Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd demonstrated the fuel efficiency of their Honda City i-DSI last weekend, in an event they called the F.E.A.T., or the Fuel Efficiency Automobile Test. And a feat it was, because the results were very impressive indeed.

Sixteen participants took part in the challenge which required participants to only adhere to an average highway speed limit of 80km/hour while retaining other the attributes of an everyday-sedan such as having the air-conditioning switched on during the drive, and luggage and spare tyre in the cargo area.

The challenge took them from Honda Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. in Petaling Jaya to Cameron Highlands situated 5440ft above sea level, and to Bukit Merah. After a night’s rest, the journey back to Honda’s headquarters resumed. Conditions were set as if it was a vacation trip with friends or family. Each Honda City had four occupants besides a car boot full of typical items like vacation luggage.

The whole route stretched more than 660km, but the aim was to complete it using less than one full tank of a Honda City’s petrol tank, which was 42 liters, or RM80.64. AAM officials were present to measure the fuel level before and after the journey.

The result? The few teams got different levels of fuel consumption according to individual driving style, but all managed to complete the 660km journey using only the petrol in the fuel tank. The winning team comprising of Jimmy Ng, 27; Eric Goh, 29; Sim Chee Kun, 30 and Edwin Ng, 28 - they managed 662.5km on only 25.29 liters of petrol! That’s slightly more than half a fuel tank, or 26.2km per liter of fuel! Most of the journey to the destination involves the use of highways, but going to Cameron Highlands involves alot of uphill roads as well. They took back RM4,000 worth of prizes comprising Honda watches, RM1,000 worth of petrol vouchers, Honda Racing umbrellas and caps.

Much more than just a gimmick or a publicity stunt, this is the real deal. I am impressed that Honda is confident enough with it’s i-DSI technology to attempt this challenge with real world situations where the results actually matters. No one goes around driving with the windows winded up and air conditioning off at the same time, etc as with alot of the fuel mileage challenges out there.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda City i-DSI gets 26.2km per liter in fuel economy challenge

I’ve just received an SMS alert from The Star reporting that Works Minister Datuk Seri Samy Vellu has announced that the SMART Tunnel toll rate will be set at RM2 and will be effective from 11:59pm, June 14 2007.

This is actually pretty affordable as speculation among the grassroots have mentioned amounts as high as RM3 or RM4. The RM2 toll is definitely attractive, especially on the route from KL back to Sungei Besi as there is usually no backlog of traffic once you exit onto the Sungei Besi highway.

Related Posts:
SMART Tunnel Videos

If you’ve ordered a Proton Satria Neo, as with any car, there are a few things you need to check before you accept delivery of the car. There is a thread on the Satria Neo Club forums that is 9 pages long and provides many useful details on things you should watch out for before signing the acceptance form. Here are a few:

• Make sure CAPTOR alarm system is registered
• Check rear seat fitment
• Check front passenger seat “slide forward” mechanism
• Check headlamps
• Check if chassis/engine number is same as the one on the registration card

I’ve only listed some as a “teaser”, and there are many more, so head on to this particular Satria Neo Club forums thread to read up. The Satria Neo is an excellent drive, it handles really well, so it would be a pity if your unit has problems. These checks will help you get a car that is as problem-free as possible, so your car can spend more time where it belongs - on the road rather than the service center. With early detection, many problems can be solved more quickly.

Link: Essentials before picking up your Neo forum thread

Here is a letter sent in by Kumaresan Balakrishnan, a student from Johor Bahru currently studying in the UK. He shares with us a little about Proton cars in the UK.

I am a student originally from Johor Bahru, now at the Hull University Business School, doing Marketing and Logistics.

I have pictures of UK police Waja fleet. The Humberside Police in Yorkshire have a fleet 90% comprising of Wiras, and Wajas, and their plainclothes police drive GEN2’s.

Protons are extremely popular in Hull. I see many of them while walking to University from my house. Also, 50% of the taxis in Hull are Protons. Hull is the 7th largest city in England.

I have spoken to Proton owners here and they have nothing but praise for the vehicle, which I found unbelievable judging by the amount of problems my mum’s Waja has been giving her.

While taking a picture of the front of a police Waja, I was caught by the policeman who was using the vehicle. He had just returned from buying a sandwich at Subway.

After explaining to him why I was doing it he kindly allowed me to open the door and take a picture of the dashboard, but he was a bit shy and declined to let me take a picture of the car with him in it.

Everybody I ask seems to love their Protons here. Very, very, very strange for a person like me to hear such comments. I wonder if the quality control of export-bound Protons really are that much better.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Letter: Proton in the UK

The Proton Saga continues! The Edge carried a report today that Volkswagen and Proton will be forming a new joint venture company to carry out joint model development and marketing, with Volkswagen holding 51% as well as manufacturing, research and development and engineering division control, while Proton holds the remainder 49% and control of other parts such as sales.

This report caused Proton shares to rise as much as 21%. The same report also mentioned that Sime Darby Berhad will be taking over Khazanah Nasional’s 43% share in the company, something that comes as a surprise to me as Sime Darby has been quiet all this while, with the local forerunners seen as DRB-HICOM and the Naza Group. It is said that this deal will be finalised during the Khazanah Nasional and Volkswagen meeting in New York while Khazanah officials are there attending a roadshow organised by a Malaysian stockbroker for US investors.

So far, attempts by papers to contact Sime Darby, Khazanah Nasional and Proton spokespersons were unsuccessful. Before you celebrate, here comes the punchline - Volkswagen spokesperson Andreas Meurer says “This report is definitely wrong and only rumor without substance. We will have a round of talks soon”, referring to The Edge’s report.

The thing is, is there truth to The Edge’s report or not? If it is true, is Volkswagen is merely steering clear of rumours and denying anything before things are concrete? I certainly hope so.

And the saga continues…

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We suddenly have another player in the pick-up truck game - the Ssangyong Actyon SUT. While most of you may have seen the Actyon around the internet in SUV form, there is also a ladder frame pick-up truck that local Ssangyong distributors Competitive Supreme have decided to bring into Malaysia.

With a power output of 141PS at 4,000rpm and 320Nm of torque between 1,800rpm to 2,700rpm, it is not class-leading as the Ranger TDCi has it beat at 143PS, but it is still one of the more high powered pick-up trucks over here in Malaysia and has the Mitsubishi Triton and Nissan Frontier beat at 138PS and 133PS respectively. But what’s different about this pick-up is 141PS and the high torque is achievable from a 2.0 liter displacement engine, while it’s competitors all use 2.5 liter and 3.0 liter engines. This means road tax savings especially if you register the Actyon SUT as a business vehicle.

The XDi 2.0 liter engine is a commonrail direct injection engine based on Mercedes Benz technology, and uses a variable geometry turbocharger. It’s gearbox is a 4-speed unit, and has a low range transfer case, switchable between high and low ranges via push buttons.

The interior looks very passenger car-like, plus there is plenty of creature comforts such as electric powered front seats, steering wheel-mounted audio controls, and a black leather interior. It’s definitely looking like good value - good equipment, plus a Mercedes Benz-based engine with a lower displacement to save on road tax.

The Ssangyong Actyon SUT will have a price tag of somewhere in the RM90,000 range, and will be assembled at Competitive Supreme’s plant in Pahang. Look after the jump for more photos of the Ssangyong Actyon SUT.

Look after the jump for more photos and a video.

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Click here to read the rest of Ssangyong Actyon SUT pick-up truck in Malaysia

Mazda has a special edition Mazda6 lined up for the Uk market called the Mazda6 Kumano. The Mazda6 Kumano is only available in 5-door hatch form done up in Titanium Grey Metallic or Stormy Blue Mica paint.

The Kumano takes the Mazda6 TS 2 trim level as a base and is built up from there, so all TS 2 equipment such as BOSE ® Premium audio system with 6 CD autochanger and seven speakers, steering wheel audio controls, electric sunroof, electric heated door mirrors, climate control air conditioning, cruise control, electric windows front and rear (with global closing system), leather wrapped steering wheel, gearknob and handbrake lever are all there.

What the Kumano special edition adds are powerful Xenon headlights, with auto headlamp and auto windscreen wiper operation, plus special ‘dark brushed finish 16-inch alloy wheels, and unique Kumano badging.

Related Posts:
Mazda6 2.0 and 2.3 Test Drive

This is an interesting video for those who love track videos. Two brothers take on the Nurburgring - Michael Neeves rides a Yamaha R1 superbike while his brother Ben follows him in a Porsche 911 GT3. Video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Nurburgring: Yamaha R1 vs Porsche 911 GT3

New models coming up from BMW - a 123d, an X5 3.0sd, as well as a revised BMW M5 with more power! The 123d is an entry-level 1-Series that will get BMW’s new inline-4 2.0 liter twin turbodiesel that has yet to be slotted into any cars yet. If you’ve missed reading about it, do check it out via the links in the related posts below.

The E70 BMW X5 will also get a more powerful diesel variant, and no prizes for guessing which engine will supply that power - the award winning 3.0 liter twin turbodiesel that first appeared in the 535d. The BMW X5 3.0sd will likely put out similar power figures to the 535d, 335d, and X3 3.0sd - 286 horsepower and 580Nm of torque. This same engine will also find it’s way into a 635d, spied recently on test runs.

In the high performance category, the M5 and M6 are expected to get power upgrades to somewhere around 530 horsepower, and there are also rumours of an upcoming BMW M10 sports car, something we’ve referred to as the Z9 or Z10 previously.

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Related Posts:
BMW announces 204hp, 400Nm twin turbodiesel inline-4
2008 BMW Z10 Supercar (now to be called M10?)
BMW 635d spotted!
BMW 635d in the works

A hybrid version of the W221 Mercedes Benz S-Class will be unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Auto Show in September this year, making it Mercedes Benz’s first hybrid car. Unlike most hybrids which use a petrol-electric combination, the hybrid S-Class will combined a Bluetec diesel engine with a compact electric motor.

A previous concept called the Direct Hybrid concept used a 3.0 liter V6 diesel engine together with an electric motor, but sources reveal it is more likely the S-class hybrid will use a four-cylinder Bluetec diesel instead, likely a similiar engine to the 2.2 liter 4-pot found in the Mercedes Benz Vision C220 Bluetec concept. There is also another Bluetec turbodiesel in the Benz arsenal - the 4.2 V8 TDI Bluetec that was put into the Vision GL420 Concept.

There is no official name for the car at the moment, but some have begun to call it the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Bluetec-Hybrid.

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