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Castrol Edge Sport Speed Challenge Contest

February 10, 2009 at 1:19 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Castrol Edge Sport Contest, Local News

Here’s a chance for you to win a total of RM 10,000 worth of Sony and Apple products, thanks to an online contest brought to you by Castrol EDGE engine oil. The contest involves 3 easy steps:

  1. Register at the contest website and watch the weekly videos every week – four videos will be posted up, one each week on the Castrol Edge Sport Speed Challenge website. The four videos show four different teams changing their car’s engine oil to Castrol EDGE Sport.
  2. Guess how much time each time took – The four teams are the Hot Chics (I recognise Cindy from Malaysian Dream Girl fame as one half of that team), the Sweet Young Things, the Geeks and the Pros. Remember, naturally these are 4 different types of personalities with different levels of skill and experience so these will all affect the time they take to accomplish the task.
  3. Key in your guesses – There are two levels of competition here – the weekly contest and the grand prize contest. There are prizes for guessing correctly for each week as well as an overall total prize for guessing all 4 weeks correctly. Remember to key in your guess during the week of each respective video! If somehow you decide to join the contest in week 3, you are still allowed to guess week 1 and 2’s times but you won’t be eligible for the weekly contest but will be eligible for the overall grand prize. Here’s a hint for you – according to Castrol, a professional mechanic usually takes 10 to 15 minutes to change a car’s engine oil.

The following are the prizes for the overall competition:

Grand Prize – Sony Bravia 37″ LCD TV
Second Prize – Sony Playstation 3
Third Prize – Apple iPod Touch 8GB

Weekly winners will get a Sony Walkman MP3 player. All winners will also get a WRC car model, a Castrol EDGE Sport umbrella and a Castrol EDGE Sport T-shirt.

For those of you who who have blogs, you can also get an additional chance to win the Sony Walkman MP3 player. Just embed the video code above on your blog, title it “Castrol EDGE Sport Speed Challenge” and talk about the contest. You can be creative about it, and I have a hunch there will be many who will be commenting about the weeks where the “Hot Chics” and “Sweet Young Things” are doing their oil change. I’ve watched this week’s Hot Chics video and they look rather clueless, go check it out! Judges will be searching the web for your blog posts and the 6 most creative entries will win a Sony Walkman MP3 player each.

Just a backgrounder on what the 4 teams are pouring into the cars – Castrol EDGE Sport is an engine oil that Castrol says can withstand extreme conditions – extreme maximum power, extreme heat, extreme cold and extreme fuel economy. In one test, Castrol took two V8-powered Ford Mustangs and put them on a dyno – one with Castrol EDGE Sport and one with a regular synthetic oil. They found that EDGE Sport maintained maximum horsepower on the dyno 45% longer than the competing engine oil.

You can watch these videos after the jump.
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The Kia Soul’s speakers change their glow according to the beat of the music played!

February 10, 2009 at 4:54 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Kia, Koreans, Videos

Kia Soul

This is somewhat quite interesting. As you’ve previously read, the Kia Soul will be positioned as a lifestyle vehicle, Kia’s very own version of the MINI Cooper, the Alfa Romeo Mi.To and the Fiat 500. It’s gotta be cute and full of gimmicks to keep its owner amused and smiling. MINI has its little mood lighting thing going on in the interior where the user can change the ambiant light from various shades from blue to purple to an orangey-red. And the Kia Soul has the “sound volume reflecting speaker lamp.”

Lights in speakers are nothing new. My Perdana’s speakers are lit up too – they’re Soundstream units that have a light glow behind the spider-shaped speaker grille. They look out of place in an executive car like the Perdana though. The Kia Soul’s speakers take the light behind a speaker grille concept further – the light can actually brighten and dim according to the music being played.

There are four modes – On, Music, Mood and Off. On and Off are self-explanatory – the light will either be permanently on or off. Music and Mood behave differently – Mood just dims and brightens repeatedly in 2 second intervals while Music changes its brightness according to the music’s volume, bass tone and beat.

Check out a video after the jump to see the speaker in action with the MI2 movie soundtrack.
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Mugen’s aerodynamic Zero-Lift Honda Insight

February 10, 2009 at 4:04 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Mugen Insight

It’s obvious that Honda and Mugen work closely on Honda cars even before they are officially released, looking at how fast Mugen comes out with kits for new Hondas. The Mugen kit for the new Honda Insight is out and it’s called the Mugen Zero-Lift Insight, which like its namesake is supposed to create zero-lift for the car, according to Mugen. Yup, a bodykit that’s fully wind-tunnel tested.

The aerokit is made up of a new grille, front under spoiler, side spoiler, rear under spoiler, and a rear wing. You can fit a triangular-shaped sports silencer on the rear. There are visors for the side windows that are ventilated to ensure it does not interrupt air flow. There are a choice of 2 wheel designs (a Y-spoke XJ design and a 7-spoke NR design) in various colours. A sports suspension is available for improved handling. Mugen also offers the i-TCMS system which is a tyre pressure monitoring system. On the inside you can also specify a “sports mat”, whatever that is.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the Mugen Zero-Lift Insight as well as a video of the pimped out hybrid in motion.
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UK may join European car-scrapping frenzy

February 9, 2009 at 8:35 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News

The UK government is currently studying implementing a car scrapping scheme to boost new car sales but things don’t look too good at the moment as a spokesperson for PM Gordon Brown said despite it being an interesting idea, they are not entirely convinced it would be a stimulus for demand.

Car sales in the UK have dropped by about 30% year on year in January 2009 so the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) have been calling for the UK to implement a similiar policy to what the Germans did recently, which reportedly has been successful in an upturn in business for German car dealers.

What is being studies is a possible £2000 for owners of older cars to scrap their cars, especially those that are over 10 years old. The German government’s plan is similiar but the sum is £2100 and age over 9 years old. Spain has a scheme that offers scrappers a £10,000 interest-free loan. France’s scheme which started in December 2008 offers 1,000 Euros for anyone who scraps their car over 10 years old and replaces it with a car with CO2 emissions of less than 160g/km.

Austria’s scheme is for cars over 13 years old for 1,500 Euros. For Greece, there is no age limit and the scheme offers between 400 to 800 Euros to scrap and 1500 to 3400 Euros if you scrap and buy a new car. The Italians offer 1,500 Euros for cars over 10 years old with emissions of less than 140g/km, similiar to Portugal except Portugal only offers between 1,000 to 1,250 Euros. Italians who scrap and buy a CNG, LPG of hydrogen fuel cell car get 3,000 Euros.

Other European countries that don’t already have a scheme in place are also like the UK considering it. The Czech Republic (current president of the European Union) is calling for an Europe-wide scrapping program.

If the Malaysian total industry volume continues to dip (down 12.4% this year) and many GLCs involved in the auto industry here, we may see the new Najib regime revisit the car scrapping idea that the Badawi administration seems to have been quiet about. However it MUST be an opt-in thing as you cannot punish the rakyat who cannot afford to buy a new car and have to hold on to their old ones for the sake of enriching car manufacturers.

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BMW Alpina B6 GT3 for the FIA GT3 class

February 9, 2009 at 5:17 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Motorsports

BMW Alpina B6 GT3

This GT3 racer marks an old to a 20 year long “draught” in Alpina motorsports history, and while it was first announced last year, the new Alpina B6 GT3 will be making a public appearance at the Geneva Motorshow this March. Quite interesting how Eastern companies are counting their pennies and scrambling to get out of motorsports but companies like Alpina and even the recently unveiled USF1 are getting in.

B6 GT3If you’re familiar with Alpina nomenclature you’ll know that the B6 GT3 is based on the BMW 6-Series. This is a race car that complies with FIA GT3 specifications. The 4.4 litre supercharged V8 (the base is the 4.4 litre V8 from the 645Ci) from the Alpina B6 S powers this car and produces 530 PS and a massive 725Nm of torque. It is mated to a 6-speed X-Trac sequential transmission.

As you can see from the interior (photo after the jump) the car has been stripped down to the core and weighs only 1,350kg. This is a race car complete with racing accessories like quick refuelers. Wheels are thick 18 inch alloys – 12×18 at the front and 13×18 at the rear, wrapped with Michelin rubber. 0 to 100km/h takes only 3.9 seconds and the car was rated to hit a top speed of 285km/h on the Nordschleife.

Alpina’s factory team will use this car as an entry in the 2009 FIA GT3 European Championship and hopefully they will be able to relive some of its past glory, having won the Nurburgring 24 hours race a couple of times. The B6 GT3 will also be sold to private teams and collectors.

The company will also be building a new engineering facility at the cost of 10 million British pounds, which will offer consultancy services and also run in-house R&D engineering. The B6 GT3′s appearance at the Geneva Motorshow will be joined by another car aimed at a different target marketed – the new Alpina B7 based on the F01 BMW 7-Series. Let’s see what kind of magic will they extract from the 750i’s turboed 4.4 litre V8.
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Fiat Bravo 1.9 MultiJet replaced with new 2.0 MultiJet

February 9, 2009 at 2:43 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Fiat, International News

Fiat has replaced the diesel-powered Fiat Bravo 1.9 MultiJet with the new Fiat Bravo 2.0 MultiJet, which is equipped with a new more powerful greener engine that is compliant with Euro 5 standards, improved from the old engine’s Euro 4. With the help of a DPF (diesel particulate filter), the new Bravo diesel’s CO2 emissions are down from 149g/km to 139g/km. It is also more fuel efficient, rated at 53.2 mpg, up from 50.4mpg.

The new engine’s 2.0 litre displacement is thanks to a 1 inch increase in bore compared to the 1.9 litre model – 83 x 90.4 compared to 82 x 90.4. The commonrail direct injection engine’s compression ratio has been reduced from 17.5:1 to 16.5:1, but this has been presumably compensated with higher turbo boost pressure. The turbocharger used has variable geometry and is equipped with an intercooler.

Horsepower is up from 150 at 4,000rpm to 165 at 4,000rpm, while torque is up 55Nm from 305Nm at 2,000rpm, now rated at 360Nm at 1,750rpm. The increased power and torque contribute to a better 0 to 100km/h acceleration time of 8.2 seconds, which is 0.8 seconds faster than the outgoing model.

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Audi A4 and A5 2.0 TFSI quattro gets 7-speed S-Tronic twin clutch transmission

February 9, 2009 at 2:15 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

A4

The UK market Audi A4 2.0 TFSI quattro and A5 2.0 TFSI quattro are now available with the new 7-speed S-Tronic twin clutch transmission, something previously only available in the S4 models in that range.

The transmission was first used in an Audi with the Q5 and the S4 Saloon and Avant. This improves fuel economy and reduces CO2 output for the automatic models to values that are equivalent or below the respective manual transmission models.

The S-Tronic transmission is a premium of £1,420 over manual transmission models, which translates to £27,170 OTR for the A4 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic, £28,295 OTR for the A4 Avant 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic and £31,065 OTR for the A5 2.0 TFSI quattro S tronic. The B8 A4 is available here in Malaysia but with a 1.8 TFSI engine and a CVT transmission with the option to use 8 virtual gear ratios.

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Renault Clio III facelift with new Clio GT variant

February 9, 2009 at 1:48 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault

Renault Clio GT

Renault has unveiled the mid-life cycle update for the Renault Clio III, and has also revealed preliminary details on a new variant called the Clio GT. The Clio GT will slot in between the plain vanilla Clio and the powerful Clio 197.

From the initial press release it appears that the GT will be a Clio dressed up with a new aggressive front end styling incorporating a black grille, extended side sills, suspension settings unique to the GT, and a twin tailpipe design with a lip spoiler on the rear. It will be available with a new exclusive colour called Malta Blue. On the interior it will receive drilled aluminium pedal covers and extra side support for the front seats.

Other than that, the Clio GT doesn’t seem to have an engine with a power output in between the standard Clio (highest output – 138hp with the 2.0 VVT engine) and the 197, but this may be a fact that’s hidden until its Geneva unveiling. Ideally a boosted up version of the H4Jt with 160+ horses could be fitted in and make a suitable “warm hatch” engine.

The basic Clio facelift gets a few cosmetic changes as well as a new TomTom Carminat integrated GPS navigation system on the side. Check out more photos of the facelifted new Clio GT after the jump.
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Chris Bangle left BMW because of Project i (Isetta) disagreements?

February 8, 2009 at 2:23 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

Chris Bangle

There is some new information, albeit from unnamed sources, on why Chris Bangle left BMW. Apparently he had disagreements with the BMW board and his successor von Hooydonk on the future direction of Project i, which is expected to spawn the spiritual successor to the BMW Isetta.

It seems that the board wanted one way and Bangle wanted another, so he decided to resign because as Head of BMW Group Design he could not take responsibility for a design strategy he did not agree with, or rather did not choose. BMW still wanted him though, and offered him other jobs such as design director of the US-bsaed DesignworksUSA, a company which von Hooydonk previously headed.

Bangle revealed later that he will be starting his own design house, but maintains he will not just be plastering the Bangle name over any industrial design product. Macbook Pros will flame surfacing or a toaster with a Bangle Butt anyone?

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Citroen brings back the DS nameplate with the Citroen DS Inside Concept

February 8, 2009 at 3:25 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Citroën, Concept Cars, International News

Citroen DS Inside Concept

Citroen will be bringing back the DS nameplate to its range of vehicles. DS is pronounced Deesse, which pronounced in French means Goddess. The DS was a showcase of technology of sorts, for a car introduced in the 1950s it had a hydropneumatic suspension, a robotized gearbox (without automatic selection though so its more of a robotized clutch), an it had an air-cooled flat-6 gearbox that was mounted in a MF layout, mid-engined, front wheel drive.

The new DS line will be targetted at those who enjoy motoring with no loss in practicality. It is meant to offer prestige, thrills and refinement, without the rigid codes of traditional upper-range models. It aims to appeal to the affluent customer who has downsized in his vehicle size but are on the lookout for more economical and intelligent products.

This new concept car called the Citroen DS Inside Concept and is a preview of the upcoming DS range. The new DS range will consist initially of 3 cars in the small, medium and large segments. Its naming system will carry the DS name, much like its mainstream cars are prefixed by “C” and its MPVs a “Picasso” suffix. The three cars will be called the DS3, the DS4 and the DS5. DS will stand for “Different Spirit”.
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