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Suzuki SX4 and SX4 Sedan facelift revealed in China

March 18, 2009 at 10:23 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Suzuki

Changan-Suzuki, Suzuki’s auto arm in China has launched the facelift version of the Suzuki SX4 and SX4 Sedan for the Chinese market.

The facelift consists of a redesigned bumper, revised grille, concave surfaces above the fog light, as well as a new skid-plate at the rear of the hatchback. The facelift also matches the 2010 SX4 for the European market.

The Suzuki SX4 facelift range also comes with a slightly updated interior and a revised GPS navigation system. Please continue reading to view an image gallery.
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Volkswagen Polo Plus and Polo Sedan for the US

March 18, 2009 at 2:46 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

Polo Classic Sedan
Click for enlarged image

Volkswagen will create two new cars for the US market. One is a larger and taller of the new Volkswagen Polo, somewhat like what the Golf Plus is to the Golf, in fact it could be appropriate to refer to it as the Volkswagen Polo Plus for now.

The other is a compact sedan version of the Volkswagen Polo, such as the previous generation Polo’s Polo Classic Sedan. Both versions will sit on an extended wheelbase version of the Polo’s platform. The two cars will likely be built at Volkswagen’s Mexico factory in order to hit the Polo Plus target price of between US$13,000 to US$15,000 in order to distance it from the Jetta and the upcoming NMS.

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Ssangyong C200 Eco Concept

March 18, 2009 at 2:25 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Koreans, Ssangyong

Ssangyong C200 Eco Concept

Ssangyong is in dire straits and is currently under court receivership, but while its financial books get sorted out the show must go on, the Seoul Motor Show that is, and the company will be exhibiting the Ssangyong C200 Eco Concept there.

The C200 is a SUV similiar in size to the Tiguan, RAV4, CR-V and Qashqai and uses Ssangyong’s first monocoque chassis for an SUV. Under its hood is the same 175 horsepower 2.0 litre turbodiesel engine as the first C200 and this is mated to a 6-speed automatic. Ssangyong has also used alot of aluminium in its supension components to help reduce weight. They intend to give the C200 an European feel when it comes to ride and handling.

Also set to be released at the show is a hybrid turbodiesel Kyron, combining Ssangyong’s turbodiesel engine with a Torque Split Deevice which combines or cuts off power with an electric motor. Ssangyong says tests have shown that fuel efficiency can be improved by 25%, while emissions can drop by 10% for nitrogen oxide and 15% for particulates.

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F01 exterior designer leaves for Mercedes-Benz

March 18, 2009 at 12:14 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

BMW F01

The exterior designer of the new F01 BMW 7-Series Karim Habib has left BMW for its rival Mercedes-Benz, where he will head an advanced design studio near Stuttgart. Habib will report to Mercedes-Benz design boss Gorden Wagener, who succeeded Peter Pfeiffer a few months ago. Another new member of the team who just joined in January this year is Joel Piaskowski, the main designer for the Hyundai Genesis sedan and coupe who has been in Hyundai since 2003.

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BMW Z4 wins a Red Dot award for 2009

March 17, 2009 at 10:31 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Videos

BMW Z4

Red Dot has released its 2009 design awards winners list, and BMW has quickly released a video in commemoration of the new Z4 winning a Red Dot design award. A few other BMWs received the Red Dot award – the K1300R, the K1300S, and the new F01 BMW 7-Series. Other car designs which managed a Red Dot include the Ford Fiesta, the new Golf, the Opel Insignia and the new Honda Insight, the only Japanese car on the winner list. The Volkswagen Passat CC managed a higher honour – the Red Dot Best of the Best award. SEAT’s 3-door Ibiza managed a Red Dot while the 5-door also won a Red Dot Best of the Best award. Other cars that didn’t quite make the cut but received honourable mentions include the Toyota iQ, the Kia Soul, the Alfa Romeo MiTo and the new W212 Mercedes-Benz E-Class. Check out the video by BMW on the Z4′s design winning a Red Dot award after the jump.

Related Videos:
Adrian van Hooydonk on the new E89 BMW Z4 Roadster at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show
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Drop-top Cuteness: MINI Cabriolet Video Collection

March 17, 2009 at 9:09 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Videos

2009 MINI Cabriolet

MINI, being a somewhat quirky brand usually has advertising campaigns that live and breath on values such as youthfulness and fun, etc. After all you have to convince someone to pay a serious sum of money for such a small car, especially here in Malaysia. Even in Malaysia, the intro campaign for the R56 MINI was quite interesting, involving something to do with messsages from a “Russian spy on a plane”.

Anyway, here’s a whole load of new promo videos (edited into 1) that MINI created for the new MINI Cabriolet. I personally wasn’t too amused by the bunch of weirdos driving a drop top MINI through an automatic car wash machine, but these are a better watch, at the very least it’s not annoying. Most of them center around the Cabrio’s launch theme of keeping your roof down as often as possible.
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Free BMW Z4 Game for the iPhone/iPod Touch

March 17, 2009 at 8:16 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Videos

BMW Z4 Game
BMW Z4 Game

Now that the Apple iPhone 3G is in Malaysia officially from a certain telco that prefers to serve me my phone calls via missed call SMS notifications rather than actual phone calls for the past 3 weeks, fans of both the Apple iPhone 3G and the BMW Z4 can download this new game called the BMW Z4 Expression of Joy app from the iTunes App Store. It’s free and supports both the iPhone 3G and the iPod Touch.

It essentially allows you to do the exact same thing as what the dude did in a previous video, create your own “abstract art” on what appears to be a virtual snow rink. Before you do that, you can customise your Z4 to a certain extent, such as colours, whether the roof is up or down (it’s got a convertible hard top now) and what wheel design you want. Definitely a very glorified MS Paint, but something to do when you’re bored at least.

I don’t have an iPhone 3G or an iPod Touch, but it should be easy to look for in the iTunes Store, just look for BMW Z4 or something. Let me know if you find it!

Check out a video of the game after the jump.
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CKD Europestar RCR gets its own front-end

March 17, 2009 at 6:39 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Spyshots

Europestar RCR
Europestar RCR

Phase 2 of the Proton GEN2 export and rebadging deal with China’s Youngman group under the Europestar brand is well underway and this is the new styling that Europestar will be applying on their locally assembled GEN2, called the Europestar RCR.

The changes are mostly on the front end with new headlamps, bumper and grille and the rear gets lots of badges including a Lotus Europestar badge, a new rear bumper and a new tail lamp design. The first phase involved CBU cars and styling was identical to the GEN2 other than different badges. The Europestar RCR is also called the Europestar Jingsu.

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Audi-style headlamps for 2008 Honda Accord

March 17, 2009 at 3:52 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda

Honda Accord Audi Headlamps

Who says Honda Accord drivers want to grow up to be BMW drivers? Ditto about Toyota Camry drivers wanting to become E-Class drivers for that matter. I really must salute the makers of these accessories for their creativity. Pix thanks to tokmoh.

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Aprilia RS125 – The Razor’s Edge

March 17, 2009 at 1:47 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Aprilia, Bikes, Test Drive Reviews

Aprilia RS125

Story by Mohan K.R.

I remember a time when 2 strokes were ubiquitous on the road. Their light weight, knife edge power bands, a power to H.P. ratio that wouldn’t look out of place on the specifications sheet of a 750 c.c. bike.

The minimalist chassis, coupled with a sub-150 k.g. weight, meant that 2 strokes were suited for kamikaze corner bashing, and head down antics in pursuit of top speed. But their rather anti social tendency to smoke unburnt 2-T lead to their swift banning in many countries around the world because of pollution concerns.

2 strokes are still with us, of course, in dirt biking, and in the GP 125 and 250 classes. Aprilia Malaysia recently launched the RS125 in this country at Sepang International Circuit. We had a go at it, so read our report after the jump.
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