Here’s a video of a few Porsche Panameras on test - more than four minutes long. The Porsche Panamera is Porsche’s competitor in the four-door sedan and GT crossover segment. It will go head to head against the likes of the Aston Martin Rapide, which is another beautiful and sleek car by itself. Video after jump.

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Click here to read the rest of Porsche Panamera Spy Video

The Indian small-car automotive industry is dominated by Maruti Suzuki, a joint venture between Suzuki Motor Corporation and Maruti Udyog Limited. Now there is another player who wants to challenge the giant in one of the world’s most promising upcoming markets - Honda Motor Co.

Honda intends to make it’s first small car in India in 2009, at a new factory in the western state of Rajasthan. Small cars make up three quarters of all cars sold in India. “With GDP growth and an increase in individual incomes, car sales will continue to grow in India despite some issues like the rise in interest rates and oil prices,” said R.K. Gupta of Credit Capital Asset Management in New Delhi.

However, Honda does not intend to go head to head with Maruti Suzuki, instead it will try to sell a similiar car but positioned as a more premium offering. A hatchback, most likely. Like the Honda Jazz? Honda cars in India are all more premiumly priced than it’s equivalent competitors - the top-end Honda Accord is about 17 percent costlier than the top of the range Hyundai Sonata Embera.

The Toyota Camry is in for some serious competition soon. Soon after the latest minor model change facelift, the next generation Honda Accord is already going on test routes in the USA. It shares a similiar front to the Honda Accord Coupe Concept, but with 4-doors of course.

Fat, square, boxy, and VIP-looking. A hint of the BMW 5-series there too. Looks quite nice really. Click on the image on the left to view the full spyshots.

No news of when the new Honda Accord Sedan will be launched in Malaysia, or worldwide even, as the latest facelift has just been launched. We might be looking at the end of 2008 or beginning of 2009.

DaimlerChrysler has finally dumped Chrysler to private equity group Cerberus Capital Management for US$7.45 billion, or 5.5 billion euros. DaimlerChrysler will still retain 19.9 pecent of Chrysler, which means perhaps a name change will not happen anytime soon. The Cerberus stake is the entire 80.1 percent that’s being dumped off.

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said DCX has no plans to sell it’s remaining 19.9 percent of Chrysler, adding that it wanted to maintain close ties with Chrysler.

We can assume if you buy a Perodua, you’re most likely going to be a very price-sensitive person. If you haven’t read my previous comparison of the Perodua Myvi and Perodua Viva, please click here to read it first. This blog entry focuses on the financial details if you buy a Perodua Viva or a Perodua Myvi.

First, we look at how much the car would cost in monthly repayments over a period of 3, 5 or 7 years assuming a 10% downpayment and 3.88% interest rate. The two variants of the Viva and Myvi I am using here are the Perodua Viva 1000cc Premium with Airbags and ABS, and the Perodua Myvi 1.3 liter Premium with Airbags and ABS. Both are of the automatic transmission variant with metallic paint.

First, let’s look at how much the two cars cost monthly. Over a 5-year loan which is what most people would take, the difference in monthly repayment between the Viva and the Myvi is about RM91.62 a month, or RM1099.44 a year. Over a 7-year loan, it is RM69.70 a month - or RM836.40 a year. If you think of it in monthly terms, an extra RM91.62 a month gets you an upgrade from A-segment to B-segment, more interior width so the rear bench is more comfortable with 3 people seated, and a smoother 4-cylinder engine that makes more power, together with a better power to weight ratio.

But let’s not forget what upgrading to a bigger 1.3 liter 4-cylinder engine will do - increase your fuel consumption. For this one, it’s a little bit tricky. We’ve got two different km per liter figures to play with - Perodua’s optimum situation claims as well as estimated real life scenarios for the Viva, as well as the average reported fuel consumption for the Myvi from the Myvi owners I’ve asked. We also assume a traveling distance of 1500km a month (50km to and fro work daily, times 30 to factor for other misc traveling during weekdays and weekends), and the current RON97 petrol price of RM1.92 per liter.

Using the optimum fuel consumption calculation - you’ll save RM22.60 a month driving the Viva compared to driving a Perodua Myvi. Using the estimated real life scenario fuel consumption calculation, you’ll save RM31.42 a month. This brings the the amount you have to fork out every month for a Viva to RM1,022.02 a month inclusive of 5-year loan monthly installment and fuel expenditure, and for the Myvi - RM1,145.06. Damn, even though these are supposed to be affordable, these cars are looking pretty expensive to run now. The difference between the Myvi and Viva for a 5-year loan in this case is RM123.04, or RM1476.48 a year.

This is of course, a calculation for the first year where your road tax and insurance premium has already been covered in the purchase price. But let’s just keep things simple for the moment. The Myvi has a higher insured value and a larger engine, thus the two items will be more expensive, further widening that RM123.04 gap but it won’t be too big a difference. In terms of percentage, it’s about a 12 percent difference.

What’s RM123.04, or a savings of 12 percent worth to you? Is it worth the upgrade from the Viva to a Myvi? I’m not here to decide for you, just presenting to you the figures so you can decide for yourself.

Related Posts:
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The Hyundai Coupe may finally receive a replacement worthy of being called a sports car. The spyshot above shows the new Hyundai Coupe on tests, however what’s interesting is the new Hyundai Coupe will be based on Hyundai’s new BH platform, which will also underpine the Hyundai Genesis. And like the Genesis, it will be rear wheel drive! Yes, the Hyundai Coupe will finally be able to do doughnuts and swing around the corner in the typical RWD style, shoved along by a Tau-family 300 horsepower 4.6 liter V8 engine.

As a sidenote, have you seen this twin-engined all-wheel-drive Hyundai Coupe? Check out more spyshots including one of a pretty sweet-looking interior that somehow reminds me of the Subaru B9 Tribeca’s interior after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai’s new rear wheel drive V8-powered coupe

The spies over at Car Magazine managed to get hold of these photos of the 997 GT2, which will make it’s debut at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show later this year. It’s basically something slotted between the Turbo and the GT3, not so much of a comfortable road going monster, but not so much of a hardcore track car either.

It’s got a sportier suspension just like the GT3, as well as being rear wheel drive instead of all-wheel drive like the Turbo, but it has a tuned-up version of the 3.6 liter twin VGT turbocharged flat-6 in the Turbo instead of a high revving normally aspirated race engine like the one in the GT3.

Car magazine estimates a 1485kg kerb weight (100kg less than the Turbo), and 525hp at the crank, power figures that are higher than the Turbo thanks to an uprated oil cooler, stronger conrods and a stiffer crank, and other upgrades which allow a higher boost level. Torque is expected to be around 718Nm from as low as 2,000rpm. Let’s calculate how much horsepower that is. The formula is Horsepower = Torque x RPM divided by 5252. 718 x 2000 / 5252 = 273 horsepower at 2,000rpm. 273 horsepower is just a tad lower than what a baseline Evo makes at maximum power - 280hp. And this is at 2,000rpm. Amazing what VGT can do!

However, with less weight and more power, it will go from 0 to 100km/h slower than the 911 Turbo at 4.5 seconds compared to 3.9 seconds, because the Turbo has all-wheel drive to help put it’s lower power down to the tarmac more effectively. With the GT3’s rear wheel drive layout, more of that horses go towards burning rubber more than traction.

Click here to read the rest of 997 Porsche 911 GT2 Spied!

Mention the name Mazda and the first thing that comes to mind to most people is it’s iconic RX7 and RX8 sports cars which are powered by a unique type of engine - the rotary engine. A rotary engine works differently from piston engines - it uses one or more rotors to produce power instead of pistons.

Mazda put rotary engines in more cars than just the RX7, but did you know Mazda used to sell a pick-up truck powered by a rotary engine?

Mazda marketed the Mazda Rotary Pick-Up, or Mazda REPU with the slogan “the pickup with pickup”. The Mazda REPU was a light truck powered by a 1.3 liter 2-rotor rotary engine, similiar to the one in the RX7, however it did not have a turbo. The 2-rotor engine was a carburetted unit, using a 2-stage carburettor. The single cab truck had a 6-feet long bed at the back for loads of up to 635kg. It came with either a 4-speed manual or 3-speed automatic transmission, without any overdrive gears.

Unfortunately, poor sales of just about 15,000 units in it’s entire 3-year lifespan of between 1974 to 1977 made Mazda decide to discontinue it.

Click here to read the rest of Mazda REPU: Rotary-engined Pick-up Truck

This is a spyshot of the next generation 2009 Audi A4 on test. The new Audi A4 is supposed to be based on Audi’s new MLP platform, which stands for Modular Platform for longtitudinally mounted engines. The first car to use the MLP platform was the new Audi A5 Coupe, and it’s brother the S5 Coupe.

Audis new MLP chassis supposedly has the engine mounted longtitudinally behind the axle, allowing for better weight balance, but looking at these spyshots, there is still that really long front overhang instead of a minimal front overhang expected out of a more mid-biased front engine mounting. What gives, Audi?

Shortly after the new Ford Ranger TDCi arrived on Malaysian shores, this lightly camouflaged new generation Mazda Fighter sharing the same underpinings as the new Ranger TDCi was spotted making rounds around Sri Hartamas near EON Bank. Thanks to Derrick Tew for sending in these photos. It looks pretty much like the new Ford Ranger TDCi except for changes on the front grille, headlamps, bumper, and other changes around the outside and inside - mostly aesthetics. We will have to wait until the launch to find out the full specs and differences, or the lack of any for that matter.

The new Mazda Fighter will likely be powered by the same class-leading 2.5 liter TDCi intercooled turbodiesel engine as the Ranger TDCi, making 141bhp/143PS at 3500rpm and 330Nm at 1800rpm. Look at 3 more spyshots after the jump, as well as undisguised product photos of the new Mazda Fighter sourced from Mazda Thailand.

Click here to read the rest of New Mazda Fighter Spyshots