The peoples' democratic blog of Matt Hayward

Well frankly I’m flabbergasted to write about this. Having never been a Honda fan I never thought I’d set foot in one let alone write about one. Honda peeps tend to the be the over emphatic types with shiny clothing and matching caps. They have a penchant for revving and stabbing whilst ramming VTEC down [...]

Yes it’s an utterly stupid question. Yes there is no quarter or parallel between them. They couldn’t be more distant cousins than Republicans and humans. So comment all you like, I know it’s a moot point. Fact of that matter is, after driving the mark VI Golf, this was exactly what I was asking myself.
A [...]

Only in America. A 6.2 litre V8 is a rental car, like just about every other I ‘review’. The only bad thing about it is I had the chance to drive it in Honolulu – an island you can probably drive around in 4 hours if there is no traffic. But there is loads of [...]

Lo and behold I’d found myself on the big island of Hawaii. So when preparing to content myself with a lowly beige rental Mustang, my rental bloke hooks me up with a black on black convertible! If looks could kill, it would be Australia’s most wanted. However a big chunk of this car is still [...]

Well it’s been a while since I’ve driven something nice and then it comes in spates! The Audi was rented for a very special occasion and a very long country drive. Three hundred kilometres into Dunkeld in regional Victoria [a state of Australia]. What was required was a big smooth car with a massive boot, [...]

The Top Gear Christmas special was an absolute boon for me. A quick look at Final Gear and the boys were off on a pilgrimage to Bethlehem. We’d already booked tickets for Jordan and Syria a few months earlier and it made the trip all the more awesome! This post will give you a bit [...]

OK, so this was a 15 minute drive of Citroen’s brand new boy racer. But at least it gives you some Australian context! From friends that are travelling in the UK at the moment, apparently the little DS3 is everywhere. Maybe not in all shapes and sizes, but definitely colours! For those of us down [...]

Yes I’m a huge Bon Scott fan. No I’m not a big Brian Johnson fan. After reading this book though, there’s probably no one else in the world I’d rather have a beer with. In much the same vein as the Top Gear guys put out books of their newspaper columns, this book is short [...]

The other week I was trundling through the tourist thoroughfare of The Rocks in Sydney. Basically looking at a bunch of tourist crap wondering why I was there in the first place. Then something grabbed me:
Dream Car
71 LT Celica – 13B Turbo
42mm waste gate  – shod with 305/28/18 (?)
plenty o poke – jaw dropper – [...]

Renting a car is a lucky dip. Then again I was never a fan of lucky dips. So when promised with a Hyundai Getz “or similar” on a recent trip, my expectations weren’t high. Lo and behold, when the car arrived at the rental desk, it was a Suzuki Swift! Things were starting to look [...]