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1931 Ford Model A, Mitsubishi Lancer facelift and more on Driven this Sunday

June 11, 2010 at 5:26 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Local News, Videos


Watch Driven Episode 10 promo footage

Driven will showcase its 10th episode this Sunday and it will feature a review on the facelifted Mitsubishi Lancer as Sharizan finds out if this new aggressive looking compact sedan is worthy of carrying the Lancer nameplate. There will also be a special story on a man who helped develop modern day motoring, Henry Ford.

Our insider will talk about the engine lubricant and share with you the types that are available and why it is important to keep your engine lubricated with fresh oil. Driven also does its first classic car feature with a very rare piece of history, a 1931 Ford Model A found right here in Malaysia!

You can also take part in The Double Barrel Hunt and catch-up on previous episodes at Driven.com.my. Driven airs every Sunday at 10.30pm on 8TV.

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It pays to be a Nissan director, four times more to be exact!

June 11, 2010 at 4:50 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under International News, Nissan

While nowhere near as bad as top officials in government owned companies paying themselves big bonuses based on “projected earnings”, the business community was still surprised to hear that Nissan Motor Co will pay its directors almost four times more than their counterparts in Toyota and three times more than Honda directors for the fiscal year that ended in March.

Nissan wants to pay its 12 directors including CEO Carlos Ghosn an average of 141 million yen ($1.5 million). Toyota on the other hand aims to pay an average of 37.5 million yen to its 38 directors, while Honda will pay its 21 directors an average of 48.3 million yen. However, Nissan’s net income in the fiscal year was 42.4 billion yen, compared with 209.5 billion yen at Toyota and 268.4 billion at Honda.

Not included in those figures are stock options that the 38 directors from Toyota will be getting. However, this will only add up to 593 million yen, which is an average of 15.6 million yen per director. Honda bosses are also set to get a 15 million yen average bonus. All three companies will seek approval for the pay plans at their respective shareholder meetings later this month.

Analysts say that Nissan’s high remuneration package could be due to a number of factors, one of them being the Yokohama based carmaker’s rapid recovery from a loss a year earlier. Compared to its rivals, Nissan also has a more international corporate culture thanks to its alliance with Renault, according to Satoru Takada of TIW Inc.

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Honda faces yet another strike at locks supplier

June 11, 2010 at 3:33 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under China, Honda, International News

Honda has been facing a host of strikes at different plants in China recently. The latest is at a lock supplier, located at Southern China’s Pearl River Delta. The workers plan to extend their strike to a third day.

Demands this time are for an increase in annual wages of nothing less than 15%, improved allowances, benefits, the right to organize independent labour unions and a promise from management that anyone joining the industrial action won’t be dismissed. The workers at the plant donned white overalls and pressed up against the factory fences shouting for their demands while being watched by police. “We’re definitely going to strike tomorrow, our wages are too low,” said one of the workers.

Honda Lock have confirmed that shipments to Japan were unaffected for at least a day or two as they have enough existing stock ready for shipment, but went on to add that the negotiations were on going and a prolonged dispute could disrupt the flow of supply to Honda’s car plants. “We’re still gathering information, and we don’t know when the negotiations will end,” Honda Lock’s Hirotoshi Sato said.

Previous strikes at an exhaust pipes maker in Foshan ended late last Wednesday, and as production returns to normal, shipments to Honda’s suspended factories would return to normal on Friday. This seems to be only a temporary agreement though, as key negotiations over pay are still underway it could still turn in either direction.

As we mentioned before, strikes and their accompanying settlements have sparked a whole new revolution in terms of factory workers pay. If automakers are worried about the fact that China’s labour costs might outweigh profitability, they needn’t fret.

One auto analyst from JPMorgan said that wage hikes would have little impact on Honda’s profits as labour cost accounted for just 5 to 6% of its total revenue, even in Japan! “So if we assume wages in China are between one-fifth and one-third those in Japan, the cost of factory floor workers in China comes to around 2% of sales. Assuming factory wages in China were raised a uniform 30%, we estimate the impact on the China operating margin would be (a decline of) just 0.6 percent,” according to report written by analyst Kohei Takahashi.

More company executives agree that higher pay is inevitable for an economy like China which is developing immensely. There have even been some comparisons made between China and Japan in terms of their development.

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Maruti Suzuki RIII MPV due next year, exports planned

June 11, 2010 at 2:42 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, India, International News, Suzuki

Remember the Maruti Suzuki RIII MPV Concept from the Delhi show earlier this year? Reports are out to say that the production version of that concept will be launched as early as Q1 2011 as India’s market leader has already sent out quotation requests to vendors for components to be used in the manufacturing of the MPV.

The RIII, which sits on the SX4/Swift platform but with an extended wheelbase, is likely to be made at Maruti’s Gurgaon plant before production moves to an expanded Manesar plant. As the main production hub, India could export CBU units or knocked down kits to other markets, with Latin America and Eastern Europe being the possibilities. This smells a lot like an MPV for developing markets that could possibly make its way here.

The reports add that Suzuki wants to bring the RIII to Brazil, where big shareholder Volkswagen has a big presence and production capacity.

The RIII, which will be a seven seater (concept had 2-2-2 seating), is also rumoured to carry diesel engines from VW. Since Suzuki has access to only the Fiat Multijet diesel engine from its lone plant in India (already running at full capacity), it makes sense for Suzuki source TDI units from VW. Indian media speculates that this could be the 105 bhp 1.6-litre common rail diesel from the upcoming Vento (Polo sedan). On the petrol front, Suzuki’s 1.6-litre engine from the SX4 is a possible candidate.

Click here for more on the RIII concept and a gallery.

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11-year old Canadian snapped by Ferrari Driver Academy

June 11, 2010 at 1:52 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Ferrari, Formula 1, Motorsports

The tale of a 10-year old called Lewis Hamilton going up to Ron Dennis and telling the boss that he will race for McLaren one day is now a household story. Young Lewis was signed less than three years later, and he’s now the youngest ever F1 world champion. This young man you see here could well be the next Hamilton.

Only 11 years old, Montreal born Lance Stroll is the latest and youngest driver to be part of the Ferrari Driving Academy, which was created late last year to find and support talented young racing drivers with the eventual aim of getting them into F1.

At his age, Lance already has two wins at the Canadian national championship in Rotax Mini Max category, Coupe de Montreal and Coupe du Quebec Micro Max Championship in 2008 and both Mini Max Championships in 2009. He finished sixth in the World Finals at Lonato in the Mini Roc category and second in the Rotax Micro Max Florida Winter Tour. He also won the series this year in the Mini Max category along with championships for the Tag/Cadet Florida winter tour. Unsurprisingly, he has been nominated for the Rookie of the Year in 2008 by the Fedération Sport Automobile du Quebec and Driver of the Year in 2009.

“We are pleased to welcome Lance to our group,” said Luca Baldisserri, the Scuderia’s chief track engineer who runs the academy. “He is very young, but he has already shown in karting that he is exceptionally talented. We will follow him step by step in his forthcoming events in North America and he will soon also take part in our courses at Maranello.”

At the academy, Lance will join Jules Bianchi, a French driver who won the French Formula Renault 2.0 in 2007 and the F3 Euroseries in 2009 along with podium finishes in the GP2 Asia series. The fact that such an important man in the Ferrari F1 hierarchy heads this program shows how serious Ferrari is in wanting to find new talent.

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Sebastien Bourdais takes Le Mans pole, Peugeot fills up first two rows ahead of Audi

June 11, 2010 at 11:37 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Motorsports, Peugeot

A lot is happening this weekend. The World Cup kicks off, Formula 1 goes back to Montreal for the Canadian GP and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the world’s most famous endurance race is on. For the latter, it was always going to be Peugeot versus Audi with their diesel machines, and the French brand fired an early warning by bagging a 1-2 at the 1,000 km endurance race at Spa-Francorchamps last month, considered to be a “full dress rehearsal” for Le Mans.

More significantly, the four Peugeot 908 HDi FAP cars (three factory cars, one run by Oreca) have locked out the front two rows of the grid for the race, after beating Audi into submission throughout qualifying.

Bespectacled ex-F1 driver Sebastien Bourdais was the man to clinch pole, with his 3m19.711s effort on Wednesday proving good enough for top spot. Stephane Sarrazin, the man on pole in the last three consecutive 24 Hours, was denied a fourth time when the final stint in the #2 car was given to Nicolas Minassian. Their car finished third. Second spot went to Alex Wurz, Anthony Davidson and Marc Gene – all ex F1 drivers. The sole 908 run by a privateer team was in fourth, ahead of the three Audi R15 cars.

In the final qualifying session, Audi had closed the gap to the Peugeots, with Allan McNish moving into the 3m22s and then Mike Rockenfeller chalking up a 3m21s, which was only less than eight tenths slower than the Oreca Peugeot in fourth. But that was before the French marque sent its cars out for one last run to deflate their German rivals. None of the four 908s improved their best time set on Wednesday, but Bourdais, Minassian and Nicolas Lapierre widened the gap over the Audis to underline their dominance so far.

But of course, the unpredictable Le Mans is a 24-hour race, not a sprint, and anything can happen this weekend.

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MEC Design’s S65 AMG package for pre-facelift S-Class

June 11, 2010 at 10:27 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

The S-Class is a class act. No matter what the others say, the limo from Stuttgart is the premier choice for world leaders and industry captains – like a nice black suit, you can’t really go wrong with it. Debuting at Frankfurt 2005, the W221 S-Class underwent a facelift in 2009, which was launched here in CKD form back in February.

Not all would like the facelifted car though, which is a little more fussy in design. So how about this, a dressed up pre-facelift W221 that’s guaranteed to make you stand out (in a mafia boss kind of way). German based MEC Design morphed this “regular” S-Class into a pre-facelift S65 AMG, which is actually more fierce looking than the current AMG tuned S.

In the transformation, you get the AMG bumpers front and rear, 20-inch three piece MEC Xtreme III wheels, an adjustable electronic lowering module and a high performance quad tail pipe exhaust system. The interior is fitted with an MEC Design steering wheel and floor mats with leather edging. For the rear lights, we can see that they have changed the module to the multi-LED Christmas tree item of the facelifted car.

Now, all you need is a used S300/S350 for this project! Picture gallery after the jump.
[Read more...]

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New Suzuki Swift unveiled – larger in every dimension!

June 11, 2010 at 1:20 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Suzuki


Click for enlarged image

This is the all new 2011 Suzuki Swift and as you can see a layman would be hard pressed to find the difference between the old and the new car based on a glance at a photo alone.

There’s no doubt that the Swift this new model replaces looks good and it looks like Suzuki has taken a leaf out of BMW MINI’s book here – this new Swift looks like a subtle evolution of the old one just like now the new second generation BMW MINI still looks very much like the generation it replaces.

Under the skin though, wheelbase has grown by as much as 50mm longer, bringing the wheelbase of the new Swift up to 2,430mm. This comes together with an increase of overall length by 90mm. The body is now 5mm wider and 10mm taller. Front and rear track has also been increased by 10mm and 15mm respectively.


Click for enlarged image

So yes, this is a larger car and not merely a rehash of the old Swift.

The new Swift will be available with a 1.2 litre Dual VVT petrol engine with variable valve timing on both the intake and exhaust, producing an impressive 94 horsepower and 118Nm of torque, of which peak torque kicks in at 4,800rpm.

This petrol engine will be accompanied by a diesel with 1.3 litres of displacement, though no details on the oil burner have been revealed yet.


Click for enlarged image

Only two exterior photos have been released so far but we have something nice for you. Theophilus Chin has whipped up this quick chop of what a 3-door Suzuki Swift Sport could look like, based on these two photos that Suzuki have released. A 3-door body for this new Swift has been confirmed and both the 3-door and 5-door will be launched in the UK in Autumn this year.

We’re still waiting for Suzuki to released more photos of the car, as the first two photos you see in this post are the only they’ve released so far. You can also expect a new Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire to spawn from this new Swift. The Swift Dzire is a really weird looking sedan version of the Swift for the Indian market.

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Chronolyze dissects Porsche’s Sports Chrono Package Plus to deliver more information!

June 11, 2010 at 1:18 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under International News, Porsche

Owners of Porsche models such as the Boxter, Cayman, 911 and the Panamera usually have the option of a Sports Chrono Package thrown in with their car. This adds a sport button to the centre console that changes the management of the engine revs, suspension behaviour, and throttle response.

Alternatively if you opt for the ‘Sports Chrono Package Plus’, it adds a memory function to the system and allows you to review some of your ‘racing’ data on the Porsche PCM (multi-function display).

A company that makes the software Chronolyze have said that they can extract more information from the memory chip as data on the PCM is just the tip of the iceberg. This is because the ‘Sports Chrono Package Plus’ records vehicle speed, engine speed, transmission gear, steering angle, lateral g-forces, engine temperature, outside temperature, distance travelled, altitude and GPS coordinates. It seems that all that information can be downloaded from the car via Bluetooth or an iPod connection in the form of a text file.

Chronolyze is able to collate all this information and produce a computational representation of the information. The organised data is used to produce a 3D analysis of the laps along with a graph. The result is a pretty funky 3D representation of the laps you’ve taken superimposed on an actual map of the tarmac you’ve been burning up, thanks to the GPS coordinate data.

If you get bored looking at your telemetry, you can share it, rate it and even compare sessions from multiple files making sure you have hours of fun. All this available online for free, all you need now is a Porsche.

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Audi wants you to build the car of tomorrow!

June 11, 2010 at 1:01 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Audi, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News

If you’ve ever looked at an electric car and thought “I can do better”, well now you can. The big boys at Audi have issued a challenge to budding scientists and students to create the car of tomorrow.

Prospective entrants are encouraged to send their creative concepts to Audi and must contain “the current situation, the proposed solution and a path to that solution” of the production of the aforementioned car. Out of this, eight finalists will be invited for a two day workshop at Ingolstadt. Their concept will then be presented to a jury followed by a further session in the workshop with Audi production staff.

The candidates will have another two weeks to revise their concept before Audi announces the winners in early November. The deadline for entry is on the 31st of July. It would be good to see what designs and solutions the general public can produce.

Do you have automotive designs that you think will benefit Malaysians?

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