Auto X Pert - Automotive Blog » Auto Blog

New Kia Cee’d due to hit the UK

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 04:21:00 +0000

Filed under: Consumer The new Kia Cee’d will go on sale in the UK on June 1st, priced from £14,395. It’s the second generation Cee’d, and brings the Korean company full circle – the first generation car kicked off a revolution for Kia, catapulting the company from maker of cheap and not-so-cheerful budget runabouts to middle-market stalwart capable of rattling the mainstream. The new Cee’d doesn’t do anything groundbreaking, but improves on its predecessor markedly – it’s more stylish, higher quality, and cheaper to run on average. Kia’s class-leading seven-year warranty – introduced with the first Cee’d – remains. The car represents two firsts for Kia: a direct injection engine and a dual-clutch automatic gearbox are both offered for the first time. Better late than never. Two petrol engines and two diesels are available off the bat: 1.4- and 1.6-litre diesels, and petrols of the same capacity. The bigger diesel returns 76mpg and 97g/km, thanks in part to start/stop. It develops 126bhp, and is more economical than the 1.4 diesel, with 89bhp, which can only muster 69mpg. The most powerful Cee’d is the 133bhp 1.6-litre petrol. Kia designed and developed the Cee’d in Europe, and promises a much better drive than before; the car has a stiffer chassis, and it has independent rear suspension – not a given for a family hatchback. Standard equipment is improved, while tech introduced for this generation includes an electric parking brake, heated steering wheel, two-zone air con, and electrically adjustable memory seats. Three-way adjustable power steering (switchable between Comfort, Normal and Sport) comes with higher models. And in a refreshing fit of model designation simplicity, Cee’ds trim levels are named 1,2,3 and 4. The most you’ll pay for a Cee’d, before options, is £23,795 for a dual-clutch 1.6-litre diesel in top spec. That’s only a few hundred pounds less than you’ll pay for a top whack Focus. How times have changed.

See more here:
New Kia Cee’d due to hit the UK

Video: Electric drag bike does 0-400 in 6.9 seconds

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:52:00 +0000

Filed under: Videos That’s 400 metres, not 400mph. The bike you see above managed 0-402 metres in 6.94 seconds, to be precise – and it’s a new world record for a quarter mile on an electric bike. The Lawless Electric Rocket was driven by Larry ‘Spiderman’ McBride at Virginia Motorsports Park in the US. You can see the attempt in the video below. McBride took the record from himself, having achieved a 7.47 time in September 2010, crossing the line at 177mph; this time around, he passed the post at 201mph. The Lawless drag bike is based on the 2010 model, but was fettled by the famous motorcycle builders at Orange County Choppers (they’re got their own telly show), using a new electric drivetrain built by an assortment of electrical specialist companies. The bike’s electric motor puts out an astonishing 1,000bhp, drawing power from a 121kg battery pack. That’s about the same as having a Gavin & Stacey -era James Cordon strapped to the undercarriage. The team aims to improve the bike further and do the run in under six seconds as some point. Thanks to Gizmag for the story.

Originally posted here:
Video: Electric drag bike does 0-400 in 6.9 seconds

£1.2m Aston Martin smashes auction record

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 01:42:00 +0000

Filed under: Classic cars Bonhams has sold an Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato Sanction II Coupé for £1,230,000 – a world record for a DB4. The 1991 car was owned by Phil Collins’ manager, Tony Smith, and has been driven less than 5,000 miles. Only four were ever made, so all the new owner need do is stick it in a garage and watch its value rise. The four Sanction II Coupés were each built using an original 1960 DB4 GT Zagato chassis, sat unused after demand for the car didn’t meet initial expectation. Despite looking like the 1960 car, the Sanction II is more powerful, getting a 352bhp 4.2-litre six-cylider engine, rather than the original’s 3.7-litre 314bhp unit. Other mechanical changes, including to the suspension and limited slip differential, improve handling. The car was sold at the 13th Bonhams sale at the Aston Martin Works in Newport Pagnell, which drew a record crowd of 2,000. The second highest value car sold was a 1962 DB4 Vantage Convertible, which went for £611,000. Get more details about the sale here.

See the rest here:
£1.2m Aston Martin smashes auction record

Halfords voted worst store in Britain

admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 00:57:00 +0000

Filed under: Consumer Car accessory store Halfords has been voted the worst in Britain for customer service by users of Which?, the consumer website. Halfords enjoys near iconic status in the UK – the name is synonymous with chavs car parts in the same way McDonalds is with obesity cheeseburgers. But that doesn’t mean we enjoy going there. According to the survey of 11,000, Halfords scored 51 out of 100 for customer service, with respondents calling the staff “unhelpful and rude,” among other things. That’s in start contrast to the best store in the UK, cosmetic retailer Lush, which scored 83. John Lewis and the Apple store both scored 81. Quoted in The Sun , a Halfords spokesperson said: “Our feedback shows thousands of customers each week love the help we provide.”

Original post:
Halfords voted worst store in Britain

What Is The Best Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend]

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 21:00:00 +0000

Despite our tendency to make far more questionable car related decisions than the average person, sometimes we are actually able to translate automotive obsession into making excellent choices when it comes to cars and trucks. More »

View post:
What Is The Best Automotive Decision You’ve Ever Made? [Question Of The Weekend]

1979 Holden Commodore—This Is It [Video]

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:00:00 +0000

With this past week’s news GM is bringing a version of the Australian Holden Commodore to American shores— again —we thought it appropriate to take a look at another slightly less exciting version of the Commodore. More »

Original post:
1979 Holden Commodore—This Is It [Video]

This Is The Downside Of Owning A Lamborghini [Video]

admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:00:00 +0000

Putting aside the obvious fire risk that comes along with owning an Italian exotic, as this video illustrates there’s another less obvious downside of owning a Lamborghini. More »

Read the rest here:
This Is The Downside Of Owning A Lamborghini [Video]

Tips from the experts: using digital displays safely

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:51:00 +0000

Filed under: Comment The latest IAM Drive & Survive series tells motorists how to survive while driving and using one of them fancy pants digital dashboard displays. Here goes then… Avoid the temptation to use any features that require input from the driver on the move. Set your sat nav before you go, and prepare a music playlist for your journey to avoid fiddling with the system while driving. Find somewhere safe to pull over if you need to set up a destination on your sat nav, or look for a local amenity. Familiarise yourself with how your interactive technology works. Make sure you know your route – don’t just rely on your sat nav. “These high tech dashboards will help make driving safer to some extent, with hands-free phone calls and a direct alert to call emergency services in the event of an accident. But with many of the features of smartphones they pose another in-car distraction,” says an IAM press release. Here’s a story about boobies, FYI.

Go here to read the rest:
Tips from the experts: using digital displays safely

Superchips boosts Ford’s turbo petrol engine

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 05:42:00 +0000

Filed under: Tuning Superchips, the car tuning company that shares its name with Gateshead’s finest kebab house, has worked its magic on the Ford 1.6-litre EcoBoost petrol engine, unleashing lots more power with little effort. Little effort on the part of the buyer, that is, because getting the power is a simple DIY job. The buyer simply plugs the chip into the car’s diagnostic port and follows some on-screen instructions. In an instant, up to 34bhp more is liberated from the engine. The chip is compatible with all versions of the 1.6-litre Ecoboost unit. The 148bhp version in the Focus, C-Max and Grand C-Max gains 30bhp and 38lb ft; the 158bhp version in the Galaxy, S-Max and Mondeo gets 34bhp and 44lb ft; and the 180bhp version in the Focus gets 20bhp and 32lb ft. The chip costs £445, is available now, and comes with a 12-month/30,000-mile supplementary warranty. Visit Superchips for more details.

Here is the original:
Superchips boosts Ford’s turbo petrol engine

Video: Tony Hawk, a skateboard, a Lexus LFA and a ramp…what happens?

admin — Thu, 17 May 2012 09:20:00 +0000

Filed under: Videos Tony Hawk has stood at the top of a ramp and smashed up a Lexus LFA with a skateboard, all in front of a camera and for a laugh. Obviously not. Here’s a video of him jumping over the car. It happened after Lexus gave Tony an LFA for his birthday, just for a borrow. And, in the words of Forrest Gump, that’s all we have to say about that.

Originally posted here:
Video: Tony Hawk, a skateboard, a Lexus LFA and a ramp…what happens?