Click to enlarge

BMW’s “greenest” car was awarded the World Green Car of the Year award at the New York International Auto Show 2008. The award-winning BMW 118d emits just 119g/km, and gets 26.7km per liter on the US combined cycle.

The BMW 118d hosts a stable of EfficientDynamics features like Brake Energy Regeneration, Auto Start-Stop and Electric Power Steering. The dash has an optimum gearshift indicator to guide manual transmission users to shift at the most optimum shift points for the best fuel economy.

“BMW is very excited that the BMW 118d with EfficientDynamics won the World Green Car title. The measures that we’ve implemented within our EfficientDynamics strategy into every BMW mean that were able to provide customers with the driving pleasure they expect from a BMW, while still meeting the stringent requirements for fuel-efficiency and low emissions” said Tom Purves, Chairman and CEO of BMW of North America.

Picture by Dr Long – click to enlarge.

Edaran Tan Chong Motor Sdn Bhd has officially announced that the Nissan Sylphy will be launched sometime in Q2 2008. Members of the media were given a sneak preview today at Edaran Tan Chong Motor’s Serendah assembly plant in Hulu Selangor.

The Serendah assembly plant was built at an investment of RM230 million and employs 624 people. Serendah capacity is currently at 1,440 units a month with a single shift. By September 2008, a second shift will be up, increasing total capacity to 2,400 units. It assembles the Nissan Latio sedan and hatchback, the Nissan Grand Livina and soon, the Nissan Sylphy.

The Nissan Sylphy is known as the Nissan Bluebird Sylphy in other countries. It is available in both 1.5 liter and 2.0 liter variants, and Malaysia will likely get the 2.0 liter variant, powered by the MR20DE engine. This is evident from the 2.0 CVTC badge on the preview car’s boot lid. The 1.5 liter model would not fit into the current Nissan line-up. Nissan aims to sell between 200 to 500 units of the new Nissan Sylphy per month when launched.

The 2.0 liter engine produces 133 PS at 5,200rpm and 191Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, with 90% of the torque, or about 172Nm available from 2,000rpm onwards. This is the tuning most commonly installed in Sylphys around the world. Other variants of the MR20DE like the one found in the Nissan Qashqai produces 140hp at 5,100rpm and 193Nm of torque.

Read the linked related posts below to see spyshots of the Nissan Sylphy on test, as well as other articles about the Sylphy. Look after the jump for more live preview images of the Sylphy.

Related Posts:
2006 Nissan Bluebird Sylphy photos and specifications
Nissan Bluebird Sylphy spotted in Malaysia
Taped up Nissan Bluebird Sylphy spotted again!

Click here to read the rest of ETCM: Nissan Sylphy coming in Q2 2008

Kia has given the Kia Optima some changes to the front and rear that gives the sedan a drastic all new look and feel – from a grown-up mature executive sedan into something younger and sportier, much like the USDM Accord turned into the Euro Accord. The front now no longer looks like a shorter version of the Kia Sportage, but takes on a design similiar to the Kia KOUP Concept.

Aside from the obvious new front headlamps, grille, and rear lamp cluster treatment, the Optima also gets a new front bumper with a lower air intake split into 3 instead of one large one, LED wing mirror turn signals, and a new meter panel on the inside featuring a triple-pod design much like the Mazda 3 or the Honda City.

The 2.0 liter CVVT Theta II engine now puts out 158 PS (likely 163 PS in the Korean market just like the facelifted Sonata), and the 2.4 liter also gets a 15% power upgrade to 161 horsepower. The top of the range 2.7 liter V6 now puts out 190 horses and 250Nm. These engines now gain Dual CVVT on both intake and exhaust, an upgrade of the previous single CVVT on the intake side, as well as a variable length intake manifold.

On the inside, there is of course the new meter panel I mentioned. Other than that, sat-nav is now an option with the Optima.

Look after the jump for plenty more photos.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Kia Optima Facelift unveiled at NYIAS 2008

Reader Kevin Lee has produced these artist impressions of a sleeker, sportier Proton Waja, with a rear light treatment that is an evolution of the current crop circle design, but missing the circles themselves.

It looks much better than what the Waja is now but development of new fenders to match the new Mazda-ish front lamps would probably be too costly for Proton to have done something like this instead of the Waja MC3 that we have now.

View an image of the rear after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kevin Lee’s version of the Proton Waja MC3

Land Rover has unveiled a second version of its LRX Concept which was first shown at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show. This version is called the Land Rover Black and Silver LRX Hybrid Concept and is powered by a 2.0 liter turbodiesel hybrid powertrain.

Land Rover claims the diesel hybrid can achieve a fuel economy of 4.7 liters per 100km on the European combined cycle, and produces CO2 emissions of 120g/km. No performance figures were quoted, so Land Rover must be really focusing on the fuel economy aspect of this concept.

The LRX Hybrid Concept’s Electric Rear Axle Drive (ERAD) allows the LRX Hybrid Concept to run on electric drive alone at lower speeds of up to 32km/h, with the turbodiesel engine able to start automatically and smoothly on demand while on the move. This engine can run on biodiesel fuel.

It is a compact SUV, or cross-coupe as Land Rover calls it. The LRX Hybrid Concept is 149mm shorter and 205mm lower than the Land Rover LR2 (Freelander 2), but will be positioned above it as a more premium compact vehicle.

Related Posts:
Land Rover LRX Concept from Detroit 2008

Click here to read the rest of Land Rover Black and Silver LRX Hybrid Concept

Click to enlarge artist’s impression

Earlier this week I wrote about how a stretched 4-door version of the Nissan GT-R to be sold under the Infiniti badge in markets like the US. Theophilus Chin has quickly whipped up a 4-door version of the Nissan GT-R with an Infiniti badge in front.

Somehow I don’t think a stretched version of the GT-R body works well aesthetically because of the way the front wheel arches bulge out. I think Infiniti would have to drastically restyle the car with only its underpinings remaining.

Related Posts:
Infiniti-badged 4-door GT-R coming soon?

This nice red coupe which reminds me a little of the European market Honda Civic hatch was showcased by Kia Motors at the 2008 New York International Auto Show, and it is called the Kia KOUP Concept. It actually looks very production ready, and only needs a more toned down interior (or maybe not?) with more production ready head lamps and tail lamps and you can already imagine it being driven on roads.

The front wheel drive, front engined coupe is powered by a turbocharged direct injected version of the 2.0 liter Hyundai/Kia Theta II engine (derived from the GEMA engine family), which produces 290 horsepower and a wide torque spread of 392Nm over 2,000rpm to 4,000rpm.

The front suspension is the usual MacPherson strut system while the rear is an independent dual link design. The Kia KOUP also features Continuous Damping Control – not sure what it does but Kia says it helps with the vehicle’s handling.

Check out more photos and a video after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Kia KOUP Concept shown at NYIAS 2008

The new Chevrolet Camaro might come with the option for a 2.0 liter turbocharged inline-4 engine if fuel prices continue to skyrocket the way they are now, according to General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz.

This engine will be the GM Family II LNF engine, found in the Pontiac Solstice GXP. The 2.0 liter engine produces 260 horsepower and 353Nm of torque thanks to a twin scroll turbocharger, 9.2:1 compression, variable valve timing on both intake and exhaust, and gasoline direct injection.

The Camaro Concept featured a 400 horsepower LS2 V8 engine. The original plans for the production version included a V6 and a V8 engine, both normally aspirated. The V8 will feature a cylinder cut-off system which shuts off one cylinder bank during cruising to get better fuel economy.

Source

The Maruti Suzuki Swift DZiRE is set to hit India’s shores on the 29th of this month, and a teaser site is already up online. The car is essentially a Suzuki Switch hatchback with a boot tacked on. The site has a few preview images depicting a Swift DZiRE shrouded by shadows, or just parts of the car, but look after the jump and you will find some low resolution spyshots captured from a video.

According to Maruti Suzuki, the Swift DZiRE will feature class-leading equipment that have never been offered in an entry-level sedan in India, like an integrated head unit with steering wheel audio, automatic climate control, dual SRS airbags and ABS brakes.

Related Posts:
Suzuki Swift Sedan snapped in India

Click here to read the rest of Maruti Suzuki Swift DZiRE due end-March

The Nissan Maxima is a large front-wheel drive sedan sold in a few countries like the US and Canada, and is based on the A34 Altima platform. It is not the same Maxima as another smaller car sold in other regions, which is based on the Cefiro/Teana instead.

This is the new 2009 model which will be unveiled sometime this week. Rather irrelevant to our market really, as it is a huge sedan with a large displacement, aimed at the North American market and other similiar countries which like these type of cars. But it’s interesting to see completely different product lines developed for different regions from a single car manufacturer.

No details have been revealed about the car yet, but we should get some along with a whole set of other images soon.

Two more shots after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Next generation 2009 Nissan Maxima preview