A more hardcore and lightweight version of the Mk7 Ford Fiesta (shown above) is in the works, and like its higher performance Focus sibling, it will be called the Ford Fiesta RS. According to Auto Express, the new 7th generation Ford Fiesta will have two high performance versions instead of just the ST, similiar to the line-up planned for its bigger brother, the Ford Focus. The Fiesta will have a “warm” Fiesta ST, as well as an all-out hot hatch Ford Fiesta RS.

The Mk6 Fiesta ST came with a 150 PS 2.0 liter Duratec, so the new Mk7 RS has to top the 150 PS figure. While there are no official details yet, the Mk7 ST is rumoured to come with a new 1.6 liter EcoBoost turbocharged inline-4 engine instead of a large normally aspirated Duratec engine, so it will be very easy to tune up this engine for the RS version. Expect the ST to feature 150 horses or so, and the RS to top out at nearly 200 horsepower.

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Hyundai will be launching its first mass production hybrid car in 2009, the Hyundai Avante LPI (also known as the Elantra LPI). This will be followed by other models and by 2012 Hyundai plans to have production fuel cell electric vehicles as well.

The Hyundai Avante LPI will run on both Liquefied Petroleum Gas and electricity. No specs have been unveiled, and it’s not known whether the powertrain can use regular gasoline or not, but the way it is worded seems to indicate it does not use regular gasoline, although that is a planned future development.

“The importance of developing futuristic, environmentally-friendly cars is increasing for sustainable growth. Therefore, technology for advanced cars, like the hybrid, is imperative,” said Hyundai-Kia Chairman Chung Mong Koo.

Source

Mercedes-Benz will unveiled the facelifted A-Class at the Auto Mobil International show in Leipzig in early April 2008. New fuel saving features have been added to the range, with the A150 and A170 baseline models getting the ECO start/stop function. There is also a new 82 horsepower A160 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY 3-door model with manual transmission which uses just 4.5 liters of diesel per 100km.

The BlueEFFICIENCY package for the A-Class includes a body that is 10mm lower, an aerodynamically optimised radiator grille with a sealed off rear side, and brake energy regeneration for the onboard electrical systems.

On the interior, the storage area in the center console has been enlarge. There are now new trim elements done up in smoke grey and diagonally brushed aluminium.

More photos after the jump.

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Mercedes-Benz might drop A-Class
Next generation A-Class might share MINI platform
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Mercedes-Benz to develop next generation A/B-Class alone
2006 Mercedes-Benz A-Class to be launched in Malaysia next week (2005 news)

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Facelift

The Honda Dreams Fund programme by Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd is a scholarship that aims to give underprivileged young Malaysians who dare to dream, a chance to fulfill their dreams and achieve a better future through education.

It covers tertiary education fees and provides for allowances to meet living expenses for the duration of their courses in private institutions, and is open to Malaysians aged between 17 – 24 years of age who have at least completed and passed the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) examination. The candidate must come from a household with a combined income of less than RM1,500. This full scholarship is non-binding.

The first batch of 20 young Malaysians are already studying now. The 2008 batch will consist of another lucky 20 people, selected from the shortlisted list of 60 candidates. The selection process will be via an all expense-paid workshop. The selection process is done by an ndependent Advisory Panel which comprises members from Human Rights Commission (SUHAKAM), All Womens Action Society (AWAM), Malaysian Youth Council (MYC) as well as UNDP and Honda Malaysia.

To apply, candidates are required to write an essay on their aspirations in realizing their dreams on A4 size paper in not more than 500 words beginning with “Honda Dreams Fund is the opportunity I have been waiting for to realise my dreams. Since I was young, I have always aspired to be…“.

Attach a photocopy of the following documents: NRIC, Certified true copy of Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) and/or Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM), School leaving certificate (if any), Testimonial / referees (from schools/NGOs/Homes), EA Form / J Form or any other form that verifies income (if any) and other qualifications if available.

Send applications to:

Honda Dreams Fund
“Human Resource Development through Education and
Training for Malaysian Youth” Project
P.O Box 12544
50782, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Or email to: hdfessay@undp.org

The closing date for entries is tomorrow. It’s rather last minute now, but if you read this and know of anyone who might be in need of such a scholarship, please do let them know. It’s not very likely that someone who needs such a scholarship has the luxury of going online often and reading websites such as this one, so it’s very important for those who do have such luxuries to inform those who don’t via word of mouth and etc.

Of course, Honda Malaysia realises this and has brought the news of the programme’s availability to the public, including rurals in East Malaysia. A team from Honda Malaysia including CEO Atsushi Fujimoto visited Miri, Sarawak and Sabah. The team visited Miri and Bario on February 25–28, 2008, sharing the opportunities available through the HDF to 170 youths and representatives from the indigenous groups of Sarawak.

Talks in Sabah were held in Penampang, Tambunan and Sukau, Kinabatangan. More than 130 youths, parents, schoolteachers and representatives of villages from more than 14 districts in Sabah, some from as far as Kudat and Tawau, attended the talk in Penampang.

The talk in Tambunan drew about 70 students while the one in Sukau was attended by about 85 people from 7 villages. Sukau which is located about 150km from Sandakan is an area accessible by water transportation or a dusty ride in a hired van through stretches of paved road, pothole-filled semi-tarred road and gravel. Majority of the population are the Orang Sungai, who live below the poverty line in Sabah of about RM700.

Eduan Bah Chimpok, a pastor who gathered the Orang Asli for the talk in Gopeng said, “This is a golden opportunity for the Orang Asli. Most of them receive no education and for those who did, they cannot afford to further their studies. The way that Honda and UNDP have put together this scholarship and the campaign they undertook to inform these indigenous groups is refreshing. This is the first time a corporation had gone through such lengths to talk about a scholarship to the Orang Asli.”

These are the people we are talking about, who really need such a scholarship. Taking a look at the 2007 recipients list, there is a great mix of gender and race. This is one of the few scholarships in Malaysia which gives out funds based on need and merit rather than “other factors”.

And if you know someone who needs such a scholarship and will most likely miss the application this year, there’s always next year.

Related Links:
Honda Dream Funds Class of 2007
Honda Dream Funds – Application

Click here to read the rest of Honda Dreams Fund Scholarship

Click to enlarge

Reader Al Maarof who sent in the photos of the Renault showcase earlier has scanned for us the estimated pricelist (with specifications) for the 4 Renault models going to be offered in Malaysia. All of them are over RM200K, with the turbocharged Renault Grand Espace going for over RM300,000 OTR inclusive of insurance.

Related Posts:
TC Eurocars previews Malaysia-bound Renault cars

Click to enlarge

Nasim Sdn Bhd has launched the Peugeot Privilege owner loyalty programme, which is complimentary to all current owners of any Peugeot vehicles. Among benefits include an immediately 10% discount from the retail prices of selected spare parts, and soon to come are more attractive services and programmes tailored to the Peugeot owner.

Peugeot owners can give Nasim a ring at 03-2617 7777 or 1800-88-6292 to find out more about the Peugeot Privilege programme.

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?

Source

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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

Click to enlarge

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.