I’ve driven three Focii in two years now, all hatchbacks, and its handling never fails to impress. This time, I got handed a Ford Focus Sport. While it did have upgrades compared to the ones I drove before, it sadly didn’t add any performance bits whatsoever.
In a bit of a surprise, I got a call from BMW’s people yesterday morning saying they have Mini Clubman S lying around, and whether I wanted it. I have nothing better to do nowadays so I said “sure, why not.” And now it stands under my apartment, thanks to BMW’s awesome home-delivery service for press cars. It goes back to their stable after five days.
I’ve been zipping around Dubai all morning today, getting my hair blow-dried and losing a few in the process. Because BMW home-delivered this 135i convertible today, and the weather is perfect for such a car.
My PR buddy picked up this Renault Safrane and passed it on to me a day later, with a layer of crap on the outside. However, the cabin was spotless, and there was no denying it — it felt like I was driving around in a Nissan.
This is one vehicle I wasn’t exactly looking forward to driving, but asked for one anyway due to popular demand. Our tester had been through many hands before finally reaching us, so it is a bit disheveled, but properly broken in. First impressions are as poor as when seen in photos, but we discovered its many practical aspects as we cruised around Dubai.
So a few weeks ago, the staff manning the front desks at the Immigration department made my father run around different counters over two days as he tried to get a residence visa for my college-going brother, since the clerks were on a power-trip and kept asking for random bits of unneeded paperwork, which in the end were discarded without being checked. Incidentally, a few days ago, while dropping my mother off at the airport, I argued with red-shirted staff as they weren’t letting me pull my mother’s heavy suitcase up till the first x-ray scanner (much before the actual check-in counters,
I was pissed when my PR dodo told me he arranged a test-drive during my self-imposed break from road tests. It didn’t help matters when he said the only car he managed to get was a Ford Focus. I went and picked it up today, with a minor confusion as Ford and Jaguar/Land Rover are separating their offices, for obvious reasons. On top of that, the tester turned out to be the 1.6-litre version, instead of the larger-engined one. However, it is in Ghia trim, with upgraded 16-inch wheels and 205/55 tyres. After taking it away and pulling it through some corners,