Drifting on Public Roads Becomes Criminal Offense in Saudi Arabia

Drifting on the wide roads of the Middle East is very popular, and while it may be spectacular to watch when it goes right, it ever so often doesn’t and people die. That’s why the country suffering most, Saudi Arabia, is passing new laws to try and control it, by making it a criminal offense, whereas before it was considered a traffic violation.

According to ArabNews, the finishing touches are now being put on the actual text supporting the new rules, meaning that all who are caught doing it for the first time will face trial and confiscation of the vehicle for a month, plus a fine of around $2,700 (€2,000).

Second-timers’ punishment is naturally more severe and will see their car impounded for three months, the fine doubled and some jail time (for up to 1 year). Let them catch you again and its value doubles yet again, on top of the 1 to 5 years now also thrown in.

Passengers and spectators will not escape blame, and if apprehended will be asked to hand in $400 (€300) or their car for a period of 15 days.

Scroll down and check out the videos below – this is what the new laws are meant to prevent, if you are not familiar…

By Andrei Nedelea

VIDEO

BMW Plays Tricks with M-Badged 760Li Bi-Turbo Special Edition for the Middle East

It may wear the triple-stripe "M" badge on its fenders, but please do no mistake the new BMW 760Li M Sport Bi-Turbo Special Edition for a real "M" model because it isn't.

Revealed in front of Saudi Arabia's "fashion elite" during a special expo named "You are the Queen" (we'd like to believe it sounds better in Arabian than in English…), the 760Li M Sport is an individualized version of BMW's top saloon offering made exclusively for the Middle East.

At the presentation of the car, Toni Yazbeck, Head of Marketing at BMW dealer Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors, said: “High-end fashion is about design perfection – an ethos that mirrors BMW. It is therefore fitting that we choose the ‘You are the Queen Expo’ as a platform to introduce the exclusive BMW 760Li V12 M Bi-Turbo, a vehicle that is a byword for luxury, elegance and innovation.”

The special edition model retains the regular 760Li's 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 mill with 544PS (537hp) adding a raft of bespoke styling elements and colors starting with a choice of eight BMW M exterior shades named after some of the world's most famous tracks, such as Monte Carlo Blue, Silverstone II and Imola Red.

An M Sport aero package and 19 or 20-inch alloy wheels with double spokes, along with the aforementioned "M" badging and shadowline (or chrome delete) kit, complete the exterior revisions.

Inside, most of the interior is covered in soft Nappa Oyster leather available with orange, blue, red or black contrasting M color stitching and BMW Individual Piano Black wood trims.

BMW did not share any information regarding pricing or the number of cars it plans to build.

Story References: Alarabiya & Autoblog.nl

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Honey, I Shrunk the W Motors Lykan Hypersport – Plus New Video of Real Life Model

Unless you or your parents own a couple of oil wells, this is your only option to buy W Motors' Lykan Hypersport and park it in your house: a 1:18 scale version of the vehicle that its makers fancy calling the world's "first Arabian supercar".

Made by FrontiArt, the scale model is available for pre-order until December 31, 2013, with production quantity to be based on the number of people interested in the car.

In related news, the crew from Crankandpiston recently had the opportunity to receive an…underground parking taste of the real Lykan Hypersport that sports a 750-horsepower twin-turbocharged flat-six mid-mounted engine for a claimed  0-100km/h (62mph) time of  2.8 seconds and a top speed of 395km/h (245mph).

The full video isn't out yet, but we do get a 40 second-long teaser clip of the car, which you can watch for yourself right after the virtual break.

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VIDEO

Imagine That: Russian Points Out Egypt's Chaotic Roads

We'll leave it to you to decide if it's refreshing or amusing that a Russian YouTube user (nicknamed Senmuth Av) has uploaded a video that highlights all the wrongs in another country and continent.

Still, and while we cannot be entirely sure whether he filmed it or simply…borrowed it (his picture suggests the former), he had does have a point that driving around in Egypt can be a truly hectic, chaotic and nerve-wrecking experience with vehicles of all sorts appearing from nowhere and going on all sides of the road.

The author also commented in the video's description box the following, which has been translated with the help of Google (so don't blame us for the thing that don't make sense…).

[Google Translation]

"There's almost a complete lack of traffic signals, traffic controllers, pedestrian crossings, prohibition signs. At the same time, a lot of lying cops let some cars with low ground clearance constantly koryabayut currently bottom.

Overall, it seems that the motion is chaotic. Pedestrians walk on the road where they want, and the drivers do not miss them. More precisely, they never miss other drivers, and are in a hurry to drive themselves, without cursing like ours, but always BIBIK.

Many cars have numerous dents and scratches. Once grappled mirrors: we drove corrected her mirror, the other carrier - its, Thu shouted to each other, and we drove on. Imagine what would we have? Gibddeshnikov wait for hours .. then draw ... If jam band, the plug can be circled in the opposite lane without problems. And simply can ride along the side of the oncoming lane."

VIDEO

Check Out the Student Parking Lot at the American University of Dubai

Say a big  hello to the student parking lot at the American University of Dubai (AUD) in in the United Arab Emirates, which as we're informed by the all-knowing Wikipedia, "was founded in 1995 as a branch campus of American InterContinental University in Atlanta, Georgia, but turned into a private, non-sectarian institution in 2007."

I don't know about you, but my days of college included a lot of foot work and poky public transportation – the crew at  LeFigaro seems to agree with us. Not to sound like a whiner, but dang, dang and dang; just look at these super rides photographed by student Meeka Nasser, who himself owns a BMW 750Li, which is worlds apart from the Mirthmobile picture we have about debt-ridden students.

Nasser said the following about the cars owned by AUD students on Reddit:

"I attend the American University of Dubai, and the cars that students drive here are just ludicrous. If I was back home in Canada my car would be considered nice, but here nobody looks twice at it.

Here is a collection of pictures. These were taken in the span of a couple days, and only in 1 of the parking lots of the school, so this isn't even close to all of the nice cars at the school. Because Cayennes and Range Rovers are a dime a dozen here, I only included a few of them in the album.

Keep in mind, almost all of the students are between 18 and 24 years old, as the graduate program is pretty tiny here. The students that drive the insanely expensive cars (Rolls Royces and Bentleys etc.) are usually local (Emirati) for those wondering.

UPDATE: Since this post has gotten so much attention I decided to take a few more pictures today. Here they are. I made sure to include Reddit's favorite car: the BRZ. Also, since everyone keeps asking, I drive a 750Li, the one beside the BRZ in the pictures."

Photo Credits: Meeka Nasser

Shout out to Lionel B. for the tip!

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