It’s finally done – after persistent and intense rumours over the past few days Toyota has officially released a statement saying they would be withdrawing from F1 at the end of the 2009 season, which is basically right now with immediate effect. Click here to read the rest of Toyota officially announces F1 departure
Kia has already started dabbling in motorsports in Europe but the car above is part of its US motorsports program which it unveiled at the 2009 SEMA tuner car show. Two Kia Forte Koups built together with the Kinetic Group will be racing in the 2010 GRAND-AM KONI Sports Car Challenge Series in the Street Tuner (ST) class.
The ST class uses race cars based on production vehicles and uses weight and intake restrictions to maintain a level playing field for all entrants. The two Kia cars will be piloted by Nic Jonsson, Andy Lally, Adam Burrows and Trevor Hopwood.
We probably won’t see Mercedes-Benz Malaysia offering the E-Class Wagon here in Malaysia but for wagon lovers you’ll probably enjoy these videos. Click here to read the rest of 3 promo footages of the W212 E-Class Wagon
Toyota F1’s race at the Abu Dhabi GP is apparently their last, as strong and intense rumours point to a Toyota board meeting to be held on the 15th of November to come to a conclusion that the company should leave the sport. We could actually know the outcome as early as 8th November 2009.
If Toyota really leaves the sport, this would open a grid position for then new Qadbak Sauber team, the team that used to be the BMW Sauber F1 Team. Toyota was supplying F1 engines to Williams this year but Williams will go with Cosworth engines next year.
Another Japanese company also announced it would be leaving F1 recently. Tyre supplier Bridgestone has announced it will leave at the end of next year’s season to focus its resources on other development. Bridgestone has been the sole supplier of F1 tyres for the past 2 years, and have been a supplier since 1997.
As for Kobayashi who was standing in for Timo Glock who has a back injury, the promising driver says he would most probably have to go back to Japan to work for his father’s sushi restaurant. Maybe he can build the business and then recruit all the chop shop owners here that will be out of a job soon.
Mercedes-Benz decided to showcase its new E-Class Estate’s interior capacity by building a 400 meter long slot car track inside it. A publicity stunt no doubt but still makes an interesting watch. Look for the video after the jump. Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: 400 meter slot car track in a W212 Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate
MITI has posted a statement on its new MITI blog clarifying a few points in the NAP Review, specifically the end-of-life policy and the annual inspection for road tax renewal. Hopefully this will clear some of your doubts on the exact timelines of certain things to be implemented.
Firstly, I think the most feared part of the review for all of us is the announcement of an impending vehicle end-of-life policy. There have been plenty of comments from readers on how this policy will negatively affect them and their qualify of life. I particularly like this story about the old atuk who drives a Pajero diesel to his surau.
MITI has revealed that the government has not set a Vehicle End-of-Life Policy in stone yet. It has merely announced intentions to develop one, and they (Ministry of Transport who are in charge of developing the policy) claim they will take into consideration views of all parties through consultations with consumer associations and NGOs. There is no mention which associations and NGOs these are, but I sure hope they fight for us. I hope we end up with a reasonable end of life policy with the option of extending your vehicle lifespan at a cost, similiar to the act of buying a new COE for your car in Singapore.
Though the NAP review document seemed to lead us to believe 2010 is the start point of our yearly Puspakom nightmares, MITI has clarified that a start date for the annual vehicle inspection for road tax renewal has not been fixed yet, so it will not be 1st January 2010. An effective date will be announced later.
In the statement, MITI Secretary General Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat said the whole idea of the annual inspection was to ensure vehicles over 15 years of age are safe and roadworthy. He compared the inspection to the current rule where commercial vehicles have to go for an inspection every time their road tax is due for renewal. Commercial vans, pick-ups, 4X4s and etc are currently charged between RM50 to RM70 for inspections, and RM25 for reinspections.
So all in all, the NAP has given no allowance for a drop in car prices except at the higher end of the market, and that is only if the manufacturers decide to take up the carrots offered, but that looks a little unlikely at this point of time. Even the premium boys have set up shop in Thailand – did you know some CBU BMWs come from BMW’s Thailand plant in Rayong?
We will now lose the option to use good condition used parts for our cars, have to spend extra cash on annual car inspections, and finally the big bang is face the possibility of a reduced fuel subsidy once the Mykad subsidy system is implemented, together with high car prices. That wraps up what the NAP Review 2009 and Budget 2010 is all about for the common motorist.
Under Section E Part VI of the NAP Review, the government revealed that it would be implementing a full Vehicle End of Life policy which would come in stages. A roadmap will be formulated by the Ministry of Transport to lay out the steps towards the scrap policy implementation, but the first step is already here – a mandatory yearly inspection for cars older than 15 years in order to get their road tax renewed. Why 15 years? Could that be the vehicle age that they are looking at to enforce scrapping in the future?
According to the NAP review, Malaysia currently has 2.7 million cars on the road that are 10 years or older and the country has a very low vehicle scrap rate and a relatively high average vehicle age. With so many people having to go for 7 to 9 year loans to buy their vehicles, is this really a surprise that after suffering financial burden for so long, you would want to reap the benefit of your transportation longer?
There are currently a few situations where we go to Puspakom for their dreaded tests. It is an open secret what kind of environment that place is. A friend of mine had his tint test failed repeatedly even though his car windscreen was clear and had absolutely no tint. He argued that he should not be failed and somehow he ended up passing but with some rubber parts of his car damaged. When my E30 was sent for an ownership change inspection (B5 test), it came back with a broken glovebox latch and all the rubber trim around the door utterly raped.
If you are a straight shooter the only cash you will have to pay during these annual road tax inspections are the Puspakom fees itself. Right now there are two tests for private motorcars – the transfer of ownership test and a voluntary test which most of the time is not really voluntary – you may need certificates from these tests to renew your insurance these days. The ownership transfer test involves checking your vehicle identity (chassis and engine), chassis frame condition, and tinted glass. The voluntary inspection checks more stuff – identity, above carriage, emissions, brakes, suspension, side slip, speedometer, headlamps, undercarriage and tinted glass.
The voluntary test goes for RM50 (according to this Puspakom pricelist) and the transfer test costs RM30. So you can expect this annual inspection for road tax renewal to probably cost around these prices as well.
The Edge as always has a very interesting and revealing interview with Proton’s managing director Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir. The ex-Perodua man has been at Proton’s helm for about 4 years now and I think most of us agree that under his leadership Proton has taken a turn for the better.
Here are some key points in the story:
Read the full interview here.
If you were able to catch the final two rounds of the 2009 Formula 1 World Championship then you should be familiar with a Japanese driver by the name of Kamui Kobayashi. Kobayashi has been serving as the third driver at Toyota’s Formula 1 outfit since November 2007, after replacing Franck Montagny. The Toyota F1 driver is also competing in the GP2 series which is another feeder series for Formula 1.
Kobayashi’s non-testing driving role in the Toyota F1 team actually started at this year’s Japanese Grand Prix when he replaced Timo Glock for the first two practice sessions, following Glock’s health-related issues. Glock then had a crash during qualifying and did not compete in the race the next day.
Glock’s health advisers then recommended the German not to take part in the remaining two races of the season. Glock’s misfortune was a blessing for Kobayashi as he was then summoned to race in Brazil and in last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. In his first qualifying session, he managed to secure 11th place although his team mate Jarno Trulli was fourth fastest.
During the race at the Interlagos track in Sao Paulo, he drove a clean race most of the time and spectators started to notice more of him when the Japanese driver performed some gutsy wheel to wheel racing with his competitors on track.
Kobayashi successfully defended against championship contenders Jenson Button from Brawn and Sebastian Vettel from Red Bull during race. Button even labeled the Japanese driver ‘crazy’. The highlight of his race debut was the battle he had with fellow Japanese driver Kazuki Nakajima from Williams. Kobayashi was exiting the pits following a routine pit stop and came out right in front of the Williams driver.
Kobayashi was so determined not to give the position away that Nakajima hit the back of Kobayashi’s car and subsequently lost front wing and eventually hit a tire barrier at Turn 4. Kobayashi managed to finish in ninth place, just a place away from a point finish.
At the season finale Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, he managed to qualify in 12th place and it was later revealed that he did so with a very heavy fuel load. During the race, he was running based on a one stop strategy. He started to shine when everyone else who were running on two stop strategies made their first pit stops. With a lighter car, Kobayashi was charging forward and even made a successful, sensational pass on newly-crowned World Champion Jenson Button.
Although he had a lighter car underneath him, Kobayashi’s aggressive driving style and raw talent were evident. He kept his nose clean through out the race and managed to cross the finish line in sixth place and earned three valuable points. He even finished ahead of his more experienced team mate Jarno Trulli.
I have been following Formula 1 for the past decade and only a handful of drivers managed to push me to the edge of my seat with ballsy moves while being able to keep on racing till the checkered flag is waived. Those few include Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen as well as Fernando Alonso. I must admit that Kobayashi is looking good to be included in that list. With just two races, he has quickly became the talk of town. Furthermore, it is very likely that he will be named as one of the 2010 drivers for Toyota.
I hope he manages to secure a race seat as I would love to see him more in action. Its about time that Japan gets its first Formula 1 World Champion. Recent Formula 1 drivers from the Land of Rising Sun have failed to really shine, but that may change with Kobayashi. So will he be considered as the next Schumacher from Japan? Judging from his performance so far, my answer is: Most likely!
The sohu source seems quite certain that this is a Proton/Europestar car. One possibility that I can think of is this could be a Chinese market only car that Proton, Lotus and Europestar are working on together.
UPDATE: Thanks to all readers that pointed this out – this is a restyled Proton GEN2 for Europestar. More updates later – Source Click here to read the rest of Europestar develops own styling for GEN2
