When the Skoda dealer rep dropped off the 2011 Superb 3.6 at our doorstep and gave me a briefing, he chose to swiftly mention one little feature, called Park Assist, which we thought was just a parking sensor system. Later we were digging through the instruction manual to figure out where the USB port was (there isn’t one), and we found the section that told us how to operate the automatic parallel parking feature!
So we were offered a brand new 2011 Lexus LX 570 for a weekend, or what we like to call the “Lexus Land Cruiser.” Since we didn’t get invited to the actual Toyota Land Cruiser 5.7 launch event, we figured we’d take the LX anyway, since it is essentially the same thing, and we’d indirectly reacquint ourselves with the Land Cruiser. But since we had already reviewed the 2008 LX before, we used this truck for a fuel economy test instead.
Apparently Porsche has been offering a factory customisation service for their cars for the last 25 years which few know about. The company claims it has a team of around 100 workers whose sole job is to work on this Porsche Exclusive programme.
Chrysler held a two-day media event for the all-new 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee in the UAE. And by “all-new”, we really do mean all-new. Now based on a Mercedes-Benz M-Class platform, that’s where the similarities end between the former siblings, as the Jeep is a completely unique vehicle.
Fuel prices have gone up as much as 27% this year, so Hertz UAE says they have examined typical driving habits and compiled a series of tips which not only will help save on fuel costs, up to Dhs 600 per year, and incidentally cut pollution too, but also indirectly promote better driving habits and road safety standards in the UAE. Some of these tips we’ve mentioned before, some are common sense, but some are actually new.
It is rather amazing how some car manufacturers are actually going backwards in design and creating dullards like the “all-new” VW Passat, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. And then there are some manufacturers whose newest models pretty much look as if they belong at an auto show as a concept car. Like the Infiniti M, the Hyundai Sonata, the Kia Optima, and now the 2011 Volvo S60.
The 2011 Kia Optima is hot. It is so hot that it is sold out wherever it has been launched so far. It is sold out in the UAE too, and it isn’t even out yet officially. The car will hit GCC roads by the first week of November, but Kia organised an all-day media test-drive in Dubai.
Power is the No.1 intoxicant in the world. That’s why Bill Clinton was more powerful than Bill Gates a few years ago; Barack Obama is more powerful than Warren Buffet now. That’s why Sonia Gandhi is more in demand in India than Mukesh Ambani. In our history lessons, we read how several royals, in their quest to quench their thirst for power, slaughtered their own family members. Power is such a powerful intoxicant that Indian politicians do not hesitate to create rift and evoke hatred in their own families, caste, creed, religion, state or region to crawl towards it.
Mitsubishi held its GCC launch event for their all-new 2011 ASX sub-compact crossover at the Dubai Autodrome racetrack a couple of weeks ago. To make things interesting, they even had a few 2010 Nissan Qashqai crossovers at hand for comparison. Incidentally, the Qashqai has been facelifted for 2011, though changes are minimal.
The 23rd of September 2010 marked the 75th anniversary of the Jaguar marque. To mark the occasion, a group of 75 individually-numbered, iconic Jaguars from across the years made a two-day journey from Coventry to Goodwood. This exclusive celebration drive, starting in Coventry on the 17th of September, commenced in London’s May Fair hotel, which is the site of the original Jaguar model launch in 1935, and finished at the UK’s largest heritage motor festival, the Goodwood Revival on the 18th.