Continuing our series on Volkswagen (hey, they’re offering us car after car, so why not), this week we have the 2011 Volkswagen Touareg, a 4×4 that shares its platform with the pricier Porsche Cayenne. Considering we drove a Porsche Cayenne V6 just a few weeks ago, it felt a whole lot similar, yet different.
The Nissan Maxima for 2012 gets a mid-life facelift with no price increase in the US at least. The exterior touch-ups is in the form of a new front grille design, new rear combination lights, two new exterior colours (Java Metallic and Dark Slate) and new 18-inch and 19-inch aluminium-alloy wheels.
Classic car enthusiasts in the UAE, Saudi Arabia and neighbouring GCC countries can now register to participate in the fourth Emirates Classic Car Festival which shall be held from December 1 to 3.
We are all used to those banners plastered around malls announcing discounts for customers. It is such a norm in Dubai that some outlets have discounts throughout the year. Keeping in mind with this image, Dubai police have announced 30% discount on traffic fines that were accumulated before September 10th 2011.
“The ZL1 delivers more horsepower than a Ferrari 458, more torque than an Aston Martin DB9 V12, and a better power-to-weight ratio than a Porsche 911 Carrera GTS.” — Camaro Chief engineer, Al Oppenheiser.
An all-new European Honda Civic is on its way with spy shots and official teaser photos circulating on the internet. But emission restrictions have already ceased sales of the current stock Type-R across most of Europe this year. So keeping in line with the current trend of launching limited editions of limited editions, Mugen and Honda have upped the ante by launching a 2.2-litre version of the existing Civic Type-R Mugen.
This prototype Mercedes-Benz was caught refuelling at a petrol station in Dubai. Mercedes-Benz prototypes have become a common fixture on roads in the UAE for hot-weather testing, which is probably a good thing considering how “well” European cars fair in the Middle East climate.
Harley-Davidson Middle East and North Africa, maker of “heavyweight” motorcycles, is holding an Open House Day in every Middle East country on September 17 this year, under the name of “Make Every Day Count”. The Open House Day will introduce new 2012 Harley models in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and which will “allow both riders and non-riders to experience the true spirit of Harley-Davidson” at dealerships across the Middle East.
It is rather odd that we’re having to depend on our readers for important car launches when it is us who should be hearing from carmakers. Nissan has already plopped the manual-gearbox version of the 2012 Nissan Patrol in some showrooms around the UAE, and these are the first photos.
So I racked up another 10,000 kms on my Mondeo, and it was time to visit the dealer again for a service -– a major one this time. The major-service interval for the Mondeo falls every 50,000 km; my car which has done a tad less than 40,000 km, has gone through the major service. For those who bothered to follow the previous long term reports of this car, the story behind doing a 50,000-km service despite car doing only 40,000 kms will be nothing new.