Downsizing is rampant nowadays, and the same goes for premium cars. We’re not talking about job losses, but the size of cars. The Audi A3 started life as a lacklustre hatchback about a decade ago, and we called it out as such back then. However, it’s changed over the years, and the new sedan version of the latest A3 has been getting some attention lately. And with good reason, from what we saw.
Porsche is going to rebadge their Boxster and Cayman as “718” models this year, complete with 4-cylinder turbo engines, the first of which have just been revealed. However, the GTS models will get a stay of execution from the turbo era for now. We drove the last of these naturally-aspirated mid-engined Porsches late last year in Stuttgart, Germany.
When you think “entry-level,” it conjures up images of Hyundai Accents and call-centre workers. However, in the world of premium cars, even “entry-level” has a wholly different meaning. And we’re not talking about stuff like BMW and their 1.6-litre 1-Series. We’re talking about McLaren and their new 570S, part of their entry-level Sports Series cars that are positioned as a rival to the Porsche 911 Turbo S, which is essentially the flagship of Stuttgart’s legendary rear-engined range.
When we drove the redesigned second-gen Chrysler 300C about four years back, we wanted to like the car, but it was a bit of a boat in terms of handling, even though its sister-model, the Dodge Charger, was a pretty decent corner-carver. Fast-forward to 2015, and the Chrysler 300 range has received a facelift to inject some aggression into the car’s overall character. And there’s a new trim level — the Chrysler 300S.
With a governmental push for “green” initiatives, the ubiquity of hybrid cars is inevitable in the UAE, even if the current lukewarm sentiments are due to lack of actual subsidies to reduce the higher prices of hybrid cars, as in Western countries. However, a few local car dealers have taken it upon themselves to offer hybrid models that make sense to cost-conscious consumers. One such model is the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, which costs almost the same as a regular Pathfinder at Nissan’s dealership in Dubai.
The McLaren 675LT is the limited-edition “Long Tail” version of the 650S, featuring lighter weight, more power and extra-aggressive styling. With only 500 being built in this coupe form, the car already sold out within months of its debut this summer. So it came as a surprise that McLaren offered us an all-too-brief test-drive with one.
Let’s get the obvious out of the way. This is the new Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SuperVeloce Roadster. Is it very very fast? Yes it is. Is it a good handler? Yes, if you’re brave enough to push Dhs 2.5 million of carbon-fibre car around a corner. Does it look good? Clearly. Does it have a very long name? Yes it does. Now with that out of the way, what is it like to drive a Lamborghini Aventador LP750-4 SuperVeloce Roadster on the streets of Dubai for half a day? More adventurous than you think.
Honda is better known as a maker of Civics and Accords nowadays, and anyone other than Honda salesmen will have a tough time trying to remember if they sell anything else. However, they do offer a midsize 4×4 called the Pilot, a model that had been chugging along virtually unchanged since the last recession. It wasn’t particularly good at anything either, so we were keen to see how Honda has gone about bringing the all-new 2016 Pilot bang up to date in our all-too-brief time with the car.
The Nissan Patrol is probably the first proper car in the history of the world to be designed specifically for the Gulf, right from the design stage. How else would you explain its massive size, its V8-only engine choices, its ample space and its overkill of a/c vents all the way to the third-row seats. We’ve already reviewed the regular Nissan Patrol, so we’ll jump straight into what makes this latest version unique — the Nissan Patrol Desert Edition, brought to you by local rally legend Mohammed Ben Sulayem.
Mazda has been on a roll lately, unveiling a series of desirable cars in various segments that make their rivals feel lacking. The latest segment they’re tackling is the sub-compact hatchback market, a niche that the previous-generation Mazda 2 was itself found lacking. But is the all-new model any better against the likes of the Toyota Yaris and the…uhhh…Toyota Yaris?
