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Fiat will be exhibiting an Aria version of the Fiat 500 alongside the Abarth version - two different ends of the product range, kinda like how Honda launched the Civic Hybrid and the Civic Type R at the same time.

Following the theme of the previous Fiat Panda Aria, the 500 Aria will be an eco-friendly car with an Euro 5 compliant 1.3 liter 16 valve Multijet turbodiesel with DPF filter, mated to a Dualogic automated manual transmission.

The Multijet turbodiesel also gets stop-start technology, which switches off the engine automatically during stops and automatically restarts it when you’re ready to go again. Fiat says this can improve fuel consumption by up to 10% in urban driving conditions. Other eco-options include low power consumption auxiliary units, reduced weight components and low-drag Pirelli tires.

The Fiat 500 Aria’s interior is made of recycled materials including a new floor material made from old tires, recycled seat upholstery and organic woven leather and fabrics.

Fiat says all of these eco-friendly technologies will make its way into production cars. Two more photos of the 500 Aria after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Eco-friendly Fiat 500 Aria Concept

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Fiat has released more official details and photos of the new Fiat 500 Abarth, so I’m posting a follow-up to the previously posted 500 Abarth story.

The engine under the hood is confirmed to be the drive by wire Fiat Fire 1.4 liter 16 valve DOHC engine, which uses an IHI variable geometry turbocharger to boost power up to 135 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 180Nm of torque at 2,500rpm. In sports mode, this torque is boosted up to 206Nm at 3,000rpm. This engine is mated to a 5-speed gearbox, with dual cable external gearbox control. It meets Euro 5 emission standards.

The Fiat 500 Abarth uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam rear axle with anti roll bar. The suspension is naturally lower than the stock 500 for a sportier stance. The power steering system is a Dualdrive EPS with Sport mode, which tightens during sportier driving conditions. The interior features an LED gear change indicator and an analogue boost gauge for the turbocharger.

Brakes are 284 x 22 mm ventilated discs at the front with floating ZPH 4.1.2 calipers, while the rear uses 240 x 11 mm solid discs with floating CII 34 calipers. Standard wheels are 16 inch with 195/45R16 tyres, with an option for 17 inchers with 205/40R17 tyres.

More photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat releases Fiat 500 Abarth official details

Citroen has announced that it will start using the BMW-PSA Prince engine, which comes in normally aspirated 120 horsepower form and turbocharged 150 horsepower and 175 horsepower form, and the engine’s first usage in a Citroen car could be in the second generation Citroen C5. It’s sister marque Peugeot already uses it in the Peugeot 207 and the Peugeot 308, which are B-segment and C-segment hatchbacks respectively.

The normally aspirated Prince engine is called the EP6 internally by Peugeot and features variable valve timing and Valvetronic variable valve lift, while the 150 horsepower turbocharged version is called the EP6DT, and the 175 horses version EP6DTS. The turbocharged versions do not have Valvetronic, but feature direct injection and a twin scroll turbocharger.

Large cars with small displacement engines that have forced induction to boost power output are no stranger in these days, as even the large Volkswagen Passat can be equipped with the 1.4 liter TSI engine.

The Citroen C5 currently comes with two petrol engines and four HDi turbodiesels - a 127 horsepower 1.8 liter petrol, a 143 horsepower 2.0 liter petrol and multiple turbodiesels from a 110 horsepower 1.6 liter inline-4 up to 208 horsepower V6. The top of the pops 175 horsepower turbocharged 1.6 liter Prince could slot in as the top of the range petrol engine, equipped with a ZF 6-speed quick shifting automatic.

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Mitsubishi Motors has published a list of what they claim are technical innovations in the new Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X. The list does look very fancy indeed, and stuff like ETACs will lend the Lancer Evolution X a much needed more upmarket feel - the Evo 9 did not really feel its price.

• No Reverse Gear - The 5-speed manual does not have a reverse gear, instead it uses a combination of gears 1 and 3 with an idler gear on a separate shaft to reverse the direction of rotation.
• Spoilers In The Wheel Arch - A miniscule spoiler lip protects wheel houses from swirling wind, this improves aerodynamics.
• Energy Saving Glass - This reduces solar heat transmission by 66 to 100%, and cuts out UV light so that the air conditioning system does not have to work too hard.
• Stainless Steel Manifold - the insides of the exhaust manifold is smoother.
• ETACs - The Mitsubishi Electronic Total Automobile Control system lets the driver personalise his car. For example, he or she can decide how long the interior light stays on after door closure, or just disable the feature. The wing mirrors can also be set to automatically fold when the door is closed and ignition switched off.
• Acoustic Engineering - Lightweight acoustic and vibration dampening materials including foam filling for pillars for good NVH while minimizing weight increase.
• Adaptive Front Lighting - HID lamps light up the way ahead but additional beams light up to illuminate corners.
• Vents - vents are placed around the car like the ones on the hood and behind the front wheels to release heat, and a central air intake for cool air.
• F1 Piston Technology - The 4B11T uses Mahle full floating pistons which are based on F1 technology. The pistons are made of a very hard and strong alloy. The 4B11T is about 12kg lighter than the outgoing 4G63T.

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The most powerful variant of the Peugeot 308 will be unveiled at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show next month, and it will be based on the 3-door Peugeot 308 body style. The Peugeot 308 GT THP 175 is powered by a 1.6 liter turbocharged engine, the same one found in BMW’s MINI Cooper S.

While its lesser 5-door 308 GT THP 150 sibling can be mated to a 4 speed auto, and the same engine in the Cooper S has a ZF 6-speed auto, the Peugeot 308 GT THP 175 is only available with a 6-speed manual transmission. This will be the second Peugeot with the 1.6 turbo in a 175 horses state of tune, with the first being the 207 GTi THP 175.

You can say that the new GT THP 175 is the spiritual successor to the 177 PS 2.0 liter Peugeot 307 Féline 180. The new car is only 0.1 seconds slower to 100km/h at 8.3 seconds, but goes on to a higher top speed of 225km/h compared to the 307 180’s 220km/h. It is also more fuel economical at 37.1 mpg combined, compared to the 307’s 33.6 mpg combined, as well as less polluting at 180 g/km CO2 compared to the 200 g/km CO2 of the outgoing hot hatch 307.

The Peugeot 308 GT THP 175 will go on sale officially in April 2008. Will Nasim Sdn Bhd bring this in as a halo model for the 308? Look at more photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 308 GT THP 175: latest French hot hatch

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The first details on the upcoming Fiat 500 Abarth have been revealed, and it looks like the MINI Cooper S has a new competitor, although the 500’s 135 horsepower figure and over-8 second 0-100km/h sprint time looks like it is overshadowed by what the turbocharged direct injection 1.6 Prince engine in the Cooper S can do.

The Fiat 500 Abarth’s 1.4 liter Fire family engine puts out 135 horses at 5,500rpm and 206Nm of torque at 3,000rpm, but probably has potential to put out more, possibly up to 180 horses in aggressive states of tune. Expect a boosted up variant to appear in the Fiat 500 Abarth Essesse.

If you drive a Porsche Cayenne produced between November 30 2006 and January 18 2008, please pay a visit to your service center. A total of 18,856 Porsche Cayenne SUVs manufactured during the period needs to have their fuel line rearranged as there is a possibility of slight movements of the engine when traveling causing the fuel line to come in contact with the engine compartment cladding. This causes a knocking sound and in some cases abrasion markings on the fuel line.

Out of 5 complaints of knocking sounds worldwide, there was one case of abrasion markings. As a preventive measure, Porsche has decided to modify the fuel line layout of the vehicles. The procedure is free of charge and will take an estimated 40 minutes. Customers that are affected will be advised.

Another variant of the Renault Logan has been launched, one with a pick-up body, making total variants now up to 4 - a sedan, a station wagon (Logan MCV with windows and Logan VAN without windows), a hatchback (Sandero) and now a pick-up.

The 4500mm long, 1740mm wide and 1550mm tall Logan pickup has an internal luggage compartment of 300 liters. The pick-up bed fits objects as long as 1880mm. The rear opening width is 1200mm, and maximum payload is 800kg.

Under the hood is a choice of one petrol engine or two 1.5 DCi turbodiesel engines. The petrol engine is a 8 valve 1.6 liter that makes 90 horses at 5,500rpm and a peak torque of 128Nm. The 1.5 DCi is available in two stages of tune: 70 hoses and 85 horses. All engines are mated to a 5-speed manual.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Renault Logan Pickup

USF-Hicom Sdn Bhd is now selling several CBU Japan Honda vehicles here in Malaysia. Three variants of the Honda Elysion and one variant of the Honda StepWGN are available. The 2.4 liter Elysion goes for RM265,000 while the 3.0 liter V6 model goes for RM295,000. The top of the range 3.5 liter V6 Honda Elysion Prestige (shown above) with 300 PS and 353Nm of torque goes for RM325,000. Both V6-equipped Elysions feature cylinder deactivation. The 2.0 liter Honda StepWGN goes for RM180,000.

The company is also looking into the introduction of the Honda Edix, which will be priced at about RM150,000 for a 2.0 liter model. This makes two AP Holder companies (not Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd) offering CBU Japan units of Honda vehicles, with the other being Naza World with its RM186,000 Honda Stream.

Source

The production Volkswagen Scirocco will be unveiled to us soon, but some tidbits about the new vee-dub have been unveiled - in line with Volkswagen’s TSI strategy the new Scirocco will come in either TSI or TDI form only - this means a 1.4 liter TSI engine and a TDI turbodiesel. Of course, these will be mated to the new dry clutch 7-speed DSG.

Expect many design elements of the Volkswagen iroc Concept (shown above) to be carried over to the production Volkswagen Scirocco.

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