A Wee Dram For Your Car
Ok, so it’s St Patrick’s Day, so I’ll put this post in green text and will kick off with a wee story…
Two nuns were driving along a remote rural road in County Mayo in northeastern Ireland when they ran out of fuel. They walked to a nearby farmhouse and explained their plight to the farmer. “To be sure, sisters, I can give you a bit of petrol so it’s off on your good works you can be driving. But I’ve only the one jerry can, so the only thing I can give you to carry it back to your car in is this old whiskey bottle.” “Bless you, Patrick, and thank you,” said the nuns. They walked back to their car clutching their whisky bottle full of petrol. As they were pouring the petrol from the whisky bottle into the fuel tank, Sean O’Reilly drove by. Spotting the whiskey bottle, Sean shook his head and stared. “Begorrah, that’s what I call faith!” he said.
Volvo XC60 T5: The Review
A Wheel Thing is wrapping up a month of Volvo with the XC60 T5; the upper mid sizer is a great way to travel, comfortable and roomy and a fantastic long distance traveller.
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It’s the now familiar 2.0L turbo petrol engine, with that 350Nm of torque from 1500 to 4500 revs. Performance is slightly dulled in the XC60 thanks to the 1766 kg dry weight (then add fuel, 
passengers and cargo) but never to the point of feeling lacklustre.
The torque is pushed out via the front wheels through a eight speed auto, geared to take advantage of that torque. Acceleration is rapid, as a result, surprisingly so for the bulk, at just a tick over seven seconds. Economy will vary, naturally, on driving style and location, however in one week it rounded out as close as dammit to 8.0L per 100 kilometres covered from the 70 litre tank. This was, admittedly, helped by a good length country drive to Kiama, on the NSW coast just 90 minutes south of Sydney.
BTCC Memorable Drives: Final Naval Battle in Vauxhall War
Image Credit: BTCC.net
While I was walking to work this morning, I came across a navy blue Vauxhall Astra parked on the side of the road. For the others passers-by, there was neither a flicker of recognition nor even a glimpse of acknowledgement. However, for a diehard fan of the BTCC such as myself I was instantly transported to a cold, windy and astronomically wet Kentish winter nearly 14 years ago. You see for me, that blue Astra represents a thrilling finale to a championship filled with change, battles and scandal. For this issue of BTCC Drives, I would like to take you back to 2001 and the thrilling finale of a season long grudge match between two of the biggest names in touring cars.
Volvo V40 T5 Cross Country: The Review
In the third (and unexpected) V40 to be parked in A Wheel Thing’s garage, due to a minor but potentially non road worthy sensor glitch in the scheduled S60 sedan, the newly released Cross Country version was offered as a replacement, with the S60 being rescheduled. As such, this review will look at the differences between the Cross Country and its stablemates, rather than a normal in depth look.
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It’s the turbo four and six speed 
auto combination; that 180 kW top end and 350 Nm from 1500 to 4500 revs combine sweetly in the Cross Country. It provides plenty of acceleration, makes overtaking a breeze however there’s a hesitation with the gearbox engaging Drive from Reverse and some indecision on light throttle applications. Under way, the transmission responds to the engine’s demands with alacrity.
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