Here’s what MOTOR readers had to say this month

Got something on your mind, or a question that needs answering? Then get on your soap box and send us a letter!

Each month we award a 12-month subscription to MOTOR magazine for sharing a particularly entertaining story, while all the honourable mentions get published in print.

If you want to win 12 issues of the world’s most exciting performance car you simply have to tell us about your most inspired used-car purchase.

So go on, send us a rant, a story or just your thoughts, to motor@wheelsmedia.com.au, you know you want to.

Here's what your fellow MOTOR fans had to say this month!

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Stelvio Parse

Andy, you edit a very good MOTOR mag. Hell I don’t even pay for mine because I won the right for a 12 month supply last year by stating my case about SUVs, and gave some reasons why my diesel Stelvio is such a joy to own.

Your article on the Q got me agreeing then disagreeing on some points, sometimes both at the same time. One paragraph in particular touched base with me I must say. It was on your conclusion about the Stelvio.

You said “there are those drivers who love a car that’s beautifully set up ... then there are those drivers who see it as a challenge to mould their driving style to the quirks or shortcomings of the vehicle they are driving. The former might struggle with the Stelvio, it has a lot of characteristics.”

Quite perfectly said.

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Remembering also that he gave us a vehicle that as you say is mischievous and that every journo and owner will tell you is simply so much fun to drive. R.I.P. Sergio.

Me, well I have been spoiled a bit and would say I was indeed the former, but not so now. The Stelvio has ‘characteristics’ about it for sure, but it also has great character. That is what I love about it, (given mine isn’t a Q), or is it the 470Nm which going through that 8-speed in Dynamic mode and using paddles that quite literally does my head in (and dispatches big numbers of many and varied chariots along the way), all the while refusing to use fuel?

Overall as you may have guessed I truly love what Sergio Marchionne gave us, what a genius and heartfelt man who must have been heartbroken by the lack of sales. I salute him for his passion and his ability to dare to gamble and shall remember him for his ‘absoluteness’ in taking that gamble.

Remembering also that he gave us a vehicle that as you say is mischievous and that every journo and owner will tell you is simply so much fun to drive. R.I.P. Sergio.

Dave Burt, via Email

Cheers, Dave. Maybe the Giulia raised expectations that the Stelvio would never meet. If anything it shows how far Alfa Romeo has progressed that a vehicle as exciting and charismatic as the Stelvio Q wasn’t as rounded a proposition as perhaps I’d hoped. – Ed

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Shooting Star

I loved the “clown shoe” Sweet Dream but think you started with the wrong donor car. While a manual, rear drive BMW Z4 M Coupe would be amazing, it would also be prohibitively expensive and too powerful to properly enjoy in the land of low speed limits and excessive speed cameras.

A shooting-brake version of the upcoming BRZ/86 on the other hand would be a third the price, have accessible and fun performance, and would make it much more practical for the cost of a few kilos. Subaru/Toyota might even consider adding enough length to the wheelbase of this version to make the rear seats usable. A modern Lancia HPE or even a mini Ferrari FF?

The initial sales success of the original BRZ/86 dropped off after a few years to the point enthusiasts were worried there wouldn’t be a version 2.0. Maybe the practicality of a shooting-brake BRZ/86 would find the incremental buyers to sustain the BRZ/86 on an on-going basis. Would love to see it.

PS - If you are looking for more Sweet Dream ideas, a VW California with VW Amarok sized wheels and 4WD system for ability to camp in comfort anywhere in Australia would be very sweet.

Wayne Black, via Email

I think Toyota already beat you to that punch with a one-off 86 shooting brake design study. – Ed

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Door Jam

I was recently corrected by a friend who claimed that a McLaren 720S didn’t have scissor doors but had butterfly doors instead. I can’t quite work out what the difference is. I know Lamborghinis have scissor doors, but aren’t the McLaren’s much the same? Confused.

Kelly Somerville, Geelong

Your friend is technically right. It’s all about whether the door angles straight up, like a Lamborghini’s or upwards and outwards, like those of the McLaren 720S.

The butterfly design allows for easier entry and egress but is a slightly more complex mechanism to engineer and requires more clearance at the side of the car to operate. Don’t get us onto dihedral synchro-helix doors. That’s for another day. Next time your friend tries to flex on car door knowledge, ask if they know which car was the first to feature them. We think it’s the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Revenge is a dish best served upwards and outwards. – Ed

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Slow Ride

Whilst the speed limit ‘wowsers’ cry foul at every opportunity, you never hear them talk about needless crashes occurring because people are forced to drive too slowly. Take the 100km/h speed limit on country roads as an example. We regularly hear of single-car accidents on straight country roads, where a car has left the road and met with a tree. Why is this happening?

The answer is simple. People are bored plodding along at 100km/h in cars designed to travel these roads in safety at much higher speeds. Consequently, they look for diversions. Perhaps a quick text to someone, or a chat on the mobile. Perhaps engaging with the kids in the back? Listening to the radio. In fact, anything but concentrating on their driving. But now we come to the real issue. They simply fall asleep at the wheel.

Everybody in the car is lulled into sleep by the comfort of the car, driving along in virtual silence.

Why do they fall asleep? Well, besides boredom, it is also due to needless fatigue. This situation is greatly exacerbated when they drift over to the wrong side of the road and a totally unnecessary head-on accident occurs.

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That we are forced to plod along at 100km/h or 110km/h on our ‘open road’ freeways is a waste of our most precious resource, time. If we could drive faster, we would arrive at our destinations refreshed and importantly, we would have been concentrating on our driving, whilst getting there.

Considering the state of play with our ‘wowsers’ and the politicians who make these ridiculous rules, I suggest the following.

1. Raising the speed limit on dual carriage to freeways to at least 130km/h.
2. Making the default speed limit on country roads 120km/h.

Obviously, there will be places where it is prudent to impose a lower limit, but there are many places where driving at a higher speed is not only more appropriate, but also safer.

In Australia, the only motoring journalist that I am aware of to tackle, at least the dual road speed limit issue, is Steven Corby while editor of Wheels magazine. I was most disappointed to see that he did not receive any support from his colleagues. So here we are, driving the most advanced and safest cars ever built, on the best roads that we have ever had, at a speed I used to cruise my mom’s 1958 Morris Minor 1000 at. It is just wrong.

Chris van Wyk, Middle Park, Vic.

I’d love to see common sense prevail here but impoverished driving standards coupled with a lack of political appetite at virtually any level leads me to believe this is, for now, a rigged fight. That may change, but it pays to pick your battles. Starting with driver training. - Ed

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