Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
The Mazda Premacy receives a small update in the Japanese market. What you get are new 17 inch dark grey alloy wheels, seat and door trim for the 20Z model. The 20CS model gets a new fuel economy gauge and a refreshed center panel. It’s a really small update really, but as the Premacy (known as the Mazda 5 in our market) was just facelifted in 2007 after its 2004 introduction any other exterior changes are not to be expected until a full model change arrives perhaps next year.
BMW has had immense success with their The Hire short film series. Not sure if you guys have seen it before but tyre maker Pirelli also had something similiar up their sleeves, with two videos released so far, starring Uma Thurman of Kill Bill fame and Naomi Campbell. Both are promotional videos for the Pirelli P-Zero tyres.
The Uma Thurman video titled Mission Zero from 2007 is directed by Kathryn Bigelow of Strange Days and Point Break fame. It features Thurman, a Lamborghini Gallardo, Pirelli P-Zero tyres, and a chase scene through Los Angeles.
The other Naomi Campbell video is also fo the P-Zeros and also stars John Malkovich. It’s directed by Antoine Fuqua and is said to be inspired by the success of the Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons series. Naturally it involves priests and etc, and a fast TVR. Watch the videos after the jump.
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The Caractere kit for the Audi Q5 is now out. No doubt there will be many Q5 owners here in Malaysia who’ll opt for an Abt kit because of the presence and marketing of Cartrade-Abt but for those who want something a little more different (as if having a Q5 is not different already), you can look for the Caractere kit. Caractere kits are generally quite good looking and I think the one for the Q5 looks less overdone compared to the Abt version. Look after the jump for 4 different shots of the Caractere Audi Q5, and also check out the Caractere kit for the Audi A4 and the VW Tiguan.
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For those who are interested, here are full hi-res photos of the entire updated Peugeot 207 range. When we first had a look at the facelift there were only limited photos, but the full gallery is now available for viewing!
As previously mentioned by Nasim officials, the 207 will be coming in. I think it could end up being some serious competition for the likes of the Suzuki Swift and the Swift Sport, more so the latter if they decide to continue offering the 206 Bestari as the bread and butter car and keep the 207 as a nice warm or hot hatch. After all, this is what Peugeot is doing in Europe, keeping the 206/206+ as a basic car while pushing the 207 up as a more premium offering.
Nasim has made its name for offering unmatchable equipment and pricetags for their cars ever since they took over the Peugoet franchise in Malaysia. Just look at the 407 and the range of CKD 308 and you’ll see what I mean. This is probably a bid to get more Peugeots on the road to build familiarity and branding, so you can expect them to do less “hot deals” in the future but now is probably not the time yet, so I think we can continue to expect good deals in the near future.
Look after the jump for the photos.
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Deputy Transport Minister Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri announced late last month that if everything goes as planned, the government will soon be introducing a new driving license for automatic transmission cars only. This is expected to happen by the end of this year.
Having a separate license for automatic cars only is quite common and is practiced in countries like Australia and even our neighbours down south. Singapore has Class 3 licenses for both manual and auto cars, and Class 3A licenses which permit you to drive autos only.
Naturally, for auto-only licenses the exam is conducted with an automatic car. The Transport Ministry will make several changes in the curriculum and test as well as restructure regulations (Road Transport Act 1987, Motor Vehicle Regulations – Driving License 1992) to allow automatic cars to be used for driving exams.
If this goes through, great for those who don’t want to bother learning how to drive a manual, or at least getting an auto license first with the option of upgrading it to a manual license later. But cross your fingers and just hope that you don’t get into an emergency situation where you absolutely need to drive a manual car.
The next step is to weed out all the corruption from driving exams so that the licenses are issued to people who deserve them.
The syllabus also needs to be updated with more useful information such as how to recover from understeer, oversteer, how to brake with ABS and etc. Just look at what BMW is doing with their BMW Driver Training, take the basic course syllabus and adopt it. Let’s face it – traction control and stability control is seriously far from being a common feature on our local spec cars, especially with cars priced below RM100k. This combined with the bad conditions of our roads, diesel/oil spills and the often heavy rainstorm (aquaplaning!) is not a good thing.
Finally there should be rules that require a driver to be retested every few years – no need to be often. Every 5 or 10 years could work, perhaps they could make it so that this retesting comes into effect when you become an elderly driver, to ensure that you are able to drive safely on the road and not inhibited by health issues such as an untreated deteriorating eyesight and pose a danger both to yourself and others. Make it a simple and cheap to conduct test so that people will not be burdened by a high retesting cost.
Yes, it sounds cruel to the poor old folks who do not have their children to take them places but those who are in perfect health condition to drive shouldn’t have a problem passing, and those who cannot pass really shouldn’t be driving.
I know it has only been since this morning that we checked out the latest Facebook teaser shots of the new BMW X1, but it appears that a full low-res photo gallery of over 40 photos have been leaked onto the internet.
The photo gallery features two different X1s with slightly different bodywork. The one in Marrakesh Brown seems to be a higher spec version since it has a little more detailing to the body such as a thin chrome bar across the front bumper, and the other seemingly lower-spec X1 is in white.
Also notice there are two slightly different versions of the headlamp – the one on the brown car has that odd angled square inner lense that we saw on the previously released teaser images, while the white BMW X1 has more regular looking lenses in its headlamps.
It looks quite pleasant, a mesh of various BMW design cues. You’ve got the new L-shaped tail lamps, and you can see hints of the F01 7-Series, the current gen X3 in overall shape but sculpted with angles and curves from the BMW E90 LCI.
The interior has tell-tale signs of it being a low-end model – some of the high-end interior features found in recent BMWs are missing, such as the shift by wire gear lever, the new steering wheel design with thumb scrollers, black panel technology on the instrument panel – all of these are missing but instead features elements that you can associate more with the E90-ish generation of BMWs.
Look after the jump for the full leaked gallery.
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When the Jaguar XF was first launched, it was available with 3 engines – a 3.0 litre V6, a 4.2 litre V8 and a supercharged 4.2 litre V8 (AJ34 and AJ34S). Then came the range-topping XFR, with an AJ-V8 Gen3 (AJ133) engine – 5.0 litres of displacement, 510 PS and 625Nm of torque.
In certain or most markets, the non-R XF is also now offered with variants of the new AJ133 5.0 litre V8 engine. Depending on the market, it either complements or replaces the 4.2 litre previous generation AJ engine. A normally aspirated XF 5.0 makes about 385 PS while the supercharged version makes 470 PS, which is less power than the XFR’s 510 PS tune.
The new AJ133 5.0 litre V8 engine uses an all-new high pressure die-cast aluminium block with cast-in iron liners and cross-bolted main bearing caps. Despite the larger displacement, it is more compact – shorter by 24mm thanks to relocation of the oil pump. It has direct injection, which allows the compression ratio to be raised to 11.5:1 in the normally aspirated model, and from 9.0:1 in the 4.2 V8 supercharged up to 9.5:1 in the new 5.0 V8 supercharged.
The engine also features a new type of variable cam system. The four VCT (variable cam timing – intake and exhaust, 2 V banks) units move via positive and negative torques generated by opening and closing the intake and exhaust valves instead of by hydraulics. This allows the engine oil pump to be reduced in size and consumes less power. The supercharger and intercooler are packaged within the V-bank of the new engine – this reduces engine height and helps comply with pedestrian crash safety regulations.
The normally aspirated version features a variable inlet manifold and also camshaft profile switching on the intake cam, using hydraulically-operated two-piece tappets. The low-speed cam uses a 214 degree duration and 5.5mm valve lift while the high-cam uses a 250 degree duration and 10.5mm valve lift. The switch between low and high cams happens at 2,800rpm at high load, and this varies up to 4,500rpm at lighter loads.
UPDATE: Jaguar Malaysia (SISMA Auto) will be bringing in the 510 PS 5.0 litre supercharged Jaguar XFR into Malaysia this August. The product line-up will change somewhat. In Malaysia, the 3.0 V6 will remain, but the 4.2 normally aspirated will be replaced by the 5.0 normally aspirated, and the 4.2 supercharged will be replaced by the XFR. The non-R 5.0 supercharged in 470 PS tune will not be sold here, probably because it will be too close to the XFR.
Here’s another batch of teaser images for the production BMW X1 SUV that BMW has uploaded to the BMW X1 Facebook page. This set shows us the rear taillamps in a classic BMW L-shaped design, a shot of the interior featuring the steering wheel, paddle shift, meter panel and engine start button, the rear exhaust tailpipe, and finally a shot of the hood from the top. Looks good so far, but notice that the steering wheel of the X1 looks more like the old type of BMW steering found in the E60/E90 generation of cars, instead of the F01′s new style with thumb scrollers.
Check out the other 3 images after the jump.
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Facebook teaser: BMW X1 on the beach
Low-res BMW X1 photos on Facebook
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BMW Concept X1 unveiled, with video!
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Click for enlarged image
Here are the full details of the rear wheel drive Gallardo we saw earlier this week. The new rear wheel drive version of the Gallardo will be limited to 250 units only, and has been christened the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni. Now you probably get what LP 550-2 means – 550 PS and 2 driven wheels, but what about the VB?
Valentino Balboni is actually a test driver who has helped shape many legends such as the Lamborghini Miura from the 60s to the current Gallardo and Murcielago. He was hired personally by Lamborghini’s founder in 1967 but he is retired now after 40 years with Lamborghini. Feedback from Balboni guides Lamborghini engineers to finetune their car to become a car with qualities that Balboni refers to as “the precision of a race car with the reliability of a good friend”.
The LP550-2 is not a mere regular Gallardo with the all-wheel drive system removed. The car now weighs 1,380kg dry and goes from 0 to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds, thanks to its 550 PS 5.2 litre V10. Various settings like springs, dampers, stabilisers, aerodynamics and even the tyres had to be modified for rear wheel drive. The 45% LSD rear axle was also redeveloped, and the e-gear automated manual transmission has also been recalibrated. The ESP’s CORSA (race) program now permits greater drift angles, something that you really must have with rear wheel drive!
Look after the jump for the previously showcased 4 photos.
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Here is a fifth video in a series of Jaguar XJ teaser videos. It’s not very long now until the new flagship XJ is unveiled on the 9th of July – that’s next week actually! Some of Jaguar engineers talk about the XJ’s driving dynamics in this video. We all know less weight means better handling, and the XJ’s aluminium chassis contributes to that. But dynamics goes into a scope that extends to more than handling.
Watch the video after the jump.
Related Posts:
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #1: launch set for 9th July
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #2: Ian Callum on the design
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #3: Sound System
Jaguar XJ Teaser Video #4: Aluminium chassis
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