Category: Automotive

Its actually not looking that bad in these pictures at all. But thats probably because we can’t see the rear… [Link]

via autoblog

Now this is a hot looking Lexus. Whoever designed it should have designed the new LX 570 [Link]

via autoblog

The Ministry of Information Interior has a competition to find the best driver in Kuwait. You can apply online and the grand prize is I think KD250.
To qualify you need to:

1) Own either a car or motorbike
2) Not have gotten any traffic violations between 07/31/2006 and 01/07/2007
3) Not have had any car accident between 07/31/2006 and 01/07/2007

To enter the competition visit the MOI website. [Link]

I am Am I the only one who finds this competition funny? Funny or not I am still going to sign up.

update: Imagine if the cops start recruiting drivers…

“Hi, sorry to pull you over but we’ve been tailing you for the past 30 minutes and we’ve noticed your driving skills are unparalleled. We would like you to consider signing up to the “Role Model Driver of the Year” competition because we think you have a strong chance of winning. What do you say?”

Nibaq sent me this over the weekend. Its a chart of the most reliable and least reliable vehicles. In the number 1 spot for reliability its Lexus, Toyota is 5th, BMW 9th and Mercedes 19th. The least reliable brand is Land Rover and its the least reliable by FAR. [Picture]

The best pictures I have seen of the new Land Cruiser so far. Interior looks pretty cool, exterior still looks like crap. They also have pictures of the new LX570. [Link]

Today I had a flat tire AND a flat spare! The worst part though was trying to find four tires for my car. I went to the Canada Dry street and went to all the main dealers and they were mostly out of stock with the good stuff. In the end I managed to get the last two Michelin Pilot Sport PS2 available and I reserved two more that should arrive to Kuwait sometime in July. I reserved two tires, thats like the most ridiculous thing!

This was an actual commercial that was released!

[YouTube]

So even presidents have car problems.

[YouTube]

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Picture taken from USA Today’s article “First look: ‘Speed Racer’s’ demon on wheels” [Link]

Marzouq was at the Audi R8 launch yesterday and he took some pictures. I heard the car is going to be priced around KD43,000. [Link]

Yesterday I dropped my car at the BMW dealer because some parts I had ordered arrived. While there I spotted a really cool looking car that looked like an old Lotus. Turned out it was a BMW M1. The car was made between 1978-1981 and it looked like it was in excellent condition. At that moment I was like I need to have that car. Of course I didn’t know how much a vintage car like that cost. I just checked online and the cheapest one I found was for $91,000. What a cool car though.

I finally picked up my car today from the BMW dealer but before I picked it up I got taken backstage to the garage and given a short tour plus introduced to a few people.

Overall I found the employees backstage to be a lot friendlier and more interesting then the people they have in the front dealing with customers which is kind of ironic. They told me they had received calls from various people around the world regarding my email and post (thanks to everyone who told me to email BMW in Germany and Dubai). The workshop manager told me no case ever grew to this proportion and that next week a delegation is even coming to Kuwait to check on the problems.

I told the workshop manager I was positive they weren’t coming because of my complaint alone but because they had been receiving a lot of complaints from many people. I also told him I wouldn’t have even sent out the emails or posted what I posted had there been friendly and good customer service.

Anyway they fixed the car and didn’t charge me for it and now its running perfectly so I am happy.

I just got a phone call a few minutes ago from the BMW workshop manager. He was very sincere and apologized about how my radiator leak was handled and they want to now fix the car at their cost. They are sending a tow truck to pick up my car from the other garage.

I just got a phone call from my Mercedes contact asking me nicely if I could remove my negative review of the car so I complied. I didn’t have to remove the review, I did it out of courtesy because I didn’t want to cause the person any problems. Just wanted everyone to know why that post disappeared.

I was driving the E-Class all day today and so far I have mixed feelings about it. First let me get the negatives out of the way.

The E-Class I am driving is the E200 which is the lowest spec’d E-Class at the moment. The engine is a small 4-cylinder pumping out 183hp which means the car isn’t fast at all. In fact I found it frustratingly slow when driving off from a stand still. When you first slam the gas nothing happens until the RPM passes the 2000RPM mark and only then the car moves so it feels very laggy, you have this 1 or 2 second pause before the car reacts. The 0-100 acceleration is around 11 seconds! The second thing is, the car doesn’t have any special options, no navigation system, no rear view camera, no seat warmers, the steering wheel and chair don’t retract when you come in and even the passenger side chair isn’t electrically adjustable.

Now that we got that negatives out of the way here are the positives. The car is extremely comfortable and its very relaxing to drive. The mood inside the car with the plush leather seats creates a very cozy atmosphere. The sound proofing is also great, even at high speeds there is barely any wind or engine noise, although the later might be attributed to the small 4-cylinder engine. The legroom in the back is really roomy and the car does have a large sunroof which is always appreciated. The AC and stereo controls are very simple to operate which is a godsend for people who don’t want to fidget around with a complicated control system.

Really though I am really curious to know why Mercedes has the lowest spec’d E-Class as a test drive vehicle. If I wanted to buy the car I would have been put off with the lack of power and features in this test drive vehicle. Its a Mercedes which is expected to last a long time so if I was going to buy it I would personally invest more money and get a higher spec’d model like the E280 or even the E350. But for those who are budget conscious or for people who don’t want to pollute the planet with a gas guzzling 6-cylinder car, the Mercedes E200 costs around KD12,000.

You can get more information on this car and a full price list on the local dealers website. [Link]