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The Mercedes Benz F 700 was unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show, but was exhibited again at the Tokyo Motor Show a few weeks later. It’s what Mercedes Benz thinks a luxury long distance touring saloon of the future ideally should be, so we should expect it to point to the direction of the next generation S-Class.

Probably the first Mercedes Benz sedan with an A pillar window (hatchbacks like the A-Class already have an A pillar window if I’m not mistaken), the F 700 is certainly looks odd from the outside, with it’s strange curved side window profile, and its oversized front grille with vertical LED strip front headlamps. Mercedes Benz calls this design language “Aqua Dynamic”, which emulates the soft flowing forms of a fish.

But the interior looks fairly orthodox as far as luxury cruiser interiors go, designed to seat a driver and 3 passengers very comfortably. The front passenger seat can be put into relaxation mode - not for the front passenger of course as the seat has to be vacant for it to do this - but for the rear right passenger. The rear passenger seat situated behind the front passenger seat can even be turned around to face the rear of the car - Mercedes rather uncreatively calls this feature the REVERSE seat. He can have face to face conversations with the other rear passenger this way.

Despite the F 700 name, it does not indicate a 7 liter engine under the hood, or even the equivalent of a 7 liter engine. Instead, the engine used to power this concept is the Mercedes Benz DIESOTTO engine concept. This four cyclinder engine puts out the equivalent of a 3.5 liter normally aspirated V6 petrol or a 3.0 liter V6 turbodiesel in Mercedes terms. The name DIESOTTO seems to indicate something related to diesel, but the engine consumes petrol. This is just a guess but the word DIESOTTO is probably some combination of Diesel cycle combustion and Otto cycle combustion.

The DIESOTTO engine has 1.8 liters of displacement but puts out 238 horsepower with smoothness worthy of a luxury tourer thanks to a two-stage turbocharging system. Take-off is also assisted by a hybrid module, which uses a 15kW (20 horsepower) motor - this gives a total output of 258 horsepower and a maximum torque of about 400Nm. The F 700 can reach 100km/h in 7.5 seconds, up to a limited top speed of 200km/h. Fuel consumption is rated at 5.3 liters per 100km, and CO2 emissions is rated at 127g/km.

The engine works like a normal Otto cycle engine on starting and at full load, using spark ignition and the usual works. But at low and medium engine speeds, or generally partial load conditions the DIESOTTO engine uses something similiar to a Diesel cycle - controlled auto ignition or homogeneous combustion. I’ve previously blogged about homogeneous combustion here, so read up if you want to know more on that.

The F 700 at 5.18 meters is shorter than the current S-Class long wheel base, but it’s wheelbase is 3.45 meters, longer than the production model S-class by 28.5cm. Other technologies include PRE-SCAN suspension, which uses two laser sensors in the front headlamp units as “eyes”. These feed the car suspension system information on roadway conditions. This information helps the suspension hydraulic systems precisely calculate fluid flows and pressures for each single wheel, ensuring maximum comfort.

Many more photos after the jump.

Related Posts:
Homogeneous Charge Compression Ignition

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes Benz F 700 with DIESOTTO engine

We previously saw a series of videos on the BMW 1-Series called the “Have You Seen It?” series, but that’s not the end of interesting videos on the BMW 1-Series from Munich. This series is from the 1tensity website and it focuses on the 1 Coupe instead.

They’re all really short and don’t offer a storyline of any form, but if you generally like the 1-Series especially the 135i Coupe, you’d want to watch it anyway. But the Have You Seen It series are definitely alot better.

Check out the videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of BMW 1tensity Videos

After reading two pieces of news in the papers recently about our two national car manufacturers, I found something slightly odd about how the Perodua Myvi and the Proton Persona are doing in terms of sales.

Despite Malaysian preferences for 3 box sedans, the sales of the Perodua Myvi has not dropped at all and it is still selling between 8,000 to 9,000 units a month despite being in the market for over two years and approaching the time for the usual mid life facelift soon, assuming a 5 year product cycle. There is still a three month backlog. And Perodua themselves admit they do not know why.

In the meanwhile, the Proton Persona is doing great as well, with 19,840 units so far in the first three months at last count. Bookings for the Saga has reached 31,455 units, thanks to the current low price. Half of the Persona orders have already been delivered, while 72% of the RM26,999 Proton Saga bookings are on the road now.

Waiting list for the Persona currently ranges from 1.5 months to 2.5 months for the base line model, 2-3 months for the medium line and 3-4 months for the high line.

You would think that the fact that the Proton Persona is doing so well is partly because it has been stealing some Perodua Myvi sales, but it turns out that the Perodua Myvi sales figures have not suffered at all - not even a small 1,000 unit per month drop can be seen, and this is in a market where both cars are in similiar price ranges AND the Persona is of the preferred 3-box sedan format.

Response to the recently launched Toyota Vios has also been encouraging, so where are all these new buyers coming from? Have they all been holding back for a proper 3 box sedan so long?

Source

Related Posts:
Proton Persona: Proton’s New Sedan Details
Perodua Viva and Perodua Myvi loan comparison
Perodua Viva and Perodua Myvi specs comparison

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Yet another city car concept comes from Audi with what looks quite possibly to be the forerunner to the MINI-fighting A1. The metroproject quattro concept is equipped with a hybrid drivetrain that involves a 1.4-litre TFSI engine developing 148hp directed to the front wheels via an S-tronic Direct Shift Gearbox. Another 40hp comes from an electric motor positioned on the rear axle is able to deliver up to an additional 200Nm of torque when the vehicle is accelerating.

Read more after the jump…

Click here to read the rest of Audi metroproject quattro Concept

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During the Honda media trip to Japan for the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show, we also got to visit Honda’s Tochigi R&D Center where we got to see all kinds of interesting and embargoed things, heheh. But one of the experiences we had at Tochigi that I am allowed to write about at this time is my driving experience with both the current generation 3-door Honda FCX and the new Honda FCX Concept.

Read more on my experience with these fuel cell vehicles after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of The New Honda FCX Concept Driving Experience

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Karamjit Singh did not disappoint fans at Round 4 of the FELDA-AAM Malaysian Rally Championship last weekend. Clocking 2:11:02, he and co-driver Jagdev Singh finished first place for Round 4 and also took home the Championship trophy.

Trailing behind the Flying Singh by 12 minutes and 46 seconds were Benny Lautan and Edwin Nasution from Indonesia in a Proton PERT. Karamjit’s team used a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 8. Third place went to Sutan Mustaffa Salihin and Ahmad Nadzrie Ahmad Shuhaimi in a Proton Satria with a time of 2:26:42.

“We are happy we won the Championship as we had a tough day yesterday trying to get the suspension right to suit the course. Even though we have won the Championship we will still take part in the final round (Round 5) as we are committed to our sponsors and to the organizer,” said Karamjit Singh.

Round 5 will take place in Perlis on the 8th and 9th of December 2007.

Team Karamjit Motorsports is sponsored by Aldwich, Safeguard Securicor, Bin Jarallah, ALPS Freight and Logistics and Silverstone Tyres. The team plans to take part in three rounds of the Asia Pacific Rally Championship next year in Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia if they manage to secure sponsorship for the next season.

Click here to read the rest of Karamjit Motorsports wins Malaysian Rally Championship

It’s been 40 years since Mazda introduced the first rotary engine in the Mazda Cosmo Sport in 1967. This year, Mazda puts another marker on the history of the Mazda rotary engine with the RENESIS 16X, the successor to the 13B-MSP in the Mazda RX8.

The new 16X rotary engine uses new trochoid-shaped chambers aimed at improving thermal efficiency and increasing torque across all engine speeds. Mazda has been continuously researching the best shape for the trochoid chambers ever since the first 10A rotary in 1967, followed by the 13A, 12A and now the 13B.

The new trochoid chamber has had its rotor housing width and thickness reduced while the trochoid outline has been increased, resulting in a displacement increase to 800cc per rotor - this means a 1.6 liter displacement as the engine’s 16X name indicates. This is despite exterior dimensions of the engine being about the same as the current 13B.

The trochoid shape has had its radius and eccentricity increased. Stroke has also been increased, this means better torque. Due to the change in shape, not only is an increase in displacement achieved but the surface area-to-volume ratio of the combustion chamber is reduced, enabling a reduction in cooling losses. Flame growth is also promoted. The engine uses side housings made of aluminium, and this together with other weight reduction methods make the new 16X lighter than the 13B.

The 16X rotary engine is also the first gasoline rotary engine to use direct injection. This was developed from the hyrogen injection system used in the hydrogen rotary engine. Gasoline is injected via a high pressure spray during the intake cycle. This spray also tends to reduce fuel adhesion to the chamber wall, promoting a more homogenous air-fuel mixture. This results in better torque and thermal efficiency. Power and fuel economy is expected to be 20% better than the technologies in the 13B can achieve.

A concept version of this engine is installed in the Mazda Taiki Concept, and in that car it drives the rear wheels through a 7-speed dry twin clutch gearbox.

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Being in the market for quite some time now, the Ford Escape is a familiar sight with Malaysia road users, and thanks to the various marketing efforts by Ford including tie-ups with radio stations like hitz.fm it is also in mind.

I drove the Ford Escape 3.0 V6, the top of the range model that looks pretty much the same on the outside as the 2.3 liter version, except for a two-tone paint scheme that is exclusive to the 3.0 V6.

Read a test drive report after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Ford Escape 3.0 V6 Test Drive

We may be looking at a fuel price increase sometime in the future, in fact MITI minister Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz has given us a few hints at a possible increase soon.

According to Datuk Seri, the government has given a notice six months ago to the private and industrial sectors in Malaysia of a potential increase in fuel prices, and they have reported back to the government on the possible side effects that the fuel price increase would have related to the industries they are in.

The government is already studying how much of the oil price increase should be passed on to industries, the commercial sector, and consumers as they think it is not viable to continue to maintain a petrol subsidy at its current levels.

Source

A few MPs raised a point regarding the AP system for the import of cars in Malaysia at the Dewan Rakyat earlier this week - and MITI deputy minister Datuk Ahmad Husni Mohamad Hanadzlah says the government is not planning to auction APs, instead keeping to the current system of dishing them out for free.

“Auctioning can jeopordise the business of Bumiputra entrepreneurs in the automotive sector as it will be difficult to plan ahead and make long term investments. The government introduced the AP system with the intention of developing Bumiputra entrepreneurs capable of competing and achieving progress in the automotive industry. The Bumiputra entrepreneurs would have to invest in terms of capital, showroom space, service centre, have links with financial institutions and establish a network of dealership,” said the deputy minister.

Are non-bumiputra entrepreneurs in the automotive sector somehow immune to difficulties to plan ahead and make long term investments?

Source