First Drive

Seven minutes 49 seconds. That’s how long it takes the Volkswagen Golf GTi Clubsport S to scoot around the daunting Nurburgring Nordschleife.

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Jaguar first rolled out the svelte F-Type roadster in mid-2013, and since then the leaping cat has steadily bolstered the line-up, adding a coupe derivative, all-wheel-drive versions and extra powertrain choices -– all in keeping with the company’s objective to offer an “F-Type for all tastes” (or, to put it another way, maximise the company’s return on investment in developing and building the car). The latest addition to the range is the hardcore F-Type SVR — allegedly lighter, faster and more agile than the F-Type R.

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The crossover segment has become a big deal in recent times, and Jeep had already thrown its hat in the ring with the Compass and Patriot models. Clearly they were left wanting, so Jeep utilised their ties with new parent-company Fiat to create the Renegade. It’s the first Jeep built in Italy, which would explain what we were doing in Sicily for this test drive on the fringes of an active volcano.

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Nissan made its debut in the pick-up segment way back in 1933 with its pint-sized Datsun 12, yet Toyota managed to comprehensively usurp it with the launch of its Hilux in 1968. The latter’s dominance in this region is especially emphatic, and the stats reflect this -– the Hilux has succeeded in cornering a huge 75% of the segment in the GCC, while the existing Navara and Pickup have been able to muster up just 12% between them. Nissan aims to at least partly redress this imbalance via its new “NP300” Navara line-up, which replaces not only the old Navara,

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One hundred years ago, before the independent country of Jordan was created, a certain British military officer called T.E. Lawrence led an army of the Arab Revolt on a grueling, two-month march through the desert that was believed to be impassable, and captured the Red Sea town of Aqaba on the other side. Immortalised in a 1962 movie, he was better known as Lawrence of Arabia, and because there’s footage of him piloting a Ford Model T in Wadi Rum, Ford invited us to Jordan to retrace Lawrence’s march in the comfort of modern Ford SUVs. The connection isn’t particularly tenuous,

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Porsche has finally done it. With the need to increase performance while also improving fuel economy numbers in line with upcoming worldwide legislations, Porsche has taken the turbocharged route with their new Boxster and 911 models. We got a chance to drive these two models at an event in Abu Dhabi recently.

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The Honda Civic has been struggling to retain its relevance in recent years, what with strong competition from rivals that offer better overall value. Everyone would agree that the last truly-innovative Civic was the one that debuted in 2006, so a decade later, Honda has pulled out all the stops in an attempt to become the benchmark of the compact segment again, as can be seen by the daringly-designed exterior.

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