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smart fortwo lightshine edition – tarting up tiny, again!

January 13, 2011 at 12:11 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, smart

You’d figure that something already as cute as a button doesn’t really need to be transmogrified, but why deprive good marketing when the opportunity presents itself? Case in point – the smart fortwo cdi, which now comes in a special limited run called the lightshine edition.

It’s based on the passion coupé model, and exterior-wise, the lightshine edition gets a combination of light green matte body panels, LED daytime running lights, colour coded headlamp bezels, ‘lightshine’ badging and new pulse three-double spoke alloys in an exclusive paint finish.

As for the interior, the lightshine gets new upper dashboard and glovebox designs along with improved materials and new fabric pattern. The passion model’s high line navigation system is to be found here, with a new larger touchscreen, CD/DVD/SD functionality and iPod interface in the mix.

Other dress up items include a sporty three-spoke steering wheel with paddle shifters and floor mats with the ‘lightshine’ logo. Just 86 of these cars are destined for the UK market, all equipped with the 54 hp cdi engine and softip transmission of the pulse version.

Gallery after the jump.
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Hyundai Veloster right-hand drive conversion confirmed

January 13, 2011 at 11:10 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, International News, Koreans

The Hyundai Veloster is one of the main stars of Detroit 2011. As an affordable coupe with lots of tech, striking looks and a unique “third door”, it was bound to be a hit at the Cobo Center. Click here to see the pics and a video.

The third door is only on the passenger’s side, which is the right side on the showcar. But if Hyundai plans to rework the car for right-hand drive markets, will the third door be moved to our passenger side, which is the left, or will they just leave the LHD arrangement as it is, like the MINI Clubman.

Well, it looks like Hyundai will invest in a RHD conversion. Hyundai Motor Company Australia has announced that the Veloster will be launched Down Under. “Launch timing has still to be locked in, but most likely will be late 2011,” the statement read. “Veloster’s unique three door layout will see one door on the driver’s side and two doors on the opposite side allowing easy rear seat access,” it added.

There we go. It mentions two doors on the opposite side. Perhaps Hyundai-Sime Darby might see a case for bringing the Veloster in, perhaps…

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BMW and Mercedes sell 1.46 mil and 1.16 mil vehicles in 2010 – up by 13.6% and 15.3% respectively

January 13, 2011 at 11:05 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz

While Malaysia proved to be a good stomping ground last year for BMW and Mercedes-Benz, with a record year being posted by both, the larger scope also had both German carmakers going great guns in 2010. Globally, both companies did very well – BMW’s group sales went up by 13.6% last year, with worldwide sales of its BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce cars totalling 1.46 mil, up from about 1.29 mil the year before.

The BMW brand accounted for more than 1.22 mil of the total, which is a 14.6% increase from 2009. Mini went up by 8.1% to 234,175 and Rolls-Royce managed to sell 2,711 cars, an impressive 171% jump.

While group sales increased in almost all markets, China spearheaded the growth, pitching in with 168,998 cars sold there last year, an increase of 86.7% year on year. In the US, sales were up by 9.9% to 265,757 vehicles delivered. Germany remained the largest market for the brand, though only by a shade – sales went up by 3.1% to take the number to 266,009.

The company says it expects to do even better by selling a record number of vehicles in 2011, hoping to exceed 1.5 mil in sales volume this year.

As for Mercedes-Benz, its worldwide passenger cars sales rose 15% in 2010 to 1.167 mil units, from 1.01 mil the year before. In the US, 216,400 cars were sold, a 14% increase over 2009′s 190,600 units, while in Germany, Benz sales last year attained a comparative level to that in 2009 – 265,000 cars in 2010 to 265,500 units in 2009.

In China, sales more than doubled – deliveries for 2010 in China totaled 148,400 passenger cars, or a 112% increase from 70,100 units in 2009. High growth rates were also achieved in other markets – India reached a record level of 5,800 units sold, up by 80% over the previous year, while Russia saw a 64% jump to 19,700 units. Adding in the 97,500 units of the smart fortwo sold globally last year, group sales totaled 1.265 mil cars.

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Audi A1 quattro prototype plays with snow in Montreal

January 13, 2011 at 10:34 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News


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This Audi A1 quattro prototype was caught stretching its four paws in the snow in Montreal. The one-off development car is part of the ‘Fascination of quattro’ event taking place in the Canadian city to celebrate the famous four-wheel-drive system, which turned 30 in 2010. At last year’s Paris show, Audi said that future high performance variants of the A1 will be quattro equipped. Current cars are FWD only.

The “A1 quattro” uses technology very similar to that in the A3 and TT. At its core is an electronically controlled, hydraulically actuated multi-plate clutch located in front of the rear axle for an optimized distribution of weight. Inside is a package of plates that rotate in an oil bath.


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During normal driving, the clutch sends most of the engine’s power to the front wheels. If the front axle loses grip, the clutch can instantly transfer torque to the rear axle by forcing the plate packages together. A pressure reservoir helps the electric pump to develop the necessary oil pressure.

Many expected Audi to launch a hot “S1″ at Paris 2010, but the range topping variant that was unwrapped was simply called the A1 1.4 TFSI. It uses a Twincharged engine with 185 hp and 250 Nm, paired to a 7-speed S tronic gearbox. That leaves room for a “S1″ quattro with figures to rival or beat the 211 hp/260 Nm MINI JCW.

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Driven the ‘Ring in GT5? Now a chance to experience it live in a 414 horsepower BMW M3!

January 12, 2011 at 5:24 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring


Join the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring contest for a chance at winning a trip to the Nurburgring to drive a high performance BMW M3 on its legendary tarmac. No purchase necessary. Find out more by clicking here.

Gran Turismo 5 is remarkably realistic – check out the comparison video below of an actual drive on the Nurburgring versus a simulated drive on a virtual ‘Ring in the game. Amazing eh? But seriously, I don’t think a computer game could ever beat going around the Nordschleife in the driver’s seat of a real 414 horsepower car – technology isn’t advanced enough to simulate 400 Newton meters of torque!

If you haven’t joined the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring Challenge yet, this week is the last week of the preliminary rounds so it’s your last chance to participate! The challenge is currently in Round 2 now, but you can still join now from the beginning and complete both Round 1 and Round 2 at the same time to proceed.

The final rounds will involve more exciting challenges including a chance to try out Castrol EDGE lubricants on your car as well as a showdown of the finalists at the Sepang International Circuit where we’ll determine who will be the lucky winner of an all-expenses paid trip to the Nurburgring, thanks to Castrol EDGE.

Even if you don’t win the big prize, there’s lots of other prizes in store including Apple iPads, iPod Touches, and iPod Nanos.

What are you waiting for, join now! :)

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Next generation Kia Rio to be unveiled at Geneva

January 12, 2011 at 4:37 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Kia

These set of sketches are a teaser for the upcoming next generation Kia Rio, set to be launched at the 2011 Geneva International Motor Show.

The new Rio is longer, lower and wider than the existing Rio. Wheelbase has probably been increased as well, though it will probably not l be increased to as much as 2,615mm which is the wheelbase of the B-segment Kia Venga’s platform. The current generation Rio has a 2,500mm wheelbase.

Being in the B-segment, the Rio will compete against cars like the Volkswagen Polo, the Opel Corsa and the Ford Fiesta in Europe.

Look after the jump for a hi-res gallery of the sketches.
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ZF develops 9-speed auto tranny – when eight isn’t enough

January 12, 2011 at 4:26 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News

Bigger, better, faster, more. Such is the world we live in now that something like the automatic transmission for the passenger car has a composed madness about it. 6-speed? Antiquated. Seven? Passe, man. 8 then? Acceptable enough, sure, but how about nine, eh?

That’s the number ZF Friedrichshafen has come up with for its spanking new nine-speed gearbox, developed for vehicles with a transverse engine, which it says will significantly improve fuel economy in front-engined cars.

The company had already presented the case for the box as a concept study at the 2009 IAA in Frankfurt, and now that box has been announced in Detroit as a reality for series development – it will be produced at ZF’s new US plant in Greenville, South Carolina. Chrysler has been named as one of the tranny’s first customers, with the company set to equip its minivans with the gearbox in 2013.

Packaged in a size similar to its eight-speed automatic transmission used in longitudinal installations, ZF says the new nine-speeder ensures extremely short response and shifting times below the threshold of perception, and makes seamless double shifts and direct multiple gearshifts possible. The modern shock absorber systems in the torque converter, which make a rapid lock-up of the converter clutch possible, also mean better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions.

So, money’s on to see when 10 becomes the new black. Can we expect a day when we’ll have a passenger car with 18 forward and three reverse gears then?

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Perodua achieves record sales in 2010: 5-year old Myvi is still Malaysia’s best selling car, Alza leads the MPV charts

January 12, 2011 at 2:12 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua


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We just got back from Perodua’s headquarters in Sg Choh, where the carmaker released its sales figures for 2010. And it comes as no surprise that Perodua has ended last year as Malaysia’s best selling brand, something it has achieved for five consecutive years. The 188,600 vehicles sold in 2010 breaks the company’s all-time record of 167,400 units from 2008.

To cap off a great year, the Myvi, in its fifth and possibly last full year in service, ended 2010 as the best selling car in Malaysia. Perodua’s MD Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh was in good spirits as he unveiled the figures, but wasn’t keen on revealing when the “new Myvi” was going to debut, although he did say that a new model will be launched this year, following Perodua’s trend of one new model every two years. The Alza was launched in late 2009.

Perodua shifted over 77,000 units of the Myvi in 2010, and amazingly against the usual trend, registrations peaked in the last quarter of the year. The B-segment hatchback contributed 41.2% of Perodua’s total sales. With 69,000 units sold, the Viva was responsible for 36.6% of the pie. The rest of it belongs to the Alza, which found nearly 42,000 buyers to be Malaysia’s best selling MPV.

“We broke two records in 2010, the first with the highest ever yearly registered sales. Last December, Perodua also achieved its highest monthly sales registration of 19,400 units, beating our previous record of 18,500 units achieved in March 2010,” Aminar revealed.


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Perodua’s market share of the Malaysian auto market stands at 31.2% of a forecasted total industry volume of 605,000 units. The company’s TIV prediction for 2011 is 610,000 units, and it wants to sell 4% more cars, or 195,000 units. This year’s market share target is 32%.

Besides the new model launch, 2011 will see Perodua open a new E-AT (electronic automatic transmission) plant that will churn out automatic gearboxes. A ground breaking ceremony will happen in March or April, and the RM250 million plant is expected to start operating next year. Initially, it will churn out 130,000 units per year before achieving 200,000 units annually. With this, Perodua will not need to import gearboxes from Japan anymore, and exports are likely.

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Mercedes-Benz confirms SLS AMG E-Cell series production

January 12, 2011 at 10:48 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Mercedes Benz

Just about everything is going down the electric path, commercially speaking – the next up to bat is the SLS AMG E-Cell. Mercedes-Benz confirmed in Detroit that it would be putting the car into series production, though it’ll be a little while before the car hits the showrooms – it’s due out only in 2013.

The battery-electric drive super sports car, powered by an electric motor at each wheel and a 400-volt, 48 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, develops 526 hp and 880 Nm of torque, and does the 0-100 kph sprint in 4.0 secs, not far off the petrol 563 hp V8 SLS’ 3.7 secs.

Among the changes from the petrol variant, besides the power and drive trains, are improved aerodynamics and a multi-link suspension with push-rod dampers in place of the double wishbones of the former, due to space constraints brought about by the motors.

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F1 has taken an ugly turn, says an unhappy Jarno Trulli

January 12, 2011 at 9:42 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Team Lotus’ Jarno Trulli is an unhappy man. How do we know? Our man Harvinder caught up with the veteran Italian driver recently and managed to coax this out of him: “It has been so far my worst season ever, all my life, all my career,” he said. Click here to view the full interview.

Not only is Trulli unhappy with last season’s racing, he’s also not pleased with the direction Formula 1 is heading. “In the last couple of years F1 has taken an ugly turn: contracts are worth less and less, the only thing that interests is the big money brought by various ‘little’ drivers,” Trulli told Gazzetta dello Sport.

“Only four teams can guarantee excellent drivers; as for the rest the level is extremely poor. When I started there was a lot of quality because many constructors aimed at having winning drivers. Nowadays many teams’ budgets are made of the money brought by the drivers,” he added.

One can sense that he misses the old days in a well funded big team as well. “Lotus is the most serious team among the newest entries, but in the event of financial troubles they too would need to find money. Serious as it is, our organisation is small, the marketing department isn’t what you’d find in a top team, it’s hard to keep going. F1 has gone back 20 years: many small teams and a few constructors.”

F1 fans, do you agree with Trulli’s views?

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