Yes France will always be my second favourite European country BECAUSE it is the home of Michelin.  And Michelin are my favourite tyre manufacturer because they cut through the bollocks and give us actual facts.

This is why, whenever any debate starts on any tyre issue, I will only ever listen to the French manufacturer.

Michelin and I share loads of memories.  Custard Tarts in Estoril, Robotic head gear in Sweden and, of course, Gumpert crashing at The Goodwood Festival of Speed.  I have travelled thousands of miles on Michelin rubber at various speeds.  Each and every car in my collection wears a full set of Michelins from PSS to Cups to Winters.  There is a reason for this.

The R&D department of the company is incredible.  It works on FACTS not on sales.  It works on YOUR SAFETY not its sale margins.  It produces real time actual statistics, not ones it highlights for the companies own good.  I have spoken about the ethics of such a company.  A company which pulled out of F1 and focussed on Le Mans / Endurance because it didn’t believe, like Pirelli, in creating a tyre that was designed to wear quickly.

The debate in F1 about tyres ‘falling off’ should be looked at in this current debate about tread depth.  When you watch F1 you can see that different circuits effect the tyres in different ways.  Driver style can increase the wear.  The weather, speeds, heat so many factors can improve the wear of a rubbish tyre.  But I think we can all take from F1 that there is one HUGE factor that can improve the wear of a tyre.  The quality and design of the product.

Michelin have an exciting approach to sustainable road mobility and the company is entirely opposed to an increase of passenger car / light truck tyre legal minimum tread depth from 1.6mm to 3mm

This is what they say on the matter

Safety:

Even if the available data shows longer wet braking distances and less wet cornering potential with decreasing tread depth, the available accident data does not demonstrate any increase in accident rates on wet roads with tyres worn close to the legal limit (1.6mm).

Tyre tread depth is not the only influencing factor on wet braking distance and wet cornering potential. Tread pattern design (groove geometry and width, siping density and geometry, etc.) as well as tread compound are also important influencing factors on these braking and cornering properties.

The stopping distance of a vehicle in an emergency situation depends on many factors such as the vehicle itself, the type of tyres fitted to the vehicle, the road surface and the driver’s behaviour. The increased distance due to tyres with lower tread depths is only one factor that helps determine overall stopping distance, and alone it cannot be taken as an indicator of accident frequency.

Economics:

This tread depth evolution would require 23% more tyres to be purchased by consumers each year. Extra costs will also be incurred through the fitting and balancing of these additional tyres, and through the disposal and treatment of more scrap tyres every year.

The raw material requirement for tyres will be increased by 23%. In the present economic context where there is strong demand in the raw materials market this would mean an increase in tyre cost, which will be borne by the consumer.

Fuel consumption will also be increased resulting in extra costs.

Environmental preservation:

This evolution would increase the mean rolling resistance of the tyre by an estimated 2.7% corresponding to an increased fuel consumption of about 0.55% (about 1 billion litres of fuel per year in Europe) and a corresponding increase of 0.55% of CO₂ emissions (about 2.5 million tonnes CO₂ per year in Europe).

Recognising that the change to 3mm would require 23% more tyres to be manufactured the use of natural resources will, of course, increase by the same rate.

Having been lucky enough to work with Michelin, spend time with its R&D team and understand the logic behind its statements I am in 100% agreement that the legal tread depth should stay where it is.

I have to ask myself WHAT the objective is of the other manufactures.  To me it is seemingly sales driven.  If the law changes then they will sell more tyres and make more money.

Michelins approach is, lets find a way of developing a tyre that LASTS.  Lets find a way of making our product improve as the tread depth reduces. One of the products that stands out and excites me for the future of car tyres and sustainability is a tyre currently used on Bus / Trucks.  An Innovative design by Michelin where at two thirds wear new grooves appear in the tyre pattern which return the grip to that of a new tyre.

This kind of design is what sets Michelin apart from the pack.  The advice is given by what is BEST for the consumer and the environment not by what is best for the pockets of the company shareholders.  AND before you say it – I am not naive – I am aware that the company relies and depends on sales to survive.  But it is their approach to getting those sales that makes them my tyre manufacturer of choice and the only company worth listening to when it comes to tyre safety and longevity.

So consider your position on tread depth.  How you feel about it.  Because VERY soon the Government may be making choices which will end up costing YOU and our environment a lot – for no real reason other than pressure and misrepresented statistics from companies wanting to increase profit.

This piece started off so fun and then got all serious.  Hmm.  Well I hope you all learnt something anyway.  And I hope it makes you think.

Check out Michelin online here http://www.michelin.co.uk/ and if you are coming to The Festival of Speed, I shall be on their stand.  Come and say hi!

Here is a little piece I did for Michelin last year about Goodwood’s Festival of Speed  and of course for those who want to know what happened after I filmed this piece the Gumpert Crash is here 

]]> http://blog.macchinaclub.com/2013/06/tread-carefully/feed/ 0 http://blog.macchinaclub.com/2012/10/whats-the-deal-eh/ http://blog.macchinaclub.com/2012/10/whats-the-deal-eh/#comments Thu, 25 Oct 2012 11:15:20 +0000 nancyturner http://blog.macchinaclub.com/?p=378 Recently I came to blows with a dealership over a clients prestige 15,000 mile, 4 year old car.  Out of warranty but with two failed drive shafts.  My clients were charged for the replacement of one and the repair of another.  Two weeks later the repaired one failed and was replaced under the garages “Goodwill” policy.  It wasn’t Goodwill, it was a failed part and as such the dealership were under obligation to pay.  But the issues didn’t stop there.

At no point had any of the technicians looked at the situation and thought – this is a very low mileage car, with no sign of damage, to have issues with both drive shafts – Its not your job or my job to understand what is normal or abnormal when parts fail on our cars.  It is up to the garage to look after your best interests and if something looks odd it should be bought up with the manufacturer by the dealership.  They should also represent you the best they can.  If they feel something is odd then they should push for goodwill on a repair.  Even if its only a percentage of the repair.  Often the Manufacturer will step in and help because if it really is a defect or weakness in their product they want to know.  My experience in these cases is it is the dealership that fails in their duty to look after the best interests of their clients.  Whenever I have taken a case direct to the manufacturer they have done everything to deal with it.

The worst thing about this particular situation was that the repair of the driveshaft was actually completely uneconomical.  After really looking into the bill it became apparent that because of the labour charged to repair the shaft, it would have actually been cheaper to replace it.  An incredible 50% cheaper.

It took three weeks of going backwards and forwards to this dealership before the manufacturer finally stepped in and refunded a whopping 100% of the bill.

Not every case is like this but it’s hugely important that you question everything.  Always ask if it is worth approaching the manufacturer for Goodwill.  Ask how the part has broken and what they think could have caused it. If you get “We aren’t CSI Miami” (I have done in the past!) as a response then it is NOT good enough.  Technicians SHOULD be trained in diagnostics – not just the plug and go kind – they are there to look after you and you pay a premium at main dealers to get the very best in care and technology.  Ask questions and if you don’t feel right then contact the manufacturer directly and ask for their advice.  Always ask to see the parts.  If you want take photographs of the parts and notes of what they say the issues are, then do.

Obviously there are some parts which can fail because of basic wear and tear.  For example you could expect the rubber gaiters on the Drive Shaft to split as they are in such a vulnerable place and are made from a material which could suffer if struck by something hitting underneath your car.  It is the parts that you would reasonably expect to last longer than a period of 6 years.  The price of the car and the parts would be a good indication of your expectations.  If you buy a budget brand car then it could be argued it is unreasonable for you to expect parts to last as long as a premium brand.

It is a confusing and often difficult route to go down but in certain cases, and in cases such as this it is a very useful piece of information to know.

I believe that dealerships need to be there to help look after their clients best interests.  When you buy a car you are buying into that brand and the more you are looked after, the more honest they are, the more likely it is that you will take their advice on things such as winter maintenance and tyres.  Information that is actually often very good and very true.  Manufacturers do know how to get the best safety and the most longevity out of their product.  So their advice is key.  However we need to remember that the dealership and the Manufacturer are representing two different things.  One is driven by the product and the quality of the product and the other is there to sell, make money and increase turnover.  Of course one works for the other but its important to remember and is why I advise always going to the manufacturer as early as you can.

You can read the statement here

We have a team of guys, all affected by military operations, all with life changing injuries. These guys will be taking part in their first ever Britcar24 race at Silverstone in just under 2 weeks and by jove they need your support.

So Sue and I have devised a master plan. We know it’s hard to donate to charity at the moment what with the recession and the crazy government talking away all our pensions, healthcare and obviously our jobs (they can’t take our freedom right?? No you’re right, we shouldn’t take that for granted) so instead of asking for your hard earned wedge we are asking for a simple thing, to help boost awareness of this incredible and AMAZERS charity.

If you are a fan of Motorsport or supports of our troops or you just appreciate a well muscled man in a race suit then you should have heard of Mission Motorsport by now. If you haven’t…..shame on you

You can find out all about the charity here on the Facebook page and most importantly you can read about this brilliant competition we are running over the next few weeks. Our goal? Get to 2000 followers on twitter. The incentive? Three brilliant prizes if you follow us on Twitter @missionmotorspt and/or like our Facebook page. Just follow this link and when we hit 1000 we will give away our first prize. Two tickets to the Britcar 24 with a very special invitation to visit us in the pits AND enjoy a tea and one of the incredible cakes made by Mission MoSupport. Once we hit 1000 we will announce the next prize which will be given away at 1500 followers and then our star prize will be announced when we reach 2000. Please do it. It takes two seconds to like us and hit follow on twitter. It takes less than that to RT this blog and help us reach more people.

C’mon!!! Do it!!!

MISSION MOTORSPORT COMPETITION 

Now…..I really must get back to my wee.

Go go go!! Xxx

So when I was offered the Vantage S I wasn’t exactly filled to the brim with excitement. Arriving to pick it up I was, as with June, taken in by its beauty. Aston know how to design a car on the exterior. They are so pretty. The front grill, the shark like nose, those lights that look like they have been blown into place by the wind. The nose of the Vantage S is so low with a lip under the front bumper. Gorgeously low. Yes, the Vantage S is a very beautiful lady and as I was absorbed by all this and I wanted the car. I desired it and all I could see was its flawless elegance.

Its upon stepping inside the Aston that things change. I am a girl that LOVES Alcantara and the Vantage S is full of it. I surprised myself by admitting that the steering wheel is the most chic I have ever seen. Its perfect total lack of unnecessary frill suits me but this is as classy as the interior gets. The stitching on the upholstery is a miss mash. There is contrast stitching on the A pillar. This is probably the worst place to put any kind of stitching at all. Your eye focuses on it, no matter where you put the stitch it is going to look very wonky to either passenger or driver. I once had a pair of Manolo Blahniks with a stitch right across the toe. No matter how much I told myself the designer had thoughtfully placed this here I couldn’t help but look down and stare only at the ugly stitch. It haunted every step and this is what the interior of the Aston does. Each time I look over to the left I catch the stitch line and it reminds me of what the Aston lacks instead of reminding me of its exterior grace.

Nothing in the Vantage S, save the steering wheel, suggests any kind of real quality to me. Its all boshed together from other cars. The key was exactly the same as a Ford KA key, the Sat Nav straight out of a Volvo. Aston have addressed the Sat Nav and now Garmin provide the system in the latest Virage, a step in the right direction although this is a kind of oxymoron, if you are following a Garmin you are probably taking a step in the wrong direction. But whilst the Sat Nav isn’t perfect its a damn sight better than the Mercedes Sat Nav. The leather itself seems cheap. Step into a Porsche or a Ferrari and it reminds me of being in an expensive tack room. You can smell the leather quality. Whilst the Aston has that delicious new car smell there is no hint of quality from the materials. Where the mattness of the steering wheel had captured me the rest of the car has tacky high gloss black buttons and shiny chrome details. It just doesn’t work. Its as if the interior was designed by someone who has no clue or feel for quality. Its like a stunningly beautiful woman with a terrible personality, a Primark dress with the label cut out and a Gucci one sewn in.

This car was fitted with the Aston Martin Sport-shift gearbox. There are lots of these HiTech gearboxes, some of them are more successful than others. VW have the DSG which performs well in auto or on the paddle shift. Porsche PDK box is great in auto but the sequential is unnatural, leading you the wrong way when it comes to changes. I had been warned about the Sport-shift by friends at dealerships so wasn’t expecting much. My god it was sluggish on changes, clunky and a constant battle. There is no hill hold which became an issue. When you have a car like this it becomes an instant attraction and so needs to be easy to maneuver or you become a spectacle. I once bought 8 inch heels from TopShop and winced my way down oxford street. Inevitably I fell. As I was pulling myself up from this embarrassing heap on the floor I notice a girl in golden ballet pumps. Oh how envious I was of those pumps as I battled on. This is how the Aston leaves me feeling on every slight hill. I know the battle that awaits to get it to move forward with any grace will leave me wishing I had just bought a BMW M3

Something very positive about the Aston is its presence on the road. Other drivers love it. The Vantage S encourages friendly waves and invitations into gaps that I don’t even need. People adore the car and like the Vera Wang dress they all look at me as I negotiate roundabouts and traffic lights and admire me. They are captivated by the beauty of it. Why wouldn’t they be? They see that perfect exterior form. The beautiful sound. Of course what they don’t see is the whiplash I am trying to avoid as I battle my way through the sport shifts inability to perform a smooth gear change at low speeds. They mistake the grimace on my face for a smile as I desperately try to work out my ground clearance. You see the city loves this Aston Martin but the Aston does not love the city.

Fundamentally I am a girl and I worry about my nail polish, hair, lipstick and whether Johnny Depp is ready to start dating again and sometimes I forget that I can ACTUALLY drive and once I realised this fact behind the wheel of the Aston Martin I found it a different beast. I just had to get out of the city to discover it. The Vantage needs you to let its hair down. You have to get aggressive with it. She loves it. Open her up and use the paddle shift and this car will put a smile on your face. The gears snap and pop into place and suddenly, instead of avoiding gear changes I am hungry for them. Ok so I wouldn’t trade my flat six for this V8 but boy does it sound good and as I approach tunnels I find myself having to drop my window and a gear to hear it. You can’t fault the sound. Even if you know nothing about cars you know that the Aston sounds the business. I could drive all day on an autobahn like this. I suddenly see why the sport-shift is great and the dealers are right, this is NOT an automatic in any shape or form and it should only be treated as a manual. However as I pointed out earlier it SHOULD be able to perform better as an auto. Like the DSG or the PDK. If you are going to sell a car to the general public as a road car, which IS what the Vantage S is, then she needs to be as drivable at low speeds as she is at high. I guess thats where this car fails me a little. Its sandwiched between road car and track car. It does neither of those things brilliantly so what is its purpose? Top Gear called it hardcore luxury but for me its not quite either of those things.

I don’t know how I feel about the car, or the brand. I want to love Aston Martin, I want to get inside it and feel absolutely taken. In many ways this is exactly what is wrong with my job. Reality. The reality of cars that, like my dress, should remain a fantasy. Something to look at and adore. To admire from a far. Aston seem to hold on to the history yet they have let go of what once made them great. The quality of their product. The company has probably the BEST exterior designers in the world but these designers are being let down by technology and interiors that come across cheap and underdeveloped. I feel sad saying that but I stand by it. If you are going to spend over £100,000 for a car then you should be getting more quality, more functionality and more of a purpose. Until Aston step up the interior quality I just couldn’t recommend one of their cars for the money. Unless we are talking classic cars. The Aston DB5 is one of the chicest, beautifully crafted and perfect cars I have ever seen. In Astons glory days you could live with the car and be passionate about it. I couldn’t live with a modern Aston Martin and neither can many of my clients but when you sit in your office and see it on your driveway you can’t help but adore it. Like my Topshop shoes that I haven’t worn since Oxford Street or the Vera Wang dress that I will still probably buy. Aston Martin is about an image, a lifestyle. Its a car you buy for what it IS not what it DOES.

I am writing a nice piece for the MSA magazine which I will post up on hear after September 14th when the piece is published.

So for now I shall leave you with the video I created for You Tube as a kind of thank you to the amazing Marshals and volunteers at Goodwood.

Gumpert Crash Inside the Cockpit

Thanks to the crazy world that is Twitter I came across a devilishly handsome man called Major Jim Cameron MID. I didn’t know him as that to begin with I just knew him as a twit called Tankslider until one day, at the Britcar 24hr I had the honor of sharing a holler and a wave as he drove past in one of the Mazda MX5′s he was racing for Help4Heroes.

Move forward 6 months and I was meeting Tankslider face to face at Tedworth House to talk about an incredible charity, Mission Motorsport.

Major Jim Cameron served in Afghanistan as the Warthog Battle Group Commander. On tour he lead his troops though the longest battle yet seen in Afghanistan. Fifty-one days of continuous desert fighting. Although none of Major Cameron’s men died, a staggering 10% suffered from life changing injuries. To get an idea of what he does you can read this piece about Peace Street or listen to Major Cameron on his return to the UK here on Audio Boo

On return to the UK Jim was reunited with the casualties from his tour and he decided he had to do something. He wanted to do something. So earlier this year Jim joined forces with Rich Bernard and Gavin Harvey and started a charity called Mission Motorsport. Its aim was simply to help those affected by military operations to ‘Race Retrain Recover’. It does this by giving injured troops and veterans the chance to get behind the wheel or under the lid of some incredible race cars and also Powerboats. The charity offers vocational placements with incredible brands, such as Bentley and Nissan who have seen the huge value in working with men who may have suffered injures but have incredible transferable skills from engineering to security to logistics and strategic planning. Mission Motorsport helps soldiers to redefine their careers and offers them an exciting platform to do that from. Just recently three of the charities guys have returned from Classic Le Mans where they worked with Derek Bell as his pit crew.

All of this, has been made easier because of Jim Cameron. His zest for life, his positivity and his passion as well as his knowledge of the motorsport industry, help him to form relationships with exciting companies and high profile supporters and the charity really benefits from his tireless devotion to helping retrain some of the most incredible men you will ever meet.

One meeting with Jim and I knew I had to help the charity where ever I could.

Just before the Festival of Speed an evening was organised, to raise money for Mission Motorsport on board HMS Victory in Portsmouth and I was lucky enough to be able to attend.

Guest speaker for the night was Ben Collins, the man formally known as The Stig. As uncool as it may sound I was looking forward to meeting Ben so much I hardly noticed the dashing Tony Jardine who is also a keen supporter of the charity. Ben has worked with a lot of charities and organisations for the armed forces and supports Help For Heroes. He is a fantastic guy. I’m not going to lie, I have a thing about him dressed as the Stig. In the same way I have a thing about Darth Vader and most motorbikers. The only difference being that I am usually bitterly disappointed when the helmet is removed and out pops a grubby looking pip squeak or a hairy gorilla. With Ben there is no disappointment and I don’t mean JUST because he is exceedingly good looking. He is also acutely intelligent and fascinating to talk to. Shame the same couldn’t be said of me. I was four glasses of Champagne in before you could even say HEY, NICE TROUSERS MAJOR CAMERON.

After some expert navigations of what turns out to be some pretty tough terrain on board the Victory – Not really a stilettos venue girls – we sat down to eat and get on with business. Raising money and having a fantastic night.

Stig kindly donated his helmet which went on auction with some other fantastic lots including a lovely set of silver tumblers (modeled by Charlie an official volunteer at H4H) a weekend with a Jaguar XF and a late minute edition of a date which included yours truly. What is a bit sad is that Stigs Helmet fetched £1000, Charlies magnificent Tumbers £1050 and an evening with my good self only managed to rake in a measly £250 and whats worse is that the date hasn’t been claimed yet so as it stands some man spent £250 to NOT go out with me. Unsurprising to some.

It was an incredible night which raised lots of money for the charity and also helped raise awareness. Which is what I am trying to do now. In two ways.

Firstly I want you all to take a look at the Mission Motorsport website and see what this fantastic charity is doing. You can follow them on Facebook, on twitter and one day maybe on Pinterest if I ever get two minutes with Sue to discuss how and WHY it works.

But I also want to use it to say thank you on behalf of every single person involved in the charity to a very very handsome and extremely special man who will probably kill me for writing this piece but its tough. Freedom of speech and all that.

Jim sometimes its easy, when we are surrounded by such inspirational, gorgeous young men and women, to over look the slightly grey aging bloke who does so much to inspire and create opportunities and who stays ridiculously positive throughout everything. Sometimes its easy to forget how much you have done for our guys before they even came across the charity. So this post is a dedication to you and everything you have done so far. I know each of the guys involved from troops to volunteers feels the same and thanks to a lot of hard work from you, Rich and Gav some inspirational guys have been able to achieve all this

Whilst you are all here I am raising money for Mission Motorsport by cycling a stupidly long way. Get involved with it!! Knockhill2Goodwood

You all know I am not one for the boring and dull statistics right? So this trip was potentially going to be a nightmare for me as there was no driving, just statistics and facts and experts. Still, it was in Stockholm, it was in a lovely hotel and Michelin have always been the market leader on exciting new products so I flat packed my suitcase and off I went.

Stockholm is an interesting place for a girl like me. I failed to see any cars that really interested me or shops that made me want to throw my credit card and a note saying ‘size 7 send to Hayling’ through their letter box BUT it’s a very pretty very tidy place and it is FULL and I mean FULL of very very handsome men and being this was a Michelin event, very handsome men that kept coming at me with bottles of champagne. Perfect. But the point of this event wasn’t my hosts incredible evening’s entertainment, it was to understand WHY Michelins latest tyre, the Energy Saver+, is rumored to be one of the most efficient and energy saving tyres on the market.

Let’s start with something boring. The tyre industry is now having to use a labeling system. This is to make YOUR job easier when it comes to choosing tyres. Does it? No I’m not sure it really does. It’s a bit like the food labeling system and the CO2 emissions thing and all the other useless labels that probably haven’t really been thought about that much and are actually pretty misleading. But none the less there is now a label system which you can see here explained by Michelin in a nice simple way.

The reason I say it’s confusing is because of what exactly all the different grades mean. One of the tests is on wet braking. This is great. We need to see how well a car brakes in the wet but did you know that 70% of all the accidents on our roads happen in dry conditions on dry roads. The label gives no indication as to how well tyres perform in these conditions. The next test is about fuel economy. Whilst this is all well and good you need to remember that YOU are the maker of your own destination when it comes to fuel economy. Buy an A rated tyre but drive like a juvenile delinquent and have all the wrong pressures in your tyres will mean you will have a far worse reality rating than if you buy a B rated tyre and drive in a more educated manner with perfect PSI. So whilst its great to see the fuel economy rating I think I would have rather seen a rating for tyre longevity or road handling. Well instead of this we get a third rating for external noise. Hmm. Okay, I am sure this is important but really how many of us honestly worry about the external noise as more of a priority than, as mentioned before how long the bloody thing lasts?

I may sound obtuse here but the facts are some tyres are able to achieve an A rating which will encourage consumers to buy them because they think they are safer or better value for the money when in reality they are potentially buying a tyre constructed around the tests for the regulations but NOT anything else. So where does the compromise come in? You may be getting a Double A rating on wet braking and fuel economy but that particular tyre could have a G rating on dry braking and Longevity.

Anyway as misleading as I think they are the tyre labeling is here to stay so my suggestion is you do more research than just relying on what that tells you and this is why Michelin and, as a focus, the Energy Saver+ is so important. Michelin’s strategy is focussed on combining safety in all driving conditions(dry and wet, straight and curves) Improved fuel efficiency and longer total mileage these are areas that are important to me when I buy rubber. They are what makes a different to my pocket, my safety and my environment.

Michelin highlighted just how good its newest addition to the range is buy working with DEKRA to perform the most comprehensive real life test thats ever been done. Pitting the Energy Saver+ against the equivalent tyre from each other manufacturer. This test was pretty hardcore and involved 500km per day, 30,000km in total through 25 european countries. Watch this video about the Michelin Performance Tourfor some man facts and keep your eye open for the tasty priest about half way through.

The results of this test were incredible with Michelin leading the way and the Energy Saver+ showing what an outstanding little tyre it is. Best fuel consumption, best wear and best wet braking after 18,000km. The other makes which included Bridgestone, Pirelli, Goodyear and Continental couldn’t come close to Energy Saver+ on any of the categories.

Now, playing devil’s advocate here, it could be argued that this tyre IS the latest offering from the Michelin camp and the other tyres tested are the current market tyres not necessarily the manufacturers newest tyre and we know Pirelli have something coming out fairly soon. I did discuss this with Michelin and they said they couldn’t access prototype tyres for their test and I can see why. I also believe that Michelin would still come out tops if they had and there is no reason that any of the other manufactures couldn’t run the exact same test with DEKRA when they finally launch new tyres. I do wish that Michelin had run the old Energy Saver alongside these tests though just to satisfy my curiosity. All this is irrelevant anyway because as it currently stands the test has been done on the current, on the market, tyre models.

I learnt a VERY interesting stat whilst in Stockholm. Michelin allocate 592 Million euros to its Research and Development budget every year. That is an incredible amount of money but perhaps for me unsurprising given the amount of emphasis the company puts on producing a long lasting, well rounded product.

Michelin chose well taking us to Sweden. Stockholm is a no nonsense, calm, clean and efficient place. In fact as I was sipping champagne I looked over the city thinking Stockholm and Bibendum were a match made in heaven.

Well that’s it. It’s probably the most boring post I have ever written in my life, sorry Michelin but let’s face it reading about tyres isn’t going to get anyone’s pulse racing HOWEVER my next piece includes Mission Motorsport an incredible charity working with Injured troops and the devilishly handsome Ben Collins who will set your pulses racing if you watch this

On Saturday night I was due to be at the Goodwood Festival of Speed Ball. Oh how excited I was! However, by 7:00 pm I was lying flat on a spinal board with women plucking straw and glass from my noon.

For those of you that haven’t dated an Essex girl a noon is a more delicate term for bearded clam, cupids cupboard or furry taco.

I obtained a pubic mound that Worzel Gummidge would have been proud of in a Gumpert Apollo after my driver decided to imitate stunt man Terry Grant on Michelins Supercar run bygoing round Molecombe sideways and at about 85 mph.

I’m not going to beat around the straw bush here, it was a ‘Billy’ error to make. We went in too fast and lifted a fatal combination on any corner in a RWD car. The result was over $160,000 of damage to the car and red flagging of the event.

Crashing in any car is a scary thing. In a Gumpert its a scary but TOTALLY AWESOME thing.  You know how cool you feel when you are sitting in a hypercar and you paste it all over Twitter and the internet and your friends like it and RT it and get all overexcited like you just met the Beatles or something?

Well, when you get to share videos of you being removed from a car worth more than your mates house on a spinal board with around 25 marshals, doctors and nurses around you I can tell you that your status goes full on berserk.  Unless you are the driver of course, then the whole thing is probably pretty embarrassing.

I had braced for impact just after the first corner, it just seemed inevitable that we wouldn’t make it further than Molecombe.

There are various things I don’t remember like removing my helmet and the driver giving it his best to drive the car off but of the one thing I do remember is a desperate and immediate need to wee. For six hours I hung on to that wee. I deserve a medal for that alone.

Whilst I was being pulled out of the Gumpert, Lord March had taken it upon himself to personally look after my six-year-old son who now thinks I am the coolest woman on earth and my husband. So they were getting butler service as I started my journey to the Major Incident Unit at Southampton General.

You’ll all be pleased to hear I am not dead. I’m battered and bruised still pulling out splinters of glass and bits of straw from all kinds of embarrassing places but to be fair I’ve had Friday nights that have resulted in much the same.

The branding on the spoiler of the car was “Go Hard or Go Home.” I’ll always remember this as “Go Hard Go to Hospital.”

Massive thanks to all involved in my rescue and to Samantha Ward and her husband, the owners of the Gumpert, who spent along time trying to track me down to wish me well.

Same time same place next year guys? only this time I’ll drive.

I’m all for a love story that can be captured for eternity by a great artist or writer so when I heard that Rolls Royce had commissioned Rankin to create 100 images to celebrate the Sprit of Ecstasy centenary my head and my heart simultaneously exploded.

Being a woman who loves luxury and allure it seemed only natural that I would fall in love with Rolls Royce. I have dreams of me and a handsome man (the aforementioned handsome German would do) sitting in the rear of a Silver Cloud convertible, him in a Tom Ford suit with a pair of Persols and me head to toe in Coco Chanel with head scarf and huge sunglasses. We stop for a picnic lunch in the cornish town of Polperro and he feeds me oysters as I drink champagne whilst perched on a Burberry cashmere blanket. Then, with the Spirit of Ecstasy squeezing into view he holds me in his arms and we watch the sunset over the boats in the harbour… You get the picture. Rolls Royce feature in most of my inappropriately expensive but completely enchanting fantasies.

To me, the Spirit of Ecstasy is the driving force behind my romantic relationship with the brand. She is an inspiration. She captures all that makes a women. Beauty, grace, mystery and silent strength. Emotional strength. She is a woman with a secret. A women in love. The story of her love is so bitter sweet and yet there she sits. Content and free.

Ecstasy was inspired by The Whisper. A piece commissioned by the second Lord Montague that is said to immortalize his love affair with his secretary. This love however was never to be officially fulfilled because of her impoverished social status. She watched him marry a woman of notoriety bowing down to the pressures of social acceptance. Their secret love affair continued right up until her death. Rolls Royce’s Spirit Of Ecstasy was to convey the spirit of the Rolls-Royce, namely, speed with silence, absence of vibration, the mysterious harnessing of great energy and a beautiful living organism of superb grace and Lord Montague’s lover seemed the perfect symbol of this. Her name was Eleanor Thornton.

Eleanor is an inspiration to me. A woman that loved a man with such passion and grace that she respected why their love couldn’t be celebrated. She watched her love marry another and accepted why he had to do this. She did this without fight or spite. She kept her secret. Whilst her love for Lord Montague couldn’t physically be displayed, purely the knowledge that he loved her was enough to keep her happy. I look at the Spirit of Ecstasy now and I see a woman who looks alone but is not lonely. She adorns one of the most sought-after cars on the planet. The wind billows through her clothes and her eyes are focused on the horizon on the future. Her face is content. It is the face of a woman so in love whose heart has found its home and she needs nothing else but the knowledge this love is returned to be free.

Rankin was given a pretty tall order then when commissioned to celebrate 100 years of such an incredible icon. As one of the world’s most influential photographers though, it seems to me that this was a clever move by Rolls Royce. He has bought all of the detail, the mystery and grace that has kept Eleanor so relevant over the last 100 years to life and produced a collection that enchants and draws you in. Most women, like Ecstasy, hold a secret and these photographs certainly portray that.

You can see the video behind the making of Rankins Spirit Of Ecstasy here The music on this film is called Time Will Remember Us by Gabriel Shadid. Rolls Royce have selected some of their favorites here

If you are a man and you have managed to read the whole of this article without feeling a little queasy then I have created a manly review of the Rolls Royce Phantom Series II which you can read here and I can promise there is no girly talk of love and romance or gorgeous German hunks. Actually I can’t promise the last bit. There may be talk of a German hunk.