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Mitsubishi Triton to get facelift in Malaysia soon

August 26, 2009 at 7:11 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mitsubishi

Mitsubishi Triton

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia has put up a teaser image on its front page of what appears to be a facelift for the Mitsubishi Triton. There’s a new mesh front grille that looks like the one found on the Triton 3.2, and a new front bumper with smaller but sleeker foglamps.

This is clearly the facelifted Triton that has already been launched in Thailand, but in Malaysia we’ll get it sometime next week. Look after the jump for full unshrouded images of the Triton facelift from Thailand, but the Thai images show the Triton sporting a different grille from the one that the teaser image from MMM shows above.

Triton Facelift

UPDATE: Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia will be using the double chrome bar grille for the Triton Lite which you can see after the jump, while the normal Triton will be getting the mesh grille shown above.
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MINI Coupe Concept to debut at Frankfurt 2009

August 26, 2009 at 5:42 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Concept Cars

MINI Coupe Concept

I was undecided at first what to think of this. My first instict was to exclaim “what’s wrong with them?” but then I had another look and thought, hey, this isn’t really that bad. What came to mind is a German take on the Suzuki Cappucino or Daihatsu Copen with a British badge. Maybe MINI got pissed off that Daihatsu ripped off the MINI with the Mira Gino, so it did the same with the Copen :P For some reason it also looks like its top is supposed to come off like a targa top or something but it’s actually a normal coupe with a fixed roof.

Don’t be fooled by the name MINI Coupe Concept – this baby is definitely going into production, looking at how ‘ready’ it is, as with every other concept car BMW has unveiled in the past year. You’ll struggle to point out any major difference between the production 5-Series GT and its concept.

MINI Coupe Concept

The MINI Coupe Concept is a two-seater – with that sloping rear roof, both legroom and headroom for the area behind the front seats are compromised so MINI cannot pretend its a 2+2 anymore, like with the MINI Cooper. Other than rear wheel drive, like any other car that BMW makes, they claim the Coupe Concept has perfect axle load distribution and a low gentre of gravity, but BMW boldly claims the Coupe Concept will take the agility typical of a MINI to a level never seen before.

The concept measures 3,715mm long, 1,683mm wide, and 1,356mm tall. The rear tailgate opens upwards to unveil a 250 litre boot space. Under the hood is a 1.6 litre turbocharged Prince engine carried over straight from the MINI John Cooper Works, and this means 211hpand 260Nm of torque, with a 280Nm overboost.

I think the MINI’s design team has got one of the toughest jobs in the BMW Group now. BMW’s designers have always followed this simple rule: revolution, then evolution, and repeat. The original New MINI was clearly a revolution of the old school MINI and then the second generation R56 MINI Cooper was an evolution of the first new MINI. Soon it will be time for another revolution, and how do you do that with a car that has so much of its identity ingrained in its looks?

Look after the jump for a hi-res photo gallery.
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Volkswagen Saveiro car-based ‘ute’

August 26, 2009 at 1:01 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

Volkswagen Saveiro

Volkswagen has converted its South American centric Volkswagen Gol into a front wheel drive car-based single cab pickup, or “ute”, whatever you prefer calling it. The Gol-based ute is called the Volkswagen Saveiro and is powered by a 1.6 litre inline-4 flex-fuel engine thats shared with the Gol, producing 104 horses at 5,250rpm and 156Nm of torque at 2,500rpm if you fuel it with ethanol (minus 2 horses and 3Nm if you use regular petrol). The Saveiro is not a new name – it’s traditionally used a old time ago for car-based pickups in the Volkswagen family, and the last model was based on the Volkswagen Fox if I am not mistaken.
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Less than a week left to send in your Goodyear Duraplus tyre contest entry!

August 26, 2009 at 11:54 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars

Goodyear DuraplusFor those who missed the announcement last year, Goodyear Malaysia is giving a way a set of Goodyear Duraplus tyres for your car in your car’s tyre size (check available sizes below).

The last date for sending in your entry will be the 31st of August 2009 (Merdeka day). It’s an opportunity for you to start your balik kampung journey on fresh new tyres! :)

Here’s how you can join the contest:

  1. Take a photo of your current tyres to show that you need a change of new tyres.
  2. Give me your best reason to change to a set of Goodyear Duraplus tyres!

Send me the photo, tyre size and reason to my email at paul@paultan.org. One lucky entry will be picked to receive a set of Duraplus tyres. Here’s a table of all available sizes as well as their recommended retail price per tyre:

Goodyear Duraplus Size and Price

Related Posts:
Goodyear Duraplus lasts up to 100,000km?
Want a new set of Goodyear Duraplus tyres?

6 Comments      

Spider GranTurismo called the Maserati GranCabrio

August 26, 2009 at 11:01 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Maserati

Maserati GranCabrio

Here are an initial 4 photos of the new Maserati GranCabrio, essentially a drop top version of the GranTurismo. There are no photos of the GranCabrio with the top up right now but it has a soft top made of canvas, which is quite obvious looking at the length of the area behind the passenger cabin compared to the roof length required to cover up the cabin. Under the hood is of course Maserati’s 4.7 litre V8, putting out 433 horsepower. Of course with most cars scheduled only to debut at Frankfurt, details are scarce whenever the manufacturer decides to “tease” us with a few images and some details, so for the full release we’ll have to wait for Frankfurt.
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New Citroen DS3 premium hatchback unveiled!

August 26, 2009 at 10:21 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Citroën, International News

Citroen DS3

Citroen has unveiled the new DS3, a hatchback that Citroen wants to give a premium positioning. Think MINI and you’ll understand what I mean. It’s for buyers who have seen past the need for a large car and more metal to offer premium features and a premium image.

The DS line of cars will feature three models and this is the first: the DS3. It measures 3,950mm long, 1,710mm wide and 1,450mm tall. This makes it similiar in size to the new MINI Clubman, though the DS3 is slightly larger in every dimension.

Citroen DS3

Typical of Citroen, the exterior styling details are a little quirky, such as the shark-fin B-pillar. The DS3 is fully customisable in term of trim level, even the colour of the wheels, fabric, gearknob, exterior trim, and even the ‘floating roof’ is customisable – you can have it in either black, white, blue or red, to contrast it with the main body colour.

A choice of 5 engines are available – the 90hp and 110hp HDi diesels with DPFS flitres, and three petrol engines – the VTi 95, VTi 120 and the turbocharged THP 150. Only manuals are available for now, either 5-speed or 6-speed depending on the engine specified.

Look after the jump for a photo gallery of the new DS3.
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First full view of the Hyundai ix35 released!

August 26, 2009 at 9:58 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Koreans

Hyundai ix35
Click for enlarged image

Here’s the first undisguised full image of the new Hyundai ix35, which gives us a clear view of Hyundai’s new C-segment SUV. The ix35 is the replacement for the aging Hyundai Tucson. Thankfully that new “Genesis’ grille that has recently graced the facelifted Starex did not really find its way onto the ix35, instead we get a front end which has more in common with the Veracruz.

In other markets it will also be called the Hyundai Tucson ix in Korea. Under the hood will be Hyundai’s new all-aluminium “R-engine” diesel in 184hp tune (of which specs sound pretty good by the way), or the 166hp Theta II petrol engine, both mated to Hyundai’s new 6-speed automatic.

The rear view mirror has a built-in 3.5 inch colour LCD to display images from the rear view camera to assist with parking. The ix35/Tucson ix will feature typical SUV driver assist functionality such as downhill brake control to help the driver negotiate a downhill slope, and hill-start assist control. The car will of course be available with stability control, and a panoramic sunroof helps enhance the interior.

More details and information on the ix35 will be available when Frankfurt opens its doors in mid-September. You can watch a movie from the Korean Tucson ix launch after the jump that shows all angles of the car in motion… pretty decent looking!
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Daihatsu wants you to have a nice warm cup of…

August 24, 2009 at 1:27 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Daihatsu, International News

Daihatsu Mira Cocoa

Daihatsu has launched yet another body variation of the Mira in Japan, this time called the Mira Cocoa, joining the Mira and the Mira Custom in the K-car range.

In Daihatsu’s own words, the use of the name Cocoa was chosen because the car intends to give the driver and passengers that comfortable and relaxed feeling of drinking a hot cup of cocoa on a cold day.

The Mira Cocoa measures 1,530mm in height, 1,930mm long and 1,345mm wide. Only one engine option is available in Japan – the 660cc KF-VE with DVVT variable valve timing, producing 58 PS at 7,200rpm and 65Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. There are two different transmissions available – a 4-speed auto or a CVT transmission, with the latter being more fuel efficient.

For the 2WD car, the CVT can provide up to 23.5 km per litre on the Japan 10-15 test cycle while the 4-speeder can only do 19.4km per litre. 4WD versions can do 20km and 18.6km per litre respectively for the CVT and 4-speed cars.

Daihatsu is shouting about the funky new rear view mirror that they’re using in the Mira Cocoa, claiming its the first of its kind installed in a vehicle in Japan. It integrates a back view monitor into the rear view mirror, which is also equipped with an auto anti-glare function. Now I wonder why there’s no mention of aerodynamics values…

Source
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Malaysians Unite For Road Safety on 09/09/09: make your pledge now!

August 24, 2009 at 12:35 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News

MUFORS

Above is my pledge for 090909 – one of the many acts that so Malaysians do on a daily basis that can be very dangerous especially at a busy junction. 090909 is MUFORS day (Malaysians Unite For Road Safety), an effort set up to promote better road safety for Malaysians, especially since it’s going to be balik kampung season soon as people travel to their hometowns to visit their extended family.

Having experienced driving overseas for more than once over the years of running this blog, I can really say that driving overseas is a more relaxing experience because of the significantly better road manners of the motorists there, which I suspect is because of the massively high traffic fines, and you could also lose your license more easily there.

Concepts such as the Autobahn would never work here in Malaysia even if the highways were smooth and straight enough because so many people cannot even keep to their lanes – slowly drifting into the middle of two lanes while you mosey along at 60km/h seems to be the order of the day for alot of weird drivers here.

So you can imagine barreling down the highway at 140km/h and then suddenly having to slam on your brakes because someone wandered into your lane. On the Autobahn I can take a BMW up to speeds of nearly 200km/h without ever worrying that someone would suddenly cut into the lane in front of me. It’s common sense there.

Basically at the MUFORS website you can submit your road safety pledge in text form, in photo form as I have in the photo above, or even as a video. There’s also an opinion poll where you can vote the top 5 Malaysia driving habit annoyances. Believe me, there are so many choices it’s hard to pick the 5 most annoying.

The boys at MUFORS are trying to hit 250,000 pledges by 09/09/09 but there are only just over 400 pledges now. So do your bit and please submit a pledge and show support for the site! :)

71 Comments      

Honda CR-V to get mid-life facelift in September

August 24, 2009 at 10:09 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

Honda CR-V Facelift

Honda is set to unveil a minor model change for the Honda CR-V SUV in Japan on the 17th of September 2009. One lone teaser image which basically reveals the whole front end of the car has been posted on the CR-V product page of Honda Japan’s website.

It shows us the CR-V’s new front grille (a much slimmer chrome bar going across it) and bumper (more body colour, less of the bumper guard kind of look). The gaping lower grille that gave the CR-V a two-mouthed look also seems to have been minimized. The changes give the CR-V a more urban runabout look as it removes some typically offroader styling from the vehicle.

Look after the jump for a photo of the pre-facelift CR-V so you can compare easily.
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