Bylines Botchi Santos

Car storage tips during the COVID-19 crisis

With the COVID-19 pandemic rendering all but the most important driving activities inoperable, we’re forced to leave our cars at home. Sure we can do some grocery and other medical related activities and driving to them, but…

Mitsubishi Strada Athlete

Mitsubishi is pushing hard introducing new and updated models across the board. The Strada Athlete is one of them. We take a closer loom at what sets it apart from the regular Strada models: 1.) Chrome trim…

Geely Coolray Sport DCT: Chinese and desirable

There are cheap China cars (there are over 1,000 registered car brands in China apparently), then there is the Geely Coolray, perhaps the most desirable looking, premium-feeling, clean and classy China-branded and China-made car on the market…

Summer driving tips

With summer practically here, and with COVID-19 fears rampant, local driveable tourism out in the outdoors will most likely boom as school will soon be out, Holy Week Holidays setting in and people wanting to escape from…

Nissan 370Z: real-wheel Zenith

In a nation where the vast driving generation is so accustomed to front-wheel drive, here comes Nissan unveiling a rear-wheel drive living legend—the 370Z—made it available to the local market complete with full factory support and warranty.…

Isuzu mu-X Boondock Edition: the SUV segment’s best kept secret

While the Isuzu mu-X is old, and a replacement due soon, that’s not to say it isn’t any good or any less of a competent, capable vehicle. Case in point: the Isuzu mu-X Boondock Edition. Thanks to…

Toyota Corolla Altis 1.8 V Hybrid: silver lining in today’s dark clouds

  In 2006, I was able to try a second generation Prius and that car was an utter disappointment back then. The hybrid system hardly worked, the batteries took forever to charge, and the Prius felt very…

Mazda 6 SkyActiv 2.5 Turbo: Magnificent Mazda

If you’ve been following my regular test drives, you will notice that I am very much a huge fan of Mazda. The modest brand from Hiroshima, though small in size versus giants like Toyota and Nissan, has…

Jaguar XE R-Dynamic SE 2.0 2020: Sexy in the city

Since the Tata Group took over the embattled Jaguar and Land Rover brands and merged them into a single entity in 2013, the British brand’s future has turned shaky with Land Rover remaining strong and Jaguar taking…

Lexus UX F-Sport: cozy and comfortable cruiser

Photos by Botchi Santos Celebrity endorser, talk show host and media personality Bobby Yan who is quite the lady’s man himself once taught me that his most important criteria in choosing a car is it’s “striking distance”.…