“Two grown men swap seats in a Focus ST and immediately remember why manuals are both brilliant and mildly exhausting.”

• Focus ST first impressions: sharp steering, short gears, rev-matching modes and UK-road “jitter” in Sport

• The spicy debate: should you flash before an overtake — helpful heads-up or unnecessary aggro? (Roadcraft gets name-checked)

• EV chat: pence-per-mile “road tax”, where fuel duty’s gone, and why it should be fair across all vehicles

If you’ve got strong feelings on overtakes, manuals, or EV costs, send us your stories — and hit follow/subscribe so you don’t miss the next one.

The article on Car Sizes:

https://medium.com/@sdh.kingfieldheath/fords-family-car-grew-26-british-car-parks-didn-t-1d8e6d8f4acf

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Christmas jumpers on, windows cracked, and one mildly existential crisis about being older than TV legends — it’s festive motoring chaos with Simon and Ashley.

• The oddly brilliant “top car gifts” list: dash cams, smart tyre inflators, OBD2 scanners and other stuff you’ll actually use

• Track-day tales: a 1969 Dodge Charger experience and a torrentially wet airfield session that taught real skid control (and humbled a would-be doughnut hero)

• EV reality check: portable jump starters, 12V battery dramas, and why modern cars hide your phone like it’s playing hide-and-seek

Subscribe, share, and send us your best (or worst) Christmas car stories — we’ll read them out and judge you politely.

Why not spread a little Christmas cheer?

Support our chosen charities:

Carla Lane Animals in Need is a long-established animal rescue dedicated to saving, rehabilitating and rehoming dogs, cats and other animals who have nowhere else to turn, offering lifelong care and support until they find loving homes. Their compassionate no-kill approach and community focus mean every donation directly improves the lives of vulnerable animals and helps promote responsible pet ownership in and around Liverpool. 

https://carlalaneanimalsinneed.co.uk/donate/

FareShare tackles two of the UK’s biggest challenges — hunger and food waste — by rescuing good quality surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away and redistributing it through thousands of local charities and community groups across the country. Their work not only helps provide millions of nutritious meals for people facing food insecurity each year, but also delivers significant social and environmental value by reducing waste and strengthening communities in every region of the UK.

https://fareshare.givingpage.org/warmth

Keswick Mountain Rescue Team is a volunteer-run charity that provides a vital 24/7 search and rescue service across the Lake District’s fells, responding to call-outs in all weathers to save lives and assist people in distress. Their highly trained volunteers give up their time, skills and often personal equipment to help walkers, climbers and visitors — and every donation directly helps keep this essential, life-saving service running.

https://keswickmrt.org.uk/donate/

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What do Japan’s bonkers driving exams, megawatt EV charging, and black-ice panic all have in common?

• Japan’s notoriously tough driving test and why precision doesn’t always equal preparedness
• 1-megawatt EV charging, dual-gun chaos, and what it means for real-world range in 6 minutes flat
• Winter driving tips: ABS myths, launch control in the rain, and the smug joy of pre-conditioning your EV

A mix of insight, geekery and thinly-veiled smuggery. Subscribe, share, and send us your most outrageous winter driving tale — the colder and dafter the better.

Simon's Charge-rate Spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXPTm198x9vg1bcX6t44Vw0ZR5gNSg_4WyIX1rgKlmo/edit?usp=sharing

Including a new tab for BYD 1MW

An example of the Japanese Driving test:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CySM-_HWKlo&t

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In this live-in-car episode (yes, we recorded in the same vehicle), Simon & Ashley navigate real-life motoring madness:

• A dodgy Volvo manoeuvre sparks chaos in the car park

• Can you actually pay for a latte with your phone in a drive-through?

• The 600 kW charging cable existential crisis and hot takes on adaptive cruise control

Grab your favourite drink and join us for a laugh-packed ride through motoring tech, culture and real-world driving, including the immortal line: “Don’t crash into Simon’s car.”.

Subscribe & leave a review — crash-free is the goal.

Simon's Charge-rate Spreadsheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kXPTm198x9vg1bcX6t44Vw0ZR5gNSg_4WyIX1rgKlmo/edit?usp=sharing

Simon's article on EV Economics:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ev-economics-when-longer-battery-life-meets-cleaner-grid-houghton-cyrbe

Ashley driving with Courtenay

https://youtu.be/3g6PRDafB2E?si=Kp3Yv7Mh7iMqkJhK

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 6, Simon & Ashley pull up to the roadside with serious and silly topics:

• How to spot car-report scams and protect yourself when selling used

• A comparison of French smooth roads vs UK squeaky ones — what the driving experience teaches us

• Speed-limit debate: should the rules change and what it means for drivers

With practical advice, humour and real talk on motoring-culture, this episode is a must-listen.

Top Gear meets Watchdog… but with extra spreadsheets.

Subscribe and share your own suspect car-report story.

References in this Episode:

USA 2005 Tour DVD

https://youtu.be/56NB_cE9zPc?si=K1JPXRPLjsbMxrYX

11 Hours in 11 Minutes Driving back from France

https://youtu.be/9K7yw1K_ZWg?si=MPcMKlyh3uT3eAf_

Battery recycling

https://www.rsbruce.com/www.rsbruce.com/battery-recycling

Nissan 2nd life battery

https://www.nissan-global.com/EN/STORIES/RELEASES/second-life-leaf-batteries/

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Episode 5: Simon & Ashley return with a broad lane of motoring topics:

• The era of ‘peak buttons’ — why too many car controls drive us nuts

• Pedal fail stories, dash-cam tinkering and the quirks of smart motorways

• Cyclist vs driver tensions: can we all just share the road?

Whether you’re behind the wheel daily or just love driving culture, this episode delivers insight and laughs.

Subscribe and drop your own ‘button fail’ moment below.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In Episode 4 we go deep into mechanical mayhem and driving evolution:

• Decades of dodgy cars and stories of the worst failures (yes, including super-glue incidents)

• Can you really learn to drive from YouTube? We debate it

• Manual vs automatic: Which is right for you now?

If you love car culture, driving tech and the unexpected — join us for 61 minutes of fun and insight.

Subscribe and tell us your worst car-fail story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Simon & Ashley hit the streets and charging points in Episode 3:

• Hot-hatch heritage meets EV future — can both exist?

• Insight on what it takes to be ‘EV-ready’ and whether you’re already there

• Driving disasters, insurance oddities, quirky Euro driving-test tales and more

Whether you’re a petrolhead, EV adopter or somewhere in between — this episode’s for you.

Subscribe and drop us your driving-style confessions.

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In Episode 2 we get behind the wheel and rewind through driving chaos with Simon & Ashley:

• An EV adventure across the Scottish Highlands — and the worst drivers around Loch Lomond

• Handbrake fails, overtaking quirks and what drivers should know

• Honest chat on changing driving styles, tech, and staying sharp behind the wheel

Laughs, real-world tips, and stories from the tarmac.

Hit subscribe and tell us your own driving disaster — we might detour into it next time.

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Welcome to the launch of The Smart Drive Podcast! Hosts Simon & Ashley dive into:

• Taking the new Audi Q6 for a test drive and dissecting its driver-assist tech

• Embarking on a budget £1,500 first-car challenge — can you still have fun on a small budget?

• Insight into driving examiner recruitment and what it means for learner drivers

Join us for unscripted motoring chat, laughs and one or two proper driving tips. Buckle up — it’s going to be a fun ride.

Subscribe & review to support our journey.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.