Nicknames For Cars
General Lee
There’s something about cars – at least cars that have been well designed by human beings rather than computers and algorithms – that makes them into a sort of mechanical animal. Given that we spend as much time with our cars as we do with our pets, it’s no surprise, therefore, that we give silly nicknames to our cars. Some of us go to the point of getting a personalised plate with the name on.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2015 Kia Rio S Premium
The small car market is populated with some pretty good cars and therefore is hotly contested in that segment. Kia’s entry, the Rio, has been an entrant since 2000 in the small car class and has undergone a few body style changes. In its current guise, it’s a three or five door hatch with a 1.4L engine (1.6L in the Sport) and archaic four speed auto (in the test car provided, there is a six speed manual as standard for the 1.4L and an auto only for the 1.6L). A Wheel Thing spent a week with the 1.4L, four speed auto, S Premium and came away more than a little surprised.
It’s a compact, almost boxy body, with the current iteration sitting on a 2570 mm wheelbase and is just 4045 mm in length. Toss in a 1220 kilo weight with driver and Kia’s claims of 5.7L (manual) and 6.3L (auto) of unleaded from a 43 litre tank seem feasible, with A Wheel Thing finishing on 6.9L, not far off (8.2L/100km highway, 5.2L/100 km highway). 
Tesla Powers Up The Hume.
American based electric car maker, Tesla, announced that it has opened two new car supercharging stations for the Hume Highway, which connects Melbourne and Sydney. The stations will allow an owner of a Model S vehicle to potentially achieve 270 kilometres of travel after just thirty minutes of charging time.
The Goulbourn station is located at the visitor’s centre in the town itself and is provisioned to charge up to eight cars at once. The Wondonga station, located in the riverside town at 5-13 Havelock Street, will allow up to six cars to be parked for the quick charge system. Both stations have been strategically placed to allow drivers access to town amenities whilst their cars are plugged in and will complement the two charger station at Euroa, north of Melbourne. Power provided is up to 120 kilowatts.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2016 Jaguar XE Prestige
Jaguar‘s renaissance has continued with the September 2015 launch of the XE, the smaller sibling to their XF saloon. Powered almost exclusively, for the moment anyway, by a range of four cylinder engines from the diesel and petrol powered (as the S gets the 250kW V6 found in the XF…), there’s a four model range to select from, being the Prestige, S, Portfolio and R-Sport. A Wheel Thing was handed the keys to the Prestige, with a 2.0L petrol turboed four on board.
There’s a clear family resemblance, as expected, to the XF, but also design cues from the F-Type family. Toss in a mix of style hints from the XJ, such as the bluff, vertical nose, the lonnnnng bonnet and short tail with F-Type inspired tail lights and it’s clear it’s a Jag.
The Prestige, as mentioned, is powered by a two litre petrol engine with a little extra help for the induction side. There’s two levels of oomph, with either 147 kW or 177 kW and 280/340 torques available from a mesa flat 1750 to 4000 revs. Transmission comes in any ratio spread you like as long as it’s an eight speed auto. Economy is (ahem) not bad from the 63L tank, with Jaguar quoting 10.2/6.0/7.5L per 100 kilometres on the urban/highway/combined cycles.
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