It was interesting to read Editor Chas Hallett’s blog that a used Ferrari is still a good Ferrari, but let's be honest – is a Ferrari ever truly ‘used’ in the accepted sense of the word?

I would argue that there are some cars which never truly become used. I believe that they miss all the usual stages and go straight to collectible or classic status instead.

I never really see many exotics as used, although a Jaguar always will be very used, then a banger and, if it is very lucky, a classic. A Caterham to me is never really a used car, although the Ferrari 400i went through all the Seven Ages of Car, as far as I could see.

Oh yes, the Seven Ages of Car. Here is my theoretical breakdown as to just how cars get old and all that:

New – Showroom fresh and delivery mileage.

Pre-registered – As above, but there is a name in the V5 and some money missing from the bottom line.

Nearly new – Dealer demos and pretty much most cars under a year old and with less than 10k miles qualify.

Pre-owned – The posh and slightly pretentious car dealer, or perhaps an exotic vehicle will be listed here. Would make a great name for a column, too.

Used – Self-explanatory, I hope.

Banger – The cars I love – all depreciated out, but still full of life.

Classic  – All of a sudden a car crosses that threshold (Morris Ital, anyone?) and suddenly everyone loves them and maybe they start to appreciate in value.

There are of course, exceptions – models that seem to miss out on several stages altogether. So I just wondered whether this Seven Ages theory holds any water and how the cars you love fare on this basis?

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Okay, this one’s a bit more complex because it involves the twists and undulations of Donington, plus a more disparate range of cars, but the question itself is exactly the same: what’s fastest?

I’m talking about the short circuit at Donington – in other words, not the one that includes the Melbourne loop. And despite what you may think in light of the British GP debacle, the circuit itself is the same as it ever was – even if the Spitfire has been sadly removed from the infield near the Old Hairpin.

Here are the cars. See if you can put them in order of lap time, from fastest to slowest, with yours truly at the wheel on a dry, sunny day:

Renault Megane 250 Cup, Noble M600, Mercedes SLS, Jaguar XJ (supercharged), Ferrari 458, VW Scirocco R, Lotus Elise (entry-level model), Lotus Evora, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, Alpina B5 S.

Anyone who gets it spot on wins a free subscription to the mag for a year – on me.

Good luck.

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The Bowler Wildcat is now made by Qt, and we’ve reviewed the physics-bending off-roader on video
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Last week I spent two days in Berlin with Mazda getting an intensely detailed low down on the mechanical building blocks that will underpin the vast majority of its future models. We even managed to spend two hours sampling Mazda’s new engines and transmissions on the German roads, which were bolted into an early version of Mazda’s clever new platform.

And yesterday I returned from an intense briefing on Mazda’s new design philosophy and the unveiling of the stunning Shinari concept car – which is a clear hint at the shape of the all-new, 2012, Mazda 6.

Mazda’s long relationship with Ford is being slowly unwound and the car maker’s finest minds have sat down and thought very long and very hard about how a comparatively small independent company (which makes a varied 1.2 million vehicles per year) can survive in the global market.

I’m convinced that Mazda’s design and engineering teams have cooked up a solution that’s so clever and so brilliantly engineered that the rest of the car industry will look on in admiration.

Mazda’s future is based around just a single scalable steel spaceframe platform, two basic (but completely re-thought) petrol and diesel engine designs, and manual and auto transmissions.

The programme kicks off with a 2.2-litre diesel engine that not only has an low 14:1 compression ratio, but can also meet super-strict Euro 6 pollution regulations without a NOx trap and is even cheaper to build than today’s Euro 5 diesel engines. Hooked up to a six-speed manual ‘box, this engine – when fitted in the next-gen Mazda 6 – promises a CO2 output of just 105g/km. And that’s without any of the clever fuel saving devices fitted to, say, an Efficient Dynamics BMW 3-series.

The new 2.0-litre petrol engine is (unusually in these days of forced induction) normally aspirated and runs an unusually high 14:1 compression ratio. Mazda has been aiming for a beefy torque curve, smooth manners and impressively low consumption.

It has also thought outside the box with the new platform, which makes use of simple box-section pressings under the floor and super-strong ‘ring’ structures for the upper part of the platform. This relatively simple construction will be able to be scaled down to the Mazda 3 and up to the US-market CX-9.

Mazda engineers are also working hard to make the chassis much more in tune with European tastes, tuning out the high-pitch road noise and resonance that the Japanese ear doesn’t find a problem with, and giving the chassis a much firmer and more stable feel at motorway speeds.

Having sampled both engines and both transmissions in the new platform I’d say – even 20 months out from production – that Mazda is a long way towards achieving its goal.

Of course, all this superb effort needs to be clad in an eye-catching skin. Typical contemporary Japanese styling won’t do.

Which is why Mazda showed us the Shinari concept, a very strong hint towards the form of the new Mazda 6.  In the late summer light of Milan, this car was a genuine stunner. The interior (led by an ex-Audi designer) is exceptional, especially the cockpit and switchgear design.

Of course, a production version of  this car would have to have at least a taller glass house and real bumpers. But if Mazda can get near turning this 6 mule into something approaching the Shinari, it will have pulled off an engineering and visual coup.

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Even faster, even easier to drive, even more dramatic and, to my eyes, even better looking. Those were my first thoughts after driving the new 458 Italia that turned up here on test – straight after a weekend blasting around in ‘our’ used F430.

Does that make the F430 an inferior car to the 458? Yes, of course it does. Just as well, too, because who wants a new car without any progress? The 458’s double-clutch gearbox especially is a massive step forward over the 430’s rather more conventional robotised manual system, first used by Ferrari in the mid-1990s.

But despite all this, I can’t bring myself to look upon Steve Cropley’s F430 any less favourably. It still goes up the road absurdly well and can comfortably outperform some seriously fast cars, including an Audi R8 V10 we had around here for six months.

There aren’t many cars that can match it for drama or sense of occasion, either. I tagged along to a job involving the new Mercedes SLS in the F430 recently. Even the Gullwing, excellent car though it is, just didn’t quite have the pizzazz of the Ferrari. And you can add quite a few exotic cars to that list.

The upshot is that if you have the wherewithal to buy and run a used F430, you’re still getting a brilliant car. That applies even now the 458 Italia has turned up.

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McLaren F1 team principal Martin Whitmarsh is usually a measured kind of guy when it comes to dishing out criticism to rivals, but he certainly did not mince his words on Sunday on the subject of Sebastian Vettel after the young Red Bull driver slammed into Jenson Button’s car, probably not only ruining his own world championship chances but also those of the reigning title holder.

In a stinging critique of Vettel  – which many felt was fully justified on this occasion – Whitmarsh laid into his team’s rival and at the same time in effect questioned whether the penalty for his serious driving error was sufficient, given the consequences for Button. But to be fair to Whitmarsh, his observations seemed prompted more by frustration than anger on a day when Lewis Hamilton had driven a beautiful Belgian GP to win at Spa for the first time.

"It was not what you would expect to see in F1 – more reminiscent of junior formulae," Whitmarsh said on Sunday after the race. "A drive-through seemed a pretty light punishment to me."

Whitmarsh added that he did not understand why Vettel put himself in such a position on the track as he fought Button – who was struggling with a damaged front wing. "It was a bit of a strange mistake I have to say," he commented. "I realise it was not intentional but it was a pretty strange one really. If he was going for the inside he had three inches to sneak down there, so God knows what he thought he was doing. That was frustrating. But that is motor racing; we've got to move on now."

He added: "He [Vettel] is a nice guy and he didn't need to do it, but when you keep doing these things you have to reflect on what is on your mind on this occasion. It looked like he was trying to go for an inside gap where, as I said, there were a few inches. What he thought he was doing there, I don't know. And he lost it. I would rather he did it with his team-mates rather than do it with us!"

As triple world champion Jackie Stewart added thoughtfully, “It was just a case of youthful exuberance for Vettel getting a bit out of hand.  And a reminder that, even during his third year in F1, there is still much to learn.”

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Cincinnati Bengals’ wide-receiver Chad Ochocinco was recently fined $25,000 by the NFL for posting messages on Twitter during a preseason game. In a follow-up tweet, Ochocinco apologized for his actions but noted that it was two months’ worth of payments for his Bugatti Veyron, implying that the fine was a little steep. Or he just wanted a reason to tell the world about how much he spends on one of his cars. The fine stems from an NFL rule that does not allow the use of social media by its players or coaches directly before or after or during a game.

In other news, the Cincinnati Bengals have announced a change to its infamous “Who dey” chant. The new chant goes like so: “Who dey, Who dey, Who dey think gonna tweet in da game with the Bengals? Nobody!” Sorry, we couldn’t resist.

[via Jalopnik]

Provided by duPont REGISTRY

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Very impressed by the depth of knowledge displayed by most of you on this one. Quite a few of you got the Noble, and a surprising number of you got the middle order pretty spot on as well.

The key thing was to realise that top speed at the standing kilometre is what counts, which is why the Atom – normally the king of acceleration – was relegated to last place.

In the end, power is what mattered most – assuming one hadn’t fluffed the initial getaway. Which is why the Porsche very nearly set the quickest time of all – 20.05sec v 20.00sec for the M600 – yet was still nowhere near the Noble on top speed.

Anyroad, here’s the final order.

1 Noble M600 173.8mph/20.00sec
2 Ferrari 458 Italia 163.9mph/20.33sec
3 Porsche 911 Turbo S 163.2mph/20.05sec
4 Mercedes SLS 161.1mph/21.22sec
5 Lexus LFA 157.9mph/21.55sec
6 Nissan GT-R 153.9mph/21.65sec
7 Audi R8 V10 Spyder 152.1mph/22,05sec
8 Ariel Atom 245 128.0mph/22.84sec

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Very impressed by the depth of knowledge displayed by most of you on this one. Quite a few of you got the Noble, and a surprising number of you got the middle order pretty spot on as well.

The key thing was to realise that top speed at the standing kilometre is what counts, which is why the Atom – normally the king of acceleration – was relegated to last place.

In the end, power is what mattered most – assuming one hadn’t fluffed the initial getaway. Which is why the Porsche very nearly set the quickest time of all – 20.05sec v 20.00sec for the M600 – yet was still nowhere near the Noble on top speed.

Anyroad, here’s the final order.

1 Noble M600 173.8mph/20.00sec
2 Ferrari 458 Italia 163.9mph/20.33sec
3 Porsche 911 Turbo S 163.2mph/20.05sec
4 Mercedes SLS 161.1mph/21.22sec
5 Lexus LFA 157.9mph/21.55sec
6 Nissan GT-R 153.9mph/21.65sec
7 Audi R8 V10 Spyder 152.1mph/22,05sec
8 Ariel Atom 245 128.0mph/22.84sec

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I was going to be positive and uplifting, but the weather has been so foul I’m in a mood. A mood to find out what your worst car is or was.

I’m interested because for a while I sold my soul to the Fleet Street celebrity fact mincer by asking famous people what their worst car was. In return I had to put a plug for their book, TV series etc at the end of the piece. Effectively then I single-handedly invented the celebrity tittle-tattle culture that is now corroding all of our lives and for that I am really sorry.

Actually not everyone was that famous (I interviewed someone called Paul Hendy, apparently a Saturday morning TV presenter), and if they were even slightly well known (Chris Moyles) then they thought it was so far beneath them that they’d rather not bother.

However Sir Ian Botham rang me back from his Aussie commentary box at 3am to tell me that his Datsun 180 SSS had been a bit of a bounder and he may well have terminated it with his bat.

And then there was Uri Geller’s Peugeot 404 (which he bent in half), Andy McNab’s Renault 5 (I think he blew it up) and Tony Robinson’s impressive list of commercial vehicles that made his life even more miserable than Blackadder ever did.

Actually Dale Winton and Eamon Holmes were incredibly knowledgeable about cars and are pretty much one of us when it comes to petrolheadedness.

I am sure that hiding behind many of those amusing and downright silly Forum names there are probably many high profile business movers and shakers, government high ups and TV news readers who missed the opportunity to open their heart about what was their worst car and why.

Indeed, in the post-Big Brother age we are all celebrities now. So go on, tell me which car let you down the most.

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