Category: Automotive

I’m currently in Dubai courtesy of Ferrari. They’ve put me up in the gorgeous and very lavish Bvlgari Resort, and they’ve given me access to two cars to drive, their new Ferrari Portofino and the Ferrari 812 SuperFast. I actually have a lot of work back in Kuwait and shouldn’t really be here, but how could I say no to this right? When they first got in touch with me about this trip I was excited obviously but in my head I was also thinking, ok so I’ve already test driven these two cars, and I’ve already posted them on the blog, so how can I post about them again? Then it hit me, I could do Jebel Jais!

Jebel Jais is a mountain in the UAE with an elevation of nearly 2,000m. I found out about it from the popular car show Top Gear, (or maybe it was The Grand Tour?) and ever since I’ve wanted to drive it. The mountain has an incredible 3-lane winding road that takes you to the very top and is usually featured in “Top Roads You Need to Drive on Before You Die” style of lists. There isn’t anything on top, the bottom or along the way to the top, it’s just an empty beautiful road to nowhere.

I’ve contemplated shipping my Lotus to Dubai before so I could do the Jebel Jais drive but it was just too costly. I even considered maybe including it as part of a Oman drive where I’d ship my car to Dubai, do the Jebel Jais drive and then drive to Oman and do a drive there before sending my car back to Kuwait. It never materialized so when Ferrari told me I’d have access to the Portofino for a day I thought to myself, that would be a great car to drive up the mountain. So I accepted their invitation and here I am in Dubai.

Ferrari dropped off the Portofino yesterday morning to my hotel at around 10AM. I had two conditions, the first is I needed to have the car back by 5:30PM, the second is I could only do a maximum mileage of 350KM. Both weren’t going to be an issue. Before coming to Dubai I had already figured everything out, the drive from my hotel to the top of Jebel Jais was 160KM and it would take just over 2 hours. So, 160+160 is 320KM and say a 5 hour total journey time, that would still leave me with time to spare. The calculations worked, I was able to take the car to Jebel Jais, come back to the city, grab and lunch and have the car back at my hotel before 5:30 with around 15KM mileage to spare. It was close, but good enough.

The drive to Jebel Jais was pretty uneventful and boring, but I had a bunch of podcast episodes of Business Wars lined up and that made the time pass by quickly. There were also a ton of cameras along the way so I just put the cruise-control on the highway limit of 120KM and just cruised to Jebel Jais. Once I got to the bottom of Jebel Jais, I dropped the top down, put my favorite Spotify music playlist on and just blasted my way up the mountain.

There was no one, just me, the mountain and the incredible 3-lane winding road with no speed cameras all the way to the top. I loved the drive and the Portofino was just insane on that road. It’s such a fast car and it sounded amazing and aggressive all the way to the top. The temperature was around 28 degrees so it was perfect to drive with the roof down and I think I got a bit of tan as well. The drive up the mountain is around 16KM long and it took me around 20 minutes give or take. I stopped a bit on the way up just to check out the view, but I stopped a lot more on the way down to take some photos of the car.

Once I was back down the mountain I really wanted to just U-turn and make my way up again, but I knew if I did that I would end up exceeding the allotted mileage given to me by Ferrari, and I didn’t want to do that. So I put the roof back up and headed back to the city.

I finally got this drive off my bucket list and I couldn’t have asked for a better car to do it in. It was a difficult choice choosing between the Portofino and 812 SuperFast for the Jebel Jais drive, but I made the right choice because it doesn’t get better than flying up the mountain in a fast loud red Ferrari convertible. Ferrari are now dropping off the 812 SuperFast in a few minutes so if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, sorry but I’m in a rush!

Remember the phase when cops were towing away illegally parked cars in the city or removing their license plates? Yeah well they’re over it now which makes me wonder why can’t they ever stick to a decision?

Recently I realized another benefit Kuwait Motor Town has brought to Kuwait other than just racing, photography hobbyist now have something new to take photos of. During track events, you’ll find photographers walking about taking photos of all the different cars, and some even get media passes from KMT which grants them access to various corners around the track where they can hang out and capture photos of cars speeding by.

When you’re racing on the track you obviously can’t capture photos of yourself, so all of us drvers are always super grateful to have these photographers taking photos of us. The photographers also don’t ask for anything in return other than credit. Actually, none of the photographers who’ve shared photos with me have ever asked for credit, but of course, the least we could do is credit them when sharing their photos on our social media accounts.

There are a lot of photographers, I haven’t met all of them but here are a few whom I’ve interacted with and who have been showing up to practically every event:

@81gram
@azizbo7amad
@hamed__ashkanani
@lomanphotography
@p24photography
@pedrodasht
@phautographer

There are some really great photos on their accounts so be sure to check them and follow them if you’re into cars.

First photo captured by @hamed__ashkanani, second by @81gram

This past Friday was open track at the Kuwait Motor Town circuit and while the previous open tracks started early morning, this one started in the afternoon because the weather is a lot hotter. This meant that we would be racing in the evening which I had heard from friends was freaky because of the lack of proper lights and after trying it out myself, yeah it’s definitely freaky.

Not only is the track poorly lit, but there were corners and places on the track that barely had any lighting on them! I was driving with my high beams on but obviously that wasn’t enough. My only previous experience with night racing was in Bahrain, but their track is properly lit up at night. Just to compare the difference, the video on top is from this past Friday at the KMT circuit, while the one below is from Bahrain last year.

A huge difference as you can see. But, on the bright side, I did hear they will be adding more lights on the track this summer when it closes down for maintenance. Hopefully they’ll be as bright as the Bahrain circuit ones.

A couple of weeks back a friend of mine had a dead car battery so I went to help her out. When I got to her car I spotted what I thought was an undercover cop talking to her. The guy had an old Mercedes with flashing lights, and he was wearing a yellow reflective vest. After talking to him I found out he was part of a volunteer rescue team called Dar Subhan who are always on the lookout for people needing help.

I was meaning to post about them but completely forgot until yesterday while riding my bicycle on the Gulf Road I spotted a rescue team helping a car out. There was a Nissan Patrol that had gotten stuck on the beach trying to pull in his boat and the rescue team were helping him. I thought it was the same rescue team that I had run into a couple weeks ago but this one was called Kuwait Support and Rescue Team (KSRT).

KSRT have been active for around a year now while Dar Subhan have only been around since March. I’m not sure how many other volunteer teams there are but if you ever have any car trouble or are stuck out in the desert, it could be worth giving these guys a call instead of the emergency services. Here are their contacts including links to their instagram account:

Dar Subhan Rescue Team
97732441 / 91111584

Kuwait Support and Rescue Team
97865006 / 94147001 / 67651169

Update: Here is another

Kuwait Rescue Team
66665488 / 98809058

Kuwaiti racecar driver Zaid Ashkanani was on the winning team at the season opener for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup a few days ago. This was not only Zaid’s first debut with the Dinamic Motorsport team, but the team themselves were also making their first debut at the Blancpain GT.

Dinamic drivers Klaus Bachler, Zaid Ashkanani and Andrea Rizzoli (all pictured below) started 23rd on the grid but managed to end up winning by a 14-second margin in a second-generation Porsche 911 GT3-R. They gave the Porsche brand their first Endurance Cup victory since 2012.

This was the first race of the season so there is still a long way to go but nevertheless, it was an incredible debut. You can stay up to date on Zaid’s activities by following him on Instagram @zaidashkanani

The new 2019 G-Class might look like every G-Class built since the 70s, but the 2019 model is a completely new car with some obvious and not so obvious differences. I borrowed this car from a friend of mine who was traveling and got to spend a few days with it. Just like the previous generation G-Class, the new 2019 model has its quirks, but they’re minor stuff and this is a car I’d really love to own.

The changes on the exterior of the car are not dramatic, they’re minor and most people wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the previous and current generation models. The new model is slightly curvier which some diehards hate, but I think it works. Where the biggest changes are visible though is on the inside.

The new G-Class has one of the nicest interiors of any car and that mostly has to do with the new digital dash and large infotainment screen. Mercedes have found a way to seamlessly integrate both screens into the interior by laying them down side by side on the dashboard under one sheet of glass. This gives the impression that it’s one long screen stretching from the driver’s door all the way to the end of the center console. I really love it and I think it gives the interior a very futuristic look. The infotainment system software is also nicely designed, I’m not sure how Lexus is fine with their 90s looking infotainment system when their biggest competitor has something so good looking in their cars. Other than the car’s default infotainment system you also have the option to use Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The only issue I have with the infotainment system is that it doesn’t have a touch screen. I’m used to using CarPlay with a touch screen and being forced to use a dial or touchpad to move around CarPlay felt like a bit of a mess. That’s really my biggest quibble with the car.

The interior was also very comfortable, while with the previous generation I struggled to fight a comfortable seating position this time around it was really easy. The interior also felt more spacious and it was generally a great place to be. The ride is comfortable, the soundproofing is extremely good and the car felt very solid and could take abuse.

I like the combination of an old school exterior with a very modern interior and I wish more cars did this. The G-Class comes loaded with modern features like brake assist, active distance assist, surround view cameras and parking assist just to name a few. Active distance assist is probably my favorite feature, it works great in traffic since it accelerates, slows down and stops the car for you without you having to do anything. So you could be on your phone watching a youtube video and the car will keep you moving in traffic without requiring your attention.

There are currently two versions of the new G-Class available, the G500 which has 422hp and the G63 which has 585hp. You do NOT need the G63, nobody needs it! I found the G500 more than capable power-wise for an SUV that’s shaped like a brick, plus the G63 is a lot more expensive. Earlier I mentioned my biggest issue with the car was the lack of touch screen, well I lied. The biggest issue I have with the G-Class is the price. The new 2019 G-Class starts at KD38,000 while the G63, on the other hand, starts at a whopping KD55,000.

38,000 is about what I feel this car is worth when fully optioned out but, the G500 actually peeks out at around 50,000 when all the options are clicked. If I’m paying 50,000 I want to feel special and I don’t think the G-Class feels that special anymore. They’re too common on the roads and that takes away from the special feel. In reality though, what luxury SUV isn’t a common sight in Kuwait? They’re all plentiful.

Do I want a G-Class? Yes, I do. I love the size, I love the interior and I love that it can take my abuse. But with all the options I’d want to fit into this car, I’m going to be wayyy past the 38,000 starting price.

If you’re interested in checking out the new G-Class, here is the instagram account of the dealer @mercedesbenzkuwait

Our roads are finally going to get fixed starting from today. The project of repairing all of Kuwait’s roads (including residential) is expected to take three years but, for the first phase they’re starting off with the main ones.

The first road that will be repaired is the 1st Ring Road, starting from the Gulf Road and extending all the way to the Jahra roundabout. The second to be fixed is Highway 40 starting from the 1st Ring Road down to the Bayan area. Third road to be fixed is the 4th Ring Road from Amman Street all the way to the UN roundabout, then they’re going to fix the 6th Ring Road from near 360 Mall (Zahra) towards the Subiya intersection, and finally the Doha Road starting from near the Entertainment City down to the 6th Ring Road.

Repairs will take place from 6pm to 6am on weekdays, and 12am to 12pm on weekends.

I’m surprised the 5th Ring Road isn’t part of the first phase and I’m disappointed the Gulf Road isn’t also part of the first phase since that’s the road I use 80% of the time. But, I’m just glad they’re finally starting!

Update: 💃 [Link]

Yesterday the second Formula 1 race of the season took place and I’ve been getting questions by people asking me how I’m watching it. The answer is simple, I’m watching the races on F1 TV, the question of how is a bit more complicated.

Early last month BeIN decided not to renew their F1 broadcast rights and instead MBC picked up the rights. You can now watch Formula 1 live for free on MBC Action but there are two main issues, the broadcast is in Arabic and there doesn’t seem to be a way to stream the races for people like me who don’t have satellite TV. That also means you can’t watch the races on your phone.

Last year Formula 1 launched their own channel called F1 TV where for $9.99 a month you can stream the race weekends live as well as watch older races from their archive. Technically F1 TV doesn’t work in Kuwait but since I have a US-based credit card, I was able to subscribe and then watch the races over a VPN. It worked for a short while last year, and then F1 TV got strict and started blocking VPN’s, but my internet connection was also an issue since it wasn’t fast enough to stream properly through VPN. So last year I ended up giving up on F1 TV and had to go back to the BeIN digital service which I didn’t like. Since BeIN was out of the picture this year, I decided to try F1 TV again, and my experience this time around has been much better.

This time around my internet is a lot faster since I signed up to Zain Beam last month (for those wondering, I’m still getting a stable 30Mbps download speed with Beam). I also changed my VPN service from StrongVPN to SmartDNSProxy and so far, F1 TV hasn’t blocked a single stream. The F1 TV service has also been polished up since they first launched and there doesn’t seem to be any weird streaming issues (like their stream crashing at the start of the race). I also discovered a cool trick the other day where if I use my TV as a second monitor, I could use one browser tab to stream the race on my TV and then use the laptop screen with another browser tab open to a live race data stream or a driver cockpit view. And on top of all this, I’ve also been able to stream the race on my mobile phone using the F1 app.

So if you want to watch Formula 1 in Kuwait, your only options (at the time of this post) is MBC Action or F1 TV if you have a foreign credit card.

Highway 60 which is the long bit of highway that flies over Shuwaikh is now open again. The bridge which previously use to drop you at the start of the free trade zone now flies over it landing you at the very far end of it. This bridge will also soon connect to the world’s longest bridge, the Sheikh Jaber Al Ahmed Causeway which is set to open next month.

I drove on the new bridge extension this past weekend and it reminded me of the old video game Tokyo Highway Challenge. I wouldn’t be surprised if the bridge turns out to be popular with street racers especially considering there is only one speed camera.

Yesterday, Kuwait Motor Town held their second open track event and once again, it was so much fun. Things were already great at their first event, but the KMT team worked out some minor kinks which made this second open track even more enjoyable. For example, there used to be an extremely annoying siren that would blast loudly every time a car would drive into the pit lane (which is all the time), they stopped that now. Fuel was also an issue at the first event since there wasn’t any available at the track, this time around they set up a fuel station at the end of the pit lane for refueling.

There are two more open track events taking place next month and they’re open to the public. There’s music and food trucks at the track as well as a play area for kids. So it’s a good event to come by and chill at since you can hang out in the grandstands and watch the cars race around the track or even sign up to be a passenger. I’ll keep you guys posted about the next event but I really have to say, KMT has turned out to be a lot better than I expected. I have to admit I did have low expectations, but still I’m really impressed with what they’ve managed to accomplish in such a short period of time. They are constantly having something going on so keep checking their instagram for updates @kmtkw

Thank you KMT!

Draewil is a car booking app similar to Uber and Careem, but is meant to compete more with the likes of Grand Limo. They got in touch with me a couple of weeks back and asked me to try them out, and it was perfect timing since I had to drop my Lotus off at the garage to get new brake pads.

One of the biggest advantages Draewil has over Grand Limo is the app itself. It looked better, worked a lot faster and payment is automated since you can add your knet card to the app. I got KD20 credit loaded up into my account by Draewil, and so decided to splurge by ordering their Luxury category vehicle. Draewil has three categories to choose from, executive, luxury and SUV with the availability of each being different as well as the cost. I had dropped my car off at the garage in Al Rai and needed a car to drop me off to my office in the city. Their luxury vehicle needed around 17 minutes to get to me which was long, but ok in my case since I still had some paperwork I needed to sign.

I ended up being picked up by a brand new Lexus LS which is cool, but I was actually hoping to be picked up by one of their new Audi A8’s since I hadn’t been in one of those yet. The car had plenty of legroom and was immaculate, but that makes sense since Draewil is fairly new so their cars are all brand new as well. The ride from Al Rai to Kuwait City ended up taking 18 mins and cost me KD7.250.

The second time I tried them out was the same day when I wanted to head back to the garage to pick up my Lotus. I ended up ordering their executive car and had it pick me up from Crystal Tower in the city. There was a vehicle in the area so it took just 2 minutes to pick me up. This time I was picked up by a Genesis, another car I hadn’t been in before. Surprisingly, the car was as comfortable as the Lexus and even felt a bit more spacious since the Genesis didn’t have a large TV console between me and the driver. The journey again took 18 minutes, but because I chose an executive vehicle, the price came out slightly cheaper at KD6.

So would I use them again? Yeah, probably. I don’t generally use cabs a lot only when I need to drop my car off somewhere like when I want to get detailing done or if I’m servicing it, so I can afford to splurge on a cab on the rare occasion that I need one. The biggest advantage to me for using Draewil over similar luxury car booking services is the app, I like it a lot. It’s really easy to use, I’ve already added my most used destinations to it like my office, my home, the garage etc and I’ve also added my knet card to it. The service is also new so their cars are brand new and they’re still adding more vehicles to their fleet on a monthly basis. At the moment Draewil is only out for iOS devices, but I was told an Android app is being released before the end of the month. If you have an iPhone, you can download the app right now from the Apple Store by clicking [Here]

Back in January I read that the driving license renewal process will be moving online similar to how the Civil ID renewal process is right now. Looks like its going to happen soon since a few days ago while renewing my car registration I spotted the driving license renewing machines above. This service is going to be available to Kuwaitis first followed by expats at a later stage. Hopefully, by the time I have to renew my license in May this service is going to be up and running because the process right now is a complete mess.

Previously, expats were able to renew their license for 10 years but a couple of years ago they limited it to match your residency (so 1 or 2 years) and that caught the traffic department off guard. They weren’t prepared for the amount of people who would be renewing on a daily basis and so the process became an unorganized mess with extremely long lines and multiple visits. Just thinking about renewing my license is giving me anxiety right now…

Yesterday Kuwait Motor Town opened up registration for three open track day events set for March 23, April 19 and April 26. The March 23rd date sold out in around 40 minutes while the April 19th date sold out soon after. Right now there are still slots available for the April 26th date, so if you’re interested in participating with your car, you need to book asap. Here is the [Link]

Spotted this teaser at The Avenues this past weekend in Phase 4. Looks like Mercedes might be opening a small dealership there and if they are, that’s pretty smart.