TURNER'S TORQUE

The Passenger Experience, Expensive Motors & Sneak Peeks

Welcome to November, the time of year when most normal and sensible folk have cleaned and packed away their camping gear ready for next spring. Not us, no, we just grab an extra blanket, head torch and a few more logs for the fire pit.

In this month’s issue you’ll be able to check out my photos and thoughts on my day out with the up and coming Ineos Grenadier. Calm down, no one other than Ineos' drivers are allowed to drive it, yet, but I did get to be an up and close passenger seat driver.

As you can see from the cover pic, I also spent a few days with the Bentley Bentayga V8, now that was a surreal experience, and you can read all about it later in the mag.

As you have probably seen by now, another vehicle that’s caused quite a stir is the 5th generation Range Rover. The official world premier was supposed to be on the 26th October, but photos were ‘leaked’ online the week before. The thing is, apart from the P38, I’ve always considered the Range Rover to be the best looking SUV - ever. The L322 Rangie is a modern classic, and I remember wondering how, and if it could ever be bettered. Well they achieved it with the L405, which in my opinion is such a beautiful design.

I said a while back, to anyone who would listen, that I wouldn’t want to be on the design team tasked with the impossible job of designing the 5th generation Range Rover, as I believe you can only go so far with a design. Nine years on, and the L405 still looks clean and fresh, but needs must I suppose, time stops for no one.

With my philosophy being ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, I suspect my career in design would be a non-starter!

So have they cracked it?

Hmmm... it’s certainly sleeker, but I’m not sure about those rear lights.

muddy madam's moment

gadget grumpiness

I've done quite a bit of travelling recently, and something that keeps getting on my wick is gadgets in terrible places in cars or just terrible gadgets.

First up is Sat Navs in sight-blocking positions.

I was sat in traffic, and the woman in front of me had positioned her sat nav directly in the centre of her windscreen, and when I say centre I mean equidistant from every side. It wasn't a little one either, it was approximately half a tablet size.

As you may have dedueced from my description, her line of sight of the road was substantially compromised, and it looked to me like a horrible accident waiting to happen.

But this wasn't the only one, I spotted a young lad in a sporty hatchback with another gigantic screen blocking his view, which was already pretty limited due to his lowered, almost horizontal, seating position. Numpty!!

Let's hope they get stopped, and shown the error of their ways before a serious accident occurs.

Next up is one of those things that Damian regularly bemoans within these pages..

Infotainment screens replacing buttons.

In a few of the press cars recently I have been left frustrated at my inability to change settings whilst driving. It's getting colder now, and Damian has the internal body temperature of magma filled volcano, so when I jump in the driver's seat after him I am blasted by air conditioned icy blasts.

Before I set off I change the temperature to balmly summer evening and set off, but, due to being of a certain age, I may suddenly have a need to turn the temp down or crank up the blow rate, but in many of the latest cars I can't actually do any changes unless I pull over and give my full attention to the overly complicated screen grahics.

When I tested the Škoda Enyak at the SMMT the screen settings were so impenetrable to logic that both Damian and I, along with one of the press team, couldn't even figure out how to sort the blowers out when stationary!.

Please, just put some bloody knobs and buttons back in for the stuff we use regularly!