Category: Automotive

Camel in the back of a Supercharged Range Rover. [Link]

I was contacted by Alghanim Automotive asking me if I’d be interested in reviewing the new Camaro ZL1. I’m honestly not a big fan of American cars and if they were asking me to review the regular Camaro I would have most likely said no, but… the ZL1 is a different kind of Camaro, it’s a Camaro with a V8 6.2L 580-freakin-HP monster engine. So I said yes.

There’s a popular saying that people don’t change, well that’s not true. I’m usually a law abiding, non-agressive and courteous driver, but once I started driving the ZL1 I changed. In my neighborhood I became the asshole down the street with the loud car who tries to run down all the cats. On the highway I became the jerk that cuts everyone off, at u-turns I became the douche that slides his car at full thrust and at red traffic lights I was the dipstick who kept revving his engine loudly. This car is dark and evil. It changes people. All I wanted to do is drive around with my middle finger sticking out the window while doing donuts in the middle of every intersection on the Gulf Road. Oh and a large FUCK YOU sticker on the rear window would have been nice as well. I really loved this car.

The ZL1 I picked up was pretty aggressive looking. The color was a very dark gray (jet black), the 20inch wheels were black and the interior was also black. If I was to choose a color combination for my car this would have been exactly it. I am really thankful to Alghanim for not providing me with a bright yellow Camaro with black stripes running down the middle since I would have most likely puked all over it. The interior as I mentioned was also black but they also used Alcantara (suede like material) for the steering wheel, gear stick and dash which made the interior very sporty looking. I had a choice between an auto and manual but since my stick shift skills are as good as Kim Kardashians acting skills, I chose the auto to the dismay of all my friends. I don’t regret I did. Although the automatic gearbox has a lot to be desired in term of responsiveness and speed, it didn’t really matter to me since I wasn’t on the track and I was just having too much fun with the car to notice. The car really is a lot of fun to drive. The first two days when I picked up the car it was raining so obviously the roads were wet and a 580HP rear wheel drive car on a wet surface is asking for trouble (the good kind). You really do need to respect the power which I wasn’t really doing hence why I got the scare of my life when I was driving at around 110KM/H and gave the car a kick down which to my surprise slid the ass sideways so much I nearly hit the car on my right. This car is a beast. It’s loud, it’s angry and it wants to kill you. I have no idea how I didn’t get stopped by the cops and deported in the five days I had the car. It was crazy good times.

I do have a bunch of negatives about the car though. For one thing the seats aren’t sporty enough. I would have wanted them to be deeper bucket seats and tighter since I was sliding left and right on my seat without much side support. The stereo was also a disappointment even though it was a 250w Boston Acoustics sound system, it just didn’t have the oomph. Externally, the front and sides of the car look pretty aggressive but the rear not so much. If I bought this car the first thing I’d do is replace the rear wing with a carbon version to match the carbon on the front hood, I’d also black out the chrome around the rear lights and more importantly replace the rear bumper with one more aggressive looking and possibly one with a rear carbon skirt. Finally gas consumption. If you drive the car like an old women the gas consumption is actually not that bad. On the other hand if you drive the car like it’s meant to be driven then you’re going to consume a lot of gas, and I mean A LOT of gas. There was one day where I filled the gas tank full three freakin times! I’ve never done that with ANY car before not even on long road trips.

The price of the auto ZL1 in Kuwait is KD19,695. The manual version is for slightly less at KD19,195. If you’re looking for a very fun monster but one that’s still comfortable as an everyday car then I can’t think of anything better than this. I want this car.

Note: No cats were harmed during the making of this review

Last weekend GulfRun held their second Karting Endurance race as the Mishref Fairgrounds which was organized by Pro-Vision. It was a 24hour race that started on Friday and finished on Saturday. The event was pretty exciting with great racing by the teams and lots of spectators supporting them. I passed by on both days and took a bunch of photos which you can see below. The next GulfRun event is GulfRun 8 which will be held in Bahrain this coming January.

According to an article in the Kuwait Times it seems they’re going to be installing more average speed cameras on the highways. Average speed cameras measure the time you take from point A to point B and then calculate your average speed between these two points. If your average speed exceeds the speed limit you’ll get fined. Currently the only location they’ve installed an average speed camera is on the First Ring Road (pictured above). Here is a link to the Kuwait Times article. [Link]

Qabaq shot the video above at the Kuwait Car Hydraulics Battle. The cars look great, too bad the video is really short. [Link]

A reader emailed me informing me that around a month ago her uncle had a motorcycle accident on the road to Hilton resort (Al Mangaf) because of an unmarked speed bump. She shared the video above of her uncle with his son backtracking the route he took before his accident.

When you watch the video you’ll see that the first speed bump has no markings, no reflectors and no sign before it warning of speed bumps ahead. All she’s asking for is the Ministry of Public Works to consider marking the speed bump so that no one else gets hurt. I think thats a very reasonable request. [YouTube]

Cars, trucks and now buses are using the emergency lane during traffic. On the bright side, I was on the 5th Ring Road the other day heading to Avenues and people were driving on the emergency lane (even though traffic wasn’t that bad). Turns out there were cops parked on the emergency lane further down the road and they were stopping all the cars on the emergency lane and giving them tickets.

Photo by Musaed

Ouch that’s gotta suck. [YouTube]

Thanks Eric

Yesterday the annual classic cars gathering took place at the Hard Rock Cafe parking lot. A reader emailed me a link to pictures he took at this event. You can check them out [Here]

Thanks Ahmed

It’s been awhile since I’ve linked to the blog re:kuwait but Barrak has an interesting post about the Jaber Bridge, the bridge that will link Kuwait City to Silk City in the North. Barrak is not in favor of the bridge and wants the idea to be scrapped completely. He does have an interesting case which you can read [Here]

Just a little cool thing I like about the taxis in Tokyo. They have doors that open and close automatically! [YouTube]

[YouTube]

…delivery trucks also start using the emergency lane during traffic.

via Nibaq

A reader was able to take these amazing photos this morning of a street cleaning vehicle on fire near the scientific center.

Photos by Johny Costa

On Saturday GMC were planning to break the record for the largest convoy of GMC vehicles in the world and according to a reader who participated in the event they were able to break it.

Does anyone have a list of all the records Kuwait currently holds? I’ve honestly lost count and there are 7 more that will supposedly be broken during the fireworks show on the 10th.

Here are some pictures of the event [Link]

Thanks Ahmad

#welcometokuwait [YouTube]

via @nibaq