Gong Xi Fa Cai

Advertisement

New Nissan GT-R SpecV promises to be quicker

Nissan GT-R Spec V

Well, the eagerly awaited Nissan GT-R SpecV has finally been revealed by Nissan, but details are sparse about how much more powerful it is.

All that Nissan reveals at this point of time is that a “high gear boost control device” increases torque over mid to high rev ranges, but doesn’t go on into detail if this just means the torque curve is much more flatter with peak torque sustaining over more revs, or whether peak torque actually goes up.

Nissan GT-R Spec V

The bulk of the changes are in the equipment. The suspension has been upgraded and its settings are exclusive to the Spec V. The Spec V gets lightweight forged aluminium NISMO wheels that have already been sold by NISMO since September 2008, but on the Spec V it’s standard equipment. These wheels have lighter unsprung weight. The brakes have carbon ceramic discs by Brembo. Finally, a titanium-coated exhaust system graces the rear end of the car.

Nissan GT-R Spec V

The exterior gets carbon fiber bits such as a spoiler, a grille, and brake ducts. A special colour is available exclusively on the GT-R called Ultimate Black Opal. On the interior, the seats have a carbon fiber frame, and the carbon fiber treatment continues in the rear center box storage, instrument panel and various other trim areas.

The new Nissan GT-R Spec V will go on sale in Japan on the 2nd of February 2009, and later in Europe later in the year. There are no plans for it to be sold in North America yet at the moment. Look after the jump for a hi-res photo gallery and a video clip.
[Read more...]

20 Comments      

Volvo S80 to get new 205hp Volvo D5 twin-turbocharged diesel engine

Volvo D5 Twin Turbo Diesel
Click for enlarged image

Volvo is the latest car manufacturer with a new high-powered twin turbodiesel engine that has good power, loads of torque and at the same time, low emissions and good fuel economy. The new Volvo D5 inline-5 twin-turbodiesel has 2.4 litres of displacement and uses two differently sized turbochargers installed in a sequential arrangement to produce 205hp and 420Nm of torque, while achieving 45.6mpg and 164g/km of emissions, meeting Euro 5 standards.

The formula is a well-known and used one, a small turbocharger to rapidly spool up and provide lag-free boost from idle that hands over the job to a larger turbocharger at higher revs, up to 1.8 bar of boost. It also allows using exhaust gas recirculation over a wider range than before, helping reduce harmful emissions. Fuel is delivered via piezoelectric fuel injectors, and the engine also uses ceramic glowplugs that improve cold-starts because they can reach 1000 degrees Celcius in just 2 seconds.

Another feature of the engine is the elimination of an oil dipstick for the owner to check his engine lubricant levels. Instead, an information display in the car shows the status of the engine oil and if it needs replenishing, the owner is even informed of exactly how much oil to pour in.

This new all-aluminium D5 twin turbodiesel engine will first be used in the Volvo S80 from mid-2009 onwards in the UK, but specs and price of the new twin turbodiesel S80 have not been revealed yet, only to be announced nearer to the showroom launch date.

8 Comments      


BMW 116i now powered by 2.0L N46 Valvetronic

BMW 1-Series

BMW has phased out its N45 inline-4 engine family, currently used in the BMW 116i. The N45 is a rather basic engine compared to the rest of the BMW line-up, it doesn’t even have Valvetronic, which these days is only absent on turbocharged BMW engines. The only other application has been in the limited edition BMW 320si, which used an N45 engine with displacement increased to 2.0 litres. That one produced 173 PS at 7,000 and 200Nm at 4,250rpm, but the N45B16 in the 116i only produced 122hp at 6,000rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4,300rpm.

From this year on, the 116i will be powered by the more advanced N46, which produces the same 122hp, but torque has been upped to 185Nm between 3,000 to 4,250rpm. This is because the new engine is actually the same 2.0 litre engine that’s found in the 118i and the 120i, only with different tuning. This engine also has Valvetronic, which provides variable valve lift and operates without using a throttle plate.

This is also happening with many other BMW models. The numbers on a vehicle’s badge doesn’t necessarily indicate the displacement of the engine under the hood anymore. Alot of the x25i cars around are now running with 3.0 litre engines, tuned to produce the same power and torque as a 2.5 litre but with torque over a wider spread of RPMs, to improve driveability. This would be a problem in Malaysia because of the displacement-tied road tax (as opposed to power output or emissions tied), so expect the 325i to continue to be offered with a 2.5 litre engine for the moment.

6 Comments      

E36 BMW 3-Series Coupe with Honda S2000 engine

E36 S2000

Here’s something a little different from the many E36s here in Malaysia who have Nissan inline-6 turbo engines under their hoods. A Japanese dude decided to plonk in a F20 engine from the Honda S2000 into his 2-door E36 BMW 318is coupe’s engine bay, and Best Motoring featured his car! He must be trying to create the ultimate touge monster, the 50:50 balance of a BMW E36 3-Series combined with the relatively light, compact and high-revving engine in the S2000, and one that had the same cylinder count as the stock engine that came with his car. One that goes all the way up to 9,500rpm, good for 250 PS. Watch the video after the jump (I know some of you won’t be focusing on the car…) and you’ll see the stock BMW instrument cluster’s tachometer needle cross all the way into the area thats used to show the real time fuel consumption. Hardcore BMW fans will slam this as sacrilegious, but it’s insane nevertheless!
[Read more...]

27 Comments      

LEAKED: 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class (W212) brochures with detailed specification sheets!

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

A brochure of the new W212 2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class has been scanned and let loose onto the internet, so here’s a preview of the next generation de-facto communiting choice for businessmen in Malaysia. Styling-wise, this new edition completes the E-Class design’s transformation from curvy bulk into a new sportier, edgier and more angular design. The trademark quad oval headlamps are now square-ish, much like the Lexus GS.

  W212 W211 A6 E60 Accord
Length 4,868mm 4,856mm 4,927mm 4,841mm 4,945mm
Width 1,854mm 1,822mm 1,855mm 1,846mm 1,845mm
Height 1,470mm 1,483mm 1,459mm 1,468mm 1,475mm
Wheelbase 2,870mm 2,854mm 2,843mm 2,888mm 2,800mm

Above is a size comparison chart between the new W212 and the model it replaces as well as its competitiors, the Audi A6 and the BMW 5-Series. The A6 is clearly the longest and widest of the lot while remaining lowest as well, but it does not have the longest wheelbase. The new W212 is longer, wider and lower than the W211 so it should prove to have a sportier stance as well as be more stable on the road. It’s wheelbase has also grown by 16mm.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The image at the beginning of this story is the standard model with the regular foglamps, of which design reminds you of what Brabus usually does to a Mercedes foglamp, so they’ll probably have to think of something else with this E-Class! Now this image above shows us what we saw earlier in the initial batch of leaked shots, LED daytime driving lights in place of where the foglamps are. They are arranged in some sort of L shape.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

This is the version with the AMG bodykit, also featuring the LED driving lights. You can see the differences in the front bumper, it has a frowney shape to its central air intake compared to the regular E-Class bumper’s smiley air intake. The sideskirt also bulges out a little towards the rear wheel on the AMG car.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The new W212 E-Class is quite a handsome and aggressive car from the front but when you get to the rear, I don’t know about you but my first thoughts were “fail”. The integrated exhausts tailpipes are a nice touch but as this photo is the E 500, it’s not known at this point whether the base models like the new E 200 CGI will get a similiar design.

The interior is quite clearly an evolution of the W204 C-Class’s interior. The sexy curved and thin wood panels of the W211′s interior is now gone, and replaced by thick and flat pieces of wood on a dash design that has also gone all angular like the car’s exterior. I don’t know, the interior kinda looks like it was lifted from a luxury truck or SUV rather than a Mercedes-Benz, so I really prefer the old W211′s interior. Ah well, all the better for people who plan to pick up a pre-owned W211 facelift in the future.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class

The leaked spec sheets reveal the new engine range for the W212 E-Class. Gone is the familiar E 200 K moniker, instead replacing it is the new E 200 CGI. The brochure and spec sheets actually doesn’t really reveal what kind of forced induction the new 1.8 litre engine uses, but just looking at the torque curve will tell you that it’s a new quick-spooling turbocharger, so now we can finally bid goodbye to the Kompresser supercharger of the W210 and W211. The new E 200 CGI’s 1.8 litre turbocharged engine also has direct injection and puts out 181bhp at 5,250rpm as well as 270Nm of torque between 1,800 to 4,200rpm. This is a very decent amount and beats the hell out of the 523i’s 230Nm, plus it kicks in at a very low RPM too. 0 to 100km/h takes 8.7 seconds, while the top speed is 235km/h.

The new 1.8 litre turbocharged direct injection engine also comes in E 250 CGI guise. The V6-powered E 230 is now missing from the line-up. In E 250 CGI form, the engine produces 201hp at 5,250 and 310Nm of torque between 2,000 to 4,500rpm. 0 to 100km/h takes 7.9 seconds, while the top speed is a little higher at 245km/h. The E 250 CGI also has wider tyres in 225/55R16 size compared to the E 200 CGI’s 205/60R16 tyres.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Click for enlarged image

Other engine options include a V6 and a V8 in the E 350 CGI and the E 500 respectively. These models come with either rear wheel drive or optional 4MATIC all-wheel drive. The E 280 seems missing, but may only be gone in the originating country of this leaked brochure. The E 350 CGI’s 3.5 litre V6 puts out 288hp at 6,400rpm and an impressive 365Nm of torque at 3,000rpm, thanks to its direct injection technology. The E 350 4MATIC’s engine has different power figures – 268hp at 6,000rpm and 350Nm of torque between 2,400 to 5,000rpm, an impressively wide peak torque spread for a normally aspirated engine. The 5.5 litre V8-powered E 500 and E 500 4MATIC produce 382 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 530Nm of torque between 2,800 rpm to 4,800rpm.

There are a few oil burners to choose from, ranging from the E 200 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY all the way up to a E 350 CDI BlueTEC. There is also a 4MATIC version of the E 350 CDI. The inline-4 diesels in the E 200 CDI, E 200 CDI and the E 250 CDI are the new 2.1 litre OM651 diesel engine that was unveiled recently. The E 200 CDI puts out 134hp between 3,000 to 4,600rpm and 330Nm of torque between 1,600 to 2,800rpm. The E 220 CDI does 167hp between 3,000 to 4,200rpm and 400Nm of torque between 1,400 to 2,800rpm. The 201hp E 250 CDI puts out a massive 500Nm from 1,600rpm all the way to 1,800rpm.

2010 Mercedes-Benz E-Class
Click for enlarged image

The sole V6 turbodiesel option is the 3.0 litre E 350 CDI engine which has three power outputs in three different variants. The E 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY gets 228hp at 3,800rpm and 540Nm of torque between 1,600rpm and 2,400rpm, while the E 350 BlueTEC has less power – only 208hp at 3,400rpm but the same 540Nm of torque between 1,600 to 2,600rpm. Finally, the all-wheel drive E 350 CDI 4MATIC gets 221hp at 3,800rpm and 540Nm of torque between 1,600 to 2,400rpm. These numbers by the 3.0 V6 turbo diesel are all very close to the highest power output of the 2.1 litre twin turbocharged diesel, which is what makes the latter engine very special. What it lacks is the smooth silky refinement and sound of a V6.

Please look after the jump for a photo gallery containing the scanned brochures. It reveals a few colour options as well as the different interior colour schemes.
[Read more...]

35 Comments      

The Suzuki Kizashi sedan is not dead (yet?)

Suzuki Kizashi

The media blitz about Suzuki canceling its D-segment Suzuki Kizashi earlier this week was fueled by Japanese business daily The Nikkei. Now it appears that the show will go on, and the Kizashi will go on as scheduled to make a production debut at the 2009 New York Auto Show in April 2009! As for when a showroom debut will happen, that will happen at the show in April.

The Nikkei’s sources must have made a mistake somewhere, but they’re not to blame for believing it’s true! During this time where the market is shifting towards smaller and fuel efficient cars, Suzuki who is an expert at building small cars wants to come up with a large car in a segment that it has absolutely no presence in. Will anyone take a chance to buy something so distant and unfamiliar in that range of cars in this time and day?

14 Comments      

Honda cars at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2009

Honda Sports Modulo Fit Concept

Honda will be showing a couple of cars at the Tokyo Auto Salon 2009 tuner event starting this weekend, and the display cars will include two new Modulo concept cars – the Honda Sports Modulo S2000 Concept, and the Honda Sports Modulo Fit Concept (complete with daytime running light LEDs flanking the bumper air intake!). Not much details about these cars have been revealed yet, but at least we know what they are and how they’ll look like!

Modulo Concepts:
Honda Sports Modulo S2000 Concept
Honda Sports Modulo Fit Concept

Study Models by Honda Access:
Honda Life Styling Study
Honda Crossroad Styling Study

Competition Cars:
Honda Racing Modulo Civic Type R (Ranked second in Super Taikyu Series 2008, ST-class 4)

Motorcycles:
Honda SH125 Edo
Honda CBR 1000RR
Honda Shadow Classic 400
Honda Forza X

Production Cars:
Honda Sports Modulo Civic Type R
Honda Touring Modulo Accord
Honda Touring Modulo Accord Tourer
Honda Modulo Odyssey Absolute
Honda Modulo Odyssey
Honda Life
Honda Zest Spark
Honda Freed
Honda Fit Sports Neo

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery of the cars!
[Read more...]

5 Comments      

Production Honda Insight Hybrid images leaked ahead of Geneva 2009 debut

Honda Insight

Here we go again, low-res product photos of soon to be unveiled products always get leaked out a week or two before their official proper unveiling date, and this time it’s the new 2nd generation Honda Insight hybrid. The Insight will make its debut at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show in March, but here we get to see full details of the production version more than 2 months earlier. In the photo gallery after the jump you will be able to see many angles of the exterior as well as close-ups of the car’s features, but they are far from high-res though. Also shown is a close-up of the car’s digital speedometer which changes colour according to your driving pattern in order to let you know whether you are driving fuel efficiently or not. Honda calls this the Ecological Drive Assist System.
[Read more...]

21 Comments      

Jan 1 2009: 242 summonses issued for rear seatbelt rule offenders

Rear seatbelt

Has anyone been stopped or noticeably been checked out by the cops yet for rear seat belt usage (or more appropriately, lack of)? I haven’t but on the first day of the new year alone, a total of 242 summonses were issued related to the new rear seatbelt ruling. Out of this amount, the most summons were issued southern-most in Johor (95 summonses) while on the other end of the Peninsular we have Penang, racking up only 6 summonses. The totals for Kedah is 12, Negri Sembilan 11, Perlis 12, Pahang 2, and Malacca 11, while the remainder summonses and states were not reported in the dailies.

Have you started buckling up at the back, or are you still going on with old ways hoping that the cops don’t spot you? I personally have not seen any specific road blocks just to check whether rear passengers are buckled up, not even an increased amount of cops on the lookout for offenders, but this is probably because the federal police in KL did not plan any special ops specifically targeting rear seatbelt rule offenders, instead just instructing cops to watch out for them during regular daily routines.

Source

36 Comments      

Ford Ranger Thunder production truck based on Ford Ranger Max concept

Ford Ranger Thunder

This image of what appears to be a new Ford Ranger Thunder has been snapped in Thailand. Those that remember the Ford Ranger Max concept from late last year will immediately recognise it to be a production version of that concept. It’s not clear at the moment whether this is a some form of special edition of the Ford Ranger with different headlamps, grille, bumper and other aesthetic bits, or a full-fledged facelift. The word “Thunder” was used on a special edition current generation Ranger before in the UK, and perhaps some other places. Malaysia could get this pretty soon as our Ranger now comes from Thailand as a fully imported unit, instead of being locally assembled here as Ford has pulled out its official presence from this country. As usual, the production translation of the concept has been toned down considerably, but modification enthusiasts can use the concept truck as a reference in their own pimpage plans. Look after the jump for a previously featured gallery of the orange Ranger Max concept truck.
[Read more...]

18 Comments