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Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring – how Castrol gives you an edge!

January 10, 2011 at 3:19 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring


This article is key in allowing you a chance at winning a trip to the Nurburgring to drive a high performance BMW M3 on its legendary tarmac in the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring contest! Find out more by clicking here.

Not all engine lubricants are the same – there’s a fundamental difference to the types of oil available for a car’s engine, and some are better equipped to handle the job than others.

There’s your everyday mineral-based oil, followed by semi-synthetic, and then at the top of the heap there’s synthetic. While mineral-based oil features base stocks offering fair to good lubrication performance in terms of volatility and oxidative stability, they’re not as sterling in areas such as extreme pressure wear and overall durability.

That’s where synthetic oils hold court, be they hydrocracked (essentially, hydroprocessed and refined mineral oil, but classifiable as synthetic) or chemically-engineered ones, like polyalphaolefins or esters.

Synthetics, in a nutshell, offer exemplary performance over a wide range of attributes, and are inherently more stable and retain composure better when the going gets tough.

Castrol’s EDGE lubricant series is one such offering. The fully synthetic oil range is made up of three different products, each offering a different viscosity rating for varying needs and applications.

There’s the Castrol EDGE Sport 10W-60, a wide viscosity range oil that’s perfect for highly tuned sports cars or competition-based engines, with benefits including the ability to maintain oil pressure and offer protection when the car is pushed hard.

Then there’s Castrol EDGE 5W-40, which is specially formulated to exceed the high performance requirements of premium vehicles, and strengths include superior thermal stability – ensuring a cleaner engine – and engine protection right from start-up.

Finally, there’s the range-topping Castrol EDGE Sport 0W-40, which is Castrol’s best full synthetic, low viscosity formula. The company says that the research and development that has gone into it makes it the pinnacle of its engineering.

Castrol says that its top-of-the-line oil is proven to be able to deliver maximum horsepower up to 45% longer than other synthetics – it took two identical 4.6 litre V8-equipped cars, filled one up with EDGE Sport 0W-40 and the other with a competitor’s sythetic, and ran the vehicles flat out (225 hp) on a test chassis without topping up the oil. After 40 hours, the engine equipped with EDGE Sport 0W-40 was still running strong, while the other had seized.

The Sport 0W-40 also passes the new M111-FE European Fuel Economy test, generating a 2.5% increase in fuel economy savings compared to a conventional 0W-40 synthetic.

Designed to meet the toughest performance standards and perform across the seven critical engine factors, the EDGE series of lubricants provides for easy start up, reduced fuel consumption, protection against wear and at maximum horsepower for longer as well as keep the engine running cooler and cleaner for longer. Whichever EDGE product the choice is, you can be sure your engine will be much happier for that.

Well, the good news is that soon, 30 chosen finalists in the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring contest will be able to experience the benefits of a Castrol EDGE lubricant in their cars, as the contest moves into Round 3, and come up with a creative review of it. It’s one step closer to that BMW M3 around the Nurburgring, so, are you ready for the challenge?

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GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept – Check out that grille!

January 10, 2011 at 2:14 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, GMC, International News

Here’s a recap – with some additional photos – on the GMC Sierra All Terrain HD Concept, which will make its debut at the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. It’s shorter, wider and taller than the standard GMC Sierra pickup truck it is based on.

An “extreme truck” not unlike the Ford F-150 SVT Raptor, the Sierra AT HD Concept is fortified with heavy-duty hardware such as Fox off-road shocks, custom control arms, all round jounce shocks, automatic locking differentials and a front stabiliser bar with electric disconnection. It wears 35-inch BFGoodrich KM2 tyres that wrap 20-inch aluminum wheels.

It looks like a beast, and has the heart to match. Under that double vented hood lies a Duramax 6.6-litre V8 diesel producing 397 hp and 1,037 Nm of torque. Payload capacity is estimated at 1,225 kg (2,700 pounds) while towing capacity is rated at 5,896 kg or 13,000 pounds.

Gallery after the jump. Chevrolet Captiva owners, does the steering wheel look familiar?
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Volkswagen NMS is called Passat, bigger than Euro model

January 10, 2011 at 12:40 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

This is the Volkswagen’s New Midsize Sedan (NMS) that it has talked about since 2009, and it will wear the familiar Passat badge. To be unveiled at Detroit, this car will split the Passat name into two cars – the European version that was unveiled at Paris 2010 (click here to read the post and see our live gallery) and a larger bodied version for America – like how Honda does it with the Accord.

The seventh-generation European Passat is about the same size as the previous gen car which we are familiar with in Malaysia. This US version is 4,869 mm long with a 2,804 mm wheelbase, which makes it 100 mm longer than the European Passat, with a 95 mm longer wheelbase. That’s the perfect length to compete with the Honda Accord (2,800 mm wheelbase) and Toyota Camry, the top mid size saloons in the US. VW claims best in class legroom.

Although the NMS looks like the Euro Passat from the front with VW’s new corporate face (grille is slightly different), the rear design takes a completely different path – it’s very similar to the Jetta unveiled mid last year. The cabin looks familiar from a glance, but deeper comparison reveals a different centre stack – the Euro Passat has a round clock between the air-con vents and stereo, while the US car’s clock is sandwiched between the vents.

There’s also an empty space/cubby hole below at the base of the stack. Steering, dials, stereo and layout are all standard VW, which is a good thing. Compared to the black interior/silver metal trim of the Passat shown in Paris, press photos of the NMS show a beige leather cabin with wood trim, a more warm and “luxurious” feel in keeping with American tastes. The Passat will also offer the new Fender audio system designed exclusively for VW. Read about that collaboration here.

There are three drivetrain options: a 2.5L five-cylinder petrol, a 2.0L TDI Clean Diesel and a 3.6L VR6. The 170 hp/240 Nm five-pot engine comes standard with a manual gearbox, but a six-speed auto is optional. The 140 hp/320 Nm diesel, which “has the power of a six cylinder gasoline engine and the fuel economy of a hybrid” is capable of 15.2 km/l on the highway and has an amazing 800-mile range (1,280 km). The range topper is the 3.6L V6 with 280 hp and 350 Nm of twist. Both it and the TDI come with the 6-speed DSG.

The Passat rolls out from VW’s new Chattanooga plant that is part of a $4 billion investment by the company in the US market. The Camry/Accord fighter will be offered in three trim levels (S, SE and SEL) with a total of 16 equipment levels. Prices will start from around $20,000 when it reaches US showrooms later this year.

Gallery after the jump.
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Proton in talks with Hindustan Motors for Indian contract manufacturing deal – annoucement expected in February?

January 10, 2011 at 11:45 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, India, International News, Proton

More news has emerged about Proton’s anticipated move into the Indian market – the company is said to be in talks with Hindustan Motors, India’s oldest automaker, to sign a contract manufacturing deal in which it will be using HM’s platform to assemble its portfolio cars in India.

Reports indicate that an announcement regarding the tie-up is likely to be made by around end of February, and Proton is expected to use HM’s Chennai plant, which was initially established for the assembly of the Mitsubishi Lancer. It has also been speculated that the new contract manufacturing tie-up might be extended to HM’s ailing plants that are located in Indore and Uttarpara.

The Proton models that are expected to be initially launched in the Indian market are the Saga, Persona, Exora and Emas hybrid models.

According to an Indian daily, Hindustan Motors’ MD Manoj Jha was qouted as saying otherwise recently. “In the automobile business, there are all kinds of discussions with all sorts of companies at all points of time, but the discussions with Proton that you are talking about is not taking place.”

It has been more than a year since Proton has been mulling to enter into a contract manufacturing tie-up with an Indian firm. In previous years, the company had been in talks with the likes of Mahindra & Mahindra and the Hero group.

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Ford Falcon gets Prodrive developed supercharged V8

January 10, 2011 at 9:23 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, International News


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Prodrive has developed a supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine for the Australian Ford Falcon, a full sized RWD rival to the Holden Commodore. There will be two states of tune for this ‘Miami’ engine – 422 hp in the Falcon GS and a 449 hp version in the Falcon GT, GT-E and GT-P.

“The old 5.4-litre ‘Boss’ unit used by Ford Performance Vehicles was a tough act to follow but it had reached the limit of its emissions development and mechanical strength,” explains Bryan Mears, MD of Prodrive’s Asia Pacific division. “It took three years and AUD 36 million but the result is a new benchmark for a high-performance V8.”

Following the downsizing trend, the Miami replaces a 5.4L NA V8, saving 47 kg yet providing more power. The supercharger also delivers more torque at lower rpms. The 449 hp/570 Nm (from 2,200-5,500 rpm) unit does 0-100 km/h in under five seconds. 47 kilos is quite a lot saved, and it allows a more neutral front/rear weight bias, according to Ford.


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The Miami started life as a ‘Coyote’ V8 block and DOHC cylinder heads from America’s 402 hp Mustang. By optimising the supercharger installation, especially the drive ratio and intake runners, it was possible to reach targets without an intercooler. “This leaves untapped potential for future upgrades using higher boost levels with an intercooler,” Prodrive says.

New parts include uprated exhaust valves, pistons, connecting rods, the complete intake and exhaust system, a high-capacity sump and oil cooling jets to control piston temperature. Parts that were carried over from the Mustang’s 5.0 have been optimised for this application and to gel with the new bits. Unlike a ‘bolt on’ supercharger conversion, long term reliability is ensured here.

All engines are hand-built at FPV in Australia and they’re expecting to churn out 1,500 of these brawny Miamis per year.

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2012 Ford Focus Electric set for late 2011 launch!

January 9, 2011 at 7:56 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel

This is the new Ford Focus Electric, not a baby Aston Martin Rapide.This isn’t a Detroit reveal – no, the Ford Focus Electric was unveiled to the world at the 2011 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. This isn’t Ford’s first electric vehicle of course, as those honors go to the Ford Transit Connect EV, but it will be its first passenger car EV. It will be launched for sale in late 2011.

In a market where there’s options such as the Nissan Leaf EV and the Chevrolet Volt range extended EV, naturally Ford has made comparisons with its competitors in its initial press release. For one, Ford says a full recharge will take just 3 to 4 hours at home with the 240V charge station, half the charge time of the Leaf, which takes 8 hours to charge at 240V.

I’m very curious though as to how Ford managed a 4 hour charge time – does the shorter charge time affect battery longevity? Is Ford using better technology? Some technical details would be nice, but these are typically only available from the experts at the launch event. But I can make an educated guess. A 240V 60A 6kW charger (Level 2) should technically be able to charge the Nissan Leaf’s 24kWh battery in 4 hours, but the Leaf’s internal battery management limits the charging to 3.3kW to limit the amount of heat generated during charging as the Leaf’s battery has no active cooling.

Ford’s battery pack however does have active cooling, so it could be using the full 6kW power. The lithium-ion battery system was engineered by Ford with LG Chem and it uses heated and cooled liquid to help maximize battery life. According to Ford, thermal management of lithium-ion battery systems is critical to the success of EVs. The active cooling and heating system heats or chills a coolant before pumping it through the battery cooling system.

Charging the battery pack is via an industry standard 5-point plug supplied by Yazaki. The charge port is located between the driver’s door and front wheel well. A light ring around the port is activated to acknowledge a proper charger connection. The light ring lluminates in quadrants as the vehicle charges. Flashing quadrants represent charge in progress and solid-lit quadrants show stages of charge completion. If something goes wrong, the entire ring flashes, and when the car is fully charged, the entire ring lights up solidly.

We don’t really have any information on the electric motor and we expect this to be unveiled only towards the end of the year closer to the launch date, but we do know the Focus Electric goes up to a top speed of 136km/h. Doesn’t sound like the Focus Electric is going to be a very brisk machine, but it’s certainly going to be very silent and economical!
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First shots of new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe leaked!

January 9, 2011 at 6:45 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Mercedes Benz

These are the first leaked photos of the new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe, which will replace the CLC-Class. The CLC-Class might have had a new name but it was in fact a reskinned last generation C-Class Coupe updated to look similar to the W204.

Though it shares a somewhat similar “half moon” roofline to the CLC-Class, the profile of the new C-Class Coupe is much more coupe-like thanks to a more substantial boot while the CLC-Class was more of a hatchback. The front of the new C-Class Coupe is similar to the new W204 facelift but the rest of the body is unique.

The interior is also inspired by the new W204 facelift, but we can only see the front passenger area for now – perhaps the rear will feature two individual seats rather than a single bench? You’ll also notice that the C-Class Coupe has to make do with having a B-pillar, something that Merc coupes traditionally do not have.
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Cadillac to debut CTS-V Coupe race car in Detroit

January 7, 2011 at 2:59 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cadillac, Cars, International News

Cadillac will be unveiling its new CTS-V Coupe race car – which is set to take part in the Sports Car Club of America World Challenge GT racing series this season – in Detroit at the 2010 North American International Auto Show next Monday.

The company will field two teams in the upcoming SCCA World Challenge, and this move heralds a return to the series it competed in from 2004 to 2007, in the GT class. Then, with the 500 hp 5.7 litre V8 CTS-V Sport Sedan, Cadillac captured the manufacturer’s championship in 2005 and 2007 and bagged the driver’s title in 2005.

The CTS-V Coupe race car was developed together with Michigan-based motorsports engineering firm Pratt & Miller. A lot of the car is standard, since the racecars in this series are production based, though of course some of the production CTS-V components are modified to meet both the demands of racing and SCCA technical rules.

Johnny O’Connell, a three-time GT1 champion in the America Le Mans Series, and Andy Pilgrim, who won the 2005 SCCA World Challenge GT class in a Cadillac, will be behind the wheel of the CTS-V racecars in the series.
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Hyundai HCD-12 Curb Concept to debut alongside Veloster

January 7, 2011 at 2:52 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, Hyundai, Koreans


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We already know that Hyundai will be showing off its Veloster at next week’s North American International Auto Show in Detroit, as they’ve released teasers of that hatchback/coupe. It won’t be alone though; the fast rising Korean carmaker will also show this off – the HCD-12 Curb concept.

This teaser shot (we’ve brightened the dark bits for a better view) shows a compact crossover, a Nissan Juke rival that sits below the Tucson perhaps? It features a slim, aircraft cockpit style glasshouse and blackened A-pillars. There’s also a prominent character line that flows down from the rear lights to form a figure 7. Swelled wheelarches house big wheels with claw-like star spokes. Doesn’t look too outlandish for Hyundai, which has a range of bold new models.

The cabin however, is pure show car. Image is after the jump.
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Suzuki to build its first small car engine in 16 years

January 7, 2011 at 12:59 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Suzuki

According to reports, Suzuki is planning to build its first new small car engine in 16 years. The planned block is a 660cc unit, which is expected to deliver a fuel economy figure of 27 km per litre, an improvement of 20% over the company’s current engines.

With market conditions being what they are, and fuel prices continuing to climb, going the small displacement route will allow Suzuki to increase its competitiveness in developing cheaper models for both established and emerging markets, a pertinent point given the competition coming about, notably in India. It will also allow better domestic penetration, given that nearly 40% of Japanese passenger car sales are from the minicar segment.

The company is set to spend close to US$250 mil over a period of three years to retool its Sagara plant in Japan to build the new engine, the report quoted, adding that it is expected to first make its appearance in the MR Wagon before becoming the definitive block for all of the company’s minicars.

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