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Mercedes-Benz S250 CDI – first 4-cylinder S-Class

November 9, 2010 at 11:21 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

For the first time in 60 years since the history of the flagship Mercedes-Benz S-Class, it will be available with a 4-cylinder engine. The first ever 4-cylinder S-Class model will be the Mercedes-Benz S250 CDI, using their new 2.2 litre twin-turbocharged diesel engine making 204 horsepower and 500Nm of torque. That’s probably more than enough torque to move the large luxo-barge around – it’s definitely more than the petrol-powered baseline S300 that’s sold here in Malaysia.

There are currently no Mercedes-Benz diesels officially on sale in Malaysia, and I think the new “250 CDI” engine is officially incompatible with our Euro 2M diesel fuel, since the C250 CDI test unit that was available only to selected media to drive earlier in the year used fuel that was specially imported from overseas.

The S250 CDI will also get auto stop-start technology, and combined with the turbodiesel engine it is rated to achieve a combined fuel consumption of 5.7 litres per 100km and output CO2 of 149g/km, which Mercedes-Benz claims is the first vehicle in its class to be able to hit CO2 emissions of lower than 150g/km. 0 to 100km/h is reached in 8.2 seconds.

And what are the company’s rivals doing? BMW CEO Norbert Reithofer said there are no plans at the moment for a 4-cylinder 7-Series, even saying at last month’s Paris 2010 show that he likes selling 7-Series with 6 and 8 cylinder engines. BMW plans to offer “electrification” of the existing 6 cylinder and 8 cylinder engines instead, which probably means some kind of hybrid solution.

Audi does have a 4-cylinder A8 in the plans but it involves a gasoline engine (probably Volkswagen Group’s widely used 2.0 TSI engine) instead of Mercedes-Benz’s turbodiesel approach.

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Finalists for 2011 Car of the Year announced; there’s a Dacia but no BMW, Audi, Mercedes or Volkswagen

November 9, 2010 at 6:12 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News

I just saw a blue Volkswagen Polo in the car park with the “2010 Car of the Year” sticker sitting proudly on its rear glass. It’s rare for us in Malaysia to be able to buy a reigning European COTY, a sign that things are changing and we’re now getting a better variety of cars at a faster speed. Some of the seven finalists of the 2011 edition could be here very soon too; in fact we’ve driven one of them already although we aren’t allowed to share the good news yet!

Heading the list (alphabetically) is the sexy Alfa Romeo Giulietta. This 147 replacement enters the sober Golf class as the prom queen – the car you’d want to be seen in, the car that your mates steal glances at, the car that makes you feel good about yourself. Looks and famous name aside, the Giulietta comes with the best Euro NCAP score for a compact car and efficient MultiAir engines. The 1750 TBi model with 235 bhp sounds yummy. Will Giulietta follow the 147′s (2001 champ) footsteps in winning eCOTY?

See the full list after the jump.
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Carlos Ghosn adds heat to Lotus-Renault F1 rumours

November 9, 2010 at 12:53 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports, Renault

Yesterday, you read here that Group Lotus (the Proton subsidiary) could be making an entry into Formula 1 via a collaboration with the Renault F1 Team. The paddock talks about Lotus coming in as a sponsor first, before deepening their involvement in the Enstone based team, and that there will be a Lotus-Renault on the grid next year. Here’s Renault boss Carlos Ghosn’s take on the rumour.

While not confirming outright, Ghosn hinted at the possibilities. “Name changes are everywhere. The key is to preserve the Renault name. Apart from Renault F1, yes, there may be other associated names. We are not in F1 to have a particular team but to promote the name and the technology of Renault,” he told Auto Hebdo.

“We don’t want to give the impression that we are an exclusive team. We are now developing our technology with multiple teams. What I can tell you is that, increasingly, we will be technology suppliers to many teams that are involved in Formula 1,” Ghosn added.

On Lotus’ part, this move (if the rumours are true) is entirely consistent with the Dany Bahar led new management’s plans. Everyone at the Paris Motor Show and Lotus’ gala dinner where they unveiled the fantastic five could see that they are finally starting to “take ownership” of the brand’s rich racing history. Clive Chapman gave his endorsement, Sir Stirling Moss was called in to lend weight, “7 time Constructors’ Champion” was drummed into our heads – they are dead serious in re-entering the game.

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Mercedes CLS Shooting Brake set for 2012 market launch

November 9, 2010 at 11:53 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

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It’s a case of all that potential being impossible to ignore – Mercedes-Benz has made the decision to put into serial production its CLS Shooting Brake concept car unveiled earlier this year in April at Auto China 2010.

The car is slated to make its market debut in 2012, and will be built at the company’s plant in Sindelfingen, Germany. No further details have been suggested at this point, but it’s safe to assume that the powertrain as well as drivetrain combinations found on the new CLS will be available here as well. The concept came wearing a 306 hp and 370 Nm 3.5 litre V6, working with a 7G-tronic tranny.

Merc Shooting Break 2

Curiously, the naming convention used at the start with the concept, which was Break, might now be tilting towards the homonym Brake. Ah well, as long as everyone knows what it is, I suppose – the Shooting Brake term was once given to carriages used to “break” in wild horses and also to restrict (or “brake”) their urge to move, so that they could be put to use as work horses, for those still not already in the know.

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Mitsubishi to premiere widebody i-MiEV in LA Auto Show

November 9, 2010 at 11:12 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Mitsubishi

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Now, if the original might be seen as a bit too small in a market where size matters, well, all you have to do is tweak things along a bit to cater it to market requirements, and it doesn’t matter if it’s a tiny tyke to begin with. So it is that Mitsubishi has done precisely that, and will be giving the North American widebody version of its i-MiEV electric vehicle its world premiere at the upcoming LA Auto Show.

Compared to the Japanese- and European-spec i-MiEVs, the US version features an enhanced and enlarged body structure to secure plenty of space for four adults and better meet the expectations of American consumers.

imiev wide 2

Specifically, the US i-MiEV measures in at 3,680mm (length), 1,585mm (width) and 1,615mm (height), which makes it 285mm longer, 110mm wider and 5mm taller than the Japanese model. The car also features a wider tread than the Japanese model, with an increase of 110mm both at the front and back.

In addition, the US-spec i-MiEV’s front and rear bumpers are all-new. Standard equipment includes airbags that detect passengers’ seating position and control deployment force, a tyre pressure monitoring system and Active Stability Control.

Gallery after the jump
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Hyundai to display ix-Metro, Avante and Santa Fe at KLIMS

November 9, 2010 at 9:43 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Koreans, Local News

The Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show (KLIMS) 2010 will be happening next month from 3-12 December, and participants are working hard to ready their display at the Putra World Trade Centre. Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) will have a mixture of concepts and production vehicles at their stand, we have learned. The company has arranged for the ix-Metro concept, Genesis Coupe 2.0T, new Avante and the facelifted Santa Fe SUV with a powerful R-series diesel engine to be on display.

The latter two in that list will be on our roads. The Santa Fe, one of the most underrated SUVs on sale today in my opinion, gets minor aesthetic updates but the big news is in the hood. The seven-seater’s petrol option is no longer the old tech 2.7L V6, but the 2.4-litre Theta II engine as found in the current Sonata and Tucson. The new R-series CRDi engine puts out 442 Nm of torque, a whopping 107 Nm more than the current 2.2-litre although capacity is unchanged. All will be paired to six-speed auto gearboxes. This car should be launched at KLIMS.

As for the new Avante, it won’t be a launch, but a preview of Hyundai’s Civic fighter. Visitors can touch, feel and see the “Wind Craft” design of the new car, then decide if it’s worth the wait. Hyundai tells us that this will be the first time the Avante is put on display in an exhibition outside of Korea. It’s on sale now domestically but global sales will only start in 2011.

No motor show is complete without concepts, even if we cannot expect KLIMS to feature the latest from Geneva, Paris or Tokyo. The ix-Metro made its debut at Frankfurt 2009 as a “Hybrid Electric CUV for the European sub-B segment”. More news coming as it flows our way. Are you looking forward to KLIMS?

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Peugeot 5008 7-seater MPV spotted on trailer in Malaysia!

November 8, 2010 at 11:16 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot

This Peugeot 5008 was snapped last week while traveling on the LDP via a trailer together with what looks like a 308CC by reader CL Chin. Given that there are only one model of each car on this trailer I think they could be in Malaysia for display at Nasim’s KLIMS 2010 stand. Nasim has already revealed their intentions to bring in the 5008 MPV into Malaysia in the past so this is no surprise, the only question being when, what specs and for how much?

The 5008 is essentially Peugeot’s take on the Citroen Grand C4 Picasso MPV, and the more quirky sibling is already available in Malaysia for RM138,000 non-OTR, equipped with the Prince 1.6 litre turbo engine mated to a 6-speed EGS automated manual transmission. Peugeot’s 5008 will likely have the same 156 horsepower 1.6 litre Prince turbo engine but will use conventional torque converter automatic instead, with 6 cogs as well.

It’s basically the similar powertrain as the one found in the 3008 crossover, and the vehicle’s chassis, like the 3008, is derived from the 308′s C-segment platform. It can seat up to 7 passengers in a three row 2-3-2 configuration. It’s Eastern competitors would be vehicles like the Toyota Wish and the Honda Stream.

You can look after the jump for a full gallery of the 5008 from our previous post covering the 5008′s world unveil.
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Best Range Extender EV award for Proton Exora Hybrid at RAC Future Car Challenge, UK

November 8, 2010 at 3:58 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

The Proton Exora Hybrid won the “Best Range Extender EV” award at the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) Future Car Challenge event held in London this week, beating rivals such as the Chevrolet Volt. It managed to travel for about 4 hours on just 2.2 litres of petrol thanks to the majority of the energy probably being provided by the on board batteries – that’s how an extended range EV works.

More than 60 eco-friendly vehicles including 53 cars embarked on a 60 mile challenge in a bid to see which one used the lowest amount of energy possible. The 60 vehicles consisted of cars, light commercial vehicles and motorcycles powered by various different systems such as range extender systems, mild hybrids, full hybrids, and pure EVs. There are three categories of engines – EV, Hybrid (HEV), and Internal Combustion Engines limited to emissions of up to 110g/km fueled by any legal means.

The route took them from Madeira Drive in East Sussex up to Pall Mall in central London. The challenge’s Technical Panel is made out of 6 auto industry members – Ben Cussons, Chairman (The Royal Automobile Club Motoring Committee); Richard Parry-Jones (Industry); Steve Cropley (Autocar); John Wood (President, Institution of Mechanical Engineers); John Hilton (Flybrid Systems), Dr Ricardo Martinez-Botas (Imperial College London) and David Bizley (RAC Motoring Services).

There are a total of 12 category winners plus one overall winner per vehicle type. The overall best car entry was the Volkswagen Golf BlueMotion. Other than the Exora, Proton had also entered a fully electric Proton Saga EV. The Saga EV was driven by an engineer from Frazer-Nash, a company assisting Proton with the development of hybrid technologies.

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Here’s the full list of award recipients embedded below. Seems all the class-based awards were for “Most Economic & Environment Friendly” in class, while at the bottom you’ll find the overall “Best” awards listed:

Related Post:
Is this a Proton Exora Hybrid demo vehicle?

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New Kia Sportage spotted on a trailer in Rawang

November 8, 2010 at 3:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Kia, Koreans, Spyshots

According to Naza director Samson Anand George’s Facebook status update late last month, 2011 will be the year for Kia in Malaysia – I guess that’s an indication that Nasim’s onslaught of Peugeot models this year and next (3008 and 207 Sedan launched – we still have the 308 6-speed, 308CC, RCZ, 5008, 408 and perhaps 508 on the way) will be accompanied by sister company Naza Kia launching some new Kia models.

We’ve been waiting for the new Kia Sorento and the new Kia Sportage for a long time now (soon there’s also the new Kia Optima to look forward to) – there’s already a registered unit of the new Sorento going around town, seems to be a Naza management company car. Now this golden new model Kia Sportage was spotted by reader Nazril in Rawang on a trailer.

There’s only one unit on the trailer though so I don’t think there are any stocks being prepared for delivery in Malaysia right now – perhaps this single unit will be used for homologation or market research or something like that. The Sportage’s Hyundai-badged companion made its debut this year and seems to be relatively well received so far.

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Renault F1 could become Lotus-Renault next season? The Lotus name saga continues!

November 8, 2010 at 2:54 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Formula 1

We already have an F1 team in the grid with Lotus in its name but here’s something new, apparently the REAL Lotus Cars is also making an entry into F1 via a tie-up with the current Renault team, as the French manufacturer continues its plans to scale down its involvement in the sport to perhaps being just an engine supplier.

Renault team boss Eric Boullier has confirmed ongoing talks with Lotus Cars, but he said that the team is also in talks with other potential sponsors. Most people are saying that Lotus Cars will likely become the title sponsor of the Renault team first, with a buy-over perhaps in the cards in the future.

The Renault team could just end up being called Lotus-Renault from next year onwards, which would pretty much be Dany Bahar’s dream come true, and if these plans were already on the table for quite some time now it would very much explain the problems that have come between Tony Fernandes’ Lotus Racing team and Lotus/Proton.

Renault will probably end up having its engines in both the “Lotus” teams on the grid. Interestingly, when news broke of the recent engine supply deal between Renault and Tony Fernandes’ Lotus Racing, the press releases from both companies do not mention the word Lotus at all – instead it is referred to as either 1Malaysia Racing Team (UK) Ltd or “Anglo-Malaysian team”, but perhaps this is something to do with the fact that the matter is still at court so they cannot use the name at the moment? The LR8 drink logo on the side of the Lotus Racing F1 car was also replaced by a question mark as seen in last weekend’s race.

Another interesting fact is that while all of this is happening at the exciting race track, in the real world where companies build 4-cylinder A to B vehicles for commute and not for racing, Lotus Cars’ owner Proton also seems to be cosying up with the Renault-Nissan Alliance.

Proton already uses a Renault 1.2 litre engine in the Proton Savvy, an enlarged Renault engine is also used in the Proton Satria Neo S2000 rally car, and most recently there have been rumors for the Renault-Nissan Alliance’s compact car platform and engine to be used to underpin an upcoming production car based on the Proton EMAS Concept.

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