Last week EngageSportMode was tasked with reviewing the brand-new Mazda CX-3 crossover for Motoring Research. Helpfully, the UK launch was taking place pretty much in our own back yard! So, did we fall for the sporty supermini-sized crossover? Did the sun actually shine in the North East? Well, you’ll have to head on over to…
Guest Post | Ned Jasper | New 2016 BMW 7-Series
ESM cares about blogging, and about encouraging others.. So when young blogger Ned Jasper contacted us, and asked if we would feature some of his work, we said yes because that’s the kind of people we are. Being a blogger isn’t always easy but, as a community, we should be doing what we can to support each other. He’s already…
2015 Le Mans Gallery – Porsche takes historic 17th win with 1-2 finish
Ok, we’ll hold our hands up. We didn’t predict this in our Friday Photo Gallery. Nope, we overlooked the pace of the Porsches in qualifying and, instead, went for another Audi victory. We were wrong, even if we had predicted it a year ago. But congratulations to Porsche for surprising us with a rather impressive 1-2 win! In what…
Friday Photo – Le Mans 2015 Qualifying Gallery
If you remember back to last year, EngageSportMode got quite excited about Le Mans. Less so about the racing, as good as it was, and more so about the awesome imagery coming out of the manufacturers’ press offices. 2015 is proving to be no different, so we bring you some of the best shots from qualifying. Porsche…
BTCC 2015 – Oulton Park | Reviewed and Rated
ESM’s BTCC Correspondent isn’t one for holding back on his opinions. What did he make of the latest rounds? ***Start of report*** ***Snoozefest*** ***End of report*** My short review above of the latest British Touring Car Championship rounds may be jovial, but I find it to be highly accurate. Of course, issues were still raised…
Editorial – A blog about car blogging.
Are unpaid bloggers killing motoring journalism? Do we even know what a ‘hobbyist’ is? Is the real threat to the industry from within? Our editor explores. Neil Briscoe of Complete Car caused something of a social media sensation over the weekend, declaring that motoring journalism was under threat, and that the written word was facing Armageddon. Strong…
SMMT Test Day 2015 – One day, Twelve cars [Part 3/3]
We’ve made it to the final part of our epic journey through the dozen cars we experienced at the SMMT Test Day. Don’t forget to read part one and part two first! Eight cars down, we were now into the home stretch of the 2015 SMMT Test Day. Two of the final quartet were rather…
Friday Photo – Six Retro Themed Toyota GT86 for Goodwood
We like the Toyota GT86. We also like retro-racer inspired liveries. So a bundle of six GT86s finished in classic Toyota racing colour schemes sounds like a pretty good deal to us! Celebrating some 50 years of Toyota motorsport heritage, the six models have been vinyl-wrapped, lowered by 40mm, had stainless steel exhausts fitted and Rota…
SMMT Test Day 2015 – One day, Twelve cars [Part 2/3]
Round two of our SMMT 2015 mega-test continues, with a further batch of four cars. By mid-morning had we picked any more winners from the 170 on offer? Part one can be found here, if you need to read that first. As a way to build up an appetite for lunch, two performance Renaults and…
SMMT Test Day 2015 – One day, Twelve cars [Part 1/3]
The annual SMMT Test Day is often described as being like Christmas for motoring writers, with a huge range of cars available to drive on the demanding Millbrook test track. So, is it really the automotive journalism nirvana it’s meant to be? You bet. With this being our first time at the SMMT Test Day, ESM didn’t…
Friday Photo – Retro Livery for Nissan GT-R LM P1 NISMO
Ask any bearded hipster and they’ll happily tell you that retro is obviously cool. This fact is seemingly not lost on motorsport teams, with Nissan choosing to clad one of the Le Mans GT-R racers in a colour scheme from 25 years ago. Anyone who has played Gran Turismo series will recognise the blue, red and white colours as…
Villa d’Este 2015 – BMW 3.0 CSL Hommage
The annual Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este is an event gathering some of the finest and most beautiful cars ever made. Last year the BMW Group gave us the MINI Superleggera at the Italian show – this year the BMW brand itself was star of the show. But is this ‘Hommage’ creation truly elegant? Alongside cars including a…
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