The Unfair Tarnishing Of Young Drivers

Young drivers are often labelled as the heavy footed bane of British roads, but are the country’s newest peddlers really the most dangerous behind the wheel?

A 1.2 hatchback that costs grandma a hundred quid or so to insure, can cost a teenager a number of Pounds that many might not know existed. But this is outrageous, how can gran, a nearly blind, repetitive bag of wrinkles with the reaction times of an iceberg, be cheaper to insure than a fit and sprightly youngster? Who says OAPs are less dangerous?

As a 20 something year old who's enjoyed five glorious years of mobility thanks to a shiny pink plastic card, I've had to face nonstop nagging, abuse as a 'boy racer' and being labelled a general nuisance behind the wheel. But I don't deserve any of this. I've never crashed, yet I've had more near misses than Tim Henman's Wimbledon campaigns. Like most new drivers, I was very enthusiastic behind the wheel; but I've never collected another car and always check my mirrors.

The same cannot be said for old nan, however. How can she check her mirrors when her nose is pressed against the windscreen, as she squints to see further than her own car's headlights? She can't. And that's why she clips kerbs, crosses lanes unintentionally and runs over women and children on a weekly basis. Nan causes crashes all the time.

If a teenager causes a crash, most likely he or she will have collected one other car during the uncontrolled high speed slide into a field, breaking the front bumper on their Corsa but most damagingly, shattering their pride. Everyone will know about it, their insurers will know about it and as a result increase their premiums by one million Pounds.

If an OAP causes a crash however, they drive home and switch on Countdown, with absolutely no knowledge of the trail of destruction resembling Godzilla's footsteps they've left behind them. Old people cause crashes all the time, but nobody knows it. So Mr insurance company keeps on providing them with reduced premiums.

But as we know this is massively wrong. Yes young drivers are generally fitted with a heavy right foot, and yes young drivers will most likely experience a 'tail slide' at least twice per journey to Asda, but most times young drivers won't crash. Young people's near miss to crash ratio is therefore fairly good. Old people's are not; there is no such thing as a near miss with an OAP, only a crash.

So how do we fix the problem? How do we balance out the unfair insurance premiums experienced by youngsters and OAPs of Britain? By going back to our primary school roots, and telling. Even if it's your own nan or granddad, even if the car is their only source of transport, each time they have a bump or end up coming home with three school kids under the wheel arch, tell on them. Call their insurer and say my nan has crashed again. Within days the UK's insurers will no doubt be inundated with claims of OAP related crashes they hadn't expected. Those graphs they like to draw with young driver crash rates, will begin to be dwarfed by the wake of OAP destruction.

So I say young drivers of Britain, this is our only option, our only hope that the eyes of insurers and general public will open to the carnage old people cause on the roads. Only if you tell can we then expect this unfair tarnishing of young drivers as the UK's most dangerous, to be shifted to its rightful owners. Old age pensioners.

MotoGP: 2013 Australian GP

Jorge Lorenzo managed to claw his way back into MotoGP Championship contention thanks to a dominant win at Sunday’s hectic Australian GP. His main rival and Championship leader Marc Marquez left the race with no points, meaning the leading two riders will arrive at next weekend’s Japanese GP with just 18 points separating them.

The fast flowing layout and new ‘sand paper’ surface of Philip Island meant pit-stops were introduced to reduce the risk of tyre failure. But despite the challenge of mandatory mid-race bike changes, two-time world champion Lorenzo was able to fight off an early charge from the Repsol Hondas of Marquez and Danny Pedrosa. Pushing his Yamaha M1 to the limits, Lorenzo pitted on lap 10, with the young Spaniard of Marquez coming in one lap later.

Rejoining the track as Lorenzo and Pedrosa approached turn one at 215mph, Marquez clipped Lorenzo as the Yamaha rider slid back into the lead of the race. But pressure was soon to ease for Lorenzo as Marquez received a black-flag with just five laps remaining; the stewards announcing that his 11^th lap stop was outside of the agreed pit window and therefore worthy of exclusion.

As a result Lorenzo was able to comfortably take the win ahead of Pedrosa, whilst MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi fought off Britain’s Cal Crutchlow for the final step of the podium.

With 50 points up for grabs, the MotoGP title showdown is still very much intact as the circus heads to the penultimate round at Japan’s Montegi.

Top 5 Championship Standings after 16 rounds:

1. Marquez – 298 points
2. Lorenzo – 280
3. Pedrosa – 264
4. Rossi – 214
5. Crutchlow – 179

evo Magazine

If you've got a copy of Issue 189 of evo Magazine, I'm pleased to say you should find a little mention of yours truly in the front pages.

Many thanks to evo for giving me the opportunity to join them in office whilst this issue was being put together; it was fantastic to be a part of what is one of the world's best motoring publications.

Evermore Monstrous: Mitsubishi’s Evo X Replacement

It’s hard to imagine the next Evo being much faster since the current X is so brutally quick. But with rumours circulating of a 500bhp hybrid replacement, a much faster successor is exactly what Mitsubishi is promising.

Even three laps in I can’t quite believe how quickly the needle climbs the speedo. Yes this car can hit 60 in under four-seconds, but he’s got an armful of lock on and we’re travelling through a corner. Before I can even brace myself we’re back over a ton and then onto the brakes, briefly, before he flicks the car left-right through the chicane, and it’s back onto the power again. We race down the straight, the engine singing its way up to 6500rpm, then swoop down into the banked left of Rockingham’s oval, still gaining momentum. I’m shoved sideways and back into my seat, and wince as we run within inches of the concrete wall at 120-something.

The car I’m sitting in, or clinging onto more like, is the big daddy of the latest Mitsubishi Evo X line up. This is the 2010 FQ400 model, which I was able to find out is fantastically fast thanks to a wealth of upgrades from the standard car. These include an uprated ECU, intercooler, turbo and racing spec injectors, enabling the FQ400 to stretch a phenomenal 400bhp from its lightweight two-litre engine, with a substantial 387lb-ft of torque available from impressively low down the rev range. Combined with a complex all-wheel-drive system, the Evo X can place brutal amounts of power down at almost all times, with intelligent electronics adjusting power accordingly to ensure the wheel with most traction is gifted the ability to really shove you out of the corners.

Revolution, not evolution

Performance like this from such a small engine was ground-breaking in 2010, and unsurprisingly is still very much ground-breaking today. Shocking news then that Mitsubishi has announced that this very car’s replacement, the Evo XI, will be significantly quicker and far more technologically advanced.

You could have been forgiven for expecting the Evo XI to take its name literally and be an evolution of the current super-saloon. Instead however, rumours circulating about the 11^th generation of Mitsubishi’s famous car suggest a power hike of around 100bhp, with further reductions to weight and improvements to handling promising that this car is targeting battle with the current super-saloon heavyweight, the Nissan GT-R. The surprises don’t end there though, as Mitsubishi has hinted at the use of hybrid systems, utilising electronic technology from its Pike Peak rallying programme that has produced electric motors with over 500bhp. Instead of using full electric power however, the road-going Evo XI is likely to combine electric power with a turbo-charged four-pot engine.

Power will be placed onto the road using the carmaker’s Super-All Wheel Control (S-AWC), with electric motors aiding traction as well as boosting performance. In order to improve efficiency the Evo XI is likely to utilise several driving modes, with an all-electric mode expected to lower emissions further.

Styling will also take a radical new route, with Mitsubishi’s 2008 Concept-RA (shown in title-pic) being a main source of influence for the future car. Ditching the saloon like appearance, the Evo XI could be the first generation to take a far more aggressive styling stance and resemble a proper sports car.

A different class 

With the current FQ400 car providing such phenomenal performance from its compact two-litre engine, it is staggering to think that Mitsubishi is setting its sights on increasing power by another 100bhp. Such complex technology and ambitious performance targets can only mean a price increase from the latest model’s top of the range £40,000. But with the Nissan GT-R being a potential rival, perhaps Mitsubishi has plans to shift the Evo XI into the class above, competing with the likes of Ferrari’s 458 Italia and McLaren’s MP4-12C for raw track pace.

The next standard Evolution model is expected to arrive in showrooms in 2014, although the performance version is unlikely to arrive before 2016. This is likely to become the benchmark for its future rival, the Nissan GT-R’s successor, which is scheduled to arrive two years later in 2018.