Great Drives

Stand on the brake. Stand on the gas. Let go of the brake. Keep standing on the gas. Hang onto the steering wheel. Sounds simple enough, eh? Accelerating to 60mph in three seconds requires something of a leap of faith. The sheer physical effect that going from stationary to very fast in a very small amount of time immediately delivers a burst of adrenaline that can feel crippling. It's a fight or flight reflex that sometimes invites a complete brain freeze, but instinct usually kicks in. ESP is off, all the settings are firmed up - apart from the suspension. It's softened...

Tyre outfit Goodyear recently invited us to vehicle testing facility MIRA to try out a number of Goodyear products on a variety of cars in a range of conditions.In an even strongly focussed on the differences in performance of appropriate tyres - represented here by Goodyear products, natch - and inappropriate tyres consisting of summer tyres in winter conditions, part-worn tyres and budget tyres, the differences were startling.At a time when tyre safety and harsh winters are never far from news headlines, it was a timely event that showed the amazing - or horrifying - disparities in tyre performance, often...

"There's a stag on the track," says Tim, our instructor.I'm at the Loton park hillclimb about to tackle the steep run to the top in the all-new Vauxhall Astra GTC - and deer has stopped play.Out here in the rural Midlands cars share roadspace not with reps, but with badgers, deer, squirrels and pheasants; lots of pheasants."If you see a pheasant and you have a choice of hitting it and not hitting it - hit it!," says Stuart, our instructor at Shelsley Walsh (incredibly, the world's oldest motorsport venue still in use), later. This may sound brutal, but what is...

Any day where you get to sample an Audi R8 Spyder, Mercedes E63 AMG and the brilliant Renaultsport Megane Cup is going to be fun, but when those cars are coupled with a track and the mysterious MIRA testing facility, it gets that bit better.That’s exactly the opportunity that presented itself to MotorTorque this week as we were given the chance to test a number of cars on Continental’s latest performance tyres.I’m a relative newcomer to the industry so opportunities to thrash a brand new car around a track are few and far between. It also means that when you...

In motor sport, certain races on the championship calendar hold a special place in the hearts of fans.Take Formula One for example, a lot of people who follow the sport will speak highly of historic venues like the British, Italian or Belgian Grand Prix because of track layout and any memorable corners.Across the world certain circuits stick out in people’s mind because of a particular corner. This corner might have become memorable amongst drivers and fans for the challenge it offers, the spectacle it gives to viewers or the opportunities it opens for exciting racing.Some of these corners can quickly...

"Hello. Rob," says Rob Huff."Hello, Rob. Rob," I say in reply.And with that Huff powers out of the pits at Donington in the delightfully raspy World Touring Car Championship Chevrolet Cruze and piles into the first corner, a sharp right-hander.Whenever you get in a car with a professional driver I always suspect he's missed the first bend. He hasn't, of course, he's simply a much, much better driver than I am and proves as much by powersliding the Cruze around the bend with plenty of opposite lock and powers the car out of the corner, tail snaking this way and...

I'm at a Michelin event designed to show off the Pilot Performance tyre range - a range designed to cover virtually every driving style, from track to road. At one end there are slicks so sticky it seems like they'd return from a lap with bits of tarmac sticking to them. At the other the Michelin Pilot Sport, good for track; good for road. They're somewhat less sticky.I'm casually handed the keys to a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS and encouraged to drive it quickly around an unfamiliar track. Cars come thick and fast in a blur of tyre specs, horespower...

The Goodwood Festival of Speed's Hillclimb is surely on every motoring journo's bucket list - that notional 'things to do before...' collection of aspirations that everyone supposedly shares.For the petrolhead names like the Nurburgring, Millbrook, Silverstone and a dozen others will probably swim into view. For the less obvious seeker of automotive delights then perhaps a Volkswagen Polo saloon will catch the attention; or a drive in a Ford Sierra. There are much-coveted cars too - a Countach, an Allegro or a Supra. Again, it takes all sorts.But surely everyone can agree on the Hillclimb - that famous, and famously...

Although examples of the new Ford Focus Estate have been in UK dealer showrooms since May and 2,000 orders have already been placed, there could be no better venue than the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show to reveal the new range to the motoring public.The launch of the new Focus Estate range coincides with the centenary of Ford of Britain  so the manufacturer  quite obviously  used the Goodwood Festival events to show off the new Estate, latest fuel efficient Mondeos, former motorsport models and of course their Model T which began UK production in 1911.The Goodwood Festival...

2011 Is Ford Britain centenary year. The Model T was Ford’s first global car and 100 years later Ford has recently launched the new Focus Hatchbacks which they call global models as well. Now Ford is adding the Estate versions to the Focus line-up.This week a Model T and the first new Focus Estate sat side-by-side at a media event to celebrate Ford’s centenary. The events culminate in the Model T and Focus Estate models being part of Ford’s UK centenary celebrations at the forthcoming Goodwood moving Motor Show and Festival of Speed being held from 30 June to 3...