Motoring Middle East: Car news, Reviews and Buying guides

Here are our favourite driving roads in the United Arab Emirates – and the cars we recommend to take there! 

By Shahzad Sheikh

Jebel Jais, Ras Al Khaimah

A really challenging and steep climb on a brand new, barely finished road, up Jebel Jais mountain – the UAE’s highest peak. It’s a bit of chore to get to over all the speed bumps in the villages leading up to it, but you’re rewarded not just with a thrilling drive, but some spectacular views.

It’s little used, so traffic’s not an issue. However because there’s still work going on both on the road itself and beyond, there is often a lot of sand and debris, usually on the apexes so it can be somewhat treacherous!

There’s really nothing much to do at the top except pause and taking in the rugged breathtaking beauty, and allow the car to cool down. The run back down will be particularly hard on the brakes. Read our full story on this road here.

Recommended cars

You need something with a lot of torque to climb, but plenty of grip to compensate for the slippery surface. A car with a bit of ground clearance would be good too, if you want to venture further beyond the tarmac (the gravel track continues to the top).

Ideally you need AWD beasts like the Audi RS7 / RS6 Avant, Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT or even something like a Subaru Impreza WRX or its arch nemesis the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo. We actually had great fun taking a Mini Paceman/Countryman John Cooper Works, but we did have to back off and let it cool down three-quarters of the way up. Grip and handling were spot on though.

Google map link https://goo.gl/maps/p0KJo

Jebel Hafeet, Al Ain

If you can avoid going on the weekends, you’ll get a sensational uninterrupted run up a stunning road – otherwise you’ll be dodging a lot of tourist traffic. Over 30 corners in around 10km, it’s intense and the climb will work a car hard.

But the surface and grip are very good and there are some great viewing platforms to stop at and take in the vistas along the way. As with Jebel Jais, the return journey will be hard on the brakes, and both these roads can overheat cars (particularly in the summer) if you push too hard.

Recommended cars

You need something torquey with positive turn-in and response, reasonably agile too. Big power, rear drive cars with tidy handling will give you a laugh up here, so any of the muscle car trio from Dodge, Ford and Chevrolet will be fun.

The handling of a Lexus RC F-Sport would reassure, and if you want to go sideways all the way, take a Jaguar F-Type V8. A Porsche 911 will be challenging but satisfying, but we’d be quite tempted to take the latest Corvette Stingray.

Google map link https://goo.gl/maps/3H73J

Kalba Road – Sharjah to Kalba

This is probably our most used test route – easily accessible and well worth the drive. At first it’s all a bit straight with nothing but rolling sand dunes to view when you set off on the E102 Sharjah-Kalba road (we recommend joining it from the E611 Emirates Road – the old Bypass road). But when you go past exit 47 (which takes you left onto the new fast road to Fujairah), it’s a short sprint to the mountains, and then things start to get both jaw-dropping and seriously serious.

From here the drive is packed with fast sweepers all the way to Kalba with some tight sections after the tunnel – for which you must wind down your windows, drop down the gears to crawling speed and then rev up the engine if you’re in a car with a scintillating exhaust note.

The great thing about this road is that not only can you take a break in Kalba and fuel up and get a sandwich, but you can have just as much fun driving back the same way – in fact the section rising back up to the tunnel is best run in the direction back to Dubai.

Recommended cars

Anything works on this road, but racy cars offering precision, poise and performance devour this route with glee. The quickest I’ve ever driven it is in a Nissan GTR, but most supercars will love this near-60km stretch – Ferraris and Lamborghinis will really get to stretch their legs here, and show what they can really do.

Bizarrely though the fastest cars on this route seem to be old Lexus LS400 saloons – usually lowered and going at warp speeds! Whatever you might be in, prepare to be overtaken by one of these!

Google map link https://goo.gl/maps/vCW3h

Hatta Squiggle, Hatta

The ‘Hatta Squiggle’ is what we call it, it doesn’t appear to actually have a name, but there isn’t really any more apt a description for it. You’ll find it just after the roundabout at the Hatta Fort Hotel going towards the Omani boarder, just immediately take the next left turn – blink and you’ll miss it, so go slow after the roundabout.

This road is a favourite of bikers – you’ll be tangling with them if you head there earlier on a Friday morning – and with good reason, it’s one of the most exciting bits of road around. It’s not very long, under 10km, but you’ll be subjected to blind crests and curves, sharp corners, quick curves, switchbacks, surface changes, sudden steep inclines, and surprise dips – plus the odd stray goat and let’s not mention the cliff edges that’ll fling you into oblivion if you don’t focus. So be very careful.

You won’t get up to high speeds, but its full-on with high-g corners and a real test of a chassis’s agility and rigidity, but more than that, the confidence that the car gives you to really attack these ‘Squiggle’.

It ends at the village of Huwaylat where, conveniently, there is a roundabout so you can just turn around and head back again – it’s equally fun both ways. And when you’ve had enough, head down to the Hatta Fort Hotel for lunch! (If you want to know how to avoid those pesky check points on the Dubai-Hatta road, find out here ….)

Recommended cars

Short wheelbase, lightweight cars with keen but not necessarily thundering performance are the best to bring to the Squiggle. You need a car that you can really wring out all the way and not worry about unleashing overwhelming momentum. Hot hatches are ideal. Think Mini Cooper S or JCW, Ford Focus ST, VW Golf GTi and R, and even that new hot hatch power king, the Mercedes A45 AMG thanks to massive AWD grip.

But cars like the Toyota 86 and Alfa Romeo 4C would be the perfect companions on this writhing road – my personal favourite and the car I’ve most enjoyed on the Hatta Squiggle ever, is the Lotus Exige Roadster S.

Google map link https://goo.gl/maps/z4U1v

Khasab Coastal Road, Musandam

Okay, we’re cheating with this last one, because it’s not in the UAE (it is actually part of Oman), and you will need a visa to get into it. The Musandam Peninsula is separated from the rest of Oman and sits at the very top tip of the UAE, so is only about an hour’s drive from Dubai up through all the Northern Emirates. Usually it’ll only take about 15-20 minutes to sort your visa and get through the border.

The 40km run to Khasab is so very worth it though. When the skies are clear, this coastal road is like driving the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Actually it’s not really, but it’s the closest thing we have in the region and the epic vistas and beautiful winding road will certainly transport you to a distance place and time (it feels very 1960s somehow).

But it’s not just gorgeous to take in, the fast sweepers, hairy hairpins and cliff-hugging tarmac will leave you breathless and fizzing with excitement. It’s a thrilling and awe-inspiring drive that’s even worth staying the night for, so you just keep running this route over and over again!

Recommended cars

For this very special road, you need a very special car, something fast of course, but more than that, something glamorous, something sexy, something grand. We’re talking convertible ideally and the Maserati Gran Cabrio, Aston Martin Vanquish Volante, Ferrari California, Bentley GTC or indeed, even a Rolls-Royce Phantom Drophead.

But any long-legged and topless bombshell with athletic qualities will work here – a Fiat Abarth with the roll-back canvas top would be just as sweet to steer – you don’t want to be going too fast anyway, as you want to soak in all the beauty around you.

My choice would be the new Porsche 911 Targa. Or alternatively I’d go classic the classic route with an MG, or a rag-top Alfa Romeo – now that would be bliss!

Google map link https://goo.gl/maps/z4U1v

Have we missed any? What are the best driving roads in the rest of the region? Why not tell us your own Top 5 driving roads in the comments section below!