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Back to school: Ford gives out free Focus RS driver training

31 August, 2016

We’ve all seen the videos of people running out of talent in their brand-new Focus RS, and we’ve all seen the media hype around how Ford irresponsibly produced a vehicle with a ‘drift’ button. Ford has responded to the flurry of mixed reports and media hype with its own solution: driver training. 

Dubbed the RS Adrenaline Academy, Ford USA is now running the driver training at Miller Motorsports Park, in Utah. It’s a free course, and owners of the latest RS are able to attend a small classroom briefing, then they’re out on the track learning about each individual mode the RS now has — especially the drift mode. 

With the courses now being held in America, we’re hoping they’ll make their way down to New Zealand. If the drivers in America are having issues sliding off the road, it’s likely to happen here too. 

More to the point

6 March, 2026

This Daimler SP252 is so rare, few people know it exists. It’s one of a kind. It’s the only surviving, in fact the only SP252 ever completed; the would-be successor to the SP250 Daimler Dart. It is also the last sports car to have been designed by Jaguar’s legendary founder, Sir William Lyons.
Perhaps one of the original Dart’s biggest problems was it’s somewhat-divisive looks. It certainly went well enough to win fans, although Sir William wasn’t among them. It crushed the opposition in the Bathurst six-hour race, finishing five laps ahead of anyone else, and it was snapped up by police forces in Britain, Australia, and New Zealand, as it was the fastest thing on the road.
So you’d think a stunning new body with the magic Lyons touch would have been a surefire success. Why this car never made it into production is still something of a mystery, as the official explanations barely stack up.

Polishing to perfection

26 February, 2026

The secret to a show-stopping finish is colour sanding, no matter which paint system you use. Even a good painter, no matter how experienced or talented — like my mate Bruce Haye, CEO at Ace Panel and Paint in Whitianga — can’t shoot to a perfect mirror finish. To get that level of perfection, you need to colour sand.
It used to be called ‘rubbing out’ or ‘cutting’, and it was done with pastes that came in cans. They worked — sort of — but the compounds really just rounded off imperfections instead of eliminating them, and they removed a lot of paint in the process. But now your new finish can be made flawless, thanks to microfine sandpapers that come in 1000, 1500, 2000, and even 2500 grit ranges, and Farecla G3 polish — available from automotive paint suppliers.