Dubai

The all-new 2014 Nissan Tiida was officially launched today in the GCC at an event in Dubai. We hear the car has already been on sale for at least the past week in the UAE.

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At the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee launch a couple of months ago in Dubai, we came across the Jeep Wrangler Renegade and the Jeep Wrangler Pickup models offered by the UAE dealer. The two unique models, modified by the dealer using original Mopar parts, have been on sale since the beginning of this year, if not longer, but this is the first time we got an up-close look at them.

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So if you thought that every car manufacturer was going the ‘Ford Explorer’ way when it came to overhauling their existing midsize SUVs, you’d be wrong. There are a few manufacturers who decided to try the opposite route, taking a step backwards by choosing to transform a commercial pick-up into a four-wheel-drive wagon in a half-hearted bid to create a viable replacement for their already-cancelled midsize SUV. So what was essentially competing with the refined Toyota Prado, now tries to go after the simplistic Toyota Fortuner. That new wagon is none other than the all-new Thailand-built 2013 Chevrolet Trailblazer.

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The 2.5-litre version of the Mazda CX-5 was launched elsewhere a few months ago, and we had assumed that it’d take ages to reach the GCC. However, word is Mazda’s UAE dealer has been quietly offering the bigger-engined version for at least a month now.

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If you remember, our recently-purchased Jaguar XK went to the dealership straight after we were handed the keys by the previous owner, because it was throwing up “overheating” warnings. Thankfully it turned out to be just a thermostat. As soon as we picked it up from the service centre though, there was an intermittent whining noise coming from who-knows-where. Over a week, the noise became more and more common, to the point where it was even giving out the occasional whine while revved at standstill. We were expecting the worst. After all, Jaguar’s reputation precedes them.

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Four people were killed when their car rammed into a 4×4 parked in the middle of the road on Sheikh Zayed Highway after it got a flat tyre. Normally we don’t report on accidents caused by the ignorance of people, but we figured we’ll take a look at what you should really do when you get a tyre puncture on the highway.

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From Sunday onwards, all petrol pumps in Dubai will allow the use of credit cards again after six years. However customers will have to pay an extra Dhs 2 if they want to use this option.

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AW Rostamani Group, parent company for one of the Nissan dealers in the UAE, have started a campaign to highlight the dangers of heat-buildup for children left in parked cars. Called ‘Car Baked Cookies’, the campaign highlights the temperatures a car’s interior can reach when parked in direct sunlight, by cooking biscuits on the dashboard. They claim it can reach as high as 80° Celsius in there. Their tagline is ‘If it’s hot enough to bake, it’s hot enough to cause death’.

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We have to say we’re pretty disappointed at Honda’s cosmetic durability. Maybe they do it better for Accords and Civics for all we know, but the S2000 has obvious signs of cost-cutting, not least of which is the thin body panels and the even-thinner paint. We bought the car just 18 months ago in pristine always-garaged condition, and park it under the sun at our place. Since then, the paint is full of swirl marks, the body has easily-attained dings, the headlights have gone foggy, and the black roof has turned permanently brown, especially after a sandstorm a few months ago.

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The Ford Escape used to be the meanest-looking crossover around, ready to take on anything in its path. Not that it means much to be a mean-looking crossover, because it’s never going to leave the pavement. So we feel Ford made the right decision in making the Escape more “contemporary” in its styling, finally ready to take on the other pavement-pounding crossovers on equal terms.

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