Video of the day: Nissan 350z doing some proper donuts

Here’s a dude from Islamabad who loves doing donuts in his turbocharged Nissan 350Z on city round abouts. And He is pretty good at it. In the first video you can also spot a Hummer and a Mustang in the background if you’re a bit eagle-eyed.

In this next video the cameraman has found a better position (in the round about) although it would help if he could just stay quite and focus at the job in hand.

Electric Suzuki Mehran

Remember the time when you first heard of a CNG powered car?

Well I can’t. Because back then nobody could have guessed what a mammoth revolution was coming our way with these three letters. Today as we know, everything runs on CNG. I’ve even seen a couple of sports cars running on CNG around town.

Well this could be the moment when history starts to repeat itself. So listen carefully!
A chap named Faraz Ruknuddin Khan has turned his Suzuki Mehran into an electric vehicle and nick named it, the Elektra-1. Going electric means that the car’s engine is replaced with a simple DC motor and some batteries. And it’s not just the engine that gets sacked, you can also get rid of the clutch, the exhaust, the fuel injection and your mechanic. Electric cars only have one moving part which is the DC motor and that’s it. The Elektra-1 is also amazingly economical. According to Faraz the Elektra-1 can be as economical as the equivalent of up to 133 km in a liter of petrol which is fantastic. Electric cars are also very environmentally friendly as they are completely silent and produce zero emissions. In short, the advantages are endless.

The major drawbacks of electric cars are that they have to be charged over night and they don’t usually have a very long range. The only way to fix these problems is to use better batteries which are presumably rather expensive.
So the Elektra-1 being a backyard project is not extremely practical yet. It has a range of 30 km per charge and the motor produces 22 hp which can be upgraded to 30 but still less than a standard Mehran’s 38 hp engine. However Mr. Faraz has plans to address these issues in his next project car, the Elektra-2 which could produce 70 hp and reach speeds of up to 110 kph. We’ll surely be looking forward to that.

Good work Mr. Faraz! And best of luck for the future projects.

For latest news about this project, visit www.ElektraAutomotive.com

Pakistan Racer Hunt

The Pakistan Racer Hunt has made its way through Islamabad and Lahore with some extremely competetive qualifying rounds. Karachi is next where the qualifying sessions will be held in Mid November. And at the end 10 qualifiers from all three cities will race each other in Lahore.

The turn out of extremely competetive racing enthusiasts so far has been beyond everyone’s expectations. With all the lack of motorsports in Pakistan and the lack of awareness about it, Pakistan Racer Hunt is definitely a step in the right direction. Having participated myself, I can tell you that track racing and especially go-karting is one heck of an adrenaline pumping thrill ride. In terms of sheer excitement a go-kart is in a different league from any other road car. If you consider yourself a petrol-head you should definitely make it a top priority to get a ride in one of these.

Here’s a photo gallery from the qualifying session in Lahore…

Chevrolet Joy

The Chevrolet Joy is aimed at a group of people who like to buy a smart and reasonably priced car that is up to date with the modern world. It offers features like CD/mp3 player, rear seat belts, power windows and  mirrors which are miles ahead of what all the other cars in the same budget range have to offer. The performance and fuel economy figures are also very impressive.

This car is not very popular in the used car market yet. In the future however, I’m sure it will gain more popularity. So you can get a good bargain if you are planning to buy a used one of these right now.

Engine Capacity (litre)	Power (bhp)	Torque (Nm)	0-100 kph (sec)	Top Speed (kph)
1.0	63	88	14.8	152

	Score	Remarks
Performance	9/10	Class leading
Grip & handling	8/10	Very good
Space & Comfort	8/10	Very good
Reliability	8/10	Great
Fuel economy	8/10	Extraordinary
Maintenance	6/10	Slightly more expensive than other rivals
Resale	5/10	Reasonable
Price	9/10	Best price in its class
Equipment	8/10	Very well equipped
Build quality	9/10	Great

Current Prices

September 2009
Joy	Rs. 634,000
Joy with Custom-Designed CNG Kit	Rs. 674,000

For latest prices visit Chevrolet Website

Rivals:

• Toyota Vitz
• Hyundai Santro
• Suzuki Alto
• Suzuki Cultus

Verdict:

This car definitely offers the best value for money among its rivals in the same budget range.

Bank Alfalah Karting Championship

The Bank Alfalah Karting Championship is back in Lahore once again. This is the round 2 of the 2009 Championship. As always, this weekend the event will be held on a street circuit at Lake City which is located on Raiwind road 13 kilometers from Thokar Niaz Baig.

Here are some details about the event…

Teams:

1. Alfalah Equipe Corporate
2. Bed & Bath
3. ASR Pro
4. ASR Women
5. Espresso
6. Cosa Nostra
7. Pattu Dragons Death Squad
8. Hi Profile
9. Pak Wheels
10. Lake City
11. Team Stone Age
12. Zong Velocity

Format:

• Saturday – 6 pm – Teams Meeting
• Sunday – 12 pm – Track Reporting Time for Teams
• 1 pm – Karts Allocation
• 1:30 pm – 2: 30 pm – Practice Session
• 3:00 pm – 4 pm – Qualifying Session
• 4:15 pm – Race Start
• 9:15 pm – Chequered Flag

The day will feature:

• DJ
• Food & Beverage Stalls
• Car Demonstrations

Date:  Sunday, 11 October 2009

Time: 12:00 – 21:00

Venue: Lake City , Lahore

Phone: 03227740909

Email: info@racingpakistan.org

Here’s a post about the last round of this championship.

You can also visit the Racing Pakistan website for more details. Or visit the facebook page for the event.

Pakistan Express Racing Team

How many Pakistani racing teams have you ever heard of? Better than that, how many championship winning Pakistani racing teams have you ever heard of?

Here’s one…

“Pakistan Express Racing Team was established in 2008 by Faisal Ahmad.  The team competes in the NASA Performance Touring series in the Great Lakes and Midwest regions.  Our mission is to raise awareness of motor sports in and to bring the excitement of motor racing to Pakistan.”

And they’ve just won the NASA great lakes championship title of 2009. When I say NASA it doesn’t mean the one with the satellites and the space shuttles. This NASA stands for National Auto Sport Association.

Anyway, well done Pakistan Express team and best of luck.

watch this video report about the PakExp team prepared by NASA.

You can also visit the team website http://pakexp.com/

Traffic cameras in Karachi

Here’s a public awareness video message from the City District Government of Karachi. It features some horrible road accidents captured by their traffic cameras on the roads of Karachi. The footage from these cameras should be very helpful in the investigations after such accidents.

It’s a good thing to know that finally some local government is beginning to take notice of a major public safety issue. Local governments from other cities should also take notice of this safety issue.

Drive safe!

A Race track is born!

 

Islamabad race track

I once said in one of my articles, that the reason why no one has ever built a racetrack in Pakistan is because the  Pakistani land has been cursed by some Martians so that no one can ever build a racetrack here.

Well, it seems that the Martians visit my blog quite regularly. Because they’ve finally lifted the unbreakable curse from Pakistan. Islamabad is now home to the first ever racetrack of Pakistan. This is great news for all the Pakistani motorsports enthusiasts as well as the thousands of people who own really expensive sports cars but can’t really use them for anything more than posing.

So far all I know about this racetrack is that it is located near Rawal lake at Lake View Park in Islamabad and it is only 1.5 km long. The first race of this track is being held in October.

Thanks Martians!

 

Track Layout

Pakistan Racer Hunt ‘09

The Racing Pakistan team is back with a change. After a number of go kart endurance races, this time they are on a talent hunt. The idea is that there will be three qualifying rounds in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. And at the end there will be a grand finale in which the top 10 racing drivers from all three cities will race against each other. There are handsome prizes for the podium finishers and a racing contract for the winner.

For details visit http://www.pakistanracerhunt.com/

Toyota Vitz Review

There are two kinds of car buyers in Pakistan, those who want quality, and those who want a Suzuki. The Toyota Vitz has made life much better for the quality buyers as it introduced a whole new benchmark of quality in Pakistan at least in the small car market. And it’s also the best all rounder in the market because it’s smart, comfortable, spacious, safe, well equipped and well built.

But the people who import these cars are taking a big advantage of the ever rising demand for these cars. Prices have been more than doubled since the time it was first introduced here in Pakistan.

Engine Capacity (litre)	Power (bhp)	Torque (Nm)	0-100 kph (sec)	Top Speed (kph)
1.0	68	95	15.7	154

	Score	Remarks
Performance	8/10	Great
Grip & handling	9/10	Amazing
Space & Comfort	9/10	Best in its class
Reliability	9/10	Great
Fuel economy	9/10	Great
Maintenance	7/10	Slightly expensive
Resale	10/10	For sure
Price	5/10	expensive but good value for money
Equipment	8/10	Best in its class
Build quality	9/10	Best in its class

Rivals:

• Chevrolet Joy
• Hyundai Santro
• Suzuki Alto
• Suzuki Cultus

Verdict:

This car easily beats all of its rivals in every way except the price which is over the top.