First Drive

First drive: 2018 Volvo XC60 in Turkey

by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. September 20, 2017.

Volvo has been undergoing a bit of a renaissance ever since they got bought out by Geely. The Chinese carmaker has taken a hands-off approach to running the quintessentially-Swedish brand, allowing Volvo to explore riskier design ideas, moving them from the almost-premium segment to competing with proper luxury marques, one model at a time. After the well-received XC90 and the conservative S90, the all-new XC60 compact crossover we drove in Turkey may just be their best model yet.

First drive: 2018 Chevrolet Equinox in Oman

by Marouf Hussain Chowdhury. August 9, 2017.

Keeping in mind the current trend of crossovers becoming the most popular type of vehicle among car buyers, Chevrolet recently launched the all-new 2018 Equinox for the Middle East market. Chevrolet will be hoping the Equinox proves to be just as popular as it is in the United States, where it is their best-selling vehicle, only behind the Silverado. It will replace the Korean-built Captiva, which never quite gained a foothold here.

First drive: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo in Italy

by Gautam Sharma. August 7, 2017.

Maserati’s GranTurismo has now been soldiering on for 10 years, but the stylish coupe – and cabrio – have now come in for a final round of upgrades to keep the car fresh until an all-new replacement finally arrives over the coming year or two.

First drive: 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast in Italy

by Gautam Sharma. July 15, 2017.

Perhaps it’s a legacy of Enzo himself, but Ferrari has never been one to err on the side of conservatism or modesty. Who else would roll out cars with names like ‘Speciale’, ‘LaFerrari’ and ‘Superfast’? Fortunately, the company has the cojones and know-how to back up the bluster, and whenever it unleashes a car with a superlative appellation, said vehicle never fails to deliver on its promise.

First drive: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, Civic DCT & Clarity in Japan

by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. July 4, 2017.

When we attended the Honda Meeting 2017 press conference in Japan, at the carmaker’s Tochigi R&D centre, we got an unexpected taste of some of the company’s latest products. The cars on hand to drive were the much-hyped Honda Civic Type-R, the new Honda Clarity range of hybrid/electric vehicles, and a Honda Civic Dynamic Study prototype. While our time with each of them was limited to a few minutes, if you ever get your hands on these on the same day, you’d have a completely different view of Honda as a carmaker than you would when walking into a local Honda showroom.

First drive: 2018 Volkswagen Arteon in Germany

by Marouf Hussain Chowdhury. June 19, 2017.

When Volkswagen first debuted the Passat CC, it turned quite a few heads. Not only because it looked good, but also the question of “why?”, especially as the CC version was priced higher than an already-existing Passat. Lucky for us at that time, Volkswagen decided to help us understand the “why” question and offered us the VW Passat CC V6 for 5 months. If you had been following our reports back in 2011, you would probably know we bloody fell in love with that car. Power, handling, comfort and luxury in a more stylish package — it ticked all the right boxes and justified the price premium over the standard Passat.

First drive: 2018 Jeep Compass in Portugal

by Gautam Sharma. June 15, 2017.

In terms of sheer volume, there is no bigger automotive segment than the one comprising compact SUVs. Jeep recognised this more than a decade ago and rolled out the Compass and Patriot to target the horde of (mainly) young buyers snapping up crossovers by the hundreds of thousands. It was a new foray for a brand that had until that point focused on larger, heavy-duty SUVs that embodied Jeep’s conquer-all-terrain roots.

First drive: 2018 Kia Rio in the UAE

by Marouf Hussain Chowdhury. June 11, 2017.

The Kia Rio is the South Korean carmaker’s sub-compact hatchback offering. It’s not exactly the first car that comes to mind in this category, primarily dominated by the Japanese, but it has some presence in the UAE market (and rocking it in the KSA market) due its decent price-tag. However, the all-new Rio seems to have upped its game, and we recently had a go in it at a media drive event in the UAE.

First drive: 2017 Porsche 911 1,000,000 and 911 classics in Scotland (’67 Targa, ’85 Clubsport, 964 Turbo & 996 GT3)

by Gautam Sharma. June 9, 2017.

It’s not very often a car museum wheels its finest exhibits out the door, transports them to a destination with fantastic driving roads, throws you the keys and says: “Here you go. Have fun!” It’s not a common occurrence even for us weather-beaten career motoring hacks. However, the Porsche Museum handed a small selection of automotive hacks from around the globe (including this DriveArabia scribe) what amounted to an early Eid present, laying on an epic road trip through the Scottish Highlands in some of the finest ‘toys’ in its collection.

First drive: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica in Las Vegas USA

by Mashfique Hussain Chowdhury. June 3, 2017.

When we went to Nevada for the U.S. launch of the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trailhawk (and visit SEMA) late last year, we had a bit of free time to explore Las Vegas, and we were provided a new Chrysler Pacifica minivan to do it in on our own accord. We figured why not take the chance to review it, since it’s likely destined to hit Middle East shores eventually, maybe within a year.

Latest Road Tests

Road Tests by Brand

Editor's Choice Road Tests

First Drives

Comparison Tests

Long Term Car Reviews

First Drive

First drive: 2018 Volvo XC60 in Turkey

First drive: 2018 Chevrolet Equinox in Oman

First drive: 2018 Maserati GranTurismo in Italy

First drive: 2018 Ferrari 812 Superfast in Italy

First drive: 2018 Honda Civic Type-R, Civic DCT & Clarity in Japan

First drive: 2018 Volkswagen Arteon in Germany

First drive: 2018 Jeep Compass in Portugal

First drive: 2018 Kia Rio in the UAE

First drive: 2017 Porsche 911 1,000,000 and 911 classics in Scotland (’67 Targa, ’85 Clubsport, 964 Turbo & 996 GT3)

First drive: 2017 Chrysler Pacifica in Las Vegas USA

Recent Comments

Browse categories

Browse archives