Proton kicks off its Festival Proton 1 Malaysia road show

December 20, 2010 at 10:33 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Proton

Proton has begun a two-week Festival Proton 1 Malaysia nationwide road show, which will showcase its past and present, as well as provide a glimpse of its future. The roadshow will make 11 stops around Peninsular Malaysia – with things having begun at Stadium Indera Mulia in Ipoh over the weekend – and will include a total of 180 participants and a convoy of 60 Protons, including 25 cars from various official Proton car clubs. Alor Star, Kangar, Penang, Kuala Terengganu, Kuantan, Batu Pahat and Melaka are among the stops.

A mobile exhibition will showcase the company’s accomplishments over the last 25 years, and the vehicles on display will include a couple of the KLIMS concept car debutants, the Jebat and Kasturi. Also to be seen are the Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car, Exora Extended Range Electric Vehicle as well as the Emas hybrid concept, and a Proton Design studio will allow visitors a chance at having a go at digital sketching and clay modeling.


Here’s when the roadshow gets to where you are …

The carnivals at each stop will include a mini auto-show, numerous fun-filled activities for the family and children, and concert performances and appearances by renowned local artistes, including Jaclyn Victor, Adibah Nor, nasyid group Rabani, Dayang Nurfaizah and Amy Search.

Proton will also be playing host to a list of handicapped organisations and orphanages from every state in the Peninsular to take part and enjoy the celebrations. As for Proton car owners, there’ll be a dedicated service crew at the carnivals, so you’ll be able to take advantage of a free 18-point vehicle safety check.

The event ends on December 31 with a grand finale concert held at the Proton Centre of Excellence as a celebration and countdown to New Year’s Eve.
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Daigo Saito wins Formula Drift Malaysia as locals falter, Tengku Djan is the 2010 Formula Drift Asia champion!

December 19, 2010 at 6:51 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News, Motorsports

Japanese drifter Daigo Saito has won Formula Drift Malaysia 2010. The 2008 D1GP champion, who drove a TRC Racing Team Toyota Aristo, beat Thai hotshot Kokae in the finals. Another Japanese drifter, Ryuji Miki, completed the podium after seeing off Indonesian rally regular Rifat Sungkar in the third place shootout.

Most of the local heroes got kicked out in the opening round of the tandem battles, including “Tandem Assassin” Tengku Djan. However, Djan did enough to hold on to his lead in the 2010 Formula Drift Asia standings as closest rival Pop from Thailand bowed out in the Sweet 16 stage.

It was cloudy like yesterday at Dataran Merdeka, but there was no rain to spice things up. Still, there was plenty of top sideways action plus carnage and wreck from dates with the concrete barriers.

UPDATE: Comprehensive event report as it happened is after the jump.
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Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia qualifying – big names all through, intriguing top 32 tandem battles tomorrow!

December 18, 2010 at 11:57 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News, Motorsports

It was a good day of drifting at Dataran Merdeka today, where 40 drifters and their machines battled to get into tomorrow’s top 32 showdown, where the men and machines will go head-to-head (or rather door-to-door) in a cup format to be the winner of Goodyear Formula Drift Malaysia 2010. This event is part of a three-leg Formula Drift Asia series, with the earlier rounds held in Singapore and Thailand.

Along with those who made their way to the Dataran, this writer is thankful for today’s cool and cloudy weather. The skies threatened to open up, and although it didn’t rain, there was plenty of thrills and spills. As a recap, FD Msia 2010′s course is along Jalan Raja, sandwiched by the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building and the Dataran Merdeka, which makes for a spectacular backdrop. The start line is at the Jalan TAR/Jalan Tun Perak junction, where cars accelerate across the bridge and draw an ‘S’ before ending with a hairpin. There are three rear clipping points along the way.

Local favourites from Federation D, Mervyn Nakamura, Tan Tat Wei, Ivan Lau and defending champ Tengku Djan kicked off qualifying with mixed results. TTW and Djan scored points – the latter set an early bar with 71.2 pts – but Mervyn and Ivan scored zeros. Each drifter gets two chances, and both made it through on the second try, with Mervyn qualifying sixth overall with a 64.8 score.

The Thai Overdrive Team was the biggest contingent with seven entries, but it was Nattawoot Krerpradrab a.k.a. Oat who caught the eye in his FD RX-7. He qualified fifth with 69 points. The other black/yellow M150 liveried cars weren’t as good, but they were still better than Hong Kong’s TRC Racing Team. Except for Japanese star Daigo Saito (fourth best, 75.2 pts) the red Toyotas of James, Harris and Sampan were embarrassing.

Team Goodyear Malaysia had a mixed afternoon. Ariff Johanis scored zeros in both attempts and his wife Jane couldn’t get more than 30.9 points, which was what privateer Kevin Rajoo did to scrape in the top 32. As usual, Hanizam Hamzah a.k.a. Loyai was the best in the team; both he and Michael Gan will be in action tomorrow.

Other local scene regulars that will feature tomorrow are Nazrul Afifi, Mohd Fazreen (FXOpen stickers on his car replaced by Pemuda UMNO!), Hashiguti Anderson, Ee Yoong Chern (super loud V8 powered R32), Zai “Bullzai” Hamdan, Ser Ming Hui (Ah Fai), Lim Zee King and Lee Kim Wan. The latter two crashed in their second runs; here’s hoping the damage is not too severe to affect tomorrow’s battle.

The foreign big guns closed the show, and they justified their top billing. Thai guy Kokae’s car brought many smiles as it was sponsored by the famous Thai snack Koh-Kae, but his performance was no joke – fast entry, close to wall, big smoke, he was the second best qualifier with 85.7 points, ahead of third placed Tengku Djan’s 83.8. New Zealand’s Daynom Templeman had the best run of the day – the Kiwi and his Bardahl sponsored FD is No.1 with 91.7 points.

Favourite Ryuji Miki put pressure on himself with a ’0′ for his first run, but sealed qualification with the last run of the day – his 61.3 points put him in ninth. FD USA drifter Charles Ng was driving a huge Toyota Chaser and managed to damage both front and rear ends of the JZX100 in his second try. He’s through, but we wonder if his car is fit for tomorrow.

Tomorrow, there will be some intriguing battles that await us. Oat vs Ivan Lau, Ee Yoong Chern vs Loyai, Mohd Fazreen vs Charles Ng and Tengku Djan vs the aggressive Ah Fai will be among the first tsuiso battles. Templeman and Kokae should have no problems getting past Kevin Rajoo and David Feliciano in their first hurdles, but you’ll never know. Will rain add a twist? Tandems start at noon tomorrow, see you there!

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EXCLUSIVE: Team Lotus feature video and interviews

December 18, 2010 at 2:07 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports, Videos

As mentioned in our previous article, we have recently visited Team Lotus’ Formula 1 factory in Norfolk, UK. We have already given you a report on the factory tour and we promised that we will give you a feature video which centers around interviews with Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Chief Technical Officer Mike Gascoyne.

You can check out the feature video after the jump and stay tuned as we will bring you more interview footage including ones with Trulli’s Race Engineer and Graham Watson who is the Race Team Manager.

UPDATE: We have added three videos that separately showcase the interviews with Jarno Trulli, Heikki Kovalainen and Mike Gascoyne.
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Nationwide Peugeot 207 Sedan test drive event this weekend

December 18, 2010 at 1:24 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot

pug 207 sedan

Nearly popped under the radar, this one – Nasim is having a nationwide 207 sedan test drive event this weekend, so if you’re looking to test drive the car, which has already recorded over 350 bookings locally since its launch on November 3, this is a good opportunity to do so.

The sales outlets that will host the test drives are the Peugeot Blue Box in Glenmarie, Kampung Pandan, Kampung Baru, TTDI Plaza, Nasim Petaling Jaya, Nasim Klang, Nasim Bangsar, Nasim Plentong (Johor Bahru), Nasim Juru Auto-City, Nasim Puchong, Nasim Ampang and Nasim Ipoh.

Five Nasim dealers will also be involved, and these are Ang Leng Motor Trading (Muar), Epigenic Corporation (Penang), Eurofrance (Johor Bahru), KS Peugeot Blue Box (Jalan Chan Sow Lin) and KS Kemaman.

All 17 sales outlets will be open from 10am to 7pm today and tomorrow, and you can also pop on by to the Royal Selangor Club today until 10pm and tomorrow from 10am to 6pm for a test drive, if that’s a more convenient location for you. Customers who test drive the 207 will receive a mystery gift, while light refreshments will be served at the sales outlets.

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Formula Drift Malaysia 2010 happens this weekend at Dataran Merdeka, 40 drifters vie for the crown!

December 17, 2010 at 4:28 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News, Motorsports

Drift fans, Formula Drift Malaysia is back! The final round of the Formula Drift Asia series for 2010 will be held this weekend (18-19 December) at Dataran Merdeka right in front of the iconic Sultan Abdul Samad building. 40 drifters from ASEAN, Japan, Hong Kong, China and New Zealand will be vying for a place in tomorrow’s qualifying session to be in the top-32 that will battle it out on Sunday.

The driver list features Team Goodyear Malaysia’s four drivers – Ariff Johanis, Azrina Jane, Michael Gan and Hanizam Hamzah – a big Thai contingent (Overdrive Team and the pretty boys from PTT), Malaysia’s Federation D (Tan Tat Wei, Tengku Djan, Ivan Lau and Mervyn Nakamura) and Goodyear backed Ryuji Miki and Kiwi David Templeman.

The Hong Kong based TRC Racing Team’s four Toyotas will be driven by three locals and Japanese Daigo Saito. Also watch out for Charles Ng in his Toyota Chaser. Charles is fresh from his first season in Formula Drift USA and was among the best rookies of 2010.

Other notable Malaysian drivers competing this weekend are Ser Ming Hui a.k.a. Ah Fai, Lim Kim Wan in his blue RX-7, Ee Yoong Chern, Lim Joe Han, Mohd Fazreen Ismail and Lim Zee King. Indonesian rally driver Rifat Sungkar will compete in a Nissan 180SX borrowed from Formula Drift Malaysia 2009 champ Tengku Djan.

In terms of machinery, the list is dominated by Nissans, although there are few FD RX-7s and the two Hachirokus of Ivan Lau and TTW. There will be two Toyota Aristos (Lexus GS) and some Supras as well.

Formula Drift founder Ryan Sage walked us through the course at a technical briefing earlier today. According to him, there are only three street circuits in FD – Long Beach, Singapore and now KL, although the Singapore course isn’t really on public streets. This uniqueness, not to mention the landmark backdrop, will make FD Malaysia 2010 quite a spectacle.

The cars will start from the Jalan TAR/Jalan Tun Perak junction, accelerating hard up a slight elevation, and across the bridge, before going through an S in front of Sultan Abdul Samad building. There will be three rear clipping points before the course ends with a hairpin turn. Looks pretty narrow to me, and there’s a high chance of rain, so there’s bound to be plenty of action. FD USA judges Andy Yen and Anthony Angelo will call the shots.


Click to enlarge

Tickets can be bought at www.ticketpro.com.my or the 03-78807999 hotline. Walkabout passes go for RM22, grandstand at RM95 and covered grandstand at RM125.

See you there!

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BMW 1-Series Coupe & Convertible facelifted for 2011

December 17, 2010 at 4:21 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

The BMW 1-Series hatchback was facelifted together with the introduction of a 3-door body back in 2007, but the Coupe and the Convertible bodies are newer than the hatch bodies so it’s time for a mid-life facelift for the ‘booted’ 1-ers. For next year, the 1-Series Coupe and Convertible gets a few subtle updates.

The headlamps have been updated and the tail laps now get LED light strips. The front bumper has also received some modifications that result in an airflow path similar to the aerodynamic “air curtain” effect that BMW has shouted about as a key feature on the 1-Series M Coupe. According to BMW, it significantly reduces drag around the front wheels.

Air ducts that are about 100mm by 30mm in the front bumper channels air to openings at the front of each wheel arch, where it is discharged through a very narrow opening at high speed. This ‘curtain’ of air flowing across the side of the front wheels act as a curtain, reducing aerodynamically unfavorable turbulence around the rotating wheels.

According to BMW, the first example of an Air Curtain application was on the concept study BMW Vision EfficientDynamics in 2009, and now it comes to a production model. If that’s not enough, special Aero Wheels can be specified on the model to further reduce turbulence.

There’s also a newly developed rear differential which runs at a lower operating temperature than the one it replaces, thanks to double-helical ball bearings used in the internals.

Look after the jump for high-resolution galleries of both bodytypes.
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The VW Transporter Rockton isn’t your typical white van

December 17, 2010 at 1:19 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Volkswagen

Not your typical white van, this Volkswagen Transporter for hard off-road missions, for “transporting personnel and materials to the toughest places to reach”. The Transporter Rockton is based on the Transporter Kombi but it has 4Motion permanent four-wheel drive with fourth-generation Haldex coupling, differential lock on the rear axle, 30 mm raised ride height and heavy-duty springs and dampers.

Panels in place of rear side windows and special vehicle trim identify the Rockton, which also features supplementary heating and auxiliary heating in the passenger compartment as well as an air filter for dusty and sandy conditions. The seats are in rugged fabric.

The Rockton is powered by a 2.0-litre TDI engine with either 140 PS or 180 PS, paired to a six-speed manual gearbox. For extreme off-road tasks, the 140 PS version is available with the Expedition package, which has 16-inch AT tyres on reinforced steel rims, a special gearbox which provides enhanced pulling power in off-road operation and a rugged floor-rail system securing two single seats.

For even more hardcore use, the “Protection” package includes underbody protection for the engine and gearbox, tank, sills, rear differential and the main silencer. It’s available on both versions for 3,200 euros extra. The Transporter Rockton is priced at €34,545 plus VAT in Europe. The off road optimised Expedition version will set one back €42,490. Gallery after the jump.
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Proton: how to spot imitation Proton Genuine Parts?

December 17, 2010 at 1:26 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Proton has sent over a few images on how to differentiate between Proton Genuine Parts and imitation parts, which are often sold at cheaper prices but do not confirm to OEM standards, especially when it comes to safety.

According to Proton Edar CEO Mohamad Shukor Ibrahim, there are two types of acceptable components available for Proton cars in the market. One is of the Proton Genuine Parts variant and the other is called Proton Second Branding Parts. Proton Genuine Parts are components that have been developed by PROTON and are also known as OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) parts.

Proton Second Branding Parts are offered to customers whose vehicle warranty has expired, and as an option for those seeking lower-cost of ownership compared to purchasing Proton Genuine Parts. These are usually cheaper in price to buy.

And then there is the third type, which are manufactured by a third party designed to be fitted to Proton vehicles, but they carry their own branding and packaging and do not make attempts to imitate Proton parts. But what you should avoid are imitation parts that are made by unknown parties and packaged to look like Proton Genuine parts.

Here’s how to tell them apart:


Genuine Part Label – Bar codes have more fine lines and colour blue is of lighter shade.


Imitation Part Label – Bar codes are thick and colour blue is of darker shade.


ATF Fluid Bottle – watch how the Genuine Part on the left has a better quality bottle cap seal as compared to the imitation part on the right.


The Genuine Part fuel pump is on the right while the imitation part is on the left – look at the different shade in the material colour.


Proton Genuine Oil Filter – neat and proper printing of yellow and white logo box as opposed to the imitation filter on the left with shabby printing.


Take a look on the inside – the genuine part is on the right while the fake part is on the left, you can notice the difference with the filter.

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EXCLUSIVE: We visit the Team Lotus factory in Norfolk!

December 16, 2010 at 10:35 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Formula 1, Motorsports

Malaysia’s involvement in Formula 1 is now greater than ever. It first started off with Petronas’ engagement with the Sauber Formula 1 back in 1995 and then the hosting of the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang in 1999. That has been going on for the past 12 years.

Now Petronas is the title sponsor of Mercedes GP, a team which 7-times World Champion Michael Schumacher calls home and a team that has won the Driver’s and Constructor’s Championships in 2009, when it was known as Brawn GP. Our involvement has increased with the birth of Team Lotus (previously known as Lotus Racing) which is run Air Asia’s boss Tony Fernandes under the 1Malaysia Racing Team. This team is officially classified by the FIA as a Malaysian team.

You would also know that the Renault Formula 1 team is now known as Lotus Renault, backed by Group Lotus. This came after a fallout between Team Lotus, Group Lotus and it’s parent company Proton. This team has no relations to Fernandes’ Team Lotus, only having the brand name in common.

The use of the name Team Lotus is still in jeopardy for Fernandes, pending a decision from the British High Court on the matter and no one has any idea when the decision will be announced. For now the team is allowed to use Team Lotus as its official name in Formula 1 after the FIA gave the green light.

The team recently invited us to visit its factory in Norfolk, UK and we managed to get behind doors that are usually closed to the public or journalist. Putting the issue between Team Lotus, Group Lotus and Proton aside, you can check out our full factory tour report after the jump.
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