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Lexus to recall Variable Gear Ratio Steering equipped LS

May 20, 2010 at 10:56 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Lexus


Toyota Motor Corporation is preparing a recall of Lexus LS models equipped with Variable Gear Ratio Steering (VGRS). The number of cars involved is still being finalised but initial figures show approximately 11,500 affected vehicles globally.

VGRS is a feature that enables easier handling during low speed driving and better stability at high speeds by changing the gear ratio. The LS’ problem occurs at low speed when manoeuvring the steering wheel to full lock position. If the driver then returns the steering wheel very fast, this could lead to a steering wheel off-centre condition even though the driving wheels would be straight.

This phenomenon will be resolved automatically in a few seconds and the driver may notice this correction as the steering wheel moves slowly by itself to the centre position when driving straight during the correction operation. The driver remains in control of the vehicle as the steering wheel self corrects itself.

This matter has been under investigation by TMC since March this year after have received approximately 10 complaints in Japan. No accidents have been reported relating to this issue and no other Lexus vehicles are affected.

A quick check at Lexus Malaysia’s website show that both LS models sold here – the LS 460L and LS 460 Sport – come with VGRS. The company should be already in touch with customers of the big limo. We’ll post updates, if any.

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Honda skeptical of electric cars, to focus on improving fuel efficiency in internal combustion engine

May 20, 2010 at 10:21 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Honda, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

Honda is skeptical of the electric car as the future of motoring. Tomohiko Kawanabe, president of Honda’s R&D unit, said that “they lack confidence” in EV tech. “It’s questionable whether consumers will accept the annoyances of limited driving range and having to spend time charging them,” he went on to say.

“We are definitely conducting research on electric cars, but I can’t say I can wholeheartedly recommend them,” said Kawanabe, who is an engine specialist. Honda will still sell electric vehicles in the US though, but only to help meet California emission rules. From model years 2012 to 2014, the largest carmakers by volume in The Golden State must sell about 60,000 plug-in hybrid vehicles and electric cars combined. Kawanabe stated that their main goal is to improve the fuel efficiency of new and upgraded models.

Honda has been researching battery powered cars since 1988 and started leasing out the EV Plus in the US and Japan before the turn of the millennium. That car used a nickel-metal hydride battery pack which ran 210 km on a single charge, very good even for today’s standards. The company then shifted to hybrids and hydrogen-powered fuel-cell vehicles; Honda believes that the latter is the ultimate zero-emission vehicle.

Honda’s stand is the opposite of what Nissan believes. The Renault-Nissan Alliance is betting big time on an electric future and will roll out 500,000 units per year across the globe from 2012, starting with the Leaf. Alliance CEO Carlos Ghosn said that EVs will make up 10% of the global car market by 2020. Who do you think is right?
Source

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VIDEO: Lexus CT 200h “Dark Ride” viral ad campaign

May 19, 2010 at 6:05 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Lexus, Videos

Lexus is pulling out all the stops to promote its new hybrid hatchback – the CT 200h. Making the car look like a star is vital in creating appeal, and with the Dark Ride viral ad campaign, Lexus follows the footsteps of Audi and famously BMW with its “The Hire” series of short films featuring celebs like Madonna and Clive Owen. No human stars for Lexus though; the car is the only star.

“With ‘Dark Ride’ we are creating a unique virtual test drive opportunity so consumers can experience this hybrid, that is like no other, months before it is available at dealerships in early 2011. In it, consumers play a co-starring role as the fun-to-drive Lexus CT 200h is put through its paces. By guiding the driver and the CT through a series of adventures, customers will be exposed to ‘The Darker Side of Green,’ which is completely different than the way hybrids are usually portrayed,” explains Lexus marketing VP Dave Nordstrom.

Based on the LF-Ch concept, the much toned down CT 200h is a Golf sized five-door hatch powered by a 1.8-litre VVT-i petrol engine with an electric motor.

Click here for more info and images.

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Ford to campaign hybrid rally car in 2013 WRC

May 19, 2010 at 5:14 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ford, Motorsports

Ford is planning to campaign a hybrid rally car in the 2013 World Rally Championship. Not only has the Blue Oval been pushing for FIA regulations to allow hybrids, they claim to already have a system that’s easy to implement in their rally cars.

“Introducing hybrid technology is something we need to look at for the future. I think we need to be looking at it for 2013. I’m not an engineer but I think there’s a degree of taking this one off the shelf at Ford. We’re not trying to re-invent the wheel here. Obviously, there’s a balance of how to make the weight work and things like that, but we need to be looking at running the car between stages and into service without the engine,” stated Gerrard Quinn, Motorsports Manager at Ford Europe.

“We haven’t put a date on it. We’re talking about possibilities. We’ve got lateral thinking going on. Hybrid is talked about and when there’s enough to work with and have a race – one hybrid car doesn’t prove anything. But if you’ve got three or four they can race and compared with the normal car. We absolutely need this, but it’s a case of doing it properly,” Morrie Chandler, WRC Commission president responded.

Citroen, defending champion and the only other manufacturer in the WRC, had tested out a C4 WRC hybrid but never sent one out to compete before.

Officially, Ford says it’s striving to run a sustainable and environmentally friendly team, and things taken into consideration include the use of sustainable materials, substance management (interior), life cycle global warming potential (CO2) and life cycle air quality potential (other emissions).

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Avus Performance makes its own “RS4″ to rival the M3

May 19, 2010 at 4:33 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

There may be no RS badged variant for the current B8 Audi A4, but German tuner Avus Performance has come up with a tweaked S4 that provides RS4 levels of performance to challenge the BMW M3.

In standard form, the S4 is no slouch with a 3.0-litre supercharged V6 engine that makes 333 bhp and 440 Nm of torque. Clearly not enough for Avus, they threw in a series of upgrades that included a custom exhaust system. The end result is 420 bhp and 540 Nm of torque, which compares well with the naturally aspirated M3′s 414 bhp/400 Nm. Avus doesn’t provide performance numbers, but their car should be much faster than the S4′s 0-100 km/h time of 5.1 seconds. Along with the added grunt, Avus added in a new spring kit along with 20-inch alloy wheels wrapped with 255/30 Hankook Ventus S1Evo tyres. Strange rubber choice from a European tuner.

The S4′s looks have been made more aggressive by a new front grille, spoiler, and rear diffuser painted in metallic black. Customers can choose to replace the abovementioned parts with carbon fibre items. Unsurprisingly, the car’s cabin can be specified with carbon trim as well. Gallery after the jump.
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Torque Developments supercharger kits for FN Type R

May 19, 2010 at 2:00 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

The Honda Civic Type R, whether in JDM or Euro spec, is famous for its howling, rev hungry i-VTEC engine, which makes trips to the redline so addictive. But when faced with turbocharged Euro hot hatches, the Honda driver will need a lot of hard work and commitment to keep pace due to the relative lack of grunt. Forced induction might be the answer, as suggested by Torque Developments (TD).

The tuning house developed three levels of supercharger upgrades for the 197 bhp 2.0-litre K20AZ3 i-VTEC engine that powers the European Civic Type R hatchback. The conversions are based on a proven package produced in the US by CT Engineering, which has required revisions for right hand drive installation, plus the reworking of major components to ensure optimum fit and performance.


Click to enlarge

The Stage One supercharger was designed to work with the stock air intake and exhaust system, and is a straightforward bolt-on “Roots-style” kit that requires no modifications to engine. This low pressure (4-5 PSI) unit includes a Hondata ECU reflash to optimise ignition and fuel settings plus a carbon fibre fuel rail cover.

Meant to provide “linear boost”, Stage One adds a healthy 75 bhp (to 272 bhp) and bumps torque from 193 Nm to 258 Nm. Weak low end pull is one of the CTR’s weak points; with 90% of max torque available from 3,500 rpm things should be much improved. It costs £4911.50 in the UK, and comes with a 12-month/50,000 km warranty.

Stage Two builds on the above, with the addition of a smaller supercharger pulley to increase boost pressure by a further 3 PSI, larger fuel injectors and extra Hondata ECU remapping, which raises the FN’s rev limit to 8,500 rpm. In addition, a choice of Mugen, Toda Racing or HKS induction kit is “advised” for better performance. Adding 95 bhp (to make 292 bhp) and 85 Nm (to 278 Nm), this kit costs £5955.75.

Stage Three is the same as Two, but with an even smaller pulley for an additional 1 PSI. This ultimate CTR provides 302 bhp and 285-292 Nm of torque to play with. Now that the Honda’s front wheels need to handle significantly more grunt, TD suggests some parts to “retain the cohesive nature of the driving experience”. Cost options include a Wavetrac LSD, Fast Road suspension geometry set up, lowering springs, adjustable coilover suspension and exhaust systems from Toda or Mugen.

The Stage One set sounds quite appealing, as it’s simple, safe and significantly ups performance. Know of any local FD2R with forced induction?

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Great Wall C30 Teng Yi set to be GWM’s global car

May 19, 2010 at 1:16 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, China, Great Wall, International News

Great Wall Motor’s freshly launched C30 Teng Yi is set to be the company’s first global car, which means that the company will look seriously at export markets for the car instead of usually just selling it to the domestic Chinese market. Great Wall Motor intends to reach a 1:1 domestic to export ratio. In fact we may even see it here in Malaysia, since we have seen some Great Wall truck products with trade plates being tested here in Malaysia. An Australian debut is set for 2011.

There are hints of the previous generation Vios in the C30′s design much like the rest of Great Wall’s designs which are quite “Toyota-inspired” although with the C30 most of the car now looks significantly different from the design it was “inspired” from. The front end is similar to other Toyota designs like the Scion tC and the JDM market Corolla Axio.

The car is much bigger than a Vios though – it’s width, height and length of 4,452mm by 1,705mm by 1,480mm shows its longer and taller than the Corolla Altis’s 4,540mm x 1,760mm x 1,465mm but narrower. Wheelbase is 2,610mm which beats the Corolla Altis and Latio’s 2,600mm wheelbase. You could probably consider it a smallish C-segment car instead of a large B segment car.

The 1.5 litre engine is designated the GW4G15. It has variable valve timing and can do 138Nm of torque at 4,200rpm and a peak horsepower of 103 horsepower at 6,000rpm, which isn’t fantastic but it does meet Euro 4 emissions standards. The transmission used is a CVT gearbox of an unknown origin – sources online say that it’s self-developed by GWM.

A few variants are available in China ranging from 58,900 RMB (RM27,700) for the base model, 62,900 RMB (RM29,600) for the standard model, 65,900 RMB (RM31,000) for the “luxury” model, and the top of the line priced at 71,900 RMB (RM33,800).

Look after the jump for a few more photos related to the C30.
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Driven reviews the Panamera and puts different transportation to the test!

May 19, 2010 at 1:10 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Local News, Videos


Watch Driven Season 1 Episode 7’s 30 second promo

This Sunday Driven will showcase the Panamera and find out if Porsche has done it right with its first 4-door Gran Turismo. In this special episode the team also puts Klang Valley’s transportation system to the test.

Sharizan, Alis and Harvinder will be given a set of missions to accomplish while they make their way around Klang Valley via a car, a bike and our public transportation system to find out which mode is most effective in terms of time and money. You can check all these out this Sunday at 10.30pm on 8TV!

Comments and feedback can be posted on Driven.com.my.

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Toyota pays record $16.4 million fine over recall issue

May 19, 2010 at 10:42 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

Toyota has paid a record $16.4 million fine to settle allegations by US regulators the company was too slow to recall vehicles with defective accelerator pedals. It was claimed that Toyota hid the issue from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) for at least four months, while the law required safety defects to be reported withing five business days.

That sum, the maximum allowed under auto safety regulations, was paid to the US Treasury in lieu of the Japanese automaker admitting wrongdoing. Now, I’m not sure how American laws work, but the exchange sounds like quite a good deal. The civil penalty payment was paid two days before Toyota USA sales chief, Jim Lentz, is expected to appear before a congressional committee investigating Toyota recalls in this long saga.

There’s more to come for the world’s biggest automaker: US safety regulators are also investigating whether Toyota delayed a 2009 recall of all-weather floor mats that could jam the gas pedal. That investigation is expected to run through the summer and Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood does not rule out the possibility of another fine.

Away from the courts, things look rosier for Toyota. Its US sales rose 24% in April as incentives buoyed demand for the Corolla and Prius. Company president Akio Toyoda was quoted as saying: “We are still in the middle of the storm, but I am feeling that we can see clear skies in the distance.”

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Cayenne gets 200 bhp boost and 911 eyes from Russians

May 19, 2010 at 9:39 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Porsche

Old or new, we’ve never been big fans of the Cayenne’s looks. Now, look what Topcar has done to the second-gen yet to be launched Cayenne. The Russian tuning firm has developed three different styling packages for the super SUV. Each model gets a 200 horsepower boost from 550 to 750 bhp and will sit on forged wheels. Other standard offerings include new side mirrors and added LED lighting.

The first of the three packages is the Cayenne Advantage 2, which has Porsche 911 headlights and includes front and rear spoiler bumpers, extended fenders, side skirts, wide door caps and a new bonnet. Only 25 of these cars will be specially built. What do you think of those classic oval headlamps on the Cayenne?

Another limited edition package would be the Vantage GTR 2 which retains the original headlights but comes with wider intakes as part of a new front bumper, front and rear fender extenders, a bonnet and side skirts which gives is said to give the “bird of prey” look. Finally, the Cayenne Vantage 2, which is almost similar but not limited edition.

The upside to Topcar’s packages are that all of the body panels will be fully manufactured from carbon kevlar and carbon fibre, a combo that’s strong and light. The cars will be showcased at the Moscow International Motor Show in August and later at the Essen Motor Show.

For now, look for a photo gallery after the jump. Lumma Design also has a pimped up new Cayenne – click here to see the CLR 550 GT.
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