at an SMMT test driving

event back in May, I joined a queue of

journalists lining up to get a go in it, who all

looked at the weirdly styled two seater with a

slightly bewildered expression. The tiny, all-

electric Twizy looked faintly ridiculous, but

words written across the country were about to

eaten.

The Twizy might be tiny, exposed, powered

by amps alone and limited realistically to about

40mph but I hadn’t banked on what else it

offers. It’s narrow, slide-happy tyres, a mid-

engined layout, rear wheel drive and a chassis

tuned by Renaultsport, and it showed. It might

be cheap, easy to run and kind to the

environment, but what made it count was the

grin factor. The Twizy is hilariously good fun.

If all eco-friendly driving in the future is

going to be this much fun, count me in!

hElp save the planetwhile doing 200mph.that’s the unique premiseporsche is promising withthe 918 Spyder.

no, really; the spiritualsuccessor to the Carreragt and the 959 – porsche’sother 200mph hypercars –uses a clever blend of amid-mounted V8 engineand electric motors tooffer up 770bhp and C02emissions lower than aBluemotion VW polo’s. it

also, thanks to a martinipaintjob nicked straightoff the old 917 le mansracers, looks seriouslycool.

But it’ll have to begood to woo buyers awayfrom another supercar-king-in-waiting, in theform of mclaren’s p1,arguably the old mclarenF1’s long awaitedsuccessor. you’d thinkwith that legacy in mindthat the Woking company

would’ve gone afterBugatti in a bid to buildthe world’s fastestproduction car but theyhaven’t; boss ron dennishas already made it clearhe wants the p1 to be thebest driver’s car ratherthan the best card to havein Top Trumps. it shouldbe quite a car.

that’s if you haven’tput your name down forthe Vanquish, the latest ina long line of aston

Life On Cars18

martins which offer plentyof punch and panachebut, for better or worse,still look strikingly similarto 2004’s dB9. then again,with a shape like that toconvey you and a friend to200mph in comfort, wouldyou blame them forleaving it largely as it is?

Certainly, you couldn’tblame land rover forchoosing not to mess withthe styling of the rangerover, because even

get revved uP For

the Class oF 2013Porsche’s stunning 918 Spyder is among next year’s arrivals

19Life On Cars

though the outgoingmodel was introduced wayback in 2002 it still looksgreat today, so wiselythey’ve decided not tomess with it. Sure, thestance is a little squatterand there’s a couple ofchanges here and there,but the big changes arebeneath the skin, becauseit’s lighter and kinder tothe environment thanever before.

So what if you haven’twon the Euromillions?Well, there’s even more toexcite motorists at themore affordable end ofthe market, especially ifyou’re after a saloon carwhich looks curiously likean aston martin rapide.Ford have given the newmondeo a very, er, aston-ishing nose, but it couldgive the insignia, the 508and the 3-Series a run fortheir money.

there isn’t going to bea new insignia for a whilebut Vauxhall’s cleverlyused the existing one inits efforts to conquer acorner of the market BmWand audi have had tothemselves for a while –the big convertible. theCascada is a smart lookingbit of kit and looks set tobe keenly spaced, and ican see it neatly fillingthe gap left by Saab’smuch-missed 9-3Cabriolet.

the other new arrivalVauxhall’s banking on is itslong overdue rival to themini, Fiat 500, audi a1and alfa mito, in theshape of the amusinglynamed adam. it looksfunky and offers an almost

endless scope for buyersto customise their cars. itcould be a great car, butit’ll lack the heritage andthe image of its moreestablished rivals.

in fact, one of the mostcrucial small car arrivals isa rather more familiarsupermini staple;renault’s new Clio.itssuccess, particularly inthe UK where thecompany’s struggledduring the recession, isvital for renault, but withthe Fiesta and the 208 totopple it’ll have to beexcellent to become thesmall car of choice,particularly whenpeugeot’s ready to reclaimthe crown of Britain’sfavourite hot hatch.

the 208 gti is beingbilled – by peugeotthemselves, no less – asbeing the spiritualsuccessor to the iconic205 gti, which just showshow ambitious the Frenchfirm is feeling. it missedthe mark with the spicierversions of the 206 andthe 207 but i think, if thecooking versions of the208 i’ve already drivenare anything to go by,they’re onto something.

But the one carcompany i’d keep an eyeon more than any otheris... Kia. the Sportage andthe Cee’d show theKorean firm is clearlyfeeling confident to takeon the big boys, but if thesporty pro_Cee’d gt turnsout to be better than the208 gti it’ll be theautomotive upset of theyear.

let battle commence!

Opposite: porscheis keen to impressenthusiasts andenvironmentalistsalike with thestunning 918 Spyder supercar.

Right, from top:

mclaren’s new p1is being billed asthe ultimate carfor keen drivers;new aston sees theVanquish monikermake a return;new mondeo is agreat looker; theCascada will takeon audi and BmWcabriolet models;adam is Vauxhall’sanswer to themini; latest Clio iscrucial for renaultsuccess; the 208gti is promisingmuch for hot hatchfans; the firstimage of Kia’s newsporty pro_Cee’dgt model.

a baPtism oF Fire

For one star Car

This MX-5didn’t have

the greatestof starts, but

it’s gone toimpress on

some of thecountry’s

best roads

Life On Cars20

Bargain ofthe Year

bits of aftermarket trim.not that i had much timeto moan about them,because less than afortnight later a Cumbrianroad, cold weather andcheap tyres got the betterof it. Cue an expensiverepair and a very bruisedego!

But once the repairshad been done, and theniggles had been sortedthe mX-5’s soul started toshine through; it was athrilling, affordable

thingS started badly forthe mX-5. not the world’sbest selling sports car ingeneral but this particularone, which i snapped upfor less than a grand lastyear.

it might be one of themost revered modernclassics of them all butthe g-plater i’d boughthad a ropey battery, aleaky roof, electricwindows which didn’twork and some prettyappalling alloy wheels and

ragtop with Japaneseengineering know-how anda sense of fun. i’d sold amini to make way for themX-5 and in the first twomonths thought i’d madean expensive mistake, butafter thousands of mileson all sorts of roads it’swormed by way into myaffections.

it happily cruised alongaberystwyth’s seafront ona sunny afternoon aseffectively as it devouredthe Buttertubs pass in

north yorkshire on a chillyevening, and blasted mealong motorways as easilyas it tootles around towncentres, and not once hasit complained at any ofthe tasks i’ve set it. Bestof all, it delivers youalong just about everyroad with a darty, alivesensation which makesyou smile.

What was frustratingwhen i bought it is now afirm favourite. i’m glad istuck with it.