The Honda Accord is sold as the Inspire in Japan. Mugen is Honda’s in-house tuning arm that churns out performance parts for their cars. To celebrate the completion of my 2008 Honda Accord coverage with a final review of the V6 sedan, it is interesting to see that the conservative new Accord can actually look good with the right add-ons. Read more… »

Honda is displaying the OSM concept sports car at the ongoing British Auto Show. OSM stands for “Open Study Model,” and it is supposed to be an idea for a low-emissions roadster. Read more… »

The Transsyberia Rallye 2008, in which most of the top racers seem to be sponsored by Porsche, has finished its 11th leg, and the Team France is in the lead, follewed by Team Germany. Team Qatar ran into a rock and damaged their vehicle, and may not be able to continue to the 12th leg. A few days ago, the original points leaders were Team Middle East, but on the 9th leg, driver Said al Hajri drove into a hidden pothole and injured his spine. Read more… »

The all-mighty Road & Transport Authority has now benevolently lifted the ban on carpooling, to allow the humble residents of Dubai to share rides to work with co-workers. But first, you have to take their permission by applying for a piece of paper that will give you limited rights on who you are allowed to transport. Read more… »

This Renault Megane R26.R is a track-ready version of the Megane F1 Team R26 on sale in the GCC. The R26.R will only be available in Europe, and it uses weight-savings to become the quickest compact hatchback to lap the Nurburgring racetrack in Germany. Read more… »

Considering all the hype over the debut of the new 2010 Camaro, Ford brought out its fully-camouflaged 2010 Mustang prototype at an event in the United States. Read more… »

This flame-surfaced Caprice from Abu Dhabi is for sale, and it has to be the most interesting vehicle listed in our upgraded classifieds. I don’t know anything more about that particular car, but keep those letters coming in if you have questions about what to buy. Read more… »

The 2010 Chevrolet Camaro, which more or less looks just like the overexposed prototype, is going to be revealed on July 21 in the United States, and these are the first photos. Powered by a 300 hp 3.6-litre V6 or a 400+ hp 6.2-litre V8, and riding on a shortened Lumina SS platform with four-wheel independent suspension, the new Camaro already makes the low-tech Mustang seem outdated by three decades. Read more… »

Mitsubishi is planning to unveil the 2009 Mitsubishi Pajero Sport at the Moscow Auto Show, of all places. The Pajero Sport is just another name for the pickup-based Mitsubishi Nativa that has been soldiering on unchanged for ages now. Read more… »

The little-known Transsyberia rally from the Russian capital of Moscow to the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar is being heavily promoted by Porsche, so much so that they custom-built a set of Cayenne S Transsyberia models to compete in the rally. Unlike the WRC, these road-legal vehicles are closer to their showroom counterparts. Though some other vehicles are also running the rally, the Cayenne-driving teams are getting the most publicity through international Porsche online advertisements (though none on this website). Unsurprisingly, they are also currently leading the 2008 rally, which has already reached its fourth leg. Read more… »

The British magazine CAR had apparently got its hands on first images of the upcoming 2010 Lotus “Eagle” earlier. Powered by, of all things, a 3.5-litre Toyota V6 mounted behind the seats, it is supposed to a luxury cruiser alternative to the strippo Elise and barely-known Europa. “Eagle” was the codename for the car that eventually debuted as the new Lotus Evora at the British Auto Show. Read more… »

So a few weeks ago, the staff manning the front desks at the Immigration department made my father run around different counters over two days as he tried to get a residence visa for my college-going brother, since the clerks were on a power-trip and kept asking for random bits of unneeded paperwork, which in the end were discarded without being checked. Incidentally, a few days ago, while dropping my mother off at the airport, I argued with red-shirted staff as they weren’t letting me pull my mother’s heavy suitcase up till the first x-ray scanner (much before the actual check-in counters, and flying by Emirates no less), and they weren’t ready to help her pull it either, trying to kick me out of the building instead. Then a non-uniformed “official” with a walkie-talkie even threatened to call the cops on me if I didn’t come back out again after I convinced them to let me go. Right after that, a different set of red-shirted losers kept trying to kick me out when I was trying to buy a Pepsi. Anyway, I was recently contacted by Land Rover and they said an LR2 was ready for me today. What does a Land Rover have to do with my ranting? Absolutely nothing, except that it is nice to be respected around here sometimes. Read more… »

Renault Middle East sent us news that they will launch a new midsize sedan in the GCC during September. They even sent us a teaser photo of the unnamed car, showing only a tail-light. That was enough for me to figure out that the car will be a rebadged version of the Korean-built Nissan-derived Samsung SM5. Read more… »

Peugeot has quietly released photos of the 2009 Peugeot 308 CC hardtop-convertible, ahead of its official launch at the 2008 Paris Auto Show. Read more… »

With the new SL65 AMG Black Edition taking up the top spot in the Mercedes-Benz line-up temporarily, the SLR McLaren is being discontinued soon, as AMG and McLaren branch off to make brand new supercars of their own. To give the aging SLR one last hurrah, an SLR Speedster is being developed. The funny part is, these “spy shots” were deliberately leaked by Mercedes-Benz themselves. Read more… »

While the overdone SLR McLaren is finally going out of production, Mercedes-Benz is putting out the SL65 AMG Black Edition to take its place for a while. Powered by a twin-turbo 6.0-litre V12, it is one serious performance machine, even if it only comes with an automatic transmission. Read more… »

The 2009 BMW 3-Series has been facelifted mildly, if you can even figure out what has been changed. These are first photos of the car, and it is set to launch at the Paris Auto Show. It looks like engines will remain the same. Read more… »

The 2009 Kia Sportage will be the recipient of a minor facelift. It is due to be launched soon, unless it is already in local showrooms and we were not told about it. Incidentally, this new version has already been on sale in China for a while now. Read more… »

General Motors has announced that they will soon unveil a new compact car called the 2010 Chevrolet Cruze, ready for release by mid-2009. The fact that it will be launched at the 2008 Paris Auto Show in October, and that it will also be available in the United States, hints at a new “world” car that will rival the Toyota Corolla and the Ford Focus in international reach. The car has already been spotted undergoing testing in USA. Read more… »

It seems the Nissan Tiida, one of our recommended choices, is involved in a bit of racing, leading from lights to flag in the third round of the China Circuit Championship held at Beijing’s Golden Port Circuit on June 8. Read more… »