We all read comic books while growing up. Some of them were about a little rich kid, a few about detective stories but most of all we loved the super hero comic books. I mean Tin Tin was cool with his dog snowy and the witty drunk captain Haddock but come on we all know we loved Batman and Super Man more. They had more power, did awesome things and yet they also looked pretty much like normal human being, with the exception of a few like HULK and others. I can write whole day about super heroes but this writing isn't about a super hero , it is about a vehicle which is a super car among cars and can do super things with its super power. It's none other than the PORSCHE CAYENNE TURBO S.


If the CTS (referred to as Cayenne Turbo S) had super parents then its dad was superman and its mom was Ms. HULK. I mean look at it, it sure isn't the prettiest SUV nor is it the ugliest but none of them is important, because whenever I see this menace I just say to myself there is nothing more important in life than this car, but thank god that feeling lasts only about the few seconds because the moment you blink its GONE...ZOOM.. You see every ten or twenty years a new kind of car comes and sets a benchmark. The Cayenne is not the first of its kind; I really like to put it in a different class than even its brother in the same line up the Cayenne S and the Cayenne.


An SUV is basically a definition of a practical vehicle which can carry a party of five or even seven in some cases, has lots of space, a decent to bad gas mileage and pretty much will roll over on a bend in any speed above 95 MPH, no matter what the manufactures' claim. The CTS does exact the opposite, it is highly impractical with its $100k price tag , can hardly fit two large adults in the rear seat, the boot is good for a medium size dog but if you have a New found land or a Great Dane then you better get the Range Rover and GAS MILEAGE ..and let me just say WHO CARES WHEN YOU JUST DROPPED $100k on a car and think about gas mileage? So to sum it up, it's not as pretty as the Range Rover or the X5, nor is it practical, has insanely bad gas mileage, but and it's a big but, it WONT ROLLOVER EVEN AT BENDS OVER 130 MPH.


I am not going to even bother about giving the back ground of this car as it�s been talked about so much in the past several years. Here is how I met this car summer last year. I just flew in to Los Angeles from Bangkok on a fifteen hour flight with bad air plane food and shitty movies and sleepless for over 24 hours. My friend Bryant picked me up from the airport and he picked me up in his Cayenne Turbo S. He offered me to drive and I was really tired and didn't know if I was up to it to drive 45 miles towards the inland empire from Orange County. Reluctantly I took the keys and all of that just took a pause as I put my hands on the steering wheel of Mr. Hyde. Yes, the insanity I felt when I floored it was quite similar to the taking off of the Boeing 777 from Bangkok. Turbo charged cars have lags, no matter how less, they have a brief second of nothing nothing nothing and then a whole lot of everything comes around 3500 RPM but I yelled out YAA ALLAH (something similar to sweet mother of god) expression when at 2500 rpm my eye lids were thrown backwards and yeah a few gallons of fuel with it. I shifted up down, changed lanes, put to 4th on Sport and floored and it picked up in a zip and it was like a genie was hiding in the engine bay and did everything like magic. (Later in the week we did something more irresponsible which we can leave out for another day lol @ Bryant..DON DON)


There were some things that bothered me the most in this car, first of the panoramic roof had a see through screen which really didn't cover the sunlight, and it does get hot in most parts of the world during May/June, there is no Bluetooth connectivity but had a stupid SIM card slot so one fine morning your wife needs the car and you left your sim in the car, and it's just a hassle to take out your sim, put it in and then blah blah blah! so yeah bad design Porsche . Although it is kind of cool reading the Text Msg coming in to the navigation screen which is not so great either if you are bitching about a person on text msg who is inside the car with you. The rear seats were not as bad as other reviews have said but its best left for smaller people and kids. The ride quality was exceptionally great even being such a sports car like handling the active dynamic suspension system on sports mode takes care of things when you are in the mood of some spirited driving.

So the car is exceptional , it does what it's made for, and does not even want to be practical or politically correct or make any save the world kind of notion. If your address is San Francisco, New York, London or any big metropolis and your name isn't a combination of acronyms you will NOT like this car. If you have hard earned money and you care about your life and your family and others on the road, you will not like this car. If you are a petrol head, and while growing up had a million posters of Porsche's and Lambo's in your wall and your only great passion in life is the rev meter going up and away, then YOU WILL LOVE IT TILL IT RUNS EMPTY ON FUEL!!! There are many reasons to hate this car, but I just like to play the cheesy song of Michael Jackson. I JUST CANT STOP LOVING YOU.

Cheers to the Supercar of our time.
Saad Nusrat Khan
14/1/2008
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I have not written the past one year. I decided to write again and started with a car which I simply love, the Pajero.

It was the year 1983, Mitsubishi launched its new 4WD vehicle THE PAJERO, named after a South American wild cat which was known for its fast agile movement and climbing abilities. However people at Mitsubishi didn't realize until later that the word PAJERO in Spanish is a slang. So the Pajero was marketed as MONTERO in North America and other locations with Spanish speaking population and as SHOGUN in the United Kingdom. In 1983 most of the 4x4 vehicles were called JEEPS or 4WD vehicle. They were made, sold and used for specific purpose with the exception of the Land Rover Range Rover. They were all very industrial and machine like fell with almost no fell of pleasure in driving them in common roads. If you weren't wearing Jeans and chewing tobacco you really didn�t qualify as a 4x4 driver. From its home land the competition it faced were the Legendary Land Cruiser which came with a million different specs and the Nissan Patrol. Both of them built for, either a) to build a nation or to go in and help people when a nation was destroyed.

]They were hardly domesticated and one could hardly use a 4x4 for as a daily driver, drop the kids off at school, go to work or go out to dinner etc kind of stuff. It was a marketing genius, placed right between the soccer moms and the rugged jeans wearing tobacco chewing dads. The vehicle was light, spacious, compact, easy to go around and more importantly cheap to buy and very cheap to run. Unlike other 4WD's of the time it actually had a real interior with gears like Dual Air Condition, Power Windows, Power Steering, and my personal favorite the Suspension seats. In Bangladesh this first generation of Pajero was the first luxury 4WD marketed and created an icon of luxury, wealth and power. Similar scenario can be found in most developing countries of that time, namely Pakistan, and Nigeria. Toyota got so nervous that they stretched the Land Cruiser 70 and softened the suspension and gave it a smaller engine and called it Land Cruiser II which evolved as the PRADO we know today.

1991: the year Pajero went into lunching its second generation Pajero. It was an engineering marvel. It was so heavily designed, researched and engineered that it's Super Select 4WD is still being used in current production Pajero's. Its engines are still used, namely the 6G series, and not only Mitsubishi, various vehicle between Chrysler Dodge and Mercedes Benz use the 6G engine parts and transmission for durability and quality. It was a car that made history with Mitsubishi but the market for 4WD vehicle started to get saturated. Other makers started tapping in to the same segment with more docile 4WD and hence the birth of the word SUV's. At the time of release of the Pajero V6 3500 DOHC 24 Valve version, it was one of the fastest production 4WD's in the planet. It had already won Paris Dakar 3 times within ten years of its production and the quality and reliability of Pajero's bowled us over. But even though the second generation of the Pajero was a big success, I think Mitsubishi didn't put its effort for marketing this vehicle in North America which probably cost them billions in the later years.

The auto segment of the Mitsubishi group failed to create its identity in the U.S market which is very important in the American society. The success of the first and second generation Pajero was transformed in to the technically successful of the 3rd Generation Pajero. Vehicle like the X5 and ML or even the Land Cruiser Prado came in to the scene. It seemed like Pajero willingly changed lanes and decided not to follow the others who always wanted to go past it for so long. And that is why the PAJERO is and always will be a fine 4WD with no fuss or frills, just plain simple 4WD vehicle. It became the underdog from being the leader, but it still wins almost every grueling 4WD rally or contest and does not pretend to be a sports car, like a lot of other SUV's with massive identity crisis. Its build quality somewhat fell in recent years but the 4th generation Pajero tries to solve the problem with a subtle voice. Refined interior with less bold exterior became the key objective of the 4th Generation Pajero. When asked to Mitsubishi designer if the new Pajero was going to look more like a X5 or ML etc, he replied if it is going to look like some other 4x4 it will look like a true 4x4 like the Range Rover and not a sedan on high springs. So we see in the new Pajero, the same meeting of circles of the front headlight as the Range rover and the rear short lights with circled tubular inner accents, similar to that of the Range Rover. Many loved the refresh and many didn't like it; but like most Pajero drivers they will learn to love it and about 70% of all previous buyers will buy a new, that's loyalty.

The question is will it succeed in playing the underdog forever, or does it need to unleash new tricks to sustain. I think if it re enters the US market with a strong identity and a mild increase of engine power with a variant of the EVO Pajero; it will come out on top again. But hey, it's a class of its own, so isn't it on top already?

Saad Khan
10/1/2007
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The New York Autoshow is taking place at this very moment and it comes down to the finest South Korean cars ever to be revealed till date. Yes the Koreans are hitting back big time this time....Did you know that South Korea has the fastest internet broadband service average around 14mbps download speed per household? Did you know that South Korea is the 13th wealthiest nation (8th biggest exporter) in the world? South Korea is all about technology and its a complete showcase of their best achievements in the New York Auto show with both Hyundai and Kia giving the Japs a run for its money.

Toyota (world's largest car manufacturer) has officially launched one of the largest automotive recalls in the automotive history, sure they lost around 10-20% of their current customers but they are coming back strong indicating better sales last February compared to that of February 2009. This maybe good news for Toyota after the devastating recall but this was well predicted by most automotive experts since 2010 seems to be a better financial year for the global market compared to 2009. However, the Japanese car makers have not gained any market share, rather lost a huge percentage of what they could achieve to American/South Korean & German car makers.

At the New York Auto show, Hyundai kicked off the event with the global launch of the 2011 Hyundai Sonata (Hybrid) which reports better fuel economy compared to that of the Ford Fusion, Lexus HS250h, Nissan Altima, and Toyota Camry. Better fuel economy plus much more powerful, given the fact that it is the lightest among the current midsized hybrid car market. The Sonata hybrid uses an all-aluminum 2.4-liter engine that produces 169 horsepower (126 kW, 171 PS) and up to 156 ft-lb of torque. It is paired with a 40-horsepower (30-kW, 41-PS) electric motor that produces 151 ft-lb of torque. The full parallel system is mated to a new six-speed automatic transmission.


Hyundai wasn't done quite yet, yes their big bad ass full size sedan has been launched in the North American market as well. The Korean ambassador in Bangladesh has imported one himself, this might just be the absolute nightmare for the Lexus LS460 if the Korean car maker can keep up with its aim. Power comes from a 4.6-liter Tau V8 with 385 hp (287 kW / 390 PS) and 333 lb-ft (451 Nm) of torque. Connected to a six-speed ZF automatic transmission, the engine enables the Equus to accelerate from 0-60 mph in less than 6.4 seconds. The Equus will go on sale this summer undercutting all of its competitors mentioned above with a base price in the mid $50,000 range.

Quite often, we ignore one major car maker, yes its KIA (BMW's official dealer in Bangladesh, Executive Motors) is the first to bring Kia Motors to Bangladesh and right now it seems, Kia can gain a big market in Bangladesh as well. With unbelievable prices for a brand new car and such radical designs, Kia has stepped up big time. Kia unveiled its midsized sedan, Optima to the North American market in the New York Auto show and so far it's a complete head turner judged by its new design. In its base model form, the sedan will use a 2.4-liter GDI four-cylinder engine, but customers wanting more power can opt for a 2.0-liter turbocharged GDI.

Last but not least, lets not forget Kia's very own Forte. I have been watching Canadians jumping right into these cars without hesitations and no regrets whatsoever. Build quality is splendid, car looks sporty and and I am already seeing some folks modding their Kia Fortes. By now, Bangladesh should be loaded with Kia Forte's but unfortunately it hasn't caught much attention as of yet. When we get under the skin of Forte we find a 124 bhp 1.6-liter gas motor, and a 1.6-liter turbo diesel plant of 128 bhp. A 2.0-liter version is on the cards to supplement the range.

The global automotive industry has boomed massively over the last 20 years. The Japanese car makers have benefited the most, taking a big lead on the North American market. Europe still prefers their own car makers more but more and more people are jumping into an Asian vehicle. Hyundai and Kia always trailed behind with build quality and a doubt over their reliability. Let's not think like that anymore, Korean cars are all still running, they haven't at least have had gas pedal problems which took away few unfortunate lives in the US mostly. At this moment, I am happy that Honda hasn't faced such a problem as off yet, but you never know if they face the same problem too. Mr. Toyoda himself said "we have grown so fast in such a short time, that we hardly cope up with such technical faults". The Germans have steered clear from such reliability issues and sudden recalls over the last 100+ years and I am honestly proud of their build quality. The Koreans have hit back big this time with such inexpensive price tags and such radical designs, Hyundai and Kia are finally holding their grip at the Automotive market.
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There are pros and cons of both ways. Short Ram Intake (SRI) sits inside the engine bay where the air temps are warmer due to the heat the engine produces. So the intake air temp is higher and thus has less density. on the other hand, throttle response is better as the intake air has less way to travel to get inside the combustion chamber.

A Cold Air Intake (CAI) sits away from the engine bay, usually in the front fender where it can suck in cooler air from the outside. Sucking in cool air is important because cool air is denser than warm air, which means cool air molecules are closer together, so more air can fit into a given amount of space. [attachment=6555:5611.attach]

An engine creates power by mixing and compressing air and fuel. The more air you can fit into a cylinder at one time, the bigger explosion you can create which in turn creates more horsepower. This is why a CAI is the choice for most people.But eventually it is everyone's personal choice. it is like which one is better, Turbo or Supercharger, as both are forced inductions.

Also, in Bangladesh, CAI makes you more prone to getting water in the intake system. but a air bypass valve in the CAI piping protects you from flooding inside your engine.

As for the filter, usually smaller filter is used for CAI as it goes inside the bumper where there is not enough space to fit the bigger filters usually used in SRI systems.
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Check out the latest issue of the Campaign Bangladesh Magazine that featured an exclusive media coverage of WheelsBD Automobile Club Ltd. We are delighted to receive such recognitions over the last few months. Special thanks Joey Hasan and Faiza Chowdhury for pulling this through.
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