2:48AM - Entertaining Kuwait since 2003
Last week I posted about my experience with the Subaru BRZ and a good friend of mine just posted about his experience with the Subaru’s twin brother, the Toyota GT86. It’s a very short one liner review but he’s got a ton of great pictures which you can check out [Here]
The Historical, Vintage & Classic Cars Museum is holding a parade on Wednesday, October 10th 2012. The parade will start at 4pm from Kuwait Towers and will head towards the museum in Shuwaikh. There should be lots of photo opportunities as well as lots of cars to check out.
A friend of mine picked up his new Subaru BRZ around a week ago and asked me if I’d be interested in taking it out for a spin. Since it’s one of the hottest cars right now along with the Toyota 86 I really wanted to try it out. The Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 were developed jointly by Toyota and Subaru. The 86 refers to the original Toyota Corolla AE86 which has a very large cult following all over the world.
There are currently two BRZ’s in Kuwait, an automatic and a manual gear version. My friend has the manual one and since I hadn’t driven stick shift since 1996 I was looking forward to it. Embarrassingly, I spent the first half hour getting the hang of the stick shift with my friend sitting next to me while we drove around his neighborhood. I was so bad that he got car sick and told me to drop him back home and bring the car back whenever I was done. Things got better after that since I had less pressure and once I hit the highways it was smooth sailing.
The car is pretty compact and cozy. The interior is simple and very plasticky which is fine except for the fact the BRZ in Kuwait comes with a really cheap looking 90s style CD player radio unit which would be the first thing I’d personally throw out of the car. Everything else I could live with but the stereo is just too retro for my taste. The AC is great and the very simple LED screen in the dash shows the outside temperature as well as what gear number you’re in. It’s all very basic but that’s really how the car should be.
The car is a rear wheel drive but the steering has a lot of feel to it. It’s very precise and probably my favorite part in the car. It’s not a powerful or really fast car by any means but if you’re a fan of the car you already know that. Handling wise the car is supposed to be great but I wasn’t really able to explore that since I didn’t speed nor did I take the car to any track. But the car did feel light and very agile.
The BRZ costs around KD8,500 but is currently very difficult to get a hold of one. The dealer is getting just one more BRZ from now till the end of the year and I think it’s already sold. It’s a pretty fun car that’s affordable and like the Toyota 86 will probably end up selling like hot cakes.
A reader who’s currently in Dubai for the weekend spotted the new soon to be released 2013 Range Rover covered in a bit of camouflage while being tested on the highway there. Check out the pictures below.
Thanks Vampire
Video was uploaded awhile back but this is the first time I see it. Nothing compared to the Saudi vids but what I found interesting is the fact they closed a bridge underpass in a residential area in broad daylight. [YouTube]
Not only do they outrun the cops but then they go back and give them the finger. Only in Saudi Arabia. [YouTube]
No idea why the guy was driving on the emergency lane in the first place when the left lane was free of traffic. [YouTube]
That looks slightly better than our DeLorean in Kuwait. [Link]
Heard about this service ages ago but never bothered to find out how to subscribe to it. The MOI SMS service when signed up to it will notify you when you commit traffic violations. The sign up fee is KD1 and then it’s 40fils per SMS notification. Here are the sign up instructions:
To subscribe, send the following SMS:
E(space)Civil ID
Example:
E 1111111111
Send the SMS to one of the following numbers:
Zain Subscribers 992
Viva Subscribers 55250
Wataniya Subscribers 1750
via PeachBox
At first glance you might think they’re parked and hanging out in Salmiya but they’re actually in Champs Elysées. [YouTube]
I’ve been noticing cars with these two antennas sticking out of the back. Not sure if it’s just a trend or they actually serve a purpose.
Turns out it was parked illegally in the taxi bay along with another Mercedes G Class from Kuwait that was also got towed. [YouTube]
via Q8allinone
Update: I found out what happened in the video above and it turned out to be just an innocent mistake that was blown out of proportion because the car that was towed was an Aventador. The store is the owner of the car parked the car in an illegal parking spot not knowing it was a spot dedicated to taxis. The sign was written in French and there were other cars parked so he just parked next to the other cars. Turns out the spot he parked in specifically was a taxi spot which is why it got towed.
The first RaceRoom in the Middle East is opening up today inside Baroue at the Avenues. The RaceRoom is sort of an arcade but one that’s filled with realistic car simulators. They used to have one simulator before which was the Gulf Run simulator and I guess it was really popular because they’ve now expanded on that idea. For a bit more information you can check out their Facebook page [Here]
Update: I passed by Baroue awhile ago and turns out they’ve remodeled the whole top floor. It’s now a proper arcade FILLED with racing games. The place looks super cool and it’s just one racing game after another all around the place. Sadly they don’t have a vintage gaming section filled with original Daytona 1 and Sega Rally 1 machines, that would have been the icing on the cake for me. The actual RaceRoom is a private room located in the middle of the arcade floor filled with 6 realistic racing simulators. That room is going to be open from tomorrow but the rest of the floor is open right now. I took a bunch of pictures which you can check out below.
