How Does The Ford Mondeo Stack Up Against The Vauxhall Insignia?

Mark Turner of Blacktopmedia recently tested the Vauxhall Insignia and thought it would be appropriate to throw it in the ring with a couple of its usual suspect sparing partners.

Let’s start with the Mondeo.

Since god was a boy the Mondeo has been the staple diet of reps up and down the country.
Why? Because it does what it says on the tin and does it well.

From the first drive of the Mondeo Titanium X Business Edition, I felt completely at home, familiar, comfortable in each other’s company.

I don’t know how Ford do it but it just fits. Everything worked, it made sense, I didn’t need a degree from NASA to work it and I didn’t need to add 20 minutes to each journey to allow me time to figure out how to start it, set the seat position, work out the stereo controls and so on.

Ironically, the only criticism I had of the Mondeo was that it was a little unremarkable to look at.
The styling is a little unexciting. It is undoubtedly a handsome car but the styling, on the outside at least, is reserved. Oh, and the driver’s seat wasn’t fully electric on this £25k model, so what.

The fit and finish is flawless and exudes quality befitting a more prestige marque. The bluetooth integration was a piece of cake, sat nav worked perfectly and the interior is such an agreeable place to be you won’t mind sitting on the M25 all day.
The controls are very well organized and felt familiar and there are enough toys to fulfil your needs but the car still feels balanced. The tech complements the car and doesn’t feel intrusive. You feel like you are in control but the electronics are quietly working away in the background.

So, it looks good, works well and feels right. That’s all fine but if it drives like a dogs dinner it’s all been a waste of time. Well, nothing to worry about there.

The 2014 Mondeo doesn’t disappoint. The driving dynamics are great. The car rides well, taking on our degrading and crumbling city streets without breaking in to a sweat.
The gearbox is near perfect with 6 well-spaced ratios making good use of the power available.
The engine is a gem. The 2.0 TDCi is a great power plant that offers a solid spread of power and torque from low revs. There is little or no turbo lag and the engine is very refined and quiet for a diesel.

In summary, the 2014 Mondeo is a hard act to follow. It sets the bar pretty high. It drives really well, is built well, looks good and is well priced. You could say it does exactly what it says on the tin……and does it well.

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Save Our Souls With Retro Cars

Mark Turner of BlackTop Media looks at a retro car scene, Southern Old School

S.O.S (Southern Old School) is an underground car gang overflowing with attitude. Don’t make the mistake of thinking this is some ordinary car club or group, it’s a retro car gang.

The gang was put together by James ‘Elk’ Ellerker and his brother Tim in 2008, almost by accident.

Back then, running old school cars wasn’t anywhere near as cool as it is now.

There were 15 or so of them who shared the passion and used to meet up from time to time.

As it grew it became more and more of a pain in the arse to make arrangements by text so Elk decided to start a Facebook group to post up the meets. The rest is history.

S.O.S has forged its own furrow, soaking up influences from skate, BMX, surf, graffiti and other urban cultures and has created its own scene.

From humble beginnings on the coast at Torbay in Devon they are now known throughout the UK and have a reputation for having the baddest, lowest cars around.

These guys are overflowing with attitude and character. I feel like I’ve discovered a long lost family.

There’s a passion for cars that stretches back to Elks childhood. His dad built cars and now so do Elk and his brother Tim and you want to see the shit they get up to……

Tim had an old MK1 Fiesta that had seen better days. He was going to scrap the car when a sinister plan was hatched deep inside the dark recesses of their minds.

The motivation was simple, to make this Fiesta as ridiculous and impractical as possible.

It’s been brutally slammed and sits 200mm lower than standard.

That’s an extreme stance but is just scratching the surface with this car.

Just for shits and giggles the brothers thought they’d make the Fiesta pillarless, so out came the angle grinder and off came the door pillars, B pillars and sidewindows.

Enough? Not even close. The boys must have had a big night when they came up with the next stage…..ROOF CHOP, obviously!

The boys headed down to South West Coast Customs for a 4” roof chop where the roof was lengthened and widened so the pillars didn’t need to be laid back.

Hand painted with no windows or wipers, this Fiesta is a rad little car that encapsulates the attitude of Elk, his bro Tim and the whole S.O.S retro car gang.

This is not the end of this cars journey. There are plans to revamp it in the summer and go balls deep. I’m looking forward to see the results of that little adventure.

There is an awesome collection of cars amongst these guys. I’ll show you some more soon.

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Living With - Vauxhall Insignia Elite Nav TDCi 163

Mark Turner of Blacktop Media reviews his Vauxhall Insignia

I have to be honest - I didn’t take to the Vauxhall Insignia.

When it was revealed in 2008 I was indifferent at best. The shape was generic and the car was forgettable.

I recently saw a press release about one of the ‘new’ Insignia models which caught my eye. A rather naughty, provocative little number.

The wheels had grown in diameter and the old tweed jacket had been replaced with a sharp, Saville row suite.

My curiosity challenged me to look deeper.

The delivered car was an Insignia Elite Nav 2.0TDCi. It is a very handsome car. The elegant, flowing lines are adorned in thick, luxurious, black metallic paint, accentuated by the suave chrome window surrounds.

The Insignia had a plethora of toys, Bluetooth, navigation, leather, electric everything and the list goes on. It really is a well specified car.

Now, I’m not a fan of unnecessary electronic ‘aids’ and like most modern cars, unfortunately the Insignia has plenty.

Everything you want to use seems to need a physics degree to work out and the traction control and ESP make sure you don’t try and enjoy yourself. Fortunately, the Bluetooth is simple and works very well but the Touch-pad controller for the Touch R700 IntelliLink infotainment system is hopeless. It isn’t fluid and the display looks dated.

I’ve seen lots of integrated systems that look almost beautiful. The Insignia's isn’t one of those.

It was functional, but I couldn’t help thinking that in a couple of years it will look like an antique, a bit like those massive TV’s we all laugh at now.

The sat-nav is virtually pointless. It wore me down and I reverted to using my phone it was so dire.

While I’m kicking the old girl, the electrically adjusted seats need a swift kick.

When you turn off the ignition the plush leather drivers seat is supposed to quietly slide back just enough to make exiting the car easier. (I can honestly say I have never needed to slide my chair back to get out of a car. Clearly, the Insignias target audience do).

Upon entry, the chair returns to it’s previous position…….sometimes. In my experience 50% of the time it did what it was supposed to, the other 50% of the time it slid all the way back, trapping the legs of rear seat occupants, then just defiantly stayed there.

The maniacal drivers seat didn’t annoy me as much as I expected, mainly because I was busy playing ‘electronic handbrake roulette’. It’s quite a common game these days and can be played in most executive cars.

You stop and flick the handbrake button, then see what, if anything, happens. If you are lucky the handbrake engages, leaving you wondering if it will randomly release or you will have to burn the clutch out trying to pull off while the ridiculous, pointless, electronic handbrake reluctantly submits.

On the plus side, it drives well. It’s very comfortable, very well appointed, well put together and didn’t falter all weekend.

The cabin does a great impression of a luxury executive car. It’s distinguished, chic and somehow feels familiar, closing the gap between mid-range saloon cars and their revered luxury cousins.

The Insignia performs well, handles well and if I had a slight criticism about the driving dynamics, it would be aimed at the brakes. They are fine, but not great. After a spirited 10 minutes I pulled up at a junction to find the front brakes smoking. There was a hint of fade and vagueness when you put some heat in to them.

I would seriously consider an Insignia if I was a rep with a company car budget around the £25k mark. Mine would be in this exact spec and colour.

Then again, £25k is Mondeo Titanium X Business Edition territory. That’s a tough battle to win.

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