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257 – Professional Driver awards

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23 July 2009

 

IT’S been a busy time recently – as a judge. Not the judicial sort, but in my professional capacity. Recently there were the news agency Headlineauto automotive awards – my categories (two bumper ones!) were consumer magazine of the year; and features writer of the year.

The latter was particularly interesting to see how different writers approached their subjects; and whether it was for magazine, newspaper or online reading. That they were all good writers goes without saying; it’s always illuminating to understand their techniques to see how you might benefit in your own writing standards.

And then there were the Professional Driver awards. Mark Bursa, the editor of Business Van Manager – our sister van title – has recently taken on editing the mag. And he invited me along to Sandown Park to judge the line up.

It was a wet, grizzly sort of day. I parked the Audi close to the assembled contenders – everything from minibuses to high-end limos. This could be fun!

Indeed it was. I drove a range of cars: bargain SsangYong Rodius people mover to the wonderfully and eerily quiet Lexus LS hybrid. Move away and the car is in electric drive. And silent. The car is also so beautifully made, although one drawback was the lack of boot luggage space thanks to the hybrid drive’s battery.

And then there was the new BMW 7-series with its fantastic head-up display. Your speed – in amber – always glowed ahead of you beyond the windscreen, but never interfered with your overall vision. I look forward to the roll-out of this safety feature on more cars.

However, a point of discussion with Mark was the new Jaguar XJ. We knew it was coming. But unfortunately the judging was too early for the new car. It certainly looks fabulous. And with its V6 diesel, promises good running costs at over 40mpg. Something – talking to many of the chauffeurs there – that they would welcome: running luxury cars is a costly business and these small business owners constantly have to juggle cost control versus customer requirements.

I’ll let you know which car won in due course – but Mark tells me the judging was close.

And then it was the drive back in the A4. Was this a disappointment after such luxury? Well, actually, no. Naturally the A4 doesn’t have the astonishing refinement of some of these luxolimos; but it is surprising how accomplished these executive cars have become – the range of features; the quality of the build; the finesse of the drive. And cars like the A4 do this with a diesel engine that’s capable of over 55mpg and costs a third of the price of a luxury car. It helps you understand the value in the current range of business cars available to business users.

 

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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