The other day we were reminiscing about the first time we drove the Bentley Continental GT. It was the Speed variant, and the year was 2008. The GT had already been around for four years at that point, and the Speed was recently launched as a flagship model to keep the line fresh. We took it straight to Jebel Hafeet for our first ever run on that mountain, close to midnight, and it proved to be an amazing car.
The Americanised Volkswagen Passat has been around since 2012, when it caused a few ripples by separating from the smaller European Passat and transforming into a larger car with class-leading space for a midsize sedan. Since then, it’s been a bit muted in public minds, but this timely facelift for 2016 should see it garnering some interest again, with some new features.
The Hyundai Elantra is a subcompact that has been around since a long time. Although not much of an attention grabber, it is apparently a sales success in the Middle East, owing to the great exterior design and price tag. However, the Koreans’ penchant to continually evolve meant that Hyundai finally went all-in to make the car a more complete package rather than just a looker. And how the all-new 2016 Hyundai Elantra has grown from its past is what we were to witness when the local dealer invited us for a day-long media event that included an extensive test-drive.
Downsizing is rampant nowadays, and the same goes for premium cars. We’re not talking about job losses, but the size of cars. The Audi A3 started life as a lacklustre hatchback about a decade ago, and we called it out as such back then. However, it’s changed over the years, and the new sedan version of the latest A3 has been getting some attention lately. And with good reason, from what we saw.
The Jaguar F-Type Project 7 made its debut at the 2014 Goodwood Festival of Speed on 26 June as a concept car, but it has now become the first Jaguar performance vehicle from Jaguar Land Rover’s Special Operations team, produced in a limited-edition run of “up to” 250 units. It apparently pays tribute to the three-time Le Mans-winning D-type, which in 2014 celebrated its 60th anniversary year. The Project 7’s name pays homage to Jaguar’s seven outright Le Mans wins. The car is now on sale in the GCC.
Going from a body-on-frame SUV to a crossover has been a big win for the Ford Explorer. Although we were underwhelmed by its performance, it clearly clicked with a lot of people who were fine with its standard V6. However, the Sport comes with the EcoBoost turbo V6, and it transforms this people-mover into a more interesting vehicle.
When you think “entry-level,” it conjures up images of Hyundai Accents and call-centre workers. However, in the world of premium cars, even “entry-level” has a wholly different meaning. And we’re not talking about stuff like BMW and their 1.6-litre 1-Series. We’re talking about McLaren and their new 570S, part of their entry-level Sports Series cars that are positioned as a rival to the Porsche 911 Turbo S, which is essentially the flagship of Stuttgart’s legendary rear-engined range.
When we drove the redesigned second-gen Chrysler 300C about four years back, we wanted to like the car, but it was a bit of a boat in terms of handling, even though its sister-model, the Dodge Charger, was a pretty decent corner-carver. Fast-forward to 2015, and the Chrysler 300 range has received a facelift to inject some aggression into the car’s overall character. And there’s a new trim level — the Chrysler 300S.
The first of its kind in the region, the IBV Supercar Club launched recently in Dubai after years of operational success in South Africa. Where individual car clubs tend to target one brand, in a break from tradition, IBV Supercar Club aims to bring together all types of supercars and their owners.
With a governmental push for “green” initiatives, the ubiquity of hybrid cars is inevitable in the UAE, even if the current lukewarm sentiments are due to lack of actual subsidies to reduce the higher prices of hybrid cars, as in Western countries. However, a few local car dealers have taken it upon themselves to offer hybrid models that make sense to cost-conscious consumers. One such model is the Nissan Pathfinder Hybrid, which costs almost the same as a regular Pathfinder at Nissan’s dealership in Dubai.