Not a long time ago, pickup trucks were only bought for tough work purposes. You would buy a pickup if you were a farmer or a guy (yes, a GUY, not a person) who needed to move heavy stuff without the need to hire a truck. When did that concept change? And when did auto companies start making pickups for road use? I don’t really know but I guess it’s when luxury brands like Cadillac and Lincoln started manufacturing pickups around the year 2002. In the past 8 years this concept made its way throughout many companies. Now almost every pickup manufacturer would have a luxury version. Starting with the Mitsubishi L200 which has an MP3 player and ending with the Cadillac Escalade EXT which offers more luxury features than many sedans. In this review we test the 2010 GMC Sierra Denali which tops GMC pickups line-up.

Looks:

How do you define a good looking pickup? I mean even with the recent, mentioned above, trend it’s still not usual to call a pickup a beautiful car. There are still a percentage of people who would have the same old perception about pickups. However, the OT team are pretty much hardcore car fans. I will put it in a simple way: Mohammed Al Raisi loved the front chrome grill, Azzan Loved the length of the truck (especially that the Denali only comes in twin-cabin option), Ali Liked the huge 20” rims and Mohammed Al Mujaini liked the cup holders (ok it’s kinda early for that but I thought of mentioning it anyway). I guess adding up all of the above, alongside the fact that it’s a head-turner will make the Sierra Denali a really good looking pickup. Huge? I agree, but just like how Apple managed to make a 17” Macbook a good looking laptop GMC managed to make a 5+ meters-long Sierra a good looking vehicle.

Interior:

I would start talking about the interior with my experience entering the Sierra Denali. For a short guy like me, I had to jump, literally, to reach the back seat of the car. I waited for the guys to finish laughing and throwing comments and asked: “What the hell? How do you expect people to get into the car when it’s that high and there is no side step offered?” I understood later that the car comes with a side step but it was removed from this particular vehicle for test drive purposes. The rear space is good for 3 adults comfortably. Not like in most cars where the person in the middle feels like he/she is trapped between 2 seats. The leather offered is good and the arm rest between the driver and front passenger is so big that perhaps another adult can sit there. The front display is simple and user-friendly with many options like: mp3 CD player, AUX, and navigation.

Driving:

Now since this is a 4×4 review I’m going to include on-road experience and off-road experience with the Sierra Denalli.

On-road experience:
The car is huge. Like really, HUGE. Driving around can’t be called “a pleasure”. Don’t get caught somewhere where there are tight turns and you have to make a 2+ points reverse. You will most likely end up making 13 points reverse. Driving in highways and when there is no traffic is good. In couple of minutes you will forget that you are driving this mini-bus-long truck. Floor the car and you can hear the amazing sound of that 6.2 liter LS3 engine that can be found in Corvettes. Those 403 horses that are just ready to pull you on the command of your right foot. It is simply AMAZING how that engines pulls that 3+ tons truck. The option of tiptronic gear is also nice but not so convenient. I have always wondered how a tiptronic gear will look like if it was offered in an American-style gear. It seems like this option was offered for convenience but not for acceleration-purposes. Its response is somehow slow and it’s not easy to shift using your finger.

Off-road experience:
“This car is made for on-road use and not off-road” said Al Raisi when we were about to go into the sand dunes with the Denali. I’m not sure whether he said that so that we don’t get disappointed if the car gets stuck in the sand or did he really believe that. “Well I guess there’s only one way to find out, why…” and before I finish what I was going to say Ali read my mind and went uphill in the sand dunes of Baushar. Now a driver + 5 passengers + high-pressured tire would make any car perform badly in the dunes. We decided to keep 2 persons in the car at once and lowered the tire pressure. Everyone had his share of the off-road driving. There were some factors that we anticipated will make our mission not easy. Having 20” rims and low profile tires are probably the main two. Despite those factors, the car didn’t give us hard time going up the sand dunes. I guess the big engine and the torque it has helps overcome the previously mentioned factors.

Specifications:

Engine type: 6.2 Liter V8

Horsepower: 403 hp @ 5700 RPM

Torque: 417 @ 4300 RPM

Drive train: 6-speed auto with tiptronic

0-100 km/h: 6.5 (est.)
Average fuel consumption: 14.2l / 100 km

Weight: 3,175 kg

Pros:


-Rough look.
- Powerful engine.

- Lots of interior space.

- Luxury features.

- Great for heavy use and off-roading.

Cons:


-Huge in size.

- Tiptronic response.

- Unavailability of off-road options to choose from.

Price:

21,000 Omani Rials.

Verdict:


If you are looking for the best balance between heavy use and luxury driving in one car, this is your choice.

The off-road experience video:

The off-road video of this taken from our YouTube Channel.

Gallery:

GMC Sierra Denali Review Team:
Musab Al-Kindi.
Azzan Al-Balushi.
Ali Al-Maimani.
Mohammed Al-Mujaini.
Mohammed Al-Raisi.

Previously named “Santinos”, Pane Caldo is located in a prime area: Jawharat Al Shatti complex, which is most probably the busiest place in Muscat during weekends. The rebranding of the place was a step towards making it a more-elegant restaurant rather than a regular diner.

Atmosphere:

I haven’t been to Pane Caldo many times. However, if ever I did go, I would receive a warm welcoming with a waiter opening the door, greeting me as well as my company and seating us promptly. The lighting in the restaurant, though dim, gives off an air of mixed elegance and casualty. The helpful and presentable waiters make you feel welcomed and comfortable.

Food:

Santinos used to have really good pizzas but since they rebranded it to Pane Caldo, the pizza’s quality went down. I ordered my favorite Italian meal: Spaghetti Bolognese. The spaghetti was well made except that it had a bigger percentage of meat than what I’m used to. The company I had with me during my visit to Pane Colado ordered a mix of different meals: a grilled chicken meal (of which I can’t quite place my finger on the name of), Penne Arabiatta and Lasagna Bolognese. The grilled chicken was quite delicious as it had a really nice flavor that I was able to relate to. It reminded me of BBQ outings we have every Eid. It’s probably one of the best high-end BBQ chickens I’ve ever had. The Arabiatta was great but kind of spicy. The Lasagna tasted good but was not warm enough. I also tried their lemon ice tea and really liked it. It’s great when I am able to find ice tea that tastes likes real tea and not like a lemon juice with a tiny hint of tea.

Location:

Jwharat Al Shatti Complex, near Intercontinental Muscat.

Type:

Italian food.

Price average:

5-6 Rials per person.

Written by: Musab Al-Kindi.
Edited by: Sara Al-Kindi

Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche; big names, super sexy cars and racing champions. If I were asked how many of these car owners really drive them the way they should be driven, I would say less than 15%. The other 85% of these cars end up being show cars for fancy places. Khalid Zaman, a huge car enthusiast, is one of those 15%. Being a car enthusiast, he clearly would not buy a car unless he is convinced that its potential satisfies his driving needs, and that is not an easy mission. Today we take a closer look at his Porsche 997-2 911 GT3.

The beginning:

I was gazing at the Porsche parked in front of me and I could swear I can hear the car silently growling before a poke from my friend brought me back to reality.

How did you end up with the GT3?

I got this car because it resembles the history of Porsche as a sports cars manufacturer. Porsche paid great attention to the GT3 to make it a pure sports car. You cannot even order the car with an automatic gearbox.

So did you take time to pick the GT3?

No. I used to own a 997 GT3-RS so it was not a surprise that I would still take a Porsche from the GT series.

The modifications:

I honestly skipped this question because I made the assumption that a rare car like the GT3 would stay stock for at least a year. Thankfully during the interview Khalid mentioned that his car has the Sharkwerks exhaust system. Khalid says he is very satisfied with it and he felt a big difference in the car after installing it.

Peak and Bottom:

In a car like this some people would say: There is no bad thing about a GT3 but I still asked Khalid: What’s the best thing and what’s the worst thing about the GT3?
“Handling and the power/weight ratio are the two best traits. No one can argue that the GT3 is the best in these two fields”. There were few seconds of silence and a long “hmmmmmm” before we got our answer for the 2nd question. “I guess it’s the stiff suspension and bucket seats. I don’t mind them but maybe some people would”.

How is your car different than other GT3s?

Most GT3s out there are the older model. As far as I know, only two 997-2 GT3s were sold here in Oman. The exhaust tone is also very unique.

A story with the GT3:

“Couple of months ago, I went with Porsche Club Oman to Abu Dhabi for a joint event with Porsche Club UAE. During the runs we had at the YAS circuit, I perfectly understood why would some people go for the GT3 and not the turbo. On the track, the GT3 was the much-better car, overtaking the 911 turbos in tight turns was a very simple task”.

Future plans for your car?

As much as I like unique cars like the GT3 staying stock, I still love it when I see a well-modified one. And since Khalid is known to be one of the best car modifiers in Oman, I was expecting a long list of mods. “I think I would keep it this way. There really isn’t much modifying to do to a hardcore car like this”.

Trying to pull whatever I can from him, I asked: “So your car is going to stay stock, except for an exhaust system, till its last day?” Khalid takes a deep breath and says: “No off course in the long run I might take further steps in tuning this beast. ECU tuning is a must. Sharkwerks offer a good tuning solution and hopefully in the future I might go with their 3.9 engine upgrade”. The last point really made my body hair stand up; a stroker on a Porsche engine got to be a first in Oman.

Dream car and Next car:

“Your next car?” I tried to guess the answer of this question a moment before I asked it based on what I knew about Khalid in the few past minutes and his answer was not much far from what I expected. Knowing he had the GT3-RS before getting this GT3 assured me he would want to get a 997-2 GT3-RS if it was ever introduced. Another car he is seriously considering is the Ferrari 458 Italia. A “pure sports car” is what he describes it. His dream car is the Ferrari Enzo which me and him both agree on is the best Ferrari ever made.

Gallery:

Interviewed by: Musaab Al-Kindi.
Edited by: Fatma.
Photography by: Azzan.