Anyone who’s been out and about in Dubai at 12 am for the last two years as the New Year ticked over, you’d have seen that the unusually-heavy traffic at the time comes to a standstill all over the city as soon as the celebratory Burj Khalifa fireworks begin. Apparently now your car will be impounded if you stop on a major highway to watch the 2013 show.
| The Good: – Good interior space – Superb fuel economy – Excellent handling |
The Bad: – Pricey with options – Noisy highway drive – Needs more power |
It’s weird that, aside from a brief look at our scribe Vivek Menon’s Mazda 6, we’ve never had a go with any Mazda models before. All we kept hearing about was how Mazdas handled well and all that, but we never took it seriously, especially since the local dealers did not have a media test-drive programme in place. So when we got the call offering us the fresh Mazda CX-5 for a proper test, we were actually sort of excited.
Our previous-generation 2009 Renault Safrane V6 has been a reliable-enough car, but certain interior parts had prematurely worn out in just 2 years — a sign of cost-cutting if there ever was one. So we asked for those parts to be replaced under warranty.
There is a massive recall underway for several General Motors models in the UAE, including the Chevrolet Aveo, Captiva, Epica, Optra and GMC Terrain, between model-years 2007 and 2010. It was quietly announced by the UAE’s Ministry of Economy in an Arabic statement, which is why it flew under the radar.
| The Good: – Stylish exterior styling – Surprisingly fast – Great ride and handling |
The Bad: – Conservative cabin styling – Quirky gearbox behaviour – Limited feedback from controls |
| The Good: – Good ride and handling – Decent cabin space and trim – Good fuel economy |
The Bad: – Somewhat awkward styling – Tight rear-seat access – Could be a bit quicker |
We’ve just received word that the 2013 Mazda CX-5 compact crossover is now on sale in the UAE. Replacing the slow-selling CX-7, the CX-5 has been receiving rave reviews in the foreign press for being more of a driver’s car than most crossovers.
| The Good: – Value-packed pricing – Cabin trim and features – Fairly comfortable ride |
The Bad: – Not great on the turns – Not great offroad either – Not the best auto transmission |
The end of the year is near, or possibly even the end of the world, depending on what you believe. It’s been a good year for us, with a 25% increase in visitors, 50% increase in pageviews, and 45% growth in ad revenue compared to 2011, enough to put a Honda S2000 and a Range Rover in our long-term fleet this year! We also started a mobile version in May as well as an Arabic website in December this year, our 8th anniversary, with the help of an ever-expanding team. Before we say goodbye to 2012, we figured you’d want to read some of our greatest original stories of this year that you’ll not find anywhere else,