The JPJ has announced that it is giving car owners 3 months until the end of July 2008 to remove non-compliant xenon lamps and dark tinting that does not comply with JPJ specifications from their cars.

During the 3 months leading up to the deadline, vehicles caught in violation will be issued a PG1 notice (Notis Larangan Penggunaan), but there will be no compound associated with the notice. To get this notice retracted, the car owner needs to comply with the directive. JPJ director Salim Parlan urges the public to report the number plates of “offending cars” to 03-88866412.

Despite all these warnings, drama and deadlines, there is still no clear rules and regulations published as to what exactly non-compliance means when it comes to xenon lamps. Are aftermarket xenon headlamps illegal, or just any xenon lamps that are of an unsuitable colour temperature, brightness or pointing at the wrong angle?

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Related Posts:
Only retrofitted HID lights to be banned

While waiting for Mitsubishi’s 4-cylinder turbodiesel for C-segment vehicles (announced by chairman Takashi Nishioka at the 2007 Detroit Auto Show) to be ready, Mitsubishi has temporarily given the Mitsubishi Lancer a Volkswagen 2.0 TDI engine.

The turbodiesel Lancer is available in India amongst some other countries. The Volkswagen turbodiesel uses Pumpe Duse injection (one pump for each injector) as opposed to common rail (a single pump for the common rail), and produces 140 horsepower at 4,000rpm and 320Nm of torque at 1,750rpm.

This engine is interesting because in some aftermarket applications its been known to be able to produce slightly over 200 horsepower.

Alfa Romeo’s promotional video for the upcoming new Alfa Romeo Mi.To hatchback shows us someone playing what looks like a racing simulation game, picking to race the Mi.To and then going ahead to pick his course, weather and etc.

The Mi.To in this video has camouflage all over it, with only the headlamps and tail lamps exposed. We cannot even see what the dash looks like, although we get to see the driver steer and shift, because even that has camo wrapped around it.

Watch the video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Alfa Romeo Mi.To “Game” Promo Video

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Day One of the first round of the 2008 Felda-AAM Malaysian Rally Championship (FAMRC) in Bahau, Negeri Sembilan is now over, with Team Perodua M5s Lim Leong Onn and Kamarul Anuar establishing themselves as the car to beat at the top of the timesheet, driving a 4WD Perodua Viva Turbo. Team Perodua M5’s other car is a Perodua Myvi Turbo 4WD with Kan Chee Hong and Bernard Chin.

You might wonder what happened to FAMRC 2007’s champion Karamjit Singh. His team is not at its top form this round as instead of his new car, he will be driving a hired front wheel drive Proton Satria 1.6. “Being a front wheel drive, it is slow compared to the Subaru, Mitsubishi and even the Perodua Myvi 4WD, so we dont expect to win this round.” said Karamjit. His own car is stuck in a warehouse in Port Klang.

Another team also switched cars. Gunaseelan Rajoo and his co-driver chose to drive their old 4WD Proton Putra instead of their front wheel drive Proton GEN2 as they would benefit from the extra traction 4WD provided on the tough Bahau course.

More than 20 cars were flagged off today for Day One, which consists of 8 Stages with a total distance of 109.39km. The longest Stage distance for Leg 1 is 16.78km at Feldajaya while the shortest distance is 7.63km at Jerneh. Tomorrow’s course consists of 6 Stages, with a total distance of 72.3km.

Day One claimed 6 cars, including James Russell who suffered engine seizure just 500 meters from the start gate, and Team Pennzoil’s all-women team whose Proton Satria suffered steering and rear suspension damage.

The Jaguar and Land Rover deal has been sealed, and the two companies go to Tata Motors, which will pay US$2.3 billion for them. As part of the deal, Ford will inject US$600 million of the US$2.3 billion into the two companies’ pension funds, leaving about US$1.7 billion remaining for Ford’s coffers. Ford will have no stake in the companies after the sale is completed.

Most of the management team will be retained, and Ford will continue to supply Jaguar and Land Rover with powertrains and technology for the time being, depending on existing supply agreements. Ford Motor Credit Co will also provide financing for Jaguar and Land Rover dealers and customers for the period of up to 12 months. The deal includes the Rover, Daimler and Lanchester brand names.

Tata Motors says it was confident this investment would have a positive effect on its balance sheet in the long run. Shareholders do not seem to share these sentiments as Tata Motors shares dropped as much as 7.3% yesterday, finally settling on a 3.6% drop at the end of the day as analysts says the deal will be a strain on the balance sheet. As for Ford, the money will help it focus on turning around its North American operations, which are currently operating at a loss.

The other bids for Jaguar and Land Rover are former Ford CEO Jacques Nasser’s One Equity Partners, Ripplewood, and Texas Pacific Group, which was advised by Bob Dover, CEO of Jaguar and Land Rover between 2002 and 2003.

Check out this drag racing-tuned Subaru Brumby with a Subaru WRX turbocharged boxer engine under its hood. When I say under the hood, I mean most of it anyway - check out the turbocharger sticking out of the hood! The EJ22 engine (stroked up to 2.34 liters) puts out 495 horsepower now (in the video it makes between 420 and 470 depending on whether nitrous oxide is used), and does the quarter mile in 10.41 seconds. Video after jump.

Click here to read the rest of Drag-tuned EJ22-powered Subaru Brumby

The Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire sedan has been unveiled in India, and comes with a choice of either a 1.3 liter SOHC petrol engine or a 1.3 liter Multijet DOHC common rail intercooled turbodiesel engine.

The petrol engine produces 87 bhp at 6,000rpm and 113Nm of torque at 4,500rpm, while the oil burner makes 75 horses and 190Nm of torque at 2,000rpm. Both petrol and diesel variants are available only with a 5-speed manual gearbox.

Dimension-wise the Swift Dzire sedan is longer than the Swift hatchback of course, but keeps the same wheelbase of 2390mm. The following table lists the differences between the two dimension-wise.

Boot space varies between 440 liters and 464 liters depending on trim level. The larger boot space value is available on the Lxi, Ldi, Vxi and Vdi trims, probably because of the slimmer tyre profile (165/80R14 versus 185/70R14) which means the spare tyre does not take as much space in the boot.

Safety features include ABS brakes, EBD, and dual front SRS airbags, which Maruti Suzuki claims are safety features that are not usually seen in this segment. Not all trim levels have them though. Spec level is relatively high, with some variants getting automatic climate control.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Maruti Suzuki Swift Dzire sedan unveiled in India

Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi says there will be no changes to the fuel and gas prices in Malaysia for the time being.

“Whatever the present price, we have to live with it,” said the Prime Minister at the Invest Malaysia 2008 conference. Light sweet crude oil currently trades at USD 100.35 per barrel on the NYMEX. In a Malaysiakini article, the PM adds: “When we make the announcement (on fuel prices), it is hoped that the situation would have change.”

RM43.4 billion was spent in 2007 to pay for subsidies of fuel and other essential items. Can the government afford this? And for how long?

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The Honda FCX Clarity is Honda’s second generation fuel cell car, and is the production version of the Honda FCX Concept, which I have wrote about last year. For cars like the Honda FCX Clarity to be usable in daily life, there has to be somewhere you can easily get the hydrogen fuel required for the car’s operation.

One ways you can refuel is via the Honda Home Energy Station. It generates hydrogen from natural gas for use in fuel cell vehicles while supplying electricity and hot water to the home. View a set of short videos after the jump on the FCX and HES.

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Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Honda FCX Clarity and Home Energy Station

The Honda Mobilio is a compact 7-seater MPV sold in the JDM market, built on one of the longest versions of Honda’s Global Small Platform ever, with a wheelbase of 2,740mm. It is part of Honda’s Small Max vehicle lineup which also includes cars like the Jazz, City, and Airwave, all built on the Global Small Platform and powered by the L-series i-DSI and VTEC engines. With it’s 1.5 liter i-DSI engine (1.5 liter VTEC in the Mobilio Spike), the Honda Mobilio returns 18.2km/l.

Like the Toyota Sienta, it features sliding rear doors. The Mobilio and Mobilio Spike’s packaging is similiar to the rest of the Small Max cars, featuring a low-floor cabin, and a central fuel tank layout located under the first row of seats. The cabin is 2,435mm long and 1,360mm wide. Versatile seats allow stowage of luggage up to 1,360mm tall or 2,600mm long. Folding the third row seats down creates a boot space of 579 liters. The second row can slide back and forth by up to 260mm to vary legroom.

Would you buy the Honda Mobilio/Mobilio Spike if it is available in Malaysia? I think most would feel awkward because of its Japanese boxy looks, but the unorthodox dimensions is the very thing which creates a large interior space inside.

View more photos and a video of the Honda Mobilio after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda Mobilio and Mobilio Spike 7-seater MPV