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Motoring Journalism's Not That Good. It's Even Better.BY: Alessandro Saetta Vinci | Category: Careers | Submitted: 2011-05-13 09:48:36
I believe it was on a racetrack in Latina, near Rome, that I had an epiphany. It was right then and there that I decided that what I wanted to be was a motoring journalist. Now, a few months later, I'm often confronted with a question: what exactly does a motoring journalist do? Usually, people who ask this question are either utterly unaware of what a motoring journalist is or does or, sometimes, they believe that those who work this job earn a living by driving exotic cars on sunny days with a beautiful model on the passenger seat on one side and the blue sea on the other. And they're right. Well, mostly. Motoring journalists, in reality, spend half their time apologizing to an old lady or to a police officer and explaining that they didn't park a car in front of a nice building or on a public garden to leave it there with a bomb and run away, they only did it to take a few decent pictures. Then, they spend the other half driving through traffic, and of course when I say driving what I actually mean is queuing. See the fact of the matter is that unless you're Jeremy Clarkson or someone from the Evo or Top Gear team they won't send you a car for a road test, they will invite you to visit their factory and take it yourself. That's a problem. In Italy, for instance, pretty much every car firm is located up north, about 60 to 70 % of them all are in Milan, and the rest is somewhere between Turin, Bergamo or elsewhere in Lombardy or Veneto, so you have to go there, pick up the car and then, before reaching your beloved countryside or seaside, you have to get out of the city which, in case of Milan for example, will take you anything between three hours and a hundred thousand billion years. That could be annoying. Driving in Milan is a bit like driving through London, only slightly more frustrating. What's more, you're going to have to deal with eco-pass (congestion charge) zone, lights, buses, taxis, cyclists, pedestrians, speed cameras and so on. Then, a million hour drive and several fuel bills later, you'll be driving indeed with the sea wind on your face, but only if you haven't been stopped by the police because you're driving a posh car, which happens a lot. Then we get to the matter of taking pictures. It's all very well saying that in order to take good pictures you need a professional photographer and a professional and very expensive camera but it's all useless unless you have a good looking car, which you will often have, and a good scenery to place it in, which you will have to find. I've been driving the new Mini Countryman Cooper S lately and last Sunday I had to spend 45 of my precious minutes explaining to a woman that because there was no sign saying so, she couldn't claim that the piece of garden on the curb where I'd parked the car for a few pictures was hers. I also had to highline the fact that I was working and that I couldn't care less that she didn't agree, since that piece of road was public and wasn't really bothering, nor, impeding anyone's way since that road was a dead end road. That's not the worst part, though. Nor is it tough or grueling to be driving through an amazingly congested city. The worst part comes with the cars you drive. Yes, you'll be driving Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Audis, etc etc, a whole range of very fast and very beautiful cars, but what when your chief editor asks you to test drive a new Tata? Or a new Hyunday? Or, in this case, the Renault Megane CC. This argument is as old as the car is. On one hand you have the hard top, which works better when the weather is bad, is more comfortable and less subject to vandalism. On the other you have the soft top, which is much better looking, lighter and it doesn't steal room from the boot. In recent years we've been offered many different hardtop coupes by many carmakers. Not that we ever asked for them, but anyway. Nissan came up with the Micra C+C, Opel/Vauxhall with the Tigra and Astra CC, Ford with the Focus CC and then Peugeot with the 206 CC, 207 CC, 307 CC and 308 CC. It must be said that, compared to its fellow "countrymen" and German rivals, the Renault steps up in the market with a few advantages. It looks better, for starters. The front is the same as the Renault Mégane Hatch, which is a good thing, and with the back and side view? Well, Renault did their best to make the car look elegant and graceful. They failed, but anyway the result is miles ahead compared to the efforts from Peugeot, for example. Then we get to the boot, which is usable even with the roof down, so it's practical. It's also very comfortable. Incredibly well equipped as well. As standard, you get parking sensors, climate control, seats covered in textile and leather, sat-nav, lights and rain sensors, cd, mp3, cruise control, fog lights, alloys, electronic key and electronically folding side mirrors. Remarkable. Especially remarkable when you notice that this top version with the most powerful diesel engine( 1,9 litre, 131 hp) only costs 30.900 euros. Not very economical in general terms, ok, but very economical when you realize that for this kind of money you park on your drive a four- seater, fully equipped, decently powered hard top convertible. So, it looks like a medium size and range carmaker like Renault finally managed to make a proper folding metal roof convertible. They have, haven't they? No. They haven't. They so haven't. There isn't a nicer way of saying it so I'm just going straight to the point: the Renault Megane C+C is horrid. I genuinely don't know where to start. The Sat-Nav for instance. Normally you will find it either on the gangplank, nicely built into it, or on the dashboard, so whenever you're not using it, it just disappears into the dash. Renault just put it sort of there. Just there. It's pretty ugly, but it would be alright if it atleast worked properly but it doesn't. it is a laudable gesture from Renault to give the sat-nav as standard, but it's pointless because it never really takes you to where you want to go. It doesn't know roads and places that are pretty important, it still shows point of interests, like cinemas, that have been closed for years now, and on the other hand it doesn't recognize places that have already been on the map for more than a year or two. Couple that with the fact that it decides what to do on its own, and then add that the only two maps you will find are Italy and Malta. Why? We're in 2011, why wouldn't you give me a map of all Europe? And why Malta? Let's talk about the way it looks then. Yes, I said it's better than all its rivals, but that doesn't mean it's good looking. It's alright if you look at it from the front, but from the back it looks too clumsy, too big, and the side view? Well, with the roof down it is horrible. Not unpleasant. Not ungainly. Horrible. Even when you sit inside things don't get any better, the fabrics and materials used are of good quality but you can't help but feel some sort of cheapness. The dashboard looks too similar to that of a Twingo. I really have a hard time understanding why car firms keep on stating that cars like this one are 2+2. Hard to see what they had in mind at Renault when they thought about that +2. Certainly not human beings, because they just don't fit. I really could go on forever listing the faults of this car. And I will in fact. The engine isn't right, the car is too heavy and the considerable weight affects the fuel consumption as well. I usually don't care about fuel consumption but what I can tell you is that I've spent the majority of the time at service stations. Never a good thing, especially in a diesel. Not even the brakes are acceptable. You get the feeling that Renault took the standard brakes from the Coupe and just put them in a car that weighs 200 kgs more. So, to sum it all up, the Mégane C+C is ugly, impractical, thirsty, not powerful enough, not fast enough,not particularly elegant nor luxurious, and with a price tag that's, in the real world, too high. With 30.000 of your own money, would you buy this? It's all very forgivable, though. I suppose these are all tiny drawbacks, acceptable. What's not acceptable is the fact that while I was driving it I was slightly terrified people could think it was mine. It's not that bad, after all, driving cars and writing about them. You see many places, have lovely driving experiences. Unfortunately sometimes you have to drive cars you wouldn't like to drive under regular circumstances. But luckily, after the Renault, ahead of me lay a selection of proper cars. Like for instance the DS3...Racing. Which is essentially a DS3 with an orange dashboard, orange side windows, an orange roof and orange wheels. Oh deary me. Article Source: http://www.writearticles.org/ About Author / Additional Info: Comments on this article: (0 comments so far)
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