Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury

It’s not really a closely-guarded secret when the all-new 2012 Toyota FT-86 will hit the shores of the GCC. We’ve been hearing “summer” since late last year. But there are finally some concrete dates now, as well as confirmation that the top-spec model will get an aggressive body kit, as per their pictures.

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Our 2007 Honda S2000 does not have a trip computer. So we have to calculate fuel efficiency the old-fashioned way. That involves filling up the fuel tank completely, reseting the trip meter to zero, driving until it needs refuelling, going “full tank” again and noting down how many litres of petrol went in as well as the trip-meter reading. The random-guy-on-the-street will tell you that a small engine equals better fuel economy. That is not exactly the case.

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The Dubai Autodrome racetrack played host on the 27th April to the first editon of the Dubai Chase, also being dubbed as a “street-racing festival” of sorts. All sorts of tuner cars from various clubs were displayed at the paddock area, with some driving activities taking place as well. There was drag racing on the main straight, autocross in the paddock area and apparently drifting somewhere else on the track. There was also an R/C drifting competition and a gathering of cars with big sound systems. Photos by Salma Sultana.

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In the first week we had our 2012 Lexus IS 300C long-termer, we reset the trip computer to measure fuel economy while the car is in our hands, and not as an average carrying on from previous drivers. But just to test the accuracy of the trip computer, we decided to do some manual calculations as well.

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The outgoing Honda CR-V was one car that really needed a makeover. As versatile as it was, the exterior design was way too awkward. Still, it sold in droves because it was, well, a Honda. The CR-V has been given a makeover for 2012, and it looks pretty slick now.

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Jaguar is reinventing itself, according to their new “Alive” marketing campaign. After years of peddling classically-handsome automobiles to traditionally-older gentlemen, things took a turn for the modern when the XF debuted a few years ago. And then the XJ continued that transformation. The XK was always around in the background. Now with three ultra-futurist models making up the range, they’ve revamped their logo and are heavily pushing their cars towards potentially-younger customers. Part of the GCC launch event for the campaign involved a round in the V6-powered XJ-L which debuted last year. This was the first time in our seven-year existence that we’d actually been invited to a Jaguar driving event.

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For a good while, BMW had the bragging rights for the highest luxury sales in the GCC in certain segments, according to their own figures, thanks largely to the 7-Series nabbing the top spot in the full-size category. But at a recent event, Mercedes-Benz announced that they had regained the lead for luxury sales in the GCC.

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In a surprise move, the Dubai-based Al Futtaim Group has announced that they will be the exclusive dealers for the Fisker line of electric cars in various GCC and Middle East countries. This will mark the first time that Fisker luxury plug-in hybrid vehicles become officially available in this region.

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Lamborghini has finally decided to build an SUV, having recently dabbled in building a sedan previously that never went beyond the concept stage. The funny-sounding Lamborghini Urus is only a 4×4 concept for now, but is largely expected to make it into production.

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