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Schumacher to retire before 2011 after poor season?

July 13, 2010 at 1:31 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

What do you think of Michael Schumacher’s season so far? Compare the answer to your reaction when he came back from retirement to join the Silver Arrows. Do you still think that it was wise of him to come back to the sport where he has won it all? Well, Sir Jackie Stewart, who retired in 1973 as a triple world champion, clearly thinks that Schumi’s comeback was a mistake.

When asked by Cologne Express if the seven-time world champion can keep up with young hotshots like Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton, the Scot said: “He cannot even keep up with his teammate. He (Nico Rosberg) is usually faster and has not won a grand prix. I would have preferred to have seen Michael not come back. Why did he do it? He had achieved everything and could only lose.”

The cheeky publication then probed if Stewart thinks Schumacher can improve in 2011. “The first question should be ‘will he do another year?’ I believe he will stop after this season,” came the reply. On talks that the German is aiming to be next year’s champion, Stewart said: “What does his heart say? I will believe it only when I see him on the starting grid in March.”

At last weekend’s British GP, Schumacher finished ninth while Rosberg got on the podium. He also qualified eight tenths behind Nico. The younger German has 90 points so far, more than his 41-year-old compatriot’s 36 points.

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Peugeot 508 info released – hybrid model has 200hp, AWD

July 13, 2010 at 12:41 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Peugeot

After the image leak of its new 508 sedan that we carried earlier, Peugeot has officially released pictures and some details on its D-segment contender. It will get a debut at the Paris Motor Show in October and will go on sale in Europe at the beginning of 2011. Next year will also see production start in China to serve what is now the world’s biggest auto market.

The 508 will be available in two body styles – saloon and wagon/estate. Based on PSA’s Platform 3, the 508, which will replace the 407 and 607, will be 4.79m long whereas the wagon is longer at 4.81m. The 407 is 4.69m long, so there’s a substantial increase in footprint here. Cabin and boot volume is up on the 407, although it’s not revealed by how much. For comparison, the big sized Honda Accord we have here is 4.95m long.

We see the 508′s cabin for the first time here, and Peugeot says that it combines hi-tech with high quality materials. The French brand aimed for “indisputable perceived quality” for the interior, both visually and to the touch.

The 508 range will include a hybrid with HYbrid4 technology. It’s capable of 200 hp and has an all-wheel drive setup. On electric-petrol mode, the 508 hybrid produces 99 g/km of CO2, which is unheard of in a big car like this. Standard engines are all “well positioned in their categories in terms of performance and driveability, fuel consumption and CO2 emissions”. The 508 will feature Peugeot’s e-HDi stop and start system, the first of a new generation of stop start systems which offers improved driveability and 15% better economy.

Pictures are after the jump.
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Tesla to provide Toyota with two electric prototypes

July 13, 2010 at 11:02 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Tesla Motors, Toyota

Tesla will deliver two prototype electric vehicles to Toyota by the end of this month. The cars will have Tesla electric motors and battery units housed in Toyota bodies, speculated to be the Toyota RAV4 and Lexus RX. This comes after Toyota announced in May that it will invest $50 million in Tesla Motors following an IPO, which generated over $200 million at one point.

“Toyota and Tesla engineering teams have made a lot of progress in a short amount of time and it is exciting to start seeing some initial results,” Tesla Chief Technology Officer JB Straubel said in a statement.

Other alternative fuel plans for Toyota at the moment include a electric city car based on the Toyota iQ, which is a separate project from that with Tesla, and the plug-in version of the Toyota Prius hybrid.

The world’s top carmaker previously gave off the impression that it did not really believe in pure electric cars, which they say is not practical due to their high cost, short range, long charging times and questionable battery technology. Perhaps the strong push by its rivals in the EV scene (GM with the Volt and Nissan with its Leaf) is pushing Toyota to join the party. Working with Tesla is a smart move that could pay off handsomely without the risk of major R&D investment.

Source

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GALLERY: Ferrari 599 GTO looking fabulous in action

July 13, 2010 at 10:36 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News

Previously, we’ve only seen studio images of the 599 GTO, but here’s Ferrari’s fastest ever road car basking in glory under the sun. And boy, does it look good strutting its stuff. As a recap, the 599 GTO made its public debut at this year’s Beijing Auto Show and this latest Gran Turismo Omologata is the road going version of the extreme 599XX. Only 599 examples will be made – this is sure to be a collector’s dream.

The 599 GTO’s 6.0-litre V12 makes 661 bhp at 8,250 rpm with maximum torque of 620 Nm at 6,500 rpm, while complying with Euro 5 and LEV 2 standards. Those Italian stallions can pull the 1,495 kg GTO to a 3.35 second run from 0-100 km/h and a top speed of “over 335 km/h”. This car lapped Fiorano at 1’24, which is faster than the Enzo.

Other highlights include a second generation magnetorheological suspension control system and new carbon-ceramic brakes that decelerates the car from 100-0 km/h in just 32.5 metres! The driver-car interface is integrated with Virtual Race Engineer (VRE) which provides the driver with instantaneous information on performance.

Go ahead and drool at the pics after the jump.
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Official photos of Peugeot 508 make their way online!

July 13, 2010 at 12:39 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Peugeot

Official photos of both the sedan and wagon version of the new Peugeot 508 have been leaked onto the internet, finding its way onto Forum Peugeot. The new 508 replaces both the 407 and the 607 and was first shown in concept form as the 5 By Peugeot concept.

The car should be powered by the usual stable of PSA engines including the 1.6 litre Prince engine mated to a new 6-speed transmission. It is also the first Peugeot to showcase the marque’s new design language – that huge metal-toothed grin is gone.

I think the wagon looks better but it’s unlikely to be introduced here in Malaysia under Nasim’s distributorship, but hey never say never. Who would have thought that you could buy a 1.6 litre direct injection turbocharged hatchback for just over RM110k?

Look after the jump for the leaked gallery of the new 508 range.
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Naza to assemble the Peugeot 408 next year!

July 12, 2010 at 5:21 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Naza, Peugeot

Automobiles Peugeot and the Naza Group have today signed a letter of intention (LOI) to assemble a “three-box vehicle situated within the upper levels of the C segment”. This is most likely the Peugeot 408 sedan that was launched in China earlier this year.

The car, codenamed T73 sedan, is based on the 308 hatchback and the “408″ name is not confirmed for our market. SM Nasarudin SM Nasimuddin, president of Naza and Jean-Philippe Imparato, Director of International Operations for Automobiles Peugeot signed the agreement at the opening of the new Peugeot Blue Box in Ipoh.

This development is in line with Peugeot’s plan to make Malaysia its ASEAN hub, with potential exports to neighbouring countries such as Thailand and Indonesia as well as right-hand drive markets in the Pacific and Africa. Peugeot wants to take advantage of AFTA rules to break into our region, which is a key part of the brand’s international expansion plans. Sales outside of Europe accounted for 42% of Peugeot’s total sales in the first semester of 2010.

Both parties are looking at a series total of 70,000 vehicles. Assembly will begin in the second quarter of 2011 at Naza’s plant in Gurun, which will also assemble the 207 sedan due for launch in the final quarter of this year.

Click here for a gallery and information on the Peugeot 408. Live images and a video of the launch in Beijing can be viewed here.

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Funky Nissan Juke launched to great reception in Japan

July 12, 2010 at 3:55 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Nissan

This writer just got back from Japan, where the Nissan Juke is the current superstar of the motoring scene. Browse the magazine racks in the land of the rising sun and you’ll find the funky mini crossover splashed across covers and starring in shootouts. We spotted one example in a parking lot, and the group I was with swamped around it, clicking shutters and pointing fingers. Not surprising really, as the Juke is one of the boldest designs to have made production in recent times.

But even Nissan never predicted the response it’ll receive. Since its June 9th debut, the Juke’s domestic orders reached 10,943 units after one month going on sale, more than eight times greater than the monthly target of 1,300 units. The most popular exterior colour so far has been Radiant Red, which accounts for 29% of total orders. The Juke has painted plastics in the cabin, and over 59% of Japanese buyers have also gone for red here.

As a younger sibling to the Qashqai/Dualis crossover, the Juke is meant to be an alternative to the B-segment supermini class, just like how the Qashqai tempted many British Golf/Focus prospects to opt for something less conventional. Europe will get a new 1.6-litre direct injection turbo engine with 187 bhp and 240 Nm, which sounds exciting along with Nissan’s All-Mode 4X4-i system with lateral torque vectoring capability.

The car I snapped in the Japanese parking lot is after the jump. Click here for our Geneva show report and gallery of the Juke.
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MINI Savile Row – a very dark special edition for Japan

July 12, 2010 at 2:26 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

BMW’s MINI is one of those cars that has had plenty of special editions, and this latest one is exclusively for the Japanese market. Called MINI Savile Row, it’s darker than dark with a black paintjob and a black roof, which highlights the polished chrome 17-inch wheels, fuel flap, mirrors and other trim. Definitely unique and classy (or sombre, depending on how you look at it) compared to the most of the cheery coloured MINIs running around.

Other goodies include privacy glass, bi-xenons, white turn signal lamps and an anthracite headliner, which guarantees an equally dark cabin. Only 100 units will be made available for those trendy Ginza types, all in Cooper spec with a 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. The cost? ¥3,100,000 or $35,028, a premium of about $4,500 over the standard Cooper.

More images after the jump.
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Mark Webber: Not bad for a number two driver!

July 12, 2010 at 12:46 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

The temperature at Red Bull is near boiling at the moment. The RB6 is the fastest machine on the grid and its two very fast pilots have the World Championship firmly in sight; some might say that the resulting friction (litreally!) between Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel is “a good problem” to have, but the team is clearly having trouble in dividing attention and favour between the Aussie and his young German teammate.

It seems though that Red Bull is backing Vettel. After initially putting the blame on Webber for that infamous collision in Turkey, the team took the Aussie’s newly designed front wing and handed it to Vettel for qualifying at Silverstone on Saturday. Vettel then took pole ahead of Webber, who was fuming at the decision. Mark then channeled his anger to win the British GP, sarcastically saying “not bad for a number two driver” on the radio to team boss Christian Horner on his victory lap.

Showing that he was still angry, Webber said after the race: “Yesterday was really a unique situation, and it was the first time we had one bit. I would never have signed a contract for next year if I believed that was the way going forward. I was disappointed. We will see how it goes in the future, I will keep doing what I am doing and I hope it is enough.

“I don’t think it should happen, honestly. I wasn’t massively in favour of the decision but that is the way it goes sometimes. Some of the drivers offered me front wings on the parade lap from their cars but I said stick with what I’ve got. Seb didn’t!” he added.

Horner did not regret the decision however. “We are pushing as hard as we can to produce the fastest cars that we can. Sometimes decisions have to be made. We found ourselves in a situation we didn’t want to be in with one wing, that we wanted to run – and whichever side of the garage it was going to go to, one side was going to be unhappy,” he said, adding that should there be a repeat of such a situation, it would favour its leading driver in the championship.

After yesterday’s win, Webber is third in the standings with 128 points, 7 ahead of Vettel.

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Lotus Racing scores a double finish at Silverstone

July 12, 2010 at 11:14 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

It was a fairly exciting race at yesterday’s British GP, where Mark Webber was simply in a class of his own. Further down the grid, Lotus Racing were as happy as the Aussie after a double finish – Jarno Trulli was 16th and Heikki Kovalainen 17th. Both T127 cars were one lap down from the race winner and finished ahead of the three other finishers from the rookie teams, which were 2 laps down from the lead. It was a much better outing than the last GP weekend at Valencia, where Heikki was out and Trulli finished dead last.

“Today’s been good – a strong two car finish is a great return on the all the hard work that’s been put in, so well done to the whole team for that, and once again we’re best of the news teams. Apologies to Heikki as we had a problem in his pitstop which dropped him behind the Virgin, but he drove a great race in the second half and managed to regain his place.

“Jarno had a very solid race to make sure we had a two car finish and keep ourselves best of the new teams. The only negative was the safety car which came at the wrong time for us, because we’d just pitted and it meant we dropped a lap down. But other than that it was a good strong Sunday, so well done to everyone in the team,” said Mike Gascoyne, Chief Technical Officer.

Besides that, Silverstone also saw VIP guest Hazel Chapman officially opening the team’s new motorhome alongside Tony Fernandes, Kamarudin Meranun, Bette Hill and former World Champion Nigel Mansell, the official FIA Steward for the British GP. Did you notice the AirAsia logo on the rear wing of the T127? That’s a result of Lotus taking on low cost long haul airline AirAsia X as its latest team partner.

On a separate note, congratulations to Spain for winning the World Cup! Beautiful movement, sublime passing and ball control – deserving winners indeed :)

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