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Proton Espire (Persona R) renderings from GLC Open Day

July 6, 2011 at 4:07 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Proton Persona R

There was an event called the GLC Open Day held over the weekend of 24-26 June at KL Convention Centre. It was a government effort to educate the public on the unique roles played by various GLCs, and participants included GLICs such as the EPF, Khazanah Nasional and PNB to GLCs like Malaysia Airlines, Axiata, Maybank and national car company Proton. The latter had various activities for visitors, including a car configurator.

This digital application gave visitors to Proton’s booth the chance to customize the physical appearance of selected models, and as you can see here, the upcoming Espire or Persona R mid-sized saloon was among the playthings. Visitors got to switch colours and background, add decals and view the car from all angles. We’re told that Proton had something similar at KLIMS 2010 as well, where they showed the Persona R for the first time as the Tuah concept.

Disguised mules of the Persona R have been spotted regularly on the road, but here’s a chance to view the car from all angles and in various colours never seen before. These visitor-modified images were posted up on Proton’s Facebook page earlier today. While some of the more creative renditions are laughable, the car looks quite neat to us. What do you think?

More “postcards” after the jump.
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BREAKING: FHI and Tan Chong to make Malaysia the ASEAN production hub for Subaru, compact SUV first up!

July 6, 2011 at 11:54 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Subaru

We’re accustomed to news of carmakers setting up shop in Thailand or Indonesia, making our neighbours the regional production hub for important models, but here’s a piece of good news for Malaysia. Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), the owner of Subaru, has inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Tan Chong Group to produce Subaru vehicles in Malaysia.

This consignment production contract between FHI and TC Subaru Sdn Bhd will see the production of 5,000 units of Subaru vehicles per year “at an existing production facility of Tan Chong Motor Assemblies (TCMA)”. This could be the Serendah plant that currently churns out Nissan models such as the Grand Livina, Sylphy and Teana, or the older Segambut plant in KL. We’re guessing it’s the former.

Production will begin in October 2012, and the model in question is a Subaru compact SUV that will be marketed in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia through the Subaru sales and distribution network of Tan Chong Group.

FHI’s partnership with Tan Chong dates back to 1987, when the latter was appointed as Subaru distributor in Singapore. Over the years, Tan Chong has been expanding the sales and distribution network of Subaru vehicles across ASEAN countries. They now have a presence in Cambodia, Southern China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

As to the identity of the “compact SUV”, many first guesses will shout Subaru Forester, but we have a feeling that it’s a smaller crossover, since today’s Forester isn’t exactly a compact 4X4. We’re also surprised that FHI did not choose a mass market vehicle like the Impreza saloon or Exiga MPV. Anyhow, we will be heading to Singapore tomorrow to dig deeper, so stay tuned!

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Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors wins Distributor of the Year 2010 Award, giving away service vouchers in celebration

July 6, 2011 at 10:25 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Koreans, Local News

Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has been named Distributor of the Year 2010 by Hyundai Motor Company (HMC) at the recent 2011 Global Distributors Convention held in Banff, Canada. The award, according to a HMC spokesman, is well-deserved as HSDM has demonstrated its ability to increase Hyundai’s market share in Malaysia within a short period of time through its innovative services and creative marketing activities.

The award was presented to Dato’ Lawrence Lee, Sime Darby’s Executive VP, Motors Division and Dennis Ho, MD of HSDM by Vice Chairman of HMC, Eui-Sun Chung.

“I am very proud of the team at HSDM and the milestones that the company has achieved through its efforts to change the brand value and positioning of the Hyundai brand,” said Dato’ Lee, who noted that the consolidation of Hyundai operations in Malaysia and the 2010 launch of the new Sonata and Tucson were milestone events that contributed to the “dramatic sales growth”.

MAA figures show that Hyundai sales had increased by more than 38% from 2009 to 2010. For the period from January to May 2011, more than 5,400 Hyundais have been sold, representing a 36.7% year-on-year growth. Currently, HSDM has a network of over 100 dealerships across Malaysia and more than 10 3S centres. The company aims to expand the network further.

In conjunction with the award win, HSDM is giving out service discount vouchers with a minimum spend when customers visit an authorised Hyundai service centre from 1 August till 31 October 2011. Call HSDM’s Customer Care Line at 1300-13-2000 for more info.

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Caterham and GE branding on Team Lotus T128 revealed!

July 6, 2011 at 9:30 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Caterham, Formula 1, Motorsports


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In our post yesterday, Team Lotus boss Tony Fernandes revealed that his team’s green/yellow cars will sport two new logos for this weekend’s British GP. They are GE and Caterham.

The American giant joined Team Lotus as sponsor last month, while British maker of the Seven, Caterham, was bought over by Tan Sri Tony, Kamarudin Meranun and SM Nasarudin back in April, before they were allowed by the courts to legally use the “Team Lotus” name. The purchase of Caterham has already seen a rebranding of the Caterham Team AirAsia GP2 team.

Here are some photos of the T128 with the revised livery. Caterham is prominently plastered on the race car’s sidepod while the famous GE logo is found on the front, middle and tail sections of the car, in various sizes. Do you like the new look?


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“This is a monumental occasion for Caterham Cars. We are a niche low-volume sportscar manufacturer and yet we are now a key partner for a Formula One team with an extremely bright future. The purchase of Caterham signalled an exciting new era for the company in terms of the continued development of the legendary Seven,” Caterham Cars MD Ansar Ali said.

“But in terms of global visibility for the Caterham brand, you don’t get much better than Formula One. Caterham has a long and distinguished history in grassroots motorsport but this puts the firm in front of a truly global audience to sit alongside major car brands including Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes Benz,” Ali added.

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Refreshed BMW 1-Series duo now in Malaysia – RM423,800 for 135i Coupe, RM319,800 for 120i Convertible

July 5, 2011 at 6:06 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News

BMW Group Malaysia today introduced the refreshed 1-Series Coupe and Convertible. The Coupe will be available in 135i form and the soft top as a 120i, just like before. The company says that limited numbers of each model will be brought in to “ensure its exclusivity”.

“We only delivered over 30 units of the previous edition of the BMW 135i Coupe and BMW 120i Convertible here in Malaysia and our strategy for these cars would remain the same to ensure its distinctiveness in the premium segment. For a long time now, we at BMW Group Malaysia have promised to make available every single BMW introduced worldwide here in Malaysia and the introduction of these two cars is a testament to this promise.” said Geoffrey Briscoe, MD of BMW Group Malaysia.

Looks wise, the duo feature larger air inlets, new headlights (with milk glass ‘eyebrows’) and taillights (double L-shaped light banks with chrome surround) as well as redesigned air dams. Additionally, two new exterior colours – Vermilion Red and Marrakesh Brown – have been added.

Inside, lighting and air con controls now come with chrome trim. Boston leather is now available in Savannah Beige. The 120i Convertible’s leather has SunReflective Technology which reflects long-wave light and prevents surfaces from heating up in the sun. The 135i Coupe doesn’t get this, but will come with BMW ConnectedDrive.

Under the hood of the potent 135i Coupe is a turbocharged 3.0L in-line six with 306 hp and 400 Nm from 1,200 to 5,000 rpm, sending the small coupe from 0-100 km/h in just 5.2 seconds. That’s still great performance, even if the 1-Series M Coupe is the new range topper. In contrast, the 120i Convertible is no bruiser, but a gentle cruiser – its 156 hp four-pot pulling the car to 100 km/h in 10 seconds.

By the way, the topless one has 260 litres of boot space with the top down and 305 litres with the top up. The transformation process takes 22 seconds.

For the abovementioned exclusivity, you’ll need RM423,800 for the 135i Coupe and RM319,800 for the 120i Convertible. Prices are on the road, without insurance, but with BMW Service Inclusive + Repair.

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Virgin partners McLaren, gets access to Woking’s facilities

July 5, 2011 at 11:23 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, McLaren, Motorsports

Virgin Racing was one of the three new teams that joined F1 last season, but Richard Branson’s latest plaything has always been in the shadow of Lotus Racing and now Team Lotus. But there’s a shake up happening within, which has already seen technical director Nick Wirth leave. Now, Virgin has announced a technical partnership with front runners McLaren, which will give them access to Woking’s top notch facilities.

“Under the terms of this technical partnership, Marussia Virgin Racing will be able to access McLaren’s wind tunnel, simulator, rigs, and fitness and well being programmes. These properties are state-of-the-art, and we confidently therefore expect Marussia Virgin Racing to derive significant benefits from them,” revealed McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh.

“When we undertook our detailed review of the team in the first half of 2011, it was clear that our bold ambitions for the future would need to be matched with some equally bold steps towards achieving them. Our technical partnership with McLaren is very exciting indeed. McLaren is one of the most prestigious and successful marques in grand prix racing history, with an enviable record of success over many years,” said Andy Webb, CEO of Virgin Racing.

“We can benefit enormously from McLaren’s far-reaching techniques and capabilities and I have no doubt that this partnership will see us take the technical steps necessary to make a significant leap forwards,” he added.

All this comes after Virgin hired Pat Symonds as consultant since the start of this season. The former Renault man was implicated in the 2009 Crashgate scandal, and is serving a ban till 2013 that doesn’t allow him to take an official position. He will continue working for Virgin.

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VIDEO: New Toyota Camry SE, XLE, Hybrid secretly filmed!

July 5, 2011 at 10:17 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota, Videos

The current Toyota Camry was first shown to the world, and brought to Malaysia, in 2006, with our version receiving a facelift in 2009. It has been five years already, and a new generation Camry is due. Here’s a secretly filmed video of the supposed new 2012 Camry being shown to a crowd with fanfare, rolling out to the tune of Katy Perry’s Firework.

Three cars are wheeled on stage, and they are the Camry XLE, SE and Hybrid. XLE and SE are trim names for the US market, and this video is likely to be secretly filmed from the States, probably at a dealer convention or something similar. The Camry’s biggest market is North America, and the previous gen car made its motor show debut there as well.

Anyway, there’s not too much that we can see, as the cameraman couldn’t get enough zoom on it. His “toyotaenthusiast” youtube account doesn’t describe much too, and it looks to be created just to upload this video. We’ll leave you to dissect and analyse the car, but bear in mind that the version we’re going to get should differ in styling from the North American car.

There’s also a grainy photo circulating online that’s claimed by some to be of the 2012 Camry. Look for it after the jump.
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Williams dumps Cosworth for Renault engines from 2012

July 5, 2011 at 2:52 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports, Renault

Williams and Renault have struck a deal that would see the Formula 1 team use the latter’s engines starting next season. This move revives the “Williams Renault” name that should be no stranger to F1 fans – Renault supplied factory engines to Williams from 1989 to 1997, and that fruitful collaboration (Red Bull’s ace designer Adrian Newey was in the mix, too) won four drivers’ and five constructors’ titles.

Fans would remember the glory days of the Camel/Canon sponsored car and the famous Rothmans liveried Williams, but the car of today, which uses Cosworth’s V8, is no longer a front runner. Will this reunion power them up the field again?

“Our previous relationship with Renault was one of the most successful in Williams’ history but we will not allow ourselves to dwell too much on the past. We must look to the future and continue to re-build our on-track reputation, which I am hopeful that today’s announcement will help us to do,” said team principal Frank Williams, who also thanked Cosworth for being “a fair and reliable partner both on and off the track for the past two years”.

Co-owner Patrick Head shared a bit more. “A lot of these engines are very close in their ultimate performance, some of their characteristics will vary quite a bit. With Team Lotus one can see changing with engine, it didn’t light their performance up. We are never a team that looks for excuses but if someone says how much (of the deficit) is in the car and how much in the engine, the difficulty with the current engine and with the other teams running it,” he said.

“With the Renault engine in the back of a car from Milton Keynes at the moment, if someone went around saying it is not a decent engine… The Renault engine seems to be very good across the board,” he added, referring to champs Red Bull.

This deal is for seasons 2012 and 2013, with an option to continue when V6 engines are introduced in 2014. With Williams on board, Renault will be powering four teams on the 2012 grid, including Red Bull, Team Lotus and Lotus Renault GP.

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Team Lotus expecting a good showing at Silverstone

July 5, 2011 at 2:18 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

After a one week break from the rather dull European GP at Valencia, Formula 1 is back this coming weekend, and the circus moves to Silverstone, UK, which is the home race for many of the teams. For Team Lotus, which is Malaysian owned, but based in Hingham UK, the British GP is described as “our other home race”, the other being the Malaysian GP. The team is expecting a good weekend.

“I think all the signs are that Silverstone will be a good race for us. It’s one of our two home Grand Prix so it is a chance to race in front of our families and friends and after we slipped a little in Valencia it gives us the opportunity to get back to the level of performance that we know we can extract from this year’s car,” said Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne.

“I do not think the rule changes we will see at Silverstone will have a great effect on the grid order but we have been making preparations for this weekend both in the wind tunnel and in some of the work we have been doing at the straightline test we are running in the UK on Monday and Tuesday this week, so we know what to expect,” he added.

His boss Tony Fernandes revealed that their cars will sport two new logos for the British GP. “Back to the UK and our other home race. This is a big race for us, both in terms of track performance where we want to keep bringing down the gap to the midfield, and because we will see the GE and Caterham logos on the cars and across the whole team for the first time.

“Our partnership with GE is a clear sign that one of the most important members of the global business community shares our vision for the future of our team, and the plans for Caterham will start being revealed very soon. The long-term strategy for the Caterham Group is taking shape and we are all very excited about the direction we are taking, as I am sure our fans and our partners will be too,” added Tan Sri Tony, who is also the new owner of Caterham.

It will be a great venue to break the duck, will Team Lotus manage to do so?

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BMW Motorrad E-Scooter concept – electric path beckons

July 4, 2011 at 7:50 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Bikes, BMW Motorrad, International News


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The folks at BMW Motorrad have come up with an electric scooter concept called the E-Scooter, which offers a comparable performance to a conventional maxi scooter, but in much cleaner fashion

Conceived as a future-oriented vehicle for commuting between urban areas and the city centre, the E-Scooter provides the necessary sustained output and maximum speed for safe and reliable operation on urban motorways and when asked to carry two people.

While no output figures are provided, BMW says that the development study has the necessary juice to be able to achieve acceleration figures within the important 0-60 kph range, and this is at the level of current 600 cc maxi scooters.


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The E-Scooter has an operational range of over 100 km, and its battery can be charged at regular household power sockets, so no special charging station is required. When completely flat, the charging period for the unit is less than three hours, with shorter charging times for batteries that aren’t completely out of juice, of course.

The charging device includes a charge cable, and in addition to other components like an ISO insulation monitor, high-voltage indicator and a high-voltage distributor, a DC/DC converter is included with the E-Scooter – it’s required to change high voltage to low voltage power for the 12V power supply and especially for the control units.

There’s no main frame with this one – the aluminium battery casing, which also contains the electronic system required for battery cell monitoring, takes over the function of the frame. The steering head support is connected to this, as is the rear frame as well as the left-hand mounted, single swing arm with a directly hinged, horizontally installed shock absorber.


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The E-Scooter has no hub motor with direct drive or planetary gearbox – instead, the primary electric drive is mounted behind the battery casing, while the secondary drive is made up of a toothed belt from the electric machine to the belt, pulley-mounted coaxially on the swinging fork pivot with drive pinion. From here, power transmission occurs via a roller chain to the rear wheel.

There’s energy regeneration too, when the E-Scooter is decelerated in trailing throttle or when braking, and this offers between 10 and 20% increased range, depending on the driving profile.

During travel, the electric machine and power electronics are liquid-cooled, as is the charging device during charging. An electric coolant pump ensures coolant circulation through the radiator, though the battery on the E-Scooter features an air-cooled system, chosen to save space.

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