It may sand dodgy, but Saracen’s a Musso have

IN the old days, and I’m not sure you’d call them ‘good’, car firms would hand out gifts to journalists at launches of new motors. Blags, we called them.

A titanium cased mobile phone at an Aston Martin launch, for instance. A flash cappuccino machine at a Fiat event.

Until something called compliance put an end to this practice.

I always thought being paid to drive a Ferrari was enough of a privilege and that no gift was required. And I certainly didn’t need a bribe to turn up.

So I was a bit surprised to discover the Ssangyong Musso pick-up that we’re testing this week arrived with a ‘gift’ in the back. Actually, it was 10 sacks of building sand.

Being a bit suspicious and a veteran of three decades of testing cars, I immediately understood: the 250kg of bagged sand wasn’t a present for a future DIY project. No, it was there to help soften the Musso’s harsh ride.

My suspicions were confirmed when I unloaded them all and then drove the Ssangyong empty over some local speed bumps. The 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel, 181bhp 32.9mpg

ride was worse. If Ssangyong’s engineers tackle this problem, rather than throw sand at it, they will have removed one of the Musso’s only faults – because the rest of the vehicle is pretty good.

We’re testing the top of the range Saracen version with automatic gearbox option. It costs £28,245 plus VAT. Quite a chunk of cash, but the most basic version is £19,995 and the Saracen does come with a lot of equipment – a big 9.2in touchscreen, Apple

The Thatcham automotive research centre has found that a third of drivers would consider breaking the law by texting or making a hand-held call while their car is in automatic steering mode.

I blame car company marketing people who have actively promoted the concept of selfdriving cars even though their engineers have been waving in the background, saying: “Not so fast. We’re nowhere near yet.”