Our black Renault Safrane V6, a brand new 2009 leftover model that we purchased last Ramadan, is on its way to completing 5000 km, and is soldiering on just fine. It also has the best fuel economy in our 3-car fleet by far, for obvious reasons.
The Mini Mayfair is a “special edition” model that was released as a celebration of Mini’s 50th anniversary. From memory, the Mayfair was first shown at the Dubai Motor Show a year ago and this specific test car has been in circulation since summer, so it isn’t exactly new. It is the first Mini model we’ve driven that is fitted with the new-for-2010 direct-injection engine with an extra 12 hp, so it was worth a look, but since it is so similar to all the other Mini variants we’ve already driven, we’ll do a shorter “first drive” article later on,
Expanding its limited range ever further with model variants, the Cayman will now be offered in a stripped-down version that is 55 kg lighter and with 10 horsepower more than the Cayman S. Dubbed the Porsche Cayman R, it made its world debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show last week.
Ailing Swedish brand Saab, recently sold by General Motors to exotic Dutch carmaker Spyker, has announced that they have signed an agreement with BMW. The Germans will supply engines to be used in next-generation Saab vehicles.
Apparently Porsche has been offering a factory customisation service for their cars for the last 25 years which few know about. The company claims it has a team of around 100 workers whose sole job is to work on this Porsche Exclusive programme.
Land Rover has revealed the 5-door version of the Range Rover Evoque crossover ahead of its physical debut at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. Specs are about the same as the 3-door version, but the Tata-owned British firm says the 5-door is 30 mm taller than the 3-door “coupe” model.
Skoda dealers for the UAE is now Ali & Sons Motors, who happen to be the existing dealers of Skoda’s sister brands Volkswagen, Porsche and Audi in Abu Dhabi currently. The official launch of the new Skoda Auto showroom on Sheikh Zayed Road in Dubai took place this week. The occassion also marked the introduction of the Skoda Superb 3.6, joining the existing Superb 1.8T that was apparently already available quietly via the old dealer. Suprisingly also on sale already is the latest Skoda Octavia.
We went to the launch of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Middle East launch yesterday at the Dubai Autodrome, on which we’ll report later. But more interestingly, there was a display of six classic cars, all shipped in from the Porsche Museum in Germany.
After numerous complaints by owners, threats of a lawsuit and lambasting on U.S. news channels, BMW’s American arm is now conducting a full recall on all models fitted with the “award-winning” turbocharged 3.0-litre inline-6 engine due to reports of fuel pump failure.
It is rather amazing how some car manufacturers are actually going backwards in design and creating dullards like the “all-new” VW Passat, the Audi A6 and the Mercedes-Benz E-Class. And then there are some manufacturers whose newest models pretty much look as if they belong at an auto show as a concept car. Like the Infiniti M, the Hyundai Sonata, the Kia Optima, and now the 2011 Volvo S60.