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W204 C-Class gets “Special Edition” model

June 18, 2009 at 12:05 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

W204 Special Edition

Daimler is now selling a special trim level for the W204 C-Class, a “Special Edition” that can be had in either sedan or wagon bodystyle. The car features darkened front headlamps with a dark cover frame, a new iridium grey paintwork (obsidian black, palladium silver, iridium silver or calcite white optional), shoulderline trim strips in polished aluminium, silver matt radiator grille with a chrome ring and chromed twin louvres, chrome highlights in the bumper, a glossy black B-pillar, and finally it rides on 17-inch 5-spoke light-alloy wheels with mixed-size tyres (235/60R17 at the front, 255/55R17 at the rear), or optional 16 inch wheels.

Look after the jump for a small gallery of the new edition.
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Chevron explains RON95 octane fuel

June 17, 2009 at 6:15 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Malaysian Fuel Prices

Chevron Workshop
Click image to view presentation, navigate with next/prev buttons

Chevron, the company which operates Caltex stations here in Malaysia, has released some information to help consumers with the upcoming switch to a RON95 and RON97 fuel offering at the pumps from the present RON92 and RON97 offering.

The government plans to hike up the price of RON97, and price the new RON95 between current RON92 and RON97 prices. We’ve talked about RON95 and octane before a few times in the past, but here’s some from the horse’s mouth.

Chevron Workshop

The presentation deck is actually quite interesting as it explain the differences between RON, MON, octane satisfaction requirement survey results in countries that offer a wider range of fuel octanes on sale compared to Malaysia, and other interesting bits such as the percentage of sales of each octane grade in various other countries.

Click the image above to view a presentation about RON and fuels in general (use the prev and next buttons to cycle through the slides), or look after the jump for a FAQ as well as thumbnails of all the slides.
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Abt Q7 pumps out a scary 1,200Nm!

June 17, 2009 at 4:48 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars

Audi Q7 Abt

Abt has unveiled a new engine tuning kit for the V12-powered turbodiesel Audi Q7. The standard 500 horsepower and 1000Nm of torque that the 6.0 litre turbodiesel V12 produces is pumped up to 560 horses and 1,200Nm of torque. That must be one really strongly-built 6-speed automatic that’s mated to the V12, having to handle so much twisting power. Abt also has upgrade kits for the other engines that come with the Q7:

  • Audi Q7 4.2 FSI 350hp – up to 500hp and 550Nm via chip tuning and a supercharger.
  • Audi Q7 4.2 TDI 326hp – up to 365hp and 780Nm of torque via chip tuning.
  • Audi Q7 3.0 TDI 240hp – up to 282hp and 560Nm via chip tuning with the Abt Power kit, or 310hp and 610Nm via chip tuning and an uprated turbocharger with the Abt Power S Kit.

The Q7 has started becoming popular in the parallel import scene. It’s big, hulking, looks impressive and most importantly looks expensive. Those that want a little more out of their 4.2 litre V8 given the amount of road tax that they’re paying each year may take a look at slapping on the 500hp kit.

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VIDEO: Another longer Forte Koup promo

June 17, 2009 at 3:20 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Kia, Koreans, Videos

Kia Forte Koup

Here’s another version of the Kia Forte Koup promotional clip that was published on this blog earlier this week. This time you get to see two Koups in action – one red and one blue. The previous 30 second promo clip actually used snippets of footage from this one. This one is actually longer, clocking in at over 1 and a half minutes.

Watch the video after the jump.
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Lorinser tries dressing up the Lexus LS460

June 17, 2009 at 10:01 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Lexus

Lorinser LS460

Lorinser who usually dresses up Mercedes-Benz cars has released this bodykit for the Lexus LS. The bodykit consisting of a front bumper side skirts, a rear bumper and a choice of Lorinser wheels is not too overly done, with the only sign of aggression being at the rear where the neatly integrated rear exhaust tips that come standard with the LS have been replaced by quad exhaust tips integrated into the rear bumper lip. There is also a very small bootlid spoiler tacked on.

Lorinser LS460

S300 and S350 owners in Malaysia have been spoiled silly by the amount of kits they have available to tack onto their cars. The AMG bodykit whether from Mercedes-Benz or replicas seems to be very popular lately and then there is of course the Brabus kits offered by Naza. BMW will soon get an M-Sport kit for the F01/F02. Now a Lexus owner will be able to do that too, though it’s very unlikely for a typical Malaysian Lexus buyer to ever consider doing it.

Look after the jump for one more side shot of the Lorinser LS.
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Status Design bodykit for the Porsche Cayenne

June 17, 2009 at 9:41 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Porsche

Status Design Cayenne
Click for enlarged image

We’ve seen some pretty aggressive Porsche Cayenne bodykits around and people are actually buying them and slapping them onto their cars, even here in Malaysia. But really, this is possibly the most outrageous bodykit of all. Just look at that Enzo-like nose cone! This kit was developed by Status Design, a company based in Moscow, Russia. If you ever want your Cayenne to look like some kind of bizarre Enzo-Peugeot hybrid, this is your solution. Right now it’s all just on paper as a preview, but the company aims to put the kit into production.

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First look at Hyundai Santa Fe facelift

June 17, 2009 at 9:20 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, International News, Koreans

Hyundai Santa Fe

The first images of Hyundai’s mid-life refreshing of the Hyundai Santa Fe has been revealed, and it looks like the odd grille that first appeared on the facelifted “angry crab” Accent/Verna Transform will be making its way onto many other Hyundai models. The most significant change is under the hood, where the new R-Engine turbodiesel engine family will be installed. The 2.0 and 2.2 litre engines have an all-aluminium construction and produce 184PS/392Nm and 200PS/436Nm respectively. These are pretty strong numbers for turbodiesel engines of these size, especially with only a single turbocharger. More details and pix to be revealed as they are released.

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4-door Audi A5 Sportback gets previewed!

June 17, 2009 at 8:50 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

Audi A5 Sportback

Audi have released a teaser image and a sketch of the upcoming Audi A5 Sportback, a 4-door version of the A4/A5 with a coupe-like roofline. This brings Audi’s C-segment contender bodystyle count up to a total of 5 – sedan and touring for the A4, and coupe, convertible and now this new 4-door sportsback for the A5.

The A5 Sportsback is referred to by Audi as a large hatchback. Audi’s interpretation of the 4-door coupe form is executed pretty well in my opinion, but we’ve already seen a preview of what such an Audi would look like with the Sportback concept early this year. It differs from the A4 – a roofline that is lower by 36mm, frameless doors, but the hatch looks to be conventional with no funky twindoor-like design.

Audi A5 Sportback

At launch time, 5 engines will be offered, with 3 of them oil burners. The petrol engines will be either the 2.0 TFSI putting out 211hp and 350Nm, or a 3.2 litre V6 with quattro putting out 265hp. Both have Audi valvelift. The oil burners range from a 2.0 TDI to a 2.7 TDI V6 and finally a 3.0 TDI V6 which churns out the most torque – 500Nm to complement the 240 horses it produces.

The A5 Sportback has 480 litres of storage volume and interestingly this is just 10 litres less than the A4 Avant’s 490 litres. This can be increased to 980 litres with the rear seatbacks folded down.

Look after the jump for a video of Audi Group Head of Design Wolfgang Egger explaining and sketching the Audi A5 Sportback.
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Toyota VIOS 1.5 TRD Sportivo arrives in Malaysia, replaces the Vios 1.5S!

June 17, 2009 at 12:52 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Toyota

Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo
Click for enlarged image

The new Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo is here, and it replaces the Vios 1.5S as the flagship model of the Vios range. The Vios TRD Sportivo is estimated to be priced at RM90,900.00 OTR with insurance, though apparently it’s not 100% finalised yet.

The Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo project started off as a response to customer feedback that they wanted a sportier Vios. This new variant is a development of the 1.5S, the model that it replaces. What you get is a new bodykit, Enkei alloy wheels, door visors, a new interior trim style, and an optional sports suspension kit.

TRD Sportivo is not TRD. It’s a Toyota accessory brand that’s more towards aesthetics. In fact some accessories that UMW Toyota were trying out with the Vios TRD development cars such as the air filter did not make it to this production car that will go on sale. Even the different exhaust system from the development cars did not make it to the production car. UMW Toyota says they did not want to touch those to keep the regular Vios 3 year and 100,000km warranty.

Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo
Click for enlarged image

The bodykit consists of front and rear lips, a bootlid spoiler, and side skirts, all made of polyurethane (PU) except for the bootlid spoiler which is made of ABS plastic. This particular bodykit is exclusive to the Malaysian market – it is not the same one as Thailand’s Toyota Vios GT.

On the interior you get two-tone red and black fabric on the seats and door panels, TRD Sportivo floor mats, a leather gearknob, stainless steel cruff plates with the TRD Sportivo logo on the door sills, and some carbon fiber lookalike inserts on the center console. The 15 inch alloy wheels were wrapped with Bridgestone Potenzas at the media launch, and the wheels manufactured by Enkei are said to be 10% lighter than the standard Vios 15 inch alloy wheel.

There is an optional sports suspension kit that’s not included in the standard car. This suspension kit has a sportier damping rate and also lowers the car by 10mm.

Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo
Click for enlarged image

Toyota Vios 1.5 TRD Sportivo (AT) – RM90,900.00
Toyota Vios 1.5G (AT) – RM85,025.00
Toyota Vios 1.5E (AT) – RM79,425.00
Toyota Vios 1.5J (AT) – RM73,525.00
Toyota Vios 1.5J (MT) – RM69,825.00

The new TRD Sportivo is about RM2k+ more expensive than the 1.5S it replaces, which used to go for RM88,600.00 last I checked. It’s quite interesting to see the Vios span such a huge price range, with the cheapest Vios 1.5J costing over RM20k cheaper than the TRD Sportivo car. If you add the sports suspension kit, it brings the price up to RM94,050.

The new Toyota Vios TRD Sportivo is available in a few colours: Silver Metallic, Coal Black, White, Grey Mica, Bronze Metallic and the signature colour which is Medium Silver Metallic, the colour you see in the product photos published in this story.

Check out our previous story where we tried out the development cars, or look after the jump for more pix of the TRD Sportivo Vios.
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Citroen’s new 3.0 liter HDi V6 diesel more powerful, less polluting and thirsty

June 16, 2009 at 1:03 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Citroën

Citroen C5

Car manufacturers have been revealing latest generation versions of their large displacement diesel engines one by one. We have BMW’s new N57, Volvo’s new twin turbodiesel, and another similiar unit from Jaguar.

The latest manufacturer to unveil a new turbodiesel engine is PSA Peugeot Citroen, who will be putting a new 3.0 litre HDi V6 turbodiesel in their C5 and C6. The new engine produces 240hp, up from 208hp in the outgoing 2.7 litre HDi, but is between 13 to 17 percent more fuel efficient and 12 to 15% less polluting in terms of CO2 emissions, also Euro 5 compliant. The engine also has an alternator that does brake energy recovery.

In the C5 and C6, the engine will be mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. BTW I have more than one occasion spotted the Citroen C5 in Malaysia, although it has not been launched yet as far as I know. It may be due for a launch soon, if not already launched.

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