Top Gear Live 2011 NEC Birmingham

Yesterday I had to wake up early and it was Sunday! On Sundays, nobody likes to wake up early but I had a great motivation for it. I had a press ticket for Top Gear Live in Birmingham and I didn’t wish to miss this opportunity. So, I travelled to Birmingham NEC for the show. It was very crowded, I think half of the Birmingham woke up early yesterday :)

The exhibition area was excellent, I had chance to see the interesting cars featured on Top Gear. Hopefully, the cars have the dirts from the adventures. However the best bit was not the Top Gear cars, it was the Mercedes CLK GTR. This car is one of the most expensive car in the end of 1990s. It was built from LeMans races and had a very distinctive style. And, it is really hard to spot one. Because, it was so expensive and not available anymore. Hopefully, there was on CLK GTR in the exhibition. I forgot to say, there was a Ferrari 250 GTO!

The show! As you would expect, Clarkson made lots of fires, explosions and many other things. I wasn’t shocked with these things. However, the show was more than a car show, it was like a dance show done with many cars. The time sequences of their movements and the accuracy was amazing. I really appreciate the drivers, it may look easy but I am sure that, it is really hard to do all these moves without any mistake.

The main concept of the show was recreation of Olympics based on the car mentality. And it was really funny :) But I don’t want to talk more, but you should see it! It is an excellent transformation of Olympics games conducted by cars. You shouldn't miss see the curling with real cars!

And lastly, if you still hesitating to go. There are thirteen reasons, which will motivate to go! Lamborghini Aventador, Ferrari Enzo, McLaren MP4-12C, Ferrari 458, Ferrari California, Mercedes SLS Cabrio, Aston Martin DBS Volante, Alfa Romeo 8C, Ferrari 599 GTO, Porsche 911 GT2 RS, Audi R8 and two more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t remember the last two.

And special thanks to Performance PR. http://www.performancepr.com

You still have chance to see this amazing show, just click check the link. http://www.topgearlive.co.uk/

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No More Manual with Audi S4 + S5

I am not fan of Audi, and never emerged an emotional bond with their cars. Eventually, they did something which can change my point of view to Audi!

Recently they announced something really impressive! Audi will not offer manual gearbox for S4 and S5 in Europe. Great decision! I really don’t like manual gearbox, I only prefer the manual if the automatic is really terrible, hopefully nowadays only few automatics are senseless and slow, the rest is doing quite well.

Many people love the manual and bear the torture of clutch. I’ve never been a person like this, since automatic gets better, offers faster shifts, more gears, and paddle shifts I stopped loving the manual gearbox. Nowadays, you can change the gears faster than manual thanks to double clutch automatic and feel like driving in a Formula 1 car!

I think many people started to think like me, and Audi dropped the manuals like BMW will not offer manual in new M3 and M5 (reference: gossips), also Ferrari is not offering manual with its new model 458!

Officially, the era of manual is gone and new technology automatics are more efficient, shift faster and gives more pleasure. I really don’t get the pleasure of using clutch. Paddle shift feels more connected with the car :)

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Audi

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Automotive Marketing

What is the most important factor to sale more cars? Technology, safety, brand, awareness, advertisement, public relations, events, motor sports… This list goes forever, and everything has an influential role during the decision making stage for consumption! However, there are two things play very critical role and changes the perception of consumers forever.

Sales representative and after sales. If anyone of these factors fails to satisfy the need of the consumers, everything done by the company is lost. Technology, safety, investments and many other things became senseless to consumers. Because, the after sales could not provide the appropriate level of quality to consumers and the problem is not solved; the representative did not behave properly and consumers became angry! These two factors directly influence the emotional aspect of the consumption and change the perception forever. Not only perception, but also increase negative word of mouth!

People love to spread bad news to other people, when the topic is about a brand. If they have a bad experience with the brand, they would love to spread it to other people. And other people will love to spread to others.

In the end, lots of investment, technological advantages, differentiating characters are gone away. They might sound good but consumer will always remember that adverse behaviour.

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Car of the Day #35 Ferrari California

Ferrari's only coupe-cabrio four seater car :) And V8 engine at the front. Ferrari places the V8 engine at the back. This car is an exception.

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Oriental Mini Roadster

Mini recently revealed a new model, Mini Roadster. From the front, it looks like a normal Mini but this new car offers fewer seats, active rear spoiler and offers sportier handling. Anyway, I usual don’t write about new car, however Roadster’s YouTube video was shot in Istanbul. Therefore, I did not wish to skip this oriental video clip.

I think they were inspired by the Oriental Express :) From London to Istanbul.

Music: Hayat Kavgasi by Orhan Gencebay

MINI John Cooper Works Roadster:

Four-cylinder petrol engine with MINI TwinPower Turbo technology and numerous technological details carried over directly from motor sport. 

Displacement: 1,598 cc, output: 155 kW/211 hp at 6,000 rpm, 

max. torque: 260 Nm/192 lb-ft at 1,850 – 5,600 rpm (280 Nm/207 lb-ft with Overboost at 2,000 – 5,100 rpm). Acceleration 0–100 km/h (62 mph): 6.5 seconds, top speed: 237 km/h (147 mph). Average fuel consumption according to EU: 7.3 litres/100 kilometres (38.7 mpg imp), CO2 emissions: 169 g/km.

MINI Cooper S Roadster:

Four-cylinder petrol engine with 

MINI TwinPower Turbo technology. Displacement: 1,598 cc, 

output: 135 kW/184 hp at 5,500 rpm, max. torque: 240 Nm/177 lb-ft at 1,600 – 5,000 rpm (260 Nm/192 lb-ft with Overboost at 1,730 – 4,500 rpm). Acceleration 0–100 km/h (62 mph): 7.0 seconds, 

top speed: 227 km/h (141 mph).  Average fuel consumption according to EU: 6.0 litres/100 kilometres (47.1 mpg imp), CO2 emissions: 139 g/km.

MINI Cooper Roadster:

Four-cylinder petrol engine with fully variable valve management based on the BMW Group’s VALVETRONIC technology. Displacement: 1,598 cc, output: 90 kW/122 hp at 6,000 rpm, max. torque: 160 Nm/118 lb-ft at 4,250 rpm. Acceleration 0–100 km/h (62 mph): 9.2 seconds, top speed: 199 km/h (124 mph). Average fuel consumption according to EU: 5.7 litres/100 kilometres (49.6 mpg imp), 

CO2 emissions: 133 g/km.

MINI Cooper SD Roadster:

Four-cylinder turbodiesel with MINI TwinPower Turbo technology. Displacement: 1,995 cc, output: 105 kW/143 hp at 4,000 rpm, max. torque: 305 Nm/225 lb-ft at 1,750 – 2,700 rpm. Acceleration 0–100 km/h (62 mph): 8.1 seconds, 

top speed: 212 km/h (132 mph). Average fuel consumption according to EU: 4.5 litres/100 kilometres (62.8 mpg imp), CO2 emissions: 118 g/km.

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Mini

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BMW xDrive vs. Audi Quattro vs. Mercedes 4MATIC

As the weather is getting cold and snow is approaching to our houses day by day. I wanted to clear out the most important dilemma of automotive industry. Which is better? Audi Quattro, Mercedes 4MATIC of BMW xDrive.

If you have no idea about these things, I can summarise them in a different way. These brands represent four-wheel drive system from different car manufacturers. Despite the fact that each system rotates each wheel but there are serious fundamental difference within each other. This is like comparing handbags from Louis Vuitton, Miu Miu and Mulberry. They all offer handbags but each of them have different characteristics.

According to YouTube videos, the best four-wheel drive system is BMW xDrive! I know, Audi fans will be shouting Quattro is the best, but Quattro has a longer response time when the wheels are spinning. Also Mercedes 4MATIC cannot response as quick as BMW xDrive.

Like you, I am surprised with the results. I was expecting the legendary Quattro will be the quickest system but BMW did its homework very well and developed a better four-wheel drive system. Also, everything is done by electronics. No mechanical locks or anything. The traction control applies brake to each wheel, when it realises a traction loss. Very simple and works brilliantly!

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Mercedes SLK with Diesel Power

In 1997, the SLK was introduced the market with revolutionary folding hardtop mechanism. There were no other alternative to offer the same technology and SLK became one of the most iconic cars of 1990s.

When it was revealed, nobody thought about a diesel SLK. During those years, diesel was not an option in automotive industry. Actually, no one bothered to buy a diesel instead of a petrol engine. Therefore, SLK was never offered with the diesel. The same tradition carried on with the second generation SLK.

However, the increasing price of petrol and huge demand to diesel change everything. The third generation SLK is now available with diesel option. 2.1-lt diesel engine producing 150 PS and 500 nm torque (it is really high) and achieves 100 kph in 6,7 seconds. With 4,9-lt average consumption and 128g CO2!

World has changed, SLK has changed!

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Mercedes

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Car of the Day #34 Electric Smart For Two

This is car is not available for consumers to buy. It is one of the test cars around the UK and used by University of Birmingham. 

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