Author Archives for Debbie Kirkley
About Debbie Kirkley
Debbie enjoys: Spending time with her family and dogs, travelling and her work.
Debbie has had exposure to every aspect of the business, ensuring a tight ship at every stage of the process. She thrives on achieving great results, all the while being a great person to laugh and joke about with.
Top tips for safe motoring
We give you some of our top tips for safe motoring...
Should I get a short term lease?
We look at whether a short term lease is right for you...
We’ve seen tears of joy and disappointment in equal measure over the course of this record breaking season. The Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2013, 71 laps of intricate circuit and home to the final race of 2013 was no different.
Following a delicate qualifying session under heavy rain, recently crowned Champion Sebastian Vettel chalked another pole into his record breaking tally and took his ninth pole of the season, his 45th pole of his career. Alonso stole third behind Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber’s woes continued in his final race in the sport only managing fourth.
After an exciting start which saw Rosberg, Hamilton and Alonso improve on their start positions, Vettel regained his lead and made a dash for it. Lotus said goodbye to the V8 engine in spectacular style when Grosjean was forced to retire due [...]
Autosport is reporting that Jaguar bosses have signed off a return to the Le Mans 24 Hour, a race that the British marque has won seven times.
Although the official line is that the Tata Motors owned company is “currently monitoring developments in world motorsport”, rumours are suggesting Tata chairman Ratan Tata and Jaguar’s top brass have already decided on a return to the fastest LMP1 class, although precisely when is still to be agreed. The class has been dominated by Audi and Peugeot in recent years.
Jaguar has won Le Mans seven times, in 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1988 and 1990. This last win came the year before Jaguar quit the sport in favour of an ill fated foray into Formula 1, although the company has since worked with independent teams with entries in the lower classes, including [...]
We revealed spy shots recently, but now Mercedes-Benz has officially released details of the most powerful C-Class ever — the C63 AMG Black Series.
The spec:
– 6,208cc V8 (this is what AMG refers to as the ’6.3′)
– 517bhp at 6,800rpm
– 457lb/ft at 500rpm (!!)
– 0-62mph in 4.2 seconds
– 155mph top speed (restricted)
– CO2 emission of 286g/km
– 23.3mpg combined cycle
Running through what makes the Black Series stand out, we find vents in the front apron improve cooling; and twin vents in the bonnet to help expel heat from the engine bay. A black front splitter helps improve air flow to balance the car better at speed.
A new front axle sports an increased track, requiring the front wings be stretched outwards by 28mm (an inch) on [...]
Nissan’s luxury division Infiniti continues to tease us with a slow reveal of its forthcoming large JX crossover SUV.
The new car will apparently slot in above the current range topping FX SUV, pitching against the Audi Q7, BMW X5 and Range Rover Sport.
No word on engines but the five seat FX comes with a 3.7 litre V6 petrol — a version of the engine that can be found in the Nissan 370Z — and a 3.0 litre diesel, pushing out 316bhp and 235bhp respectively. It’s safe to assume these will feature. Expect also to see the V8 5.0 litre from the top FX, coming in with 385bhp.
The JX will debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the US on 18 August and should reach these shores in 2012. Price? More than £50,000.
For further information on this Infiniti contact [...]
With the MG6 GT and Magnette launches out of the way, SAIC owned MG is now working on its next two models — the MG3 supermini and this, the MG5 compact hatch.
Sharing its underpinnings with the Roewe 350 — both Roewe and MG are owned by Shanghai based SAIC, now the world’s eighth largest car maker — this is an all new platform and places the MG5 in the same sector as the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Astra and VW Golf. Engines will be a four cylinder 1.5 petrol with about 105bhp, which may also come with a light pressure turbo for around 150bhp. It’s likely the forthcoming in-house four cylinder 1.9 diesel, being developed by MG at Longbridge, will also find its way under the bonnet, as may the 92bhp 1.3 from the MG3. Six speed manuals and automatics will shift the gears, although a [...]
Porsche is contemplating putting the famous 550 badge on an entry level roadster development of the Volkswagen Bluesport concept, their CEO has revealed.
Speaking to German newspaper Handelsblatt, Matthias Mueller said: “I can imagine that such a modern version of the famous ‘James Dean’ Porsche would be well received by our customers.”
In the interview he went on to say that the new entry level Porsche would not be a retro model, but a modern small open topped two seater tasked with making the brand more accessible. This is because Stuttgart has set itself the task of selling more than 200,000 units by 2018, over double the 97,000 sales it achieved in 2010. It isn’t going to do that purely from marketing the existing range better; a new, more affordable Porsche is needed.
There is an outside chance Porsche will develop [...]
