Any cynic will say that a Bentley is such an over-indulgent vehicle to drive through a country with a vast majority of its 1.3 billion population still wallowing well below the poverty line. There is indeed truth to that, as I and my colleagues from Asean were thinking about the night of the unveiling.
The SUV market is getting crowded indeed, but there’s to be no abatement of buyers flocking to and buying one. There are currently seven 7-seat SUVs in the market, from Japanese (Toyota Fortuner, Mitsubishi Montero Sport, Isuzu Alterra) to Korean (KIA Sorrento, Hyundai Santa Fe), and now American (Ford Everest and Chevrolet’s all-new Trailblazer) manufacturers.
In the Philippine Motoring landscape there are some hidden gems that often leave me flabbergasted as to why less people actually own and drive them. The Ford Focus is one of them. It’s not perfect, but is very close to it, and offers unmatched levels of comfort, refinement and performance.
A few days ago, I was at my favorite car accessories shop in Fort Bonifacio, Global City, and was talking to the sales girls and customers about the elections when they all started teasing me that I should run for a party-list seat—something that would be of service to motorists. Which indeed got me thinking: If I did run for politics, what would my platform of good governance be?
Today’s crop of premium SUV buyers want it all: style, sophistication, on-road performance to rival that of a sports car, offroad prowess that can survive the nuclear holocaust, and yes, diesel because filling up is cheaper.
We all love driving, be it for the sheer pleasure itself, or to get us to our favored destinations, and to bring us closer to family, friends or our dreams. But accidents, even if we try our best to avoid them, can and will happen along the way. So it is best to be armed and ready for such eventualities. Aside from the basic hand tools and early-warning devices like reflective triangles, here are some items which you should think about having in your car at all times.
Purpose-built offroad vehicles don’t really appeal to me. Most of the offroad driving I do are over dirt roads, farm-to-market roads, and Edsa. I also hate getting dirty, particularly my shoes (I have a shoe fetish). The non-smooth roads I drive on are surfaces, which even most street/tarmac oriented SUVs and pickups can handle without batting an eyelid.
In the nine plus years that I’ve been writing about cars, I’ve driven a whole lot of mass-market cars (almost every Japanese, Korean, American and the like), a good number of premium-luxury cars (mostly German), a slew of performance-oriented cars (mostly German, followed by some Japanese and Italians) and just plain cool cars (MINI does come to mind). But I can only ever remember reviewing three British cars (aside from MINI, which nowadays seems more German than English, but all the better for them). I’ve reviewed one Range Rover, briefly tested a modern XJ when it was new and now, finally, a full-on proper road test of the facelifted XF. And boy was it worth the wait!
The Manila International Autoshow is the real auto show for enthusiasts and consumers alike because there is so much available interaction: there’s a lot of merchandise available for sale, you get to talk to industry experts and leaders, see one hell of a stunt show, plus ogle endlessly at the hottest babes in town while avoiding the girlfriend’s/missus’ dagger looks.
Launched in 2010, BMW’s F10 5-Series is the sixth iteration of the iconic mid-sized executive sports sedan, and it came with a bevy of improvements which helped significantly differentiate itself from the Bangle (bungle?) era of BMW’s.
Over the past few years, Mercedes-Benz has been slowly but surely evolving, changing the look of its vehicle lineup from somber and stately, to a noticeably edgier, more modern yet still dignified presence.
FOR many a car enthusiast, his or her own car/s are like a faithful friend, that though sometimes difficult and temperamental (like my own cars!), we look for activities to do together this summer. I thought of some activities which can allow both car and owner/driver to enjoy summer.
