Nasim - the new Peugeot distributor in Malaysia - has released some initial specifications for the upcoming locally assembled version of the Peugeot 407.

• Xenon headlamps with automatic levelling
• 17 inch alloy wheels
• Premium 240 watt JBL 8.1 sound system with boot-mounted subwoofer
• Electrically-adjustable front seats
• Leather seats and leather-wrapped steering wheel
• Dual zone climate control
• Safety features include ABS, EBD, EBA, ESP, DSC, pre-tensioner seat belts, ISOFIX points for seats and a 5 star EuroNCAP crash test score

Expected price tag is quoted to be not more than RM135,000 for the 2.0 liter model, which is quite decent for the high-ish equipment level. These are just indicative specs at the moment of course.

The locally assembled Peugeot 407 will be badged with the lion badge and not the Naza badge, so I guess the 206 Bestari is a one off thing.

Nasim is having a 3 day Peugeot Auto Fair at the new 3S Blue Box in Glenmarie from the 22nd of February to the 24th of February 2008. Tomorrow is the last day, and you’ll be able to see the Peugeot 207 Spider there, which also also debut in a one-make race. The Spider was developed from the 20Cup concept car.

There will be refreshments and activities for children, so the event is quite family-friendly and should be interesting if you’ve always been a fan of sleek feline Peugeot cars. There are free gifts for those who test drive the new 2008 Naza 206 Bestari, and those who purchase a 206 Bestari at the event will get two F1 grand stand tickets worth RM1,400.

You will be able to place bookings for the upcoming locally assembled Peugeot 407 sedan at the event, and preliminary specifications have been released, which I will list in a following post.

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Renault will display the high performance Renault Laguna GT at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. The Renault Laguna GT will be available in two bodystyles, the Hatch and Sport Tourer and the car will feature Renault’s new Active Drive with four-wheel steering.

The GT can be had with either a 2.0 dCi turbodiesel producing 180 horsepower at 3,750rpm and 400Nm of torque at 2,000rpm, or a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine producing 205 horses at 5,000rpm and 300Nm of torque from 3,000rpm.

Brakes have been uprated to 320mm discs at the front and 300mm discs at the rear, and the wheels together to accomodate the larger brakes. The Laguna GT uses 18 inch Celsium design alloy wheels wrapped with 225/45R18 Bridgestone Potenza tyres.

On the interior you get leather/alcantara sports seats with the GT logo embossing, drilled aluminium pedals, aluminium gearknob and GT steering wheel.

Full specs, photos and technical info will be released later sometime closer to April 2008 when the Renault Laguna GT will be launched in the UK.

More photos after the jump.

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Click here to read the rest of Renault Laguna GT with 4 variants

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Lotus Engineering and Continental Division Powertrain have just posted the results of a Low CO2 research project, involving an Opel Astra equipped with a new prototype inline-3 1.5 liter pressure-charged engine.

The test engine was an inline-3 1.5 liter engine with a power output of 160 PS at 5,000rpm and torque output of 240Nm between 2,500rpm and 4,000rpm, equipped with the following specifications:

• integrated exhaust manifold
• forced induction (probably supercharging because of the IEM)
• 10.2:1 compression ratio
• centrally-mounted direct injection 200 bar injectors from Continental
• a cam profile switching system for lift and timing also found in Porsche’s Variocam Plus, apparently available off the shelf if any manufacturer wants it
• a 200 bar high pressure fuel pump
• a mild hybrid drive using a 12 kilowatt electric motor powered by energy stored in 60v supercapacitors

The result is a CO2 output of 149 g/km CO2, compared to a stock Opel Astra’s 1.8 liter normally aspirated inline-4’s 175 g/km CO2. The Low CO2 project engine produced less emissions, yet produced more power as the Opel’s engine only produced 140 PS and 175Nm of torque.

The Low CO2 project aimed to reduce CO2 emissions while maintaining an engaging driving experience from a set of off the shelf affordable technologies.

Forced induction combined with direct injection is the usual way to achieve these in modern days, but Lotus Engineering wants to demonstrate these technologies can be added to an engine with relatively economical off the shelf components. A 1.5 liter inline-3 sounds like half of a Project NEF engine, which was a supercharged 3.0 V6, so this could have also been demonstration of the modular design of the NEF.

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The new Kia Soul is a small SUV that seems targetted smack at the typical Scion buyer, a lifestyle car for the young and young at heart. Kia will be displaying three Kia Soul concepts at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.

The three concepts will probably be more aesthetics-focused than anything else, and this teaser image of one of the concepts called SOUL Burner which Kia says features a satin black finish and dragon “tattoos”.

Related Posts:
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Production Kia Soul sighted!

Source

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The open top version of the sexy Alfa 8C Competizione, the Alfa 8C Spider will be unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. It will be powered by the same 4.7 liter V8 producing 450 horsepower at 7,000rpm and 480Nm of torque at 4,750rpm with a redline of 7,500rpm. This engine is mated to a 6-speed transaxle robotized clutch gearbox with an LSD differential.

The Alfa 8C Spider’s roof is constructed from two layers of fabric, and goes up and down automatically with a touch of a button on the dashboard. Like the Alfa 8C Competizione, the Alfa 8C Spider will be available in a limited run of 500 units.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Alfa Romeo 8C Spider

For those not satisfied with looking at the the Volvo XC60 in static photos, you will find a driving shots video of the Volvo XC60 after the jump. Shame there is no audio though, no chance to hear that turbocharged V6, but at least there’s no tacky techno music.

Related Posts:
2009 Volvo XC60 to be unveiled at Geneva 2008

Click here to read the rest of Volvo XC60: Driving Shots Video

Proton posted a profit of RM11 million for the Q3 2007 period ending 31st December 2007, a big improvement over the Q3 2006 loss of RM272 million. Proton attributes the profit to higher sales volume and lower operating costs.

Q3 2007 revenue was up to RM1.45 billion, boosted by increased sales of 36,784 in Q3, up by 2,444 units from 34,340 in Q2, thanks to Persona sales of over 30,000 units and Saga bookings of over 35,000 since it was launched on the 18th of January 2008. Proton’s market share in this quarter increased to 34.8% compared to 33.1% and 26.5% in Q2 2007 and Q1 2007 respectively.

The Supercar For Charity event is happening on Sunday this weekend, and Deanna Yusof has thrown in something interesting for visitors on the day. She has challenged any Malaysian driver - male or female, to beat her in a slalom competition at the event. The slalom challenge will be organized by Sepang International Drive and Race Academy (SIDRA) and a special course would be conducted by the academy race instructors at a fee of RM1,000 using the Porsche Cayman S. This will be a chance for you to drive a race tuned Porsche Cayman S yourself under the guidance of a professional trainer, instead of driven in a taxi ride around Sepang.

The Supercar For Charity event will also be attended by the DYMM Seri Paduka YDP Agong. Other guest drivers include Alex Yoong, Tommy Lee (three times Millennium Merdeka Endurance race champion), and Karamjit Singh (the World Production Car Rally Champion and six times Asia Pacific Rally Champion). Deanna will also be one of the guest drivers at the event.

For the taxi ride, there are four packages available:

• Single tickets - Class 3 -RM300/pax, Class 2 -RM500/pax and Class 1-RM1,000/pax
• Group - 5 ride tickets on Class 3 supercars, advertising space (small) on 10 supercars and photo session - RM10,000
• Corporate - 5 ride tickets on Class 2 supercars, advertising space (medium) on 10 supercars, advertising (logo) on show cars back-drop and photo sessions - RM20,000
• Platinum - 5 ride tickets on Class 1 Supercars, advertising banner on supercars (large), Corporate logo included in the photo back-drop - RM50,000

The taxi ride consists of 1 outlap, 1 flying lap, and 1 inlap. These supercars include a fleet of Porsches, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Lotus Esprit V8s, Aston Martins, and also a Mercedes Benz SL55 AMG and new BMW M6. I’m not sure which fall into which classes though, but you can probably find out on the event day itself. The event begins at 2pm and ends at 7pm. The charity rids are from 2pm to 4pm and 5pm to 6pm. 4pm to 4:45pm is reserved for premium rides, which I assume are the Class 1 supercars. From 6pm to 7pm there will be an open track time for the supercar owners.

100% of the proceeds from this event will benefit flood victims which will be monitored and disbursed by Force of Nature Aid Foundation to the Rotary & Lion Club and/or other local NGOs and foundations in aid of the flood victims.

Volvo’s new X3 competitor will make its public production debut at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show. The new 2009 model year Volvo XC60 is what Volvo claims the most stunning Volvo ever, as well as the safest.

“This car is charged with more emotive form and more energy than any other Volvo. We’re elevating our design DNA to an entirely new level by literally turning up the visual volume. If you say that you’d recognise a Volvo from 300 feet away today, I dare say the XC60 radiates a clear Volvo presence from at least twice that distance,” says Steve Mattin, Volvo Cars Design Director.

If you look at it, it looks like Volvo has taken their usual design cues that are present in all of their cars right now, from the C30 up to the XC90 and applied Ford’s Kinetic design to it, making it look alot more sleek but essentially an evolution rather than a revolution. I think it works rather well and I like where Volvo is going with their styling. Volvo interiors are also one of the best places to be in, they really do know how to give car interiors an upmarket feel. There is a photo of the interior after the jump.

Some of the safety features that will come standard on the XC60 includes City Safety, which applies brakes if the car is about to drive into the vehicle in front and the driver does not appear to be able to react in time. Maybe you’re in a traffic jam or something and you’re dreaming away, or somehow distracted, there’s a chance that you’ll just ram into the car in front of you if you do not realise it has stopped.

Initially the Volvo XC60 will come with a single engine option - the 3.0 liter T6 engine with 281 horsepower and 400Nm of torque from as low as 1,500rpm. All-wheel drive is standard on the XC60.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Volvo XC60 to be unveiled at Geneva