Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
The Castrol Magnatec roadshow will be happening at various venues from the 17th of April 2009 to the 14th of June 2009 throughout the Peninsular of Malysia. It will be at the Berjaya Megamall Kuantan on the 22nd to the 24th this month, AEON Tebrau City, Johor Bahru (29 – 31 May), and Centre Atrium, Queensbay Mall, Penang (5 – 7 June).
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Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu
The Toyota Vios is doing well in placing itself among the best in terms of sales in Malaysia’s B-Segment vehicle class, even with strong opposition from the Honda City, as well as from the much cheaper Proton GEN2.
To help maintain the Vios’ strong stance in the segment especially that the new City is here, and to prove that Vios can also be used to take you from point A to point B swiftly, UMW Toyota Motor has been working around the clock to come up with an official TRD (Toyota Racing Development) performance and styling package to offer Vios drivers the option to make their city movers look a little more aggressive, and perform a little better in the engine performance and suspension departments.
The auto maker has transformed two standard Vios’ (Automatic S and manual J). Although still in the development stage, Toyota has decided to pass on both these cars to us to find out what we think. Before we move on to these upgraded rides, lets first check out the standard Toyota Vios S.
Continue reading after the jump.
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GM Europe’s Insignia has been getting good reviews
Well, the conditions for Fiat to take up a stake with the now bankrupt Chrysler has been fulfilled, and Fiat has been quick to look to something else in order to hasten the move towards consolidation of the auto companies during this recession.
Many have predicted that there will only be a few automakers left after this slump, with the rest either eliminated or merged. Datuk Syed Zainal’s suggestion for Proton to merge with Perodua a couple of weeks back would put Proton under the Toyota umbrella via Perodua’s Daihatsu shareholding, which is in turn owned by Toyota.
Lancia, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Vauxhall and Opel could share B and C platforms
Anyway back to Fiat and the New Chrysler – a third piece of the puzzle that Fiat is said to be interested in acquiring is GM Europe, which covers Opel, Vauxhall, and other GM European operations. The resulting company would be a giant with annual sales of 6 to 7 million cars, which is claimed to be similiar to how much the Volkswagen Group puts out. Saab is pretty much a separate thing, and at least 10 parties are interested in acquiring them at the moment, according to Saab spokersman Eric Geers.
The new company is temporarily given the codename Fiat/Opel and is described by Fiat head Sergio Marchionne to be a “marriage made in heaven” as Fiat and Opel could consolidate their B and C segment cars to use the same platforms, while Fiat continued with its small A-segment platform and Opel’s D-segment platform. Apparently Fiat offered 1 billion Euros for Opel, but GM considers the amount too small for the moment. No updates if any other follow-up offers were made.
Volkswagen’s platform-sharing success is an inspiration to all
But of course whenever there’s any news to do with GM you have to listen to what their unions have to say. Opel senior labor leader Klaus Franz says if the Fiat and GM Europe merger does happen, between 9k to 10k jobs may be lost via factory closures and other restructuring. He then accused Marchionne of trying to build a global carmaker financed with German and American taxpayer money.
Volkswagen’s CEO Martin Winterkorn also warned that achieving and maintaining real synergies between multiple brands while increasing volumes and lowering costs is a very difficult thing to do. He added that Volkswagen’s platform-sharing strategy started all the way back in 1992 and it was alot of hard work and planning for it to be the success that it is today.
And Fiat and GM have already been in some sort of alliance from the year 2000 to 2005, which ended in GM paying over US$2 billion to get out of the arrangement because it was not going very well. At that time Fiat was burning cash at a rate of nearly US$2 billion a year, accumulating $14 billion in net losses during the 5 year period. It was the time of the Fiat Stilo which went nowhere, and a Fiat Punto that shared components with an Opel Corsa.
Whatever happens, it’s really one thing to build a huge empire that could be the second largest carmaker in the world and perhaps the largest in the future, but another to structure and manage it properly once formed. Just look at GM and its mess of brands. You could end up flourishing like the Volkswagen Group or just another GM or DaimlerChrysler.
SEAT claims that its SEAT Ibiza ECOMOTIVE is the most “ecological” car in its segment. The car driven by Austrian long-haul specialist Gerhard Plattner’s 1.4 litre TDI engine (with a peak output of 80 horses) travelled a distance of 1,562km across Spain, France and Germany on a single tank of fuel.
The exact amount used was 45.53 litres, calculated from topping up the fuel to the same level after the drive and measuring how much fuel went in. The car travelled under the supervision of the International Police Motor Corporation and cruised along at speeds of up to 110km/h along motorways in Spain and France. 1,562km from 45.53 litres is about 34.3km per litre, or about 2.9 litres per 100km. That model Ibiza’s rated fuel consumption was 3.7 litres per 100km, so 2.9 litres is impressive.
Remember the Nissan Lightfoot Quest? In that competition, a 1.6 manual Grand Livina was claimed to have managed just a little over 36km per litre of petrol, which is slightly more than this advanced turbodiesel engine manage. So is the basic 1.6 litre engine without any variable valve timing in the Nissan more fuel efficient than Volkswagen’s 1.4 TDI? It makes the Nissan results a little more than hard to believe.
In a rather surprising move, Mercedes-Benz has released photos early of the new yet to be launched SLS AMG, the new Gullwing car to come out of Stuttgart’s stables.
Mercedes-Benz the dashboard is shaped like a wing, and the centre console like the style of a jet. Even the air cond vents are suppoesd to remind you of aircraft engines, with a touch of retro-ism in it. And of course, the new Gullwing car will have “swing-doors”, which are the Gullwing doors.
The new Mercedes-Benz SLS-Class will come only in AMG form. The SLS AMG will be powered by AMG’s 6.2 litre V8 monster mounted at the front, mated to a 7-speed dual clutch transmission in a transaxle configuration to help achieve a 48:52 weight distribution, which would be Daimler’s first use of a twin clutch transmission in a Mercedes-Benz car.
The SLS AMG’s chassis will be built with aluminium spaceframe body technology with extensive usage of aluminium even in the suspension system, particularly the double wishbones. A target kerb weight of 1,620kg excluding the driver has been set. This means the 6.2 litre’s 571 horses and 650Nm of torque will propel the SLS AMG to 100 km/h in only 3.8 seconds, and on to a top speed of 315km/h.
The V8 AMG engine codenamed M159 will have forged pistons, a reinforced crankshaft bearing, optimised crankcase structure, and a on-demand high-performance oil pump. It will weigh 206 kg.
The transaxle setup of the dual clutch (a real twin clutch, not SPEEDSHIFT MCT) transmission will be similiar to that of the DTM C-Class. Transaxle means while the engine is at the front, the gearbox is at the rear axle. It is connected to the engine with a torque tube, in which a carbon fiber shaft turns at engine speed.
Look after the jump for a full gallery of material released by Mercedes-Benz on the upcoming SLS AMG.
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BMW’s formula of taking a boot onto the 1-Series and creating a coupe out of it sparked an idea in the Volkswagen AG stables. The American market while in a slump is still of significance to car manufacturers, and they love stuff with boots not hatches, so Audi is apparently going to launch the next generation Audi A3 with a boot, basically Audi’s equivalent to the Volkswagen Jetta. Autocar UK also reports that the new A3 will not be based on the Mk6 GTI platform (largely a rehashed Mk5), but a next generation platform. The A3 will also have the adaptive damping system also found on the A4.
In the land of the hatchbacks, the D-segment wagon is popular. We’re talking about Europe of course, which has stuff like the Toyota Avensis Wagon. In fact when I was in Germany I saw way more E39 wagons than the sedan model. So it’s quite apt that Hyundai-Kia’s efforts to further deepen its penetration of the European market includes a wagon model of the upcoming Hyundai Sonata YF. It will apparently be called the i40 in Europe, which rightfully positions it above the C-segment Hyundai i30 hatchback.
We’ve already checked out the RS 200 before two months ago when it made its Geneva debut but here comes the full details. The Clio RS 197 is now the Clio RS 200 and is available in two forms – the Clio Renaultsport 200 Cup and the Clio Renaultsport 200.
The 2.0 litre 16 valve F4R RS engine now puts out 200 horses and 215Nm of torque, up 3 horses from the previous 197 number. Peak torque is also achieved at a lower rpm of 5,400rpm, which is lower by 100rpm. Pre-3,000rpm torque is now 20% higher. The first 3 gears of the manual gearbox have been shortened for better acceleration, which means 0 to 100km/h takes only 6.9 seconds, on to a top speed of 227km/h.
The front end takes after a similiar look to the new Megane, and like the Clios before it, it does without any kind of spoiler, instead relying on a fully functional rear diffuser to help with the aerodynamics. The diffuser reduces lift at 130km/h by as much as 40kg.
The front wings are 30.5mm wider than a standard Clio to accomodate the wider tracks, which are extended by 48mm at the front and 50mm at the rear. Wheelbase is up by 10mm to the new 2,585mm number.
The suspension dampers on the new RS 200 are actually about 15% softer than the RS 197. These dampers are of a hydraulic double-effect type, which uses an additional level of valving to help dissipate energy better. The front antirollbar is now 21mm in diameter which is 1mm thicker.
As for the “Cup” spec level, the dampers are 15% stiffer than the RS 197 Cup. These dampers can also be specified on the non-Cup RS 200. The steering ratio for the Cup is also 7.5% quicker, also standard on the Cup and optional on the regular RS 200. A weight of 1,204kg give it one of the best power to weight ratios in its class – approximately 166 horses per tonne of weight.
Look after the jump for more pix of the new RS 200.
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Click to enlarge
The abomination above is apparently what Katy Perry would be churning out if she invested in a pimp-my-ride kind of shop. This Life Ball MINI was designed by a two-people team called “The Blonds” and inspired by Katy Perry’s style apparently. It’s based on the only just recently launched drop top MINI Cabriolet.
It will be offered as a prize draw at the Austrian event and you can purchase a ticket for 10 Euros, with all proceeds going to causes that fight AIDS. Last year’s Life Ball MINI went in an auction style and frankly I very much prefer that design as well as the photography that came with it… remember the Agent Provocateur MINI Clubman?
Hopefully the raffle style sale will generate more money than the auction, which hit €45,000. Look after the jump for all the Life Ball MINIs in the past.
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Volkswagen and their agency Tribal DDB have launched a new website called The GTI Project where after viewing an intro sequence explaining some of the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6′s features, you get to trash it around a track virtually.
The intro sequence features a view around a miniature Scalextric track with a 1:43 scale Mk6 GTI mounted on a rail – is that meant to say the new Mk6 corners like it’s on rails? Oh, and I must mention that there’s really no steering involved in the race, purely acceleration and braking because you’re actually racing on the same miniature race track. Despite the rails you can still crash if you corner too fast.
