After playing around with WordPress this weekend, I realised I could change the header image (that picture at the top of the page) to rotate randomly through a selection of suitable ones I uploaded. Since I began EngageSportMode back in December 2011, I’ve always had one picture in the header. This: If you don’t know,…
Music Makes it Better – Driving Tunes
Does music turn a drive into a journey? It’s something that struck me last weekend, as I found myself piloting the Polo R-Line along a short stretch of road from Crakehall to Catterick in North Yorkshire. It’s the one highlighted in blue on the image below: It’s a road I’ve driven a few times, but…
Hidden Desires #2 – BMW X5 4.8iS
With this week’s announcement of the new third-generation BMW X5, I felt it was time I owned up to the irrational inclination I have towards wanting to own the original iteration. #2 – BMW X5 Way back in 1999 when the millennium was just around the corner, Bill Clinton was President of the United States…
Audi R8 V10 Plus Advert
This is quite possibly the best TV advert I’ve seen in sometime: Celebrating that the Audi R8 V10 now comes with the S-tronic gearbox, this video is just superb. The whip crack violence of each upshift is immense, tempered only be the spine-tingling downshifts with accompanying flames. Audi, if i win Euromillions tonight, you’ve got…
Volkswagen’s Crazy Power-Pickup Amorak Concept
If you hadn’t noticed, and it has been kept well hidden, EngageSportMode is a little bit of a fan of Volkswagens. ESM also happens to be a fan of pickup trucks, stemming from a lifelong aim to own a Dodge Ram or other huge American truck. So the unveiling of the Amarok by VW a…
That Pirelli Tyre Debacle – 2013 Spanish Grand Prix Fallout
If you happen to follow EngageSportMode on twitter,  if you don’t remedy that first, you’ll have noticed a steady stream of Pirelli tyre-related lolz on Sunday. The Spanish Grand Prix at Catalunya has rarely been one to set pulses racing, managing to generally rate slightly above Hungary for excitement. But the 2013 race proved to…
Friday Photo From the Archives #6
Ok, I apologise. The title for this post is actually rather misleading, as the featured content is neither a photograph or particulary old. However, I do not care. A couple of months ago we brought you the epic work of FS Aviation and their drone cameras from the Monte-Carlo Rally. Well, the guys have been…
BTCC Round 3 – Thruxton Review
All the latest from ESM’s BTCC Correspondent, with his comprehensive roundup of the action from Thruxton. Honda’s Dominance Continues.  Honda’s dominance of the 2013 British Touring Car Championship continued at Thruxton last weekend. Honda continued their impressive form from Donington, where they occupied 7 of the 9 podium positions, with 6 of the 9…
New Volkswagen up! Special Editions
EngageSportMode is a genuine fan of the Volkswagen up!. When we tested the base-model Take up! last year, we were hugely impressed with its value for money, perky performance and VW quality. We suggested that should you want a new city-car, you had no other viable option. It’s also worth pointing out that we were…
BTCC 2013 Round 2 – Donington Review
ESM’s BTCC correspondent dishes out his review of the action-packed second round of this year’s season: Honda’s Donington Dominance Stopped by Turkington! Last weekend saw the second round of 2013’s British Touring Car Championship at Donington Park. The hills surrounding the circuit still look like huge quarry mud banks due to the works to upgrade…
BMW M6 Gran Coupe – Dial M for Marketing?
EngageSportMode has a little bit of a love/hate relationship with BMW. Hate is, probably, too strong a word. Instead try an underlying suspicion that it is selling its values up the river slightly. For every car such as the 1M Coupe, M135i or Z4 comes something like the X6, 5-Series GT or 6-Series Gran Coupe….
Friday Photo From the Archives #5
Continuing with the theme of ESM’s BTCC correspondent, here is a (fairly) recent photo of our two cars chilling out together: A few similarities; both black, both VW-group, both petrol-turbo and both with motorsport pedigree. Our correspondent’s is the rather rare Seat Leon TFSI, which existed for only a short period of time in the…
