Maxing it at Millbrook

I’VE just maxed a tiny Toyota around a high speed bowl, piloted Peugeot’s most exciting car in years and driven an iconic classic which would make my dad hugely jealous.

Amazing as some of these claims are, they’re all true and they all happened at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, where I was lucky enough to be one of the journalists invited to take part in the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders test drive day, where 33 car companies laid on their latest and greatest for us to try. Predictably, I was like a child let loose at Alton Towers.

The whole day is basically speed dating for cars, just with the slight problem of falling in love with lots of cars rather than just one. All 16 of the test drives I took will be appearing on here in the near future, but for now I can say:

• It’s a tad unnerving when you’re driving the Skoda Roomster around the tight hairpins of the alpine course and realise a Porsche 911 Turbo, a Honda Civic Type-R Mugen and a Renaultsport Clio 200 can’t get past.

• The Honda CR-Z is the hybrid I’ve genuinely enjoyed driving, and it’s going to be a big hit.

• Peugeot’s 308 RC Z was by far and away the most popular car I drove, but it was well worth the wait.

• The Jeep Wrangler is a worse car than the Land Rover Freelander, but strangely I enjoyed the American icon far more. Strange but true.

• The very first production Range Rover, made in 1969, had a broken seat, the noisiest transmission in history and realistically topped out at 50mph on Millbrook’s high speed bowl. But I absolutely adored it.

• Vauxhall’s Meriva is far better than anyone has given it credit for.

• One of the few cars I wasn’t allowed to drive was Citroen’s new DS3 (I’m six months too young, apparently) but judging by its closely related sister, the C3, it handles very nicely indeed.

• I don’t care what you think about the Mazda MX-5, because it was unbelievably good to drive.
  

David Simister will be on Dune FM (107.9FM) between 6pm and 7pm tonight to talk about the latest cars and how they performed at Millbrook