The Escalade is a huge seller for Cadillac. Popularised over the past decade as the vehicle of choice for rappers, it started life as just a warmed-over Chevy Tahoe, but has progressed over the years to become a fairly clear-cut model. At first glance, the all-new 2015 Escalade looks a lot like its plebeian cousin, but a closer look reveals that many of its exterior panels, and indeed most of the interior elements, are unique.
Positioned as a “lifestyle vehicle” rather than a work-truck, the Chevrolet Silverado has garnered a following in the UAE among a certain subset of the population, more so than all its rivals in the full-size truck segment. There’s a new version in town, launched late last year, and while it may look underwhelming in terms of visual changes, it’s actually better than ever.
“Why’s everybody staring?” asks my passenger. “Of course everybody’s staring. It’s a McLaren.” “But no one’s taking any pictures.” And that’s true. When we had the previous MP4-12C parked anywhere, it caused hordes of impromptu-paparazzi to teleport from out of nowhere to pose with the car and take photos. This time, our 650S Spider tester should’ve been even more of a selfie-attraction, with its P1-derived front-end and bright-orange paintjob. But based on what we noticed, maybe McLaren-fatigue is setting in among the general public, as the 650S doesn’t appear to be anything more than a facelift of a 2-year-old model.
Remember that time we drove the Jaguar F-Type R Coupe in Spain a few months ago? How we were enamoured with its super-grippy handling and its crackly-pop exhaust note? Well, the Chevy Camaro ZL1 is the American version of that car.
It’s here! The car you’ve been waiting for! You people keep complaining about everything. “It’s too expensive, there’s no third-row seat, it doesn’t have Bluetooth, it doesn’t have USB ports, it’s not fuel-efficient, it doesn’t have alloys, it’s not rear-wheel-drive, it’s not as reliable as a Toyota, blah, blah.” Well, here’s the car for you — the all-new 2015 Toyota Avanza. For only Dhs 54,900. Now stop whining.
The outgoing Japanese-built Toyota Yaris has had a rather short life-cycle in the GCC. Launched here in 2012, it’s already been replaced by an all-new Thai-built Yaris hatchback that’s been on sale in South Asia since late last year, and is a direct cousin to the current Yaris sedan. If the global politics confuses you, don’t worry about it — the 2015 Yaris is a nicer car than the one it replaces.
We were invited to an off-road event organized by Eastern Motors, the dealers for Jeep in Al Ain. Called the Jeep Funatic, the event was the first of its kind to be organized in Al Ain, and is similar to the Jeep Jamboree event held annually in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. While the Jeepers were expected to roll in their own Jeeps, we were handed over a ride by the dealer. Expecting nothing more (and less) than a Wrangler, we were in for a surprise, as the ride turned out to be a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited V6.
The all-new 2014 Ford Fusion has been on sale for a couple of months now, while the 2014 Ford Ranger is basically a carryover model, having been redesigned just a couple of years ago. But Ford decided to give us a taster of these two important models at the Dubai Autodrome recently, to highlight their best attributes. It was a generic event, like any other, but they then threw us a curveball in the form of the Toyota Camry and the Toyota Hilux, both there for us to compare with the Fords.
The last time we drove a Toyota FJ Cruiser, it was 2007 and the recession hadn’t hit yet. Fast-forward to 2014, and that recession has become a footnote in history, but the FJ Cruiser is still around, not looking any different than when it first started out. Now, depending on which rumours you believe, the FJ is on its last legs, and the UAE dealer has created some special models to keep interest alive. One of those models is the FJ Street, a pre-pimped offroader that’s intentionally more about style than about offroading.
As I was flying back from the Jaguar F-Type Coupe media drive in Spain, I sat next to a random passenger who happened to be an Australian mining engineer. He told me an equally random story. He asked me why the width of a Space Shuttle’s high-tech booster rockets are what they are. Apparently it’s because the rockets had to be transported via train tunnels, thereby limiting them to that size. What decided the width of the train tunnels? The width of the train tracks. What decided the width of the train tracks? The makers of the train wheels and axles.
