Technology is great, make no mistake. I have no desire to live in a world without TV, email, mobile phones or microwave ovens, but sometimes it is the simple things, the things that don't require excessive wire, screens, beeps or buttons, that work the best.
This is certainly the case with the serviceable Lexus GS 300.
The car's best features aren't the whizz-bang ones that the salesman in the showroom will probably try to foist upon you. Instead, the best features are the quiet, smooth engine that flirts shamelessly with the speed cameras, the gearbox and the fact that it is a rear-wheel drive rather than a staid front-wheel drive.
I was testing the V6 and found it merrily skipped along the highways and byways of the UAE lustily overtaking with abandon, the odd AMG or Ferrari notwithstanding.
And the pleasing gearbox does the job without fuss in the automatic mode, but when you shift it yourself, you have six speeds at your disposal and the leather on the gear shifter is a nice touch. The rear-wheel drive means that it is more fun on corners.
On the outside, the styling, while not overwhelming me with its raw animal magnetism, reminded me of the sharp saloon lines of a Chevrolet Lumina with sports kit. Indeed, I can imagine plenty of UAE buyers would not be able to resist the temptation to bung a spoiler on the back for extra menace in the light-flashing lane of the E11.
There is nothing hugely high-tech about these positive points for the GS300 - it is filling its niche as a comfortable, roomy car with a good engine and slick gearbox, as required by the discerning UAE Lexus buyer.
While the interior design was a little bland, the leather seats were comfortable and the one high-tech gadget I did dig was the seat cooling system.
Leather seats can get a little warm in summer and, if you're wearing a dress, they can take off a layer of skin as you get out of the car. The electronically generated zephyr, with three breezy speeds, is much appreciated.
However, the gizmo-tastic controls for the air conditioning and stereo were trying too hard to be clever and as a result, they are not particularly easy to operate while driving.
Keeping the AC controls simple is the way forward - when I want to turn the fan speed up on a 45-degree day, I want to turn a knob without taking my eyes off the road. I don't want to have to scroll through screens to find the one with the fan-speed control icon.
Finding a radio station was similarly fussy with baffling pre-sets and a hypersensitive tuning function, which also were not easy to use while driving along.
Radio tuning and fan adjustments are two functions that do not need to be subject to excessive technology.
But that was not nearly as bothersome as the slightly embarrassing lesson I learnt with the electronic fuel gauge. After picking up the test car from Dubai Festival City, taking it to Sharjah and Umm Al Quwain, getting lost, ignoring the directions my passenger was giving me from the sat nav (which we couldn't get to talk to us.
Was it something we said?) and finally getting back to Abu Dhabi, the electronic screen between the speedometer and the rev counter informed me that I had 30km worth of petrol left.
Splendid, I thought to myself as I parked outside my flat for the night. I planned to get the car photographed the next morning, the nearest garage is about 1km away, I can easily fill up and meet the photographer. Or could I?
At 8am the next morning, I sauntered downstairs, pushed the start button and got nothing. No sound, no lights, nada! I assumed it was the battery but I hadn't left the lights on or the boot open.
The portable battery charger was in the back of my own car, which was not-so-handily parked at the Lexus showroom in Dubai, so I called Lexus and they dispatched a guy to take a look.
The battery was fine but I was all out of petrol. A jerry can of special later and I was back on the road and the drama was over, but I couldn't help but wonder if I just had the old-fashioned needle fuel gauge would I have gotten into the same pickle?
Probably not - the needle fuel gauge was riding on empty when the computerised gauge said 30km, so if the needle was the only indication I had that I was nearly out of gas, I probably would have filled up sooner instead of relying on the electronic reminder.
There is a big difference between having 30km of petrol left and having 0km in the tank, especially if you were, say, in the middle of nowhere on an Omani road trip.
I was told that erratic driving or sudden bursts of speed can mess with the computer that calculates how much gas is in the tank.
Hmm, given that erratic driving and Lexuses are both very popular here, it might be advisable for their IT people to sort that partcular glitch so the electronic fuel gauge becomes a true selling point rather than a sticking point.
In any case, you can expect to see plenty of GS300s on the road - they are becoming as ubiquitous as Toyota Camrys because, my fuel gauge debacle and fiddly technology aside, it is a reliable machine.
glewis@thenational.ae
Dubai World Cup prize money
Group 1 (Purebred Arabian) 2000m Dubai Kahayla Classic - $750,000
Group 2 1,600m(Dirt) Godolphin Mile - $750,000
Group 2 3,200m (Turf) Dubai Gold Cup – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Turf) Al Quoz Sprint – $1,000,000
Group 2 1,900m(Dirt) UAE Derby – $750,000
Group 1 1,200m (Dirt) Dubai Golden Shaheen – $1,500,000
Group 1 1,800m (Turf) Dubai Turf – $4,000,000
Group 1 2,410m (Turf) Dubai Sheema Classic – $5,000,000
Group 1 2,000m (Dirt) Dubai World Cup– $12,000,000
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
Learn more about Qasr Al Hosn
In 2013, The National's History Project went beyond the walls to see what life was like living in Abu Dhabi's fabled fort:
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
SPECS
Nissan 370z Nismo
Engine: 3.7-litre V6
Transmission: seven-speed automatic
Power: 363hp
Torque: 560Nm
Price: Dh184,500
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Mission%3A%20Impossible%20-%20Dead%20Reckoning%20Part%20One
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
