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First stage in used car parts ban on June 1 announced!

March 23, 2011 at 6:36 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News

The government will be going ahead with the ban of used car parts in stages, according to MITI secretary-general Datuk Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria. The first phase to be implemented on June 1, 2011 will ban the import of four components deemed to be critical items – brake linings, brake pads, batteries and tyres.

That’s right – no more tyres from Singapore; you can actually find these tyres all over classifieds sites and forums now. MITI did not reveal what would be banned in the next stage, or what the timeline of the stages are, though the word is that the complete ban on all used spare parts imports in the country will happen by 2015. So, for other parts like engine components etc, we’re safe for now.

Source

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BMW 1-Series M Coupe Safety Car for MotoGP

March 23, 2011 at 5:08 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

Here’s an idea for owners of 1-Series Coupes who want to dress up their car. This is a one-off BMW 1 Series M Coupe built specifically to serve as the Official Safety Car for the MotoGP series this year.

The entire drivetrain is claimed to be the same as the production car though – a 340 horsepower inline-six M TwinPower Turbo engine mated to a 6-speed manual transmission, the only available gearbox option for the M Coupe.

Even though the engine may be the same, this car will go faster than a production model due to weight reduction techniques. The safety car comes with a carbon fiber bonnet with integrated air vents, polycarbonate side and rear windows, and a lightweight titanium race exhaust system. There’s also an adjustable rear wing.

In the interior, the rear seats are missing, while the front seats have been replaced by two racing bucket seats with six-point belts. There’s also a rollover cage bolted behind the B-pillar.

Look after the jump for the full image gallery.
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Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 LTZ Diesel available in Thailand – could it come to Malaysia?

March 23, 2011 at 4:41 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, International News

A 2.0 litre Chevrolet Cruze is available up north in our neighbor Thailand, and it’s an oil burner! The new Chevrolet Cruze 2.0 is powered by a 2.0 litre VCDI diesel commonrail engine with a variable geometry turbocharger.

There are actually two 2.0 litre diesel engines that have been put in the Cruze. The first was a 1,991cc engine that made about 150 horses and 320 Nm of torque, which is similar to the unit found in the Captiva. There is also a new second generation engine with a displacement of 1,998cc that makes 163 PS and 360 Nm of torque from just 2,000 rpm.

The 1,991cc engine is used in the Thailand Cruze diesel for now, as revealed by the Thai brochure, but both have appealing output numbers. I do know that the diesel engine is built in Thailand itself, at a new US$445 million diesel engine plant. Could a Cruze Diesel join the ranks of Chevrolet Malaysia’s offerings? I hope so!

It would certainly have its appeal to the Malaysian carbuyer wishing to explore the wonders of diesel power, where you get both mad torque and fuel economy at the same time, but are currently pretty much limited to just one car with an affordable price tag – the Focus TDCi.

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Lexus LF-Gh to debut at NYIAS: will preview next gen GS?

March 23, 2011 at 1:56 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Concept Cars, International News, Lexus

Lexus has revealed that it will be exhibiting a new concept called the Lexus LF-Gh Concept at the 2011 New York International Auto Show sometime in mid-April 2011.

A simple ‘decode’ of the Lexus language for its concept cars indicate that this is a preview of the next generation Lexus GS, as the Gh most likely means GS Hybrid, and LF probably stands for Lexus Future.

The current generation Lexus GS first made its debut in late 2003 as a concept car called the LF-S (Lexus Future Sedan), and then made its production debut in 2005. It’s about time for a new GS sometime this year or next.

The new GS will no doubt have regular powertrains as well as hybrid powertrains, but will we finally see a high performance GS-F with this new generation?

The image shown above is the current generation Lexus GS450h.

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All-new Ford Ranger gets ASEAN debut in Thailand, coming to Malaysia early 2012

March 23, 2011 at 1:05 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Local News


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UPDATE: More information and pictures added

We’re in Bangkok now for the ASEAN debut of the all-new Ford Ranger pick-up truck. Designed and developed in Australia, this Ranger is part of the One Ford strategy for global vehicles, and Thailand, which is the second largest market in the world for such vehicles, will be one of three global production hubs for the one-tonne truck.

The AAT plant in Thailand responsible for Ranger will kick off production in the middle of this year, before plants in South Africa and Argentina start production. Malaysia is of course getting the Ranger from our northern neighbour, and the first units are scheduled to arrive in early 2012.


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Ford officials are in a confident mood here in Bangkok, as they unveiled what’s claimed as the “best in class” truck in a variety of aspects. It certainly looks much bigger than the current one, bold and handsome, and the features are impressive.

The Double Cab version that we see here (Regular and Super also available) measures 5,359 mm long and 1,850 mm wide, which means it takes over from the Nissan Navara (5,230 X 1,850 mm) as the largest truck in town. The Ranger’s wheelbase is 3,230 mm long, which is also the longest in the segment.

For the record, this new Ranger is 190 mm longer, 43 mm wider and 65 mm taller than the current one. The big body makes the show car’s 18-inch wheels look just about adequate. 16 and 17-inch rims will also be available.

Because of this increase in size, Ford claims that rear legroom and knee clearance is best in class. You would also have noticed that the rear door is now significantly larger, which means easier access. The current Ranger has fixed sized front doors regardless of cab type, which limits the size scope of the rear doors in the double cab, but in this new model, the door length and B pillars vary according to cab type. More flexible, in other words.

By the way, it’s an all-new platform that will come with fresh engines – two Duratorq TDCi units and one Duratec petrol. Let’s focus on the diesels, as the 166 PS/226 Nm petrol with five-speed manual isn’t likely to reach our shores.

Breaking away from the 2.5-litre trend, the new Ranger will come with a 2.2-litre four-cylinder diesel with 150 PS and 375 Nm of torque. As you can see, despite the smaller capacity, this 2.2′s output betters that of the current Ranger and its 2.5L rivals in Malaysia, except for the Navara. On a 4X2 model, Ford says that fuel consumption is as low as 7.6L/100 km.


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The second diesel lump is a five-cylinder 3.2-litre unit that puts out 200 PS and 470 Nm of torque. These engines are related to those used in the European Ford Transit van. The 2.2 will be the one that’s coming to Malaysia early 2012, while the 3.2 is a possible entry at a later date.

To top it off, the new Ranger will be the first in class to offer a six-speed automatic transmission. The gearbox will have Sequential Shift Control manual override, Grade Logic Control and Driver Recognition, the latter adapting to the driver’s style. The manual ‘box for the diesels have six forward ratios as well, plus an upshift indicator to encourage efficient driving.

Globally, the truck will come in 4X2 and 4X4 drivetrains and two ride heights, with the 4X2 Hi-Rider sharing the same frame as the 4X4 model. Shift on the fly is available for 4X4 models.

A new feature is the locking rear differential that’s activated by a dashboard button. This would be valuable off road when one rear wheel is in mud or not touching the ground. 4X4 and Hi-Rider models have 241 mm ground clearance and class leading 800 mm of wade height, good for floods. By the way, the steering is now rack and pinion.

Among the headline features (globally) are best in class towing capacity (up to 3,350 kg, payload up to 1,500 kg), Bluetooth with Voice Control, rear view camera, curtain airbags, 23 storage spaces in the cabin (including a vented 8.5L centre bin), dual-zone climate control, cruise control, ESP, Hill Launch Assist and Hill Descent Control. Of course, not all of these will be in the Malaysian spec model if it’s to have a competitive price.


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Looks good to shoot straight to the top of the class, and we can’t wait to drive it! More pics after the jump.
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Mansory dresses and tunes up the F01/F02 7-er

March 23, 2011 at 1:01 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

If Batman ever decided to get himself one of the new F01/F02 BMW 7-Series, he’d probably have the dealer pre-install this Mansory bodykit. Other than the stealthy bodykit you see here, Mansory also tunes the 760Li’s 6.0 litre twin-turbo V12′s power from it’s current 544 horses and 750 Nm to a massive 640 hp and 920 Nm, which is more than the X5 M and X6 M and probably more than whatever the upcoming F10 M5 will put out. Looking at what the 4.4 litre turbo V8s are capable of, we always knew that the 6.0 litre force inducted lump had so much more potential in it! We don’t really understand converting the kidney grills to horizontal bars instead of the standard BMW vertical bars though!
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Spyshots: 2011 Perodua Myvi and Myvi SE continues testing

March 23, 2011 at 12:48 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Malaysian Makes, Perodua, Spyshots

Here are two more sets of photos of the new 2011 Perodua Myvi – this yellow hatch with the plate B1151A seems to be going all over Malaysia! This set of photos were snapped by reader MFMJ in Kuala Terengganu. According to MFMJ, these 2 cars were snapped together and they looked different – the yellow is most likely some kind of top of the line Myvi SE with some design differentiation compared to the one in front of it.

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And this set of photos below was uploaded on Facebook by Beng Obeng. Notice in one of the photos that the silver car in the background has a different alloy wheel design compared to the yellow disguised Myvi SE.

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New Ford Ranger appears on Ford Thailand’s website

March 23, 2011 at 12:30 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford

Ford Thailand have released some details on the new Ford Ranger at their website. The Ranger is offered in Thailand as a Single Cab workhorse, a Double Cab (we usually have this in Malaysia) as well as an Open Cab which is like a Single Cab with some extra storage behind the seats.

I believe this is the first photo of the new Ranger’s interior space – before this it was just pictures of the exterior as well as the dashboard design. Ford claims the Double Cab offers class-leading legroom – it looks big in these photos, but we can’t see the angle of the rear backrest in this photo. Danny is at the Bangkok Motor Show this week so he’ll be able to tell us more about the new Ranger’s rear legroom.

The Ranger has not been launched in Thailand yet. The website says it will only be available by late 2011, so you can probably expect a similar launch date for Malaysia as well. Finalised specs for Thailand is not available yet either, but the site does boast about features like ESP, Bluetooth and Voice Control which are available on passenger cars like the Fiesta.

Look after the jump for the rest of the images extracted from Ford Thailand’s website.
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Porsche 918 Spyder production in 2013 – only 918 to be built

March 23, 2011 at 7:47 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Porsche

Well, the response to the 918 Spyder has been good enough for Porsche to put the car into serial production – the company has announced that dealers around the world will begin taking customer orders for the vehicle, which is set to begin production in September 2013. To keep things exclusive, only 918 examples of the plug-in hybrid sportscar will be built.

The company says that the production 918 Spyder will remain faithful to the concept car which made its debut in Geneva last year, though the two-seat production version, based on a carbon fibre-reinforced plastic monocoque, will feature a manual roof system with removable panels that can be stored in the front luggage compartment.

The car will be powered by a high-revving 500+ hp V8 engine that will have a minimum 4.0 litre displacement, assisted by two electric motors with a total of at least 218 hp. The engine will be based on the Porsche RS Spyder racing unit, and power will be transferred to the rear wheels via Porsche’s compact, seven-speed PDK double-clutch gearbox.

Meanwhile, the two electric motors – one each on the front and rear axles – will offer an innovative, variable all-wheel drive system with independent control of the drive forces on both axles. Electrical energy will be stored in a liquid-cooled lithium-ion battery that can be recharged from a standard household outlet.

Electric-only driving range is expected to be more than 25 km on the NEDC cycle. Recharge time will depend on each country’s electrical power network; on a 110V/10A line, the charge time is around seven hours. A quick-charge option is being evaluated to further reduce charging times.

Performance figures include a 0-100 kph time of 3.1 seconds and a top speed of 320 kph. Porsche adds that under the right conditions, the 918 Spyder will be able to drive on electric power alone at speeds up to 150 kph for limited distances.

The 918 Spyder customer gets a further deal sweetener – he also gets the opportunity to acquire a special-edition 911 Turbo S Coupe or Cabriolet, which he can hope to get much earlier, in this case later this year. Also limited to no more than 918 units, the 911 Turbo S ‘Edition 918 Spyder’ will have exterior and interior design elements echoing the 918 Spyder’s styling.

It features similar exterior colours, carbon-fibre elements inside and out, enhanced leather equipment and numerous acid-green accents on items such as the brake calipers, illuminated sill plates, interior stitching and instrument cluster needles. A limited-edition badge on the glove compartment door will feature the same production number as the customer’s 918 Spyder. All this for no added cost over a standard 911 Turbo S model, be it in Coupe or Cabrio form.

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Famed tuner Richard Hamann passes away at 53

March 23, 2011 at 7:41 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News

Following the death of Uwe Gemballa last year, the tuning community has lost another big name with the passing of Richard Hamann last week at age 53 from lung cancer.

Hamann, who was a successful BMW racer-turned-tuner, leaves behind a thriving company in the aftermarket tuning business, the latest creation being the Tycoon Evo M reinterpretation of the BMW X6 M reported on recently.

Hamann, who was involved in motorsports for more than two decades, in which he ran in more than 700 races, had 300 podium finishes and enjoyed 103 victories, began his tuning company in 1986. Hamann Motorsport made its name in the early days tuning BMWs before expanding the rework scope to other marques.

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