Spotted in Jounieh near Fouad Chehab Stadium

The Lambo doors must have cost him more than the whole car.

This weekend I was visiting Lebanon and felt like renting a convertible since I read the weather was going to be great. After calling a few different rental agencies I decided to rent a car from Avis Lebanon for two reasons and those two reasons are actually why they’re going to be my favorite car rental agency from now on.

The first reason is the fact I was able to book a car with Avis using their website’s live chat. I was actually going to call them but then saw the “Live Help” button and figured would give it a shot out of curiosity. I honestly wasn’t expecting the button to work but I ended up chatting to a person called Pamela and when I asked her if it was possible to book a car with live chat to my surprise she said yes. I thought that was very cool and convenient.

The second reason I liked them is because it turns out I can get a 30% discount on their cars using my American Express credit card. That obviously makes things more affordable and instead of paying $100 for my car I ended up paying $70.

It was a cool experience and loved the live chat option but I did have one issue which I already mentioned to them and that is the fact they put a $2,000 hold on my credit card. I thought that amount was too much since with other rental agencies I’ve used, the amount is usually around $500. Maybe it’s because it was my first time renting with them but still, overall it was a good experience.

A friend of mine spotted this car on the highway in Lebanon. It’s the four-door ZAP Xebra electric city car that is manufactured by Chinese transportation pioneer ZAP. It was introduced in 2007 and drives up to 64 KPH. The Xebra costs a little over 7000$. [More]

If you ask me, this car could solve a lot of problems in Lebanon, especially with the ever-increasing gas prices. Taxi drivers should switch to that car, as well as municipalities and some government departments.

Maybe we should email both Ministries of Environment and Energy in Lebanon and ask them to consider this alternative to petrol cars.

This pothole is located on the maritime road on your way to the Forum de Beyrouth. I know already two people who had to buy a new tyre and alloy wheels after falling into it.

I don’t know what that car is, but it looks very much like a golf cart to me. The sure thing is that I would never drive one of those on the Lebanese roads.

Picture via BeirutDriveBy

Michelle Rodriguez will be making a special appearance. Vin Diesel will jump out of a plane into the stadium.

Spotted near Jeita

The Black Tiger is here.

Picture by Joanna

Jal el Dib residents blocked the highway on both ways and the maritime road as well today after the 1-month deadline they gave the government to approve the construction of a new bridge expired. Traffic due to the protest was unbelievable today and reached Tabarja. Roads were re-opened around 9am.

I am usually against protests that may disrupt people’s daily routines, but I for once believe Jal el Dib residents should keep on protesting until their demands are met, because the removal of that bridge has disrupted their lives and those living in Jal el Dib’s surrounding areas and it is unfair that they only suffer.

This is not a protest for lowering gas prices or releasing political prisoners, but a protest related to roads and traffic and the isolation and discrimination of a whole area due to the incompetence of our current government and local authorities. In fact, Jal el Dib residents have to suffer everyday what we suffered for one day, so it’s ok if we sympathize with them one day every week until they get a new bridge.

On a last note, I hope Jal el Dib residents will hold accountable their representatives in the upcoming parliamentary and municipal elections and pave the way for other Lebanese to do the same.

PS: If the government has a problem financing this bridge, I suggest they take out 5% of the 400$ million dollars they are planning to pay Fattoush for his illegal business.

A a friend of mine contacted me around two weeks back asking me if I wanted to review his McLaren and of course I said yes. After spending the day with it this weekend I can easily review the car with 3 words… “I want one”. Seriously I want one. I can’t afford to buy it but that doesn’t change the fact I really really want it.

There are a lot of reviews of the McLaren online and Top Gear have a great one which you can watch on YouTube. So, not wanting to come about this review in the same way I decided to look at the car differently. It’s obviously a fast super car and everyone already knows that but I was curious to how the car would perform as a daily driver. I would hate to spend this much on a car and then only drive it on weekends. I’d want to drive the car to work, to the gym or even to TSC to pick up some groceries.

First thing I looked for after getting into the car was cup holders and I ended up finding two right behind the center console. Cup holders are great for holding your drinks but they’re also more useful for storing items like your phone or sunglasses. The McLaren not only has two easy to access cup holders but there is also a 12v socket inside one of them which means you can plug in your phone charger as well. That’s practical. Another practical feature is the AC, both the driver and passenger have separate control panels which is a feature you usually find in large cars but not super cars.

The seats are also fully electric and have 3 memory positions which is convenient if the car is being shared between say a couple or family members. The sound system is naturally located in the center console and is made by the high end audio guru’s Meridian. The sound system control panel is a large touch screen that is more than double the size of the iPhone and is 100% iPhone/iPod compatible. Once you connect your iPhone or iPod to the car you can then navigate your music by touch and even view album art beautifully all on the center console screen. I think it has the best iPod integrated system I’ve seen so far. The car boot is a lot bigger than I expected. I wouldn’t take the car to Khoury Home if I need to get a 50inch screen, but it’s definitely supermarket friendly.

The McLaren is very comfortable to drive. I actually found it more comfortable and forgiving on worn out roads when compared to say my old Z4. I’m also pretty tall (6’1) and I didn’t feel claustrophobic or cramped in the car neither did I have problems finding my correct seating position (the seats are incredibly adjustable). Driving the car I was actually impressed by the fact I could cruise in it at 80km/h and not feel like I should be driving it a lot faster. Of course once you step on the gas the car is breathtakingly fast but as a daily driver you want to be able to drive on regular roads at regular speeds and the McLaren does that really well. Even the car’s gas mileage is pretty good at 15mpg which is similar to my FJ Cruiser. I did find the brake peddle a bit too stiff to press but it’s something you would get used to after a few hours in the car.

The only two things that hurt the car as a daily driver is the ride height and the doors. It’s a pretty low ride since it’s a sports car which means the majority of the speed bumps you’ll need to take sideways. The second issue is the doors, they swing open upwards which means you can’t park in very tight spots. If the parking spot is tight you won’t be able to open the doors so you always need to make sure you have ample room on the sides. But again if you’ve paid this much for the car, I doubt you’re going to be squeezing it anywhere. Valet wouldn’t be an issue on weekends since it’s a car that every club would love to have parked right at the main entrance. Just drive up and point to the valet where you want to park and they’ll move whatever car is in that spot for you.

I love the car but then again who wouldn’t? The thing is I don’t only love it because it’s a super car, I love it because it’s a super car you can actually use every day. I wasn’t kidding when I said I want one, I do I just can’t afford it. But, if anyone from McLaren is reading this, give me a fat discount (like 75%) and you’ve got yourself another customer.

Picture via Elias

That’s the first picture I got of the bus that caught fire on the Jounieh highway less than an hour ago. The bus was packed but everyone got out on time according to what a friend told me.

The video above of Abdo Feghali making his way up the mountain in an Evo found its way to the popular Jalopnik blog. Pretty cool. [Link]

Picture from A car free Beirut Facebook Page

We all dream of a car-free Beirut but that’s not gonna happen anytime soon. Nevertheless, we can still allow ourselves to enjoy beautiful old pictures. Check out more [Here].

[Picture from BlomRetail.com]

Not only is the ad dangerous for drivers, but it’s also ugly and a copycat.

“Don’t be sad the God with us”, that doesn’t even make sense in Arabic.

PS: Spotted on the Jounieh highway, not in Syria

[Picture by @aymanitani]

I just saw this post on 248am.com and remembered Ayman had posted about this car on Twitter few days back.

It has Porsche rims but other than that, I have no clue what this car is. My best guess it’s a Chinese Bentley.