A PHOTOBOOK FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE ENTHUSIAST. Answer
BY ZAK USOWICZ
Miata Is Always The Answer
As an automtoive enthusiast, and driving enthusiast, I am always on the hunt for the next best drivers car to own. One of the many things that drivers enjoy more than ithers is tha ability to generate oversteer at any given moemnt, getting the rear wheels spininng and sideways. But of course, that means going through tyres constantly. So what is the solution? Find yourself a small RWD car that is cheap to buy, cheap to run, cheap to insure and that parts are cheap incase something happens to it. So, as you would expect, another night spent on facebook marketplace and autotrader ended up with an impluse purchase that is arguably a yound drivers dream. Just scrolling down the ads on Facebook market place, i came across an advert for a Mazda MX5. After some back and forth with the owner, I went over to Stratford the very next day. After just 15 minutes of arriving to look at the car, I was driving it back home, and was already sideways around roundabouts. Dreams do come true.
Once the car was in my possesion, it became apparent that the handling charactaristics were nothing like i had driven before. The weight distribution on an MX5 is 50/50, menaing the weight of the car is evenly spread out through the front and rear of the car, allowing for immense turning in speeds. Pair this with the etxremely low centre of grvaity, and you ahve what is effectvly a Go Kart for that road, that will importantly get sideays at the push of the right foot and a twitch of the steering wheel. Though the car only has 148hp, i can safely say that in a tin can like thise, thats more than enough, maybe even too much. I manage to spin the wheels all through first and 2nd gear in colder conditons, which for most would be terrifying and dangerous, but its things like this that i bought the cars for. It is all about having fun and the driving experience, not outrights peed. Speed is not what thos car is about.
CAFFEINE AND MACHINE
What is Caffeine and Machine? Well, its many things. A pub, a bar, a coffee shop, a restaurant. These are the main forms of income. But its more than just that. The owner Phil McGovern once said to me that the place is“ The automotive Narnia that you find at the back of your wardrobe”. I personally think that is a perfect way of describing it. It fulfils all of your automotive fantasies, and that does just stop at cars. Oh no. I have had the pleasure of witnessing some rather unique, and sometimes questionable wheels (or sometimes not wheeled) vehicles in the yard (the yard being effectively the car park), but we’ll get into that a bit later on. So long story short, it is a hit, where petrolhead alike can all gather 7 days a week and simply just hang out with like minded people, whether that’s bikers, drifters, supercars or sh*t boxes, all are welcome, and all come and enjoy feasting their eyes on each others rides.
Every once in a while, caffeiene and machine will dedicate an evening to specific motor vehicles. Seeing as Phil, the owner, has an air cooled Porsche 911, it only seems right that they have an evening just for that. Porsche 911’s. Arguable the single most iconic car to ever exist. The whole point of these event is to show appreciation to these cars, and goive people a chnace to see cars they may have never seen before. The image on the left shows a Tuthill Porsche Safari, built specifically for a Hong Kong national called Phil kadoorie. This car is 1 of 1, entirley bespoke, and was used in the safari rally in africa last year, 8 days, 3000 miles. Name another place on earth you can go somewhere to buy a coffee and come across this. I guess Kenya.
ST 3
The Ford Fiesta ST has always been top of the food chain when it comes to hot hatches. The MK7 ST was no slouch, though we all now accosiate them with chavs thinking they can drive well, except they cant because the ST ends up in a hedge because they dont understand the simple oconcept of brake before the corner, not on the corner. Though, the car was undoubtaly amazing, with its 1.6L 4 cylidner engine. The question is, does the new MK8 live up to the old mk7s performance? The simple answer: yes. Yes it does. WIth its all new 3 cylinder engine, it sort of sounds like half a 911’s Flat 6, which is no bad thing. The car comes with 198ps, which for a british B road is about the sweet spot for a FWD car. Not too much power that its undrivabel, but just enoigh to give the dirver a little bit of torque steer to keep them on their toes.
Beside the performnace, the car is actually extremly reliable and eco-friendly. It has a unique feature that turns the 3 cylinder engine into a 2 cylinder engine when pottering aorund town. This reduced the amount of fuelk being use, and in turn reduces the amount of C02 being spewed out of the exhaust. But that doesnt really matter anwyay, because i can guarentee that after you leave town, that throttle is going to be wide open, and will make any eco friendly driving seem pointless. The aesthetics of the car are, in my humble opinion, some of the best in its class. A mixture of solid edges and curves creates a wonderfully modern looking car, that sets the bar for interior so high, that ford will manage to top this in the mk9 Fiesyta replacement. And that is no bad thing.
Its final hidden tricks are beyond what most people would even slightly understand. The rear suspention is a unique addition to the MK8 Fiesta, as the dampers are actually curved. This has never been seen before on a car. It basically allows you to enter a corner at higher speed, as the weight of the car is pushing against these curved dampers that are keeping the car flat, and keeping the iwght over the centr of the car, exactly where it needs to be.
STRESS RELIEF
There is something calming about going on drives. Something that just releives all stress, and pushes all emotion and focus into the driving experience. I am sure many of you know exactly what i am talking about. Now picture a climate in which this privallage is taken away from you for months and months. Well, we dont need to imagine such a scene, as lockdown 2020 has done just that. So what would any self respecting driving enthusiast do? Go and buy a Logitech G920 to pair up with Forza Horizon 4, thats what. And thats exactly what I did.
But once the night passes, the dirves once again continue. These drives helped me keep sain during the most bizzare part of my life so far. And hwy not do it in the AMG Hammer. One of the greatest AMG’s to ever exist, if not the best. The thing with using simulator driving as a way to cope with stress is that you are also learning real car controll. So dont see it as a waste of time, as just a game. See it as epnding time making yourself understand how a car reacts so weight transfer, how a car turns in and how a car reacts on different road conditions.
Thankfully, for us Brits, Forza Horizon 4 is based right on our door step. Allowing us to see all the good parts of the uk, the Scottish highlands all the way to the Cotswolds very own Broadway. The prior I tend to find more fun to drive, seeing as there are countless hairpins on mountain roads. furthermore, when you pair a Scottish Island with the darkness of night, you are blessed with soemthing so spectacular, so special, that you stop your drive to just sit and watch from the mountain top roads.