Motoring: New football season special

WITH their jaw-dropping salaries and celebrity lifestyles it isn’t surprising that today’s Premier League footballers are highly sought after customers for most supercar manufacturers.

So, are the car parks of Old Trafford, The Etihad Stadium, Anfield and Goodison Park- littered with enough exotic metal to shame your average sheikh?

Well no, not if new research is to be believed.

According to luxury finance broker, Oracle Finance, the most popular car with Premier League players is one that while prestigious, is not completely exclusive.

The car in question is no stranger to the pages of TheBusinessDesk.com, coming as it does from the Solihull plant of a well-known off-road vehicle manufacturer.

That’s right, from St Mary’s to St James’ Park, the Range Rover is the top choice for conveying today’s Premiership stars from A to B.

And the good news doesn’t end there for Land Rover because it also nabs third place in Oracle’s top 10 most popular Premier League cars, with the Range Rover Sport.

Splitting them is another TheBusinessDesk.com regular, the Bentley Continental GT.

Oracle says its research is accurate because a large number of Premiership players fund their cars using its services.

Oracle Finance managing director Peter Brook said: “We looked back at our records over the last five years to come up with this list and weren’t surprised the Range Rover was top.

“We can’t reveal which footballers use our services because of client confidentiality, but we work with some of the biggest names in the footballing world and have helped hundreds of players, managers and agents fund their dream cars over the years.”

The top 10 most popular footballers’ cars funded by Oracle Finance looks like this:

      Car                                   Footballers funded
1    Range Rover                                   28
2    Bentley Continental GT                  26
3    Range Rover Sport                         24
4    Audi Q7                                             21
5    BMW X5                                           18
6    Porsche Cayenne                           16
7    Lamborghini Gallardo                    13
8    Ferrari 458                                         8
9    Maserati Gran Turismo                    4
10  Aston Martin DB9                              3

Mr Brook said: “Bentley was extremely close to taking the number one spot in our Premiership poll with the GT, but it’s clear SUVs are a favourite with footballers.

“What’s clear from our list is that SUVs are very popular. Our football clients like their cars to be luxurious with high-up driving positions, which is why they prefer 4x4s to out-and-out supercars. Few cars offer all that like a full-fat Range Rover.”

However, it looks like the flagship Range Rover may be about to get into quite a scrap if it is to retain its title – and the challenge comes from within its own ranks!

The fastest, most powerful Land Rover ever produced – the Range Rover Sport SVR – makes its global debut tomorrow (Thursday) at Pebble Beach in California.

It is the first model to wear the SVR designation being adopted by future Land Rover and Jaguar high-performance models – and once the Premier League stars get a taste of its performance then they might be heading straight from the training ground and into the showrooms.

The Sport SVR accelerates from 0-60mph in an eye-watering 4.5 seconds. Its top speed is  electronically limited to 162mph and at the Nürburgring Nordschleife it set a lap time of 8 minutes 14 seconds – one of the fastest times ever recorded by a production SUV.

The SVR’s range-topping 5.0-litre supercharged V8 engine has been developed to produce 550PS and 680Nm – substantial 40PS and 56Nm increases – without compromising fuel economy.  And its advanced ZF 8HP70 8-speed automatic transmission and four-wheel-drive chassis have been optimised to complement its astonishing performance, whatever the weather.

In a world first for Land Rover, the Range Rover Sport SVR is equipped with a two-stage active exhaust featuring electronically controlled valves. The system optimises sound quality, performance and aesthetics and provides a racecar-inspired soundtrack at higher engine revs – just the end for making a discreet getaway following a 3-0 defeat!

John Edwards, Managing Director of Land Rover’s Special Operations, said: “The Range Rover Sport SVR is a natural progression beyond the core vehicle’s outstanding on- and off-road capabilities and leading-edge design. Its exhilarating performance will satisfy a particularly demanding customer set.”

Customer orders can be placed from October at an on-the-road price of £93,450 and first deliveries are expected in Q1 2015.

There you go Wayne – what are you waiting for?

Q for Aston Martin – not with this service

WHILE just scraping into the top 10 most popular Premier League footballers’ cars, Aston Martin may be eager to make amends.

The Warwickshire manufacturer has lined up a little treat of its own for visitors to Pebble Beach Automotive Week – a new collection of bespoke commissions created by the company’s Q by Aston Martin division.

Amongst the attractions are four new Q by Aston Martin designs. Based on the DB9 Volante, V12 Vantage S and Vanquish coupe (pictured) and Volante sports cars, each is intended to be a showcase for what the discerning customer could have.

Just the thing for a leading striker looking to make the right impression off the field.

Marek Reichman, Aston Martin’s director of design, said: “Our Q by Aston Martin personalisation service offers customers the ability to work closely with the Design team to create a very personal car, synthesising individual visions with the considerable craftsmanship skills and expertise at our disposal.”

Aston Martin said the Q concept was as simple as it is ambitious – any similarity to the average Premier League player being purely coincidental.

It said customers were invited to engage with the service to challenge the team to make their automotive dreams reality. This could be from the simplest colour or trim amendment to wildly ambitious commissions such as the CC100 Speedster.

Matthew Bennett, the general manager for Q and VIP Sales said: “The Q by Aston Martin collection of cars shown at Pebble Beach are a bold statement of the intent and capability we are developing within Q. They show how customers can be inspired to create truly unique cars and the breadth of bespoke capability at their disposal.”

Truly Terrific from Audi

BACK in the lower leagues, Audi is whetting the appetites with the launch of its new Audi TT.

The all-new sports car, complete with revolutionary all-digital virtual cockpit, heads for the UK market with an updated blend of performance, efficiency and equipment.

The coupé models are available to order now in the UK priced from £29,770 to £35,335 on the road. First deliveries are set for December.

A 310PS TTS version is set to follow in October, with first deliveries expected in March 2015.

The Sport and S line specification options both include fully digital Audi virtual cockpit, MMI touch, xenon or LED headlights, Audi Music Interface, Audi drive select, Alcantara/leather sports seats and keyless ignition.

Engines at launch include the 2.0 TFSI 230PS available with front-wheel-drive and quattro all-wheel-drive, plus the 2.0 TDI 184PS, which is exclusively front-wheel-drive steering.

Audi said improved aluminium and steel hybrid construction processes had helped to reduce entry level model kerb weight by 50kg, helping improve performance and fuel efficiency.

Speaking of which, the efficiency-focused TT ultra combines 67.3mpg capability with CO2 output of just 110g/km, yet can also reach 62mph in 7.1 seconds and top out at 150mph.

Surely enough to beat any League One offside trap.

Best of luck to all our teams this season.