Company Car Day - Milbrook
Discussion
One of my collegues at work subscribes to a dull and dreary magazine called ‘company car’ www.companycar.com/. It is free and sent monthly but the best bit is every year they organise an event at Millbrook proving ground www.millbrook.co.uk/.
The idea is all the big fleet manufacturers try and tempt you to choosing their car for your fleet by letting you drive them around the ‘Milbrook bowl’ or’ alpine circuit’. I have no responsibility for the fleet in my company, but managed to extend the truth on my application and got myself a ticket for last Thursday!
Vauxhall, Lexus, Honda, Toyota, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, Subaru, VW, Alfa Romeo, Skoda, Volvo and Saab were there with a selection of hum drum and top spec models. The idea is you go to the stand, chose a car, book a time and you have 20 minutes to rag the thing to death.
Anyway to cut a long story short I had a go in a number of interesting cars and I though I would share my experiences with you all.
Vauxhall Monaro VXR (05) – Surprisingly similar to my 04 model. I couldn’t find anything in the performance to be honest. Liked the exhaust note better, the engine sounded smother somehow, which I think made me think it had less low down torque. By far the quickest thing there.
Vauxhall Astra VXR – I have never been as scared driving a car in all my life! It is extremely difficult to make it go in a straight line and don’t accelerate around a corner. The car is mental, but great fun!
Alfa Romeo 159 2.2TD – Good car, seemed well screwed together, liked the handling and the engine note almost sounded nice for an oil burner. Good range of grunt through the rev range. Almost bearable. BTW the Brera in the flesh is pure pornography. I nearly had several trouser accidents! Unfortunately it was already booked all morning out when I got there so I missed out a go.
Lexus GS300 – A real surprising car. So quiet, smooth and felt top class. It was a bit underpowered compared to the monaro (but what isn’t!) but was won over by the sheer quality of the whole product.
Lexus GS450h – After the 300 I queued up and got in the brand hew hybrid thingy. Basically this is a 3.5v6 that powers the alternator that drives the motors / fills up the batteries in a rather complicated and boring process. Anyway it went really really well. It had instant torque and good strong acceleration up to a 100 (they don’t let you go any faster). When piddling around it was silent with only the engine being used when needed. It does 0-62 in 5.9 seconds and has a combined power output of 330bhp. That coupled with the quality and smoothness it really won me over. I think it has probably made it on to my next car shopping list.
Saab 9-3 2.5v6 Turbo Aero Convertible – Engine sounded muted and frankly quite dull. It was put together with a useless 5 speed auto and it really dulled the acceleration. A bit of a disappointment to be honest, I though it would be a lot better.
Saab 9-5 Estate Aero HOT – Even worse was the 9-5. It too had the auto which probably didn’t help but you can really tell that 250bhp isn’t ideally transferred to the road through the front tyres. This really put me off Saabs, which is a shame as I always liked them for being different / not German.
Skoda Superb 2.5 v6 TD – ‘twas stop-gab in-between car bookings. Shall we say… less than Superb!
Peugeot 407 Coupe – Had the 2.2 derv engine with a auto. Why put 2 things like derv and torque converters together? The end result is: foot on accelerator….. waiting….. waiting…. wheel spin! Absolutely rubbish. As for the car, felt French, the dash was a complete nightmare, too many buttons, it rode well and once it was going the engine did impress.
VW Jetta 2.0 TD Sport – Another stop gap car. Pretty uninspiring, was Ok but didn’t really leave a lasting impression. I nearly burnt the clutch out though as some muppet stopped in a 25% incline!
All in all a good mornings adventure. I could have stayed all day bit I had to get back for some interviews. I recommend it to anyone who likes cars and wants to have a go. Even just experiencing the alpine circuit is a treat, even if it is in a Superb!
BTW, while I was there I caught a glimpse at the new Aston Martin test mule and heard it blast around the ring. Absolutely awesome, words fail me…
Regards,
Richard.
The idea is all the big fleet manufacturers try and tempt you to choosing their car for your fleet by letting you drive them around the ‘Milbrook bowl’ or’ alpine circuit’. I have no responsibility for the fleet in my company, but managed to extend the truth on my application and got myself a ticket for last Thursday!
Vauxhall, Lexus, Honda, Toyota, Fiat, Renault, Peugeot, Subaru, VW, Alfa Romeo, Skoda, Volvo and Saab were there with a selection of hum drum and top spec models. The idea is you go to the stand, chose a car, book a time and you have 20 minutes to rag the thing to death.
Anyway to cut a long story short I had a go in a number of interesting cars and I though I would share my experiences with you all.
Vauxhall Monaro VXR (05) – Surprisingly similar to my 04 model. I couldn’t find anything in the performance to be honest. Liked the exhaust note better, the engine sounded smother somehow, which I think made me think it had less low down torque. By far the quickest thing there.
Vauxhall Astra VXR – I have never been as scared driving a car in all my life! It is extremely difficult to make it go in a straight line and don’t accelerate around a corner. The car is mental, but great fun!
Alfa Romeo 159 2.2TD – Good car, seemed well screwed together, liked the handling and the engine note almost sounded nice for an oil burner. Good range of grunt through the rev range. Almost bearable. BTW the Brera in the flesh is pure pornography. I nearly had several trouser accidents! Unfortunately it was already booked all morning out when I got there so I missed out a go.
Lexus GS300 – A real surprising car. So quiet, smooth and felt top class. It was a bit underpowered compared to the monaro (but what isn’t!) but was won over by the sheer quality of the whole product.
Lexus GS450h – After the 300 I queued up and got in the brand hew hybrid thingy. Basically this is a 3.5v6 that powers the alternator that drives the motors / fills up the batteries in a rather complicated and boring process. Anyway it went really really well. It had instant torque and good strong acceleration up to a 100 (they don’t let you go any faster). When piddling around it was silent with only the engine being used when needed. It does 0-62 in 5.9 seconds and has a combined power output of 330bhp. That coupled with the quality and smoothness it really won me over. I think it has probably made it on to my next car shopping list.
Saab 9-3 2.5v6 Turbo Aero Convertible – Engine sounded muted and frankly quite dull. It was put together with a useless 5 speed auto and it really dulled the acceleration. A bit of a disappointment to be honest, I though it would be a lot better.
Saab 9-5 Estate Aero HOT – Even worse was the 9-5. It too had the auto which probably didn’t help but you can really tell that 250bhp isn’t ideally transferred to the road through the front tyres. This really put me off Saabs, which is a shame as I always liked them for being different / not German.
Skoda Superb 2.5 v6 TD – ‘twas stop-gab in-between car bookings. Shall we say… less than Superb!
Peugeot 407 Coupe – Had the 2.2 derv engine with a auto. Why put 2 things like derv and torque converters together? The end result is: foot on accelerator….. waiting….. waiting…. wheel spin! Absolutely rubbish. As for the car, felt French, the dash was a complete nightmare, too many buttons, it rode well and once it was going the engine did impress.
VW Jetta 2.0 TD Sport – Another stop gap car. Pretty uninspiring, was Ok but didn’t really leave a lasting impression. I nearly burnt the clutch out though as some muppet stopped in a 25% incline!
All in all a good mornings adventure. I could have stayed all day bit I had to get back for some interviews. I recommend it to anyone who likes cars and wants to have a go. Even just experiencing the alpine circuit is a treat, even if it is in a Superb!
BTW, while I was there I caught a glimpse at the new Aston Martin test mule and heard it blast around the ring. Absolutely awesome, words fail me…
Regards,
Richard.
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