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More photos of the Kia cee’d facelift released

August 11, 2009 at 9:53 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Kia, Koreans

Kia Ceed

Kia has added the Peter Schreyer grille to the Kia cee’d facelift, and here we are shown some initial glimpses of both the normal hatchback model and the wagon model. The grille looks a little out of place on the cee’d in my opinion, as it is very angular and works well on angular cars like the Forte and the new Sorento, but not very suitable for a more curvy car like the cee’d. The new bumpers make the new facelifted cee’d about 25mm longer but no changes to wheelbase. Kia says there are also some changes on the interior such as all-red instrumentation lighting as well as new suspension settings. The facelift range will also debut a new variant with automatic start-stop for the 1.6 diesel under the new ECO-dynamics label. The new U2 family 1.6 litre turbodiesel will get a new 6-speed manual. Look after the jump for more photos of the new facelifted cee’d.
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Honda: Our Challenging Spirit Contest Phase 2 Nomination – Karamjit Singh

August 11, 2009 at 12:44 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Advertorial, Cars, Honda

Honda Contest

Honda’s Our Challenging Spirit contest this year is in Phase 2 now. Basically Honda associates a challenging spirit with a few qualities and for Phase 2 it is Challenge and Refinement. You can nominate someone that you think possesses these qualities. You’ll stand to win some prizes, but I think the best of all is having that special person up there on the nomination wall together with your story on why that person is special.

Since the contest is a motorsports-related thing after all, I’m going to nominate one Malaysian that we tend to associate with motorsports – Karamjit Singh. I think Malaysians will be quite familiar with this rally driver who has done Malaysia proud, snagging the Group N (Production car) titles in 1997, 2000 and 2001.

Career Highlights:
2004 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2002 FIA Production Car World Rally Champion
2002 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2001 FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2001 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
2000 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
1998 Thailand National Rally Champion
1997 Group N FIA Asia Pacific Rally Champion
1990 – 1997 Malaysian Rally Champion

But after that sponsorship seemed to have fallen short and Karamjit fell off the radar for awhile. There were even instances where the FIA subsidised participation fees for rallies because they knew his team were facing financial diffiulties. In 2005 he ran the risk of losing his racing license and his means of living as APRC rules stated one had to finish 6 out of 8 races but Karamjit did not have enough money to run sufficient rounds. He ended up getting slapped with a USD20,000 fine. That’s alot of money.

Satria Neo S2000

Despite all of that, Karamjit continues to bounce back and the latest is that he is back in a fully manufacturer backed rally team, driving the new Proton Satria Neo Super 2000. He’ll be racing at the APRC leg in Johor this August. “It’s a dream come true, an opportunity of a life time for me,” said 47 year-old Karamjit who began his career in 1985. “I have waited twenty-four years for this car.”

Honda’s definition of Challenge is to stand up to the challenges in life even against all odds and succeed in accomplishing goals otherwise not achievable if not for the challenging spirit. And as for Refinement – the relentless pursuing of perfection, constant learning, patience, and un-ending commitment to strive for the best in everything that one does. Some say Karamjit is already too old to continue racing but I feel with age and experience and constantly doing something you do best and trying to better yourself like in rallying and other forms of motorsports, it helps one get closer in that pursuit of perfection.

I think Karamjit has definitely has these qualities, so he’s got my nomination. If you know of an outstanding person who has made an impact in your life with the qualities Passion, Dedication, Challenge or Refinement, pay a tribute to the person and submit a nomination at the Honda Motorsports Challenging Spirit website.

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Ford Everest gets new Ranger’s front end

August 11, 2009 at 12:22 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Local News

Ford Everest
Click for enlarged image

Everyone knows the Ford Everest as the 7-seater SUV companion to the Ford Ranger, being based on the same ladder frame chassis and TDCi engines, so when the Ranger gets a facelift it’s not surprising that the Everest follows suit in keeping the same family look at the new Ranger.

This facelifted 2009 edition of the Ford Everest continues to be available with either a 2.5 litre turbodiesel with 143 PS, or a 3.0 litre turbodiesel with 156 PS. Both engines are available with 5-speed automatics while the 2.5 litre engine also has the option for a 5-speed manual. All variants feature a shift-on-the-fly 4WD-2WD selection system.

The retail prices for the new facelifted Ford Everest (imported from Ford’s Rayong plant in Thailand) in Peninsular Malaysia are RM145,888 for the 2.5L XLT (Manual), RM156,888 for the 2.5L XLT (Automatic) and RM169,888 for the 3.0L XLT (Automatic). The 4X2 version seems to be missing from the new line-up.

The prices for Sabah and Sarawak are RM149,388, RM160,388 and RM173,388 for the 2.5 M, 2.5 A and 3.0 A respectively. All prices quoted exclude road tax, insurance and registration.

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Honda CR-V now available in Tafetta White

August 11, 2009 at 12:13 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Local News

Honda CR-V Tafetta White

Honda has added the new Taffeta White colour that first debuted on the Honda Accord to the 3rd generation Honda CR-V. This will increase the amount of colours offered on the CR-V to 5, with the other 4 being Alabaster Silver Metallic, Crystal Black Pearl, Sparkle Gray Pearl and Polished Metal Metallic.

The new Taffeta White colour is doing quite well on the Accord, accounting for a total of 30% of Accord sales since its launch in mid-July 2009.

Related Posts:
2007 Honda CR-V Test Drive Review

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Why RON 95 with Techron is better?

August 10, 2009 at 11:59 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Advertorial, Cars, Local News

Caltex

When RON95 is fully introduced this September, it will cost RM1.75 per litre, which is 5 sen cheaper than RON97 but also 5 sen more expensive than RON92, which will then be phased out. RON97 will be repositioned as a premium fuel with an unsubsidized price tag of RM2 per litre and above.

Once RON95 is out and becomes the mainstream fuel due to the way the new fuels will be price-structured, the game will be pretty much “reset”, with some consumers trying the new RON95 fuels to see which one feels the best with their car’s internal combustion engine. It’s definitely a renewed opportunity to impress and gain some new customers.

You have to remember one thing though. Over time thanks to normal wear and tear, especially on older cars fitted with carburettors which do not deliver the right amount of fuel as precisely as compared to fuel injection, your engine’s combustion chamber might have been “modified” by the dirty carbon deposits caused by the a less than perfect combustion process. Carbon deposits increase the compression ratio because their bulk volume reduces the volume of the combustion chamber at Top Dead Centre and in the end if your engine is tuned to have a minimum of RON95, it may end up knocking thus requiring a fuel of higher than the recommended RON.

Caltex

Fuel additive packages like the Techron formula found in Caltex fuel that are engineered to provide superior keep-clean for the combustion chamber may be able to help such cars. Techron is a patented formulation of polyetheramine and other unique detergents and components which can help clean up the engine intake system, and fuel metering system and continuous use over time will be able to help keep those parts clean as well. It’s also good to give the engine a little pressure to help these formulas clean off the deposits effectively.

In fact in the US there is actually something called Top Tier Detergent Gasolines, a standardised rating created by BMW, GM, Honda, Toyota and subsequently with Volkswagen & Audi endorsements in 2007. It is a standard that defines the levels of detergency (cleaning ability to provide optimal fuel economy, performance and reduced emissions) of fuels higher than what the US EPA has set, and Chevron (Caltex)’s Techron fuels were the first fuel to meet the Top Tier standard as they did not have to change Techron formulation to meet the standards. It already has adequate amounts of detergency.

This story is an infomercial.

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Hyundai Grand Starex Royale gets a new grille!

August 10, 2009 at 11:09 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Koreans, Local News

Hyundai Grand Starex Royale

Hyundai has updated the Hyundai Grand Starex with a new front grille that features a slatted design rather than the original Starex’s mesh grille with a chrome surround and a chrome bar going through it. The new model is called the Hyundai Grand Starex Royale. The wing mirrors are also now body-coloured instead of black, and now feature signal indicators on them.

One of the gripes that we had in our Grand Starex review was also the absence of a rear windscreen wiper – this has now been added onto the Grand Starex Royale. On the interior there is a new Pioneer touch screen LCD DVD player that is linked to a 7 inch LCD screen located at the middle top of the MPV for rear passenger enertainment purposes.

For more details on whether the Grand Starex is a worthy addition to your fleet of vehicles especially if you have a growing family (the Starex has a total of 11 seats with seatbelts – that’s alot of people!), check our our test drive review of the Grand Starex. Or look after the jump for more photos of the updated Hyundai Grand Starex Royale. It’s priced at RM148,888 OTR in West Malaysia and RM153,997.50 OTR in East Malaysia. Four colours are available – Crystal White, Stone Black, Sleek Silver and Carbon Grey.
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Renault to help smart with next generation forfour

August 7, 2009 at 9:30 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Renault, smart

smart forfour

Mercedes-Benz’s platform partner for its next smart car set for a 2013 debut will be Renault. “It’s a key component in plans to grow the Smart brand. We’re looking to diverge into other potentially lucrative market segments, and not only in Europe but on a worldwide basis, including North America,” said a Mercedes-Benz official to ANE.

Renault will be supplying smart a platform for a new four-seater smart (effectively a replacement for the smart forfour) and the word is that it will be a modified version of the Clio II platform that underpins the Renault Twingo, though I would have thought the Renault-Nissan B platform (Clio III, Latio, Logan, etc) would be more suitable in size for a smart forfour replacement.

The smart forfour was a hatchback based on the Mitsubishi Colt and was produced at Mitsubishi’s Dutch NedCar plant. Who knows, we could also see an electric version using technology from the Nissan Leaf.

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Some details on the next generation 3-Series

August 7, 2009 at 9:16 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Rumours

BMW 3-Series

Here’s some details from Autocar UK on BMW’s next generation bread and butter – the replacement for the E90 BMW 3-Series set to be launched for the 2011 model year. No doubt some of this may be just conjecture on Autocar’s part, but here’s the list anyway:

  • The 4-cylinder engine will finally be replaced by a turbocharged unit, but Autocar is suggesting 3-cylinder engines will be used. The idea of an inline-3 in a 3-series is a little bleh though, what’s wrong with just downsizing to a small 4-cylinder and then turbo-ing it? But there’s no doubt that mechanically the inline-3 engine will likely be competent.
  • Greater care for aerodynamics, such as the use of narrow and upright intakes in the front bumper to channel the air through the bumper and out of a slot in the wheel well that pushes and smoothens the airflow across the face of the wheel.
  • The chassis will have provisions for an integrated motor assist kind of system for the rear axle. Space also needs to be designed for batteries and control units related to hybrid systems.
  • The 8-speed auto will find its way into the whole BMW range, with the 7-speed twin clutch reserved for sports models only. Though there has been improvements of leaps and bounds to computer-clutched transmissions, a real auto will always be smoother than a twin clutch.
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Pre-debut Infiniti M teaser doesn’t show much

August 7, 2009 at 8:24 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Infiniti

Infiniti M

As previously posted, Infiniti will be “projecting” an image of the next generation Infiniti M sedan at the Pebble Beach concourse sometime this month. Granted that even then we won’t be able to see the car, just a projection of it on a model, but all we have now is this silhouette. It’s got quite an interesting shoulderline that rises up at the end like a sports coupe, but the Infiniti M (sold as the Nissan Fuga in Japan) is a four door car so I’m quite curious to see the end result.

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BMW’s Frankfurt sports concept spied under covers!

August 7, 2009 at 7:52 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Concept Cars

BMW Concept Car

This covered-up BMW concept was snapped by the lucky guys over at E90Post.com. BMW has talked numerous times about a new sustainable sports car concept that they will unveil at the Frankfurt Motor Show 2009 and this is most likely it.

It’s supposed to be some kind of electric sports car called the Z Vision Concept or Vision Z Concept. Technically, kidney grilles would be needed in this car since there would be no internal combustion engine at the front to cool down and yes, you can see this reflected in the seemingly lack of lower bumper air intakes, but its a BMW trademark and it’s even been given a shark nose kind of look to it.

They say this new concept previews the next generation 6-Series design cues, and if that is true it looks pretty damn good. An additional rumour is that BMW may add a RX-8-esque 4-door variant to the 6-Series range and call it the 6-Series Gran Turismo, thus reflected in this concept – it will be a four-door with small rear-hinged rear doors.

Look after the jump for a full photo gallery.
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