So Car Middle East got the BMW M3, the BMW 7-Series and the BMW Z4 as long-term cars. And Wheels got the BMW X5 M. We got the BMW 535i Gran Turismo. While the hierarchy of publications is obvious here, we don’t mind. In our experience, every modern BMW drives like a sports car. Every BMW.
If you didn’t know, Honda has had a minivan in their GCC line-up for years now. It is called the American-built Odyssey, and up until this point, it simply existed rather than do anything fruitful. Honda quietly managed to sell a handful every year to families who wanted something more upscale than the hotel-shuttle Toyota Previa, but it remained rarer than a Ferrari on UAE roads. But now, there is a new model for 2011, and Honda is actually going heavy on the promotion for this one. We took a look at what exactly it is they are so proud of,
When we asked for an Infiniti M as a long-term car, it was unavailable, but Nissan Middle East offered us a QX56 instead, for a month. We hadn’t driven either the Nissan Patrol nor its sistership Infiniti QX56 yet, so we jumped at the chance.
Few cars we test ever attract an obscene amount of attention from bystanders. But that’d require something like a Challenger or a CTS-V Coupe. So it may be a bit of a surprise that our 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee caused such a ruckus everywhere it was parked.
It’s been more than a decade since a Toyota coupe has set foot (or tyre even) in a Dubai showroom. But Toyota has been churning out 2-door cars elsewhere for years, and one of them has finally made it to the shores of the UAE. Whether the Toyota Zelas will make Honda fanboys jealous remains to be seen.
One look through our archives and you’ll realise how many times we drove the latest-generation Honda Accord when it launched back in 2008. Come 2011, and we’re at it again. Right after driving the facelifted V6 coupe, we picked up this optioned-up 2.4-litre sedan, and it of course feels familiar.
Looks like we’re possibly the first people in the UAE to review the updated 2011 Honda Accord V6 Coupe, just in time for the first days of the rainy season. The car isn’t all that different from the one that debuted two years ago, but it is still a satisfying drive and gets some much-needed tech.
This right here is the largest vehicle we’ve ever driven on the streets of Dubai. Or rather, we stuck to the highways and avoided the streets. Consider the fact that this Dodge Ram is two feet longer than the gigantic Toyota Sequoia, and you get an idea of how big this thing is.
This one took a bit of scrounging, but we finally managed to bag a Lexus IS-F for a brief two-day test, thanks to our supporters within the UAE dealer. There is a long list of press people waiting to test this car, so we were almost ready to dismiss it. But after driving it, we’d say this is the first Lexus we’ve ever desired. You know, like, really desired.
Last week we picked up a 2011 Lexus RX 350 for a couple of days to see what updates the crossover has received for the new model year, as well as to have a comfortable ride to travel to the Abu Dhabi Motor Show, an hour-and-a-half drive from the centre of Dubai. On the day we returned the Lexus, we also received a 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe for only a day. There won’t be any of our quirky comparison tests, but there will be ‘first drive’ stories soon on both these cars.