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Volkswagen Tiguan facelift to debut in Geneva

February 7, 2011 at 12:25 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

Volkswagen’s Tiguan compact SUV has been given a mid-life facelift, and the first photos of the revised 4WD vehicle have been revealed ahead of the its public debut at the Geneva Motor Show next month.

Sporting a new front end defined by horizontal lines to bring it into line with the current VW design DNA, the new Tiguan looks sharper and sleeker than the current model, so says the company, which adds that further details about the vehicle will be announced closer to Geneva.

Advance sales of the new Tiguan have already begun in Germany – earlier than initially planned – due to sustained high demand for the previous model, which has sold out. Despite numerous improvements, the great news is that – in Europe at least – the vehicle is still priced at the same level as the previous model.

While it hasn’t quite peppered the streets here, the Tiguan is a definite volume seller in many places – in Germany, its average market share in the compact SUV segment grew to 21% last year, and globally, a total of 572,000 Tiguans have been delivered since it was first launched in autumn 2007.

Gallery after the jump.
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Ferrari FF – yet more dynamic photos of the four-seater

February 7, 2011 at 11:57 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Ferrari, International News

Ferrari has released another set of photographs of its upcoming FF four-seater, and these have the car in action in the snow. The photos show both an advanced prototype and a final model hamming it up for the camera.

There’s been plenty of interest in the new shooting brake-styled 612 Scaglietti replacement, for sure. The boys at Maranello say that traffic on its official site – and channels like YouTube – has gone through the roof in the past few weeks, all scouring for more about the four-wheel drive vehicle, which of course makes its debut in Geneva next month.

Gallery after the jump.
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Kubica under induced coma after a seven-hour operation

February 7, 2011 at 11:25 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Motorsports, Videos

Lotus Renault has issued yet another press release on Robert Kubica’s condition, following the high-speed crash at the Ronda de Andora Rally. It was mentioned previously that the Pole suffered from multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand and doctors has also revealed that he suffered from severe cuts to his forearm, which could leave an impact on the mobility of his right hand.

Following the diagnosis, Kubica underwent a seven hour-long surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital and doctors have revealed that they are satisfied with the way the surgery went. A total of seven doctors worked on Kubica and they were split into two teams, one team was made up by the emergency task force from the Sao Paolo Hospital in Savona and the other team was from the orthopedic department of the Santa Corona Hospital.

“It has been a very important and difficult operation. Robert Kubica’s right forearm was cut in two places, with significant lesions to the bones and the tendons. We did our best to rebuild the functions of the forearm,” said Professor Mario Igor Rossello, Director for the Regional Centre of Hand Surgery at San Paolo Hospital in Savona. The professor went on to add that at the end, Kubica’s hand was “well vascularised and warm” and this comes as good news.

His status is currently “stable but serious”. Following the surgery, the was placed into an induced coma and could be woken up later today. Eric Boullier, Team Principal and Managing Director of Lotus Renault said “The news of Robert’s accident came as a real shock to the whole team. All of us, at Lotus Renault GP, wish him a quick recovery.”

“We have been really impressed with the way the doctors looked after him today and we would like to thank the whole team of the Santa Corona Hospital for their professional approach and dedication. I will be traveling to Italy tomorrow, along with Vitaly Petrov, in order to see Robert and tell him that we are impatiently waiting for his return,” he added.

From the looks of it, Robert Kubica is likely to be temporarily replaced. The last time such an incident happened was when Felipe Massa suffered from a severe crash at the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix and his team, Ferrari was forced to temporarily replace him with the team’s test driver Luca Badoer. Badoer was then replaced by Giancarlo Fisichella who was bridged from Force India. Fisichella’s place in Force India was then given to Vitantonio Liuzzi.

We have also added a video interview with Professor Mario Igor Rossello, who gave some comments after the surgery. Rossello was asked if Kubica can return to do his job, and the professor’s answer was that it is “quite difficult”. There is also another video which shows us Kubica’s damaged Skoda Fabia rally car, which is the one he crashed in. Our best wishes are with Kubica. Check out the videos after the jump.
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Robert Kubica’s crash – What are Lotus Renault’s options?

February 7, 2011 at 1:42 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Motorsports

Robert Kubica’s crash in the Ronde di Andora Rally earlier today has quickly made headlines in various motoring and motorsport websites. The crash occurred just 4.6 kilometers into the Italian rally and his Formula 1 team, Lotus Renault has confirmed that he is suffering from multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand and is currently undergoing surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital.

Although it is not life threatening, Kubica’s injuries may well prevent him from taking part in at least the first few races of the 2011 season, which begins on 13th March in Bahrain. With such fractures, Kubica may even find it hard to nestle himself into the cockpit of a Formula 1 car, let alone race in one for many laps and endure all the G forces. If the fractures are minor, the team would have at least stated so in its second press release.

If Kubica doesn’t recover in time, Lotus Renault will have to temporarily replace him. The team’s third driver list is made up by Bruno Senna and Romain Grosjean. Senna raced for HRT in 2010, which means he has one year of race experience in Formula 1. Romain Grosjean has slightly less race experience, after replacing Nelson Piquet Jr in 2009 in Renault starting from the European Grand Prix.

Other reserve drives for the team include Malaysia’s Fairuz Fauzy, Ho-Pin Tung and Jan Charouz. None of these drivers have raced in Formula 1 before. It is even more difficult to utilize test or reserve drivers for races these days especially with very limited testing. Furthermore, Lotus Renault’s second driver and Kubica’s team mate, Russian Vitaly Petrov also has one year of race experience under his belt.

So if things really go bad, as in if Kubica is sidelined at least for a couple of races, would it be a good idea for Lotus Renault to have two drivers, both with one year of race experience each to pilot their cars? Probably not. If so, who can the team look for?

Lets look at several potential options. It would be wise for the team to hire a driver who has both the experience and has recently raced a Formula 1 car. Nick Heidfeld seems to be a good candidate. He has taken part in 174 races and has been regarded as a quick and consistent driver. He started off his Formula 1 career with Prost in 2000 before joining Sauber the following year. Then in 2004 he raced for Jordan before moving to Williams in 2005 and then to BMW Sauber from 2006 until 2009, when BMW quit Formula 1.

He was signed up as Mercedes GP’s reserve driver in 2010 and subsequently became the official Pirelli test driver later that year. He also took part in the final five races of the 2010 season with Sauber, after replacing Pedro de la Rosa who failed to make a good impression along side team mate Kamui Kobayashi. The German has scored 225 points and went up to the podium twelve times. The 33 year old was even linked to a Renault drive for the 2011 season. Also, one should not forget that Heidfeld has more experience with the new Pirelli tires, compared to the current contenders.

The other driver that could fit the bill is Nico Hulkenberg, who raced for Williams in 2010. Currently a reserve driver for Force India, Hulkenberg scored eleven points in his rookie year and even scored a pole position in Brazil. However just like Lotus Renault’s Bruno Senna, he also has one year of race experience, but well justified with his performance. Other available drivers include ex-HRT driver Karun Chandhok, ex-Virgin driver Lucas di Grassi and ex-Force India driver Vitantonio Liuzzi.

The first two have one year of race experience each but Liuzzi has more, after starting off with Red Bull in 2005. He then raced for Toro Rosso in 2006 and 2007 before racing in five races for Force India in 2009 and a full season in 2010. Japanese driver Sakon Yamomoto also has spent some time in the cockpit, after scoring a race seat in several rounds in 2007 with Spyker. Following two years of absence from the sport, he took part in several races with HRT in 2010.

Christian Klien also could be a potential candidate. His Formula 1 debut was with Jaguar in 2004 before racing for Red Bull in 2005 and 2006. After three years of testing with Honda (2007) and BMW Sauber (2008 and 2009), he returned to the race seat in 2010, replacing Yamamoto for three races. It would also be great to see 2007 Champion Kimi Raikkonen in a Formula 1 seat, but who knows? He was rumored to drive for Renault this year but obviously that wasn’t the case. My bet? Nick Heidfeld would be a strong candidate.

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Lotus Renault’s Robert Kubica suffers from crash in Italy

February 6, 2011 at 7:56 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Motorsports

Lotus Renault GP has officially revealed that its main driver, Robert Kubica (pictured on the left) has suffered from a high speed crash this morning while competing in the Ronde di Andora Rally held in Italy. While details are scarce at the moment, we do know that the 26 year old driver from Poland was just 4.6 kilometers away from the start of the rally when his car left the road and came in contact with a wall.

He was then airlifted to the Pietra Ligure Hospital where he is undergoing medical checks. His co-driver Jacub Gerber walked away unhurt. A report by BBC suggests that Kubica may not be able to start the 2011 season which commences on 13th March in Bahrain.

There is also a chance that Kubica may not even continue his career in Formula 1, according to the report that is, given that he had a surgery on his left arm in 2003 following a Formula 3 crash. The report also stated that his injuries are not life threatening. Lotus Renault will release another statement soon and hopefully we will get confirmed details on his condition.

If Kubica cannot compete, Lotus Renault has previously announced Bruno Senna, Romain Grosjean and Fairuz Fauzy as backup drivers and one of them will probably pick up the seat.

UPDATE: LRGP has update via Facebook – after extensive medical checks, Kubica has been diagnosed with multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand and is undergoing surgery at the Santa Corona Hospital.

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McLaren MP4-26 unveiled – now with KERS and more

February 5, 2011 at 2:37 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, McLaren, Motorsports

There are only few Formula 1 teams that have not launched their 2011 challengers including HRT and Virgin. That number has reduced with the launch of McLaren’s MP4-26 in Berlin yesterday. In terms of livery, it would be difficult to notice any changes compared to the 2010 car. It looks very much the same albeit some changes on the vehicle design.

The most notable change is the unique U-shaped sidepod. The Woking-based team claims that the radical sidepod design feeds more air efficiently to the MP4-26′s rear end, thus increasing downforce. The team says that this makes up for the absence of the double diffuser system following a ban imposed for this season.

“We want to get the rear-end working as well as possible following the loss of performance caused by the banning of the double-diffuser. Once again, we’ve really pushed the car’s cooling configuration: we’ve got a second air intake on the engine cover for gearbox and hydraulic cooling,” said McLaren Engineering Director Tim Goss.

Other features include a long wheelbase, a modified airbox and nose, a central-mounted rear exhaust system as well as other aerodynamic features that comply with the new set of rules. Just like its rivals, McLaren has also opted for KERS which was last seen in 2009 and an active rear wing, which is a moveable rear wing that can be manually operated from the steering wheel. There are also the Pirelli tires.

The team will perform a shakedown during a private test session at the Idiada Ground in Spain on 8th February. This will be followed by further testing along with other teams in Jerez which begins on 10th February. Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button will race the MP4-26 this year. Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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2011 F1 World Championship – all you need to know!

February 4, 2011 at 6:35 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Motorsports

Formula 1 is getting more attention now than ever before, especially here in Malaysia. This movement towards the acceptance of the world’s most expensive sport is thanks to Petronas’ multi million dollar sponsorship of Mercedes GP and of course the ‘two’ Lotus-branded Formula 1 teams. The first to bring the Lotus brand back into Formula 1 was a squad led by Tony Fernandes, known as Lotus Racing last season and Team Lotus this season, for now that is until a British High Court says otherwise.

Then it was Group Lotus, which is of course owned by our national car maker Proton which has severed ties with Fernandes’ team late last year. Group Lotus then partnered with Genii Capital which ran the Renault Formula 1 team. This new partnership has given birth to the name Lotus Renault GP. Before we move on into the 2011 season, lets have a quick recap on the 2010 season.

It started off with the rather controversial refueling ban and many thought the races would turn out to be boring. It was anything but. It was also the season when three new teams joined the circus and they were all powered by Cosworth powerplants. These included Virgin and HRT, apart from Lotus Racing which emerged on top of the new comers.

It looked as though Ferrari dominated at first, and before we knew it McLaren and Red Bull joined the fun and these three teams traded spaces. It was definitely an interesting year. 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher also made a highly talked about come back, bringing total competing World Champions in 2010 to four (Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button, Lewis Hamilton). When Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso failed to clinch the championship at the season finale, Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel came into the limelight and has brought up the total competing World Champions to five for this season.

Following Ferrari’s defeat and Red Bull’s very respectable victory, the Formula 1 fraternity focused on building their 2011 machines and at this point of time, these machines are being tested in Valencia, Spain, before moving to Jerez, Barcelona and finally Bahrain. After which, they will come back to Bahrain for the season opening race on 13th March.

There are several changes in terms of rules for the cars this year. Some of them will run with manually-operated moveable rear wings, something many drivers don’t really fancy. They find it hard to work on many things while driving. There is also a change in the rubber department as Pirelli takes over from Bridgestone.

However the tires from the new supplier seem to be degrading quicker that the Bridgestones and this may cause more pit stops to take place. KERS is also making a come back this year. Teams that have opted for the energy regeneration system include Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, Williams as well as Sauber.

In terms of engines, all teams are using the same suppliers as they did last year, except for Team Lotus which dropped Cosworth for Renault. Most of the teams, except for a few have unveiled their 2011 contenders. Many have returned this year with bigger goals. Mercedes and Lotus Renault aim to return to the front end of the grid, while Team Lotus plans to score points and become a mid fielder.

Drivers wise, top teams have maintained their driver line-up while there are some new faces further down the field. Venezuelan driver Pastor Maldonado (25) took over duties from Nico Hulkenberg in Williams. He was crowned as GP2 Series Champion in 2010 and at the same time he also performed tests for HRT and Williams.

Next up is Paul di Resta (24) who won the DTM title with Mercedes last year. The Brit will race for Force India after replacing Vitantonio Liuzzi. 2010 GP2 runner-up Sergio Perez (21) will race alongside Kamui Kobayashi in Sauber. The Mexican took over from Nick Heidfeld who filled in for Pedro de la Rosa. There is also Narain Karthikeyan (34) who now drives for HRT. The Indian driver isn’t new to Formula 1 as he competed before with Jordan in 2005.

This was then followed by a test driver role in Williams and a race driver role in A1GP in both 2007 and 2008. He then raced in the Le Mans Series in 2009 before taking part in NASCAR Camping World Truck Series and Superleague the following year.

He took over driving duties from fellow Indian driver Karun Chandhok, Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, who acted as a filler driver. Belgian Jerome d’Ambrosio (25) fills up the final rookie spot with Virgin, replacing Lucas di Grassi. He finished twelfth overall in GP2 last season. He did carry out testing for both Renault and Virgin.

Overall, you can expect the top teams including Red Bull, Ferrari and McLaren to battle out each other once again but don’t rule out Mercedes and Lotus Renault, with the former’s lead driver having a lot to prove. It would also be interesting to see Team Lotus’ position on the grid as it will compete with a car that was designed better and is now powered by Renault. You may also want to look out the British High Court’s decision on the Lotus fiasco. Trial begins on 21st March.

Continue reading to check out the 2011 team and driver line-up list followed by the full championship calendar.
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Rumour: Alfa Romeo 4C 2-seater sportscar for Geneva?

February 3, 2011 at 5:15 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Alfa Romeo, Cars

Alfa Romeo is rumored to be set to introduce a concept car at this year’s Geneva show called the Alfa Romeo 4C GTA Concept. It will basically be a preview of an affordable rear wheel drive sports car to be added to the Alfa Romeo model line-up sometime in the future.

Unlike the flagship 8C which can cost over 200,000 Euros, the 4C is intended to be more of a sports car for the masses and an indicative price tag has been set at the 40,000 Euro mark. Alfa Romeo has exhibited similar looking cars in the past, like the Alfa Romeo Diva Concept shown above.

Interestingly, rumors are saying Alfa Romeo is targeting an 850kg curb weight for the 2-seater car, which would basically make it a sort of Italian Lotus Elise. Power will be via a 1.8 litre turbocharged direct injection 4-potter making around 250 horsepower, which would give the car a very nice power to weight ratio if the 850kg target is met. Apparently the chassis will be a derivative of the KTM X-Bow’s.

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Scuderia Toro Rosso targets eighth place with new STR6

February 2, 2011 at 1:46 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Red Bull owned Scuderia Toro Rosso was also present at the Valencia pitlane to launch their 2011 STR6 alongside big brother Red Bull Racing. The Italy based outfit’s lineup for this season is unchanged with Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari retaining their seats. The latter was quite impressive in his first full F1 season last year and held his own beside the more experienced Buemi.

STR is targeting eighth place this year. They were ninth in 2010 with 13 points, quite a big margin behind eighth place Sauber with 44 points. “My expectations are to do a decent year and we have to have the target to be eighth and as I said, we are good to be ninth but we have to do better. And at the end of the year we have to bring back an eighth place,” said technical director Giorgio Ascanelli.

The team will have to fight off ambitious new teams such as Team Lotus, who as you’ve read here, are targeting around 40 to 50 points and as high as seventh in the standings. STR believes it has enough to do so.

“Last year we didn’t have a wind-tunnel, the CFD was not mature in order to define the car. Therefore, we did not change very much apart from those elements linked to the change of regulation between 2009 and 2010. This year the tools which design the car in its performance aspect, which are again the wind tunnel and CFD, are more mature, which means that although we are still learning how to make the best of them I think we have started using them properly,” Ascanelli added.

Gallery after the jump.
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Brabus S 350 BlueTEC – first tuned car to meet Euro VI

February 2, 2011 at 12:28 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under brabus, Cars, International News, Mercedes Benz


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Brabus has introduced its ECO PowerXtra D6S performance kit on the new Mercedes-Benz S 350 BlueTEC, making it the world’s first tuned car to meet the new Euro VI exhaust emission standard.

The kit delivers an additional 55 hp of power in the V6 turbodiesel and develops a peak torque of 690 Nm (509 lb-ft), but more significantly, in emission testing required for certification, the vehicle remained below the Euro VI limits by 30%, even though VI isn’t coming into effect until 2014.


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Designed as a plug-and-play device and integrated into the CAN data bus of the luxury sedan, the D6S auxiliary control unit can also be installed in the 4MATIC four-wheel-drive version.

The ECO PowerXtra D6S kit comes with a very special feature. The extent of the performance increase is dependent on the selected shift mode of the 7G-Tronic Plus automatic transmission. In ‘Eco’ mode, the maximum power output of the engine remains unchanged, but peak torque jumps from standard 620 Nm to 690 Nm between 1,600 and 2,400 rpm. Upon switching to ‘Manual’ or ‘Sport’ mode the increase in torque is accompanied by an increase in maximum power output from 258 hp to 313 hp at a low 3,600 rpm.


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In this configuration, the tuned S 350 does the 0-100 kph sprint in just 6.5 seconds, half a second faster than the production car. Top speed is limited electronically to 250 kph.

Special versions of the D6S performance kit are also available for all four body styles of the E 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and new CLS 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY.

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