Author: Miles Downard

I’ve had this discussion with many of my friends. And most of them share my sentiments: BMW M models of late have grown slightly sedate, becoming more clinical and refined, renouncing that essence of hooliganism that M-badged beauties of past held.

It’s that time of the year again when Jeremy Clarkson and his mates come over for a holiday in sunny South Africa and while they’re here throw on a pokey motoring festival to entertain us locals.

Generally I don’t like bakkies as private vehicles, don’t see the point, never have, never will, which is why I’ve always been quite a fan of the Isuzu KB range. They are without a doubt the most workmen like vehicles in the sector…

Anyone even remotely connected to the world of video games will have heard of the name Gran Turismo. The series has become synonymous with sheer virtual motoring pleasure and perfection.

The word “Kia” is in fact derived from some Chinese characters representing what us westerners read as Ki. Ki means to “arise” or “come up out of” while “a” refers to Asia. So when put together, Kia means to “arise or come up out of Asia”.

I must declare a certain amount of bias up front when it comes to Subaru. I’ve always been a fan

We motoring types seem to come under a lot of pressure from eco-mentalists. By nature the process of driving a motorcar of any kind will cause damage to the environment. Also by nature, those who enjoy driving do more of it and hippies have deduced that this is not a good thing.

Anyone who had a TV set this year will undoubtedly recognise our interviewee for December. Stealing the show on the Sports Illustrated Swimwear shoot in more ways than one, Michelle Oosthuizen looks set to take the modelling and motoring world by storm (take note Mini).

In a saloon car market traditionally dominated by sleek, well engineered Germans, Citroen has found itself between a rock and a hard place. Their previous offering of soft and quirky vehicles quickly developed a “love/hate” relationship with, well, everyone.

There was a rumour a while back that when Mazda was designing the MX3, they recorded the noise made by a Triumph TR5 gearbox when changing cogs, and then engineered theirs to sound the same. Not to mention the fact that the entire concept was loosely based on a 1960’s Lotus Elan.