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Mitsubishi plans to unveil a Plug-In Hybrid Crossover

March 10, 2009 at 9:40 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Mitsubishi

Words are being exchanged that Japanese auto maker Mitsubishi is planning to reveal the a plug-in hybrid crossover at this year’s Tokyo Motor Show.

There are no other details thus far regarding this matter, but we just know that this hybrid would equal the size of the Nissan Qashqai. Apparently, an executive from the company revealed that Mitsubishi would now like to focus on more fuel efficient, smaller engines to power its SUV’s.

In line with that, the auto maker will also launch a new 1.8 diesel power plant later this year. The executive also mentioned that Mitsubishi has re-assigned its motor sport engineers who were part of the Dakar racing program to help develop the company’s electric vehicle program.

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2010 Kia Sorento: Official Photos

March 10, 2009 at 9:37 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Kia, Koreans

Official photos of the upcoming 2010 Kia Sorento have been leaked onto the Internet. The new Sorento or also code named as the XM will make its official debut at the Seoul Auto Show next month which is where more details of the engine options will also be revealed. Thus far, apart from these official photos, we can just speculate.

The new Sorento would be the first Hyundai-Kia vehicle to feature the new efficient diesel from the R-diesel engine family. With a 2.2 litre displacement, this EURO5-compliant engine is expected to put out 200HP while returning 14.1 kilometers per litre of fuel. Other petrol powered options may include a 2.4 litre 4-cylinder and a 3.8 litre V6. There would also be a 2.7 litre LPI engine for the Korean market. Transmission wise, for now we know that there would be a 6-speed automatic. Another big change is the fact that it will be based on a unibody design instead of the current Sorento’s body-on-frame truck-like construction.

Just like any other new vehicle which was released by Kia recently, the 2010 Kia Sorento is rather good looking, with its front grille carried over from the Kia Cerato Forte, another handsome car. According to Kia-world.net, the new Sorento has also grown in size with its overall measurement figured at 4.685 mm in length, 1.885 mm in width and 1.710 mm in height. This means it is slightly longer by 95 mm and wider by 35 mm. However its height and 2,700 mm wheelbase is lower and shorter, by 15 mm and 5 mm respectively.

This new XM Sorento is one of the cars expected to hit Malaysian roads when introduced by the Naza Group through Naza Kia Sdn Bhd this year or next. Continue reading to view higher-res images of the 2010 Kia Sorento.
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BMW and Daimler to cross-ownership?

March 10, 2009 at 9:32 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

According to published reports by German Der Spiegel magazine, Munich and Stuttgart-based premium car makers BMW and Daimler are planning to perform a cross-ownership by swapping shares among each other. Reports suggest that both companies may exchange as much as 7% of shares among each other.

This comes as a result of the world economic turmoil, and that both BMW and Daimler are working to combine their purchasing power to save a considerable amount of money. Der Spiegel also mentioned that the Quandt family who own 46% of BMW is not very pleased with the idea, fearing that a possible take-over might occur.

Lets just keep it as a speculation for now, but we will you bring the latest updates regarding this juicy matter. To think about, it would be weird that BMW has ownership of Daimler, and vice versa.

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Geneva 2009: Renault Clio RenaultSport 200

March 9, 2009 at 10:29 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Cars, Renault

Apart from unveiling the Renault Megane RenaultSport 250 in Geneva, the French auto maker also revealed the Renault Clio RenaultSport 200 which also belongs in the performance segment. Offered in two forms, the Clio RenaultSport 200 and the Clio RenaultSport 200 Cup, both models receive power from a naturally aspirated 200HP at 7,100 revs 2.0 litre 16-valve engine, that is also capable of 215Nm of torque at 5,400 revs.

Design wise, the Clio RenaultSport 200 is treated to an aerodynamic splitter, large air intakes, wider front and rear wings, twin exhaust tailpipes which are more visible now and a new rear diffuser, as well as RenaultSport badging on the tailgate, on the side protective moldings’ satin-finish chrome inserts, as well as on the intake manifold. Buyers can also opt for the centre section of the front bumper, front splitter, exterior mirror housings and rear diffuser to be finished in either Gloss Black or Anthracite. The above mentioned aerodynamic upgrades account for an improvement in drag coefficient of 0.02.

On the inside, the driver is surrounded by aluminium pedal covers and footrest, perforated leather steering wheel with visible stitching and yellow centre-point marker, yellow rev-counter that includes an audible and visible Formula 1-style gearshift indicator, body-hugging RenaultSport seats, as well as Renaultsport badging on the rev-counter background, door sills and front seats. With three trim options available including Silver Grey, Yellow and Dark Anthracite, buyers can also opt for Recaro seats which are equipped with lateral airbags, plus a rigid and glass-fiber / polyamide-injected shell.

Improvements were also made to the suspension with wider front and rear tracks (by 48 mm and 50 mm respectively), extended wheelbase (by 10 mm), independent steering axis layout on the front suspension that minimizes weight and provides resistance to torque steer and a stiffened programmed deflection torsion beam which is fine tuned to offer immediate turn-in. Other upgrades include; Brembo front brake callipers, double-effect damper technology, front anti-roll bar with larger diameters (by 1 mm) as well as alloy wheels that are 1 kilogram lighter and wrapped with Continental Sport Contact 3 tires (215/45 R17).

Overall, the Clio RenaultSport 200 is able to sprint to 100 km/h in 6.9 seconds, all the way to a top speed of 226 km/h. The Clio RenaultSport 200 Cup model features a ride height that is 7 mm lower, stiffer damper calibration and a revised steering system. Overall, the stiffer 200 Cup is also lighter by 36 kilograms. Renault also revealed that buyers of the RenaultSport 200 can also opt for the stiffer suspension with an extra charge.

Other fitments available in the Clio RenaultSport 200 include; Carminat TomTom navigation system (optional for GBR 500), hands-free card, two stereo upgrades including the Sound Pack and the Bluetooth Sound Pack, electric sunroof, cruise control with speed limiter, automatic climate control and automatic lights and wipers. Sales will initiate in the U.K by May this year. Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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Geneva 2009: Pininfarina’s BLUECAR Production Version

March 9, 2009 at 10:19 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Cars

Pininfarina attended the Geneva Motor Show this year with its BLUECAR electric vehicle which is expected to go into production by 2011. Developed with Bollore, a French-based industrial group, the BLUECAR is a 4-seater compact MPV that is powered by a Lythium Metal Polymere (LMP) battery pack which is able to help the electric car to offer 250 kilometers in terms of driving range over a full charge.

The maintenance-free with a 200,000 kilometers life span battery pack can be recharged via a 230V house hold power outlet. With construction materials, battery and interior trim carefully selected for their low environmental impact, the BLUECAR also comes with climate control, audio system, GPS, portable phone, drive management mode (environment, sport or ice) as well as a remote control incorporated in the portable phone allows you to monitor the state of the battery and trigger its pre-heating so that the vehicle is immediately ready to start, even after it has been parked a long time.

The BLUECAR also has solar panels mounted on the hood that help draw energy into the battery pack. The auto maker also revealed that it forecasts a production output of 60,000 by 2015. Continue reading to view more images.
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Citroen confirms production for its GTbyCitreon Supercar

March 9, 2009 at 10:06 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Citroën

Vincent Besson, an executive for Citroen revealed in Geneva that the auto maker has confirmed its intention to produce the GTbyCitroen based on a limited production run of probably 20 units. The GTbyCitroen first appeared in the Gran Turismo 5 game based on the Playstation 3 platform and its full-scale model was featured in Paris.

The GTbyCitroen would become the first car to be produced based a video game. Besson did not reveal a production schedule and other details, but the GTbyCitroen will most probably feature a V8, supplied by either Ford or struggling General Motors.

The full scale model measures 4.960 meters long, 2.080 meters wide and 1.090 meters high, which is considered pretty big for a super car. Other features included in the scale; large wheel arches, 21-inch alumimium wheels, LED lights that project information to the driver and “gullwing” styled doors. Lets just keep a watchful eye on racing games these days, as you would not know, what might just end up being produced! Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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Geneva 2009: Lotus Evora Launch Edition

March 9, 2009 at 9:50 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under 2009 Geneva Motor Show, Cars, Lotus

Proton-owned and British-based sports car maker Lotus has launched the Lotus Evora Launch Edition at the Geneva Motor Show. The Launch Edition is sort of a “market testing” variant where only 450 unit will be produced at first, and deliveries in Europe will start by May this year. The 2+2 sports car is offered in two body colour options including Ardent Red and British Racing Green and buyers can also opt for other colours as well, with a bump on the price tag.

This mid-engined lightweight sports car receives power from a 3.5 litre V6 that is good for 276HP an 342Nm of torque which enables to Evora to hit the 100 km/h in just over 5 seconds, and can deliver 260 km/h in terms of top speed. With that power, the Evora consumes a reasonable 8.7 litres for every 100 kilometers traveled (based on Official European Combined Cycle), and releases 205 grams of harmful emissions per kilometer. Other fuel consumption figures include; Official European Urban Cycle figures of 12.4 litres per 100 kilometers and 6.5 litres per 100 kilometers for the Official European Extra Urban Cycle.

On the inside, the Evora (my fingers are somehow trying to type Exora) is generously finished in leather with a driver focused instrumentation, a dash with tactile details such as flush-mounted controls that glow with blue LED haloes and a stylized speedometer and rev counter. Other features among others, include; Bi-Xenon headlights, an Alpine Imprint audio system, a reversing camera as well as electric powerfold mirrors.

Lotus also revealed that it plans to produce a 2-seater, a convertible and a variant with an automatic transmission in the future. The Evora comes with a 3-year or 100,000-kilometer whole vehicle warranty with an 8 years chassis perforation warranty for E.U markets. Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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Geneva 2009: Sportec RS700′s V10 puts out 700 PS!

March 9, 2009 at 5:27 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars

Sportec RS700

The Audi RS6 Sedan you see above looks barely touched but it is in fact the very sleeper Sportec RS700. Despite its design which is far from being the typically outrageous type of look that some tuners like Wald like, its 5.0 litre twin turbo V10 gets a power boost from the standard 580 PS up to a mind-blowing 700 PS, with truly massive 800Nm of twisting torque! 0 to 100km/h takes only 4 seconds while 200km/h is hit in 12 seconds, on to a top speed of 310km/h. Other changes include a suspension that’s lowered by 30mm and a rear diffuser for additional downforce. The original exhaust can be replaced by the Sportec quad tailpipe unit you see above featuring 76mm tailpipes.

Bear in mind all of this are achieved with just minor rechipping, imagine what could be possible with a full overhaul of the internals with stronger parts, bigger turbos, better cooling, etc, this is one truly massive engine!

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Proton Exora in Pyrite Brown spotted in Tg Malim

March 9, 2009 at 1:26 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton Exora - Proton MPV 2009, Spyshots

Proton Exora Tanjung Malim
Click to view enlarged image

These shots are courtesy of reader H+Z who spotted these two Proton Exora MPVs in the new Pyrite Brown colour at the Medan Selera Tanjung Malim near the Padang MDTM parking lot, thanks man! The Exora will be built at Proton’s plant in Shah Alam but I suppose these test units went up for Tanjung Malim for some purpose or another.

There are a few shots after the jump with one that is particularly interesting – while it was hard to snap photos of the interior because of the window’s reflections, there is one clear shot of the automatic transmission gear shifter area. Looks like there’s a gate-shift but no manual override function, which isn’t really important as it’s mostly a novelty on such a car. There are actually 2 Exoras there, and according to H+Z the one with the B461A has a manual transmission while the B462A was automatic.

Look after the jump for more of H+Z’s shots!
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BMW X5 M and X6 M details leaked in HTML code!

March 8, 2009 at 7:39 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Videos

BMW M Teaser

BMW’s teaser site for the upcoming E70 X5 M and the E71 X6 M went online last week but with not much details on the cars other than a countdown, but the car-looking geeks (or geeky car lovers?) over at Jalopnik had an idea to peek into the page’s HTML source code and found these meta tags embedded by the web development team:

Meta Tags

So now we know a few more details about the car. The twin turbo V8 have already been revealed in some development videos released awhile ago, but what’s new are the 550 horsepower output figure, the Adaptive Drive system and the HUD display.

The twin turbo V8 is likely to be related to the N63B44 engine in the X6 xDrive50i and F01 BMW 750i, but in traditional M nomenclature be tuned up and called the S63B44 or something (the V8 in the M3 is the S65), if the displacement remains of course. The N63B44 makes 408 PS and 600Nm of torque so expect the 550hp figure quoted to be accompanied by maybe at least 650Nm to 700Nm of torque?

BMW Adaptive drive manages the pitch and roll of the X-series vehicles and is already available but optional on the X5. Its essentially an active anti-roll bar system. Watch how this works after the jump, but bear in mind it might get more advanced for the X5-M/X6-M.

Related Posts:
BMW releases official spy video of BMW X5 M
BMW M Product Development Video
X6 M teaser video confirms new V8 M Turbo engine
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