Oh my, it seems that Proton has infected it’s old partner Mitsubishi with the Alfadana disease. Mitsubishi’s latest Lancer bears quite a significant similarity to the sexy Alfa Romeo 159 doesn’t it? What do you think?

Ferrari created this special edition of the Ferrari 612 Scaglietti adorned with police livery for the Ferrari 60th Anniversary relay’s UK leg. It will be driven by police officers to support the relay through it’s journey in the UK from Belfast to London.

Some specs of the 612 Scaglietti - it is equipped with the optional Handling GTS package, Daytona style seats, personalised stitching and leather details, yellow rev counter, yellow brake callipers and Scuderia Ferrari shields. Woodway Engineering provided the police lighting bar mounted on top of the car.

Click here to read the rest of Police Ferrari 612 Scaglietti

BMW’s MINI division has uploaded a teaser page for the upcoming MINI Clubman, MINI’s modern take on the old school MINI Traveller stationwagon. Check it out, or read the related posts listed below for the latest news on the upcoming MINI Clubman.

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The Chery T11 Tiggo is now available in Malaysia for a sum of RM80,292. While it looks much like a combination of the second generation Toyota RAV4 rear and the 2nd gen Honda CR-V and Naza Sorento’s front, the chassis is not carried from either vehicles.

Chery’s local distributor Alado says the T11 Tiggo sold here is powered by a Mitsubishi-based engine, but I did some research online and was confused by what I found. The Chery T11 Tiggo is available in other markets with two 2.0 liter engine options - one is a 1,997cc Mitsubishi 4G63 engine making 123 horsepower and 170Nm of torque. The other is powered by a Chery-designed ACTECO engine codenamed SQR484F which was developed by Austrian firm AVL. [Source] This engine family has also been commissioned by other automakers like Fiat, which will use the 1.6 liter and 1.8 liter ACTECO engines in it’s China-produced cars.

The Chery ACTECO SQR484F is a 1,971cc DOHC engine with a 10.2:1 compression ratio and produces 129 horsepower at 5,750rpm and 180Nm of torque at 4,000rpm, which matches the specs Alado quoted for our local Tiggo. [Source] In the Chery T11 Tiggo’s application, the engine is only available with a 5-speed manual at the moment.

Some basic specs - 5 seats, 2WD drivetrain, 3-spoke steering wheel, dual SRS airbags, CD player, heated front seats, antilock brakes, electronic brake distribution, and power steering. The rear hatch is of the side-hinged design, which Honda recently abandoned with the new 3rd generation Honda CR-V.

At RM80k, the Chery T11 Tiggo is a reasonably attractive SUV that manages to keep the price down with equipment levels that are only the necessities - not many people require 4WD. I’m not quite sure at this point whether the Tiggo is a CBU import or locally assembled. There was previously talk about having the Tiggo assembled at either Oriental Assemblers in Johor or at one of Proton’s plants - but I am not sure if this has happened or not.

Related Posts:
Fiat to use Chery’s AVL-designed ACTECO engines
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Proton to produce MPV and SUV with Chery

Click here to read the rest of Chery T11 Tiggo for RM80,292

This is the best spy video of Nissan’s upcoming spiritual successor to the Skyline GT-R yet. The Nissan GT-R in this video was captured doing some really intensive high speed laps at the Nurburgring track, and is seen tailed by a Porsche 911, which means Nissan’s power and handling performance targets should be similiar to the 911 as a competitor. Check out the video after the jump.

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Click here to read the rest of Nissan GT-R Spy Video

Here are spyshots of yet another variants of the upcoming BMW M3 powered by a 420hp 4.0 liter V8 engine. This is the convertible variant, so this makes 3 variants of the M3 that we’ve seen so far - sedan, coupe, and convertible. Only the Touring version is nowhere to be seen - perhaps it will not exist?

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Click here to read the rest of BMW M3 Convertible Spyshots

Here is a video that Honda made to showcase it’s Honda FCX Concept. To keep things short, the Honda FCX is basically a 4-seater car running on an AC Synchronous Motor putting out 129 PS and 256Nm of torque available constantly throughout the rev range of the motor. This motor gets it’s power from a 100kW PEFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell). Maximum range is 570km, which is comparable to a modern small car with relatively good fuel economy on mostly highway driving. Video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda FCX Video

Novitec tunes up the Alfa Romeo 159, but strangely it is not the petrol version that is tweaked by the diesel! The 2.4 liter 20 valve turbodiesel has it’s power upped from 200 horses to 229 horses via Novitec’s Powerrail III system and a Novitec stainless steel twin tailpipe exhaust system. As for the bodykit, you get Novitec front skirting, side skirts, and a Novitec rear spoiler. The suspension system is a Novitec stainless steel sports suspension system that is height and hardness adjustable. The Novitec 159 rides on Novitec N9 multi-piece 20 inch wheels wrapped with Pirelli 255/30/R20 tyres.

This is not the most powerful 159 in the range - a stock 3.2 V6 petrol variant makes a very nice 240bhp. Alfa Romeo’s trademark has always been some of the best sounding inline-4 and V6 engines around, and it is not easy to get an inline-4 to sound nice. I wonder how a diesel Alfa engine sounds like.

BTW, anyone notice how the latest Mitsubishi Lancer reminds you so much of this car? But then again, it could be just me. *shrugs*

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Alfa Romeo 159 tuned by Novitec

Audi revealed this concept car at the Shanghai Motor Show - the Audi Cross Coupe Quattro Concept which might be the base of which the Audi Q5 will be built. The Audi Q5 is basically a smaller SUV positioned a segment lower than the gigantuan Q7, and will most likely share most parts with the upcoming Volkswagen Tiguan. Like the Tiguan, it will go on head to head with te likes of the Acura RDX, Land Rover Freelander 2, 3rd gen Toyota RAV4, and the future Infiniti EX35.

Under this concept’s hood is a Bluetec 2.0 liter TDI putting out 204 horsepower and 400Nm of torque. This engine meets Euro 6 emission standards, yes the number is 6, not the current 5 - Audi’s one step ahead! This fruga 5.9 liters per 100km engine is mated to Audi’s S-Tronic transmission, which is basically Volkswagen’s twin clutch DSG gearbox with a different name.

Click here to read the rest of Audi Cross Coupe Quattro Concept: future Audi Q5?

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has once again spoke out on the Proton issue. He says Proton should not be sold to a foreign company, but must remain local, thus it should be sold to one of the local share bidders - Naza, Mofaz or DRB-HICOM.

He also thinks one of the most important things to do to turn Proton around is remove the current management and put back the old management whom he says has a proven track record - presumably referring to Proton’s previous CEO - Tengku Mahaleel.

I’m sorry Tun, but I have to disagree with you. I very much prefer the current dark-interiored Satria Neo to a beige-interiored Satria Neo.

Source