Author Archives: JP Zakher

Volkswagen Design Vision GTI Concept

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VW Design Vision GTI Concept 2013 FrontHasn’t it always been your dream to leave a 911 Porsche in the dust while riding the hottest and one of the first hatches ever created, the Golf GTI? Introducing the Design Vision GTI Concept, the 503hp and 413 lb-ft of torque Golf GTI, the supercar killer. The three-door monster was developed to wow the crowds of the Wörthersee tuning festival in Austria last spring and has now been revealed at the 2013 LA MotorShow. With this one of a kind edition, Volkswagen is giving us a spectacular glance into the future of the GTI and showing us the flexibility and performance potential of the “MQB” chassis it shares with the stock MK7. All of these ponies were able to fit into the hatch by adding 2 cylinders and a turbo. In fact the Design Vision incorporates a twin-turbocharged VR6 TSI engine combined with a DSG dual-clutch gearbox driving all four wheels. In other words the ingredients for a bonkers version of the all mighty GTI that burns the 0-100km/h in just 3.9 sec.

VW Design Vision GTI Concept 2013 BackAnd isn’t it just a beauty sitting on those 20 inch wheels?! Ok the plastic body might be a bit too wide and the interior too rough, but hey it is still a concept and it needs to incorporate and be able to handle those 500 horses. I really hope that VW is able to produce a more subtle, but as crazy version, of this Design Vision concept. Watch the video attached to take a glance at the burps and other amazing sounds emitted by that amazing engine.

The Jaguar F-Type R

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Ftype CoupeThe long awaited hard top version of the already wonderful F-Type roadster has been finally revealed and it looks stunning. The Coupe is the latest member of Jaguar’s R performance line, that includes the XFR-S and XKR-S. It features the same 5.0-liter, 550-hp and 680Nm of torque supercharged V8. This beauty will burn the 0-100km/h in just 4.0 seconds. The new breed is equipped with hidden rear wing that rises at speeds above 100km/h and stiffer adaptive dynamics suspension that manages the car’s body movements and adjust accordingly. It also has an electronic active differential and a torque vectoring system that further aid the F-Type R’s handling abilities, by controlling the amount of torque sent to each wheel while allowing the inner wheels to brake independently to reduce under-steer.

This F-type R is one, if not the best, looking supercar that has been released this year. It is the perfect balance of  pure elegance, power and eye popping beauty. The roar that comes out of those 4 tail pipes is just plain earporn! Amazing package that thing, great job Jaguar!

Volvo Trucks – The Epic Split feat. Van Damme

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Van Damme Volvo TrucksThe EPIC campaign of Volvo trucks is far from over! #TheEpicSplit is the sixth live test from Volvo Trucks. It follows on from previous viral videos including the Bull Run in Spain to Charlie the Hamster truck driver to many other stunts that you can check right here. The purpose of this test is to demonstrate the remarkable stability and precision of Volvo Dynamic Steering.

What makes this feat so impressive, is that the Hollywood legend, 53 years old Jean-Claude Van Damme, is standing high above the ground, a foot on each side mirror of two golden Volvo FM Trucks speeding in reverse. Chillin like a vilain, Van Damme then performs a world-first: The Epic Split between two moving trucks! Volvo Trucks, my respect I send to you!

Ken Block Gymkhana 6: The Ultimate Gymkhana Grid Course

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Ken Block Gymkhana 6TheAdsGarage is back right on time to share with you car freaks, the brand new Ken Block Gymkhana 6 video. With his modified AWD Fiesta ST sports 650 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque, good for a claimed 0-60 mph in 1.8 seconds, Kenny is ready to burn some rubber. This time, the goal was to design the Ultimate Gymkhana Grid Course. In addition to the usual tight turns, the course features new obstacles including a wrecking ball, a pair of moving Lamborghini Aventadors, and more. The result is not as impressive as the last gymkhana in San Francisco and what the hell are those plastic thingies on his front wheels? Gymkhana Six incorporates elements from Need for Speed Rivals such as video-game themed Redview County cops on Segways. Block is indeed the new Racing Advisor for the Need for Speed franchise. Will this mean that Rivals will feature a Gymkhana course or Ken’s Fiesta? We’ll have to wait until November the 22nd for the official release of the game! For now, enjoy the show! Feel free to check the rest of Ken Block’s Gymkhana videos by clicking right here.

VW GTI MK7 Banner Bahn

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GTI MK7Volkswagen Netherlands is launching the new GTI in the best of ways, combining the best of both worlds, online and offline. The campaign connected the paid banner media space of the top four websites in Netherlands with the real world by challenging the users to catch a Volkswagen Golf GTI. Users had to click on the GTI that will be passing and drifting through the banner space at very high speed. The car is actually driven by a real driver in the real world on 4 asphalt painted versions of the websites. The first user to click on the car wins it! YEP a simple click and you’ll find a GTI MK7 in your garage the next morning. Well it is a bit too late by now the campaign was running on September the 13th but it is still an awesome idea that is definitely worth sharing. Feel free to check the promotion video and the making of attached here below.

N.B: For the full review of the GTI MK7 you can always check my previous article by clicking right here 🙂

Fastest Vehicle Drift at 217.93 km/h

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Fastest drift in the worldWith the mind blowing speed of 217.973 km/h, Kuba Przygoński has just set the new Guinness World Record for high-speed drifting! The magic happened on a military airport in Biała Podlaska – Poland. The ORLEN Team member, behind the wheel of a massive Toyota GT86 with 1068 horsepower under the bonnet, reached the average speed of 217.97 km/h with controlled skidding and the maximum slip angle of 49 degrees. Entry speed 256km/h, drift speed 217km/h. The GT86 has been known since its launching for its drifting capabilities thanks to its very low centre of gravity (Feel free to check the review of the GT86 and Subaru BRZ by clicking here). Add to it about 868hp and you got yourself a Guinness World Record breaking machine! Abdo Feghali (Professional Lebanese rally driver) you better beware, judging by that thing he drives, I think Kuba is going for the longest drift record very soon.

Volvo Trucks EPIC Campaign

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Charlie the hamsterVolvo have really done it this time. In order to promote their new FMX Truck, Volvo decided to show rather than tell and came up with a series of impressive challenges. In order to demonstrate the robustness of the Volvo truck towing hook, Claes Nilsson, the company’s actual president, stood on top of a suspended 15 tonne Volvo Truck, 20 metres above the water in Gothenburg harbour telling us the key ingredients to make a video go viral on youtube. It actually worked, the video has today more than 2 million views on youtube! That video was only the first teaser in a series of similarly daring stunts.

The second video was the one in which Roland Svensson a technician at Volvo trucks demonstrates how much ground clearance the truck has. I think this video is completely fake. What do you guys think?

The third video demonstrates how easy the dynamic steering wheel of the new Volvo FMX Truck is to steer. To do it, Volvo came up with this EPICally impressive challenge, let a hamster steer it. You wouldn’t believe me but Charlie, the 175 g hamster, was able to steers a 15 tonne Volvo FMX! Ill keep on updating you guys once the new challenges are released. Volvo Trucks I salute you!! Impressive campaign so far!

[updated] The epicness continues with that crazy commercial; Volvo painted one of their trucks in red and went for a run with the bulls in the streets of Spain. The truck is so agile and easy to drive that it went through the narrow streets with no problem whatsoever outrunning those mad Spanish animals. Volvo Trucks are on fire!!

Volkswagen Golf 7 R

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Volkswagen-Golf_R_2014Being a fan of hot hatches, I have been looking forward to that little one for quite some time now. The R is back with some pretty impressive figures. Starting with the engine obviously. The all-wheel drive Golf now has 296hp, compared to the 267hp of the Golf 6 R. The 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine sends all of its 300 ponies to the all-wheel drive system (With a clever XDS+ electronic diff lock on both axles) through a six-speed DSG allowing it to burn the 0-100km/h in just 4.9sec. That is M135i performance! Even though, the R is still far behind the performance of the A45 AMG and its 360hp. (Check the full review of the A45AMG by clicking here). Other than that, for the first time since the Mk5 Golf, the ESC has a Race setting, which allows you to turn the stability control completely off. There’s a new ‘progressive steering’, which is more responsive and an optional Dynamic Chassis Control to switch between Comfort, Normal and Sport modes.

Volkswagen-Golf_R_2014 RearThe new R is 5 mm lower than the new MK7 GTI and sits on 18 inch alloy wheels which look pretty beast in the EVO Frankfurt review here attached (You are welcome EVO). The pair of centrally mounted exhausts has been dumbed for a twin-oval chrome-tipped versions at each side of the car remind us of Audi’s S models. Hope that change won’t affect the exhaust note negatively. The Tail lights are smoked, like on every R model. All in all, even though looking at the first snapshots, I didn’t really like the new MK7 design, seeing the car in live made me change my mind. It is a great update over the MK6. The rear tail lights look really good specially at night. The interior is neat, clear and tidy as usual. With the price of the MK7 GTI at around 50,000$ in Lebanon, the R is expected to be launched with a starting price at around 65,000$ which is quite expensive for a hatch. But when you consider that an A250 with its front wheel drive, 210hp engine costs approximately the same price, the R suddenly becomes a bargain! Just wish I could put my hands on one of these ASAP and be the “lucky one” like in the new commercial attached below.

Breakfast in Douma with UPsolute Lebanon

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UPsolute hot hatch gatheringOn Sunday September the 1st, TheAdsGarage met up with the UPsolute team for a roadtrip to Douma. The meeting point was the UPsolute Lebanon headquarters located just before the Volkswagen showroom on the Dawra highway. Around 30 hot hatches were reunited there, at 7am, ready to hit the streets. After some gathering pictures, we went straight to Batroun and then climbed to Douma. The road was just perfect, a great way to test our UPsoluted cars. Reaching Douma we met up with a couple of bikers who showed us what they can do. We then had breakfast and went back home. You can check all the pictures of the event by clicking here. Stay tuned the video of the event will be up very soon 🙂

Three BikesThe trip was UPsolutely great! I had a blast. The UPsolute Lebanon Team is doing a great job in order to try and unify all their UPsoluted transformed cars allowing them to share the knowledge and the experience they have with their cars. The good thing about UPsolute (Tuning company from Austria) is that they work on a custom map for each car and not a single map for each car model like REVO or APR (Tuning companies from US). This results in a map that is safer and more adapted to your car. UPsolute Lebanon has worked on around 200+ satisfied cars ranging from Stage1 to Stage 4, mostly VW GTI, R32 and GolfR. I advise everyone of you GTI owners to upgrade your cars, at least to stage 1, it gives around 40hp just by the click of a button. The car becomes sportier and more responsive while keeping fuel economy not very different from stock. Feel free to check the UPsolute Lebanon Facebook page for more details. Thank you very much for the invite guys! See you soon and keep up the good work!

World’s Greatest Drag Race 3

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Worlds Greatest Drag Race 3The 3rd edition of Motortrends World’s greatest drag race is finally up! The first question that comes to mind is why is a Ford Focus ST among the participants. I think it is used for people like you and I, who probably own a 170/250 hp car, to be able to compare and acknowledge the power of the other mad, steroids freaks, competitors that are on the start line. The mighty Godzilla is back again with a track edition package this time. In case you have questions regarding why those were the chosen contestants Click here to find your answer. Enjoy the show! And if you have any comment regarding the outcome of the race, feel free to share it in the comment box below.

NB: If you missed the first 2 editions of the World’s Greatest Drag Race feel free to access them on TheAdsGarage Best Drivers Car Category 🙂