Monday September 1
With 'silly season' now getting into full swing my week started off gently enough with a morning of car returns. First to go back was the Lexus IS 300h, which surprised and disappointed me in equal measure. Its ride I found to be rather good, certainly up there with many of its premium rivals, but I just couldn't find much love for the automatic transmission. I also said goodbye to the Nissan LEAF, which you'll be able to read a full review on very soon. Taking their places this week is the latest Range Rover Sport, something I'm quite looking forward to spending time with.
Tuesday September 2
With the week ahead looking pretty busy much of the day was spent getting copy written up ahead of our iPad Mag deadline. After which I took the short trip to Dublin Airport in order to head to the UK for what would be a brisk rendezvous with BMW's new 2 Series Active Tourer.
Wednesday September 3
Early start this morning in order to maximise my time with BMW's new front-wheel drive MPV. Despite the new drivetrain layout it still feels very much like a BMW inside, although judging by the few images I posted on social media its looks divide opinion. Before long I was heading back to Heathrow in order to fly to Barcelona for the 3am (yes, you read that correctly) reveal of the new Mazda MX-5.
Thursday September 4
The joys of being in Europe when a Japanese car firm wants to conduct a synchronised global launch means that we lose out on plenty of sleep. I did in fact refrain from sleeping altogether thanks to some rather urgent copy deadlines for the MX-5 launch, and even though part of me wanted to despise whoever dreamt up the ideal of a synchronised launch, I have to tip my hat to Mazda's PR team who managed to keep the whole thing largely under wraps until the moment of the reveal.
Friday September 5
After some much needed sleep I decided to take a break from writing and spend some time behind the wheel of the Range Rover Sport. It feels more luxurious and the more powerful SDV6 engine is quite pokey, though I also loved having a centre console fridge to keep my Red Bull cool... I seemed to be consuming quite a lot of it during this week.
Sunday September 7
After enjoying something resembling a day off yesterday it's back behind the wheel and some time with the outgoing MX-5 in its 25th Anniversary Edition guise, as we shoot it for some client work, along with the new Mazda3. Both very good looking cars and the latter, despite being slightly more expensive than some of its rivals, ought to be on more people's radar. As Sunday night drew in, it was once again time to pack for another hectic week.