It seems as though these days, the Arab states are where to go for anyone seeking to be among the most exclusive exotic supercars and the world’s finest luxury vehicles. Their cars may be extraordinarily fast and opulent, but there’s one catch: Sand.
It’s everywhere and it doesn’t play well with the most refined performance vehicles when it blankets the roads or vacuumed up by the car’s vents. Drivers of these cars find themselves stuck on paved roads that pale in scope compared to the vast, beautiful country with so much room for activities. Luckily, high-end car tuner Mansory has both sides covered with the Mansory G-Class Sahara Edition.
Debuting at the Geneva Auto Show, Mansory took a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagen and outfitted it with a redesigned carbon fiber body kit decked out in desert camouflage decals. The whole kit is 40 millimeters wider than the standard truck, and adds a modified off-road bumper to the front, which sports underride protection.
Bespoke headlights give the G-Model a distinct look, which are accented by recessed indicator lights that shine through nine pinhole openings. These are supported by the four roof-mounded spotlights over the windshield.
It’s not all bodywork and light bars, the Sahara Edition also gets some tweaks in the power department as well. The AMG-sourced 5.5-liter twin turbo V8 gets a handful of components swapped out with race-ready parts used instead. The pistons, connecting rods, big end bearings, crankshaft, crank, and cylinder head are replaced, as well as the exhaust system. All these result in a power increase from 536 horsepower to a whopping 828 hp.
The ruggedly refined outside is matched by the interior, with a redesigned dash and console area complimented by a marbled camouflage leather upholstery job. If that sounds more conservative than it should be, rest assured that each seat is embroidered with a falcon’s face and wing design.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.