Pakistani Car Advice | News Blog » nabeel

Karting Championship

nabeel — Sat, 02 May 2009 20:11:58 +0000

If you look up “Motorsports in Lahore” on google this is what you get…

...

But this joke is losing it’s humor. And that’s because there have been at least four proper motorsports events in Lahore within the last year including a 4×4 mud rally, a couple of go-kart races and a so called drag race. Finally there’s some excitement in the Lahoree petrol-heads’ life.

Last weekend Lake City was home to a go-kart race organized by Racing Pakistan and sponsored by Bank Alfalah. A race track was improvised on the excellent streets of Lake City (a rare sight in Lahore). The race was held at night under flood lights to avoid the scorching heat of the day. It was a five hour endurance race so each team had 3 to 4 drivers who replaced one another at the end of a stint.

Karting is considered as the most basic form of motorsports. And although a go-kart might look like something you’d buy for your five year old boy but don’t be fooled by its benign looks. Go-kart racing is all about agility and acceleration. That’s why go-karts weigh next to nothing and have very high power to weight ratio. As a result a go-kart changes direction like a gazelle and goes like stink. And that’s why go-kart tracks are very tight and twisty.

F1 replica

This is the second time that Racing Pakistan has organized a kart race in Lahore. The first event was held back in August 2008. Adnan Sarwar is the front man of this organization who is working with Bank Alfalah to promote motorsports in Pakistan.

When I went to see this race last year I saw a Ferrari followed soon after by an Aston Martin and several Porsches. So I wondered how long would it be before I wake up. But then i was forced to realise that it wasn’t a dream. So the next explanation I came up with was that I had somehow reached a European town located on Raiwind Road. Because to me, that was a less ridiculous idea than actually seeing a Ferrari and an Aston Martin in Lahore.

Altough I didn’t see the Ferrari and the Aston this year (maybe I missed them) but the car park was still quite dream-like.

There are many things I can think of that could have been better on this event but I think it’s more important to appreciate the effort for bringing motorsports to Pakistan which is something we really need.

In case you’re wondering why you never found out about some or all of these events, well you’re not alone, because many people missed these events because they didn’t know about them. Anyway cheer up! I’ll do my best to keep you informed about any future happenings. And if you know about any upcoming events please do share this information with us.

Here are some pictures from the event…

racetrack

And here are some pictures from the last year’s event…

Here’s a video report of the event which isn’t very good but it’s all I could find.

Lahore Karting Championship

Originally posted at: Horse Power

Daihatsu Cuore Review

nabeel — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:45:04 +0000

The Daihatsu cuore is a car from the 90’s so it doesn’t feel like a modern car at all. It was built to be basic and cheap and it sure is basic, but cheap…I don’t think so.

Even the engineers at the daihatsu dealership admit that this car has some design faults which can’t be fixed especially some clutch related issues. Apart from that it is very reliable and easy to maintain and it’s always welcome in the second hand car market.

	Score	Remarks
Performance	7/10	Lack of weight covers up well for the lack of power
Grip & handling	4/10	Not great
Comfort	4/10	Poor
Reliability	8/10	Very good
Fuel economy	6/10	Let down by its prehistoric fuel injection system
Maintenance	8/10	Easy to maintain
Resale	9/10	Anytime
Price	4/10	Too expensive
Equipment	4/10	Bare minimum

MODEL	PRICE
CUORE CL	569,000
CUORE CL CNG	609,000
CUORE CX	619,000
CUORE CX MET	625,000
CUORE CX CNG	664,000
CUORE CX CNG MET	669,000
CUORE CX A/T	649,000
CUORE CX A/T MET	654,000
CUORE ECOMATIC	704,000
CUORE ECOMATIC MET	709,000

Source: Toyota-indus.com

Rivals:

Toyota Vitz/Platz

Suzuki Alto

Chevrolet Joy

Chery QQ

Suzuki Mehran

Verdict:

Cuore is not a bad car but you can get a much better car in the same budget.

Wanna get dirty??

nabeel — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 16:28:33 +0000

I’ve been dreaming about getting a quad bike for a birthday present since I was about six years old. Sadly however that magic birthday never came. In my dreams I’ve driven through valleys and deserts and rescued gorgeous looking girls on my quad bike. But none of these dreams ever saw the light of day.

I know a quad bike is not very practical as a mode of transport, in fact it is pointless unless you live alone on a mountain top. But it does combine all the coolest ingredients of a great thriller in a very small package. Just like Charlie’s Angels…

When you look at a quad bike it instantly makes you forget about practicality, you just want it for its fat spiky tires, the torque-filled two stroke engine and those huge shock absorbers.

But I’m not so sure many six year olds will get to tear the gift wrapper off a quad bike because these beasts are quite pricey. A proper quad bike can cost between 50 to 500 thousand rupees. This is why it would be a good idea to rent one for the weekend instead of buying one. Unfortunately however I’ve never heard of a place where you can rent a quad bike. Maybe that’s why I get to see so many 40 year old fat balding businessmen riding their own quad bikes around town. And they always have a mischievous smile on their face like a six year old boy who just got a quad bike for a birthday present.

Made in China

nabeel — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 12:10:13 +0000

These days you can buy a Chinese fake version of almost anything for a fraction of the price of the original.

You can buy a carbon copy of the Honda 70 for half the price, or an iPhone look-a-like with a logo that shows an apple eaten from all sides…

Even cars from Chinese brands are not that uncommon these days.

Chery is one of the leading car makers from China. Their 800cc car “QQ” is

Chery QQ

becoming quite popular in Pakistan. And you have to give them the credit for making a car that offers a much better build quality, performance and more features than its rivals. And the best part is that even the top-spec model of this car costs nearly the same as the cheapest Suzuki Mehran, which, as we all know, is made from used tin foil.

The only thing that lets this car down is its looks. But don’t forget that Mehran doesn’t exactly look like the Mona Lisa either.

But I’m not very interested in talking about 800cc family cars right now. I want to talk about a car, made in China, which has just two seats, an electric folding roof and a 2.0 liter, 195 bhp, turbo-charged, petrol engine. Yes, Chinese sports cars are coming our way…

For those of you with large bank accounts and a fleet of cars parked outside, this might not be something to look forward to. But it is a very exciting piece of news for petrol-heads like me who love cheap thrills.

Chery M14

It’s called the Chery M14. It was introduced back in 2006 as a concept car. Designed by a car designer from Pininfarina, it was displayed in several car shows around the world and received a lot of appreciation from the public. It was promised that its mass production will start by the end of 2007. But it didn’t. And strangely after spending so much time and money designing and advertising this much awaited car, it seems that Chery have suddenly backed out of the cheap sports car business. There are no mentions about this car on their global website and the Chery Pakistan website lists it as an “upcoming model” whose mass production will start in 2007.

If this car ever goes into production, it will cost around $19,000 which roughly equates to 1.5 million (15 lac) rupees. For a car like this, trust me, it’s the biggest bargain in the world.

M14 interior

I know what you are thinking…you’re thinking that it will have a crap build quality like everything else made in China. Well, think again…because it can’t possibly get worse than the cars we are already used to, like the Suzuki Cultus or Toyota Corolla XLi which happen to be two of the highest selling cars in Pakistan. If we can live with these cars, we can live with anything. Bring it on Chery!

Let’s hope that the M14 goes into production soon and then other car companies from China also join the competition.

Chery M14 promo

Family cars sorted by power

nabeel — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 11:27:30 +0000

In the following chart, cars are sorted by their Engine Capacity. The Coure seems to rule the 0.8 Litre category, while at the top end, the 2.4 Accord wins by 0.1 second margin! – Ed’ Note

FERRARI vs MEHRAN

nabeel — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 22:28:46 +0000

People of Lahore are familiar with three forms of driving…

Driving in the city (which can turn into serious off-roading),

Driving on the highway (often with donkey carts going in the other direction),

And last but not least, reckless driving.

Oh and there’s one more; driving in the fast lane at 30 km/h. Actually this is even more dangerous than reckless driving because it puts you at the risk of being murdered.

But don’t forget that this is also the city where literally hundreds of people own top of the range cars from Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, even Ferrari and Aston Martin. These are just a few names from a long list that’s growing fast.

Aston Martin DB9

Ferrari 360

Porsche 911 Carrera 2S

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

When I first realized that my fellow citizens drive these exotic beauties, I almost fainted with excitement.

But if you think about it, you will realize that people are driving cars that can do 320 kph on roads that hardly ever allow 120. That means my 40 horse power Cuore can easily keep up with a 400 horse power Ferrari on the highways.

And as soon as we are off the highway, I will instantly leave the Ferrari in my dust…

Yes…and the reason is that now we’re in speed breaker territory, most of which happen to be taller than the Ferrari itself. And there’s a very good reason behind these world famous speed breakers. You see, building sky scrapers is an extremely difficult task, that’s why we decided to go for the tallest speed breakers in the world.

By the way, these speed breakers are usually nicknamed “jumps”, which says it all. I call them something else which I can’t tell you.

So if I had the job of issuing license plates for cars, I would issue a special golden “Jackass” plate to anyone who has one of these imported exotic cars in Lahore. I mean what’s the point of having a Ferrari when you can’t even keep up with a Mehran in a race???

Let’s face it, Ferraris are not designed keeping the streets of Lahore in mind, and you can’t explore their potential without getting stuck on a speed breaker with all four wheels in the air.

And I would love to take a picture of a Ferrari driving behind a donkey cart on a highway.

That means all three forms of driving known to Lahore-kind, have been ruled out for Ferraris and Porsches. A Mehran, on the other hand, is not only perfect for all of these scenarios, but also much faster. It’s the super-car of Lahore.

Now that I’ve proved that you can go faster in a Mehran than a Ferrari. I want to prove it wrong. I’m not going to ramble on about road conditions and government policies because, let’s face it, we are on our own.

It’s time to introduce a brand new form of driving to Lahoris. This form of driving is the reason why names like Ferrari and Porsche exist, and no Mehran has ever seen it. This is the form of driving where you need a racetrack.

Perhaps I should explain that a racetrack is a road that doesn’t go anywhere, it has no speed humps, donkey carts are not allowed to use it, and you can go as fast as you dare. Oh and it’s a little bendy too. In fact it can scare the hell out of you with its high speed bends.

Only trouble is that this magic road doesn’t exist anywhere near Lahore. It doesn’t even exist anywhere in the country.

So would you like to know why racetracks are non-existent in our country even though we have hundreds of cars designed only for the purpose?

Here’s why…About 1.6 million years ago, Martians came to earth. They marked out the boundaries of Pakistan and then cursed it to make sure no one ever enjoys driving here.

This is the best logical explanation for the fact that no one has ever built a racetrack inPakistan. I’m not kidding; I even have strong evidence to support my theory of Martians.

Indian Formula Rolon

Across the eastern border, India is currently hosting four separate motorsport championships on proper racetracks with purpose built formula cars, now that’s more like it. Here are some names if you are interested; Formula LGB Hyundai, FISSME (aka Formula Maruti), Formula Rolon and JK Tyre National racing championship.

Still not convinced? Well even if you only watch PTV and you’ve never heard of Michael Schumacher; you would know that Formula1 is the most prestigious car racing championship in the world. To give you an idea about the success rate of Formula1, theShanghai race circuit built in 2004 cost $300 million to make. And it’s such a money tree that they hope to recover its cost by the year 2014. You do the math.

Now please take a deep breath because what I’m about to tell you might come as a big shock…

India will be hosting a Formula1 race in the year 2011 on the streets of New Delhi. Not to mention that their Formula1 team, Force India debuted back in 2008.

Enough said?

I think it’s time for us to call the Martians back to earth and beg them to lift the unbreakable curse before we become a laughing stock for Indians. Otherwise it’s a possibility that soon you will be offered an unused Ferrari in exchange for your old Mehran. And you will probably say, “No thanks!”