WTCC 2015: Return of the World Touring Citroen Championship
Nothing really has changed.. Image Credit: mascoche.net
After months of waiting the World Touring Car Championship has returned with the opening round at the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo in Argentina. The 2014 season was utterly dominated by the all-conquering Citroens, echoing the same consistent superiority as the Mercedes in F1. Towards the middle part of the season I had albeit given up on the WTCC. The close season filled me with a fools hope that 2015 would take the mistakes from 2014 and transform them into a thrilling year. As I sat ready to enjoy the return of touring cars for 2015, little did I know the massive disappointments that lay ahead.
Idiotic Overtaking
OK, I might have to stick my neck out a bit and explore the gender differences in driving here a bit. But what is it with guys and overtaking? Or, to be slightly more specific, why on earth do the driving men in my life (husband, son, father and brothers) feel compelled to overtake anything that’s in front of them if they’re out on the open road? The only male I know who doesn’t is my elderly grandfather… who (a) is quite content to perform complicated mathematical operations involving the numbers on the licence plate of the car in front of him and (b) doesn’t do much open road driving. They always say I’m far too patient when overtaking, but I say that safety is more important, and if I can’t get a nice open stretch of road with plenty of visibility and clear road to pass safely, then I’ll resign myself to being stuck behind that freight truck for as long as necessary. Truckies are usually pretty considerate and if they can see you in the mirrors and a twisty hill’s coming up, they tend to find a shoulder to pull onto while you whip past.
However, I am happy to say, the men in my life are reasonably safe drivers when overtaking (with the exception of one leadfooted brother but that’s another story). I wish I could say the same for other drivers on the road. I don’t know if you’ve noticed but there are some real idiots out there. The most moderate of these idiots are the ones who overtake you when you’re doing the speed limit or possibly a shade over… but they still sweep past you and disappear into the wide blue yonder. You shake your head and wonder what they’ll do if a cop on speed patrol is waiting just around the corner.
2015 Tesla S 85: The Review
Elon Musk is one far seeing individual; not only does he have his fingers in the space and mass transportation pies (Space X and Hyperloop) he wants electric cars in everyone’s garage. It’s a dream that many have had and many have failed at.
Sure, there’s hybrids and almost fully electric cars such as the Volt, but the Tesla car is fully electric, meaning there’s no petrol engine to supplement or charge. There’s a single or pair of electric motors, charged up at home via a modified power point to deliver three phase power or at a growing number of “Supercharging” stations that will line the east coast of Australia in a short space of time. A Wheel Thing was granted a (too few!) number of hours with the Tesla S 85 and commenced the journey from Tesla Cars Sydney’s HQ, in St Leonards.
On arrival, I was met by the courteous and friendly staff, immediately making me feel welcome. I was introduced to Will, who gave me a pretty thorough introduction to the Tesla S 85 I would be spending a few hours with.
The centrepiece of the Tesla is the enormous 17 inch, vertically inclined, touchscreen. It’s the powerhouse for all of the controls, from the aircon to the Google Maps navigation (voice
guided, as is the audio system), information about the car to being able to select how open you wish the sun roof to be…precisely! The layout is intuitive, user friendly and follows a common sense method when a window or tile is no longer needed, by having an X in a corner to be tapped to close.
The driver gets a hi-res screen too, with crystal clear info including an on the go battery usage chart; the battery itself can be charged at home with the charger supplied by Tesla and the system can be programmed to charge during off peak periods, such is the attention to the small yet important things.
Totally Pointless Driving Habits
Low bridge coming! Duck your head and shrink down in your seat behind the wheel, as this really helps your car fit underneath!
We do some pretty funny things in our cars at times. I’m not just talking about crazy overtaking, attempting to do fifty things while steering or cutting other people off. Nor am I talking about the things we do at traffic lights when we forget that our car is not our own little bubble that makes us invisible. I’m talking about the peculiar habits we have while driving (or being driven) that are completely pointless.
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