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PH's trip to Paris is on the Jaguar Land Rover ticket, the former half of that partnership hopefully leaving
the am-dram team
at home and concentrating on
XE the car
and the latter promising lots of noise about
the Discovery Sport
. On which more in due course.
To join the fun I was supposed to be on an early plane from Heathrow. I'm not. I'm going to be in a Lamborghini Huracan instead. Why? Because I was offered it and, frankly, you just would, wouldn't you.
What driving to and through Paris in a Huracan will prove beyond novelty value and bragging rights among fellow hacks when I ask them how they travelled to Paris I'm not sure. Given Les Flics' appetite for relieving speeding Brits of their euros it'll be a cruise controlled 130km/h for the run down so there'll be no vmax runs for me. And once at my destination it'll be more a test of nerve in Parisian traffic and the fancy new integrated nav display contained within the instrument binnacle. Rather than moaning about supposed lag in the digitally recreated rev counter causing me to bounce off the rev limiter.
Saying that there's the possibility I won't actually make it there. I was barely half a mile out of Lamborghini London's press garage when a succession of warning messages appeared on the dash. First it told me the ESP wasn't working and then the four-wheel drive system announced a fault. These and others that followed have since disappeared but it wasn't the most confidence-inspiring start to the journey. Oh, and the gearbox did try and kill me by abruptly block shifting from fifth to first at 30mph as I slowed to join the M25 from the M1 slip road and nearly locked all four wheels in the process. To those who say Audi has engineered the Italian character out of Lamborghini I say the Huracan may beg to differ...
Sitting on the Eurotunnel I pondered a difficult existential question. What footwear to wear for driving a supercar to Paris then? The handmade Japanese driving shoes? Or the softer slip-on loafer, also designed with the gentleman driver in mind? The Negronis have a good combination of sole stiffness and feel about them and are probably the better shoe for pedalling from a functional perspective. But as anyone schooled in the art of YouTube supercar video helmsmanship will know there's nothing faster than a slip-on, the cheesier the better.
Such quandaries satisfied I got back into the Huracan and programmed the route into the nav, leaving the couple behind me on the 0720h to Calais utterly baffled as to why the berk in the Lamborghini in front of them was taking photos of his shoes.
With no new fault codes on the dash and instead a glorious fullscreen map of my route to enjoy in the Huracan's instrument binnacle I was all set. I know I had my issues with the rev counter but in all other respects this multi-function display thing (also in the Audi TT) really works rather nicely, with everything directly in your line of sight and an easy switch between big speedo and little map, all map or various other combinations. Speedo and map it was, knowing where I was going and keeping a lid on the Huracan's appetite for big speeds the two goals for the trip.
Hence an obedient 130km/h cruise along the Peage, vindicated at a pit stop when I saw some poor sap having euros extracted from him by an unmarked car of Flics, uniformed colleagues buzzing about on bikes for good measure. Meaning when, not long after, I encountered a chap in a Ferrari 599 it was respectful nods at the legal limit rather than a thumbs up, foot to the floor test of Cavallino Rampante against raging bull.
Sad really but a reflection of the times we live in. I know, I know, I shouldn't advocate speeding and all that. But when a gentleman in a Lamborghini meets a gentleman in a Ferrari on the road to Paris and both are so cowed by paranoia there's not even a cheeky little squirt up the road there's something badly wrong with the world. I can't help but think a couple of decades ago it'd have been loafers to the carpet and last one to lunch pays the bill. Ho hum.
Once in Paris the Huracan's more user-friendly nature was rather welcome. You can just about see out of it. It's not too big. And that nav is brilliantly clear and logical. Sorry, I know we should be evaluating supercars on ability to bonfire tyres and all that. But being able to mooch about yer fashionable city centre is probably more relevant to most owners and the Huracan works a treat. But still stops people in their tracks parked outside a fancy Parisian hotel. A fancy Parisian hotel hired by my hosts Jaguar Land Rover, the Lambo prominently parked between their product on the threshold to the hotel. "I suppose I should be annoyed," said Jag's PR man, "but you can't really argue with that."
Job done it's now off to an afternoon of 'immersion' in the Land Rover Discovery Sport. Wish me luck!
Is the Land Rover Discovery Sport a PHey kind of vehicle? Not sure but it's been the focus of my first day in Paris so let's put that question to the floor.
We were already up to speed on the car's major features but today's briefing beside the Seine gave us the full story - and then some - and a chance to see the car in the metal too. Credit due too; after the sniggering from the back row of Jaguar's theatrical XE debut (guilty as charged) we got our comeuppance here in the shape of a 90-minute technical immersion in what every damned switch did in full and unflinching detail. It was merciless!
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley (I had no idea but turns out she's posh, skinny, British and in town because it's Paris fashion week) presented the car to a quayside full of hacks in the Parisian sunshine, cocking up her one-line announcement by calling it a 'Range Rover Discovery' before posing alongside Land Rover design boss Gerry McGovern. Oddly he got mixed up too, describing it as the same in his more in-depth presentation. I checked. It's definitely a Land Rover.
Highlight of the exhaustive/exhausting technical preview? The footage of the brutal 20mph ditch test that Land Rover puts all its cars through five times at a constant speed and then five times with a full ABS stop halfway through. If it survives that and nothing breaks it's definitely a Land Rover. And if you can watch the repeated footage and not wince at the sound of an alloy clobbering a ditch at 20mph you're a stronger person than I. Message received - the Discovery Sport is A Proper 4x4 and all that.
For what it is it does look good too, more distinct from the generic half Evoque, half Range Rover Sport schtick the photos suggested. For the avoidance of doubt too Freelander as an idea is dead and this is not a replacement for the Discovery as we currently know it. A 'full size' family member will appear in due course but while this ostensibly caters to the Freelander audience it's also intended to be appealing to those who might otherwise go for anything from a Hyundai Santa Fe to an Audi Q5.
Now back at the hotel I'm guiltily catching up on what I missed by not going to the VW preview night. Like the Ducati engined XL1. Oops.
Wednesday, 1600h - SEAT stand
A typical motor show day of chasing interviews, hunting working internet and - most important - food and drink. The day started with an interview with AMG's Oliver Wiech, a development engineer there of 16 years standing who started out as an engine man on the C32 era C-Class and then became overall project manager for C63 and others. Good man to chat to about the new version then, fruits of this conversation to follow. And, yes, he has an answer as to why they stuck with 'C63' despite going down to a 4.0-litre engine.
From there I went to Aston Martin for an interview with design boss Marek Reichman via an impromptu meeting with new boss Andy Palmer. His first show in the job, he sounds to be enjoying his new company car (a Rapide) and living the dream of running an iconic brand like Aston Martin. Reichman had more to say about how that's going to develop, not least with the input of previous interviewees AMG and there's much to be excited about. Or so they say. Again, more on this once I type up my notes.
From Aston to Ferrari, via attempts to photograph the Peugeot 208GTI 30th. Matt black front half, bright red rear under show lighting? Nightmare! Ferrari was interesting. And very hot. I betrayed my Englishness by sweating profusely while around me Italians in suits sported woollen scarves without so much as a bead of sweat on their foreheads. Getting on the Ferrari stand is always a challenge but once behind the rope I was able to witness the build up and then delivery of Luca di Montezemolo's final motor show speech as boss of Ferrari. A di Montezemolo press conference is usually full of pomp and circumstance and whatever you think of the brand he is/was the perfect embodiment of its values. I paraphrase but I remember his presentation of the LaFerrari basically going "this is the LaFerrari, it's the best car we've ever made, we will build 499 of them. And they are all sold. Ciao."
A quick dash to Honda for a fascinating interview with the Civic Type R's project manager - again, one to type up - and then to Mazda. Here I caught up with some of the senior personnel I met, raced against and in one case crashed into at my Tsukuba race. The latter, Skyactiv engine boss Fujiwara-san was on ebullient form, shouting "this is the guy that crashed into me!" and proving that this unconventional networking technique actually paid off. He also offered me a conspiratorial insight into the car, or at least teased me with one. He drove a 2.0-litre version just before flying out and says it's brilliant. Completely unbiased opinion of course.
A very weird thing happened while there too - a chap giving a piece to camera from the driver's seat of the car found his presentation rudely interrupted. "Tell that man to stop banging on the bodywork!" shouted his indignant producer at the burly German in the double-breasted suit. "You know who that is?" hissed someone nearby. "I don't care!" Was Prof Dr Dr Winterkorn - boss of VW group - bothered? Not a lot. Also present were Wolfgang Hatz "It's an interesting car..." and a typically steely looking Ulrich Hackenberg, who did a thoughtful lap of the exposed chassis and engine and stomped off, brow furrowed. I did manage to grab a word with newly appointed Audi chief designer Mark Lichte, a former Mk1 MX-5 owner but clearly not a fan of the new one. "I don't know, it looks a bit funny ... I don't like it." That's them told - clearly his with Hackenberg on the need to conform to harsh geometric rules or whatever it was he said about the new TT Roadster.
Time now to mop up some final photos and head back to HQ. As you'll see, I've got some writing to do...
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