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VIDEO: BMW’s development process explained!

January 18, 2010 at 9:58 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Videos

Last week we carried a feature that gave you an insight into how a new BMW such as the new F10 5-Series came to be. Even the deciding on the aesthetic design alone is a long process which involves multiple rounds of ‘competition’ and then refinement.

Today we have the same but the car featured here is the new BMW 5-Series GT, which made its appearance before the sedan. I personally think the new 5 GT isn’t even a 5 at all, its more of a 7 Hatchback with a lower price tag. It’s an odd little thing, like a low rider X6 of sorts. I’m sure we are all still wondering what BMW was smoking when they came up with the 5 GT. But wonder no more. BMW actually reveals how the 5 GT came to be in a 3-part series of videos, again showcasing their development process.

Check out the videos after the jump in sequence.
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Toyota Prius G Sports at Tokyo Auto Salon 2010

January 18, 2010 at 9:27 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Concept Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Toyota

The new “G Sports” range of kit that debuts at the Tokyo Auto Salon this month have also been added to the Toyota Prius. The engine and hybrid motor has been left standard but other than the aesthetics mods, Toyota has also added what they call ‘chassis reinforcements’, and better 4-pot front and 2-pot rear brakes from their Advics brand.

On the inside, the car gets a black interior, a red-stitched leather steering wheel, a red piano black shift knob, and more piano black trim applied everywhere. The push start button has the G Sports logo, and there are also G Sports Recaro seats for the front driver and passenger. Seats are red in colour. Finally, the brake and accelerator pedals are done in aluminum.
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Be part of Castrol’s Football Mania Contest!

January 18, 2010 at 9:23 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Advertorial

Watch the World Cup live in South Africa, courtesy of Castrol. What are guys passionate about? Besides cars (which is why you’re a regular reader of this blog!) it will have to be ahem, girls and football, in no particular order. That’s my personal list, but I’m pretty sure I speak for the majority of guys out there!

Football fans will know that the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ is just a few months away, and we can’t wait for it to kick off! It will be a month of late nights in front of the TV for most of us footie fans, but two lucky persons will get to watch the final live in South Africa! This is made possible by Castrol, official sponsor for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™.

The Castrol Football Mania contest, which runs from Jan 1 to March 31, offers 2 premium hospitality packages worth approximately RM55,000 each to experience the World Cup final. This includes a 7D/5N trip with flight, accommodation and of course, tickets to the finals. To fit in the crowd, you also get an Adidas FIFA World Cup™ jersey!

Winners even get to savor the host country’s culture – the package includes exclusive experiences such as the Castrol Camp; a unique safari experience, and Castrol Performance Lab; where one gets to see how Castrol brings out the best in footballing performance via the Analysis, Technology and Innovative (ATI) approach*. To be in the running, purchase Castrol’s premium passenger car lubricants (including selected Castrol GTX ranges, Castrol Magnatec and Castrol EDGE/EDGE Sport) to receive 2, 4 or 8 chances (game credits) to participate. Get the unique POP code from the pack and SMS it to 36300.

You will then receive a series of 3 questions which have to be answered correctly in the shortest possible time. Naturally, more correct answers equates to a higher chance to win something. There are a whopping 198 other prizes to be won besides the top two packages–Sony Bravia LCD TVs, Sony DVD Home Theatre Systems, travel packages, Adidas jerseys, shopping vouchers and Castrol FIFA World Cup™ merchandise are among the great gifts waiting to be claimed!

Castrol top engine oil contest packs can be purchased from participating Castrol dealers and Castrol Auto Service workshops. Castrol Auto Service is a 1-stop auto servicing centre focused in providing value and transparency to its customers. It has been around since 2002 and has now built a network of 158 outlets across Peninsular Malaysia, and recently in Sabah & Sarawak.

Find out more at www.castrol.com/my.

* Itinerary subject to change.

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Tata Nano to get world’s smallest common-rail diesel engine designed by Bosch

January 18, 2010 at 3:16 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, Tata Nano

Automotive component giant Bosch is banking on India’s booming auto market. The German company will invest Rs 2000 crore ($430 million) in India from now till 2012 and hopes to manufacture two million common-rail units a year by 2013.

How is this figure possible? A big chunk of that two million will be for the Tata Nano. Bosch has announced that it’s developing a common-rail diesel system for the Tata Nano. Called the Bosch CRS 1.1, it’s speculated to be part of a single cylinder unit sized about 550-650 cc, with 25 to 30 bhp and adequate torque, according to reports. So far Bosch has supplied Tata with the Nano’s front and rear drum brakes, starter, alternator and fuel injection system.

After Germany, India is the next biggest recepient of Bosch’s R&D funds, which totalled €3 billion in 2009. About 15 per cent of Indian made Bosch components are exported, mainly to Europe and South Korea.

Source

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Carlos Sainz wins Dakar 2010 as Volkswagen conquers the podium

January 18, 2010 at 1:34 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Motorsports, Volkswagen

Former WRC champion Carlos Sainz has won the Dakar Rally for the first time after managing to hold off a late challenge from Volkswagen team mate Nasser al-Attiyah of Qatar. The Spanish driver completed the 9000 km loop in 47 hours and 10 minutes, just 2 minutes and 12 seconds ahead of Al-Attiyah. American Mark Miller finished in third (32 min, 51 sec behind Sainz) to complete an all-Volkswagen podium.

Al-Attiyah had cut Sainz’s lead to two minutes 48 seconds after winning the penultimate stage. The Qatari was again fastest in the final 206 km stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires but it wasn’t enough to overhaul Sainz. The Spaniard, who had led the standings since stage five, accused his team mate of not playing fair after the two collided while battling in Stage 13. “It was a tough and daily fight against my team mate. I knew it would be like that,” he said.

X-Raid BMW drivers completed the top five. Nine-time Dakar winner Stéphane Peterhansel was fourth (2h17’21 behind winner), almost two hours ahead of his team mate and fellow Frenchman Guerlain Chicherit.

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BMW 3-Series Coupe and Convertible gets facelift!

January 17, 2010 at 7:38 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

The facelift version of the E90 3-Series Sedan has been on the market for some time now but since the E92 Coupe and the E93 Cabriolet came later, the facelift versions of these babies have only just arrived.

Like all of the latest BMWs, the ‘angel eyes’ in the headlamps are now lit by LED and are white in colour, eliminating the need for you to go and swap the previously default yellow angel eyes for white ones. I personally prefer them in yellow though, but BMW says the white ones improve visibility and they are brighter as well.

The top of the line non-M 335i models have now made the switch to the new N55 engine. It looks like the twin-turbo N54 will be reserved for the higher powered output levels – the 450Nm versions in the 7-Series, and the ‘is” models such as the Z4 sDrive35is. You can probably expect a 335is model for the 3-Series coming up soon.

As for the exterior changes, perhaps its best if you just look at how they look like in detail after the jump. The bumpers and lights are new, the overhang is slightly longer due to the new bumpers, and the kidney grilles have a chrome band and look slightly wider. Enjoy!
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2010 FIA GT1 spec Nissan GT-R finds customers

January 16, 2010 at 11:50 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Motorsports, Nissan

This is the GT1 Spec Nissan GT-R that will run in the 2010 FIA GT World Championship. The GT-R will race in the top tier GT1 class along the likes of the Maserati MC 12, Corvette Z06, Ford GT and Saleen SR7 (GT2 class features lower powered cars like the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911 GT3 RS and Aston V8 Vantage). Nismo campaigned a GT-R last year, but Nissan’s motorsports outfit has found two customer teams for 2010 – Sumo Power GT (UK) and Swiss Racing Team. The season starts in April at Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit.

The 2010 spec GT1 GT-R is powered by a 5,552cc V8 engine with 600 bhp (the regulation limit) and “over 650Nm” of torque. Power goes to the rear wheels via a six-speed transaxle gearbox. The race car only weighs 1250 kg, so you can imagine the performance of offer even though Nissan doesn’t give any figures. Brakes have six-piston calipers with carbon discs and pads all round.

Go ahead and download a new wallpaper from the hi-res gallery after the jump!

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Dakar: Volkswagen set for podium clean sweep

January 16, 2010 at 10:12 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Motorsports, Volkswagen

Volkswagen looks set to make a clean sweep of the top three positions in the 2010 Dakar, as the “World’s Toughest Race” enters its final stage from San Rafael to Buenos Aires, the finish point. In the overall lead after 13 stages is VW’s former WRC champion Carlos Sainz, but he’s only leading teammate Nasser Al-Attiyah by just two minutes and 48 seconds. American Mark Miller looks to have secured the final podium spot – he is over 31 minutes behind Sainz but almost two hours ahead of Stephane Peterhansel, the highest placed X-Raid BMW driver in fourth.

The penultimate stage was won by nine-time Dakar winner Peterhansel. With that, the Frenchman has won four stages in this year’s race, extending his record of stage victories to 55. The relatively smooth and fast wrap up stage will start today evening in South America.

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Ford Focus unveil in Detroit – updated videos!

January 16, 2010 at 8:01 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2010 Detroit Auto Show, Cars, Ford

When I was in Detroit I provided you guys some ‘pirated DVD style’ footage of the unveiling of the Ford Focus. Readers got to see the car’s world unveiling just an hour or so after it actually happened through the lens of my mobile phone. But admittedly quality was not great, so I’ve actually managed to source some better professionally recorded footage of the unveilings as well as that “action footage” of the new Focus in motion.

Enjoy the videos after the jump!
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Toyota FT-86 G Sports Concept at the Tokyo Salon

January 16, 2010 at 7:35 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Toyota, Videos

Toyota is showing a whole range of “G Sports” kitted up cars at the Tokyo Auto Salon (which is kinda like a Japanese SEMA) but I say by far the most interesting car there is probably this – a FT-86 Concept that’s been done up quite well.

Other than this FT-86, a number of other cars have had the G Sports treatment given to them, such as the Noah, the Voxy, the Mark X, and the Prius. Toyota’s GAZOO Racing arm has its own set of cars to showcase including a Lexus LF-A. Lexus will be showing an IS F Circuit Club Sports Concept. TRD will have a Corolla Axio “GT” TRD Turbo.

And why “G Sports”? Apparently Toyota says the letter G heralds back to the days of cars like the 2000GT and the Celica GT-Four. You know what I think? The letter G comes after F, so Toyota G Sports comes after Lexus F-Sports :P G-nius!

Another bonus will be a trailer released by Gran Turismo 5 that showcases the FT-86 complete with G Sports kit doing its stuff in the virtual world, so please enjoy that and a small gallery of the FT-86 G Sports Concept after the jump.
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