Articles from CAR Middle East 2007

March 2007

CIVIC TYPE R GIANT TEST MIDDLE EAST EDITION

IT USED TO TAKE 12 DAYS TO DRIVE FROM COAST TO COAST, NOT ANYMORE

AUDI R8 +PORSCHE & LAMBO RIVALS

Issue 3 Volume 3

JAG XK CABRIO hits Sharjah DESERT TRAIL Tahoe & Yukon SUVs ■

MARCH 2007 AED10 Issue 3-3 BHD 1 KWD 1 OMR 1 SAR 10 QAR 10

9 771817 142009

An ITP Consumer Publication

F1 ABU DHABI ■ FERRARI WORLD ■ BMW 335CI ■ MASERATI GRANTOURISMO ■

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CHEVY TAHOE & YUKON DENALI

The mighty Trailblazers A historic coast-to-coast caravan route and GM’s new-generation SUV cousins Story Shahzad Sheikh Photography Richard Parsons

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CHEVY TAHOE & YUKON DENALI

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OTH THE CHEVROLET TAHOE AND THE GMC Yukon are named after large bodies of water. Lake Tahoe is the second deepest lake in the United States, the area around which was originally inhabited by a Native American tribe who called it ‘Da ow a ga’, which means ‘edge of lake’. Apparently early settlers shortened it to ‘Da ow’, which evolved into ‘Tahoe’. Canada’s Yukon Territory in the far northwest was titled after the Yukon River, which also runs through the U.S. state of Alaska. ‘Yukon’ means ‘great river’ in the native Gwich’in language.

But right here and now, both cars needed to be renamed to fit into their current context: Chevrolet Torrid and GMC Bone-dry came immediately to mind. We’d detoured 300 metres into a small wadi to look for carcasses.

Dariush Zandi, in his book Off-Road in the Emirates, dubbed this enclosed chasm in the side of Jebel Rawdah as ‘Death Valley’ because camels HISTORIC TRAIL came here to die. Our fascination with the morbid met with Journeying from disappointment however and, not wanting to end up as prime exhibits coast-to-coast in old ex-RAF Bedford ourselves for those 4x4 adventurers that followed, we turned our own trucks would take ‘ships of the desert’ around hoping GM’s latest range of full-size SUVs 12 days just 60hadn’t lost any of their rock-clambering abilities, as we looked back up at years ago, today, good off-roader the loosely packed 30 degree incline we’d come down. But our dynamic acan drive it in a duo didn’t even break a sweat and this, our first foray into the truly few hours unknown, planted the seeds of confidence that would grow into foolhardiness later in our trip.

For our first Middle East drives of these behemoths we decided to follow part of the trail that formed one of the oldest caravan routes from the Arabian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman. In the foreword to the same book, British author and photographer, Ronald Codrai recounts his experience of hitching a ride on a bidfad (an ex-RAF Bedford truck) for the 12-day journey from Dubai to Muscat in the Spring of 1948. He describes how at one point the truck overheated and everyone poured the last of their drinking water into the radiator, hoping they’d make it to Huwaylat before dehydration and delirium set in, especially with more than half the passengers armed!

Fortunately the only thing we had to ‘shoot’ with were photographer Richard Parson’s cameras. Besides features ed, Jon Saxon had stocked up the back of the Tahoe with plenty of bottles of Masafi for a journey that would take little more than a few hours in a good off-roader today. And we’d clearly brought along two very good examples of the breed, both with a pedigree for pummelling this kind of terrain into submission. The Tahoe and Yukon can trace their DNA back to the GMC Suburban which ran from 1973 to 1999, and was popularly referred to in our region simply as the Jemce. Hard and hardy, it had a reputation for reliably traversing the vast distances here, onroad or off it, packed with people and with belongings piled high on the roof.

The new cars have a lot to live up to.

A downside of modernisation though, is the complicated branching into different configurations and badging of the Jemce as GM tries to exploit niche marketing. So the Suburban is now a Chevrolet and is actually the long-wheel base version of the Tahoe; visually distinguished by the straight unbroken back shutline of the rear door – it cuts into the wheelarch on the Tahoe. The ‘smaller’ car is available as either a 4.8 or 5.3-litre V8 in two- or

FOLLOW THE LEADER More powerful Denali lead most of the way, but the 5.3-litre Tahoe had no trouble keeping pace

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WE DROVE PART OF THE OLDEST CARAVAN ROUTES FROM THE ARABIAN GULF TO THE GULF OF OMAN

RALLY ROUTE So you’re out in the middle of nowhere, at one with nature, and all of a sudden a bunch of rally cars come screaming through

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CHEVY TAHOE & YUKON DENALI GMC YUKON DENALI (SWB) Price: $43,300 Engine: 6199cc, V8, 441bhp @ 6000rpm, 454lb ft @ 4400rpm Transmission: Six-speed automatic, four-wheel drive Weight: 2500kg Performance: 6.2secs 0-100kph, 180kph, 23.5l/100 On sale in the ME: Now

GOOD RELATIONS The Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon Denali offer different engines and transmissions, but drive-a-like.

Which is to say, both will get you across rough terrain in comfort

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four-wheel drive guise; though why would you ever buy a 2WD version of these cars in our market? The same goes for the Suburban but the engine choices are 5.3 and 6.0.

Things get even more abstruse with the Yukon, which you can have in normal or XL bodystyles (the long wheelbase guise similarly distinct to the Chevy), available as a 5.3 or 6.0litre V8 again with a choice of drivetrains. Just when think you’ve got that figured, GMC throws in the ‘luxury’ Denali version which borrows the 6.2 V8 and a six-speed auto (as opposed to the four-speed transmission) from its Cadillac Escalade cousin also sitting on the same GMT900 platform.

The Denali comes in regular and Xtra large too, but only with AWD and featuring the unique chrome honeycomb grille.

Confused? So were we, at one point resorting to watching the wheelspin on each other’s cars to confirm we had the fourwheel drive versions. In fact the Tahoe did have a high and low ratio four-wheel drive knob next to the steering wheel, but the permanent fully automatic Denali did not. So to clarify, we had the 5.3 Tahoe and the short wheelbase version of the 6.2 Yukon Denali. At least that’s what I think we had.

Prices for the Tahoe start from $30,760, with a considerably higher starting point of $43,300 for the Denali, though that’s

still nearly $20,000 less than more compromised Caddy version. Remove the badging and approach either of these cars from the rear or side and you’d be hard pressed to tell them apart despite the 18-inch wheels on the Denali compared to the 17s on the Tahoe. Viewed from the front I much prefer the stacked grille and more conventional features of the Tahoe to the wide-eyed grinning bullfrog expression of the Yukon with its Escalade-gone-wrong front styling.

The chiselled, more contemporary paper-fold styling of the new cars – wheels pushed out to the corners and aligned with the wheelarches – makes the new models somehow look more compact and planted, despite being slightly bigger: length is up from five metres by 131mm, height is up 8mm and they’re fractionally wider by 2.5mm. The better build quality and tighter shut lines are also apparent.

Interiors are vastly improved and even the Tahoe’s slightly thriftier trim compared to the Denali’s lavishness presented a pleasant, up-to-date and unintimidating layout, with a quality feel that is beginning to creep back into GM products of late.

There’s also more space in here, it boasts plenty of storage holes, power fold-seats, fantastic air con and a great stereo, plus pretty much all you’ll really need to service a big family.

CHEVROLET TAHOE Price: $30,760 Engine: 5328cc, V8, 355bhp @ 5400rpm, 372lb ft @ 4600rpm Transmission: Four-speed automatic, four-wheel drive Weight: 2500kg Performance: 8.5secs 0-100kph, 180kph, 21l/100 On sale in the ME: Now

DEATH VALLEY ‘This is where it says the dead camels should be!’ These two SUVs would never leave us stranded though

UNDERNEATH THEY STILL RIDE ON A LADDER frame but now offering 49 percent increased torsional stiffness.

The frame supports wider front and rear tracks – 76.2 mm wider in the front and 25.4 mm wider at the back and chassis improvements are significant with front torsion bars making way for coil springs, antiquated recirculating ball steering ditched for rack and pinion, and larger four-wheel disc brakes endowed with Bosch ABS. The new SUVs also all get StabiliTrak electronic stability control systems now incorporating rollover mitigation which is always handy. And even if you did manage to roll it, roof-mounted head curtain air bags are designed to stay inflated longer. Denali also gets electronically controlled shock absorbers.

‘You cannae change the laws of physics,’ Scotty used to say, and these two remain big lumbering barges with a fair degree of wobble and body roll to cope with. Yet the ride is much improved, calm if floaty on the road but well able to iron out the roughness of our off-tarmac venturing. Inline with the better build quality, the body control is tighter, better damped and more comfortable. The light, more precise but still uncommunicative steering does well in contributing to that shrink-wrapped thing that well-sorted big cars nowadays do MARCH 2007 car 83

CHEVY TAHOE & YUKON DENALI

VIEWED IN PROFILE IT’S HARD TO TELL THEM APART so well, in making you think you’re driving a smaller car. No getting around it though, these two are still pretty humungous!

DESERT MADE EASY Gravel tracks, rubble paths and even rocks couldn’t stop these two. Sand did though, but that has more to do with driver error and over-confidence

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FIVE CLICKS FURTHER INTO THE ROUTE NORTH, AROUND Qarn Al Himar, we found a cleft in a hill where Richard wanted to do some shots. At this point, quite bizarrely, a couple of 4x4s came over the other side with ‘course car’ stickers and informed us that we were standing in the middle of the route for the UAE rally. It’s not often you get free front row seats to a major motorsport event, so we hung around to wave the first few rally cars through – bet they didn’t expect ‘spectators’ out here.

For the next 25km despatching the gravel tracks and rubble paths of the Wadi Al Qawr proved just how far automobile engineering has come in the last 60 years, we might as well have been in hover cars compared to our forerunners who struggled through in their battered bidfads. We could even afford to venture off the track and at one point I drove the Yukon up a steep 40 degree incline to a ruined watch tower along a narrow rock-strewn ascent as my colleague kept an eye out for the meaner more threatening boulders.

Engaging in these sort of antics with relative ease and completely unscathed meant that when Richard suggested some shots in the sand, we pulled off the E44 and drove straight onto the dunes around Big Red and unsurprisingly, and almost simultaneously, got both cars hopelessly stuck! But as confirmed by the locals who drove our cars out of the mess we got them into after a bit of digging and pushing, getting grounded was more to do with driver error and not deflating the tyres first. As for the cars: ‘walla, goot kar, mowfi mushqilah!’

Better than the Ford Expedition and a worry for the Nissan Armada, this pair will not trouble the Range Rover, Cayenne and ML at the luxury end, and won’t exactly snatch sales from the all-conquering Land Cruiser and utilitarian Patrol, but should be near the top of a shopping list for a large clan of outdoor adventure types. The Yukon is smoother, quicker, more refined and better equipped, but doesn’t represent a giant leap over the already competent Tahoe, so I’d save the money and opt for that. Or was it the Suburban? car

May 2007

AWESOME BMW M3!

MIDDLE EAST EDITION

V8-powered super coupé

4-DOOR WRANGLER TESTED HONDA S2000 TRIBUTE ‘NO, MR BOND. I EXPECT YOU TO DRIVE!’

HARD LAMBO WE DRIVE THE Issue 5 Volume 3

SUPERLEGGERA

ULTIMATE ASTONS V8 Roadster v XKR and M6 Plus DBS and the classics

MAY 2007 AED10 Issue 5-3

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An ITP Consumer Publication

WRANGLER FOUR-DOOR

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It may be 66-years old but it resolutely refuses to grow up, despite the two extra doors Story Shahzad Sheikh Photography Mauricio Ramos HEN ARCHAEOLOGISTS IN THE 31ST CENTURY DIG UP A JEEP WRANGLER during their excavation of the lost city of Dubai, they’ll be absolutely gobsmacked. Not because it’ll probably start up after a battery recharge and pouring in some ancient fossil fuel, but because they’ll look back over their shoulders at their own transport and remark to each other: ‘they haven’t changed it much over the last millennia have they?’

The original Jeep can trace its very visible heritage back to the four-wheel drive 1940 contraption that the American Bantam company presented to the US forces as the BRC (Bantam Reconnaissance Car) 40. With the onset of World War II, the design was templated and given to both Willys-Overland and Ford to produce en masse. The rest as they say is history, a history that recounts the thirty-fourth US President, Dwight D. Eisenhower, as crediting the Jeep as one of the three weapons that won the second World War – the Dakota and the Landing Craft being the other two. Having been Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe, when he successfully invaded France and Germany in 1944-45, who would argue with his summation?

Now that’s some burden of heritage for a humble automobile to be carrying on its front fenders in this day and age of throwaway consumerism, not to mention one hell of a daunting proposition

‘IN THE DUNES, NOT ONLY DID IT NEVER GET STUCK, IT DIDN’T EVEN COME CLOSE TO BREAKING A SWEAT’

for any team told to go away and reinvent it. And it’s not surprising that they eventually emerged with, ‘ta dah!’, something that looked exactly the same as the old car, much to the relief of the anxious powers-to-be.

It’s not hard to imagine that this cycle will be repeated again at the next ‘reinvention’. So now we have the all-new 2007 Jeep Wrangler, which is so new that its ‘JK’ platform replaces the previous ‘TJ’ designated version. It may appear a facsimile but it’s larger than the existing model, with a 50.8mm longer wheelbase and 86.4mm wider track, though the two door model is actually 63.5mm shorter in overall length.

Apart from the 100 percent stiffer frame, 50 percent more rigid body and the new suspension configuration, you also get increased ground clearance, bigger wheels, even better off-roady bits including a disconnecting front sway bar – which is apparently a useful thing – plus a roomier and 20 percent quieter cabin, along with electronic roll mitigation, seat-mounted side air bags and a new 3.8-litre V6 engine.

THERE’S ALSO A WHOLE SEPARATE INCARNATION THAT appears to have been inspired by anthropological studies of an ageing society that refuses to grow old. Previously ‘surfer dude’ would get a job and a spouse and trade up to a Cherokee, followed by a Grand Cherokee when the sprogs began sprouting. It was all part of the Jeep rights of passage that brought with it the realisation of maturity and the need to be perceived as sensible.

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The new millennium of course brings us off-the-shelf youth. Medical science and an awareness of diet and fitness means there’s no need to grow old anymore, in fact it’s best not to. Ageism has seen to that. So now we cling on to our delinquencies, despite the aches and rickety bones and the little dependents that are looking up to us as role models.

It’s about staying young at heart if not in body. Hence the new Jeep is more spacious, softer riding, more comfortable, easier to live with and comes with niceties like a trip computer, tilt adjustable steering wheel, climate control and even, finally, electric windows and central locking, though still no electric mirrors! But it also now comes with an extra set of doors and a generous sized luggage compartment.

The elongated and narrow profile of the Jeep Unlimited brings to mind the Jeepneys of the Phillipines – public transport buses made out of leftover WWII Jeeps. Around town, it was hard to shake the sensation of driving the motorised equivalent of a dachshund sausage dog. In fact there is an optical illusion at play here, because while the Unlimited is actually 91mm shorter and 58mm wider than a Cherokee. At first glance the interior is roomy and contemporary. Then you start it up. Okay it doesn’t rattle or shimmy, nor did this auto model have a tall gear lever that shudders and a clutch that crunches. In fact it was all relatively civilised, apart from the tinniness that betrayed its simplistic structure.

Even in this supposedly grown-up guise, the Wrangler remains pretty much the ultimate Meccano set. True to tradition you can remove bits

WRANGLER FOUR-DOOR

DUNE SPECIALIST Extra ground clearance and specialist off-road dynamics, mean this car makes most sense out here in the desert

BETTER OVERALL It’s not just the extra doors that make the new Wrangler better, build quality has supposedly improved, and the interior is far more user-friendly

and chop and change it as you like. With this hard top version (a soft top is also available) you can remove the two separate panels above the driver and front passenger for Targa-style motoring. Rope in a mate and you can eventually unbolt and lift off the entire roof. And you don’t need to stop there: it’s possible to remove all four doors and drop down the windscreen for the full alfresco effect.

Around town it felt tall, ungainly and alien in a world of ‘Crossovers’ trying so hard to be ‘car-like’ to drive. The ride was soft, but surprisingly well controlled on fast sweeping bends, though you wouldn’t be wise to be chucking this thing around. It was quick enough thanks to a refined-for-a-Wrangler new V6, that whilst not as low down torquey as the tough old unit, manages to rev higher than before, and delivers 202bhp and 237lb ft of torque to get it to 100kph in about 10 seconds and on to around 170kph – not too shabby.

Trouble is there is plenty of wind noise at those sorts of speeds, along with tyre rumble and you can’t convince me that that roof isn’t going to leak should a freak monsoon hit the Middle East. Build quality may be vastly improved but you couldn’t be sure. The panel gaps are tighter than ever, and the updated dashboard holds no surprises for those uninitiated in the Ways of the Wrangler. The exposed interior trim and roof fittings, the foil-thin doors that have to be slammed at least twice, as well as the absurd two-part tailgate configuration that means you must close the window before the side- MAY 2007 car 69

WRANGLER FOUR-DOOR

JEEP WRANGLER UNLIMITED Price: $29,500 Engine: 3778cc V6, 205bhp @ 5000rpm, 240lb ft @ 4000rpm Transmission: Four-speed auto, four-wheel drive Performance: 10sec, 0-100kph, 170kph, 11.9l/100 On sale in the ME: Now

hinged door (which itself obstructs access to the pavement), leave this car well short of a place pitching for the ‘urban off-roader’ team.

BUT MOST OF THOSE CHUNKY SCHOOLRUN SPECIALS merely pretend to host extra-tarmacular abilities, whereas the Wrangler doesn’t just talk the talk. So we hooked up with the popular Jeep Jamboree event to join several hundred off-roaders on a escapade through the dunes in what organiser, 4x4 expert and CAR ME contributor, Fraser Martin, described as an easy, gentle run – but again judging by the soft deep sand and rather steep inclines, that was a case of ‘relatively speaking’ amongst the Jeep sect.

And yet with a comparative novice at the wheel not only did the Jeep never get stuck, it didn’t even come close to breaking a sweat.

The only time it got into a predicament was when some of our enthusiastic fellow Jamboree-ers took the wheel for some spirited dune bashing and managed to ‘pop’ the wheel off the rim. But that too was apparently my fault for being a little over-zealous whilst letting the air out at the deflation point. As they jumped into action raising the car and re-inflating the rubber I inquired as to what these brand aficionados made of the Wrangler ‘limo’. They confirmed it looks odd to eyes used to the regular two-door, it could do with more power, the ride is more accomplished, it’s easier to drive and it’s a lot more practical, but… Actually there wasn’t a ‘but’, these guys loved it.

Unanimously. In fact the aforementioned discerning and demanding, Mr Martin, had already put it to the test in the wilds and wadis, pronounced it estimable, and ordered one for himself.

The Jamboree pretty much left us in its wake as photographer Mauricio and constantly veered off the route in search of photo locales and snapped away at our brand new ‘trail-rated’ Sahara Unlimited. Even once we were technically ‘lost’ it didn’t IT’S A REAL JEEP seem to leave us too concerned, such was our growing Wrangler works hard to remind confidence in our rough-rider. of its offEmerging from the desert, I realised with something of owners roading heritage and credentials, as forehead-slapping moment, that I finally got it. I as its ability to understood what the Jeep was about, what it represented, well conquer the Rubicon and what it could do. And it was necessary to reassess the scale by which I had previously judged, rather too harshly, its on-road manners. Despite its perceived practicality, this car is definitely more Land Rover Defender than Toyota Prado, and it’s certainly better to drive and live with than the venerable Landy, as well as being cheaper. The Wrangler: 66-years young and loving it! car 70 car MAY 2007

HONDA S2000 CULT CLASSIC

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REDLINE! We take the latest generation S2000 for a blast and meet up with the revvy roadster’s biggest fans Story Shahzad Sheikh Photography Jorge Ferrari

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ULLING OFF THE DUBAI-HATTA ROAD TOWARDS THE mountains, preparation for the tight and twisty hill climb ahead involved pausing to deaden the stereo, unlatch the hood and pull back the toggle switch positioned just behind the stubby gearlever. Just six seconds later the hood was stowed. All the better to relish the famously high-revving 2-litre Honda S2000 engine’s manic F1 style shriek bouncing off the jagged mountainscape.

Redlined at 9000rpm this is the most rev-happy power unit you will find in a production car. Despite its excitability it has a reputation for being bullet proof, winning ‘International Engine of the Year’ five years running (2000-04). Most of the section of road ahead was third and fourth gear stuff, but on this drive the aim would be to keep the exquisite short-throw box snick-snapping between second and third.

Setting off there was one final thing to do. Fortunately the unique bike-like instrument cluster and control pod keeps everything within fingertip reach, including climate and audio remote switches (why haven’t other sportscar makers copied this brilliant setup?), which means the hands, already bristling with goose flesh in anticipation, could remain clamped to the steering wheel. An extended right forefinger would suffice to switch off the new-for-2006 VSA traction control and stability assist.

Launched back in April 1999 as one heck of a 50th birthday present Honda gave itself, it was a spiritual successor to the company’s original ‘S’ series of roadsters including 1965’s berserk little S800 which would hit a frenzied 10,000rpm. Founder Soichiro Honda explained that he ‘didn’t want to build a car like everyone else’s’. Quite right too.

Once the debris from the party poppers was cleared away and people actually got to drive the S2000 it divided them into two main camps. Those that couldn’t see what all the fuss was about, because they drove it like a ‘normal’ convertible and changed up before DRIVER-FOCUSSED the magic 5850rpm when the valve timing altered for higher S2000’s clever output. And those that immediately scared the bejesus out of ‘control pod’ keeps all the themselves when the kamikaze rear end made its tail-happy controls close tendencies suddenly, and sometimes painfully, known to them. to the driver’s fingertips, leaving With major revisions in 2004 to the double wishbone of the dash suspension, those handling gremlins had been eradicated forever much uncluttered and I’d driven, and fallen in love with, a mildly revised 2003 car previously in the UK and not found it as scary as I’d feared.

Nonetheless the thought of tumbling off the road on one side or pasting oneself across the rock face on the other meant slightly sweaty palms, a drying throat and horripilation all over.

In fact the grip and handling is nothing sort of sensational.

Frustratingly the steering still lacks the sort of feel that Porsche drivers are used to, and only its direct responsiveness enables you to exploit the perfect 50:50 weight distribution, which comes from that compact bundle of fury Honda calls an engine being placed well back of the

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‘THE RUBBER SEEMS TO SUCK THE TARMAC INTO SUBMISSION WITH A SORT OF FOURWHEEL DRIVE GUSTO’

HONDA S2000 CULT CLASSIC

front axle underneath that long hammerhead shark-like bonnet. There is just a moment of lightness at the front on turn-in, partly to do with the numb steering I suspect, but once the nose angles into the corner the rubber seems to suck the tarmac into submission with a sort of four-wheel drive gusto, complete with the hint of high speed understeer. Your confidence levels rise as quickly as the digits on the KITT-like display and yet there’s a sense of more speed and grip to come, though self-preservation instincts act as a surrogate for the VSA which, by the way, remains relatively unobtrusive even when left on.

You can’t get away from the rather games console feel of the helm and new drive-by-wire throttle, but the loud peddle is sensitive and reactive enough to both deliver the performance you need and adjust the car’s cornering attitude as you desire, with AGEING WELL It may be less than little threat of unsurvivable lift-off oversteer. Despite these two years away from extinction, but eight- digital anomalies driving this rice rocket remains a year old S2000 has corporeal and physical experience, especially with the roof aged gracefully, and down – the best way to motor in this thing. Thanks to the the racy Roadster continues to frighten rigid X-bone monocoque frame and being designed from the Boxster and Z4 the ground up as a roadster, it feels race-car stiff down to authentic jitteriness over undulations at walking pace.

That’s not to say the ride is uncomfortable, but seven years on there is more banging and thumping than we’ve become used to.

FOR ME THE S2000 REMAINS A FIRM FAVOURITE AND I’m not alone. Its addictiveness, combined with rare reliability in something as highly-strung as this, has earned it a bona fide cult following in the Middle East, even though it only comes as a manual and doesn’t have the status of, say, a BMW. ‘Actually I think the car works in any market,’ says Zlatko Mulabegovic, Editor of UAE-based Top Performance magazine. He has a point, the US is the biggest market for the S2000 by far, followed by the UK, Japan, Germany and Canada. In 2006 Americans

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HONDA S2000 CULT CLASSIC

bought more S2000s (6,271 of them) than Porsche Boxsters, proving that the appeal of a car two-years away from its 10th birthday, and possibly extinction, remains undiminished. ‘The car is usually purchased by those in the know,’ continues Mulabegovic, ‘these guys appreciate what went into creating the S2000. It has lots of hi-tech materials, forged internals, VTEC technology etc. The sort of stuff you’d normally get in a project car, not a daily driver.’

He’s not wrong about the diehard band of loyal fans lead chiefly, in Dubai, by Umair Khan who runs the first S2000 that arrived in the UAE, a 2000 model that was originally a show car He’s updated the suspension and modified it subtly for the Autocross championship, but surely a rear-driver is all wrong for slaloming around cones?

‘Yeah the first time I did Autocrossing it was a bit disappointing, but actually since I’ve fixed the suspension alignment it’s been great – better than my previous Civic Type R. I won last year’s championship and my category this year,’ revealed Khan. ‘The 2006-07 is the best sorted of all. Because of the electronics there are some limitations that aren’t perfect for racing, but it’s more of an everyday car.’

Cameron Webb who owns a 2007 model couldn’t agree more: ‘I test drove the Porsche Cayman and BMW Z4, but in terms of price and performance they didn’t add up. For what you get for your money, this car is unbelievable.’ One of the key attractions for Webb, like many owners, was that high redline along with its relative exclusivity in a market place awash with ‘prestige’ cars, plus its dependability: ‘Car ownership should be about enjoying it, not having it in the shop all the time like some other marques!’

A major crash might put most people off a car but it only made racing driver Khaled Ahmad Al Mutawaa immediately go out and buy another S2000 with a newfound respect for its engineering integrity: ‘Honestly flipping seven times in a car you’d expect to get hurt, but thank God I only had a few scratches on my shoulder.’

Omran Ali Owais likens driving the Honda roadster to ‘wearing sports clothes with a perfect fit’, though obviously with a bit of bespoke tailoring in his case, having supercharged, lightened and modified his silver 2003 model specifically for track work.

Despite its age the S2000 remains utterly contemporary and desirable. ‘People love its value for money, the sporty looks, the fact that it’s a convertible. It’s just a great package plus it’s reliable and relatively cheap to run and race,’ Khan explains (read his used buying advice p110). The only concern these fans have is about what, if anything, Honda will eventually replace it with and if it would be a worthy ‘S’ car. Over to you Honda… car

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June 2007

FERRARI 60-YEAR SPECIAL MIDDLE EAST EDITION

‘THE CLIENT IS NOT ALWAYS RIGHT’ ENZO FERRARI

GREATEST FERRARIS Issue 6 Volume 3

JUNE 2007 AED10 Issue 6-3

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250 GTO, 275 GTB, DINO, 288 GTO, F40 & ENZO PLUS 599 GTB ON THE MILLE MIGLIA

ARAB RUN ■ BMW CS ■ KLEEMANN ■ GTI V R32 ■ NEW X5 ■ CHRYSLER SOLD ■

ARAB RUN IN THE EMIRATES

When the first ever Arab Run hit the roads, CAR ME exclusively took part. Shahzad Sheikh borrowed a Corvette Z06

Photography Jorge Ferrari JUNE 2007 car 45

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VER TWO THOUSAND HORSEPOWER SPREAD across two lanes. To the right a yellow Murcielago, and in inches away from the left fender of my Corvette Z06, cruised car ca number ‘01’ – the Bugatti Veyron. You know the stats: stats 1000bhp+, 16 cylinders, 10 radiators, over a million d dollars and 400kph. Although right now it was barely doing 100kph.

Dubai’s road surfaces are not alien to being driven upon by rare exotica, but the sight and sound of thi this trio would have had any bystanding car fan pointing and quivering, mouth agape but unable to utter an expletive worthy of even moderate crassness. Fractions of a second later he would have imploded completely as the exotica just kept coming.

More Lambos, a gaggle of Ferraris, a pack of Porsches, an assortment of over-powered Mercs and BMWs and even a Rolls Royce Phantom were amongst the mobilisation of mighty motors. Sixty cars in total, all extraordinary and all brought together, despite monumental odds, by two visionary car blokes and one idea – the Arab Run. Inspired by infamous cross-continent thrashes like the Gumball 3000 and the Cannonball Run, Qaiss Isa and Azhar Butt, both from North West London, laid the seedlings for a

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similar event in the Middle East over a year ago. Though, as they are constantly reminding everyone and anyone, this is not a race or a road rally, but a ‘sports car lifestyle event’.

‘Over a year ago, we were brainstorming about what businesses we could conjure up that involved cars,’ explains Butt. ‘I had been here three times, and every time I’d came the cars just seem to get more and more amazing,’ reveals Isa. ‘And yet there was no event here in which all the cars got together.

The Bugatti driver is a friend and encouraged me to initiate this.’ Isa came here six months before the event to set up the logistics. Now the Arab Run has become a full-time commitment, as well as an obsession for Isa. Despite the obvious comparisons, both are keen to point out that the Arab Run is not the ‘Middle East TRACK TIME Cobras joined the Gumball’ and that it is unique in character and Arab Run for fun execution. ‘There are a lot of good things in the and games at the Gumball formula, but there also elements of it that Autodrome. Forty road-going exotica wouldn’t be appropriate in this region,’ admits Butt. on the track drew No kidding! A glamorous pan-continental race the crowds in disguised as a timed road rally, littered with supercars and pranks, the Gumball is an excuse to drive from one

ARAB RUN IN THE EMIRATES

CAR NUMBER ONE It was no surprise that the ‘01’ sticker went on the single Bugatti Veyron. It was the fastest and most expensive car there.

Plus it’s owner is mates with the event founder, Qaiss Isa

ARAB RUN BABES Girls are as much a part of the tradition of contemporary Gumball-style events as the exotic cars, and the organisers made sure there was plenty of glamour on show

CORVETTE Z06 GM lent us its flagship ’Vette – 0-100 in 3.5 seconds and 300kph.

Few cars apart from the Veyron would have been a match, not that it had much chance to prove it

scandalous party to the next, with equally outrageous highspeed antics on the roads, that have on this year’s event resulted in the fatality of an innocent motorist in Macedonia.

‘Dubai is the most western of all Middle Eastern cities, but even here there wouldn’t be any tolerance to Gumball-style antics. We wanted to take the good bits of such an event but, respecting the cultures and values of this region, present an event that really is “Arab” in character’, insists Butt.

They delayed the actual start of their Friday run until after 1.30pm to allow for those wishing to complete Friday prayers.

But it did mean that on a hot day in late April at the Endurance City near Bab Al Shams outside Dubai, those that arrived early in the morning spent a good many hours just standing around, chatting cars, but not doing very much driving.

They certainly had plenty to look at, as throughout the morning the collection of cars grew from our Velocity Yellow Corvette Z06 borrowed from GM’s press fleet, to a good number of pricey rides, bolstered by chief sponsors Exotic Car dragging out half its customer base, most of its stock and hiring all the show girls that Arab Run organisers hadn’t already booked, to bring a real touch of glamour to the proceedings.

JUNE 2007 car 47

THE LATE KICK-OFF MEANT PLENTY OF PENTup adrenalin. For many this was actually a rare occasion to get their weekend warriors out on the road. Truth be told I could have thought of much better ways in which to be employing the 505bhp Z06. It isn’t often I get the opportunity to borrow the ‘Supercar Killer’, and here it was standing around simmering in the sun with wannabe pinups posing around it.

Once on the road in cars that can warp distances with ease, we arrived far too soon in Dubai, for a would-be parade on the Jumeirah beach road. Sure enough there were stories circulating about cars drifting past motorcycle cops and drivers getting stopped and cautioned. Understandably the organisers wanted to play down any problems, ‘We heard that a Porsche was stopped and dealt with by the police, but everything went smoothly otherwise’, claims Isa. ‘The Emirates Motor Sports Federation (EMSF) had organised control over the Jumeirah Beach Road in coordination with the police,’ explains Butt. ‘Being a Friday we wanted the people of Dubai to see the event.’ All very well, but it wasn’t exactly closed roads and spectators lining the sidewalks, in fact that part of the event hadn’t been publicised.

The EMSF had also arranged for the cars to hit the track after the main races on the last national race day of the season at the Dubai Autodrome. This had been widely advertised and resulted in one of the biggest crowds ever to have

gathered at the Autodrome on a race day. Isa and Butt are convinced it was the Arab Run that drew the throng – well it was either that or the car boot sale. Those that had trekked out to the circuit on this baking afternoon, were certainly in for a treat with a strong line-up of exotica joined by a couple of Cobras and even a rare Ginetta roadster.

The organisers had arranged for two track sessions, but only a few laps into the first session it became clear some of the participants hadn’t been paying attention during the driver briefing, it was the red mist not the marshals setting the rules.

Sure enough the second session was red flagged after a participant overtook the pace car. ‘I had to eject that car from the event altogether. You had a rush of blood, but I can’t afford another rush of blood, I told him’ reveals Butt.

From here the Arab Run ran to Fujairah for dinner. Clearly concerns over responsible behaviour had spread. ‘It is obviously a long journey, its getting dark, and it required coordination between three emirates – Dubai, Sharjah and Fujairah. Working with EMSF we actually organised a police escort on the way out from the Autodrome to Fujairah all the way. We drove within the limits, but they had actually cordoned off the traffic for us.’

Wouldn’t it have been better to do the run to Fujairah in the morning, then the parade through Dubai and finally a track finale at the Autodrome for this single day event?

‘We set out saying that this was a pilot event. We had to compromise a little with the itinerary just to ensure that the event would actually happen,’ explains Butt. ‘Fujairah for example wanted to know precisely when and where the convoy would be, we had to clear it with them beforehand.’

WHAT BRIEFING? Look carefully.

These people are pretending to be very interested in the EMSF chap’s driver safety briefing 88 car FEBRUARY 2007

ARAB RUN IN THE EMIRATES

The organisers admit that it was vital to pull off this inaugural event successfully, smoothly and without incident in a manner that left everyone happy and the authorities convinced that such a cruise could be coordinated safely.

Butt says: ‘The participants thought it was fantastic, some had their concerns about driving on the Autodrome etc and the kilometres they’d put on their cars. Signing off at the Peppermint Club back in Dubai was the perfect end to it, with one of the best DJ’s playing well into the early hours.’

‘As they were leaving many confirmed that they’d be on the next event,’ even some who were initially sceptical, reveals Isa. ‘The authorities also loved it, and we have a definite green light for the next event. Having pulled this off without incident, we can start to be a bit bolder with future plans.’

‘We have it confirmed that there were no accidents during our event, there were no police charges against any of the participants, no breakdowns, no mishaps, the one unfortunate incident that did happen, did so after our event had ended,’ adds Butt referring to rumours of a Ferrari that had crashed.

The next Arab Run is planned for as early as November, with a more ambitious Run planned for Spring 2008. The organisers are justifiably proud of having jumped through the many bureaucratic hoops to have pulled off this ‘high risk venture’ in the Emirates, but also admit to a steep learning curve. Buoyed by the success of this mini-event, they are promising much bigger and better to come – can’t wait! car

PARK HERE Carbonfibre seats are shaped to perfection and are neatly detailed with Superleggera embroidery. Belts are comfy fourpointers, rather than eunuch-spec fives

DECEMBER 2006 car 71

July 2007

NEW EVO X

Legend reborn

MIDDLE EAST EDITION

‘STRIVE FOR PERFECTION IN EVERYTHING YOU DO’

BMW’S FUTURE

BEAUTY IS BACK! GORGEOUS CLS RIVAL POINTS THE WAY TO YOUR NEXT 5-SERIES

Issue 7 Volume 3

DROP HEAD GORGEOUS

ROLLS DRIVEN ■

JULY 2007 AED10 Issue 7-3

BHD 1 KWD 1 OMR 1 SAR 10 QAR 10

9 771817 142009

An ITP Consumer Publication

DUBAI BESPOKE PHANTOMS ■ LOTUS 2-ELEVEN ■ CLK63 BLACK ■ KTM X-BOW ■

Rolling Rolling Rolling The Rolls remains the world’s best car and is the height of customisable conveyance discovers Shahzad Sheikh d Photogra Photography Matt Harvey

R

OLLS-ROYCE’S NEW N PHAN PHANTOM DROPHEAD, WHICH YOU”VE been reading about on the previous pages, wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the Phantom saloon – a tr milestone car. Not because it redefines the ultimate in true m premier remier motoring, it doesn’t. do doesn n’t. In fact iti merely chooses to take all the existing definitions nitions and hone them th into a statement stat of excellence, all unnecessary and potentially ntially gimmicky innovation inno in ovation dutifully dut eschewed. No, the Phantom is a milestone estone because it marked m markeed a unique uniqu turning point in the history of perhaps motoring’s most distinguished distin distinguisshed marque. marq The British compan company tha at was fou that founded by Henry Royce and C.S. Rolls in 1904, passed into the hands hand of Bayerische Bayerisch Moteren Werke (BMW) on 28 July 1998 and that, as they say, could’ve c b the th end of that. Another illustrious brand exploited been and diluted for fo all its worth h and wound up beached as a cheap Chinese-made imitation – veteran petrolheads petrolh head bemoaning the tragic indignity of it all, and the rest of us having dismissed it ass aan archaic irrelevance long since.

And yet here’s her the world d’s mo world’s motoring press in eco-obsessed 2007, raving about a wasteful and extravagant extr depleted d depleted-resources-guzzling behemoth with a choppedoff roof. And there’s the Ph hantom saloon sa Phantom standing tall with sales numbering 2693 up to the end of last year ye si ince its launch launc in 2003. That may not sound like much, since but the 805 cars delivered delivere iin 2006 across over 50 different countries, alone represents presents the highest sing single year’s sales for tthis ultra-exclusive brand for 16 years.

After four years of gestation, BMW again pulled pu off its deft trick of digging deep into the soul of a brand, bringing forth its identity and nourishing it with lashings of German engineering know-how. It achieved the sam same with the BMW-developed Range Rover in 2002 (although by then Land Rover w was Ford-owned) and also accomplished a spectacular rejuvenation of the MINI with the 2001 reincarnation.

The Phantom is clearly not a 7-series with a Flying Lady glued to the bonnet.

58 car JULY 2007

THE PHANTOM TRIO IN DUBAI

JULY 2007 car 59

THE PHANTOM TRIO IN DUBAI

As big as a bus, weighing in at an outlandish 2550kg, and presenting such an air of supremacy that it not only belittles normal folk but renders us insignificant and unworthy even to soil its stately path with our shadows, isn’t this $400,000-plus motorised monolith an unwanted and outmoded form of automotive aristocracy, best left consigned to the annals of the horseless carriage? It’s easy to be sceptical, I know I was, usually focussing much of my verbal abhorrence at the front bumper and the way it seems unable to stretch itself across the full bulk. That single facet seemed to confirm to me that this car really was too big for its own good. Actually I do like big cars, but this one takes the whole biscuit tin and then some.

Even the Americans are beginning to go green and shy away from ostentatious shock and awe when it comes to their automobiles – witness Hollywood stars trading in Caddys and Bentleys for frugal little Toyota hybrids. But the Middle East remains possibly the last bastion of the super luxury car. Money no object, taste no obstacle, just wish it and it will be yours, and guilty conscience be dammed. Unsurprisingly Dubai is Roll’s fourth biggest market and of 80 worldwide dealers, nine are in this region.

help but be impressed by the enormity, maturity and grace of the thing. By no means a retro pastiche, its lineage from the Phantom series is clear.

Classic styling cues present and correct include the long vaulted bonnet, wide C-pillars, rising profile and upright stance, plus of course the ‘Spirit of Ecstasy’, the now retractable hood ornament.

At the factory on the Earl of March’s Goodwood estate, it takes 460 hours to assemble a Phantom, not including building the engine or body.

It can take seven days to paint with five layers of paint and clear lacquer, seven for a two-tone car, after which it is hand polished for five hours.

Stepping up into the deep cashmere rug-floored interior, you almost wish there was a welcome mat to wipe your shoes on first. Inside it’s elegant simplicity personified, and BMW has thankfully resisted the temptation to overindulge in a flagrant display of gadgetry. It’s all there of course, right down to a simplified version of the infamous iDrive, but hidden beneath sliding and rotating panels. Instead you note the sumptuous leather and appreciate the sacrifice of the between 15 and 18 specifically-reared mature bulls that bequeathed it.

Less obvious, but fascinating nonetheless, is how the wood grain on the ROOTED IN THE PAST BUT ENGINEERED FOR THE left hand side of each panel is an exact mirror image of that on the right, future, the 5.8 metre Phantom utilises an all-aluminium spaceframe chassis also reflected across the cabin as whole. In all, 43 bits of wood are installed – the largest in automotive history – giving it the rigidity of an F1 car. in a Phantom, constructed from up to 28 layers each and interspersed with Saving about 300kg compared to all-steel construction, the body thin sheets of aluminium to prevent splintering in the event of UNIQUE ONE-OFFS panels are also made from aluminium and composite materials an accident. This is attention to detail bordering on obsessive.

The first Phantom with only the boot lid formed from steel, and that was done to The engine is of classic 6.75-litre displacement but a V12, in the world to be achieve a perfect 50:50 front-rear weight balance. Visually the car ordered in Ensign bringing it in line with the highly coveted Phantoms of the Red announces has breathtaking road presence. Even if you can’t love it, you can’t itself as ‘Dubai 1930s. Based on a BMW unit it serves up 453bhp and a surge of Bespoke Edition V’ on the tread plates.

Edition VI behind

60 car JULY 2007

MOTHER OF PEARL Dubai Bespoke Edition V featured Maple wood trim with Mother of Pearl inlays in the doors.

The sat-nav monitor is hidden behind the clock and there’s lambswool rugs in the rear

MIGHTY MOTOR Traditional 6.75litre displacement for a very modern BMW V12 unit, churning out 531lb ft of torque giving 0-100 propulsion in just 5.9 seconds

JULY 2007 car 61

THE ONE & ONLY Parking one is fraught with peril, so where do we shoot three examples of the world’s best car?

The One & Only Royal Mirage provided the perfect location, they even have a vintage Roller of their own

62 car JULY 2007

531lb ft of torque, 413lb ft from as little as 1000rpm. Incredibly this palatial vehicle will accelerate to 100kph in 5.9 seconds and has a top speed restricted to 240kph because of the big tyres on the 21-inch rims.

At first acquaintance, driving a Phantom is an intimidating experience.

Apart from the sheer bulk of it, the stratospheric price tag and all the effort put into creating it, all the controls are shockingly light and easy for something so beefy and brisk. You feel like you are piloting it by proxy.

Fortunately spending a twenty-four hourcar period with the car helped to peel away the concerns, and initial trepidation turned to comfortable confidence behind the wheel. It certainly helps that you sit high and the squared-off frontal extremities make it easy to place the vehicle, though massive rear blind spots do make reverse parking rather worrying.

Despite that mighty lump up ahead, the cabin is eerily quiet and completely vibration-free. It comes as a surprise when you engage gear and with barely a lurch, glide forward as if by electric power. ‘Waftability’ is an actual word coined by Rolls-Royce engineers to describe ride comfort and thanks to the air suspension, applies perfectly here.

Combined with the ability to whisper to your passengers, the Phantom provides exquisite isolation from the world outside.

It doesn’t have a rev counter, instead you get a ‘power reserve meter’ – how cool is that? Only when you force the needle all the way across does the silky V12 make itself audible. As you get used to the tremendous propulsive forces and the redefined sensation of speed you realise that it

THE PHANTOM TRIO IN DUBAI

BESPOKE SERVICE

A

GMC, THE ROLLSRoyce dealers for Dubai, Sharjah and the Northern Emirates in the UAE is the top dealer in the Middle East and ranked fourth worldwide after London, Beverly Hills and Tokyo for sales in 2006.

Buyers in our region not only love to buy Rollers, they also love to customise them: ‘AGMC orders each Phantom with different specs so no two are the same,’ reveals business development manager, Mohammed ElArishy, pictured above right.

‘We also choose our own customised bespoke paint, and have initiated new options such as the visible chrome exhaust and custom roof with RR badges specifically for this market,’ he adds.

The Middle East market claims one of the highest volume of requests for the

Rolls-Royce Bespoke programme of additions, as well as the highest number of requests for coachbuilt cars, receiving the first such Phantom earlier this year.

Our world exclusive photoshoot included two $450,000 ‘Dubai Bespoke Edition’ cars. Edition VI in Diamond Black and Anthracite featured adjustable rear seats in red leather. But the real star was edition V, the first Phantom in the world to be ordered in ‘Ensign Red’, it came with Mother of Pearl inlays in the Maple Wood door trim.

DRIVING IT IS TO EXPERIENCE A SERENITY OF MOTION THAT BORDERS ON THE SURREAL has a depth of ability and poise that belies its bulk – it actually handles!

The large thin-rimmed steering is remarkably accurate and cornering at speed results in less lean and body roll than you’d imagine. Instead the car seems to hunker down and dispatch the bend with uncommon zeal.

Knowing you can do something, doesn’t mean you have to. It’s like having a butler who is also a Third Dan Black Belt, it’s just reassuring to know he could save your life if it came to it. Driving the Phantom is soothing, calming and yet quite addictive – precisely why most owners actually choose the driver’s seat instead of that luxuriant rear couch.

Only when confronted with everyday mundanity, does the Phantom fail as a car. One issue is the burden of responsibility that comes with taking custodianship of such a carriage. At the office I spent over twenty minutes looking for a safe place to leave it. Unable to fit it in my parking bay at home, I spent a night of paranoia hoping it would be alright outside, and banning the kids from eating or drinking in the back also seemed harsh but appropriate.

Let’s face it though, for the fortunate few who own such cars, these are not real concerns. More pressing is the question of how to personalise it.

Which is why our world-exclusive test of a total of $1.3m worth of RollRoyce metal, included two one-off Dubai Bespoke Edition cars (see panel above). With specs including six-disc DVD players and ‘theatre configuration’, rear window opaque curtains and fridges, the sky really is the limit. You may even have your name embroidered onto the leather.

‘WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU DROVE SOMETHING that left you pleasantly surprised?’ someone recently asked me. Great question and a real relief from the ‘so, what’s your favourite car then?’ that I usually get. Whether having read about something previously, or having formed strong opinions ourselves as automotive pundits, I guess for us motoring scribes that ‘pleasant surprise’ doesn’t come along as often as you might think, or as we might wish. But every now and then a car does leave an indelible impression and forces one to rethink. After driving the Phantom and basking in the combined glory of not one, but three grandiose examples of the breed, this was just such an occasion.

For wealthy petrolheads only the best will do, and be in no doubt that ‘the best car in the world’ was and still remains the Rolls-Royce. Heeding founder, Sir Henry Royce’s philosophy, ‘strive for perfection in everything you do’, the hedonistic goliath from Goodwood ticks all the checkboxes for cars in this rarefied segment: opulence beyond reason, heavenly comfort, an unlimited purchase price and truly majestic road presence.

Plus it helps to have a heritage steeped in myth, romance, magnificence and of course royal patronage.

Driving it is to experience a serenity of motion that borders on the surreal. Its affluence, effortlessness and latent puissance appeal to the basest of human instincts: pride, sloth and lust. For its awesome ability to astound, intimidate and caress all in one package, the thoroughly regal Phantom remains unmatched as the ultimate luxury car. car JULY 2007 car 63

Star Quality The crowd-stopping appeal of Elvis Presley, the suave of 007 and a muscle car heart, Shahzad Sheikh revisits the BMW beauty Photography Richard Parsons

74 car JULY 2007

MODERN CLASSIC THE BMW Z8

C

UT IN HALF LENGTHWAYS BY A BUZZSAWwielding helicopter, the BMW Z8 was left a sickening mangled mess. A couple of years later, as I stood staring in morbid fascination at the macabre remains displayed at a museum exhibition,, I could have wept again at the senseless uch a sensational piece of automotive styling. mutilation of such ot only did the Z8 meet its i end for a good cause – In fact, not aiding superspy James Bond to yet again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in a typically destructive de sequence from 1999’s The World Is Not Enough Enoug – but it wasn’t even a real Z8. As the Z8 hadn’t yet gone gon into production, Hollywood’s clever technicians made facsimiles with authentic bodies and interiors but based on Shelby Cobra kit-car frames.

Y Yet such was the emotional draw of this evocative BMW that it felt natural to shed a tear at the premature demise of the Z8’s short-lived role as 007’s ride. Especially, as of the

BMW’s that Pierce Brosnan’s Bond was conscripted to peddle as part of the three-movie deal, this was the car that best suited the debonair super-spy’s persona. Retrospectively it seems that coincidence and fate have together conspired to prove the Z8’s bona fide credentials as a proper Bond car.

Former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker penned the beautiful DB9, which begot the DBS driven by Daniel Craig’s 007 in the most recent Bond flick, Casino Royale. Fisker was previously employed at BMW’s Designworks in Southern California where he designed the Z07 in 1997, a Tokyo show car that was recipient of such adulation and acclaim that it went into production in 2000 as the Z8.

Tentative? I think not. Especially as this gorgeous BMW boasts heritage that predates even the iconic 1963 Aston DB5 from Goldfinger. The Z07 concept was a tribute to the 1955-59 BMW 507 encapsulating how that car would look today if JULY 2007 car 75

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MODERN CLASSIC THE BMW Z8

it had evolved in continuous production. Fisker’s hard work STRANGELY IT DIDN”T EXACTLY GET RAVE was even endorsed by the ’55 Roadster’s designer, Count reviews when it was launched to the press, amongst the Albrecht Goertz, who is reported to have said: ‘If I were to criticisms were complaints of turbulent air flow in the cabin design the 507 today, it would look like a Z8’. and wind noise at high speeds, with the soft top up or down.

The Z8’s long sloping hood with round These were valid, but each car also came with a standard MINIMALIST CABIN headlight humps, tapered overhangs, pinched body-coloured hard top that improved matters greatly.

Uncluttered interior posterior, cabin placed well back and a low Then there was the lack of a limited slip differential, hides all the gadgets you’ll ever need, but beltline all contrive to recreate the showalthough DSC traction control kept any waywardness in style is all-important, stopping glamour of a classic roadster. As well check and many owners retro-fitted Quaife LSDs. And with cowled central instruments and that as the 507-inspired chrome front fender gills despite near-perfect weight distribution, the car was wire-spoke with integrated side indicator lights, the Z8 also nostalgic prone to plough-on understeer especially with the DCS steering wheel borrows the signature wide, squat kidney grille setting the theme on, something still very apparent and rather unnerving. first seen on Goertz’s car.

Apparently that too can be tempered with more Even design supremo, Chris Bangle, then head of design at skilled and tactile control of the throttle, but that would mean BMW and an ardent proponent of modernity, admitted to turning the DSC off. Not a good idea when driving this muchfalling for the Z8: ‘just looking at those beautiful, classic lines, cherished 2002 model belonging to Dubai-based corporate I get the feeling of romantic passion.’ Bangle explained that ‘a lawyer, Kaashif Basit, seeing as it is still worth about $150,000 classic roadster simply has to have a long engine bay, body in Germany, with similar cars costing $30k less in the US. lines swinging down at the sides from the door level, a sexy Basit bought his at the end of 2003 in Europe and vows to derriere and big wheels.’ keep it for as long as he can: ‘It’s been an absolute pleasure to Fisker clearly has an intuitive understanding of what makes a car desirable. ‘I’ve gotten a lot of inspiration by looking back at what made the human fall in love with cars,’ he once revealed. ‘Buying a car is such an irrational and emotional behaviour. I’m trying to capture the sense of the emotion and love affair that people have with cars.’

The front-engined rear-drive Z8 has a masculine appeal not un-reminiscent of US muscle cars, probably quite deliberate considering that of the limited production of 5703 cars between 2000-2003, half went to the US selling at around $128,000 each. It was also suitably well-endowed, fitted with the E39 M5’s 5-litre V8, the most powerful BMW unit at that time, pumping out 400bhp and 368lb ft of lusty torque from just 3800rpm. Driven through a Getrag six-speed manual, performance was aptly meteoric with 100kph despatched in less than 4.5 seconds and a continued surge past 160kph in 10.2 curtailed only at 250kph by an artificial limiter. Sans which, the Z8 was said to be good for 300 klicks.

Its light weight of 1585kg was thanks largely to alloy construction. Like the 507 it was aluminium bodied, however MIGHTY ‘M’ MOTOR Just as 507 borrowed BMW went further and designed its spaceframe in a V8 from 501 saloon, aluminium, an industry first. Put together by hand, it took the Z8 took its power from the 1998 M5. about 10 times longer to build than an E46 3 Series.

Double VANOS 5-litre engine produced near400bhp at 6600rpm and 368lb ft of torque from just 3800rpm

JULY 2007 car 77

MODERN CLASSIC THE BMW Z8

own, costing no more to run than a regular performance BMW,’ he explains. ‘I bought it for the retro looks and classy interior, and the attention to detail,’ he adds.

Sink into the Nappa leather buckets and it’s easy to see what he means. With a spartan but well-equipped cabin, hiding anything unseemly beneath panels, it presents a clean fascia with vintage simplicity. The location of the centrallymounted instruments soon feels natural, and it’s impossible to resist the charm of the wire-spoke steering wheel.

Easy elegance and timeless style. Cruising along with the potent engine rumbling away up ahead, the driver is blessed with instant superstardom. Without trying too hard, this car makes you feel very special indeed. It transcends the usual bullishness associated with BMWs, elevating the owner’s status to someone who doesn’t need to boast.

They rarely come up for sale in the Middle East, but the choice of Z8s is plentiful and relatively cheap in the US, though potentially better examples are to be found in Europe.

Last year there were some reports that the front shock towers could deform from a severe pothole impact and BMW released a strut tower brace kit to stabilise that area of the frame, described as ‘Performance Pack’. Fortunately BMW is also committed to a 50-year stockpile of spare parts. car

SHARED GENOME Two-seat roadsters, with aluminium bodies and eightcylinder units taken from sibling saloons 78 car JULY 2007

DIRECT DESCENDENT Z8 design was a vision of how the natural evolution of the late ’50s BMW 507 would look today. It works

WHERE IT BEGAN

I

T’S REGARDED BY SOME AS THE the most beautiful car ever. The 507 was the brainchild of New York-based BMW importer Max Hoffman. In 1954 he pressurised BMW into developing a two-seater sports car and even picked out a designer for them: Count Albrecht Graf Goertz, an aristocrat industrial designer of German extraction, was hired in November 1954.

Just over 18 months later the 507 debuted at the New York car show.

Production began in November 1956. Hoffman wanted the car to sell for about $5000 but rising production costs pushed the price

up to $10,500 with BMW losing money on each 507 built. It was discontinued in 1959 with only 251 built, although 240 cars are reckoned to have survived.

Famous owners included Elvis Presley who bought a white 507 whilst serving with the US Army in Germany. He took it back to the US but gave it to movie-star, and arguably the most famous Bond girl of all, Ursula Andress, in 1963. She kept it for 20 years. In 1997 the car was sold at auction for $350,000.

NEW BMW M3 August 2007

Unleashed at last

MIDDLE EAST EDITION

MASERATI QUATTROPORTE VS BMW M5 & AUDI S8

‘FROM 80KPH TO 190KPH, IT’S LIKE FLICKING A SWITCH’

VEYRON BEATER! FASTEST ACCELERATING CAR ON THE PLANET

Issue 8 Volume 3

SUPER EIGHT FIRST MIDDLE EAST DRIVE OF AUDI’S R8

AUGUST 2007 AED10 Issue 8-3 BHD 1 KWD 1 OMR 1 SAR 10 QAR 10

9 771817 142009

An ITP Consumer Publication

The rejuvenated Maserati Quattroporte with a new ZF auto, takes on BMW’s M5 and Audi’s S8.

Shahzad Sheikh flagrantly lets his heart rule Photography Matt Harvey

QUATTROPORTE VERSUS M5 & S8

E

VERY BODY SAY IT WITH ME: ‘MASERATI Quattroporte Automatica’. Try an Italian accent and linger on every third syllable. Astonishing, isn’t it? The last word simply tells you that this is the new fully automatic version of the Quattroporte with the proven ZF gearbox. ‘Quattroporte’ just means ‘four doors’. But it all sounds so exotic doesn’t it?

In itself the word ‘automatic’ would not be sexy. Yet as the owner of a QP auto, every time you are asked what you drive, you’ll delight in reciting the complete appellation, including the redundant (for English) ‘a’ at the end. Single-handedly Ferrari’s sister company has made it chic to own a big automatic four-door and before we go any further, that alone is probably this Quattroporte’s biggest achievement.

The gearbox in itself is nothing new. Hurt by criticism of its Ferrari F1-style Duoselect sequential gearbox (which will continue to be sold), since it was essentially a sporty manual box with paddleshifts and no clutch in what most perceive to be a luxury car, Maserati has employed an off-the-shelf fullauto box that has seen service in the likes of the Aston Martin

BADGE OF HONOUR M5 badge sits with pride on an incredible car. Interior’s a nonevent but discussion on that gearbox and the technology could fill this magazine

66 car AUGUST 2007

DB9. Personally I didn’t mind the Duoselect, though left in ‘auto mode’ it did make for most unseemly progress in traffic, even if it was a joy on cross-country trashes.

Drawn into showrooms by its classically gorgeous shape, panache, and sporting credentials, no potential owner should’ve have been able to leave without a delivery date and smug grin. Unfortunately the test drive would give the game away and tired executives who wanted badge status without the effort would fast-foot it to the nearest Mercedes, BMW and Audi showroom, suddenly coming over all sensible like.

Now the QP is back for a rematch with some key rivals that occupy this rarefied segment of super-luxury-saloons: cars that pose as credible rides for the upwardly mobile who live in the upper rungs of the corporate ladder. The kind of guys that haven’t quite relinquished their hooligan tendencies, that only reluctantly handed back the heavily financed Porsche, or who still keep something special in the garage ‘for the weekend’.

So the three cars we have here are quite different and yet share a commonality of purpose. They all easily pound straight through the $100,000 barrier, the Audi S8 and BMW M5 settling at around 115k, with the Maser going at least another $25k further. All will serve up 250kph or more and launch you to 100kph in well under six seconds. And as well as maintaining a huge amount of cred in the director’s car park, they are all fitted with awe-inspiring engines of noteworthy origin. Let the boardroom battle begin…

ON THE PHOTO SHOOT, THE M5 HAD BROUGHT along a sick note. Its SMG gearbox, an immensely complex and scarily clever transmission, was seriously out of whack having suffered abuse serving time at a BMW driving day.

Fortunately we were able to get it back fully-functional at a later date. Which is just as well as it takes more than a few hours and a fleeting rendezvous to get to know this beast.

I actually had to get out the owner’s manual out and read it!

You could probably go through an entire ownership cycle and never be completely familiar with the M5. Why? How about a choice of 11 different shift patterns between two sequential and auto modes, three suspension settings, three traction controls settings, and even three engine settings. By default you only get about 400bhp of the full 500 rampaging horses available, until you press the ‘power’ button... Why would you spend all that money and then not use all the power?

QUATTROPORTE VERSUS M5 & S8

BMW M5 Price: $112,300 Engine: 4999cc V10, 500bhp @ 7750rpm, 384lb ft @ 3500rpm Transmission: Seven-speed sequential, rear-wheel drive Performance: 0-100kph 4.7secs, 250kph

Press the entirely innocuous ‘M’ button on the steering wheel in the dour business-like cabin, and most of the hardcore elements are called into action together. This turns the sombre saloon, albeit a muscular one, into something of a Lambo-baiter. Aside from the slight play in the transmission response as the clutch engages, giving you that all-or-nothing experience, the performance from the shrieking Formula 1 derived V10 is sensational giving neck-snapping bolts of acceleration as you bang in the upshifts. Speeds well into the mid-200s are not only attainable but outrageously effortless.

A tight mountain pass showed up the car’s limitations in terms of size and bulk, but by and large the handling and grip are extraordinary with a track-based MDM setting for the traction control really letting you play. Turn it off altogether and you can barely keep it in a straight line, whilst even an amateur like me can play at being a drift king.

The Audi S8 is far less frenetic, more mature, more sublime even. It still retains the aura that won it a starring role in Ronin. A gangster that can go from disarmingly eloquent

PRESENCE Each of these cars is awesome to behold, but they are very different in personality.

Which you choose will say a lot about you

AUDI S8 Price: $110,350 Engine: 5204cc V10, 444bhp @ 7000rpm, 398lb ft @ 3500rpm Transmission: Six-speed tiptronic, quattor four-wheel drive Performance: 0-100kph 5.1secs, 250kph

INDIVIDUAL Bespoke options on this S8 are very ‘bling’, but it’ll still happily terrorise your neighbouhood

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QUATTROPORTE VERSUS M5 & S8 MASERATI QUATTROPORTE AUTOMATICA Price: $140,350 Engine: 4244cc V8, 400bhp @ 7000rpm, 339lb ft @ 4250rpm Transmission: Six-speed automatic, rear-wheel drive Performance: 0-100kph 5.6secs, 269kph

and engaging to a street brawl specialist with a knuckle duster in an instant. This particularly example kitted out in bespoke trim through the Audi Individualisation programme was a little too bling for the likes of ex-CIA mercenaries, but you can just imagine it in slate-grey metallic with a black interior, tinted windows and packing a boot full of deadly hardware.

Actually you’d barely notice it gliding serenely, somewhat menacingly, through the mean streets, until the driver decided to bury the loud-pedal and unleash the 450 Ingolstadt-reared stallions which would cause most bystanders to look up and expect a yellow Gallardo to sprint into view. The power delivery is a real show of might and blasts you towards the horizon in a relentless surge accompanied by the sonorous grandiloquence of the Gallardo-sourced V10.

Cruising the hood and shrinking long distances are this super-limo’s forte, and it’s by far the most cosseting creature here, practical as well as purposeful – by day you’re Robert De Niro, by evening a doting dad. But stay clear of track days and even Alpine-esque roads as this is far too much metal to be hurling around without risking things going badly awry.

WHICH IS NOT AN ISSUE FOR THE ‘FERRARIwith-four-doors’ that essentially sums up the Quattroporte.

Except that it’s more cultured, and combines exquisite elegance with astonishing athletic aptitude, wrapped up in cursive charisma unchallenged by any of its rivals.

You can still specify paddleshifts with the new ’box and they’re almost as satisfying to use as the Duoselect. It is the slowest accelerating car here with a 5.6 second time – thrilling but not ferocious. It’s unrestricted so find yourself a long enough stretch of road and 270 should be feasible, which on paper defeats the Germans, but one can vouch for a degree of elasticity when it came to the M5’s limiter!

With the 400bhp V8 heart of a Prancing Horse creating a stirring opera beneath the bonnet of this Sport GT, a low centre of gravity and near-perfect weight distribution painstakingly maintained despite the repositioning of the new gearbox, head for the hills and you can still have this executive express foxtrotting through the bends lithely. Only the lumpy brakes let it down somewhat.

The only real issue with the Maser is that any prospective owner must first ask themselves: ‘am I cool enough for this car?’ I certainly felt a bit of a fake. Style-guru Guillaume Nallet from L’officiel Homme magazine, confirmed my fears.

‘This car is very chic, I love Maseratis,’ came his endorsement.

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TRIDENT Owning a Maserati sets you apart. And ensconced in that snug, lovingly crafted interior, you will feel special

He described it as ‘older chic’ and reckoned the owner might wear a Brioni suit with Berluti shoes and a Harry Winston watch. The S8 was for someone a little younger who’d be equally as comfortable in a T-shirt over Armani jeans as a Hugo Boss power suit. His feet would be shod with Dolce & Gabbana or Gucci sneakers with a Rolex dangling off the wrist. The tough go-getting M5 driver might also wear a Boss suit, suggested Nallet, alternating with Ralph Lauren, a very showy Jaeger LeCoulture timepiece beneath his cuff.

This group test was missing a player: the CLS 63 AMG could have equalled this Quattroporte Sports GT in the style stakes but sadly Mercedes wasn’t game. Each of the present trio is a brilliant and discerning choice, but if I was a man of means I’d wanna be Mr Maserati. The other two soundly beat the QP on price and performance, but the awesome Audi is too decorous and sensible, and the breathtaking BMW just too technical and nerdy (it’s the racing driver’s ride home).

The Quattroporte’s got soul. It’s less clinically impressive than the others, but much more achingly desirable. car

OUT AHEAD Outgunned on pace and power, the Maserati plays the style card and convincingly eases out in front of its German rivals

MODERN CLASSIC PONTIAC FIREBIRD

Photography Andy Tipping

Trans Am There’ll be no phoenix rising for the Pontiac Firebird reveals Shahzad Sheikh. Sorry Knight Rider

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WENTY ONE YEARS AGO THIS MONTH, (eighth of August in fact), the final episode of Knight Rider was shown on US television. After a four-year run, the show made a star out of David Hasselhoff, left us a theme tune that has been sampled to death by rap artists and ring-tone providers, and made a legend out of the third generation Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. Hasselhoff attributes the show’s success to the premise of ‘one man can make a difference’, and show creator Glen A Larson thought his ‘Lone Ranger with a car’ action adventure series was a ‘kind of sci-fi thing, with the soul of a Western’, but they both missed the point.

What millions of teenage boys, including yours truly, knew for certain was that the undisputed star of that show was KITT, the talking Trans Am. The high-tech automobile

dubbed Knight Industries Two Thousand (aka KITT) took the term ‘smart car’ to the next level way before the motor industry had even coined the phrase.

‘Smart Alec’ more like. KITT was actually the advanced microprocessor inside the ‘Knight 2000’ car and boasted artificial intelligence that allowed it to converse, self-drive and even deliver aptly timed one-liners often leaden with enough sarcasm to floor ‘the Hoff’s’ ego in an off-the-cuff instant.

Inspired by the HAL 9000 computer in 2001: A Space Odyssey, KITT lived in the body of a 1982 Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, although the success of the series saw so many wanna-be Michael Knights march into GM dealerships demanding the non-existent ‘Knight Rider edition’, that the showmaker’s were told to just call the car a ‘black T-top’.

KITT was toughened up for crime-fighting duties with a ‘molecular bonded shell’, featured a turbine engine capable of over 450kph and a ‘Turbo Boost’ feature useful for jumping over obstacles. Most famously of all, the all-black car had that red scanner planted at the front of the bonnet – actually a carryover from the ‘eye’ of the robotic Cylons of Larson’s previous television series, Battlestar Galactica.

These and a host of other discreet features were more than enough to defeat most of the villains that ‘operated above the law’, and the show only jumped the shark when in series four KITT became a convertible (the Hoff’s hubris, and his bouffant hair, were probably already getting too big to fit in the car) and sprouted all kinds of absurd spoilers in ‘Super Pursuit Mode’, ruining the sleek shape of the really rather handsome 1982-1992 Firebird.

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IN REALITY THIS EDITION OF THE PONY CAR was 225kg lighter than its predecessor. It was also the most aerodynamic production Firebird to date, employing wind tunnel styling, and had pop-up headlights! The WS6 option, also fitted to the cars playing KITT, included four-wheel disc brakes, 15-inch alloys, stiffer springs, thicker front and rear sway bars, high ratio steering and limited slip rear differential.

Although V6 versions were also available, Chevy V8s usually provided the go through four-speed autos, but with typically low power outputs, only getting as high as 245bhp for some 5.7-litre versions with 345lb ft of torque. That would give it a 0-100kph time of around seven seconds and a top speed of just over 200kph.

I WASN’T ABOUT TO TEST EITHER OF THESE performance claims in Aiman Mohammed’s fine 1991 example, one of several 1980’s American automobiles in this petrolhead’s collection. By this time the nose, front bumper and side skirts had been revised and the interior improved, but the Knight Rider silhouette was still evident.

Leaving the cityscape behind and streaking across shimmering desert roads I did indeed start to feel as if I was taking a ‘shadowy flight into the dangerous world of a man who does not exist, championing the cause of the innocent…’ with the relentless rhythm and haunting melody of the theme tune rising to repeated crescendos in my head.

Except that it was a rather bouncy flight with distinctly worn suspension on this otherwise fully-functioning Firebird which had landed in the UAE via Japan. The interior was

MODERN CLASSIC PONTIAC FIREBIRD

PONY TRAIL

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UILT BETWEEN 1967 and 2002, the Pontiac Firebird ‘pony car’ shared its platform and much of its drivetrain with the Chevrolet Camaro.

Blessed with ‘coke-bottle’ styling, the pretty first generation ran till 1969.

The ‘Trans Am’ performance pack only made an appearance in 1969 as an optional $725 handling kit.

From 1970 through to 1981, the second generation car had a much longer run and several revisions and facelifts.

It was made famous in the 1977 Burt Reynold’s starrer, Smokey and the Bandit. Several also appeared in 1978’s The Driver, David Carradine drove a red one in Cannonball, with a police

standard – no Vegas lights and assortment of speaking silicon chips here – but was in great condition, considering the build quality reputation of last-millennium Yank metal.

There were a lot fewer rattles and squeaks than I had anticipated and it still felt fairly solid. The steering was about as responsive as the Titanic’s but fortunately there were no icebergs to avoid out here, though if there had been the surprising grip and remarkably neutral handling would have helped, especially as the brakes would need a helluva shove.

Frankly the car feels a lot more dated than it looks, though entertaining enough as a daily drive, it could certainly do with a few modern-spec mechanical transplants to improve the experience. Aiman bought it in Ajman for around $4000 and has spent another $2500 over the last two years at Sharjah’s Liberty Motorsports getting it in shape for his rare adventures.

Good examples are hard to track down in the Middle East, especially compared to its sister car, the far more common place Chevrolet Camaro of the same vintage, though there is still obviously huge choice in the United States. Perhaps due the TV legacy, prices are relatively steep, with average cars at $5000 and really good examples up at $10k plus, though scrappy cars could be had for around $2500.

The Knight Rider is set to return in a much rumoured and highly anticipated 2008 big-budget movie, but he is unlikely to be driving a new Trans Am. The bonnet decal represents the phoenix, a symbol of rebirth in Egyptian mythology, but there will be no rebirth for the Firebird. GM Vice Chairman, Bob Lutz himself, categorically told me that there would not be another Firebird. Shame that. car

version also seen chasing a Countach in Cannonball Run. It’s even been in The Simpsons – Apu runs a red late-’70s Trans Am. Securing its place in pop-culture thanks to Knight Rider, the third generation car was actually lighter and shorter. The Trans Am was selected by Road & Track was one of the 12 best cars in the world.

The ’93-02 final incarnation may have been the quickest, but also arguably CLAIM TO FAME Apart from the last the ugliest. generation car, Firebirds have had numerous starring roles on TV and film

BLACK T-TOP Third gen Firebird was lightest and most modern to date. Good examples will cost between $5000 and $10,000

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NOVEMBER 2007 ISSUE 11 VOLUME 3

NOVEMBER 2007 ISSUE 11 VOL 3

M I D D L E

E A S T

FERRARI SCUDERIA Flat out at Fiorano E D I T I O N

FORMULA 1

We drive an F1 car PORSCHE GT2 It’s not for poseurs

2007’S GREATEST PERFORMANCE CARS 13 stars line-up for the ultimate face-off in our massive track test

THE DEFINITIVE VIEW

NOVEMBER 2007 AED10 Issue 11-3 BHD 1 KWD 1 OMR 1 SAR 10 QAR 10

CAPARO

T1 MITSUBISHI EVO X LR2 IN OMAN VOLVO C30 & RIVALS BMW 135I

9 771817 142009 An ITP Consumer Publication

INSIGHT F1 CAR COVER STORY DRIVING FEATUREAN CAR

As one of the most exciting F1 seasons in years drew to a close,

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Shahzad Sheikh took the wheel of a Renault F1 car

Photography Renault F1 Team

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SE SELF-CONFESSED COUCH-POTATO PILOT, I’VE SPENT MANY Sun Sunday afternoons in front of the telly accompanied by much yelling at the box, slapping of forehead and gestures berating drivers for their frankly amate amateur and pathetic performance. ‘What are you doing, Alesi? Didn’t you see him there, Hill? Go on Frentzen, you could have had him then!’ And of course tthe classic: ‘Aw come on – I could drive better than that!’

Freeze frame, and fast forward to a few weeks ago. Glorious sunshine bathes the Paul Ricard circuit in the South of France accentuating the track’s crisp Techn Technicolor presentation. Up until 1990 they used to run the French GP here, tod today it’s a state-of-the-art testing facility for race cars. There’s an Formula 1 car in the pit lane and I’m standing near the cockpit, in race overalls, wearin wearing a helmet. Suddenly those words come back to hunt me.

Let’s rewind a little: the Renault F1 team’s ‘Feel It’ programme is designed ransform overweight, ove to transform unfit, creaky hacks (at least in my case) from nlightened kn unenlightened know-it-all bystanders to F1 drivers in a matter of hours.

And we are talking ge genuine F1 car here. A 2002 chassis with 2005 aerodynamics resplendent ndent in 2007 Renault-ING team livery, with a 700bhp V8. steerin wheel controls have been simplified, the traction Okay so the steering control is permanently on o (thank God), and revs are limited to ‘just’ 13,000rpm compared to a current F1 car’s 19,000. But with a weight of 580kg, that still equates to over 1200bhp p per ton! A Bugatti Veyron offers 530bhp per ton.

A F1 car is not only the peak of performance projectiles when it comes to p motor racing, but is also easily the pinnacle of a petrolhead’s fantasy list of ‘cars I must drive before I die’. It’s the most daunting too. They don’t just throw you the keys to an F1 car with a jolly, ‘here, take it for a spin’.

It’s a highly-strung precision-engineered device built for speed. Each car can cost upto $5 million, and you can’t exactly cruise. Drive it too slow and the tyres won’t produce enough grip, the clever aerodynamics are useless, and without enough air going through the radiators, the engine, which can reach temperatures of 1000 degrees Celsius, will cook itself.

NOTHING ELSE An F1 motor will hurtle the racer to 100kph in 2.0 seconds and COMES CLOSE to 200kph in 3.9. And yet none of the assembled journos were asked An F1 car is about their previous driving experience. In fact those that offered relativley easy to peddle once your up some single-seater experience, were told to just forget everything away. But drive too they’d learnt and start from scratch. I’d almost gone to the Dubai slow and it doesn’t work and will Autodrome for some open-wheeler seat time, but in the end opted probably cook itself. for the full-on zero-to-hero adventure. After all as programme Normal frame of references are out, manager, Tarik Ait Said, delighted in reminding us, the Renault F1 and limits are team were not expecting to find next year’s driver line-up today. stratospheric, so however quick you So we had training laps in Formula Renault (FR) single-seaters think you’re going, (below), and sessions with the physiotherapists to ensure we were the car’s barely breaking a sweat healthy enough to withstand the physical onslaught of F1. Current Renault F1 driver, Heikki Kovalainen, has a resting heartbeat of 58 beats per minute, which rises to an average of 170 in a race. Then there’s the g-forces, which are comparable to what fighter-pilots would experience.

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INSIGHT DRIVING AN F1 CAR

THE LIMITS OF AN F1 CAR ARE BEYOND THE COMPREHENSION OF MERE MORTALS

ZERO TO HERO The Renault ‘Feel It’ programme at Paul Ricard circuit aims to provide an insight into the world of F1, starting with training laps in Formula Renault cars (pictured left)

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COVER STORY FEATURE CAR

00 SEPTEMBER 2006

CARMAGAZINE.CO.UK

INSIGHT DRIVING AN F1 CAR

‘FEEL IT’ PROGRAMME The best road car will only produce around 1.5g. Accelerating to 200kph in an F1 car pushes you back with a force of two and half times your bodyweight (2.46g).

Braking can be up to 5g with cornering forces anywhere between three and 6g. Two-seater ride gives some idea of what that feels like

Up to 200kph, under acceleration the driver experiences 2.46g (nearly two and half times his bodyweight). Up to 100kph, mechanical grip alone can generate 2g. Once the aerodynamics kick in lateral forces range from 3g up to the high of 6g recorded at Suzuka’s 130-R corner.

After the first set of FR laps, the telemetry telltaled. I wasn’t revving or braking hard enough, throttle use was half-hearted and my lap time was 34 seconds off a professional driver’s on the 3.8km circuit. Frankly with the information and instructional blitz, it all seemed too much to take in.

Fortunately some of it must have seeped through, as I was 10 seconds quicker in the second stint. With 185bhp and 450kg, the FRs are mental, but cramped for my tall frame. A stubborn sequential gearchange and my size 45’s constantly getting jammed in the footwell didn’t help either.

We’d only get two laps in the F1 car – an out lap and an in lap. Immediately I stalled it. It’s a long, heavy clutch that needs to be eased up carefully whilst the right foot holds constant revs. The second time I was away. Frankly that is the hardest part of driving an F1 car. Despite almost lying on my back with little more than padding and a race harness to support me (no seat, no HANS device), it was remarkably comfortable with good toe-room.

The first lap was tentative, but on the main straight I floored it and plipped up through gears with my right fingers just like TV in-car footage – I was an F1 driver in that instant. I’d warped the short straight reaching over 240kph (220 was my max in the FR), really making that engine shriek for mercy – or so I thought. Telemetry testified chickening out at 9000rpm.

Lap two was lightning quick and over too soon. ‘We used to do three laps,’ said Tariq, ‘but seven out of 10 drivers would spin off on the third’. It’s easy to see why. With little body roll or suspension travel, the limits of an F1 car are beyond the comprehension of those used to normal road cars – specially the realm past mechanical grip where airfoils earn their crust.

Instead it appears that an F1 car will accelerate and go round corners faster than your body will. This was evident from the awesome two-seater ride in what was effectively a sort of F1/FR hybrid. After the short sprint from the pits to the sharp first right-hander, under HARD braking, it was as if my chest had taken a wallop from Evander Holyfield. But that was nothing, at the end of the long back straight, all day we’d been braking for the sweeping right, but my mad chauffeur didn’t even lift. I thought I’d be thrown out of the car. Too tightly fastened in for that to happen, my internal organs just kept going regardless, while the neck struggled with holding onto a head plus helmet (about 7.5kg) that wanted to go AWOL. Probably the most g I’d ever experienced, and certainly not something I will forget.

My body ached for three days after this, but my admiration and respect for F1 drivers swelled along with the bruises: lap after lap at a pace harder and faster than that two-seater ride, adjusting settings, conversing with the pit crew, and racing twenty others (God knows how – I had NO peripheral vision whatsoever!), is a genuinely superhuman feat. Believe.

INNER SANCTUM Few will ever get this close to the inner workings of a F1 team, let alone drive a real F1 car. For the lucky novice it means extreme excitement combined with fearful trepidation

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METAL CLASSICS, OUR CARS, BUYING GUIDE, GBU PRICELIST

Ford Mustang GT 390 No car will ever be cooler, thanks to Steve McQueen Show car special arrives in Dubai Photography Bob Jarmson

CAR CLASSICS

1967 FORD MUSTANG GT Despite its humble origins, the Ford Mustang GT 390 epitomises all that’s cool about muscle cars, says Shahzad Sheikh

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ONSIDER THAT IT WAS ESSENTIALLY A thrown-together sportscar, made on the cheap from bits borrowed out of family saloons by the world’s original purveyor of personal transport for the masses, and not even breathed upon by a chic Italian design house. Hence the fact that the enduring automotive icon that is the Ford Mustang, can rightfully lay claim to the title of ‘motoring legend’, is frankly mind-blowing.

It is one of the most recognisable shapes in contemporary car culture, boasts a fanatical following, has earned a pedestal position beyond reason or reproach, and is simply too cool to classify. It’s the pin-up car that at least two generations of petrolheads want to drive, and can, because it’s also the people’s champion, transcending class and customs – accessible and sacred simultaneously.

Instinctively desirable, the car’s extraordinary appeal has made it a darling of pop culture (if it wasn’t such a bruiser, it would be a closet luvvy), seeing it turn up in over 500 popular western songs, movies, and music videos, most famously, of course, in both versions of Gone in Sixty Seconds and the ultimate car-guy’s flick, Bullitt.

Ask anyone to name their favourite movie car chases and somewhere in the top three, if not heading the list, will be lieutenant Frank Bullitt driving a ‘Highland Green’ modified 1968 Mustang GT 390 fastback, chasing two hitman in a black Dodge Charger through the streets of San Franciso.

When pressed on what makes the oft-copied near 10-minute sequence, which concludes with a fiery end for the bad guys, so special, the answer invariably is that ‘it’s for real’. In fact the Mustang’s soundtrack is of a racing car on a track, the same Cadillac and green Beetle repeatedly appear during the chase, a lot of the driving was done not by über-cool Steve McQueen, who played Bullitt, but stunt driver Bud Ekins, and the Dodge can be clearly seen missing and flying past the back of the exploding petrol station at the climax.

On the other hand McQueen did drive, and fast (speeds of over 180kph were reached), and the axle-hopping reverse burnout was unscripted and for real as McQueen had simply missed the turn. And whilst the 7.2-litre 375bhp 440ci Charger would have outrun the 6.4-

Photography Bob Jarmson

litre 325bhp 390ci in a straight line, the Dodge clearly struggles even to stay on the road. The Mustang is tighter and more composed, as it should be considering that veteran racer and tuner, Max Balchowsky, had done some serious work on preparing the two Mustangs used for the chase. The shock towers were reinforced, and heavy duty front coils installed with a thicker anti-roll bar and Koni shocks. Plus it was decided to mute the musical score in favour of the V8 orchestra – marvellous.

Like the car in our pictures, the 67-68 model year was the second generation Mustang, and through a process of natural selection has become the definitive template for what a Mustang should look like. Whilst distilling 40 years of heritage into the new 2005 Mustang, a car that’s arguably revived the ‘muscle car’ era, the designers looked to the 1967 Fastback. The long hood, shark nose, stubby rear, three-lamp taillights, and side scoops have all been carried through.

And it wasn’t just its starring Hollywood roles that earned Ford’s Mustang the cult following. It was one the fastest selling cars in history with over a million shifted within 18 months of its launch. Of the 67-68 model alone, nearly 800,000 were produced.

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WHEN DISTILLING 40 YEARS OF HERITAGE INTO THE NEW 2005 MUSTANG, DESIGNERS LOOKED TO THE 1967 FASTBACK

CONCOURSE This Mustang is an award-winner in Canada and the US and it’s not hard to see why. It is immaculate and features a factory-option ‘Deluxe’ interior with brushed aluminium panels

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CAR CLASSICS BEST CAR CHASE EVER? Mustang GT 390 was the star of perhaps one of the best car chases ever on celluloid. In Bullitt, Steve McQueen reached actual speeds of over 180kph whilst filming the 10-minute sequence on the streets of San Francisco

Originally launched in March 1964, the Mustang was styled by David Ash and John Oros whose winning design was selected

by Ford General Manager at the time, Lee Iacocca. Heavily employing Ford Falcon and Fairlane components, the body shell was unique with a shorter wheelbase, wider track and the car was lower. Despite the humble origins, it did boast an industry first, the ‘torque box’ described a structural system that made the car more rigid.

Then, as now, the Mustang caught Ford’s rivals napping and launched the pony car wars. Stunned by its runaway success, Chrysler had introduced the Plymouth Barracuda which admittedly became one of the most revered muscle cars ever, and GM gambled on victory with the rear-engined Corvair Monza, which failed, thanks to environment and consumer rights activist, Ralph Nader, and a few severe safety issues. It was only when the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird came along that things got interesting.

The subtle restyle in 1967 saw the dimensions increase to accommodate the big block V8s as a riposte to the Camaro. The rear light panel was now concave and the side ‘scoop’ had grown a real grille. The new 390 power unit gave the car a 0-100kph time of 7.8 seconds, and a quarter mile run in the mid-13s with top speeds of over 170kph (Balchowsky had obviously tweaked more than just the suspension on his mate McQueen’s car!).

Even so our red example featuring the rare S-code 390ci and a four-speed manual, so it felt plenty quick for an old ‘un. Bob Jarmson, an art and needed, the steering is light, you need to be firm but progressive with the photography teacher at the American School Dubai, recently imported this brakes and of course mindful of the quality and value of this concourse classic Rotisserie restored, Marti Report-documented car, which is a show-winner whilst negotiating the mean streets of Dubai. Sure enough it’s a head-turner back in Western Canada and the US Pacific Northwest. inviting looks and offers-to-buy on every street corner.

‘It took a long time to find one as good as this,’ admits Jarmson, remarkA factory option GT version (as opposed to the retro-upgrades usually ably he then let me jump behind the wheel and I immediately discovered seen on this period Mustangs) it includes the Deluxe interior pack with that despite us sharing ages, the car is rather more sprightly, brushed aluminium panels, optional floor console and overhead NEED TO and requires little invitation to light up the rears. roof console. This car also has a brand new modern air conditioning KNOW ‘The car was restored with the goal of creating a show car,’ system discreetly utilising the factory venting system. Astonishingly Prices today: reveals Jarmson. ‘So the engine was kept stock but a few subtle Bob has decided to part with this beauty (he’s got his sights set $25,000-185,000 Produced: 1967-68 performance changes were made that a show car judge couldn’t on an even rarer GT500KR), and has priced at $109,000 due to Number built: 800,000 see. The engine is balanced with a slightly hotter, bumpy cam; its award-winning condition.

Engine: 389.6 cu in/ 6384cc OHV V8, an Edlebrock aluminium intake manifold has been fitted but Admittedly you can pick up a runner in the States for around 325bhp @ 4800rpm, painted factory blue so it doesn’t stand out, and a larger Holley $25,000, but it could be in ropey shape and not worth importing, 427lb ft @ 3200rpm Transmission: carb was installed.’ except as a project car. Prices then tend to jump to around $50k Four-speed manual, rear-wheel drive This translates to decent performance and a relatively easy and over for the really good examples. Still, that leaves a fairly Weight: 1360kg and enjoyable drive, only the manly four-on-the-floor manual broad spread for those of us who want to relive one of the coolest Performance: 7.8sec 0-100kph, 170kph change requires a bit of effort with the occasional double-declutch car chases ever. Now, who’s got an old Dodge Charger?

SPECIAL THANKS TO OWNER BOB JARMSON

THEN, AS NOW, THE MUSTANG

124 NOVEMBER 2007

MIDDLE EAST

CAUGHT RIVALS, GM AND CHRYSLER, NAPPING

BIG BLOCK 1967 saw the second Mustang body shape appear. It was bigger to accomodate the big-block V8 needed to beat competition from GM’s Camaro. The rear light panel was now concave and the side scoops had grown real gills