Yesterday’s Brazilian Grand Prix was possibly the most intense and terrifying motor race I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Never before have I felt the need to actually start drinking beer during a race; such was the sheer drama that occurred at Interlagos. As I had set out before the race, EngageSportMode was firmly…
7 Reasons to Back Vettel Today
In less than an hour, the lights will go out on the final race of the 2012 Formula One World Championship. After an epic season, two drivers still remain in contention for the Driver’s title; Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. Both are vying to become triple World Champions, but only one will emerge from Interlagos today as…
ESM’s 2012 Car Buying Predicament #5
I realise that calling this series of posts a “predicament” is somewhat of a dramatisation. Like having to decide on whether to pick a Cheryl Cole or Megan Fox calendar for the ESM office, this is a nice first world problem to have to deal with. But at the same time it is hardly like…
ESM’s 2012 Car Buying Predicament #4
So after weighing up the benefits and pitfalls of PCP car financing, I managed to come to the conclusion that if it enables me to get a better, newer car (tailored to my specification), then it is probably a necessary evil. Having been tempted by the seemingly generous offers available from MINI, it seemed sensible to…
Friday Photo from the Archives #4
After several posts about car buying predicaments, here’s somebody with another automotive dilemma. Namely my Father, and the choice of not one, but two, Subaru Impreza WRX STis to drive. The WR Blue Impreza on the right was my Dad’s actual company car for a number of years. The black one appeared after he won a…
Bye Bye GTi – Saying Auf Wiedersehen to a Wolfsburg Legend
Tonight, ESM’s Mate Steve explains why he’s surrendered ownership of the iconic MkV Golf GTi, along with noting the highs and lows of owning a hot-hatch legend. Last week I handed back the keys to a VW Golf GTi MkV, you might ask why, hopefully this will become clear. Just over 3 years ago I…
ESM’s 2012 Car Buying Predicament #3
So after all the hours spent researching cars that would fit into the £8k used budget, ESM’s mate Steve threw a spanner in the works. As you’ll discover later this week, he’s just got a cracking deal on a brand new MINI Countryman for his better half. Given the state of the economy, car dealers…
ESM’s 2012 Car Buying Predicament #2
Previously on ESM, I set out a rather lengthy list of criteria that I wanted the Polo replacement to have. Somewhat predictably, I then went away and spent several hours days searching AutoTrader and other classifieds. When you’ve given yourself a string of demands which make your average terrorist blush, unsurprisingly the options were limited, with…
ESM’s 2012 Car Buying Predicament #1
The problem of being someone who writes about cars, and is generally consumed with thoughts of an automotive nature, is that it makes picking your own vehicle difficult. For instance, in the past twelve months I’ve owned the following: 2006 Volkswagen Jetta 2.0 TDI Sport, 2008 Fiat Panda 1.4 100HP, 2006 Volkswagen Polo 1.4 SE….
Friday Photo From the Archives #3
Continuing the Japanese theme for this week, here is another photo fresh from the archives. If by fresh you mean taken about two days ago: This Nissan 350Z belongs to ESM’s Mate Dave who, whilst finding himself bored with a week off work, traded in his diesel Seat Leon FR for the tree-fiddy-zed. Going from…
More F1 Twitter Related Madness
Japanese Grand Prix Weekend Round Up #3 In the third and final part of this week’s EngageSportMode Formula 1 bonanza, we tie the past two updates together in a bow that a department store gift-wrapper would be proud of. And by that I mean we link Twitter and Grand Prix shenanigans together in one final,…
How Do You Solve a Problem Like Romain Grosjean?
Japanese Grand Prix Weekend Round Up #2 If there is one consistent theme to take from this year’s topsy-turvy Formula 1 season, it’s that Romain Grosjean is probably going to hit somebody on the opening lap. It’s the regular occurrences of these early race incidents that led a furious Mark Webber to brand RoGro a…
