Big Guns

I went to the motor show yesterday as I'd narrowed the choice for my wife's car down to the Mazda 3, Mitsubishi Lancer and the Ford Focus. The specification of the Ford is so much better than anything else in the class. It comes with a 2000cc engine with 170 bhp and a 6 speed dual clutch Powershift Auto gear box. It has bluetooth, USB/Ipod connectivity, keyless entry, 4 airbags etc etc. The top model has some good gadgets for those people who can't drive like active city stop which automatically applies the brakes if you get too close to another car and active park assist which helps with parallel parking. The 4 door is 959,000 THB for the Titanium and 1,069,000 for the Titanium+ and the 5 door is 969,000 for the Sport and 1,079,000 for the Sport+.

I put a deposit down on the 5 door Sport in black and it should arrive in August as long as its not another Ranger type calamity. Ford included free; insurance, lamina, tax, mats and 500 B of petrol. Also people who bought at the motor show received a 'VIP' package which includes a trip to the factory and a day experiencing the car's technology and safety features. Roll on August it looks like I might be borrowing my wife's new Focus now and then

I want to replace my wife's 2008 Honda City. She had a test drive of the Fiesta 1.6 sport ultimate. It was a great drive and had lots of useful features but it was just too small, so we've decided to go for something bigger. Her main criteria are; good handling, good brakes, powerful headlights and it should have a decent residual value (so no Cruze, Hyundai or Proton). We've had a test drive of the Mazda 3 and love it as it seems to tick all of the boxes although the residuals aren't that good. At the moment the cars we are considering are; Mazda 3 2.0, Mitsubishi Lancer 1.8/2.0, new model Honda Civic and the Ford Focus 2.0 I'd consider the TDCI if its still available. She doesn't fancy the Corolla Altis as she thinks it looks like a Bangkok taxi and every Tom, Dick and Somcee has one. Any views or knowledge of special offers would be great.

Please, please please MRO let us know what is coming out and when, this year and early next year. This is very relevant for me as I want to replace my wife's 2008 Honda City this year for something bigger (sedan/hatch/soft roader), budget up to 1.2 m THB.

I picked up my new Vespa 300 GTS Super Sport on Wednesday and the dealer filled it with 91 petrol not gasohol. I've always put 91 petrol in my Kawasaki ER6n and it runs fine. However, the engine on the Vespa doesn't seem to run smoothly when stationary. I checked the manual and it said to use minimum grade 95. The manual doesn't mention gasohol, however I don't think gasohol is sold in Europe and after all its an Italian bike. So the question is should I use gasohol 95 and can it damage my Vespa?

I've just had to replace my front 2 Bridgestone Dueller tyres on a D-MAX 4x4 at about 40K kilometres and 20 months as they were bald on the outside. Has anyone else had this problem? I went to Cockpit and the manager said the standard shock absorbers were too weak and recommended upgrading at a cost of 5K THB. Has anyone else heard about this? As they didn't have Bridgestone Dueller I had to have Dunlop Grand Trek fitted which the guy said were the same specification. Any opinions would be appreciated. Cheers