pomomp

Hi guys,

I'm moving over to MZ which is not far from Abu Dhabi and I'm already looking at cars,

I've sold my Mitsubishi Evo here and I'm looking to jump in another one sharpish over there - or any other decent car. My question is, is there any sort of modified car community over there?

I'll also be paying regular visits to the track if anyone here is into that sort of thing. I'll need to find a decent garage that knows their way around modified cars as well.

Any help from like minded people is much appreciated

Bluelionesse

Generally, cars with performance mods are illegal to use on the roads here. Lots of locals have them but as an expat if you are caught you will be in trouble. Every year you have to get your car tested and renew the registration so you will have to return it to standard spec then re-do the mods. For track days have a look at the yas marina circuit.

pomomp

Really?!?! There goes that 600 bhp evo I was looking at then...

Fossildog

For some reason Evos and Imprezas are very expensive here. However, there are lots of fast saloons out here, ignoring the US muscle cars. Something fast and comfortable like a Nissan Maxima or Infiniti G37 will probably give you the speed you want whilst being relatively inexpensive to run.

pomomp

Yeah I noticed. However I wouldnt mind paying £16k for a highly modified evo (assuming its done right) but thats obviously out of the window now.

If there's no way around it, I think I'll need to go down the muscle car route. I've set myself a target of nothing under 400 bhp if I want to make my trip to UAE worthwhile

Fossildog

An SRT is probably what you are after. You can probably get a Charger SRT8 for that. I know a chap with an SRT Jeep, 6.4L, 470+ Bhp and 0-60 in less than 5 seconds and it must weight about two tons, so I would expect a Charger or Challenger would be a bit quicker. However, even though fuel is around a fifth of the price than the UK it would still be an expensive car to run, maybe you would get around 15mpg.

pomomp

I'm used to 15 mpg at £1.40 a litre. I'll happily run 15 mpg at a fifth of that price. Tbh being a petrolhead, car expenses are one thing I'd fork out for. Other than that I dont drink/go clubbing or anything so I'm happy juggle finances to suit.

My only issue is that I'll need a seperate car for my family as most muscle cars are 2 doors. I'll probably be needing a cheap and cheerful jeep seperate. I'll need to seriously think this through now

pomomp

Is there any way to have an "approved" modified car?

Bluelionesse

Not really, no.

Rules are subject to change at short notice and laws can be slightly different/applied differently between emirates. For instance you can register a highly modified offroad car in Dubai, but you don't have a hope of getting it registered here in Al Ain.

_Cheery

Wow, I thought we were talking about serious cars on the way from MZ to AD on the other thread, which is why I recommended:

GMC
Land Cruiser
Nissan Patrol

Evo, never seen one on the road here.

How about you just come here and get out and about. Seek questions on land and ye shall find.

Dubai Autodrome? Only about 2 hours if you drive reasonably

There is also Yas Marina Circuit in Yas Island, near Abu Dhabi.

OleJanx

Qatar used to have a lot of supercharged, Nitrous Oxide-drinking roof-chopped Nissan Patrols about, usually found whizzing round roundabouts on two wheels. As to whether an expat would be able to register one of those mutants is a mute point.