Within a span of one month, I attended three driving experiences – by BMW M, Bentley and Audi. These events allow customers to try their hand at the cars outside of the usual showroom test drive.

With makeshift tracks and professional driving instructors as guides, they provide the opportunity for participants to try the cars in various situations, other than just drive them around the showroom.

The Changi Exhibition Centre, home of the airshow grounds, is a popular place for such driving events due to the vast space it has. Both the BMW M Power Drive Experience and the Bentley Continental GT Speed Experience were held there one week after another at the end of November. Participants get to learn and practise driving techniques such as high speed braking zones, high speed corners, emergency lane changes and slalom.

Lito German, marketing director of BMW Asia who organised the BMW M Power Drive Experience said, “One of the best ways to understand and enjoy a BMW vehicle is quite simply

COE prices are at record level highs. (Yahoo! photo)

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) premiums for the Open category almost touched the S$100,000 mark but the rest of the categories finished lower at the end of the latest bidding exercise at 4pm on Wednesday.

For small cars below 1600cc, the premium fell S$1,090 to S$91,010.

The premium for big cars closed down S$709 to S$95,501.

But for the Open category, which car dealers use to seal an "immediate delivery" rather than wait for a COE from the car's rightful category, finished at $97,889, up from $96,101 two weeks ago.

Check here for the latest COE prices.

Volkswagen CrossPolo

I’ve always known the Polo as the little Volkswagen, but now there is a bigger and more aggressive version of it in Singapore – the CrossPolo.

The name is quite apt for this new somewhat angry image for the Polo.

But although for a moment it looks like a mean machine that can take on the wild outdoors, the CrossPolo is not designed for the off-road.

You can call it an SUV-inspired crossover and it’s not something to be taken into the jungle.

Basically the CrossPolo houses the same body shell as the Polo but it is styled differently.

It has gained sporty wheel arches and bigger wheels (17-inch) along with fiercer front and rear bumpers for a totally different look.

Taking on a rugged demeanour, the CrossPolo seems bigger than the average Polo as its suspension has been raised and it has roof rails for an added sporty touch.

The roof rails are able to take loads up to 75kg.

The heart of the CrossPolo is no different from the Polo Sport, where the Volkswagen 1.2 TSI engine lies.

Although

Stereotype of modified vehicles still remain in Singapore

COMMENT

Is "zng-ing" (modifying) your car in Singapore necessarily a bad thing?

In mid-November, the Parliament passed amendments to the Road Traffic Act which made for stiffer penalties against vehicles that are illegally modified.

This enhanced penalty means the court can impound illegally-modified vehicles for up to three months and repeat offenders might even have to serve a jail term.

Minister of State for Transport Josephine Teo was quoted saying that “the government is also taking a calibrated approach in enhancing the penalties”.

The message behind these actions, she said, is that “illegal modifications are not acceptable, especially in cases where there are blatant violations or when offenders blatantly break the law”.

This  rubs salt into the wounds of car enthusiasts, who have been trying in vain to have the definition of illegally modified vehicles corrected.

Basically, in Singapore, any vehicle modifications must meet the requirements of the Land Transport Authority

Though it's crossed his mind, Jerry Yeo hasn't replaced his Chery QQ yet. (Photos from www.Cheryl-Tay.com)

I know of some people who would rather take a bus than be caught driving a car like a Chery QQ, but Mediacorp artiste Jerry Yeo feels no humiliation in driving his bright orange QQ around.

He calls it a "moving deathtrap" due to the poor technicalities (it doesn’t even have an airbag because Jerry didn’t include that option when he bought it), but he loves it all the same because it is his and they have been through a lot together.

Big on cars and its technologies, Jerry spends a lot of time reading up on cars and even races radio-controlled cars for a hobby as a way of better understanding the setup of a car.

This way, he built up his knowledge on cars and it helps him to understand the driving dynamics behind his QQ, which he says is “necessary to survive in this car”.

Thankfully, the QQ has not caused him to lose any chances with the girls he dated.

Read more about Jerry and his QQ…

Why did you choose to get the Chery QQ?
A: It’s mainly because of the cost. When I got it three

The new Volkswagen Beetle for the 21st century

This might cause a little crease between the eyebrows — the new Volkswagen Beetle is the successor to the Volkswagen New Beetle.

Let me explain. There was the original Beetle called Type 1 which won over the masses dating back all the way to 1938.

Then it was the New Beetle of the late 1990s which became a car cult and an automotive icon with its cute curves and doe-eyed headlights.

For easier understanding, this third-generation Beetle is referred to as the 21st Century Beetle.

The New Beetle was more of a ladies' car, but the new Beetle, which is still a three-door hatchback, is now charged up with masculinity. For one, there used to be a flower vase on the dashboard which holds a flower that matches the colour of the car. That has been taken away.

Retaining its classic retro styling with its round headlights but now bearing a masculine theme in mind, the new Beetle takes on a stronger and more dominant profile with new proportions — it is now wider, lower and longer.

In line with

COE prices have reached a new high in the small car and commercial goods categories. (Yahoo! photo)

Certificate of Entitlement (COE) prices for most vehicles have increased, even setting a new record in two categories.

In the recent bidding exercise which concluded on Wednesday, the COE for Category A (cars up to 1600cc) closed at S$77,291, breaking the previous record of S$77,201 set two weeks ago.

For Category B (cars above 1600cc), the COE price increased by more than S$600 to reach S$93,004.

For Category C (goods vehicles and buses), the COE is now at S$60,235 — a  S$1,124 increase from S$59,111 two weeks ago which sets a new record for the category.

In the Open Category, the COE increased by close to S$2,000 to reach S$93,990.

Category D (motorcycles) is the only category that saw a fall in price. The COE fell close to S$300 from S$1,959 to S$1,689.

Spotted earlier this month: a car mysteriously sliced in half, lying on its side at the Singapore Expo car park.

No, it's not the result of a crazy accident but actually part of a creative marketing campaign by local bank DBS as part of their DriveShield campaign.

A 44-second video mysteriously entitled "Halved Car" purportedly shows how the car came to be sawn in half.

It shows two young men dressed in bermudas sparring at night with a green and red light saber in an epic battle. One eventually manages to knock the other's light saber out of his hands, resulting in the weapon spiralling through the air before finally slicing through the car straight down the middle.

The video, which was uploaded two weeks ago,  has since gone viral, with more than 77,000 views.

The ad is the first of a series of three videos, of which the latter two are tantalizingly called Iced and Magnetized.

We can't wait.