Much noise was made about Farba Guard possibly giving preferential treatment to Mashfique’s trusty 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee when it went in for a detailing job last year and that the same quality was not provided to other customers. To silence all that, and just because we had the opportunity to avail the discounted DriveArabia price, we grabbed a friends’ 2007 Ford Focus for some pampering.
Let’s get it straight right off the bat that we aren’t equipped to do conclusive tests on tyres. Everybody has their own opinions on which brand is better or worse, but most of them are just hearsay and conjecture. We’ve always had an open mind about tyre brands, which is why we’ve used everything from Made-in-Germany to Made-in-China rubbers, depending on the car, none of which really failed us. So when Bridgstone approached us to try out their all-new Potenza S001 flagship tyres on our Honda S2000, we were wondering how we’ll compare it to what we already had on.
R. Andrew Hicks, a mathematics professor at Drexel University has invented a mirror that eliminates the blind spot and apparently he drew inspiration from a Disco Ball.
There I was, letting my Jeep collect dust as I tested various other cars. Then I hear from a friend of a friend about a new detailing shop that he’d opened in Dubai recently, and was looking to make his mark in the industry. The place is called Farba Guard, and after speaking to Mohsin, the owner, and seeing his passion for detailing cars, I figured I could give the new place a shot and hand over my stagnant Jeep for a complimentary full detail for this story.
It is a given that most people do not use child-safety seats while driving with their kids in the GCC. It has mostly to do with the cultural mindset that will be hard to overcome in the short term, although the cost of child seats can also be a deterrent. When I was a kid growing up in Dubai, I rode in the back seat of my budget-minded father’s craptastic 1988 Honda Civic, with a broken rear-door latch that used to fling the door open on occasion at highway speeds. In the front seat, my mother refused to belt up until it became law.
Last year, I got my Jeep detailed at Yellow Hat in Dubai’s Times Square Mall. While I obviously had it done for free as part of our partnership, the full-detail job actually costs a relatively-low Dhs 750, including the exterior, interior and engine. I was always interested in seeing what they had to offer for this low price.
We got a Veba parking sensor kit installed by our product partners Yellow Hat on our 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee. This generation of the midsize Jeep did not get factory-installed reverse sensors until 2004, but this Jeep has decent enough all-round visibility to not really need extra help. But we got the provided system installed anyway, and wanted to highlight the dangers of high 4×4 vehicles on city streets.
UK-based upscale customiser Kahn Design contacted us with news of their special alloy wheels for the Ferrari 599.
Auto accessories superstore Yellow Hat is now stocking Muc-Off, a range of high-power cleansers to dislodge tough grime and leave a deep glossy shine.
Our main product partner, Yellow Hat, provided us with a choice of 3M tints to be installed on our benchmark BMW M Roadster. We’ve had the tint on our car for about two months now, and the summer has been getting hotter.