Women and Wheels
women's motoring & cars & car reviews for women
Kia Cee’d SW
May 28th
While it’s true that you never get a second chance to make a first impression, I’ve often found it no bad thing. The second impression can be so powerful that all those original thoughts, whether good or bad, can be swept away.
Now I wasn’t quite sure what to make of Kia’s first estate car, the Cee’d SW, mainly because Kia’s have never found themselves high on my radar. Not because I don’t think they’re worthy of my attention, just that they’ve never really grabbed it before. (I have since experienced the delights of the Sorento and the fun of the Venga, so Kia please forgive my earlier naivety)
The Kia Cee’d initially struck me as being inoffensive, innocuous and rather plain, in a no-nonsense Ford Focus type of way. The colour we had can’t have meant to inspire either, even if my mother thought it very elegant.
So while my first impression was rather luke warm to say the least, within seconds of driving it I was hooked and everything about the car took on a different hue. This must be the easiest car I have ever driven. More >
A Day Out With Volvo
Feb 2nd
Volvos have always been a bit of a mystery to me. I always associated them with grown-ups and families, steady income and mortgages and saw them as solid, dependable and somewhat dull. Over the years, of course, this is what I have become (not dull of course, never dull), and it came as rather a shock on the day.
But really, that’s all a bit of a cliche as Volvos have moved on, helped I feel, by the wonderful Wallander in his elegant, understated V50. Either that, or my tastes have changed and the Volvo range now looks very different and appetising.
What I needed was immersion therapy and I certainly got that after a day spent with the entire range which was laid out for me to drive. My only regret being that I didn’t have time to sample them all and had to restrict myself to a mere handful (the estates and the XC90 SUV), figuring these would appeal to the women in the family. We tend to do a lot of lugging.
I came away rather delighted, allowing myself a little fantasy about how my life might be with each Volvo I drove, from the entry-level C30 to the upmarket XC90. The same husband kept appearing in these day-dreams though which was slightly disappointing. See the video for the full narrative.
From the girl-about-town C30 to the all-singing and all-dancing XC90 with its seven seats, to the gorgeous new V60 with its powerful engine, stylish design and sheer comfort. So many to choose from. I’ll take them all, thanks.
You might notice the DRIVe badge-of-honour. This is attached to those models that deliver the best environmental performance in their class. The C30, together with their V50 (a medium-size estate) both with 1.6 litre diesel engines, can give you 74 miles to the gallon while only producing 99 g/km of CO2. This allows you to drive into the London congestion charge zone for nothing, while also exempting you from car tax. And they go, too.
But apart from all the wonderful savings you can make if you owned a DRIVe Volvo, it was the actually the way these cars drove and their looks, particularly the supremely elegant interiors, that impressed me.
These are premium cars and can generally match their obvious rivals for fit, finish and style, but it was a pleasant change to be sitting in something with a badge other than the obvious star, four rings or a blue and white badge on the front. It’s a different drive and a different image, and none the worse for that.
Ford C-Max
Oct 28th
Ford have got a huge line-up of cars at these days and I’m still trying to get my head around the myriad models and trim levels, let alone who might want to drive and own them. Actually, wanting to drive them isn’t such a problem as are they by and large lovely to drive. But if you were in the market for a car and fancied a Ford which one would you go for? Sometimes too much choice just tips you over the edge and you can’t see the wood for the trees. Let’s restrict ourselves to Ford’s family cars for the moment…There’s the S-max. Quite large, quite sporty, rather plush and a seven seater, but not in the traditional full-blown seven seater MPV way – for that you want the Galaxy. Often seen as a luxury car, unless that is you have four kids and something this size just becomes essential. The S-Max has space a-plenty and the two extra seats are for those occasions when you need to cart around seven people, but don’t want to do so on a regular basis. Then you can hide them away and reclaim your huge boot.
All-new Nissan Micra
Oct 26th
The all new Nissan Micra – I certainly won’t forget this car in a hurry! Picture the scene, a good looking city car, in the fabulous city of Copenhagen, an eye-catching luminescent green, so hard to miss and surely head-turning material – so much so that the driver behind us was so taken by the sight that he decided to career into us! After which he sped off down a narrow side street while we were left trying to get to grips with what had just happened. My first thought (obviously after may unrepeatable words to the disappearing car) was that the Micra had coped quite well. No obvious sign of damage apart from the rear light dangling by a couple of wires. So a sturdy little car, which is more than I can say about my head which took the rest of the day to recover!
Abarth 500C
Aug 15th
The Abarth is one of those things I’ve been trying to get my head around for some time. Now motoring enthusiasts amongst you can be forgiven for thinking me a tad slow, but maybe a tad uninterested is closer to the mark. That is, up until I got to experience the full might of the Abarth in two quite different forms.
Travelling up to the Abarth event through the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire in the gorgeous Fiat 500c (sadly didn’t get to experience it in cabriolet form due the rain after weeks of sunshine), I wondered why anyone would require or need anything more than this. It’s cute, stylish, pelts alone very nicely on the motor way, is a delight along the country roads and is utterly stunning to look at. Mine was glowing white with a maroon top.