Apparently we’re the first local media to drive this Volvo XC70. Not the most popular of cars here, but it has been around for a few years now, on and off, in this iteration. But for 2012, there are major changes under the skin. First and foremost, this is the T6 model.
We kind of weren’t interested in testing this one. We’ve driven the Lexus RX 350 several times before, and while it’s a great car, it isn’t the kind of car you look forward to, especially since we’re trying to take a break from testing cars at the moment. Ah, but this is the RX 450h, the hybrid version of the luxury mommy-mobile. For some reason, we had visions of the slowpoke CT 200h in our minds when this RX was home-delivered to us, but we assumed wrong.
It’s not the end of the world, but 2012 has been a bad year for us. While we made loads of money, our luck with cars hasn’t been as sweet. Earlier this year, we broke off the stupid front lip on a Toyota Land Cruiser tester, for which we had to run around for a police report. Then in the summer, someone put a small scratch on a Porsche 911 tester, for which we had to run around for an even bigger police report. And then there was an “incident” with this Renault Koleos tester in the middle of a Ramadan afternoon.
We never took the Ford Taurus SHO seriously. The Taurus is a big heavy car, just like the Chrysler 300C. Even a Hemi couldn’t speed up the latter, so we didn’t expect a boosted V6 to do much for the SHO-piece. Boy, were we wrong.
Yes, we’ve driven this car already. But that was the basic manual version. This is the top-spec automatic version.
We already drove the 2012 Chrysler 200 at the launch event in Dubai, so we’ve already formed our first impressions on it. But we got it back in for an extended second round to see if it a legitimate midsize contender.
It’s the same, but different. If you remember, we drove around in a borrowed 2012 Volkswagen Passat CC for the better part of five months last winter. It was a great car. So great in fact, that we called it the best midsize sedan ever. And the 2013 builds on that excellent base.
“Wait, what? You bought a Range Rover?” Yes, we bought a Range Rover. “Really? A Range Rover?” Yes, a Range Rover. The big one. It’s grey or green depending on what time of day you look at it. And it’s fun saying that we own a Range Rover.
This is the latest version of the Lexus ES 350. This isn’t really a car we give a damn about. It’s based on a stretched Toyota Camry, it’s got wrong-wheel-drive in a RWD segment, and it’s become the car of choice for private taxi services, so you can expect to be cut off by one of these on the highway. But when we drove the car, it’s purpose became clear in the first minute itself, and we really started liking it for that.
The “four-door coupe” trend continues, with BMW throwing their hat in the field. Essentially a flattened version of the 5-Series, or a four-door version of the 6-Series, whichever way you see it, the 640i Gran Coupe is the best-looking BMW sedan in the current range.