Category Archives: Automotive

What is the MPG for the Honda Jazz Hybrid?

I bought a Honda Jazz Hybrid about 4 months ago having owned a string of Jazz cars over the last 17 years. Even the standard Jazz was reasonably economical but I had the chance to buy a 2 years old Jazz Hybrid and was wondering what is the MPG for the Honda jazz Hybrid, as I was eagerly anticipating getting a good rate with the hybrid functionality. Continue reading What is the MPG for the Honda Jazz Hybrid?

How to Create a Custom Map with Multiple Pins

Are you trying to create a custom map or trail with multiple points so that you can post it to other people to see?

If you are trying to create a custom map in Google maps that has multiple pins then you may have found some tutorials that don’t really help of you may have just gone to Google maps and not found any menu items that allow you to do this, in which case I can give you a pointer to the easiest way to create a custom map.

If you want a map that has multiple pins, but the previous pin disappears when you add a new one then basically you need to go to a different Google maps location.

If you go to Google- My Maps then that enables you to create your own custom maps and to save them so that you can either just view them yourself or enable them to be viewed by anyone.

The easiest way to add the pins is to create an excel spreadsheet with 2 headings – Name (this will be the name that appears on the pin) and location (this can be address, postcode, co-ordinates or whatever is recognised in Google Maps).

You can then easily import this spreadsheet and it will add all the pins for you.

Alternatively, perhaps if you only want a couple of pins, you can add the pins manually by using the tools at the top of the page. You can add a title and description to each pin (and it doesn’t need to be an address as you can just drop the pin where you choose to).

You can also change the icons and the color of the pins that are showing for each location by clicking on the edit button for each location. you can add driving or walking routes between 2 places as well by using the inbuilt tools.

In fact there are a lot of functions you can add and once you are done you need to decide whether you want the map to be private or whether you want to share it with the outside word. Click on the share button to see these options.

 

Which is the Most Popular Carpool Karaoke?

When James Corden took over the Late Late Show he was openly scared that the show would fail and he would have to return to the UK with his tail between his legs.

It seems that nothing could be further from the truth and one of the most popular segments on the show is the carpool karaoke where he takes a ride with some very famous celebrities and sings along with them to their own hits.

The videos are very popular and James Corden is also actually quite good at singing along with the passenger!

The most popular carpool karaoke videos have been shared not just millions of times but tens of millions via YouTube – so which do you think are the most popular carpool karaoke videos?

We checked out the videos and how many views each of them had and these were the ones that had been viewed the most times…

Number 1

OK at the top of the list with over 110 million views is the Adele carpool karaoke, so this one is top of the list. Obviously one reason this was very popular was that it was done at the time of her big hit ‘Hello’ that had just been released:

Number 2

Next on the carpool karaoke most popular list if the Justin Bieber carpool karaoke with over 80 million views. Everything to do with Justin Bieber is usually incredibly popular as he has a huge fan base so this is no surprise really!

Number 3

At number 3 on the most popular carpool karaoke videos is Iggy Azalea carpool karaoke with over 37 million views to date. So this is a big jump down on the top 2 videos which look like they will take a lot of catching up:

Number 4

At the number 4 spot is the Mariah Carey carpool karaoke with over 25 million views:

Number 5

At 5th place on the list is the Stevie Wonder carpool karaoke with over 22 million views. With the video starting with James Corden saying ‘are you sure you are safe to drive?’ this was always destined to be a hit and was a very funny one:

Obviously as the carpool karaoke continues on the Late Late show there is a chance for future videos to overtake this top 5.

In fact the Selena Gomez carpool karaoke has at the time of writing only been released for a day and already has 9 million views, so that could well be a future contender:

With 5 million subscribers these videos are always going to be really popular and will likely always get millions of views so it will be interesting to see which one ends up on top when they finally end.

Which one is your favorite carpool karaoke video? Is it one that is not in the top 5 list? Feel free to comment below.

Isle of Man Car Races

The Isle of Man, in terms of racing is best known for the TT race which happens on the Isle of Man in August of every year. It is known to be one of the hardest and most deadly of motorbike races to take part in and all of the racers do not take part lightly as they are well aware of the dangers. Many bike racers have been killed on the Isle of Man over the years despite the rigorous safety standards that are applied. It is really just he ultimate test of man and bike that there is.

What not many people realise is though, is that there are also car races that take place on the Isle of Man. Since the 1960’s there have been car rally races that take part on the Island, with the roads being shut off and huge crowds attending the races. The two main car races on the Isle of Man are the Manx Trophy Rally and the Conister Trust Historical Rally, both of which are part of the Manx International Rally.

The most successful year for the Manx International Rally was in 2005 when over 200 cars took part in the rally and in 2007 it was named the best rally in the British Isles.

So whether you drive a Ford, a Fiat or a Honda, rally driving on the Isle of Man can be a great spectator sport if you manage to go along and watch it.

Nissan Leaf Electric Car

My thoughts on the Nissan LEAF

So it has really been a long time coming I think that we have a fully electric car for family use. I personally have wondered if this was ever going to happen. When you hear stories about the oil companies not wanting electric cars to be developed then you wonder if it ever will come to the masses. Of course we have had the Toyota Prius hybrid car for a while as the main option in the green automotive industry, but this is a whole other ball game with a totally electric car.

The Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf

The car itself is called the LEAF (Leading, Environmentally Friendly, Affordable, Family Car) and it is a zero emissions, 100% electric car with no gasoline required. The car was released onto the market in December 2010 in the US and a few other countries, with the release date in the UK being February 2011.

It looks like a nice standard family car with 5 doors so it will appeal to the main market and I think it actually looks a quite attractive car. It can travel at speeds up to 90mph and it’s range is about 100 miles before you will need to plug it in and charge it up again.

It does come with a few nice extras including the Nissan Navigation System, alloy wheels, bluetooth hands free system and the one thing that I personally find essential when buying a car – cup holders! (and even better, it also has bottle holders!) The audio system also sounds pretty good and of course you can plug your iPod in it 🙂

The price as always for a green car is going to be higher than your everyday petrol car but this is only to be expected and with the cost of petrol/gasoline increasing what seems like daily people are realising this could be a good investment. Cost in the US is around $25,000 but there are certain tax credits available.

US Pre-Orders Are A Sell Out

So, 6 months before the car is launched and the Nissan LEAF electric car sold out. The car was available in the US for online registration and buyers were required to put down a fully refundable $99 registration payment for the right to buy the car. Nissan have been overwhelmed with the number of applications that were made and the car has now officially sold out. The price of the car in the US is lower to that of other countries as Nissan said they wanted to make more sales there so it looks like that incentive has worked. Or maybe Americans are just becoming greener, or like the idea of saving lots of money on fuel costs or of taking advantage of the federal rebates, who knows!

Government Incentives to Buy the Nissan LEAF in the UK

It has been announced in the UK that the government will offer a £5,000 incentive towards the purchase of a Nissan LEAF car which will bring the price down to approximately £25,000. Although this is still an expensive car for an average family, you need to take into account that it will only cost around £2 to charge the car up with electricity. So, assuming you can go 100 miles on a full charge and it would normally cost you around £16 to go 100 miles with conventional fuel, then say you drove 8,000 miles a year, you would save over £1,000 a year just on fuel.*

* estimated based on price per gallon of £5.35 and fuel economy of 33 mpg.

Recharging An Electric Car

One of the biggest problems that may put people off buying an electric car is where to recharge them. Most electric cars car be recharged through a standard electric point so you can charge your car from home. However, if you are planning a longer journey and need to charge your car on the way then you may need to find a public charging point. These are becoming more common and there is beginning to be a network of public charging posts installed. in time these will become more commonplace but in the meantime the car will most likely just be used for shorter journeys where the owner is able to charge the car up themselves.

There is also the issue of hong long does it take to charge up an electric car? Well the answer in the case of the Nissan LEAF is it takes an 8 hour charge on a standard 220/240V power supply to fully charge. There are of course other variations but the option to take a long journey in one day is one that is not really going to be possible. However, to drive around town will not be a problem.

Nissan LEAF Top Gear Review

Recently the hugely popular TV show Top Gear reviewed the Nissan Leaf with Jeremy Clarkson taking it for a ride to the seaside. Although the car itself got a good review – nice looking with a good feel and good features, the main issue that the Top Gear team had was with the recharging. For starters they found it hard to find a point to actually recharge the car. It appears that Nissan will be adding ‘quick charge’ point to all of their dealerships in the coming years which will be able to charge your Nissan LEAF up in 30 minutes. That may sound good but at the moment they are not there to be used. Also, quick charging the battery will seriously affect the battery life, possibly destroying it in as little as 3 years.

Even if you use the normal slow charging way of topping up the battery the life of the battery is likely to be only as much as 10 years maximum and the cost of replacing the battery is estimated at £7,000. So in addition to the high purchase price of the car the price of the battery may pretty much negate any cost savings made on fuel. In fact Clarkson commented that if you charge the car up at certain times of the day it may cost you up to £8 to charge it fully – just to take you 100 miles.

So the question raised was – ‘is this a white elephant rather than the future of motoring?’