Behind The Scenes

Our long-term 2010 Chevrolet Malibu had been taken away for more than a week for an agency photo shoot, during which time we cruised around in a courtesy Cruze. Our Malibu is back now, with about 500 additional kilos on the clock. As interesting as the Cruze is, upgrading to a Malibu again is like getting bumped up to first-class. In fact, on the day we got it back, we took it along when we returned the Accord Crosstour to the Honda Middle East HQ. We gave a tour of the Malibu to a person from Honda, and he uttered the words “wow nice”

Read More …

As part of the “Tahoe Adventure Weekend,” where we hung out at the Le Meridien Al Aqah till last Sunday morning, we were each sent home to Dubai with a 2010 Chevrolet Tahoe to try out. I had picked the LTZ 4×4 model, and ended up keeping it right till this Thursday.

Read More …

The Toyota Sequoia caused a riot among faithful followers of the Japanese brand when they released this behemoth in two-wheel-drive “city SUV” trim last year. The big guy had been on sale for years before that in the United States, being built there too. But once the recession hit, America’s new-found focus on “green” cars meant that excess supplies of the truck started being sent here. And now it is finally being offered in offroad-capable 4×4 form.

Read More …

The Chrysler 300 is a remnant of the firm’s brief glory days, just half a decade ago, when the first real fruit of the DaimlerChrysler merger allowed the American company to create a balanced rear-wheel-drive exotic sedan using Mercedes-Benz underpinnings. It sold well, right up till the recession, at which point the focus shifted to fuel-efficient cars and suddenly Chrysler was considered a dinosaur by the fickle public. But the 300 remains an awesome car, even if going by looks alone.

Read More …

The General’s good men sprung a surprise on me this weekend when they offered me a 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS for a test-drive, after a last-minute cancellation by some other hack. The bigger surprise came when the car was home-delivered, because when I stepped in, it had three pedals. Indeed it was the manual Camaro SS with the 426 hp 6.2-litre V8. Rarely do I get overexcited about cars nowadays, but…AAWOOOGAAA!!!

Read More …

The general media is rather cliched when it comes to reporting cars. “VW makes reliable cars.” “Audi has the best interiors.” “Chrysler has the worst interiors.” “Jeeps are unreliable.” None of those statements are true. That’s why I get pissed off anytime some car company executive refers to me as a “journalist.” I didn’t earn an electrical engineering degree, start my own business and take crap from my conservative father just to be lumped in with those corporate hacks. That said, the Jeep Cherokee is awful. But only in some respects. In many other aspects, it is rather cool.

Read More …

We’d been asking for the 2010 Nissan Maxima since October last year. For reasons unknown, our five requests were not taken seriously, while crappy magazines were getting to keep GT-Rs for months at a time. But finally someone took notice and let us have a Maxima for three measly days. I can’t say I was too enthusiastic about test-driving a rebodied Altima, but our readers had been clamouring for a real review of this car, and I’m now happy to oblige.

Read More …

This is actually the first update on our 2005 Peugeot 307 2.0 XSI since we bought the black 3-door hatchback back in late 2008. Driven by a woman in its earlier life, some of the things that she did came back to haunt us over the past year, although the car did prove to be reasonably reliable. Oddly enough, my first update is also my last update. Largely driven by my college-going brother, I’ve now sold the car to Diego, my former PR guy.

Read More …

The Cadillac CTS-V is simply obscene! It is so salacious that we believe it is banned in some neighbouring states for public indecency. Mothers cover their children’s eyes and other people stare when this thing passes by, even in places as lewd as that beach by the Dubai Marina. No European sports sedan has this much bling, short of a million-dirham Bentley. And the best bit is it outruns them all in power as well as price.

Read More …

The Renault Logan isn’t a car that people like me look forward to driving. Even at my poorest point in life, making Dhs 3000 a month while in college, my first car was an old Mercedes-Benz. With leather. And cruise control. And ABS. And a hood ornament. However, most people don’t think like me. For some unknown cosmic reason, they have to have a brand new car, even if it means taking a loan and risking jail if they can’t pay. And so, the local Nissan/Renault dealer thinks they have a hit on their hands, especially since they are targeting peeps making at least Dhs 3000.

Read More …