In a week when it was reported that a cerebral palsy sufferer was kicked out of his specially renovated home because he couldn’t afford to pay the harsh bedroom tax, Floyd Mayweather splashed out a staggering $4.8 million on a Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita super car to give us all a bit of perspective.
I can’t even …
The news gazumped the previously headline-grabbing antics of our own antihero, Jeremy Clarkson, as he allegedly splashed out a measly 250K on a McLaren earlier this week.
Tight arse.
Mayweather, whose middle name is Money, has never been one to shy away from showing off his wealth, but this latest stunt has taken car shopping to a brand new level.
Just read those numbers back: $4,800,000.
We’re not talking an island here.
We’re not talking about a house.
We’re talking about a car.
Okay, we’re not just talking about any car, and in fact the Swedish produced Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita isn’t actually a super car – it’s a goddamn hyper car.
Because Floyd doesn’t do super cars. That isn’t how he rolls and don’t ever ask him to get behind the wheel of one. Floyd only does hyper cars, k?
He can feel pretty special, though, because there are only two Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita’s in the world. Meanwhile, there are thousands of Protons, many of them in Gateshead.
Of course, $4.8million is nothing to Money, who earned $300million earlier this year from a single bout with Manny Pacquaio.
Happy days.
Bad Driving Halves Attractiveness
Studies carried out by the Institute of Advanced Motorists have revealed that women in particular associate bad driving with unattractiveness.
Indeed, in the things women find unattractive, bad driving sits sandwiched between living at home with your mum and having an affair.
The research found that bad drivers are a whopping 50% less attractive than motorists who can drive it like Clarkson.
Candidates who took part in the study were judged according to their pulse rate, blink rate, body language and pupil dilation.
One geezer we spoke to, who has since been dumped by his woman after she didn’t like the way he handled a corner, told us: “It’s horrendous news. My lass didn’t like the way I took a corner, but she also complained that my pupils were really dilated at one point which put her off me. She also said my blink rate was nauseating. I’m gutted.”
84% of participants said they felt negatively about a partner after experiencing their incompetence behind the wheel.
Women reacted the most violently, with 60% of them feeling bummed out after watching bad manoeuvres, while just 28% of men suddenly felt physically repulsed by a female driver after a bit of poor handling.
Even the men felt frustration more than anything else.
“It’s not that I find her physically redundant mate, it’s more that I cannot believe she stalled it. I mean, come on. I just wanna get behind the wheel of that Fiat 500 and sort it out mate. It’s doing my nut in having to stand here with my hot dog when I could be in there.”
Behavioural psychologist Jo Hemmings said: “There is no doubt that across the board most candidates, and nearly all the women, found bad driving to be a turn-off.”
So there you have it. The next time you drop a date off at night and wonder why she doesn’t return your calls, you now know why.
Billions Spent On Technologies That Motorists Don’t Even Use
Ever used your in-vehicle concierge? How about your mobile router?
But come on, surely you’ve used your head-up display?
You haven’t?!
Well, it turns out that you’re not alone.
According to J.D Power’s 2015 Driver Interactive Vehicle Experience Report, many of us are ignoring the numerous in-car technologies that manufacturers are spending billions of pounds on.
Indeed, out of the 33 features measured in the study, 20% of the participants claimed to not have used 16 of them.
Still, 17 out of 33 is not bad, right?
Probably not when billions of pounds are at stake. That’s even more money than Money himself has.
Moreover, although there has been a lot of hype around Google Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, J.D Power’s study also revealed that another 20% of car owners don’t want many of the features.
A further 12 technology features were deemed pointless by another 20% of customers, with in-vehicle voice texting one of the needless technologies.
Kristin Kolodge, executive director of driver interaction & HMI research at J.D Power said: “In-vehicle connectivity technology that’s not used, results in millions of dollars of lost value for both consumers and the manufacturers.”
Bit of market research first, lads?
According to J.D, car-owners would rather see features that actually enhance the driving and safety experience. These include blind spot detection and adaptive cruise control.
Respondents to the J.D Power survey also said that they were much less likely to use a technology if the dealer doesn’t explain it to them when they buy a car.
The dealers say they would be more likely to explain it to them if the car manufacturers explained it to them first.
Kolodge said: “While dealers are expected to play a key role in explaining the technology to consumers, the onus should be on automakers to design the technology to be intuitive for consumers.”
Ah, remember the days when a car was just a steering wheel, an engine, a gearstick, pedals, a brake and four wheels? Then hazard lights came along and we’ve been flummoxed ever since.
Cab-Hailing App Infuriates Licensed Drivers
Gee, does a week even go by when motorists aren’t whinging?
As well as thousands of motorists lamenting the pointless technologies that well-meaning manufacturers are spending billions of pounds on just to make our on-the-road experience more rewarding, licensed cabbies in London and Paris are directing their ire at popular cab-hailing app, Uber.
If only we could all be as happy as Floyd Money Mayweather and live in a Money Wonderland.
Uber is a very popular cab-hailing app that was developed in the U.S., but which is now taking over European, Asian and African cities.
It works by providing stranded city goers with a cab in just a few minutes at the click of a button.
No matter where you are in the city, Uber will get you a cab quickly and cheaply. The sophisticated app also tells you when the cab will arrive exactly, as well as who your driver is.
Hi Dave!
They currently have 15,000 drivers in London alone, and expect to have 42,000 by next year.
Sounds great, right? The less stranded city dwellers the better!
Unless you’re a big fat meanie and like watching people cower in the rain.
Or a licensed cabbie.
See, the licensed cabbie is not a happy chappy, and is complaining that Uber is taking all his business.
Black-cabbies were so incensed at what they regarded as the Transport for London’s (non) regulation of Uber that they went on strike last summer in protest.
The thing is, what Uber is doing is entirely legal.
And as Osborne and Cameron are always reminding us, they’re providing healthy competition and boosting our economy.
And if they’re cheaper, better and quicker, consumers aren’t going to complain.
In any case, black taxis need to wake up and smell the coffee a bit. The number of black taxis in London has grown just 1.5% in the last two years.
Moreover, just before Uber launched back in 2012, the number of black cabs on the road were down by 58 on 2011’s figures.
Not exactly providing a good service, chaps.
Uber’s quest for world domination is courting controversy all around the world, though. Parisian cabbies are also unhappy that the startup is invading their patch, while a fair number of cities in Germany, India, America, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and South Africa have already banned them.
This feud could go on a while.
