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We ride with Alister McRae in the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car! (with VIDEO)

December 16, 2009 at 12:21 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Motorsports, Proton Satria Neo, Videos

alister mcrae taxi ride

When I heard that Proton will have a taxi ride session to let the media experience its Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car, and with Alister McRae behind the wheel, I knew that I had to be there – come rain or shine. The Neo, pilot McRae and co-driver Bill Hayes were in town fresh from finishing second overall in the Rally of Scotland, the final race of the 2009 Intercontinental Rally Challenge (IRC).

Developed by UK-based Mellors Elliot Motorsport (MEM), the Satria Neo S2000 is powered by a 278 bhp/271 Nm 2.0-litre engine engine that was modified from the Renault sourced powerplant in the Waja 1.8. Drive goes to all four wheels via a Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox. For more technical information, see our previous post.

Continue reading the rest of the story and check out the video after the jump!
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MINI Beachcomber Concept is set for production!

December 16, 2009 at 11:51 am By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Concept Cars, International News

mini beachcomber 1

Here’s the latest evolution of MINI’s small SUV – the Beachcomber Concept that is clearly inspired by the 1960s Mini Moke with its “panelless” body. Throw in some metal and the Beachcomber should be quite a reliable guide to what the final product would be. Word has got around that it will be called Countryman, but what’s now certain is that this crossover will be the fourth MINI variant after the hatch, convertible and Clubman – set for a third quarter 2010 launch.

The Beachcomber Concept, which follows the 2008 MINI Crossover Concept, will get its public debut in January’s Detroit show. The four-seater is what MINI calls an “open-body concept” and it does without doors, roof and a full tailgate that would otherwise “limit the intensity of the occupants’ encounter with their surrounding world.”

mini beachcomber 2

How about the weather? The Beachcomber comes with a removable roof with transparent plastic inserts at the sides and at the rear which serve as windows. The lightweight, soft and foldable covering fastens on the windscreen, rear panel and side openings. The rear door can still opened with the roof fixed. Sounds quite crude, so there’s an optional transparent plastic roof that works like removable hardtops on convertibles

The Beachcomber combines all-wheel drive with long travel suspension and a robust body with high ground clearance, as well as an elevated seating position. It looks like it’s capable of some mild off roading and the short overhangs mean that you worry less about approach and depature angles.

mini beachcomber 3

Interesting detailing include a hexagon grille that pays homage to the Moke and a lateral support bar that spells out the word ‘MINI’ which can be seen from the top. The case at the car’s rear, while giving a rugged off-road impression, is not for a spare tyre – it uses runflats – so it can be used for knick knacks. From the side, you can see that the indicator light and its coloured surround links the A-pillar to the wheelarch, something the earlier concept also had. BMW says that this gives the impression that the pliiars are solidly resting on the front axle.

Inside, there’s no mention of the big globe the previous concept featured, but the “Center Rail” survives. Extending from the instrument panel all the way to the luggage compartment, this fastening rail connects the front seats with the rear. It also comes with an integrated cable duct that allows driver and passengers to place individual components such as music players or communication devices, armrests, storage boxes, lighting, shelves and holders for a truly personalised space. It sounds interesting but unfortunately there are no pictures demonstrating this for now, so we’ll have to wait for Detroit.

Check out the gallery after the jump.
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Volkswagen starts Polo production in India

December 16, 2009 at 9:53 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

new-volkswagen-polo

Volkswagen has started production of the B-segment Polo hatchback at its 110,000 capacity Chakan plant in Pune. Early cars will have 50 per cent local parts and VW targets 80 per cent localisation in the next three years. The supermini is set for a January 2010 launch at the India Auto Expo.

VW currently plays only in the premium segment with its new Beetle, Passat and Jetta sedans, Phaeton limo and Touareg SUV. The five-door Polo is a move to penetrate the mass market and increase market share. In India, the Polo will compete with the Hyundai i20, Maruti Swift and the Tata Indica Vista, among others. Next year will see the introduction of the Ford Figo (a refreshed previous gen Fiesta), a new version of the Nissan Micra and the Chevrolet Beat to this class.

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Toyota introduces plug-in Prius in Japan

December 16, 2009 at 12:51 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Toyota

toyota plug in prius

Toyota has introduced the Prius Plug-in Hybrid in Japan. As its name suggests, this is the plug-in version of the third-generation Prius. Other than the ability to recharge via an external source, the Prius Plug-in Hybrid Vehicle (PHV) uses lithium-ion batteries, a first for hybrid champ Toyota.

The 5.2 kWh Li-ion battery pack replaces the standard Prius’s nickel metal hydride unit. Battery capacity has been expanded and Toyota claims that the PHV can move in battery only EV mode for longer distances (23 km) compared to the current Prius. Max speed in EV mode is also up from about 45 km/h to 100 km/h. The official average fuel consumption is 57 km/l in the Japanese test cycle.

Other than the battery and charging system, the THS II system is as before, which means there’s a 1.8-litre Atkinson cycle engine with 98 bhp and 142 Nm of torque supplemented by a 81 bhp/207 Nm permanent magnet motor under the hood. Charging time is 180 minutes for 100V current and 100 minutes for 200V.

The PHVs will be leased to Japan’s governments, corporations, universities and research agencies while Toyota collects real-world driving data for the development of battery-charging infrastructure. About 600 units will be introduced in Japan, USA and Europe over the first half of 2010. Showroom sales will begin two years from now.
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Matte gold SLS AMG unveiled in Dubai

December 15, 2009 at 11:28 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG "Desert-Gold"

An SLS AMG with a striking gold paint in Dubai – please don’t tell me you were surprised! The next step is probably one with a fully chromed paint and then we’ll see diamond-crusted bodywork or perhaps a body made of pure gold but for now we’re still at the gold paintjob stage for this recently unveiled flagship car.

This new paintjob is called Desert Gold and it has a matte finish with gloss black accents and black AMG wheels measuring a massive 19 inches at the front and a larger 20 inches at the rear – most of us just settle for a staggered setup but this particular car gets a full inch size up!

g55-dubai

You can’t buy an SLS AMG with this paintjob from factory just yet but Mercedes-Benz says given enough demand, they could make this paintjob available. But it’s not like the owner cannot afford to pony up some cash and have this paint done aftermarket by themselves, so why the wait? Currently there are two matte paintjobs already available for the SLS AMG from the factory – AMG Monza grey magno and AMG alubeam silver.

According to AMG, the Middle East is the division’s 4th largest market after USA, Germany and Japan. The other car featured here is the Mercedes-Benz G 55 AMG KOMPRESSOR “Edition 79″ which is only available in the Middle East. Only 79 units are available and it is finished in only one colour – designo magno alanite grey.
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Max 20 liters of refuelling for foreign plate cars?

December 15, 2009 at 9:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Local News, Malaysian Fuel Prices

Fuel Wallet GaugeFrom tomorrow onwards, cars with foreign plates will only be able to refuel a maximum of 20 litres of fuel within a 50km radius from Malaysia’s borders. In the Peninsular of Malaysia, that means south in Johor and up north bordering Thailand.

First of all – I don’t think this is a big issue for the owners of foreign cars. Unless there is some way to mark that a car has already filled up his 20 litres of fuel for the trip, the car owner can just drop by multiple petrol stations and get his multiple 20 litres of fuel into his tank. Just a minor inconvenience.

Apparently there are also some reports that suggest that Singaporean cars will only be able to leave Johor with 20 litres of fuel! I’m really not sure if this is just a misunderstanding on what the minister/ministry meant as it’s quite ridiculous for cars who already leave Singapore with a three-quarter tank as required by the law to have to abide by the 20 litre rule as well.

Would the driver have to drive around aimlessly to burn off the excess fuel or have the fuel siphoned out of the cars? And then what, throw the fuel away? And what about the manpower needed to check each car – wouldn’t that cause extra congestion?

The intention is good though. Implementation needs to be finetuned.

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New Mercedes-Benz E-Class Convertible: first looks

December 15, 2009 at 4:31 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz, Videos

E-Class Cabriolet

The E-Class Sedan and Coupe has been released for over half a year and have just made their way into Malaysia late last month. The E-Class Coupe is a name that we’ve not seen for some time now and it replaces the CLK in the Mercedes-Benz line-up. The CLK had a drop top version so it was only sooner or later that this new E-Class Cabriolet made its debut into the automotive world.

E-Class Cabriolet

The Mercedes-Benz E-Class Cabriolet keeps a soft top instead of moving to one of those new hard top roofs that most automakers are going for these days. There’s a system in place called the AirCap which is basically a spoiler at the windshield that helps direct air over the passenger cabin so you won’t mess up your hair. Mercedes-Benz claims that the AirCap protects the hairstyle of rear passengers as well as the front ones.

Whatever it is, this baby ain’t going to be cheap once it is launched here in Malaysia. The E 250 CGI coupe already goes for a scary RM 458,888 price tag here in Malaysia, and the more powerful E 350 coupe goes for RM 666,888. An entry level cabriolet could possibly breach the half a million ringgit mark!

Look after the jump for a gallery and 2 videos of the E-Class cabrio.
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Gallery: Lotus F1 drivers in Malaysia

December 15, 2009 at 1:08 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus

lotus drivers visit coe

I just got back from Proton’s Centre of Excellence (COE) in Shah Alam, where newly named Lotus F1 drivers Jarno Trulli and Heikki Kovalainen paid a short visit to. They came, had a closed door meeting with Proton management, posed for a few pictures and left. I had hoped to squeeze in a short interview with the drivers but no such luck, as they had a plane to catch!

Heikki, being a Finn, looked really interested in the Proton Satria Neo S2000 rally car that just came from finishing second in the Rally of Scotland – he took a seat inside and asked plenty of questions. Perhaps he’ll have the itch to try it out someday and join fellow countryman Kimi Raikkonen in rallying! On the topic of the Neo S2000, we recently had the chance to ride in the car with Alister McRae as chauffeur in a real rally stage; look out for a post on the amazing experience!

Meanwhile, check out photos of the Lotus F1 drivers after the jump.

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Lotus Cars to buy into F1 team in the future

December 15, 2009 at 9:09 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus

lotus f1 history

As reported in our earlier post, the new Lotus F1 team which announced its driver line-up yesterday has not much to do with Lotus Cars the manufacturer. The F1 team is actually managed by Litespeed, a UK based racing outfit who are licensing the famous name from parent company Proton. But that could change in the future.

Team Principal Tony Fernandes said that the link between Lotus F1 and Lotus Cars is set to grow. “Over time that relationship will grow. Lotus will probably buy into the team at some stage. More and more technology from our side will flow into Lotus cars and we will promote the Lotus brand. I see it in time being no different from how Ferrari works.”

“I don’t think we can claim any of the heritage but we are very clear about making sure we don’t destroy any of the prestige,” he added. Under the guidance of founder Colin Chapman, the original Lotus team won seven constructors’ and six drivers’ titles while dominating the 1960s and ‘70s.

The AirAsia boss also revealed that the team has “an advisory council to make sure that we protect what has been built by Colin Chapman and the people at Lotus.” He did not elaborate on this, so I wonder how will it work out. Will the council put pressure on the team to live up to the name if it props up the back of the grid?

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New range topping BMW Z4 sDrive35is gets serious

December 15, 2009 at 1:47 am By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

bmw z4 sdrive35is

The BMW Z4 will soon get a new range topping variant. Previewed ahead of the 2010 Detroit show where it will make its world debut, the Z4 sDrive35is will not be the “new Z4 M” fans of the previous generation are praying for (BMW ruled that out from the beginning), even if it’s a more focused performance car than the current sDrive35i.

Using the same N54B30 engine as the 35i, the extra ‘s’ at the end of that confusing name brings increased air intake flow and higher boost pressure to the twin-turbo engine. Power is bumped to 335 bhp from 306 bhp and peak torque is up by 50 Nm to make 450 Nm delivered from 1,500 rpm to 4,500 rpm. An overboost function gives additional 50 Nm spurts under full load so we’re essentially looking at 500 Newton metres of twist! As a result, the Z4 sDrive35is sprints from 0 to 60 mph (96km/h) in just 4.7 seconds. Top speed is of course electronically limited to 250 km/h. Accompanying the extra poke is a deeper voice with a focus on the low frequency sound range, says BMW.

z4 sDrive35is

Some have lamented the softer character of the E89 Z4, and BMW is keen to respond with the 35is, which gets M Sport upgrades. The adaptive M Suspension combines a 10mm lower ride height with electronically controlled shock absorbers for improved agility without compromising ride comfort. The Electric Power Steering (EPS) meanwhile features “very sporty” programming with feedback as the main priority.

The range topper gets special 18-inch five-spoke wheels as standard. It is further distinguished by a matte aluminum bar in the air intakes and a rear diffuser painted in black. Inside, the sDrive35is sports a thick M leather steering wheel with shift paddles, carbonfibre weave aluminum trim, sport seats and lots of M badges. And in case you forget what you’re driving, BMW spells out “sDrive35is” on the grey-faced dials.

More pictures after the jump.
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