General News

After 3 months of development, 2 months of painstaking research and data-entry, and a month designing and cleaning up the look, my ultra-exclusive, never-before-seen-in-the-region Ultimate Car Buyer Guide is finally ready to hit the public airwaves! I’ll be cleaning up the look some more over the rest of this week, but basically, every car now gets its own page, which means it becomes possible to add more info for each car in the future if time permits. Also, it is much quicker to update, and older models do not disappear any more. Be sure to check out the surprising reliability data for some of the cars,

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This is probably the beginning of the end for petrol-powered cars. A Japanese company called Genepax, dedicated to finding ways to turn water into power, has unveiled what it calls the first practical car to run solely on water. The firm claims putting just one litre of water is enough to keep its automobile going for 60 minutes at a respectable speed of 80 kph. And the water can be from the tap, falling rain or even from rivers.

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The Kia Mohave is apparently for sale in the GCC already. We only find out about local Kia news through third-party sources, since the Kia’s regional reps generally suck at communication. I found out through a billboard on the street. We also believe the truck-based offroadable Mohave is only available in “280 hp” 3.8-litre V6 form. We already reported on the Mohave before. Anyway, I am using this opportunity to announce that from now on, I’ll start replacing the term “4WD” with the term “SUV” in reference to such vehicles.

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The controversial Toro Rosso STR2 was brought to the UAE and was briefly displayed in front of the Yellow Hat auto accessories superstore at Times Square Mall in Dubai. The STR2, brought in to showcase Advanti Racing wheels, was only shown over the weekend of June 5 to 8.

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One of our readers, Mohamad, pointed us to a thread at nissan-arabia.com, showcasing photos of a consignment of seven American-spec 2008 Nissan GT-R models which have made their way to Abu Dhabi for local customers who can’t wait till next year’s release of a GCC-spec version. The same reader also spotted a GT-R at a Nissan workshop in Dubai, probably used for technician training. Yet another reader, Don, spotted the all-new 2009 Nissan Maxima trundling around at a freezone in Dubai, which is the first real confirmation that the new Maxima is indeed coming to the GCC.

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Dubai’s Road & Transport Authority (RTA) has, over the last few weeks, come up with various ideas that they are going to implement over the coming months. Some of these ideas seem to be confidential in nature, but Gulf News somehow always gets their hands on official sources.

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If you are into aftermarket automotive equipment shows, there is the Automechanika Middle East trade show in Dubai, already running from June 1 to 3 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre. Meanwhile in Abu Dhabi, events are taken to the next level by the Turbo tuner show in Abu Dhabi, to be held from November 13 to 15 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.

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TAG Heuer just signed up local hero Mohammed Bin Sulayem to endorse their watches in print ads. The interesting bit is that Sulayem said he will donate all the money he makes from the deal to charity.

Around town, unregulated diesel prices have gone up to Dhs 17 per gallon in Dubai, and expected to go higher. Meanwhile, ADNOC in Abu Dhabi continues to sell diesel at Dhs 8.6 per gallon.

In other news, in an attempt to appear commuter-friendly, Dubai’s RTA has announced that they will “allow” people to carry passengers to work or wherever,

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Nissan has created a worldwide competitive driving test, called the GT Academy, for PS3-addicted GT5 gamers. The eight-month, pan-European competition sees “virtual and real-life racing merge to make the wildest dreams of two aspiring race drivers come true.” The prize is a four-month training programme to earn racing licences, followed by a real-life race driving a Nissan 350Z as part of the Nissan team at the 24H endurance race in Dubai in January 2009.

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At the latest “Code 5” number-plate auction in Abu Dhabi, plate number 9 has become the third most expensive number plate in the world, at Dhs 15.4 million (US$ 4.2 million). Bought by a modest Abu Dhabi businessman who did not wish to be named, he purchased the number at the charity auction held on Saturday evening at the Emirates Palace.

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