The world adores matt hayward

For those of you that think Japan never made a classic car, look away, smile and think of England. For the freaky small minority of us who love pristine J-tin, brace yourself, the Grand JDM blog is pure car porn.

Last night I found this site looking for info on Toyota Centurys and they had not one but two articles on them. One car was in Australia and for sale! Anyway I haven’t been able to stop looking since. For those of you that don’t know (and for the trendies, frankly I hope you don’t), they’re not made for the status quo. They’re made to look timeless and classic in a similar demeanor to a Rolls Royce. But we don’t like them for that, we love they way they look pimped out on old school rims in that uber classy black paint with silver trim.

It only gets better from there. They have Project Hakosuka (kind of means box-car in Japanese slang), an early seventies Skyline GTR. Worth a read if only to get some advice on the turmoils of importing a vintage car from Japan. It’s insightful to see first hand exactly what those auction grades mean and what culturally passes as a pristine resto in Asia.

Finally (and by no means have I read the whole site …yet) they have links to some of the most awesome vintage car dealers in Japan. Oh yeah and the site is done using the Wordpress blog. This site is pure heaven on a stick. Big shout outs to its creator. It’s like the internet’s all new again!

Well I’m flabbergasted. The Melbourne Motorshow was actually bloody fantastic! A little something for everyone. If you want a highlight, it has to be the Bolwell Nagari. Why? Because it’s an Aussie kit car with true heritage and unlike the Evo Rex brigade, it may not be around for long. It has absolute classic potential. So I was sure to grab a brochure for future eBay investment. Not that you would want it to die, it looked fantastic - truly.

Second bigbest highlight had to be the Ford stand. I’m loathed to admit I’m a bit of a Ford man and you couldn’t pick a better year to go if you are. All the new XRs, G series Fords and Mondeos are on display and you can have a sit. Oh yeah and the FPVs. Especially the FPVs were a highlight to have a sit in. Oh what a great year for Fords. Seriously, they’re great looking cars. Although it looks like Ford haven’t resolved the driver’s seating positioning problems in the FG. But we won’t truly know until it can be driven.

Stands you can walk straight past are the Holden and BMW stands. Don’t think you missed the Mercedes stand, because this year they couldn’t be bothered. Truly, they couldn’t give a rat’s arse about Melbourne, so neither should you about Mercedes. The other two are basically shopping centre car parks, full of shapes and colours you’re already pretty familiar with.

You can sit in most of the Audi range and the R8 is on display too, which would’ve been an even bigger highlight if there wasn’t one parked on the street the other day. Perks of inner city living! The A5 is there too and that is truly breathtaking enough. Oh that V10 wagon is there somewhere too. Also had a sit in five, count ‘em FIVE Alfa Romeos. Awesome.

Biggest surprise display was the Range Rover modifiers stand Long Horn(?) who have two utterly pimped out Range Rovers on display, one dumped on its guts! They seriously look like they should be in Ben Cousins’ driveway.

Biggest exploiters of bright, shiny objects this year were Toyota. They basically had nothing new to show you. So they brought along a drag car with a 2JZ GTE engine, massively turbo charged and the hybrid Supra concept. But apart from that, tampons would be more interesting quite frankly than most other product on their stand.

Most underwhelming were the GTR and the Evo. It’s hard to explain why, but the GTR somehow has lost its Skyline heritage and kind of looks like a Porsche. So you can guarantee it’s now squarely in the realm of accountants and dentists, not speed freaks and drug dealers.

Anyway every other Melbourne motor show I’ve been to in recent memory has absolutely sucked arse. This one is a real experience and well worth the price of admission.

This week I am stoked as the new Falcon’s finally out and the trepidation over how it looks is over. Ford’s BA-BF series cars were brilliant. Sure the rear door access was rubbish and the drivers’ seating position a bit off, but delivered great refinement, power and above all bang for buck.

When you make a car that good, there’s always a risk that the successor can fall from a great height down to car mediocrity. Having seen a bunch of Photoshop hypotheticals over the past few months, it looked more than likely. Now the speculation is over. The new Ford Falcon FG series has broken cover.

For the first time they’re are two models the G series and the XR. This is an absolute coup de etat. Now you can get it in a Fairmont Ghia type vehicle, the G6E Turbo. Because with the BF, the only way you could get a turbo was with the XR. It was a handsome enough brute on the outside, but who wants the rear spoiler and the flouro tyre pattern interior? Not me. It was too, middle aged bloke trying to act fifteen again.

I’ve owned both a BA XT Falcon and an XR6 Turbo. And I can honestly say that I much preferred the simple sophistication of the XT’s interior and lamented the lairy XR at first. So Ford’s product department should take a bow for extending the turbo out across the range. Well done!

Now you can get all the grunt (270 kilowatts of it) you want in luxo spec car. One that even has a whiff of Aston Martin or Jaguar about it. As opposed to the bouffant, shoulder padded VE Commodore, the Ford is a far more refined sophisticated look, without loosing all the cool aesthetics of the BF. This is of course if you’re like me and think that the old Falcon was never a bad looking car, it was just getting old.

The XR spec cars are a clear improvement, however the front doesn’t look anywhere near as good as the G series IMHO. Perhaps seeing one in the flesh will resolve that. Though sadly, that’s not going to be until May, when the rubber really hits the road.

On the flip side though, Ford’s new web site for the Falcon sucks arse! It’s all Flash based and too difficult to navigate. For example, just stupid stuff like an image loads with a G series and an XR and you have to choose between them. So you move the cursor and the link moves further away! That was cool in 1999 but today it’s just plain irritating.

Plenty of ambiguous menus abound too and it looks like they spent all their money on a few movies probably intended for television that tell you nothing about the car. It’s Web 1.0 all over again and definitely form over function.

In the media though, apparently Ford CEO is sent a G6E Turbo back to the states. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if the Falcon ended up being made in North America, given Falcons have been tested there. However it’s crystal clear it wont be made in Oz. It would slot in perfectly in the states and wipe the tepid Five Hundred and Crown Victoria off the deck! I genuinely hope there’s substance to the rumours.

Anyways, I can’t wait for the motoring mags to come out with full specs on the cars. Which makes you wonder WHY they launched the Falcon on a Sunday in the middle of the magazine runs?! It’s just stupid. Oh well, I guess we’ll have to wait. In the meantime here are some new Falcon photos.

Long live the Ford!

Well it’s been a stressful week editing. And to say the least, this is a rough edit. But here is my Top Gear audition tape! You may’ve noticed the BMW review, and that’s the car that I rented for audition.

Big ups and huge thanks to my buds Andrew and Leigh for their on screen appearances and camera, sound and editing work.

Matt Hayward’s audition tape on Youtube.

Well I needed something a bit fit for the weekend and the best on offer was a new BMW 525 with the M sports pack. It’s only the 6, which pales to comparison to its big brother V10. But when it comes to the twisties, it’s all car!

First things first, this car is bloody irritating. It took me about ten minutes to learn how to start it (key chain in hole, press it in, foot on brake, trans in park, hit ’start’ button), ten minutes to learn how to change from HD TV to normal FM radio. Then another 5 minutes to explain to my girlfriend how to start it and the rest of the day changing my driving style to suit it! Clearly this is not my idea of fun.

Inside the interior is nothing special. There’s a chrome gear level that looks like an eighties Commodore 64 joystick, very firm seats and some of the finest fake wood I’ve ever seen. The irony of which isn’t lost of BMW that have managed to convince themselves that people will pay $100K for fake wood! The firmness of the seats of matched by those run-flat tyres. Which means no longer can you just drive over bumps, you need to actively avoid them unless you’re best mates with your chiropractor.

Of course being a Beamer, it well and truly steers and handles. In a straight line, Joe Commodore will keep up with you. But he will absolutely eat your dust through the twisties. The six speed auto changes super quick and never hesitates. The super sensitive steering really comes alive. Easily the shortest turn to lock of any car I’ve ever driven. Again it’s irritating in town, but very welcome when driving with some spirited aggression.

Despite the lack of straight line grunt, if you don’t love the silky smooth 6 after an hour of corners, there’s something wrong with you. It revs out past seven grand and really, really wails. The exhaust note is just sublime. It’s a very rewarding drive and you don’t miss the extra two (or four) cylinders of the up spec models.

Looks wise, you can take it or leave it. But frankly, I think it’s stunning. Particularly with the 18″ M series rims my rental car had. Sadly I can’t say the same for its grip levels. Better drivers than yours truly will be able to flick it sideways. But I found it just grips and grips with subtle understeer. Who buys a sporty rear wheel drive car for grip? It must be the same guy that came up with the world’s best fake wood. All that energy that usually sends the car sliding, now goes up the driver’s spine. Which is yes very bloody uncomfortable when you’re trying to have some good old greasy fun.

Grip aside, this cat purrs. It’s great to drive, but not so great to live with. It would be like living with a supermodel that thinks you’re gay and won’t do anything with you. Better still a supermodel that looks great until you try and do anything fun or meaningful with her (anyone who’s ever tried to learn iDrive quickly could relate I’m sure).

Sure enough the road to hell is paved with good intentions. And that’s the greatest flaw with this car. There was probably nothing wrong with the previous E39 5 series. But they had to do something better. They had to add more lipstick to the pig; they had to add more safety features otherwise people wouldn’t trade up to the new model. Underneath all that garnish is a brilliant car, but not one I could live with. I’d rather be pushing an Alfa than fiddling with iDrive…

I bought this book to read on the plane to Croatia. It’s probably perfectly suited to flying reading, but unless your plane has been delayed 3 hours don’t bother!

May’s quirky style means each rant, or chapter, is no longer than 5 pages. While I find him hilarious on Top Gear, I only got about two giggles out of this book. What really irritated me was not the lack of consistency between topics, but the continuity. Some ramblings were written 2 years ago and others 2 days ago. So one minute he’s talking about a Top Gear episode in 2004 he mentions is soon to be airing, the next something that hasn’t aired yet. Surely a good editor could have smoothed out these bumps?

If you like short, witty ramblings, you may (no pun intended) enjoy it. If not, you may as well spend your $20 down the pub. At least you’ll get a drink out of your hard earned.

Today was not a day for convertibles. Dry, dusty wind had me lusting for a big German luxo barge like an Audi A6 to thrum down the highways in, totally oblivious to the weather conditions. Sadly it wasn’t meant to be. After meandering through the rental car companies, it was down to either a Facladore or a Magna or the ever more alluring Saab convertible. Yeah sure it’s more Elton John than David Beckham, who cares!

So let’s get straight to the neddies. It might have the most subtle boost gauge I’ve ever seen, but the performance is far from subtle. Saab’s four cylinder feels as bullet proof as the Falcon 4.0 straight six - a real surprise. It just doesn’t feel like a four banger. An automatic I can live with too. Sure an auto and a turbo front driver are never a good combination, but despite subtle auto indecisiveness under duress, the power delivery isn’t too shabby at all. And believe me, it doesn’t mind revving out in first gear.

From a standing start it’s not so impressive thought. But floor the puppy at sixty and there’s a big rush of power. Class leading overtaking power in fact. Like the Seat we drove not long ago, there’s nothing really below two grand (call it the auto transmission with a touch of turbo lag). This thing must be purpose built for power on the autobahns and not the 60kph B-roads.

Handling wise, it takes the bumps fairly smoothly. Easily one of the most comfortable cars (especially for a convertible) I’ve driven. It’s rigid with minimal body roll despite the lack of a tin roof. Sadly though, turn in is wrecked by Saab’s dogged dedication to front wheel drive. It makes the car a bit skittish on turn ins and not as relaxing a ride as it deserves to be. Thankfully it isn’t equipped with run flat tyres, so the ride’s firm and sporty but very comfortable.

If you ever needed more validation that this car was designed for beach roads and autobahns, drive down Melbourne’s tram tracked roads. The steering wheel darts around with the fervor of a Labrador at a Wiggles concert, as it’s limited slip diff jolts for grip on tram tracks. It’s a dog’s breakfast!

This car was a 2007 model, but it doesn’t have the updated Priscilla Queen of the Desert headlight treatment going on. And to be honest, it looks quite long in the tooth for it. Albeit sit in it for 10 seconds, and you’ll see where half of the finer Commodore points came from. They’ve taken heaps of styling queues from Saab - namely the hand brake and the cup holders. But the Fishermans Bend boys still haven’t come close to what Trallhatan have achieved here.

Fit and finish is where the Saab truly excels. No fiddly interior features, no unnecessary bells and whistles, but a cohesive place to be. Heaps of leg room, excellent seats, great plastics and leather, all put together very nicely. Everything looks bespoke to the car. No afterthoughts or after market switches. Everything is seamless like good Danish furniture. These touches mean the car could really grow on you.

All in all i’m not a Saab convert. The power isn’t usable enough and the front wheel drive isn’t for me. But if you want to know what the inside of your Holden will look like in 10 years, love overtaking and want to see how much like a big six a little four can be, get yourself a 93 turbo now.

For the past 1500 kilometres, ive been schlepping a Seat Ibiza from Central Croatia (Split) to the Istrian coast in the north. It’s been a heady mix of hair pins and B roads to autobahn style freeways with very liberal speed limits. Cut a long story short, it really is a bit meat and three veg.

What you can definitely say about the Seat it is a well built car. The panel fit is superb. Inside the quality of fabrics and plastics never fails to impress. For those long journeys, the roof is high and seating position near perfect. So there is some quality and purposeful design at work here. Frankly miles more comfortable on the highway to drive than the old BA Falcon I had.

As lame as it may sound, the mirror placement in the car is perfect. And that’s important at some of the speeds we’ve been doing to keep up with well heeled Croats on the highways. A trivial accolate, but what the hey!

When it comes to safety and features though, the car is sadly lacking. No traction control (though it really doesn’t need it) or stability control. While it doesn’t have many buttons and knobs, there are no filled in holes in the dash where the buttons on more luxurious models would go. It makes you wonder whether they even thought of those little luxuries, even more than one cup holder, at all. Clearly not.

To drive, the Volkswagen sourced 1.4 four has a lot of poke in the middle to upper range. Down low, you cant hear it rev below 2000 revs. Which for me is really hard to get used to. Overtaking becomes quite irritating as just when you reach peak power, the rev limiter kicks in like the fun police at a brothel. And you find yourself desperately trying to maintain revs, shifting to a higher gear.

Given the engine size, no surprises here. But it beckons for some Honda VTEC style wizardry to wring out some extra power when you really want it. Not surprisingly with all that revving, I only got about 350 kilometres per tank.

Basically, it’s geared for driving around town and the occasional back road belt. It’s willing enough to perform on a challenging road, but it’s not luxurious or sporty in its tune, firm but not quite boring.

Its on the autobahns that the cars shortcomings become transparent. While it’s fun to biff about in around town, its engine becomes quite noisy at speed and it desperately needs a sixth gear. Because it maintains cruising speeds at very high revs. Sadly this could be very comfortable car on the highway, but for the sake of cost isn’t.

In essence this car doesn’t rival the Japanese (Honda Jazz or Civic Coupe) or the Germans (A Golf - although im told the Ibiza is based on a VW Golf) for class leading performance. But is it a bad car? No. Is it boring to drive? Absolutely not? Is it interesting? Well i doesn’t possess the loveable quirkiness of an old school Citroen but it’s definitely not Korean.

What the Ibiza really is, is the mild sauce in a peri peri chili restaurant. It’s for the shy, but definitely not the meek and ungainly. Given the choice i’d probably drive something Japanese or Italian. Will it be a forgettable experience though? Never.

This one i’ve been saving for a while. If you ever suspected Jeremy Clarkson was a twat, well here’s the proof. Almost 7 minutes of the best of the worst of Top Gear. And it seems virtually all of it is Clarkson stuffing up! Enjoy. Censored, but might require subtlety at work

It truly is the end of an era. This Friday, i’m afraid the XR suffers a fate worse than death. No, not the knackers yard, the auction house. She’ll go under the hammer to her next owner like a lamb to the slaughter. Bugger. The two year lease has ended and I will be carless.

To be completely honest, except for some initial troubles (because I believed a salesman when he told me ‘don’t worry about the 5000K service! It’s nothing!’) not a bloody thing has gone wrong. The power? Well do you really have to ask, it’s never dissapointed. The handling, for a standard family car near perfect. It’s chuckability… well lets just say it can always put a smile on your face. Torque? More than you could ever believe. Try taking off in fifth gear in your laser. Just a word of advice, that cloud of black smoke behind you is the clutch! Comfort? We’ll it wasn’t made for luxury, but the ride is sporty and it’s very well equipped without being soppy.

Well was it all perfect? The best love stories never are. New owner I give you one piece of advice. Don’t look in the driver’s side rear view mirror. Because you’ll see that none of the door panels line up. So instead of this great long, perfectly machined stripe of metal, you get a rough cut outline of panels crudely thrown together. This is not the panel fit of skilled craftsmen. IPod connector for the stereo? Dear sir, you must be joking! How’s the traction control? Well crude to say the least. It shuts down cylinders all the time and sounds terrible. God only knows what damage it does to the engine. Also, you can get pretty sideways before it kicks in.

And the size of the vehicle you ask? Well it’s just plain stupidly big. Not the big that you can fit handy stuff in. You know like drum kits, [presumably] prams, beds and stuff. Because the back door access is just plain stupid. It’s a very poor design. And for a car of its size, bloody useless. So you lug around this huge car, that’s actually bloody difficult to fit anything useful in. The economy. Just don’t ask. If it wasn’t leased, I would’ve been a bum with a big smile on my face begging for pennies for Optimax.

All in all however, it’s often the shortcomings that make something truly magical. This will no doubt be one of the best cars i’ve ever owned. For a car that you can thrash around like a real rock and roller in all weekend, then give to your girlfriend to drive to the shops, chances are she’s not going sizeways into a telephone pole. Try that in an old school muscle car of this ilk. It’s comfy on long drives, it puts importt cars back in their place and you can easily lease it and get it fixed. Most importantly, it has effortless power where you need it. In the middle of the rev range! So it could still sort a VE Commodore out if driven properly. And it doesn’t look overdone either.

I won’t miss parking it, but god I will miss this car. Long live the king. The mity XR6 Turbo.