Telematics Research Group has done a study on the use of technology gizmos in cars. BMW and Mercedes Benz tops the list, and Hyundai comes in last. Audi seems to be lagging behind it’s other two German counterparts. These are brands in the USA, for 2006 and 2007 models. Click the image for a bigger version.

I think it’s pretty normal, luxury car markers tend to include more of these kind of computer assists and gadgets into their cars compared to car makers that focus on economy like Hyundai. In fact I would be suprised if Hyundai appeared any higher on the list.

These wheels bring bling bling to a whole new level. Pimp Star wheels allow you to define a graphic image to display on your spinning wheels while your vehicle is moving. With the package comes software which allow you to change the image anytime you want, and even define a few images to show in slideshow mode. Ridiculous, I don’t even want to image how much these wheels cost. This is even more over the top than LCD screen headlights. But there’s market demand in the US, like the rich rapper stereotypes who drive Hummers.

Click here to read the rest of Dub Pimp Star Bling Bling Wheels

Proton Holdings Bhd MD Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said today that the company is in talks with a foreign company for a strategic core alliance, which might involve selling a stake to the foreign company in exchange for technology transfer. Not much more details beyond that were said, but details are to be announced at the end of this month once an agreement between the two sides is reached.

I guess we’ll have to wait until the end of this month before we know more about this partnership, and who the foreign car manufacturer is, and whether selling a stake would be involved. It will be good that technology transfer is in the plans. Can’t wait to know the full details.

Source

We all know the Toyota Yaris is coming soon to our shores. There have been sightings of the little hatchback on trailers being delivered somewhere, and UMW Toyota has even registered the domain name yaris.com.my. But what’s important is how much will it cost?

I had a look at the CBU gazetted price list released by the Customs a while ago and decided to try calculating the price of a Toyota Yaris with Malaysia’s awesome best in the world ever taxes slapped on.

Toyota Yaris - RM41,000
+ import duty (RM2,050) = RM43,050
+ excise duty (RM32,287.50) = RM75,337.50
+ sales tax (RM7,533.75) = RM82,871.25

Toyota Yaris High-grade - RM42,500
+ import duty (RM2,125) = RM44,625
+ excise duty (RM33,468.75) = RM78,093.75
+ sales tax (RM7,809.38) = RM85,903.13

I’ve done the calculations assuming the Toyota Yaris will be a CBU from Thailand, not Japan. Of course, this does not include whatever profit UMW Toyota has to make from the sale of the car. So, how much do you think UMW Toyota will sell it for? And do you think our Toyota Yaris will have a Super-CVT transmission?

Related posts:
Toyota Yaris Hatchback Spyshots
Toyota Vitz (Yaris)

The Volkswagen Polo GTI was shown at the end of October last year at the Tokyo International Motor Show. I’ve posted about it before, but I thought it would be nice if I’d do another feature on it right after my post on the Volkswagen Polo Bluemotion. Kind of like two opposite ends of the Polo model range you know, one of them offers mega mileage and the other one offers you mega horsepower

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Polo GTI 1.8 Turbo

What is a recession-proof car? Naza’s own definition is a car cheap enough to buy, finance, and maintain. Even through the bad times of recession. I suppose if Malaysia did not have ridiculous levels of imported car taxation, a car like the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion could qualify as a recession-proof car.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion

The Volvo XC90 PUV was a concept introduced back in 2004 at the Paris International Auto Show to showcase it’s newly launched V8 engine. Volvo’s 4.4 liter V8 engine was developed to go against BMW’s X5 4.4 liter V8 engine, BMW’s upmarket high trim luxury SUV. It is a normally aspirated engine making 331 horsepower at 5850rpm and 325Nm of torque at 3900rpm. However this Volvo XC90 PUV concept has a slightly tweaked version under the hood. Let’s have a look.

Click here to read the rest of Volvo XC90 PUV V8 Concept

Here are some real spyshots of the Audi R8 supercar being test driven on the road.

The Audi R8 is based on the Lamborghini Gallardo platform and is rumoured to feature a 4.2 liter V8 FSI and a 5.2 liter V10 FSI. There is also news that a turbodiesel variant might be offered.

Click here to read the rest of 2007 Audi R8 Spyshots

Sorry for the lack of blog updates. TMNet Streamyx has been practically unusable for the past week or so.

I’m wondering, is the Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik going to ask us to “change our lifestyle” and depend less on internet access, just like we were told when we complained about high fuel prices?

Never have I seen such widespread performance degradation before. Connections to servers that have local peering like racks in Netmyne and Jaring are also affected. So it couldn’t be an issue of international link. Submarine cable snapped again? Aliens kidnapped the DSLAM switches? Pet goat ate your router?

And you keep is in the dark about what the problem is. All I see on your announcement page is news about some e-mail server maintenance. Who in their right mind would trust their important e-mails to your dodgy servers anyway? Are you pretending there is no problem and hoping we’ll all get used to this and stop complaining and everything will be alright again? Have you re-allocated funds for infrastructure upgrades into overseas investments and buying new Mercedes Benz E240 sedans now that they are RM40,000 cheaper?

This is just too darn ridiculous. Buck up you GLCs. How are you supposed to achieve your Key Performance Indicators? I do not want to “change my lifestyle” and go back to dial-up.

Related:
Bloggers pissed with Streamyx

Two new biodiesel plants will be set up in Malaysia, one a RM74 million ringgit plant in Sabah and the other costing RM24 million, through partnerships between a US firm and local companies.

The RM74 million ringgit plant to be built by IJM Biofuel Sdn Bhd is a 60:40 joint venture between IJM Plantations Bhd and CTI Biofuels Malaysia, a 95% owned subsidiary of US-based company Capital Technologies Incorporated. It will be built in Sandakan, Sabah. It is expected to produce 90,000 tonnes of biodiesel per annum by Q1 2007.

The other plant is to be built by Boustead CGI Biofuels Sdn Bhd, a 55:45 joint venture between local conglomerate Boustead Holdings Bhd and Capital Technologies Incorporated (same as above). The RM24 million plant is expected to produce 5 million gallons of biodiesel a year.

Apparently 1.5 million tonnes = 450 million gallons.