|
El Mexicano
From the land of tortillas and sombreros comes a slinky sports car engineered by a company better known for its oil bottle and bus designs. Bristling with design flair, the Mastretta MXT coupe weighs just 900kg and is set to put Mexico on the world automobile map with its 2.0-litre, 240bhp engine that can push the car from 0-100kmh in less than five seconds and a maximum speed of 240kmh. Constructed from bonded aluminium like all serious sports cars, this stunner is set for production in 2009, this car will cost around Dhs250,000 in Europe.
Race-inspired and ready to go
Renault has introduced the F1-inspired Clio Renault F1 R27 and the Clio Renault Sport (RS) 197 to the UAE. Limited edition pieces in the GCC, these cars are derived from racing technologies that, with a 200hp, 2.0-litre engine that can do the 0-100kmh sprint in 6.9 seconds. The R27 edition starts at Dhs87,000 while the RS197 is from Dhs82,000 onwards. Available now at Arabian Automobiles (Dubai)
and Al Masood Automobiles (Abu Dhabi and Al Ain).
ECO PedDling
Nissan has unveiled the Eco Pedal – a technology that helps drivers become more fuel-efficient. When the eco-pedal system is on, each time the driver steps on the accelerator, a control mechanism is activated if the system detects excess pressure, helping to inform the driver (via an indicator on the control panel) that they could be using more fuel than required. Plans are now afoot to commercialise the Eco pedal in 2009.
The sixth coming
After selling more 26 million cars in the 34 years since the original first went on sale, Volkswagen has unveiled the sixth generation Golf. A sharp look that draws on the new design direction established by the Scirocco, the new Golf is more accentuated and has more defined lines than its predecessor. Apart from a quieter drive, VW's Adaptive Chassis Control (ACC) features on the new Golf, allowing the driver to select from normal, comfort or sport modes. Golf V1 is expected to hit the UAE in early 2009.
Parking lot horrors
London is the world's most expensive city to park your car. You would have to pay £34 (Dhs250) per day or £583 (Dhs4276) a month to park your car in the city of London. Sydney, Australia, came in second, charging Dhs2830 a month, followed by Hong Kong at Dhs2717 a month. Research agency Colliers International tracked 64 downtown areas in north America as well 74 cities in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Latin America before announcing the results. In this part of the world, Dubai and Tel Aviv charged the most for monthly parking at Dhs725.
|
