Engines revving, cars skidding, adrenaline pumping, and a big smile on my face. That is probably the whole feeling I had during GulfRun 2008. I don’t think there is something that I look forward to as much as this event once a year. 40+ cars, so many drivers, tons of friends and family, we had the events in Kuwait which was the build up to the Bahrain International Circuit. I wasn’t on the track much since I was preoccupied with a few things but I was having so much fun with a lot of people and this event does bring people together, and I always catch up with people I see them on the street randomly or someplace else. This footage was put together by myself (20%) and Doc S (80%), I only did the story board and music, Doc pretty much did everything else, we make a great team. Now we made to uploads one to youtube so it spreads like wildfire and the other to Vimeo for those who have Youtube blocked at work and its better quality in my opinion. Now I really can’t wait for GulfRun 5.
While I was driving two weeks ago in the Landcruiser a sudden whining sound started, when ever I stepped on the gas. I knew something was wrong but I didn’t know what exactly and luckily I was close to home.
The odometer was at 154’000 Kms and I recently did the 150K service a couple of weeks back so I’m surprised something went wrong. I thought it would be a minor issue and would be resolved quickly. Dropped off the car at Al Rai Toyota Service on Wednesday, they said Thursday is a half day and I have the car back on Saturday. I thought that would work out fine for me. I got a call early Thursday morning with a list of items and a quote of 450 KD, I was about to start shouting on the phone because he basically wanted to replace the gear box and other items in the car. I told him that you recently did a 150 K service and supposedly checked all these items, I argued with the guy on the phone for about 15 minutes and told him that I will be passing by in the afternoon before they close. Got in by noon and the guy had a different tone, and the Egyptian manager was trying to explain. I told him I will pay for wear and tear such as replacing the clutch, but items that should have been checked at the 150 K service is something they will replace but I won’t be paying for it. After making me wait for about 30 minutes, I had the original parts list and told them they are going to replace all that they listed, and they came back to me with a 340 KD quote which is a huge difference.
They started working on the car on Thursday, but I didn’t get it back until Monday because even when I picked it up on Saturday it seems nobody bothered to do a road test drive because the huge whining sound was still there and turns out it had nothing to do with the gear box. Once they fixed that the car has been driving like it was when I first picked it up 10 years ago, the gear box felt solid and the change smoother, not so loose as it was before. Al Sayer service is probably the best in Kuwait, but sometimes you do have to get into an argument.
Parts Replaced:
- Front Axle Assembly
- Clutch Assembly
- Bearing Kit
- Boot and Cover Assembly Kit
- Bushings
- Front Shocks Seals
- Radial Kit for Shocks
Went to Dubai a couple of weeks back and took the opportunity to check on my car at TAM Auto Engineering. As usual they had a lot of sports and race cars parked outside, not including what was inside their garage. I was shocked to see they had the KTM X-Bow sitting right in their entrance, my first impulse was to jump into the car and drive right off, if only the keys were in the ignition. As usual I found the team of people working side the garage, and the owner Moataz is under the hood of one of the cars from early in the morning. You have to love a garage where the owner of the place is working on the cars with his team under him.
There are so many different types of cars they are working on, and the funniest part is that they are fixing the work of other garages in Dubai. They are known to be brutally honest with the customer, and that is a very rare quality. I found out about them a couple of months back, and after looking into their work and a few people’s cars they worked on I couldn’t wait to get the Beemer there. So the plan is install and tune the Motons for my car, then I made a few other requests from them to tweak the car a bit while its being track tested, also asked for a Dyno since I have never dynoed my car after all these modifications.
Craftmenship such as this is rare in the middle east, hopefully they continue this level of service. They were even fixing an MTM Audi R8 which was smoking like crazy, and a one month old Hennessy Dodge Viper which had burnt out wiring. Then there was the monster of a Z06 which was turned fully into a race track car, also a beautifully restored 1967 Chevy Chevelle. Just so many cars, and the garage was pristinely clean and that reflects greatly on the team and company.
Link: TAMAutoEng
This is probably the coolest video that I have seen made in Kuwait, I roaming around youtube looking for some off-road clips in Kuwait and I came across this. For a simple video it is executed so welluted, and the ending is pretty funny. The music fits the riding and driving perfectly, I am person who lacks off-road skills like these riders but I can appreciate how well the video was done
About two days back, mid day around 12 pm I got onto the first ring road heading to Kuwait City, to Salhiya to be exact and so I had to enter the Sheraton Round About, and suddenly traffic came to a complete halt half way there, and we were completely stuck on the 1st Ring Road.
If you need to go to the city, and heading towards to Sheraton round about try taking the 2nd Ring Road and entering it from the other side. The traffic is flowing at the round about, at a steady pace but the 1st Ring Road comes to a complete stop and moves at a snails pace which drives me mad and I’m assuming everyone else who got caught in it feels the same.
This project has taken too long, they have ruined the area around Church and Sheraton area. It has taken too long to finish the damn project and now they are making it worse. The traffic has increase three fold and we aren’t seeing when exactly this project will wrap up.
Sometimes I think I’m going to pop the vein in my forehead when driving in Kuwait. There are drivers who have never been behind the wheel before leaning left or right, and these microbus drivers who act like they didn’t do anything wrong after leaning into your lane completely.
Women driving as if they are the only people on the road and are untouchables. The thing that drives me nuts are people on their mobile phones who are oblivious to the other cars around them. This one women hit a car today because she didn’t hit the brake and wanted to get something out of her bag next to her, I saw this next to me today, and it could have been avoided. The police that switch on their lights for no reason just to get ahead and then drive like normal. I basically want a baseball bat and beat these people senseless, or until I am satisfied.
Now this an interesting story that took place around 6:05 pm on the way to Bnaider, just before Julai’a. I was heading to a friend’s shalaih going to go pick up a cart for GulfRun. I was pretty much cruising between 120 and 140 kph, people were driving normally and there were cars flying past me.
As I got to the bridge I see a police car and think nothing of it, a Mercedes just flew past me a lot faster then me. I had my legs somewhat crossed since I had cruise control on 140 kph at that point and my right foot on the floor hovering next to the break if need be, the road was empty and I wasn’t in much of hurry so I was taking it easy listening to the music. Then the cop car pulls up right behind me and tells me to pull over. So I do, I step out of the car and ask the guy whats wrong he said I was speeding at 150+, I told him I had it cruise control at 140 kph and a Mercedes sedan passed me going at least 180+ why didn’t he stop him. He proceeded to ignore at this point after asking for my drivers license and registration. I gave him both and all he asked for was the time. He asked if I was “Mukhalif aw Ghair Mukhalif”, meaning guilty or not guilty, I said not. He gave me the ticket and I proceeded to take my car registration and license, he said what are you doing, I said you gave me the ticket what else do you want. He then took my license with him and told me to go to Igrain Number 3, and I can drive for one week with the ticket. I said fine and left the guy, I was pretty pissed off that he took my license and lied about my speed, he said he caught me on a speeding camera even though he was moving which makes it impossible. I called a few people to see what I do this and hoping to have this resolved quickly.
I think the hot days are just getting started, I honestly don’t mind the heat. It was very sunny and nice the past couple of days, and its nice being outside. What I mind is the dust, what the sky turns orange and you have layer of dust on your car, I would rather stay in doors. Saturday was nice though, I had a few things to do so I went out and in between I picked up a nice cold raspberry frappacinno just before going to get a cut and shave.
Ok people, we need to clarify this ASAP. I saw this on the street between Bida’a and Salwa by the seaside. These look like strange new speeding cameras or some sort of surveillance. This never went to the news or what exactly they are doing with these. There is a stop that says you have to stop when the red lights are flashing but what if you don’t stop since it isn’t a traffic light and what does the cameras exactly mean, this is very worrying. I usually don’t care about speeding cameras, and I don’t speed in that area, but then there are the pictures of the back of bikes. If anyone can shed a light on the situation please do.
So the police have something new and useless to add to their fines such as using your phone while your driving. I don’t mind this law at all, since I have been using bluetooth for over 6 years now, before even Sony merged with Ericsson. They can’t seem to fix our lights, at least install sensor traffic light systems, stream line our fine payment process, fix our roads, or fix the 777 hotline so that someone answers the damn phone.
Just for everyone’s information, the police can fine you directly and indirectly, so it is up to the discretion of the police officer. If they see you talking, all they need is your plate number, car make, and color. So they can fine you if you are moving or if they stop you. I wonder how long this is going to last.
On another note, headset sales has gone through the roof, so much so that there is a current shortage in Kuwait for almost every kind of headset.