Category: Automotive

Kuwait was the first Gulf country to grow a motor racing industry. But it lost out and these days, Bahrain and the UAE host prestigious Formula One races while the last proper track in Kuwait closed a few years ago.

Kuwait actually has a motor racing heritage dating back to 1964 not 74 (like mentioned in the news report) if you consider the Ahmadi karting track. [YouTube]

The GulfRun team are holding their third 24 Hours Karting Endurance Race this weekend. This year the race is taking place at the newly opened SIRBB Circuit in Shuwaikh and will follow international regulations from start to finish. Tonight is the practice race which will be held alongside the Shakshooka Market and tomorrow starting at 4PM will be the beginning of the 24 hour race. 18 teams are participating in total so pass by and check them out.

For the full details on this event, check out their website [Here]

From all the cars I’ve ever driven and reviewed I don’t think I’ve ever had so much mixed emotions about a car over a three day period as I did with the G63. When I first picked up the car I remember sitting in it and trying to adjust the seating position and getting really pissed off since I couldn’t find my perfect position. I could barely see out of the rear window, the steering was really heavy and overall I was so disappointed because I had hyped up the car in my head for such a long time that when I finally sat in it I was like really? This is it? Oh but how quickly my feelings changed over the following days.

The first day after I drove the car out of the dealership lot I really didn’t like it. Yes I thought it looked gorgeous and the interior was crammed with S-Class features like electronically folding out tables for the back seats but the G63 felt heavy and cramped. By the second day the car started growing on me and by the third day I didn’t want to give it back. When I finally did return it to the dealership and I got back into my SUV did I really start to appreciate the G63 for what it is. A beast.

The G-Class has pretty much looked the same since the 70s, it is to Mercedes what the Defender is to Land Rover except in the case of Mercedes, the engineers worked overtime to cram as much technological features into it as they could. You could really tell the designers struggled to keep up with the engineers since the front screen looked like it was mounted on the dashboard after the car was completed and the same with the two screens behind the front seats. But really other than the screens they somehow managed to cram all the other features into the car without them looking out of place. It’s really an impressive feat because the G-Class isn’t as big a car as you think it is. The car isn’t that wide and it’s also not that long with just two rows of seats and a nice but not over sized booth. The dashboard is one of the slimmest I’ve encountered which again makes me appreciate the work the engineers and the designers put into the car and how they were able maximize the small space they had to work with.

Before picking up cars to review I usually start brainstorming in my head where and how I would shoot the car. The reason I don’t review that many cars is that it’s not easy to think of new locations and new styles for the shots so I tend to review only the cars I really want to drive. With the G63 I started brainstorming ideas but only once I started driving it and I stepped on the gas did I realize what I wanted to do with the shots. The G63 to me is like Walter White, a normal and boring school teacher on the outside but a dark and sinister meth lord on the inside which is why I went with this dark black and white style for the photos. The G63 looks like a brick but comes with a 544hp V8 engine that grunts like an American muscle car that just ate the white Corolla that was in front of you a minute ago.

The power the car has is over the top, you don’t really need a 544hp engine in the G-Class. Usually I’m pro more power but in this case I was thinking I have all this power but I don’t think I could ever use it since I didn’t feel confident enough to do so. But as I started getting used to the car and gaining more confidence in its handling and braking abilities I didn’t want less power I actually wanted more (and that comes in the form of the G65 V12). The G63 is just incredible at overtaking and the sound it makes just catches all the drivers around me off guard. The G63’s brakes are some of the best I’ve ever experienced in an SUV and the steering which felt heavy at first started feeling a lot better at high speeds. I still think the steering is too heavy for day to day city use but once you’re out on the highway the feel is completely different.

I dropped off the car and got back into mine and right away I realized how much I was going to miss the G63. With all the issues I had with the car they were ones I was easily able to get used to or cast aside. The only issue I probably wouldn’t be able to get over is the price point. The G63 starts at KD46,000 with the model I drove costing KD51,000. At that price point your options are pretty much wide open and that leaves the G63 in a pretty difficult position. On the other hand what this price point allows the G63 to be is exclusive and in Kuwait, where every other person seems to have a Porsche thats not an easy thing to achieve.

For more information on the G63 check out this [Link]

Red Bull just uploaded a video of their Car Park Drift event which took place in Kuwait last month. Two of the winners were eventually flown to Dubai to compete against other winners from the region. A drifter from Lebanon ended up winning the event a few days ago. [YouTube]

I don’t remember exactly when I heard this story for the very first time and there are different variations but the one I remember went something like this:

Supposedly a man who wasn’t dressed well walked into the Rolls Royce dealer and was checking out the cars. The man asked the salesman how much the car cost and the salesman replied you wouldn’t be able to afford it. The man upset left the dealership and came back another day, purchased the Rolls Royce, had it painted orange and turned it into a taxi cab.

I always thought it was just a myth but I got the photograph above today on Whatsapp and turns out the story did happen although not like the one I had heard. The story apparently is that the local dealerships were at a car show in Geneva and the Rolls Royce dealer teased the Buick dealer telling him that he was practically selling taxis. The Buick dealer got bothered and bought the Rolls Royce and turned it into a taxi to piss him off.

Update: Added more photographs

So the main reason I was in Abu Dhabi last weekend was for the Formula 1 Grand Prix which I had never experienced before. In Abu Dhabi the track is located on Yas Island surrounded by a whole bunch of entertainment facilities like a marina, a hotel, Ferrari World, Waterworld, O1NE by Skybar, Du Arena and more. The evening of the F1 practice sessions I was in the car heading to one of the super yachts when I heard the sound of the F1 cars live for the very first time. At that moment it was the most beautiful sound in the world that gave me goosebumps and sent an adrenaline rush through my body. It was incredible loud and powerful and I couldn’t wait for race day.

I think we had one of the best seats in the house for the Abu Dhabi Formula 1 event. Our seats weren’t really seats but more like a lounge with 5-star catering and a balcony with a seating area overlooking the start line and located right over the Ferrari pit lane. We were in the Paddock Club. If that wasn’t cool enough we had a few celebrities in our lounge including football legend Maradona, Knight Rider and Baywatch star David Hasselhoff and the founder of Pagani Motors, Horacio Pagani. With the Paddock Club access we also got access to the pit lane which meant we could check out the teams prepping the cars for the race.

Watching the race at the track was a pretty strange experience since I spent most of the time watching it on the large screens that were located across from us because you couldn’t see the whole track while sitting in one location. So even though I was physically at the race I was still watching it as if I was sitting at home except I was sitting next to Maradona and Hasselhoff.

It was a once in a lifetime experience and as I told our hosts, I’m now probably spoiled and don’t think I could ever watch a Formula 1 event live again unless I get to experience it the same way I did on this trip.

[YouTube]

A friend sent me the picture above of new average speed cameras that are being installed on the King Fahad highway. The cameras are being installed on the highway down south near the chalet areas in two spots, one near where the Fahaheel Expressway meets the King Fahad highway and the other further down near Hardees. I think that’s actually a pretty smart setup since there are currently no speed cameras on that stretch of highway and I’ve seen cars regularly over take me going over 160KM/h.

The way the average speed cameras work is when you pass the first camera it records your license plate number and then when you pass the second camera it calculates the time it took you to get there from the first one. Based on how quickly you got from one camera to another it will calculate your average speed and if it’s over the speed limit you get fined.

Thanks Musaed

It’s at the intersection of Khaldya and the 4th Ring Road. [YouTube]

[YouTube]

There’s a guy selling a beautiful classic Porsche 911 on Q8car which isn’t anything new except for the fact he has a YouTube video linked in the cars description. I hadn’t seen that before on Q8car and thought it was a pretty smart thing to do. Here is the information attached to the video:

This is My Porsche 911 Turbo 3.3 , model 1991 I have had it since 1991 and I am looking for a new home for my Porsche . It is in a good condition and it has a mileage of 105944 Km , this is the original color of the car and The original interior leather , I did some paint jobs in the past 23 years and always kept the same color . I have changed only the cd player of my car , every thing else in the car is Original .

[email protected]
+965 60051891

You can also check out his Q8car page [Here]

The Kuwait Historical, Vintage & Classic Car Museum just finished building a race track and will be officially introducing it to the public on October 10th. The race track was built across the street from City Center Shuwaikh in the empty desert space right next to the car museum.

Once the track is open it will be available to anyone who wants to race on it. The track will be used for a variety of different activities including racing, karting, drifting, car dealership test drives and even a 4X4 experience.

They still haven’t finalized how much it will cost to use the track but I’ve been told it will be a minimal fee. For more pictures check out their Instagram account [Here]

Track photos above by zDistrict

The Red Bull Car Park Drift is back and it’s going to be held at the Kuwait International fairgrounds. It’s taking place this weekend and there should be lots of great photo opportunities, here are the details:

Location: Kuwait International Fair
Date: Friday October 4th, 2013
Time: 3:00pm – 5:00pm

For more information you can visit the Red Bull website [Here]

Ever since Vincent Chase got a silver Quattroporte on the TV series Entourage I’ve been obsessed with the car which is why when the Maserati dealership asked me if I was interested in reviewing the new Quattroporte I was like duck yes!

The review car I picked up was silver just like the one on the show except I had the all new sixth-generation Quattroporte (2013 model). The new Quattroporte looks different on both the outside and inside in addition to having a more powerful engine. The car I picked up was the top of the line model with a V8 530hp engine so I was pretty thrilled once I hit the highway.

I’ve driven a lot of fast cars but I’ve never driven one so quiet. The car is scary quiet and I use the word scary here because you could be driving insanely fast without even realizing. I’m not going to mention what speed I found myself at when I casually looked down at the speedometer while driving on an empty stretch, but lets just say after that incident I turned on the cars speed warning to alert me once I hit 120km/h.

It’s such a smooth and quiet ride that it’s easy to forget you’re really driving a sports car. The interior is super pimped out (tastefully of course) with leather everywhere including all over the dashboard and real suede covering the roof. The car I drove had the optional 15-speaker, 1280-watt Bowers & Wilkins sound system which I could stream my music to over bluetooth. The car has a large touch screen interface with navigation, climate control, music and the car settings all easily accessible. There are loads of compartments to store your stuff in with the two most useful located around the gear shift. In the rear you also have your own set of controls in case you’re being driven around with a driver but still want to be able to control various aspects of comfort.

The car looks fast and slick from the outside even though it’s a 4-door. The rear is probably my least favorite part of the car since I preferred the triangular shaped lights of the previous generation which looked more distinct. I took the car to my favorite spot to take photos but when I pulled out my camera it turned out I had left my memory stick at home. It was the second day with the car and I don’t think I could have kept it for another day so I ended up taking all my photos with my iPhone.

I thought I looked pretty ballin’ driving around in the Quattroporte with the music blasting high and my friends with me in the car. It’s not just an old persons car which is why it was most likely it was chosen as Vincent’s car on Entourage. Price-wise, the V8 version I drove starts at around KD39,000 with the V6 version costing a bit less. If you’re interested in test driving the car yourself you can pass by the Maserati dealer in Al-Rai (Al-Zayani) and check it out there.

Here is a link to the Quattroporte on the Maserati website [Link]

A car that was stolen four months back was found not by the police parked behind a police station. Hilarious. [Link]

I scored a 17 surprisingly. The hardest part was trying to understand the poorly translated questions. [Link]