women's motoring & cars & car reviews for women
Archive for June, 2011
Rear view mirror with a difference
Jun 1st
We like this – and it’s going to be law in the States by 2014, so you can rest assured it’ll be coming here soon. Much better than some of the in-dash systems we’ve used recently (although they’re better than nothing).
Your ordinary rear-view mirror houses a small, very bright monitor that shows you what’s happening right behind your bumper. The aim is to avoid hitting small children, and in fact the American legislation is called the Kids Transportation Safety Act. This version is made by Gentex and they’ve already made 1.25 million of them in 2010 alone!
An intelligent response to Intelligent law-making we say.
D-Day – the collection of our Honda PCX125
Jun 1st
My main emotion, masking any potential excitement, was one of fear. Would I ever see my children again or would I fall foul to some horrific accident on my first journey on the Honda PCX 125?
Videoman Paul (expert bike-rider, at least in his own head although admittedly he is still alive) drove me down from North West London to the amazing Honda Institute in Colnbrook – they really ought to consider offering day trips.
It was a tense trip to say the least. I do appreciate that there is only so much reassurance that a person can give, and Paul had reached his limit after 15 minutes. Sadly my need for it extended for the entire hour-long journey.
My agony was further prolonged when we arrived, as my contact had taken a bike for a spin – occupational hazzard I suppose working with so many lovely toys. Paul was happy watching and naming aeroplanes flying overhead (the Institute lies a few metres from Heathrow’s runways) – I made him take his anorak off.
Then it appeared, being wheeled towards me – if only it were in slow motion to show off its shiny black bodywork and chrome trim. This was exciting.
So what is the PCX 125?
This is Honda’s all-new scooter with fuel-saving Idle Stop technology. It’s compact yet still has the look of a bigger bike and is actually rather gorgeous with great curves and flowing lines. Looks great in white too (the alternative colour scheme)… More >