Steve Cropley
MONDAY
As history rolls on, I can’t help noticing how the automotive industry makes life tougher for us scribblers by doing even its bad cars better and better. Time was when you could sort cars easily into those that would succeed and those that wouldn’t, but not now.
I struck an extreme example today when I delivered the Steering Committee’s 28,000-mile Mini Cooper S to the local dealer for servicing and they kindly loaned me a Mini Countryman PHEV to replace it.
Truth time: I’ve always viewed the Countryman (aka The Fat Mini) as a dog. The styling is so grim that it makes the average knobbly supermarket potato look like it was designed by Marcello Gandini. But within a half-mile of driving, I had discovered a decent set of wheels: taut but nicely damped and quick but comfortable. It steered precisely via a well-weighted wheel and its road noise was low. Even the dinner-plate dash worked perfectly. I still don’t want a Countryman, but now I’m denied the joy of insulting it. What’s a bloke to do?
TUESDAY
The furore over whether the next Volkswagen-based electric Ford will be called the Explorer Sport or the Capri (or neither) is bound to rage on. Ford likes keeping people on tenterhooks, especially when sales of the era-defining Explorer are still nearly a year away.
I thoroughly agree with Ford’s view that emphasising the marque’s Americanness will boost appeal in Europe, and I’m hoping the idea will catch on in other quarters. Perhaps Renault will go back to building ultra-supple, quirky Gallic creations with 16-level body roll. Maybe low-end Fiats will go back to feeling like tiny, tinny Ferraris, meant to be thrashed within an inch of their lives. I’m looking forward to it.
WEDNESDAY
My research into the dynamics of £50,000 electric saloons continued today with a dealer test of a nearly new BMW i4 – the lighter, single-motor, rear-wheel-drive eDrive40 version, which I prefer to the four-wheel-drive, dual-motor M50 for its (relative) lightness and handling adjustability.
I probably shouldn’t start whining here again about the imperfections of the low-speed ride on EVs, but it really matters to me. You only have to consult your trip computer to see how much time you spend at 30-40mph. But great news on that front: while most EVs of this size pitch and judder to various degrees, struggling to tame their mass over difficult surfaces, the i4 just doesn’t. It rides and drives like a BMW. In the face of this stark rediscovery, I couldn’t choose any rival.
THURSDAY
Does Rishi Su
