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Vettel and Webber make it a Red Bull front row in Melbourne

March 27, 2010 at 6:42 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports


Sebastian Vettel claimed his second pole position in as many races after beating home favourite and team mate Mark Webber to P1 in qualifying for tomorrow’s Australian Grand Prix. Red Bull totally dominated qualifying under Melbourne’s dark clouds and topped the time sheets in all three sessions. Webber tried hard to challenge his German team mate but the Aussie’s Q3 lap time of 1:24.035 wasn’t enough to beat Vettel’s 1:23.919.

Behind the Red Bull front row is Fernando Alonso for Ferrari alongside reigning world champion Jenson Button in fourth. Felipe Massa in the other scarlet car qualified fifth, ahead of the Mercedes GP Petronas duo of Nico Rosberg in sixth and seven-time champion Michael Schumacher in seventh. Completing the top-10 are Rubens Barrichello for Williams-Cosworth in eighth, Robert Kubica for Renault in ninth and Adrian Sutil for Force India in tenth.


Did we miss anyone? No, because Lewis Hamilton was the only big gun to miss out on Q3. We did not see the Brit make any mistake on TV and there wasn’t any news about mechanical problems, so it looks like just a bad day in the office for the 2008 champion. He’s starting in 11th place beside Sebastien Buemi’s Toro Rosso.

The first two qualifying sessions told pretty much the same story as in Bahrain. Lotus Racing’s Heikki Kovalainen was the best of the “new boys” in 19th, followed by team mate Jarno Trulli in 20th place. The Virgins of Timo Glock and Lucas di Grassi were 21st and 22nd, respectively.

Bruno Senna and Karun Chandok of HRT will occupy the last row on the grid. Joining these teams to go out in Q1 was Renault’s Russian driver Vitaly Petrov. However, his 18th place time of 1:26.471 was more than two seconds faster than Heikki’s, highlighting the gulf in pace between established and new teams.

Click here to view the complete results.

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Hamilton fastest in Melbourne’s second practice, Lotus Racing still ahead among new teams

March 26, 2010 at 11:36 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

The Formula 1 circus had two free practice sessions earlier today for the Australian Grand Prix at the Albert Park street circuit. The first session was led by Robert Kubica in his Renault. He clocked in 22 laps and set a lap time of 1:26.927. Mercedes’ Nico Rosberg and McLaren’s Jenson Button were second and third fastest.

Bahrain GP’s top finishers and championship leaders Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa from Ferrari settled for sixth and fourth respectively. The driver who almost won the Bahrain race Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull finished in fifth place while Lewis Hamilton of McLaren ended the session in seventh place followed by Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Buemi and Renault’s Vitaly Petrov. 7 times World Champion Michael Schumacher was 12th fastest in his Mercedes GP car.

New comers Hispania, Virgin and Lotus made up the back end of the grid. In this first session all three teams managed to clock some crucial laps. Lotus Racing shined the brightest among all three with Jarno Trulli setting 1:31.652 which put him in 19th. That time is about five seconds behind the leader, a gap that was also seen during pre-season testing and during the Bahrain GP.

Heikki Kovalainen was right behind him followed by Lucas Di Grassi who was slightly over a second slower than both the Lotus drivers. Hispania’s Bruno Senna and Karun Chandhok settled for 22nd and 23rd respectively. Senna was about 0.6 seconds slower than Di Grassi’s time. His team mate was a further 0.8 seconds behind. This is mostly due to Chandhok’s lack of track time with the Hispania car. The final spot was taken up by Timo Glock from Virgin.

The second session was ‘blessed’ with rain and both McLaren drivers Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button took up the top two positions followed by local hero Mark Webber in his Red Bull. Michael Schumacher, for the first time finished ahead of this team mate in fourth. Vitaly Petrov was fifth followed by Sebastien Buemi, Force India’s Adrian Sutil and his team mate Vitantonio Liuzzi. Rubens Barrchello from Williams and Schumacher’s team mate Rosberg took up ninth and tenth spots.

Both Ferrari drivers finished outside of the top ten but revealed that they were concentrating on Sunday’s race preparations. Yet again, Lotus Racing finished ahead of Virgin and Hispania. Hekki Kovalainen was 18th, ahead of Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari. Jarno Trulli was 20th. Both Virgin and Hispania had problems with their cars and only Timo Glock managed to complete nine laps, finishing in 21st.

Lucas Di Grassi, Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna failed to set any time as Di Grassi suffered from problems with his telemetry system while Chandhok and Senna had fuel pressure and transmission-related issues. Lotus Racing has been consistently proving that it has the reliability but can it inch its way towards teams like Toro Rosso and Sauber? Well only time will tell.

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Next-gen Kia Optima cabin sketch revealed!

March 26, 2010 at 6:16 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Kia, Koreans

Kia Optima Interior
Click for enlarged image

First it was the design sketches, then Kia released the official images of its next generation Optima. Now, the Korean carmaker shows us for the first time hints of the D-segment car’s cabin via the sketch you see above. The new Optima, called Magentis in some markets, will be unwrapped at the New York International Auto Show next week.

The dashboard in the sketch isn’t too outlandish, and we believe that it’s a good guide to what we’ll see in the final product. We can see that there are rear air vents and (presumably) leather trim with contrasting stitching. The leather trim also wraps around the instrument binnacle and centre console, which is angled towards the driver, creating a wrap-around driver focussed cockpit one wouldn’t normally associate with a Korean saloon.

The three-pod instruments are “packed” together with air con vents on each side, which looks good, while the steering wheel design is much more stylish than the Forte’s to these eyes. The climate control/audio panel looks very simple, and I can spot a human figure style air con mode control, an idea borrowed from Volvo and also found in the Hyundai Sonata YF.

Looks good to us. What do you think?

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Renault and Daimler close to a stake swap tie-up?

March 26, 2010 at 9:04 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz, Renault

Renault Fluence

Word is that Daimler AG and Renault are very close to a German-French ‘alliance’ that includes a “symbolic” equity swap of 3%. Daimler AG would hold 3% of Renault and Renault will be taking up 3% of Daimler AG. The official word from the two companies confirm that they are in talks for some kind of collaboration, but declined to confirm that it would include an equity stake swap.

Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn said at the Geneva Motorshow earlier this year that the alliance could afford to buy stake in a third partner if needed. He did not mention who they are looking at specifically, instead just saying that the alliance was “talking to many people in the industry.” The Renault-Nissan alliance has been around for 11 years and it seems to be working for them well. Daimler’s tie-ups haven’t been particularly successful, they ‘divorced’ Chrysler not too long ago.

Renault Wind
Renault Wind – future smart roadster?

The partnership between Daimler and Renault will most probably revolve around sharing the development costs of compact front wheel drive platforms and engines. Mercedes-Benz needs to spread the development cost of its compact front wheel drive A-Class and B-Class vehicles as well as Smart cars. It was previously in talks with rivals BMW for the same but that collaboration went down the drain as both parties ended up feeling it was necessary to have competitive differentiation in that segment that would not be possible if they shared platforms and engines.

BMW also has a French partner for its front wheel drive MINI vehicles – their transversely-installed Prince engines are shared with PSA Peugeot Citroen. They couldn’t find a platform partner so they’re instead going to share the next generation MINI front wheel drive platform with compact BMWs instead, leading to the shocking announcement last week that there would be front wheel drive compact BMWs in the pipeline.

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Can you use biodiesel in your diesel car in Malaysia?

March 26, 2010 at 8:33 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News

Biodiesel is supposed to be available at the pumps in stages from mid next year, but Sime Darby plantation has already started using its own blend of biodiesel called Bio-N (pronounced Beyond) in its upstream operation vehicles nearly two years ago, since March 2008. The initiative started at the East and West Estates and Mills on Carey Island and later expanded to other estates and oil mills in Selangor and Negeri Sembilan.

The initial biodiesel blend was B5 (5% palm oil biodiesel mixed with 95% petroleum-based diesel) but some estates gradually started using B10 which increased the palm oil percentage up to 10%. For this initiative, upstream operations use about 100 metric tons of pure biodiesel a year. The biodiesel comes from Sime Darby’s biodiesel plants in Teluk Panglima Garang and Pulau Carey, with annual production capacity of 30,000 metric tons and 60,000 metric tons respectively. The smaller plant was designed in-house while the other employed the Malaysian Palm Oil Board’s (MPOB) technology. Both plants were designed to use palm oil as the feedstock. They also have a third plant in The Netherlands which uses rapeseed oil, soybean oil and palm oil as feedstock.

Sime Darby President and Group Chief Executive Dato’ Sri Ahmad Zubir Murshid even filled up his diesel-powered BMW 730Ld (along with some other Sime Darby-owned passenger cars) with Bio-N two days ago in Carey Island in the presence of Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. Sime Darby says the car has no issue running the biodiesel.

However, it seems car companies are Malaysia have not really been kept in the loop, which is really scary since “mid next year” is just over a year away! BMW Malaysia clarified yesterday that they have not participated in the research and development of Bio-Diesel fuel alternatives in Malaysia as they do not possess the appropriate research facilities and human capital to do so. According to BMW Malaysia, the development of Bio-N is an initiative undertaken by Sime Darby without any involvement from BMW Group Malaysia (despite a 730Ld used as a “demo”) and none of their vehicle models have undergone any authorised internal testing with palm-based bio-diesel fuel here in Malaysia.

BMW also stressed that until Bio-N or any other form of bio-fuel is approved by the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Department of Environment and SIRIM Bhd, they cannot comment on the effectiveness or the safety of such use of Bio-N in any of their models and any warranties provided by BMW Group Malaysia via their authorised dealership network to BMW owners who utilize bio-fuels are deemed to be automatically void and are made at the owner’s risk.

What BMW will say is that at the current moment, their diesel models will function efficiently and effectively with the current Euro 2M quality diesel which is currently available in Malaysia. They are also expecting the imminent introduction of Euro 4M standard diesel in 2011, as per the revised NAP announced recently. Hopefully that will still be on schedule.

Ford Focus TDCi

We also contacted Sime Darby AutoConneXion as they have a few diesel models on sale in Malaysia, including various Land Rover models and the affordable Ford Focus TDCi. SDAC says their cars should have NO problems running B5 biodiesel blends as long as the blend complies with the international standards of EN14214, which describes the minimum requirements for biodiesel.

We tried getting in contact with some retail petroleum companies here in Malaysia to get more details on how the biodiesel will be sold but we didn’t manage to get any useful information. Biodiesel could be offered as a supplement to regular diesel, but then there will be the issue of underground storage tanks!
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Central region to go B5 biodiesel from June 2011

March 25, 2010 at 12:50 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News

Apparently diesel in the central region of the Peninsular Malaysia will be B5 biodiesel from June 2011 onwards. It was supposed to be implemented earlier but had a four year delay – and next year it will be here, apparently at the petroleum company and government’s cost.

The government will be spending RM43.1 million on developing six petroleum depots with biodiesel blending capabilities while all other costs (per litre costs?) will be born by the petroleum companies. At least that’s what Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok is saying for now, according to a report in The Edge. We might end up paying for this some way or another. The days of low subsidised diesel prices may just end soon. At least diesel will still be a good idea even after a price hike because it inherently has higher energy content and can go further on a litre compared to gasoline.

B5 is basically a blend of 95% regular petroleum-based diesel and 5% palm oil-based biodiesel. Apparently Sime Darby’s fleet of company 730Ld limos have been running on biodiesel fuel produced by the group and are running fine. I’ve contacted BMW Malaysia for clarification if the 320d, 520d, 730Ld and X5 3.0d can indeed run on the new B5 fuel without issues or not. I’ve also contacted Sime Darby AutoconneXion on their various non-truck passenger diesels. But there shouldn’t be an issue.

I will update you guys when I get answers.

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Volkswagen Group Malaysia CKD local assembly plans to be finalised by mid 2010!

March 25, 2010 at 9:37 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Volkswagen

We could be looking at more affordable CKD Volkswagens in Malaysian showrooms by early 2012, if Volkswagen Group Malaysia’s plans are on schedule. VGM MD Andreas Prinz said yesterday at the opening of Volkswagen’s new 3S centre in PJ that the company would be finalizing its CKD plans by the first half of this year.

The company is currently still finalizing various options such as local partners as well as where the plant will be. Once finalised, it would take another 12 months to 18 months before the plant is ready to churn out locally assembled Golf GTIs for local consumption. The plant will apparently cater for both local consumption as well as regional exports. It would be Volkswagen’s second ASEAN assembly plant after the Touran assembly plant in Indonesia. The Indonesian plant is expected to slowly become a full fledged manufacturing plant instead of just doing assembly.

Mr Prinz also revealed that there will a few interesting Volkswagen launches this year. He mentioned a 1.4 litre Golf – could it be that we’re finally going to see a twin-charged Golf Sport TSI here in Malaysia? Or is it the Golf 1.4 TSI with the single turbocharger making 122 horses? Other models coming up by the middle of this year are a 1.4 litre version of the Scirocco and a 1.2 litre version of the Polo. He didn’t mention this at the event but according to VW’s website itself, the Passat CC is also apparently being updated with the DSG gearbox, replacing the 6-speed auto.

The new RM1.2 million PJ 3S centre is located at Jalan 222 and is operated by F A Wagen Sdn Bhd, a member of Federal Auto Holdings Berhad. It is also the first authorised outlet in Malaysia to achieve total compliance with Volkswagen’s new corporate identity. The branch has a 4,600 square feet showroom capable of displaying up to seven cars. The service centre is equipped with 8 work bays and the latest diagnostic systems and specialised tools needed to service the new generation of Volkswagen models offered here in Malaysia. There is also a dedicated body repair and painting facility with a baking oven. F A Wagen plans to open two more branches within the next 12 months. This includes a purpose-built 6-storey flagship in Glenmarie, Shah Alam that is targeted to commence operations in September 2010 and a 3S branch in Johor Bahru that is scheduled to open in 2011.

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Lexus IS 250C Convertible now in Malaysia!

March 24, 2010 at 5:53 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Lexus

Lexus Malaysia is now offering its first convertible car – the Lexus IS 250C. It’s priced at RM432,000 OTR without insurance. Scary prices considering in Japan the list price is 4,950,000 Yen to 5,350,000 Yen. Apart from the standard colours available for the IS range, there are three special additional colours offered for IS 250C – Blue Metallic, Silvery Blue Metallic and Cattleya Mica Metallic. The engine is the same Dual VVT-i D-4 direct injection 205 horsepower 252Nm unit (detuned from the Japanese spec 215 PS) in the IS 250, 0 to 100km/h takes 9 seconds compared to 8.4 seconds in the sedan, thanks to the heavier weight of the convertible body.

The 3-piece hard top takes 21 seconds to come down and is made of lightweight aluminium. The air conditioning system has also been tuned for convertible usage, featuring a special top down mode that adjusts cabin temperature in relation to exterior temperature and the amount of sunlight. Air volume is also adjusted according to vehicle speed. With the top up, you get 553L of boot space which is more than sufficient for 2 golf bags. With the design to fold the 3-piece retractable roof using the least amount of space, the IS-C boot is still able to accommodate a 9” golf bag with the top down.

Look after the jump for a full gallery and videos of the car.
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Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG available in Malaysia for RM1,999,999!

March 24, 2010 at 4:47 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Mercedes Benz

The SLS AMG is the AMG division’s first exclusive to AMG only car and it’s now here in Malaysia, priced at RM1,999,999 OTR without insurance! Of course, if you want a gold one you’ll have to pay more. In Europe, the car is sold at 149,000 Euros but you’ll actually have to pay an additional 19% VAT tax which brings the price up to 177,310 Euros. That’s about RM 892k. Add our Malaysian taxes and you’ll end up with way over double the amount, but I guess it’s all for a good cause.

For that 2 million buckaroos with a ringgit change you get a 6.2 litre V8 producing 571 PS at 6,800rpm and 792Nm of torque at 4,750rpm. The motor is a M156 massaged to be extra special installed in the SLS, rechristened the M159. It gets a new intake system, revised valves and cams, and a dry sump instead of a wet sump. On the inside, there’s plenty of real metal and dead cow, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia assures.

The car you see above is the first right hand drive SLS AMG in the world and it’ll be on display rotation at various locations and showrooms in Malaysia. Look after the jump for photos and a video from the preview this morning.
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Spotted: big time Lotus Racing fan’s motorcycle!

March 24, 2010 at 12:46 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Bikes, Formula 1, Yamaha

Out of a sea of Yamaha 135LC bikes (I hope I got the bike right) going around KL roads, this is surely one that stands out. We spotted this bike on the way back from Sepang this morning. It’s decked out in full Lotus Racing livery, including Bridgestone and Proton ‘sponsor stickers’, even down to the colour of the wheels!

There’s also a very small ‘signature’ that seems to say ‘Rimba Paintshop Design’ or something like that so that could be where he did the design. Looks pretty cool I must say, but it would be even better if he had a matching helmet and perhaps a Lotus Racing jacket. Continue reading for a full gallery of the bike.
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