The Bentayga was controversial when it first debuted back in the good old days of 2015, before pandemic waves, supply chain issues and inflation became the only topics of conversation. Now that uber-luxury SUVs have gone mainstream, Bentley is doing quite well in navigating the current world — with an even bigger uber-luxury SUV.
If you are a fan of all things revving, you must know that there is a new Honda Civic that debuted earlier this year. While the UAE and wider GCC still hasn’t received the new model, it is all over the place in Canada, where we are chilling this winter. One of our relatives picked up a brand new 2022 Honda Civic Touring model, and we got a quick spin in it.
What you are about to read are our first impressions of the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser, based on a quick lunch-break visit to the showroom as well as a very short spin of a private car on city streets. We weren’t invited to the media launch event held in the UAE, which was seemingly attended only by “agreeable” scribes and influencers, but taking a closer look at one of the most hyped new cars to be launched in the Middle East in 2021 (after the latest Nissan Patrol Nismo earlier this year) gives us some insight on why Toyota is trying to control the messaging so tightly.
The latest Jeep Wrangler is very good on desert dunes, finally managing to power through our region’s unique terrain after years of being merely average in stock form. The Jeep Gladiator pickup dialled that capability back with its extra weight and wheelbase, so Jeep saw fit to introduce their own modified Gladiator model, dubbed the Sand Runner, and creating a ‘Desert Rated’ badge.
There have been several high-profile post-lockdown car launches that set the internet on fire. The Nissan Patrol Nismo, the Chevy Tahoe and the upcoming Ford Bronco featured prominently among them, but those were all SUVs. The only small car to “trend” is the Volkswagen Golf GTI, which shows that cars might be giving way to SUVs, but the legendary O.G. hot hatch is always going to be around.
If you felt the ancient Nissan Patrol Super Safari is unreasonably expensive, don’t fret. That’s because Toyota is waiting in the wings to up the ante. Now on sale at the UAE dealer are two “limited-edition” variants of the Land Cruiser 70 Series – The Land Cruiser 76 and Land Cruiser 79 Overlander edition. With even more ancient bones than the Nissan Y61, the LC70 wagon and pickup should give you a taste of 1980s offroad motoring at an eye-watering price.
| The Good: – Good ride and handling – Fair cabin trim and tech – Decent power and economy |
The Bad: – Priced at higher end of segment – Some rivals offer more space – Some highway road/wind noise |
Kia has revealed the official images of the all-new 2022 Sportage, bringing groundbreaking interior and exterior design to a segment littered with boring players.
| The Good: – Very quick for a truck – Cabin space and features – Extremely comfortable ride |
The Bad: – Bed cover should be standard – Good handling only in sport mode – Parallel-parking is huge hassle |
The original Ford F-150 SVT Lightning was a “sports truck” last since almost 2 decades ago, bowing out as a legend that was never replaced as the Raptor took over the mantle of top dog. So it was a smart marketing move by Ford to rebirth the F-150 Lightning as a speedy all-electric truck that is going to shake up the segment.