Alan Bennett: Keep on keeping on
This is a country where the car you drive you can define even houses a Dubai police of the largest, rarest supercars and most powerful of the world fleet of some of the most desirable vehicles in the world.
With a love of all things comes quick and strong desire to make things faster and stronger, and the culture of the automobile changes the UAE has filled the streets with windows not black, hypnotic rims spinning, engines roaring and racy spoilers.
There is a love of cars in this part of the world, said Mohammed ben Sulayem, rally driver champion and President of the Automobile and Touring Club of the United Arab Emirates with change, simply to comply with the cars.
Updates the kit and adjustment can be safe when done by professionals, but modifications can kill, made by motorists naive or unskilled workshops.
You can find armor on vehicles as small sedans and as big as buses, with many dealers offering customization services.
How can you go and put all metal used in bulletproof cars and armored Then there is double the weight, but you always use the same suspension You use the same brake, said Mr. Ben Sulayem How can you Stop.
Modified cars should not be registered as such, and much of the work is done by amateur or unlicensed garages, which means that there are no statistics or data on how many .
But this will soon change, after an agreement was signed between the Tourism Club and the Emirates Authority for Standardization and Metrology to produce federal regulations for car modifications.
Mr. Ben Sulayem was guest speaker at the first GCC conference car changes recently, where he describes some modified cars as if they were essentially set wrong bombs in motion.
Who didnt like cars and who doesn t like speed, he asks that I'm in the business myself and I like to change cars, but the problem is that others sell cars that I would call a bomb in motion.
We are talking about more than 1,000 horses, even I can not manage 1,000hp We 500hp perhaps in our rally cars at the time, and they have 1,000hp with what, a child of 19 or 18 years drive.
In 1986, he won every championship FIA Middle East Rally Championship, he participated and eventually became the holder of the most successful title FIA worldwide, with 14 titles.
He appeared with some of his cars on the BBC Top Gear program and was featured in the racing video game Dirt 2.
The speech of Mr. Ben Sulayem has been welcomed by the car modification enthusiasts he said he had no problem with cosmetic improvements to a car and prefer to see young people drawn to it that the activities anti- social.
But people need to be educated He warned that fans can not simply add power without improving the brakes, suspension and steering You can not stop the change You can not prevent people setting will.
But I saw cars with more 1,200hp 1980 Nissan It's Jurassic Park.
Regulatory changes should not discourage people from doing perhaps when it is new, just the name of a law, people fear oh, it is a law, Mr. Ben Sulayem said they think it is against you.
But this is not, in fact after some time, I think people will adapt to it, people will accept the internal regulations will be and I think it will work.
Bodo Buschmann, President and CEO of the top German tuning company Brabus range, knows all about the electronics in the heart of tuning high-performance cars His company recently changed Dh1 5 million Mercedes G-Wagen 700 for Dubai police and worked on cars in the Persian Gulf since the 1980s.
M. Buschmann develops on the dangers of amateur juggling complex IT systems If, when adding 10 horsepower to an electronic drive someone accidentally turns off the electric roof of a convertible, he said, that n ' is not dangerous.
This is just uncomfortable for you, because you have to go to your authorized workshop for repair, said M. Buschmann But if, instead of blocking the electric sunroof you lock braking system.
This is one of the most dangerous aspects of car tuning enthusiast tuning This is no coincidence, as in a lottery you touch the right buttons and the right numbers Nowadays, we must have the specialized mechanics, skilled technicians and engineers.
M. Buschmann returns to the example of Mr. Ben Sulayem armored cars Some businesses here take the cars and put on more weight, such as protective steel and special glass, etc. But they do not think about the connection to the road, or wheels.
When cars weigh double the wheels tested collective load index, wheels break, says Buschmann.
This is dangerous not only for the passengers inside the car, but for everyone around people equip larger wheels and tires, which are in contact with the body when they move permanently.
It's a matter of physics cars are built around very specific physical properties, such as weight, and the whole car has to work together to operate safely, said Buschmann.
His favorite car is his custom 800hp Mercedes Benz G-Wagon and the SL-Class Roadster classic.
All we need to do to be in accordance with European regulations, at least, he said, How can I sell something if I sell and I know it's against the rules.
You know what would happen to me as a manager, I would not go to jail, or here in Germany.
Federal regulations are necessary, because otherwise someone will say no, everything is forbidden that the worst thing you can do.
M. Buschmann also addresses one of the most problematic improvements in the tinted windows of the region How many cars around here in the UAE have black windows, he asks Have you ever driven such a car in the darkness You see nothing.
You do not see the truck coming, which is dangerous for yourself, but you do not see the pedestrian next to you, which is dangerous for them so we must stop today not tomorrow.
He says that people will always want more power, different colors, unique interiors and hi-fi.
It is better if we have clear rules that define what is possible and what is not If not, we will have cars like that, he said, as he did from a photograph of a car with the big bull horns attached to his forehead.
Okay, it's a nice design, but it's really, really dangerous, says Buschmann.
Regarding the regulation of writing, he said that there is no need to reinvent the wheel.
Mr. Ben Sulayem agrees that laws should not be viewed as prohibiting all car modifications, but a way to control the industry.
If you look at the United Arab Emirates, love cars among locals and expatriates they love their cars and you can not stop the setting, he said I was talking to M. Ahmed Bahrozyan roads and transport a person very knowledgeable, he said Mohammed we are not here to ban all we want cars with driver in working order in working order.
I blame the parents a bit to allow their son at age 18, 19 or 20 to have a 700hp car simply because they can not say no, they fatalities.
Although it has a large collection of classic and modern cars to measure, son of Mr. Ben Sulayem are not allowed to drive until they are able.
He suggests brokers should encourage or provide driving courses on beautiful tours of the United Arab Emirates.
Okay, I won the Middle East Championship 14 times that I'm winning, win, win, but when I go on stage, I'm ready mentally and physically prepared my car I know what I'm at.
But if something crosses the road in front of you, or a car comes before you at 140kph, I'm sorry that this person is one who, it must be out of this planet to say that I can handle the car.
The modified cars enthusiasts in the UAE are moving bombs National, amateur, modified cars, moving.