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AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 8 VOL 5
FERRARI F458 Sensational new rival
AUGUST 2009 ISSUE 8 VOLUME 5
for Lambo’s Gallardo
M I D D L E
E A S T
E D I T I O N
BLAST OFF
BMW X6M We drive the SUV with a serious attitude problem
Cracking 400kph without the roof in the Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport
JAG XJ
THE DEFINITIVE VIEW
Big executive gets a radical restyle
W W W. C A R M I D D L E E A S T . C O M
AUGUST 2009 AED15 Issue 8-5 BHD 1.5 KWD 1.5 OMR 1.5 SAR 15 QAR 15
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SCUDERIA SPIDER
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FORD MUSTANG
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AUDI TT RS
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FERRARI vs BENTLEY 9 771817 142009 An ITP Consumer Publication
Encounter with destiny Land Rover’s Defender is still the ultimate explorer vehicle. Shahzad Sheikh takes the soft top to a deserted ghost town
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RANKLY IT MISSES THE POINT. RANKLY, POINT A 360kph Bugatti Veyron Grand Sport can’t conceivably be considered a logical purchase. At that speed your eardrums would be pummelled by an onslaught of sound, your follicles will try to rip from your scalp and your body will tense up like a coiled clockwork mechanism as you battle the buffeting. Meanwhile, your vision is blurred and your eyeballs are itchy because your tears have been blasted away. For a similar adrenaline rush from exposed, tumultuous momentum jump on a rollercoaster. It’s a lot cheaper and arguably safer. There are only two reasons to opt for open-tops and they depend on the type of individual you aspire to be. The first is the incredibly vain kind, those who deem their own visage of such brilliance that they graciously allow others to behold it – or they just want to make sure everyone knows it’s them in the hot car. The others are amiable extroverts who are curious to see, smell, sense and feel very aspect of the journey of life as they make passage through it. An enclosed cabin for them acts less as a guarantor of comfort, security and serenity, but more an enforcer of isolation and detachment from the world ‘out there’. To follow their example and benefit from the potential fulfilment of going topless you need to do two things. To start with, slow down so as to immerse yourself in the aura of whence you pass through. Secondly, go somewhere soaked in ambience and atmosphere – the kind of place that will sink into your soul and leave your hairs standing on end. The first didn’t take long to address. Filed under the title of ‘world’s slowest convertible’ is the Defender
Photography Thanos Lazopoulos 36 AUGUST 2009
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ADVENTURE LAND ROVER DEFENDER
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ADVENTURE LAND ROVER DEFENDER
90 Soft Top, as seen on these pages and available A new six-speed manual gearbox was slotted in from your local Land Rover dealer. with a lower first for rock-crawling (naturally, It’s essentially derived from the original Series I you also get low ratios and differential lock) and of 1948 having undergone many evolutions. In a higher sixth for a less fussy and thriftier cruise. its last regenerative incubation the venerable External changes are noticeable only to anoraks, Defender received a comprehensive overhaul but inside there was a new full width fascia aimed at securing its lifespan through with instrumentation from the LR3, REFRESHED to a time that legislation makes it some carried-over switchgear and The ‘07 model year obsolete – that would be 2010. borrowed panels from a Ford Transit. saw a completely new fascia with bits The air-con’s improved, but that’s Land Rover’s own diesel was ditched borrowed from the in favour of a Ford 2.4-litre unit something of a moot point when LR3 and the Ford Transit Van. It’s still which was reworked to cope with wet driving this particular Defender, as it crude and cramped and dusty conditions and maintain was fully roofless and didn’t come with though. Functional lubrication whatever the incline its bimini canvas. And this in July! is the word off-road driving could present it with. All of this extensive refurbishment The power peak was reduced so that the maximum makes the cabin a more palatable place for the available 121bhp is delivered at a low 3500rpm, modern motorist with controls, stalks and whilst torque is pumped to a beefy 265lb ft buttons that are easily recognised and intuitively and spread across just 1500-2000rpm. operated. Ergonomics are just about acceptable
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and the seat itself is comfy. Seating position on the other hand is relative to you – those with long-legs, like me, will find it cramped. It remains crude and basic, though certainly a big step up. Functional and workmanlike would be apt words to employ at this point. The gearbox is definitely an improvement, less clunky – you don’t select the dog-leg reverse quite as often when intending to make a pitch for first. A rattle greets you on start up but it’s a contemporary clatter and the performance benefits from turbocharging. The official 0-100kph figure is 15.8secs, but I could only manage a best of 18.1. By comparison the Veyron will reach 240kph from standstill in less than half that. Straining every last millimetre of give from the accelerator only achieves a barely sustainable 133kph. A cruising speed of around 90kph is more acceptable due to the self-acquired stance of elbow on the window sill – typical of Landy lovers, but practical due to the intimacy of the door panel. On-road handling is grippy and... not worth talking about really. Come on, this thing rides on squishy coil suspension optimised for painfullooking axle articulation so beloved of hard-core off-roady types. Plus it can transport over half a ton of cargo. Can the Bugatti do that? Nonetheless the ride is actually quite good, though somewhat lolloping. It’s probably the saving grace in the unusually time consuming journey east from Dubai to Ras Al Khaimah. Which brings us back to the second requirement of fruitful open-air motoring – atmosphere. We’ve come to a ghost town. The derelict settlement of Jazirat Al Hamra used to be on an island until dredging and receding waters affixed it to the ever-changing UAE coastline. Once occupied by the Zaabi tribe who were mostly fishermen and pearl divers, allegedly they also partook in a spot of pirating. Legend has it the
inhabitants fell out with the Sheikh of RAK decades ago but found sanctuary with the ruler of Abu Dhabi. Others claim they simply chose to give up a harsh life on what is the eldest town on the Gulf for contempory living in the UAE capital. The village is a mixture of late twentieth century structures and coral stone houses dating back over a 100 years. Eerily quiet even in the GO ANYWHERE middle of the day, despite surrounding The conical minaret with this mosque is construction and industrial enterprises, a rare find. This driving through the deserted pathways derelict former is creepy yet fascinating. fishing village is the eldest found on the Whilst the photographer snapped static Persian Gulf. The shots of the Defender, a nearby door Defender took it all in its stride creaks and swings on its own despite the stillness. I take a peak inside the barren structure, but resist the temptation to enter. Some of the graffiti claims that djinn live here But Land Rovers made their reputation in exploration and this tough, dependable workhorse of the wild proves a perfect vehicle for picking our way through the narrow alleyways, passing the crumbling buildings and through the overgrowth. There’s nowhere it won’t go – at one point, we even drive into the courtyard of a house. Traditional wind towers intersperse with rectangular holes where air-con units once lived, and smashed tiles and tubelight brackets lay littered not far from a rare conical minaret at one of the mosques. These remnants of a mixed heritage paints a picture of an ancient culture adopting and ultimately being consumed by modernity. The Defender felt at home here in more ways than one, partly because it takes this stuff in its stride, but mainly because its own destiny is reflected in the fate of this village. The automotive stalwart is inevitably doomed – it already feels outdated, despite the freshening. But it remains the most hard-core soft top you can buy and still the ultimate explorer.
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