VIDEO: Ian Callum on the new Jaguar XJ

June 2, 2009 at 4:23 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Jaguar, Videos

Jaguar XJ

We’re only slightly more than 5 weeks away from the official global unveiling of Jaguar’s new flagship car, the Jaguar XJ. So far we’ve only been able to see a teaser photo snapped from the top of the car, but in this video where Ian Callum talks about his latest baby like a proud new father we get to just barely see the XJ in motion behind a shroud of mist (screencap above), revealing a sleek profile but not much detail at all. Check the interview video out after the jump.

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Is this what the new Jaguar XJ will look like?
All new Jaguar XJ set for 9th July debut
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New Peugeot 5008 7-seater MPV – first details!

June 2, 2009 at 3:29 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Peugeot

Peugeot 5008

Peugeot has just unveiled a new MPV called the Peugeot 5008, which is based on the 3008‘s technical underpinings but with a larger body to seat up to 7 passengers in a three row 2-3-2 configuration. It is a competitor to other people movers such as the Volkswagen Touran, the Citroen C4 Grand Picasso and the Opel Zafira from the west and the Toyota Wish and Honda Stream from the east.

The new Peugeot 5008 measures 4530mm long and 1640mm tall, with a wheelbase of 2728mm and a drag coefficient of 0.29. Like the 3008, the chassis and suspension is derived from the 308′s, which uses a pseudo-MacPherson-type assembly with a drop link anti-roll bar at the front. The rear is a torsion beam but adapter to adjust to the higher weights that the 5008 will carry.

Peugeot 5008

Once launched, there will be a choice of 6 engines to pick from including 2 petrols and 4 oil burners. The two petrol engines are 1.6 litres in displacement, one normally aspirated with 120bhp and the other turbocharged making 156bhp. Both are Euro 5 compliant.

Peugeot 5008

The diesel engines include two 110hp 1.6 litre HDi FAP engines (one with lower emissions at 135g/km versus 143g/km) and the other two 2.0 litre HDi FAP units producing 150hp and 163hp, with the lower powered version putting out less emissions at 151g/km versus 178g/km. The 150hp version also uses less fuel at 5.8L/100km versus 6.8l/100km. The most economical engine is the 110hp 135g/km 1.6 litre turbodiesel which consumes only 5.2 litres per 100km/

Peugeot 5008

In the interior we see the new classy dashboard design that first debuted on the 3008. The shifter is mounted slightly higher than the rest of the center console running through the area between the front seats. One thing I like about the new French people movers are that the interior has been designed to give a very roomy and airy feeling to the passengers. Just check out that huge 1.69m2 panoramic glass roof!

Peugeot 5008

For the driver’s convenience, there is a heads-up display system for the 5008 wihch displays essential driving information such as the speed, cruise control functions and distance alert. Distance alert is basically a radar located behind the lower front bumper panel which displays the time in seconds between your car and the vehicle in front. It can help inform the driver if he is driving too close to the car in front of him. All of these extra driver assist systems should help this Pug score full marks in the safety assist category on the next round of EuroNCAP tests, like the 3008 managed to do. ESP is also fitted as standard and there are seat belt sensors on all seats.

Peugeot 5008

Elbow width is 1476mm at the front and 1520mm in the second row, which has three individual seats of equal width. Third row elbow width is 1341mm. Peugeot insists the third row are real proper seats that can fit adults and from photos it looks like it’s true, but with the third row up there isn’t much luggage space at the rear, quite similiar to the Exora. The 5008′s middle row can slide back and front over 130mm and can tilt to two positions. The second and third row can fold odwn to create a flat loading area.

Peugeot 5008

There is a rear multimedia system for the 5008′s rear passengers entertainment, which consists of two 7 inch colour screens mounted on the first row headrests. A connection console can accept connections from various equipment including video consoles, game consoles, DVD player etc, and up to two Bluetooth wireless headsets can be hooked up. The two colour screens can display separate video sources.

Nasim Sdn Bhd has proven that it has been able to bring in the latest Peugeot models with very attractive pricing in the past. Will they bring in the 5008 to give Malaysian carbuyers with European tastebuds an alternative product in a segment and price point dominated by the Mazda 5, Toyota Wish and Honda Stream?

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery of the new 7-seater Pug!
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Volvo to introduce diesel-electric hybrid in 2012

June 2, 2009 at 2:28 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Volvo

Volvo V70 Hybrid

Volvo and Swedish energy company Vattenfall will be cooperating on producing plug-in diesel-electric hybrid Volvos that combine electric motors with high capacity lithium ion batteries and turbodiesel powertrains by 2012. Volvo will manufacture the cars and Vattenfall will develop the charging systems as well as supply the cars with electricity for plug-in charging.

Three Volvo V70 demonstrator cars will be presented in summer this year by the joint venture. These demo cars will be used to gather information about the wishes and demands that drivers may have on the new technology, to determine their driving habits and to establish how they want to charge their cars.

Volvo V70 Hybrid

Vattenfall will be using these demo cars to test various concepts for high-speed home charging and also for charging stations in public places, where owners pay to charge up the car with electricity instead of refueling it with fossil fuels.

Determining charging behaviour patterns are very important in order to plan and deploy a charging infrastructure that works. Conducting focus groups and verbally finding out what potential drivers may think they want is one thing but real life requirements may change once someone is actually driving a plug-in car, thus these demo cars are actually quite important.

Look after the jump for some shots of the V70 demo car.
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Thai-assembled Toyota Camry Hybrid unveiled!

June 1, 2009 at 6:06 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, International News, Toyota

Toyota Camry Hybrid

Toyota have previewed the Toyota Camry Hybrid that will be assembled in Thailand. The Thai-assembled Camry Hybrid will be the first Camry Hybrid to be based on the Aurion-based Camry body. Currently the Camry Hybrid sold in countries such as the US are based on the JDM Camry, which to me looks more funky and sporty, somewhat like an overgrown Altis.

As the Camry sold in Thailand and the rest of the ASEAN region are based on the Australian Toyota Aurion, it only makes sense that Toyota bases the Thai Camry Hybrid on the Aurion body. The Thai assembled Toyota Camry Hybrid features its own front grille and rear tail lamp design as well as a front bumper that looks similiar to the one found on the facelifted Toyota Camry, but with some differences in the fog lamp area.

The Australian-assembled Camry Hybrid will likely continue to be based on the JDM Camry body, as indicated by the Toyota HC-CV Hybrid Camry Concept displayed at the 2009 Melbourne Auto Show.

Toyota Camry Hybrid

Toyota Motor Thailand president Mitsuhiro Sonoda says the Camry Hybrid will be priced quite closely to exiting petrol-powered Camry models in Thailand, predicting a premium of not more than 100,000 Thai baht. This is because the Camry Hybrid is subject to an excise duty of only 10% instead of 35% in Thailand.

Since a top of the line Camry 2.4 can go for over 1.7 million Thai baht (it starts from about 1.5 million for the cheaper 2.4G), the Camry Hybrid would likely be priced at about 1.8 million Thai baht. I don’t think he was referring to the 3.5Q which retails for nearly 3 million Thai Baht.

Toyota Camry Hybrid

The warranty for the Toyota Camry Hybrid will also be extended to 5 years or 150,000km, which is longer than the regular 3 year warranty that you get with Toyota cars there. This is to help ease public acceptance of the relatively new technology which many fear will be expensive to maintain once the warranty period ends. Toyota has also partnered with insurance firms there to offer the same premiums as the regular models despite the Camry hybrid having more expensive parts.

I am not sure whether the Thai Camry Hybrid will share the same hybrid powertrain as the US market Camry with different styling, but under the US car’s hood is the 2.4 litre Atkinson cycle 2AZ-FXE engine producing 147 horsepower at 6,000rpm and 187Nm of torque at 4,400rpm, paired to a 30kW (40 horses) electric motor with 270Nm of torque. These two are combined and send power to the front wheels via an E-CVT transmission. The Thai Camry Hybrid should use something similiar.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Camry Hybrid.
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Honda Jazz S Modulo Limited Edition – 100 units

June 1, 2009 at 12:13 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Local News

Honda Malaysia Sdn Bhd is currently offering a 100 unit limited edition Honda Jazz Grade S Modulo Limited Edition, which is essentially the Jazz Grade S with a Modulo kit which consists of a front and rear lip, side skirts, and a tailgate spoiler. It is only available in Cerulean Blue Metallic. According to Honda, the Modulo kit cost approximately RM5,000 but the 100 units are priced at the same price as the normal Jazz S: RM104,800.

With a difference of only RM5k between the Jazz S and V, it’s likely that alot of Jazz customers just opted to pay the extra RM5k for the Jazz V, so this promotion could be intended to help prop up the sales of the S variant to balance out the stock levels.

In case you don’t know, the Jazz S is the lower spec version of the two offered, with the top of the line being the Jazz Grade V. The V has larger wheels (16 inch versus 15 inch on the S) and a black interior instead of a black and blue interior on the V.

For the full list of differences, check out my Honda Jazz launch story, or look after the jump for a closer look at the bodykit parts.
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Toyota Vios GT bodykit for the Thai market

June 1, 2009 at 11:10 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, International News, Toyota

Toyota Vios GT

UMW Toyota has been toying with a TRD Sportivo bodykit for the Vios but perhaps they should also take a look at what their friends up north are doing. This Toyota Vios GT is on sale in Thailand and it features a bodykit which I at first glance thought was the TRD Sportivo bodykit, but after looking closely I noticed there are variances in the design.

Other than a sporty front bumper without foglamps, the Vios GT also features an improved (over the TRD Sportivo design that is) rear bumper with a little integrated faux diffuser design. They also gave it a chrome tipped exhaust pipe but made it point downwards!

Toyota Vios GT

But still in the end this is just another dressed up Vios. Nothing special under the hood – just a stock 1.5L VVT-i with stock output levels. With the previous generation Vios at least Toyota Thailand was adventurous enough to offer a Vios Turbo that put out 143 horses and 196Nm of torque thanks to a factory-installed bolt-on turbo (yes I know that kinda contradicts), equivalent to a 2.0 litre engine.

No factory turbocharged Vios on sale anywhere in the world as of now but in Japan, its Vitz (Yaris) hatchback brother gets a TRD Turbo M variant that puts out 150 horsepower and 195Nm of torque.

Look after the jump for a full photo gallery of the Vios GT.
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Proton Saga 1.6 B-Line M/T now available for booking at Proton Edar’s website!

June 1, 2009 at 8:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, New Proton Saga, Proton

Proton Saga 1.6

The Proton Saga 1.6 litre B-Line with manual transmission is now available for public booking on Proton Edar’s website. The B-Line M/T listed at RM39,000 is the sole 1.6 litre model on sale, and is only available in Chilli Red. That’s about roughly a RM3k premium over the 1.3 litre B-Line M/T.

No specs for the B-Line 1.6L M/T have been made known on the site but based on various ads placed on online classifieds: it has power windows for the front, air conditioning, an alarm system and a CD player so it should satisfy the bare requirements of creature comforts, but with no safety features as there is no airbag.

The car comes with steel wheels so if you want to spend some money you can quickly junk them and put something else on to match the more powerful engine.

Proton Saga 1.6

Interestingly the cheapest and most affordable N-Line which was priced at RM31.5k seems to be completely gone from Proton Edar’s website now.

It is not unusual for car manufacturers to launch a car model with the very baseline model priced without profit or even at a loss to draw customers to showrooms, and then later get the sales staff to try to sell them the more profitable trim levels. This baseline model will then be phased out later.

Also, is it just me or have the prices changed since launch?

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F10 BMW 5-Series Saloon Interior Videotaped!

June 1, 2009 at 3:09 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Spyshots, Videos

BMW F10

Now this is the 5-Series that alot of you will be alot more excited about – the sedan version of the next generation BMW 5-Series codenamed the F10.

Sure the 5-Series GT may be a new-ish segment entry for both BMW and the automotive world but Malaysia is a sedan market.

BMW F10

The next generation 5-Series will include 3 bodytypes – sedan, estate and the already unveiled GT. This prototype videotaped by German news agency TVnews Hessen after it was stopped by German police on the autobahn because it looked suspicious – I cannot blame them, just look at the heavy disguise!

BMW F10

Not much detail on the headlamps either but I think we can most probably expect the front end of the 5-Series sedan to look quite similiar to the 5-Series GT.

BMW F10

The cameraman also managed to take a peek into the interior of the vehicle. Like the outside the interior is also heavily disguised so not much can be seen except that the new steering wheel design that debuted on the F01 as well as the black panel instrumentation will be in the F10 – notice the chrome ring around the meter panel does not extend into a full circle at the bottom – that’s where BMW’s new multi-info display is.

Our resident photo-manipulator Theophilus Chin has already presented to us his take on how the F10 Sedan might look like, with cues taken from both the F01 and the 5-Series Gran Turismo.

Look after the jump for the original video.
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Honda Accord CrossTour aimed at the Venza

June 1, 2009 at 2:36 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Spyshots

Honda Accord CrossTour

Honda will not leave BMW and Toyota to play alone in the new segment that they seem to have carved out for themselves with the Toyota Venza and the BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo. VWVortex forum member GoVdubSPEEDGo/M. Balisky spotted two of these lightly taped up Accord CrossTour crossovers up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in southeastern US.

The side profile can be quite positively identified as similiar to the US/Asian market Honda Accord, with a sloping hatchback rear end and previous gen Accord Coupe-like rear lights. Acura will have its own similiar segment vehicle called the Acura ZDX.

Look after the jump for more photos.
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New BMW M3 Edition Models available in White, Black, Yellow and Blue

June 1, 2009 at 12:37 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, International News

BMW M3 Edition Models
Click for enlarged image

We’ve long ago found out and mourned BMW’s decision not to produce a hardcore lightweight track-ready CSL version of the new V8-powered BMW M3. Yes, no M3 CSL but we do get this – a foursome of BMW M3 Edition Models, which are basically a choice of 4 M3s that are colour coordinated inside and outside with minor mods such as a lowered suspension.

To go into specifics, the four M3s come in either Alpine White Non-Metallic, Black Non-Metallic, Dakar Yellow Non-Metallic or Monte Carlo Blue Metallic. On the inside, the Black and White models get a white-coloured surface for the Alpine White and Black models on the center armrest, center console and door panel armrests. The Dakar Yellow and Monte Carlo Blue models get yellow or blue contrasting seams on the armrests and door close handles.

BMW M3 Edition Models
Click for enlarged image

All the 4 models get Checkered Flag Design entry trim bars, Carbon Structure Leather interior trim with white contrasting seams. The cars also get Black Novillo Leather seats with contrasting seams (white on the Alpine White and Black cars, body colour for the Dakar Yellow and Monte Carlo Blue cars) and vertical trim stripes on the upper section of the backrest and at the front of the legrest.

BMW M3 Edition Models
Click for enlarged image

On the outside, the cars get a dark eloxy-plated chrome finish for the kidney grilles, side gills and dual exhaust tailpipes. The openings on the engine compartment lid are finished in black. The 19 inch forged M light alloy wheels are either available in black or regular, and for the Alpine White, Black and Monte Carlo Blue models, the same rims are also available in contrast white with polished spokes. The suspension has been lowered by 10mm on all four corners.

I’m not sure on what occasion did BMW release these models, as they are simply called Editions, not Special Edition, nor Anniversary Edition, or even We Just Feel Like It Edition.

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