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Perodua Myvi LE available in new Dazzling Red colour

July 6, 2010 at 7:12 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Perodua Myvi LE

A new Perodua Myvi called the Perodua Myvi Limited Edition (Myvi LE) will be launched tomorrow. The new Myvi will be available in three colours – Ivory White, Ebony Black and a new colour Dazzling Red, which is pictured above.

The new Dazzling Red colour has a decidedly pink hue to it, obviously targeted at ladies who are considering buying the current Myvi.

The Perodua Myvi LE will only be available with an automatic transmission. It is based on the 1.3 litre Standard Automatic model but equipped with additional trim. The female target audience is made even more apparent with the new MD Aminar Rashid Salleh commenting that lady drivers place great importance on vanity mirrors in their cars, thus the inclusion of a vanity mirror on both the driver and passenger side.

The LE has new trim colour and fabric, door inner handles, an “LE” carpet mat, and decorative cubic printing on both the centre cluster and the door trim armrests. There’s also dual airbags for the people at the front. The radio has USB and Bluetooth connectivity. On the outside, Perodua has fitted the Myvi LE with smoked clear rear combination lamps (straight from the Myvi SE), “LE” badging and side door moldings.

Treat it as an additional accessory package to fit onto the 1.3 Standard Automatic model, since the LE is a RM1,700 premium over the 1.3 Standard AT. It’s priced at RM48,600 for metallic paint colours and priced RM500 cheaper for the solid colours.

UPDATE #2: Perodua are also selling four accessories which are being pushed with this new Myvi LE but can also be equipped to all models of the Myvi including retrofit to existing Myvis. They are 1) Chrome door handles – RM175, 2) Tinted film for all glass – RM1300++, 3) A car seat organiser to hang behind your front seats – this allows storage of magazines, 2 bottles of water, etc – RM78.80, and 4) a blue lighting set for the floor and luggage area – RM231. Look after the jump for photos of these accessories.

UPDATE: We’ve obtained more photos including new photos of the rear – look after the jump for hi-res photos including live photos from today’s launch.
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Lexus Malaysia to recall LS 460 for valve spring issue

July 6, 2010 at 4:26 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Lexus, Local News

Lexus Malaysia has announced that it will be recalling about 100 units of the Lexus LS460 in Malaysia for a Special Service Campaign to address the improper functioning of valve springs found in the LS460′s V8 engine. Lexus will be calling up its customers to make appointments to carry out the corrective measures.

In other countries, there are V6 models in other cars such as the Lexus GS that are affected as well, but our Malaysian Market Lexus GS 300 is not affected by the valve spring problem. For the V8, it only affects engines manufactured between August 2006 to July 2008.

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Renault DeZir concept to debut at Paris 2010

July 6, 2010 at 4:01 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Renault

Renault has unveiled a new concept car which it says symbolises the company’s new design direction for its cars in the future. Design at the front looks similar to a Corvette, while the back and sides seems to remind me of the Audi E-tron concept car.

Given the designation DeZir, the Z in the name symbolises zero emission which means that this concept is an electric vehicle. The powertrain in question will be an electric motor producing 150hp with 226Nm of torque from its vertically-mounted 24kWh lithium-ion battery, located behind the backseats.

This provides a driving range of 160km and has three different recharging options when it runs out of juice. This includes a standard charge from a normal household plug, a fast charge using a 400V three-phase current (recharges 80 percent in 20 mins) or a fast battery exchange where you drop your old battery off for a fully charged unit.

The DeZir uses lightweight materials such as Kevlar and a tubular steel frame. Driving dynamics are further egged on by a full underbody and a rear diffuser which results in a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.25. Other neat features include KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) along with a futuristic driver graphic display.

This goes hand in hand with the exterior design which will feature gullwing doors that are hinged to different sides of the door frames, full-width front air intake that stretch from the Renault logo, along with Audi-R8-like side intakes.

Moving on inside, you will find a design synonymous to concept cars which Renault say is supposed to make you feel like you’re floating on a cloud. The new concept is expected to debut at the 2010 Paris Motor Show this year. If you can’t make it to the show, have a look for yourself after the jump for a picture gallery.
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BMW “Slingshot” Z4 with 400hp inspired by golf club design

July 6, 2010 at 1:17 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

Engineers at MWDesign are an odd bunch, getting inspiration from random everyday thoughts. How random? As random as redesigning a BMW Z4 to look and feel like a set of Nike Slingshot golf clubs, that random. This has resulted in the MWDesign Project E89 Z4 3.5 which the company calls the “Slingshot.”

The power delivery in this golf club inspired car has been increased with the help of an ECU upgrade, creating 400 horses and 569Nm of torque. Adequate airflow in and out of engine was key and this was done with the addition of an intercooler, diverter valve, charge pipe, bigger intake filters and Eisenmann Black Series quad exhaust.

Handling that increase in performance will be the addition of adjustable swaybars, new springs, and better shocks which sits on 20-inch forged wheels with Toyo Proxes tires. This complements the aerodynamic changes in the body which feature carbon fibre splitters and quad rear diffuser.

The car also sports green accenting around the front air intakes in line with the design of the Nike Golf clubs. No information on the pricing but it will definitely be a unique addition to the tuning car hall of fame. Look after the jump for more pictures of the Nike Slingshot inspired Z4.

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2011 Mercedes CL-Class facelift officially unveiled

July 6, 2010 at 9:02 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

Mercedes has unveiled official pictures and information of the face lifted CL-Class luxury coupe. Set to be released in 2011, the CL as previously reported, will feature a completely revised twin-turbo 4.6-litre V8 BlueDIRECT engine that produces an impressive 435hp and 700Nm of torque. This will be housed in the CL 500 which carries the Blue EFFICIENCY name, highlighting the cars improvements in all round efficiency.

This is seen by the 12 percent power increase the current engine produces over its predecessor despite having 0.8 litres less displacement. This improves fuel efficiency to 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres. Performance has also improved, with the new V8 now propelling the car to the century mark in just 4.9 seconds, which was previously 5.4 seconds.

Other factors that improve fuel consumption in the new V8 include the incorporation of the BlueDIRECT technology along with the consistent use of friction-optimised pistons, piston rings, cylinder barrels, the on-demand control of oil pump, the new three-phase thermal management in the coolant circuit and the ECO start/stop function plus alternator control.

The top of the line CL 600 on the other hand, will have the 12-cylinder biturbo 5.5-litre engine under its hood which produces 517hp and 829 Nm of torque, propelling it it from 0 to 100km/h in just 4.6 seconds.

Helping keep all that power contained will be the usual list of award winning Mercedes safety systems along with new ones such as Active Lane Keeping Assist, Active Blind Spot Assist, Adaptive High Beam Assist, Night View Assist, Active Body Control (ABC) with crosswind stabilisation.

This keeps the CL’s new sleek body out of harms way, which as you can see has also gone through revisions which include a new grille, modified bumpers, restyled headlights (with integrated LED daytime running lights), LED fog lights, new tail lights, and a sportier exhaust system.

Moving on inside, the CL-Class gets a multifunction steering wheel that incorporates nappa leather as standard, along with the choice of various wood trims to give it that special ambience.

The COMAND system (a Mercedes equivalent of the iDrive), now features SPLTVIEW technology, which allows the driver and front passenger to view different things at the same time. It also comes with Bluetooth®, USB and SD card compatibility that plugs into a 7.2 GB hard drive for all your entertainment needs.

A picture gallery is available of the CL500 and CL600 models after the jump.
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GM finally decides to make right hand drive Camaro!

July 5, 2010 at 10:47 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, International News

Will this be the first step for a genuine American muscle car to make its way to our South East Asian continent, no matter through official channels or grey importers? This is in relation to the news that Chevrolet will finally be offering a right hand drive variant of their Camaro muscle car in the UK next year.

A Camaro (complete with Transformers Bumblebee decoration) was previewed to UK folk at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Camaro model in question uses the 6.2-litre V8, which produces 426hp and 569Nm of torque.

Even if Naza’s Chevrolet distributorship doesn’t bring this right hand drive Camaro in, but there will always be supply for where there is demand, and amusingly enough one of the first likely to bring a right hand drive Camaro in would likely be Naza’s very own Naza World. And I’m pretty sure there are enough deep pocketed people who were smitten by the Camaro’s portrayal of Bumblebee in the new Transformers franchise.

Here’s to 6.2 litre yellow monsters with the steering wheel on the correct side of the car on our roads soon! Previously, the only way to get a right hand drive Camaro was to buy a converted car from companies such as Performax International.

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Lotus: Fairuz to drive FP1 for four more races this year

July 5, 2010 at 3:10 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Fairuz Fauzy will be driving the Friday Practice Runs for four more races in the 2010 season. He will be deriving at Silverstone, Hungary, Singapore and the season-closing Abu Dhabi races, taking over Jarno Trulli’s T127-04, and Heikki Kovalainen’s T127-01 chassis at two races each.

“First I want to thank Tony, Mike and the whole team for the chance to get back in the car. I really can’t wait to see how far we’ve moved forward since I was last out on track, and I’m very proud to have been given the chance to play another active role in our continuing development. I did the shakedown of chassis 04 at Snetterton a couple of weeks ago, but obviously couldn’t really push there, so it’ll be great to get back out and add whatever I can to help the team keep moving towards the midfield,” said Fairuz, who is quite excited about this – he calls Silverstone his “second home”.

Fairuz was with us at today’s press conference via Skype: “To start out at Silverstone is going to be very special indeed – I live litreally a few metres from the track, so I’ll have a lot of friends, family and fans there to cheer me and the whole team on, and it’ll be great to be among the first F1 cars to try out the new section. I’m also really looking forward to the other three races, particularly Singapore as there is a unique challenge to racing under the lights, but also because there will be a lot of fans there from Malaysia and Singapore, and it’ll be great to put on a good show for them.”

“Every time Fairuz has been out on track for us he’s done a great job, and taking part in four more races is a just reward for the contribution he’s already made to the establishment and growth of our team. It’s another chance for us to learn more about how to get the most out of him in the car, as well as providing us with another invaluable viewpoint on the characteristics of our car,” said the team’s CTO Mike Gascoyne.

Look after the jump for a video of the press conference.
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M5 killer? F10 Alpina B5 Biturbo pictures unveiled!

July 5, 2010 at 1:23 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

The Alpina B5 Biturbo was recently unveiled at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Based on the new F10 5-Series, the B5 Biturbo will offer blend of luxurious performance, elegant styling, sporty handling and exclusivity.

Under the hood is a 4.4 litre twin-turbo V8 originally found in the 550i. In Alpina tune, it produces 500hp and 699Nm of torque which is channeled through a modified version of the ZF’s eight-speed automatic gearbox. You can expect a 0 to 100 figure in just 4.7 seconds going on to reach an unrestricted top speed of 307km/h.

Alpina’s power figures are high but not as high as BMW M’s version of the 4.4 litre twin turbo with their very own special exhaust manifold. The M version of the engine makes more power as seen in the BMW X6 M – 555 horses and 680Nm of torque.

Internally called the N63, the exterior will feature elements synonymous with Alpina, such as the oval four tailpipes, larger air vents incorporated into the bumper, along with classic Alpina multi spoke wheels.

At the moment, this is the fastest F10 5-Series money can buy as the M5 (which will like be powered by the X6 M’s engine) is schedule for release in 2011. The M5 is said to be set to produce anything from 555hp (like to X6 M) to 600hp. Unfortunately no official pricing has been announced for the B5, but it is expected to be in the region of £65,000 in the UK.

More pictures are available after the jump.
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Dagger GT with 2,000hp chasing supercar top spot!

July 5, 2010 at 12:02 pm By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Cars, International News

When VW-owned Bugatti introduced the Veyron, they worked hard on combining what its prospective customers would want from a high end bullet on wheels, which was ultimate luxury garnered with extreme power.

TranStar Racing is trying to do the same with the release of the Dagger GT, which produces a record breaking 2,000hp from a 572 multifuel (petrol/methanol/hydrogen/ethanol) twin turbo racing unit. Produced by Nelson Racing Engines, the monster car puts out an equally spine tingling 2,710Nm of torque which is paired with a TranStar/Mendeola 6-speed transmission.

If figures are to be believed, the car can explode from 0 to 96km/h in just 1.5 seconds whereas that infamous quarter mile (400 meter) drag is accomplished in just 6.7 seconds. Believe it or not, this goes on to reach a claimed top speed of 483km/h, which is higher than the 425km/h official record just set by the Veyron.

The car uses high-strength 4130 Chromoly Steel for the chassis while the outer body is covered in carbon fibre which brings weight down in the supercar. Handmade to prospective customer’s specification, they will have the option of a hard-core racing model, a street-legal comfortable-riding sport model, or a soft-riding, luxurious GT-X model.

The cost of this luxury sets you back a measly US$450,000 which is a bargain when you consider that the company is trying to make a car that looks like it’s worth a million dollars. Contributing to that unique supercar persona is the fact that only 5 units will be constructed for 2011, while a further 10 is being planned for 2012.

It’s a little hard to say what kind of car this is just from specs and pictures. The Veyron may have a huge amount of horsepower but it’s crazily heavy as well thanks to all the insulation to separate the driver from all the rawness. I doubt the Dagger follows the same formula.

Look after the jump for a picture gallery.
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Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport pumped up to 1,200hp to break world speed record – 425km/h!

July 5, 2010 at 11:47 am By Jacob Alexander Filed Under Bugatti, Cars, International News

Bugatti has decided to give something extra to prospective customers of the new Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, the ‘world’s fastest road going car’ title (certified by the Guinness Book of World Records).

As if a four figure horsepower figure wasn’t enough, the company have now pushed power delivery from 1,001hp to 1,200hp, with an amazing 1,500Nm of torque. This is able to produce the record breaking top speed of 425km/h which was done on the proving grounds of the Volkswagen Group at Ehra-Lessien by Bugatti’s official test driver Pierre Henri Raphanel.

Power output of such intensity has been achieved with the help of four enlarged turbochargers and bigger intercoolers on the 16 cylinder engine. The chassis has also been redesigned to handle the extreme speed, which includes slightly raised main-spring travel, stronger stabilisers, and new shock absorbers with a complex architecture originally developed for racing cars. Combined with the intelligent all-wheel drive system, the Super Sport is able to handle the acceleration that 1,500Nm produces when exiting corners.

Helping achieve a planted feel, the aerodynamics of the car has been fine-tuned along with the use of new carbon fibre monocoque structure which stiffens the body of the car. The exterior will also be covered in carbon fibre composites and will be available in 100 per-cent clear- lacquered exposed carbon on request.

Complimenting that extreme look would be exterior revisions that make the Super Sport look, well, sporty! This includes NACA ducts integrated into the roof, front air intakes that have been expanded and reshaped, and revised double diffuser and a centrally arranged exhaust system.

The first five cars will sport a special black exposed carbon and orange finish and will be called the “World Record Edition” in commemoration of their speed record. It will make its official public debut at the Pebble Beach Concours weekend in California this August.

Look after the jump for a picture gallery of the car and the record attempt.
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