This is the ultimate way to curb speeding. A satellite-based system that will monitor a vehicle’s speed and applies the brakes or cuts acceleration if the driver tried to exceed it.

After a six-month trial in Leeds involving 20 modified Skoda Fabia cars, England is prepared to introduce the new system in London. The trial was run by academics at Leeds University who posted findings that the 20 volunteer drivers paid more attention to driving, as well as keeping the speed limit.

To encourage participation in the trial, drivers in London will be offered discounts on the congestion charges if they opt to have the system installed in their new vehicles. Congestion charges are currently at £8 a day.

How does it work?

Click here to read the rest of Big Brother’s Watching Your Speed

Seven years ago, Mercedes Benz showcased it’s first front-wheel drive car that was set to redesign how passenger cars were going to be designed. At least in Mercedes Benz’s eyes. The compact hatchback had an innovative safety feature where the engine moves under the passanger compartment in the event of a frontal collision.

The 2005 Mercedes Benz A-Class

Click here to read the rest of 2005 Mercedes Benz A-Class Next Week

DaimlerChrysler Malaysia CEO Frank Steinleitner says the company might decide to bring in Chrysler cars into Malaysia next year.

To test the market, they will bring in a few Chrysler models in Q3 2005 to get some feedback from roughly 1000-2000 of existing customers to determine likes, dislikes and prices they are willing to pay.

Possible models could include the Chrysler Jeep, Chrysler Crossfire and the Chrysler 300. Local assembly is a possible depending on how the market reacts.

Source

Here are some more spyshots of the Proton Satria Replacement Model. It’s currently undergoing road tests in Malaysia. Has anyone actually spotted it on the roads yet? The background in this photos indicate that the car is being tested in somewhat remote areas where it’s less likely for anyone to realize what it is.

A more “muscular” Proton Satria than the current M24 Satria.

The roofline indicates that rear headroom won’t be as bad as the Proton Gen2. Anyone think otherwise? It’s 2.43AM now, my brain might not be working that well

I keep seeing those rims on the Proton Satria Replacement Model spyshots. I honestly hope they won’t use this design in the final product because it looks a bit too “bling-bling” for the general public’s tastes… or my taste.

A look at the wheel arches show that the car is already pretty low in stock form.

I like what I see… but I wonder if they’ve sorted out the cylinder head shortage problem yet. The Campro has some production problems currently because suppliers in Australia can’t churn out heads fast enough.

Thanks to the reader who mailed me these photos.

The Toyota Allion is a sedan which seems to be be something like a larger Toyota Vios, following most of the same design cues, but with a Toyota Corolla Altis size.

I definitely prefer this look over the bloated and roundish kind of body design of the Toyota Corolla Altis.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Allion D-4

Stanford University School of Medicine have found that temperatures inside a parked car can raise significantly if the sun is out, even if ambient temperature is average.

The effect is similiar to a greenhouse effect, warming up a mass of air trapped inside glass. Which is what a car becomes when it’s left parked under the sun.

A small open crack in the windows or air conditioning did not help with slowing down the rate of heating. slowing down the temperature spike for about only five minutes.

So people, don’t leave your pets or children inside your car, even if you are only making a short stop.

Source: PEDIATRICS Vol. 116 No. 1 July 2005, pp. e109-e112, Drivers Drive

Honda’s Fit platform has been a big success, especially here in Malaysia. I am not sure if everyone knows this, but the Honda City and the Honda Jazz is basically the same platform, in a sedan and hatchback form respectively. The City is basically a Jazz with a boot. In Japan, the City is known as Honda Fit-Aria or Honda Fit Sedan while the Jazz is known as the Honda Fit.

The Fit platform also has an Station Wagon form, the Honda Airwave.

Click here to read the rest of 2005 Honda Airwave 1.5 VTEC

Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz has prepared a letter for Tun Dr. Mahathir as instructed by the Cabinet. It contains the facts that were presented to the Cabinet in the previous meeting.

Rafidah was instructed to reply Tun Dr. Mahathir’s questions on the concentration of APs on only a few companies, the government’s automotive policy as well as the entry of foreign cars at very low prices which reduced the national car’s competitiveness, as well as the failure of the minister to investigate these allegations of underdeclaring the real price of imports.

Our PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has confirmed that the letter had been prepared and sent to Tun Dr. Mahathir.

Let’s all wait and see if we ever get to find out the contents of the letter.

Source: The Electric New Paper, MalaysiaKini, The Star

Click here to read the rest of Rafidah has letter

FIA recently announced the results of the biggest F1 survey ever done. Something interesting which I noticed in the results of the survey. Apparently most Formula 1 fans dislike the Sepang track.

Other tracks which are disliked are the Magny-Cours in France and Hungaroring in Hungary.

I wonder why though. I don’t watch F1 much on TV. Anyone have their own opinions?

Read the full report on the survey here.

Source: F1Racing.net

This basically sums up why Malaysian car-owners try to avoid Proton as much as possible.

Customer complaints are sidelined, the product has quality issues from Day One, product efficiency plummets before its time due to the lower tolerance levels of its parts, after-sales service lines are long, parts become more expensive, and of course, the employees become terribly insular and totally customer insensitive.

Read the full letter by a Proton Wira owner Raghu, here at MalaysiaKini.

Now, who was it that said Proton’s market share is dropping because of cheap Korean imports and the likes? Anyone with a right mind would choose a Korean when it’s in the same price range.

Let me ask you this. If Proton did not have the problems which our friend Raghu had mentioned in his letter, would you choose a Proton or a Korean if they were similiarly priced?

I would choose a Proton. I honestly would. In fact, when it comes to 2nd hand cars, I chose a Proton.

But not right now… Proton has alot to change.