Driving tips: What to do in the rain

Suddenly, the rainy season is upon us, and as usual, no one has any idea what to do when it’s pouring hard in a storm. There isn’t much that needs to be known beyond some common sense.

Nissan Patrol 2010 launch event in Dubai

As is common knowledge by now, the 2010 Nissan Patrol was launched in Dubai on February 15, at an event on an offroad course within the Jebel Ali Shooting Club. Apparently the course will be used for customer test-drives once the all-new Patrol goes on sale. We have exclusive photos of the course, courtesy of [...]

Comparo: 2010 Jeep Wrangler VS 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee

This urban comparo is about as meaningless as it gets, but for the sake of argument, we’ll give it a go anyway. We’ve had a 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee V8 since late 2007, and this is the first time that we’ve managed to drive another Jeep vehicle since then. Our Grand Cherokee was the epitome [...]

Comparo: Honda Jazz vs Mini Cooper S Cabrio

The Mini started life in 1959 as a British car for the masses. Built by the company later known as Austin-Rover, the little car was so cheap that Ford dissassembled one and tried to replicate it, but couldn’t do it cost-effectively and gave up. That Mr. Bean original was in production right up till 2000, [...]

Renault Sherpa & Kerax expedition trucks in Dubai

Renault’s truck division introduced their new Kerax truck models at an event in Dubai. They also took the opportunity to introduce the Sherpa military 4×4 in civilian guise for the first time in the GCC. Also at hand were two of the 12 vehicles that went on a “cape to cape” expedition from Norway to [...]

2010 Toyota Prado exclusive desert road test

As far as we know, we are the first people to review the 2010 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in the desert. Everyone else drove it “off-road” at the launch event, to which we were not invited, but that was a carefully-planned event with easy gravel jaunts anyway. We took our Prado VX-L tester on the [...]

1st DriveArabia Meet: Photo coverage

The 1st DriveArabia Meet was held last weekend, on Friday the 13th no less. Two of us organised it, and ironically enough, 13 people showed up for an event that was conceived just a couple of days prior this November. The turn-out was relatively great, considering it was competing for time with the Diabetes Walk, [...]

U.S. 2009 reliability report shows Japanese cars leading

The American Consumer Reports publication, quite possibly the only unbiased magazine in the world with no ads whatsoever, has released the results of their latest survey to determine the most reliable and least reliable cars sold in the United States.

Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Balboni in UAE

Barely three months after the world debut of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni in pictures, the real deal has already reached the shores of the UAE, as the limited-edition model was launched in Dubai, in the presence of the aging Lamborghini test driver after whom the car was named for his 40 years [...]

First drive: Porsche Panamera in the UAE

Officially introduced in the UAE at a launch party in Abu Dhabi, Porsche held a media driving event for the all-new Porsche Panamera GT sedan. The road trip comprised of a drive from Dubai to Fujairah and back in cars shared with other journalists, and a free lunch somewhere in between.

Chevrolet Caprice police car heading to America

The Chevrolet Caprice may have originated in the United States, but it died there back in 1996, and the one we get in the GCC now is the Australian Holden version. However, after decades of enduring the outdated Ford Crown Victoria Interceptor, U.S. police forces will finally have a new option to look forward to. [...]

HSV E Series 2 – Australia keeps the RWD V8 alive

Holden, GM’s Australian division, is responsible for the Lumina and the Caprice that comes to the GCC. Their HSV tuning arm is also responsible for some of the most violently-powerful rear-wheel-drive V8 cars ever built. Indeed, the Middle East got a taste of HSV in the form of the rebadged CSV CR8 sedan. Now the [...]

Nick Alexander Woodie Collection auction

The distinguished Nick Alexander Woodie Collection was auctioned off this August, at the 2009 Monterey classic car event in the United States, achieving in excess of $7 million in total sales. It is a good opportunity to witness the popular wood-panel trim sported by various cars are the time.

Kia Soul UAE launch held in Dubai

The all-new Kia Soul was launched in the UAE today, at an event held in Dubai. The Soul, a compact hatchback that is bordering on becoming a small crossover SUV, will initially be available only in 1.6-litre form, with the 2.0-litre version being held back to gauge demand.

Comparo: Nissan GT-R vs Ferrari F430 vs BMW M Roadster

Before anyone gets too excited, this is not a full-blown comparison test. Getting the Nissan GT-R for a test drive was a good excuse as any to assemble a few other sports cars and a photographer. We’ve had our 2000 BMW M Roadster for more than a year, the 2009 Nissan GT-R tester was with [...]

Suzuki celebrates 100 years in business

Suzuki, a small player in the global car market, is celebrating 100 years of business on October 2009. German companies such as Audi are also celebrating 100 years in far grander fashion, and keep focusing on a handful of old innovations and motorsports victories while still not being able to build a reliable car. But [...]

Ford Mustang 2010 UAE launch at Dubai Autodrome

The 2010 Ford Mustang GT made its official UAE debut at an event on July 16th in the Dubai Autodrome, even while the car is already on sale. Looking very familiar, it has been overshadowed by the 2010 Chevy Camaro, so much so that Ford Middle East recruited the Emirates Mustang Club to drum up [...]

Mitsuoka Orochi and other Japanese oddities

Most car enthusiasts know of the Mitsuoka Orochi, an organic “supercar” that started life as a concept car in 2001, and finally reaching production in late 2006. Built by Mitsuoka Motors in Japan, the final version turned out to be popular only for its styling, as it was powered by a basic 230 hp 3.3-litre [...]

Mercedes-Benz S-Class ESF 2009 safety concept

In August 1939 the safety pioneer Béla Barényi started his work in Sindelfingen. He invented for example the principle of the crumple zone, a trailblazing innovation which entered series production at Mercedes-Benz in 1959. With the help of its in-house accident research function, which was founded in 1969, Mercedes-Benz engineers in the following years have [...]

Dubai police using Dodge Charger police cars

It is a slow news day today, just like the crime statistics in the safe city of Dubai. The jails are filled with loan dodgers and disgruntled labourers rather than murderers and mafia dons, and we figured we’d highlight the Dubai Police’s latest weapon in their fight against crime – the Dodge Charger.

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