The current Jaguar XJ is one car that we’ve always been interested in trying out, but had been delaying for one reason or another. We did drive one briefly a year ago, but it was a 240 hp 3.0-litre V6 version that was somewhat underwhelming. However, the entire range underwent an engine upgrade for 2013, so a “V6” badge on the fenders now means there’s a 340 hp 3.0-litre supercharged motor under that long bonnet. As we found out, that makes a huge difference.
It’s been more than a year since Bentley launched the V8 version of the Continental GT. Up until now, we’ve only been snagging test-drives of the various W12 models, and figured the V8 wouldn’t be as good as the pricier versions. But boy were we wrong.
Who would’ve thought that the all-new 2014 Nissan Tiida would be one of the most anticipated cars of this year. When we drove the new BMW 335i last year, not even one soul even bothered to give it a first look, let alone a second one. On the other hand, people kept staring at our Tiida, and a few even came up to us to ask about it.
We landed ourselves a drive with the new Jaguar F-Type, apparently we being the first media to try it out on UAE roads. This is the first Jaguar we’ve brought home in years, aside from the one we bought recently, although if memory serves us right, they’ve never built anything like it in decades.
The Ford Escape used to be the meanest-looking crossover around, ready to take on anything in its path. Not that it means much to be a mean-looking crossover, because it’s never going to leave the pavement. So we feel Ford made the right decision in making the Escape more “contemporary” in its styling, finally ready to take on the other pavement-pounding crossovers on equal terms.
We drove the redesigned VW Golf recently and found it to be a pretty good car. Of course, around here, nobody cares about the regular Golf. With a huge chunk of Golf sales, up to 50% by some sources, in our region accounted for by just the pricier GTI, it’s obvious from the start that the latest GTI was a hotly-anticipated car this summer.
Our first test car for Ramadan is the Mazda CX-9, a car that is seemingly loved unconditionally by its owners, but one we haven’t driven before. The 2013 iteration of the CX-9 is a facelifted version with carryover mechanicals and some interior enhancements. Is the forgotten Japanese contender in the hotly-contested midsize segment as good as we hope it is?
We wanted to fill our personal fleet up with cool cars. That means our trusty Renault Safrane will eventually move on to a good home by the end of the summer. The replacement had to cleanly fall between our Honda S2000 and our Range Rover in terms of size, drive and cargo-carrying practicality. We thought of all sorts of cars, including Minis, Chargers, Alfas, Evoques, 3-Series, GTIs and what not. Then I woke up last week and had a sudden urge to buy a Jaguar XK. So I did.
We drove the absolutely brand-spanking-new 2014 Lexus IS 350 F-Sport at the launch event in Dubai just two weeks ago. It was a great car, but we couldn’t help but feel slightly underwhelmed by it. Now we got the non-Sport version of the car for a few days, and we were keen to see if it’d be just as underwhelming. Ironically, we had more fun with it!
There seems to be a tendency among “top” automotive journalists to go with the flow. They will all parrot the same things, like how class-leading the Audi A5 interior is, how easy to drift the Toyota 86 is, or how awesome the Range Rover Evoque drives. If you really knew how the media industry worked, you’d lose faith in the press forever. The latest story that’s going around is how the all-new 2014 Mazda 6 is the best midsize sedan ever made. For once, there is some truth to it, although only up to a point.