Freedom, but don’t waste it
Campbell Spray sees joy for the long-suffering cocooners, new openings and looks at some good choices
THE joy around Phoenix Park, since the so-called ‘lockdown’ on the cocooning class was eased, is a total delight. “Freedom, freedom!” shouted one welldressed gentleman of rather advanced years as he greeted me the other day.
Old friends and their dogs were happy to see each other again as they dodged the runners and seemingly crazed cyclists who sped along paths staring ahead but oblivious to all others.
The release that people have been feeling of the last 12 days is like seeing our dog Dooey jumping in the air as she runs through the grass.
She had a dreadful early life. Now it’s ‘freedom, freedom!’, indeed, for her as well.
The grounds of the Visitor Centre have opened up again and the outside coffee hut has also resumed business. There’s a notice saying cocooners have priority for walks from 10am-1pm, so with Dublin’s council-run parks doing the same between 1.30-3.30pm, they can claim the run of the city nearly all day.
And they deserve it, when the toll in nursing homes has been so high. Please respect them and keep a distance. Pretend you have parking sensors like your car.
However, I most feel sorry for the parents who have had to teach, amuse and restrict their children for so long. I’m pleased it is not my responsibility anymore. But at least things are progressing and garages lead the charge for some normality in the motor business by opening tomorrow.
Showrooms, who have done an awful lot to change their way of working, will also open. But please only go to reputable dealers and be wary of places where there are lots of cars strung along forecourts with much touching and little sanitising.
There’s going to be a lot of offers and bargains out there and not so many people able to take out PCPs and other financial plans. Dealers will need to shift metal.
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WE have wasted many crises before, let’s not do it this time.
But equally, it is not time to panic and undo the progress in planning and thinking of how we should restructure our transport systems. It is time to refine what we have and plan ahead even more.
There will be a time in the not-too-distant future when there will again be crowded stadiums and packed streets, planes and buses. That has to be faced, along with the more immediate problems of social distancing.
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THE questions that continue to come into my email often involve better and higher seating positions, plus easier access because of problems with hips and backs. One recent loyal reader also wanted space for golf clubs and the ability to make a fast and comfortable drive to the North-West. He was willing to trade down, or sideways, from a very premium German marque.
My go-to choice for him would be the VW Tiguan but the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson are really both worth checking out, especially with their long warranties, seven and five years respectively.
If money is a bit more free, or if the reader would go back a couple of years, the Lexus RX is an absolutely superb car. It is the sort of vehicle you should have if you really want to be pampered.
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Last week, I was talking about the Volkswagen T-Roc
R, which carries the letter making it at the very pinnacle of the model range. The T-Roc is a good crossover/SUV based on the same platform as the ever-popular Golf.
Now there is more news of the eighth-generation VW Golf GTi which falls below the R range, but is still a real belter and sits lower and stiffer than the normal hatchback. It will still be pricey, probably much the same as now at around €46,000.
For many of us, the Golf GTi was the first real taste of a serious hot hatch when it was launched nearly 45 years ago. For much of that time, it has been one of the most coveted cars in the world and the guts of 2.5 million have been sold.
The first one I drove was left-hand drive only, like many performance cars of the time. It was quite a beast then and it is even more so now, especially when you go beyond the Sport setting and take off all the driving aids that cool nannylike keep you controlled.
I won’t go there, but others who have been out in prototype versions, say it is scary but awe-inspiring with brilliant acceleration and great grip.
Hmm, I have white hair already. There’s an even faster and more expensive R version coming, too.
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JUST a couple of weeks after announcing the launch of a small SUV/Crossover based on its small Yaris hatchback, Toyota has now said its new and refined 7-seater Highlander hybrid SUV is coming early next year.
Available exclusively with a full hybrid powertrain, the Highlander, together with the D-segment RAV4, the C-segment C-HR and the forthcoming B-segment Yaris Cross — expands Toyota’s SUV model line-up to offer what it claims is the largest range of hybrid SUV options.
Benefitting from Toyota’s
GA-K platform, the Highlander combines all the Toyota SUV attributes and long-developed hybrid technology.
There is also an intelligent All-Wheel Drive system, space on demand and a two-tonne to wing capacity.
Meanwhile, Kia will be launching a new, very powerful fully electric SUV next year, which will aim to take on Tesla and other performance marques. According to Auto Express, which seems to have got hold of some very accurate information, it will offer a hot version which will have Porsche Taycan’s blistering pace of 0-100kmh in just three seconds.
Internally known as the Kia CV, it will act as the “brand’s halo model and introduce next-generation capacity and an all-new platform specifically for electric vehicles”.
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IT is very sad to read that in England and Wales security guards, taxi drivers, chauffeurs and chefs are the workers most likely to die from coronavirus.
It is also a higher risk than hospital or care home staff. Bus and coach drivers also feature in higher mortality indices.
The results are a bit skewed as many of these jobs are done by the high-risk BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) group, but it just shows what some people in the service industries are facing.
We should be very respectful to them.