Ahh, the dreaded driving test – one of those lifetime things you simply have no choice but to go through at one point or another.

Pass it, and you can on as many post-lockdown road trips as you like. But, fail it, and you’re back to square one, practicing even harder to make sure you nail your next test.

If you’ve got a driving test coming up soon or have recently failed one for some unknown reason, we’re here to help you diagnose what you should and shouldn’t be doing during it.

Join us as we run through the ten key reasons – as reported by DVSA – why people fail their driving test.

1. Observation At Junctions. The number one reason people fail, if you aren’t clearly paying attention to what’s going on around you at a junction, you will be marked down.
2. Not Using Mirrors When Changing Direction. Driving safely is all about using your mirrors correctly – and especially when it comes to changing direction.
3. Steering Control. It should go without saying really but you need to show your examiner that you’re actually in safe control of the car you’re driving.
4. Turning Right At Junctions. Junctions can be scary things so it’s important to maintain a good level of concentration, particularly when turning right at them.
5. Moving Off Safely. There’s no point waiting for the perfect opportunity to move off at a junction if you’re not ready. Find that biting point, release that handbrake and move off.
6. Traffic Light Signal Response. Again, it should go without saying, but make sure you don’t go through any red lights. You’ll only fail straight away if you do.
7. Controlled Moving Off. Your examiner is looking for you to show them you’re in control, so make sure – when it comes to moving off – you are.
8. Driving Positioning. Don’t sway all over the road or stay too far to the left-hand side. Your positioning says a lot about your confidence on the road, so don’t be afraid to own it.
9. Signal Response To Road Markings. When driving, you need to be ready for the unexpected – especially when it comes to responding to specific road markings.
10. Controlled Reverse Parking. Parking is a tricky thing to learn but the reverse bay park is one of the most difficult. Keep it slow and steady, and concentrate fully all the time.

Here at FEV, we are specialists in car safety, supplying a wide range of related products to drivers throughout the UK. To find out more, either click here or contact our team today.

With the government’s lockdown restrictions gradually becoming less and less strict, you may find yourself itching to get behind the wheel of your motor again.

However, before you get going, it’s important to ensure it’s as safe to drive as possible. After many months of sitting dormant on your driveway, the last thing you want to do is to plan a lovely family day out, only for the car’s battery to be completely dead.

With this in mind, join us as we run through some of the key ways to ensure your car is able to cope once the lockdown is over.

• Check Your Tyre Pressures. Since you probably won’t have driven your car in quite some time, the chances are pretty high that your tyres will have lost air pressure in them. You should therefore monitor before you get going and pump them up as much as they require.

• Check Your Engine’s Fluid Levels. The engine oil and coolant level must be checked before you first decide to switch on the engine. Otherwise, your car could break down shortly after you’ve set off or not even turn on at all.
• Disinfect It. Don’t forget that we are in the midst of a pandemic so make sure to disinfect both the interior and exterior of your car. From the door handles and steering wheel to the gearshift and window controls, use an antibacterial spray and clean sponge to wipe your car down.
• Check Your Documents. Since the lockdown has been ongoing for many months now, your documents may now be out of date. Whether it be your car’s MOT, tax or road permit, it’s important to check these before you start using it again.

Staying safe while driving is our area of speciality here at FEV Motorsport. For further advice on how to ensure your car is safe to drive once the lockdown is over, please do not hesitate to contact our friendly team. Alternatively, click here to read our latest series of relevant blog posts.

The coronavirus outbreak has caused widespread devastation across the globe, leaving the UK government with no choice but to lockdown the country to minimise the virus’s spread.

If you are one of those people to have been affected – which at this point is pretty much the entire world – then you’ve probably found yourself scrolling through Netflix recently, constantly looking for the next thing to watch.

If you’re a car enthusiast, then we’re here to help. We’ve compiled a list of our three favourite car-based TV shows to keep you entertained during your time in lockdown.

Hyperdrive

An adrenaline-fuelled hybrid of American Ninja Warrior and the Fast & the Furious franchise, Hyperdrive will set your heart racing more than almost any other car show on TV.

Available on Netflx, the show features twenty-eight drivers from around the world who compete against each other in completing an increasingly elaborate series of stunts.

Watch in awe at the drivers’ remarkable displays of car control and get the popcorn at the ready in advance – this is one car show you won’t want to miss a single second of.

Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

Another genius creation from the mind of Jerry Seinfeld, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee is a talk show with automobiles embedded in its premise.

During each episode, Seinfeld invites some of the world’s most distinguished comedians to join him on a car ride in one of his rare, 20^th century, classic collectable cars.

While these cars aren’t the sole feature of each episode, the show certainly features enough luxury motors to keep even the most avid of car enthusiasts entertained. It’s definitely worth a watch if you’re into your cars and comedy.

The Grand Tour

While the Top Gear boys Richard Hammond, James May and Jeremy Clarkson left the cult classic BBC show in a shroud of controversy, it seems they have now moved onto bigger and better things.

Now one of – if not the – biggest shows on Amazon Prime, The Grand Tour sees the trio up to their usual childish tricks; visiting amazing places around the world, becoming special forces soldiers at a secret training base, taking powerful cars on test tracks, and going on a ‘gentlemen’s’ tour of Italy.

With 36 episodes available across three seasons, The Grand Tour is sure to keep you entertained for a little while during your time in lockdown at least.

Being stuck at home offers a unique opportunity to get things done that you’ve not had the chance to previously. While you can’t get out on the track right now, why not think about what you could do to improve your driving experience instead?

Here at FEV, we offer a wide range of products dedicated to improving your driving experience and making it as safe as possible. Find out more information by clicking here.

Unless you’ve been living on Mars over the past few months, you will know all too well how disruptive the coronavirus outbreak has been across the globe.

Millions upon millions of people are now stuck at home either self-isolating, quarantining or under lockdown, constantly on the lookout for ways to keep themselves and their family entertained.

If you’re bored with scrolling through Netflix looking for the next film to watch, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered. Here are three of the best car-based films we think you should watch to keep yourself busy.

The Fast & Furious Franchise

We start with a banger – or, well, eight bangers to be precise.

Who would have thought that back in 2001 a relatively unspectacular Vin Diesel movie would go on to spawn a multi-billion-dollar franchise that’s still going almost two decades later?

In all honesty – not many, yet here we are.

The Fast and Furious franchise has been around for years and is jam-packed with enough adrenaline-fuelled action to keep you and your family entertained for hours. Even if you’ve seen them before, what’s not to love about car chases, revenge plots and The Rock/Jason Statham’s heated rivalry?

Rush

If you’re a big fan of Formula One racing, then you probably know all too well already the great rivalry between James Hunt and Niki Lauda.

Rush focuses on their opposition during the 1976 F1 racing season and stars Thor himself (Chris Hemsworth) as Hunt and alongside Baron Zemo (Daniel Brühl) as Lauda.

While it may not be the most accurate portrayal, the movie will keep you more than entertained with its humour and insightful storyline. It’s a sure-fire way to kill a few hours during your time in lockdown.

Baby Driver

If you love dark, gritty films with a comical edge then you’ll love Baby Driver.

Following the success of the infamous Cornetto trilogy, Edgar Wright’s follow-up film was described as an instant classic and ‘one of the most entertaining thrill rides of the decade’.

Starring Ansel Elgort as a talented young getaway driver, the film shows his journey helping a motley crew of thieves – including Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm – steal huge sums of money.

If you are going stir-crazy during your time in lockdown and simply can’t wait to get back out on the track again, now is the perfect time to think about what you can do to improve your driving experience.

Here at FEV, we understand that safety is key and offer a wide range of products dedicated to making your driving experience as safe as possible. Click here for further information.

We are nearly a third of the way through 2020 and, while there have already been a number of excellent racing films released, there are set to be even more as the year progresses.

But which ones are worth keeping a special eye out for? Well, don’t worry – we’ve got you covered.

Listed below are three adrenaline-pumping racing movies to look forward over the coming year. Featuring a plethora of incredible cars, motorbikes and automobiles, you definitely won’t want to miss any of these.

1 – No Time To Die.

James Bond may be better known for his work as a super spy but, one thing you can rely on in each of his films is an adrenaline-pumping car chase or three.

In his latest outing, due to be released in November 2020, Bond (played by Daniel Craig) is recruited to rescue a kidnapped scientist and soon finds himself hot on the trail of a mysterious villain (played by Rami Malek).

As you will see in the trailer, Bond will be up to his usual tricks; saving the world suited and booted, with a beautiful girl on his arm. Oh, and one other thing you can be sure of is that an Aston Martin or two will appear at some point, having been in every Bond film to be released over the past 25 years.

2 – Fast & Furious 9.

Who would have thought back in 2001 that a relatively unspectacular Vin Diesel movie would have spawned a multi-billion-dollar franchise that’s still going almost two decades later?

Following the series’ eight previous offerings (nine if you include the recently released Hobbs and Shaw), the ninth film is set to be released later this year, with the series’ regular director Justin Lin back in the driver’s seat.

If there’s one thing you can be sure about with Fast & Furious films, besides the fact that Vin Diesel will appear in them somewhere, is that there’ll be cars… and lots of them.

3 – Sonic.

OK, this one isn’t a film about car racing as such, but it certainly involves a lot of high-speed chases.

If you grew up playing Sonic as a child, you will already know everything there is to know about the hairy blue hedgehog. In the recently released game-to-movie adaptation, Sonic is brought to the big screen like never before – and thankfully, not as the creepy initial version shown in the trailers.

The film follows our blue hero navigating the complexities of life on earth with his newfound best friend – a human called Tom (played by James Marsden). Trouble ensues when the evil Dr Robotnik (played by Jim Carrey) hears about Sonic’s arrival though, and sets on trying to use his powers for world domination.

Car-based films like these may make race car driving seem effortless, but it is actually incredibly dangerous. Staying safe while driving is therefore absolutely vital and, here at FEV Motorsport, we understand that better than most. If you need any advice on how to ensure safety in your car, please get in touch with us today.

It may be cliched, but we love our customers and the people who enjoy our blog and we wanted to say a very Happy Christmas to you all.

2019

This year has certainly been another bumper year for us. New customers, old customers and a few in-between! We have done the usual massive round of fire extinguisher servicing, installations and taken on a few interesting challenges too. We have, as always, been happy to give out advice to people new to motorsport, to owners of historic cars looking for some fire suppression options and much more.

We have also moved premises, and this was certainly a big end to the year. We now have more room to push our industry forward with more research and development to keep FEV at the cutting edge of global motor sport fire extinguishers and safety. We now also have more room to produce more units and a bit more room to sit down when we do finally get a chance to have a tea break. Thanks entirely to all our wonderful customers these kinds of breaks are few and far between and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

2020

What will next year have instore for us? Well motorsport safety never stops, and we are heavily involved in it at so many levels. We can only guess at what next year will look like. We know, however, that we will be busy making fire extinguishers for club racing, personal use and every kind of motorsport right up to F1 and other top-level classes. We will also no doubt be at a few shows next year where we love to meet and greet customers and people who perhaps don’t know us as well, so we will hopefully see you soon!

Have an amazing Christmas from everyone at FEV!

A couple of years ago, rally fans and drivers are unlikely to not have noticed the change to the seeding rules. Without going into too much detail, let’s just say that the changes were not good for the sport.

Generally, the result of the original change lead to some teams actually leaving cars in the garage rather do their next run and risk sustaining damage for no racing gain. This really hit the sport hard, leaving fans as annoyed as the teams.

In order for any sport to thrive it needs action and lots of it, but it also needs promotional time for sponsors to get the money coming in to keep things going. When cars are not out on the course the sponsors are not getting coverage, and this can lead to them looking for coverage elsewhere or, worse, to invest in other sports.

Thankfully, late one Friday night the national governing body, the Motor Sports Association (MSA) have finally decided to relax the seeding rule from 1st July. It is fair to say that national rallying has been under quite a bit of pressure since changing the rules. That being said, no one would argue that after some fatal crashes action did need to be taken. It was just the form of that action and the long-term damage it has and could continue to do to the sport.

This change may seem small, but it will be enough to really give the sport a desperately needed boost. This relaxation will be welcomed by everyone, from fans to team bosses. We certainly hope to see more cars on track, more rallying and more happy fans and sponsors this year and for many years to come.

At FEV, we have extensive experience in rallying and providing fire extinguishers for teams as well as privateers across all disciplines including rally cross. Why not give us a call or email us your enquiry to find out more?