Disney World to Offer World-Class Driving Experience

Recent visitors of the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida might have wondered what their Speedway is primarily used for, since it's almost always clear of cars and the stands are just as empty.

While at one time it hosted professional racing competitions, lately it's been the scene of the company's introduction of the “Richard Petty Driving Experience”, an expensive ride for grown-ups which allows them to test-drive NASCAR stock racers. But recently Disney has decided to give visitors the chance to get behind the wheel of a Lamborghini or Ferrari in addition to the stock car options. It's a totally different new offering as compared to the usual draws of the theme park, and car enthusiasts are certainly now more likely to take out auto title loans in order to afford the formerly too-expensive family trip to Florida.

Dubbed “The Exotic Driving Experience” by the Speedway's chief marketing officer Mike Bartelli, the addition is expected to start in January, with pairs of Ferraris and Lamborghinis, an Audi R8 and a Porsche 911. According to the Orlando Sentinel, all available vehicles will come with automatic transmission, and the starting price of $199 for a six-lap experience will be preceded by an instructional class where an instructor will accompany you on the raceway. For half that price, thrill-seekers can pay to sit in the passenger seat while a professional driver whizzes them through the three-turn tri-oval track. Either way, Bartelli and his Disney overlords all both counting on boosted success at the Walt Disney World Speedway.

That's because the Speedway has been a thorn in the company's side ever since it was built back in 1995. Originally meant to be a site for the newly created Indy 200 at Walt Disney World, the track hasn't seen a professional race in over a decade. Since then, it's either sat deserted or used sparingly in various driving experience thrills over the years. But a constant high price, a required half-day devoted to preparation, training, and the thrill itself, and a general lack of target-market visitors has made the Speedway the source of cost over-runs for sometime. In the mid-2000s Disney saw an opportunity in the rising popularity of NASCAR, but in the wake of the global recession, NASCAR numbers have dwindled and Disney is once again looking for a way to turn a profit from the Speedway.

Starting in January, visitors will have the chance to experience what it's like to operate some of the world's most luxurious sports cars. It will certainly entice a wider variety of car enthusiasts than just letting people get behind the wheel of some retired NASCAR stock racers. However, the question is whether there is a market it needs to sustain itself? Those immediately informed may attempt to orchestrate the annual family trip to include Disney World in order to jump on the opportunity, but what about the long-term? Disney is desperate to find a way to make their Speedway useful, and they hope they've finally found what they were looking for.

The new BMW M5

The BMW M5 will be launched on Nov 19‎ and according to news reports, will be priced at at £73,040. Check out the video of the new BMW M5 being put through its paces.

The car is powered by a 560hp 4.4-liter Twin-Turbo V8 rear drive engine. The car is said to have a a top speed of 190mph and goes from 0 to 60 mph in just 4.4 seconds.

Tata invests in the West Midlands

There was some good news for the automotive sector in the UK today as Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) announced that they plan to increase their workforce at their plant in Solihull by more than 25%.
For more info read their press release here.

This follows the opening of their new Global Headquarters at the Company's site in Whitley in Coventry last week.

From left: Mr Ravi Kant, Vice President of Tata Motors, Mr Ratan Tata (cutting the tape) Chairman of Tata Sons, and Dr. Ralf Speth, CEO of Jaguar Land Rover (Right).

Tata the Indian owners of Jaguar Land Rover will be investing more than £1.5 billion pounds annually for the next five years.

Jeremy Clarkson vs Karun Chandhok

Clip from Jeremy's new DVD.

The new BMW 3 series and buying used BMW cars

Last month BMW officially announced that the new BMW 3 Series Saloon would be launched here in the UK on 11 February 2012. There would be be four trim specifications, namely Sport, Modern, Luxury and ES/ SE.

Prices start from £24,880 (OTR) for the 316d ES Diesel model.

In case you were not aware, the BMW 3 series remains their best selling model. Even if you can't afford to buy a new model, there are so many affordable used cars out there in the market. Though you can sometimes get a fantastic bragain from private sellers, there are several risks involved. It is always better to buy from trusted dealers as they offer several advantages over private sellers including warranty, minimum MOT, finance options and also to avoid the risk of being sold a stolen car. In fact there is a large co-operative of Trusted Dealers BMW (used).

The trusted dealers site has a huge range of second-hand BMWs for sale which you can search by post code and your budget. So if you are thinking of buying a second hand BMW 3 series model from a trusted dealer, check out Trusteddealers.co.uk

Discovery 4 in the Malaysian Jungle

The unmodified Land Rover Discovery 4 takes on the Malaysian jungle and survives. With help of course.

Mantis Waterless Car Cleaners

A couple of weeks back I received some samples of a new car cleaning products from the guys at JML.

The unique feature about these car cleaning products is that it's water free - yes, that's right. This was ideal for me as I do not have a driveway and I am not really keen on washing the car on the pavement carrying bucket loads of water and soap.

They sent me the Mantis Instant Shine, the Mantis Scratch Remover and the twin pack microfibre towels - one for application and another for buffing.



The Mantis Instant Shine combines a wash, polish and wax and has a fabulous fruity fragrance. It retails at £9.99 from is available on the Mantis site, in ASDA and few other places as well.

I had a slight problem when I roughly pulled the paper cover and some parts of the spray mechanism came off (see pic). However, I was able to  put it back and works all fine.



I followed the instructions and sprayed the liquid over the bonnet of my car (which had been unwashed for a few weeks) and left it on for a few minutes. I then wiped it clean with the supplied application towels and polished the cleaned surface using the buffing towel.

Check out my car bonnet - the left side (top in picture) has not been cleaned while the right (bottom in picture) has been cleaned and buffed. Though not very clear from the photograph, there was a clear visible difference.



I also tried out the Mantis Scratch Remover on some of the scratches on my car. Key scratches on door locks and shoe scuffs can seriously dent your car’s resale value. As directed, I applied the paste to the affected area and rubbed it in a circular motion until my arms ached.



However, it did not do much for the deeper scratches on my car bonnet. I found that it works best with the light scratches  (as shown below). The light scratches are barely visible afterwards.





The scratch remover also retails at £9.99 on  the Mantis site and is also available in a few other stores including ASDA.

This water free cleaning kit is ideal for guys like me who hate hauling buckets of water and soap to clean their cars on the pavements (sidewalk in the US).

Over 500,000 units of Mantis Instant Shine has been sold in the UK and I am not surprised.