The new apprentice programme, which is seeking Advanced and Higher Apprentices, launches on Monday February 6th 2012 – coincident with National Apprenticeship week. This year, Jaguar Land Rover is seeking 133 apprentices to join the company which has a portfolio of hugely successful (and attractive) models in the range.

Commenting on the 2012 Apprentice programme, Des Thurlby, Human Resources Director, JLR, said: “Our Apprentice intake has more than doubled in the last 4 years and I am delighted that this year we are committing to take on a record number of apprentices. Apprenticeships provide a valuable and credible career path for the brightest and best and JLR is committed to providing the highest quality practical and academic training to develop the future generation of engineering talent needed to drive our business forward, indeed many of our senior leaders began their careers as apprentices.”

The JLR careers website opens for applications on 6th February 2012 and will close on 8th April 2012. Anyone interested in applying should visit: www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com.

The 2011 Citroën Créative Awards deadline has been extended to Sunday 15 January due to an increased volume of entries. Since it launched in October, entrants have been submitting an exciting range of ideas to impress the panel of judges, with many already featuring on the Créative Awards website. Visitors can score and comment on the projects online at www.citroencreativeawards.com/idea/shortlist. Make sure to head over and vote for what you think should be the winner.

For more information about the Citroën Créative Awards, visit www.citroencreativeawards.com.

There’s recently been some press coverage over issues around ownership of new vehicles fitted with a diesel particulate filter, or DPF. It stops the nasty black smoky stuff from pouring out of the exhaust of your diesel powered car. It seems that some owners of said diesels are feeling a little mis-sold, as they are finding that their car is malfunctioning due to the DPF not regenerating. What does this mean I hear you ask?

How the DPF works
A diesel particular filter is a trap that captures ‘soot’ from the exhaust process. This is so that engines have lower emissions in order to comply with the ‘Euro 5′ standard. A diesel vehicle fitted with one is therefore better for the environment, but, depending on how you drive, it may not be better for you.

Why does it go wrong?
The diesel particulate filter can ‘regenerate’, or clean itself, but this process will not initiate if the required temperature is not reached. When the DPF temperature remains too low, the DPF can become clogged up and then performance can tail off – leading to greater emissions and potentially a drop in performance. A total lack of regeneration can also ultimately lead to DPF failure (a new DPF can cost around £1,000). Any car fitted with a DPF can be affected, not just brand new vehicles.

How can I initiate regeneration of the DPF?
The simplest way to do this is to stay in lower gears for longer and use the full rev range of your car. Perhaps ten minutes of vigorous driving should be enough to complete the regeneration process, though as with most other things mechanical this is not an exact science. Be mindful that a good motorway run in sixth gear may not be enough to regenerate the DPF if the revs remain extremely low (this will apply if you have a very tall geared car). Another suggestion is to get to speeds above 40 miles per hour and keep your car there in the power band for some minutes of driving. As always, I recommend reading your vehicle manual thoroughly for further information.

Is a diesel engined car with a DPF for me?
This question can only be answered by you. If you drive a relatively low number of miles per week and they are over very short distances, you may well be better with a small economical petrol unit or a hybrid/electric. If you still choose the diesel, you’ll have to take it for good runs to clean the DPF, which you might find a pain if that’s the only reason you’re taking the car on the journey. Alternatively, if you do a mixed run of driving and regularly give the car a run, there’s no reason why a DPF fitted diesel vehicle shouldn’t be perfect for you.

The bottom line
When you’re buying the car, check thoroughly with the seller exactly what kind of engine it has, what running requirements there are and what sort of driving style/conditions it is made for. Don’t luck out and buy something not suitable for your purposes.

The world is changing.  Every day, our pace of life seems to be that bit much more.  We’re all separated from each other, travelling in our own little bubble.  By all accounts, we’re also churning out more CO2, which is bad for the environment.  We also pay so much for petrol and diesel that it has quite literally made my eyes water when I’ve visited the pumps recently. 

Social networks seemed to have great potential to solve problems, but do you really feel more connected?  Is the big society something that could exist or is it just a digital dream?  This is where a new concept called BlablaCar comes in and it could just make a real difference to your driving habits.

Concept

It’s actually a really simple idea, which is what makes the whole thing seem so attractive.  It is at the heart a travel site and a social network, www.blablacar.com, which aims to match drivers with an empty seat in their car to people who are looking to travel to a similar destination.  Ultimately, it’s car sharing for the modern age that BlablaCar is all about.

BlablaCar

The company has grown into Europe’s most active people-to-people car sharing community in just a few years, and has recently announced that its community has shared over 1 billion kilometres on the road!  That’s a huge number and demonstrates that people are more than willing to work with this new and fresh way to travel.

Savings

One of the reasons why BlablaCar has been so successful is the price of fuel (which I’m absolutely convinced will not be going down any time in the near future in the UK).  Suddenly, with another person sharing some of the cost to travel to the same location as you, you’ll lower the costs associated with travelling by car. 

As a passenger, travelling in someone else’s car will prove to be extremely cost effective compared to other forms of transport.  In this way, both parties win and no-one loses out.  The environment wins too; if both passenger and driver are travelling in the same vehicle there’ll be no extra CO2 associated with a second form of transport.  It’s a social way for the driver and passenger to save money and the environment.

My Experience Of Car Sharing

I sometimes car share as a means of getting to and from work.  I can honestly say that I’ve had some great fun in doing so.  It has helped me get a better understanding of my colleagues and given us some time to prepare for the day ahead.  If you’re into social networking (let’s face it, most of us are Twittering or Facebooking most of the day) and you drive regularly, then I’d certainly recommend taking a look at BlablaCar.  You never know, you might just make new friends or a new love!

Competition

If BlablaCar is something that you’re interested in and you’re taking a trip from the North West (including Manchester, Liverpool, Oxford or Birmingham) to London or vice-versa, post your trip on the site when you’ve driven it.  You’ll then have a chance of winning £500 in cash.  BlablaCar team members will act as genuine passengers on the site and hand the money to selected winning drivers who take part!  You can find more information on details on www.blablacar.com/london2NW.

Conclusion

Be part of the travel revolution and give BlablaCar a go.  You’ll save money, meet new people and reduce your CO2 footprint as well.  Whether you love to chat or just need a quick ride at a reasonable price, BlablaCar will match you up.  Take the plunge and try out this great new service.

Sponsored Post

Viral video by ebuzzing

Car Articles has previously covered the issue of apparent handbrake failure in some makes of Vauxhall car in two separate articles, namely here – http://www.cararticles.co.uk/uk-vauxhall-hit-by-renewed-faulty-handbrake-alarm.html and here – http://www.cararticles.co.uk/uk-vauxhall-handbrake-problem-part-2.html

It looks as though some of you may be getting some satisfaction, though granted this is some years on from the original complaint. Mandy in particular has stated that Vauxhall has bought the car back from her. Without knowing the full details of what has taken place, it would be an assumption to state that this is an admission of guilt on their behalf.

As a bookend to these two features, how many of you have received satisfaction and how many of you are still fuming? Perhaps more significantly, how many of you would buy a Vauxhall again?

Check out the video at the Michelin UK Motorsport site. Two C Class Merc Estates go for it, only one has standard fitment tyres and the other has Michelin’s Primacy Alpin winter tyres. The result? The car fitted with the winter tyres stopped in 7.01 metres compared to the summer tyre-shod car’s 9.75 metres: a difference of 40 per cent. Just imagine the difference at 70mph!

Cornering speed also highlighted a big difference; whereas the summer standard tyres couldn’t actually turn the car fully to make the manoeuvre, the Primacy Alpin winter tyres managed just fine. The results are surprisingly different and it makes considering the purchase of winter tyres extremely plausible for safety reasons.

There’s a new website that has a fresh approach to selling a used car – and it’s totally free of charge to private and trade sellers. Here’s all the information direct from UsedCar.co.uk:

Designed to make the selling process as fast as possible for both private individuals and car dealers with businesses of all sizes, the innovative new website is simple and easy to use. Sellers can register in less than a minute, then they are ready to start uploading the details of cars for sale. This process is made even quicker by a DVLA registration number lookup function which automatically pulls back the full car details to populate adverts as efficiently as possible. A fast image uploading facility completes the process of used car advertising – all completely free of charge!

Potential buyers have the ability to search for a particular model, filter results by price and restrict classified ads by their distance from the user’s home. Drivers can get even closer to finding their perfect match by filtering results by engine size, engine type, car age, mileage and more. Using the latest online technology, all searches are carried out quickly and efficiently to find suitable models complete with full specifications, a detailed description and user-friendly picture gallery.

With a proven track record of free-to-advertise websites, owner and founder of UsedCar.co.uk Mark Singleton is confident his business model will bring long lasting success to the used car market: “The aim of the site is to always allow free advertising on it. I own and run a pet classifieds site called Pets4Homes.co.uk which is the UK’s most popular pet classifieds site with over two-million monthly users – this site is totally free to use and has been since 2005.”

Nissan Sunderland Plant have celebrated – and for all the right reasons. One million Qashqais have now been built, which makes it one of the most successful British built cars ever produced.

The landmark millionth vehicle was driven off the production line four years, six months and 23 days after production began on December 5, 2006. No other UK-built car has reached the million mark in such a short space of time.

The Nissan Qashqai is easily the highest-volume car produced in the UK. Future Qashqai production will safeguard the jobs of 6,000 people at Nissan and in the UK supply chain.

Kevin Fitzpatrick, Nissan Vice President for Manufacturing in the UK, said: “The Nissan Qashqai has been a phenomenal success since its start of production just four and a half years ago. Qashqai was a real crossover pioneer and producing one million in such a short space of time is a fantastic achievement, not just by staff at the Sunderland Plant, but also by the designers and engineers who developed such a popular car and our dealer network who have helped to generate such high demand.”

UK Business Minister Mark Prisk said: “The Qashqai is a success story for both Nissan and the UK. With the millionth car coming off the production line, the Sunderland, Cranfield and Paddington workforce should take great pride in its popularity.

It’s great news that they will be able to build on their success with the recent announcement that the UK has been chosen to design, engineer and build the new Qashqai model.”

Paul Everitt, Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said: “The UK is home to some of the world’s most productive automotive facilities making cars that are in demand across the globe. Landmarks such as today’s announcement from Nissan serve to reinforce this, demonstrating the importance of manufacturing to our economy and its contribution to an export-led recovery.”

It’s a well done to everyone involved in production from Car Articles. So much so that I think I’ll keep saving for a diesel 4×4 Qashqai!

Skoda's new engine

What a milestone! Well done to Skoda for making engines for 110 years, and especially for the new 1.2 TSI engine. This extremely efficient little powerplant manages to chuck out 105bhp and will debut in the new Yeti, before being featured in the full Skoda, Audi, VW and SEAT range.

The all-new engine is a far cry from the flame-ignition motorcycle unit produced by company founders Laurin and Klement in 1899. It features both direct fuel injection and turbocharging technology to maximise the low CO2 emissions and fuel consumption characteristics of a small-capacity engine but with the power and driving pleasure of a much larger one.

“This brand new TSI engine provides a unique opportunity of combining environmental friendliness with a well-balanced driving performance,” explains Škoda Auto BOD Chairman Reinhard Jung. “With substantially lower CO2 figures, this new engine needs to be seen as a contribution to a significant reduction of average emission volumes in our cars.”

Honda Civic Type R

British made cars of a certain era are known for their unreliability and generally being ill-put together. These days though, it’s de rigueur that some of the best manufacturing in the world takes place on our own fair isle, which should mean it comes as no surprise that Honda is capitalising on this and exporting the Civic Type R to other shores.

From next year, the Type R EURO will be despatched from the Surrey Honda plant over to Japan (how mad is that!) as an alternative to their (in my own thoughts at least) extremely cool four door Civic Type R saloon. This latter car is one I definitely want to own at some point, but they are very hard to come by in the UK.

Interestingly, Japan is the third country outside of Europe to import the Type R, alongside Australia and South Africa (of all places). Swindon is the only UK plant producing the Honda Civic Type R.