This video is BMW’s ‘last kopek’ at leveraging its F1 involvement, as the BMW Sauber F1 Team is no more. The team has now been purchased by Qadbak Investments, a buyout that has actually caused some of the other F1 teams to have reservations because of apparent dodginess of the new owners. Anyway enjoy the video after the jump, as you probably won’t much BMW F1 videos after this one.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: BMW M Power says goodbye to F1

The Boxster Spyder is Porsche’s lightest car, at just 1,275kg. That’s probably just around 75kg heavier than my BMW E30 3-Series.

It is a tribute to the Spyder nameplate that’s been used on various cars in Porsche history such as the 550 Spyder and the RS Spyder. It will be the third variant in the Boxster range, joining the existing Boxster and Boxster S models.

The Porsche Boxster Spyder has two bulges on the single piece rear lid, something that the regular Boxster does not have. The bulges make it look rather Carrera GT-ish. It’s got the same engine as the Boxster S, a 3.4 liter boxer yet is lighter than the Boxster.

Power is up 10 horses from the Boxster S engine at 320hp, and when mated to the PDK double clutch transmission and equipped with the Sports Chrono Package, 0 to 100km/h takes 4.8 seconds.

What I’m curious about though is what makes the Boxster Spyder lighter than the Boxster and the Boxster S. They probably removed the folding mechanism for the soft top roof, which means it’s manual now. Porsche’s press kit does not mention what else is gone.

Look after the jump for a hi-res photo gallery and a video.

Click here to read the rest of Porsche adds Spyder variant to Boxster range

Proton MD Datuk Syed Zainal Abidin has revealed in an interview with Business Times that the Italian design company contracted to develop Proton’s next C-segment sedan is in fact Italdesign-Giugiaro SpA.

Giugiaro (founded 1968) has designed a lot of vehicles in the past, including the Mk1 Volkswagen Scirocco (not the modern one that’s just launched in Malaysia). It even had a big part in the development of the R56 MINI. Here are some of Giugiaro’s recent work:

Ssangyong C200 Concept and Suzuki SX4

The Business Times report revealed that a clay model of the car already exists at the design house’s headquarters in Turin, Italy. It definitely has to be, considering the new Persona replacement car was previously mentioned to be out by 2012, after the Waja replacement in 2010 and the Perdana replacement in 2011.

The car will be engineered to meet tougher European and North American standards. Proton’s North American entry is still a hazy area at the moment but there was talk earlier this year that Detroit Electric would be helping with getting the cars registered with whatever authorities there are there. Not sure what happened with that whole project.

The Exora introduced new technologies in Protons that were not used before – more sensors for the airbag system and a Body Control Module. Datuk Syed Zainal says the new C-segment Persona replacement will implement these new features and add even more features to bring the new Proton up to international standards. Proton is currently in talks with various vendors on what can be implemented.

It is also in exploratory talks with some parties including a Chinese company (Europestar, SAIC-Roewe?) on collaborating on an SUV, and in talks via Lotus with a South Korean battery company and an electric motor supplier regarding EVs (what happened to Detroit Electric?).

If you’ve been following the updates on the MEM Proton Team that currently runs a Proton Satria Neo Super 2000, you’d probably know by now that Alister McRae is currently piloting the car for both the IRC and the APRC. McRae is off to China for the APRC this morning to prepare for the race coming this weekend (14 to 15 November). There’s some new promo footage of the Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 that I managed to source from the guys at Proton R3 and in the video Alister McRae puts in a few words on what he thinks of the car. Watch the video after the jump, enjoy!

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Satria Neo S2000 and Alister McRae

Vauxhall/Opel Insignia, voted 2009 Car of the Year (Europe)

GM must have caught the flip flop disease from somewhere as it has at the last minute turned back on its decision to sell Opel to a Russian-backed group led by auto parts supplier Magna International, which took months and months of negotiation so far.

The deal was looking to be pretty much set in stone and Magna’s existing clientele had expressed unhappiness over a supplier suddenly becoming a competitor as well. Magna’s client list includes Volkswagen, GM, Ford, Chrysler, Daimler and BMW amongst others. Volkswagen had threatened to pull the plug on Magna’s VW group supply contracts if the Opel deal went through but it looks like now there would not be such a conflict.

Now because of “an improving business environment and the importance of its GM Europe divisions to its global strategy”, it has decided to turn back on its offer to sell. It would instead restructure its Opel division on its own, at a cost of 3 billion Euros. Where this money will come from is a big question now, as it most likely will not be able to rely on promises of financing that European governments had promised earlier.

European governments had granted financing from state banks in view that Opel would be in Magna’s ’safer’ hands, and are now pretty pissed off that GM had pulled the old classic bait and switch tactic on them. Obviously the financing were granted assuming Opel would be in Magna’s hands soon. Germany’s government said it wanted GM to repay 1.5 billion Euro in bridge financing by the end of this month. Germany had offered a total of 4.5 billion euros in financial aid for the Magna deal. Opel workers are also pissed off as in their view now their jobs are less secure and held a protest, carrying black coffins with GM and Opel logos on them.

GM Europe president and ex-BMW man Carl-Peter Forster immediately left the company Friday last week after the announcement of the sale flip-flop. “A sudden shift like this is scarcely comprehensible. I do not find the process in any way okay. I would have wished for a completely different result,” said Forster. He clearly did not want to be any part of an Opel that remained under GM rule, and apparently he has already been offered a job with Tata-owned Jaguar Land Rover.

Magna had nothing else to say but this – “We will continue to support Opel and GM in the challenges ahead and wish to thank everyone who supported the Opel restructuring process for their tireless efforts and dedication over the past several months.”

I don’t care much for the techno music in the second video, but the burning rubber and the dramatic effect in the first video is probably one of the better ways to sell a person a car such as the BMW M3 GTS. From the press release its implied that you can only have it with a 7-speed M DCT so that may turn off some people who absolutely must have a stick shift, but the thought of an extra 0.4 liters in that monster of an engine makes me drool. Watch the videos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Some new BMW M3 GTS promo footage shot where it belongs… on the race track!

400Nm of torque and a 6-speed manual transmission. I could be referring to the new BMW M3. Or the new manual Nissan Navara which has just been introduced in Malaysia, joining its 5-speed auto ‘Mother Trucker’ sibling which was launched first. The new cars are CBU imports from Nissan in Thailand.

Two versions of the 6-speeder is on sale. One is the basic Navara 2.5L 6M/T and another is the Navara 2.5L 6M/T SE. Nissan’s press release refers to the SE as the Safety Edition (what, is the non-SE unsafe? heh just kidding). This new “Safety Edition” also gets the necessary airbag software updates that resolves the bad crash test results in early 2008. The base 6M/T does not have the dual SRS front airbags, ABS brakes and EBD and the 6M/T SE model has.

The engine is the same powerful YD25DDTi 2.5 liter engine producing 174 PS and 403Nm of torque to be exact. So that’s actually 3Nm of rated peak torque more than the M3. Of course you can’t expect the same kind of shove as the powerband is narrow in a diesel and super wide in a high revving petrol BMW V8. The Navara M/T also gets the Shift-on-the-Fly 4WD system as the 5A/T, which allows 2WD/4WD shifting using a dial at speeds of less than 100km/h.

The list of equipment is a downgrade from the 5A/T LE. The xenon headlamps are replaced by halogens, the seats are fabric, the rearview mirrors lose their auto-dimming function, the CD changer is replaced with a single-CD, and the 6 speaker system has been downgraded to 4 speakers (they probably removed the 2 tweeters).

Some plastic bits in the interior which used to have a silver finish have been replaced by the same beige interior colour. On the outside, the door mirrors have their chrome finish replaced by body colour.

Nissan Navara 2.5L 6M/T – RM89,800.00
Nissan Navara 2.5L 6M/T SE – RM94,800.00
Nissan Navara 2.5L 5A/T LE – RM105,800.00

Honda has brought in the new facelifted version of the Honda Stream RSZ. Of course being facelifted there are changes with the vehicle’s looks.

The front end has a new honeycomb design with a chrome bar going through the middle of it, similiar to the Accord Modulo grille. The bumper design is also new, and there are side skirts for the side profile. Thankfully 17 inch alloys have been provided as when the Stream first came out, the alloys were rather small compared to the rest of the car’s sporty demeanor which looked a little odd.

On the rear, the bumper now has a diffuser insert design, and there is a tailgate spoiler. The tailgate has a black garnish around the individual rear lamps. The wing mirrors now have turn signals.

Personally I feel the best change in the facelift is the addition of VSA stability control to the Stream, which is a definite plus point in raising the safety level of the Stream. A typical Stream driver who only carries full loads of 7 people during the weekends may not be used to the different vehicle dynamics and VSA may be able to catch him out of a tight spot, touch wood. Other than VSA, suspension settings have also been improved for better comfort.

On the interior you get a leather gear knob, and a leather steering wheel, both of which come with leather stitching. The rest of the interior is done up with black and red upholstery. The instrumentation panel, speedometer, air conditioning controls, and cupholders have red illumination instead of the ’standard’ Stream’s blue illumination. The styling seems extremely skewed to a certain type of young 30s buyer who has to get an MPV but still wants to stay true to his ’sporty’ heart. You know, the kind that probably wishes the turbocharged grey import Toyota Caldina GT4 comes with 7 seats instead of 5.

But performance will not match its sporty looks. Under the hood is the R18 engine similiar to the one used in the Civic 1.8 making 140 PS and 174 Nm of torque, mated to Honda’s dual-overdrive 5-speed automatic transmission.

Look after the jump for hi-res photos of the new Stream facelift.

Click here to read the rest of Honda Stream RSZ Facelift now in Malaysia

The last unit of the last batch of Honda Civic Type R was sold by Honda Global Amity Sdn Bhd to a 8GCC club member, so if you were in the market for one in the past month at least, you’d probably receive a “no stock” answer from Honda dealerships nationwide. But probably not any more, as reader Kent spotted this trailerload of facelifted Honda Civic Type R being transported. But don’t expect the Type R to maintain its current pricetag due to Ringgit-Yen differences from the last time it was brought in. It could go up to just over RM200k.

MITI has gone back on its decision to implement a Vehicle End-of-Life Policy for now. An intention to implement such a policy had been announced when the ministry released its NAP Review 2009 earlier this month. The Ministry of Transport was to come up with a road map of the policy’s implementation, but the first step was to introduce a mandatory vehicle inspection for your road tax to be renewed annually.

So we don’t have to worry about them taking away our old vehicles after a certain amount of years, or being hassled with an inspection every year. Personally I feel that we are not ready financially for a scrap policy, but vehicle inspection could have been a good idea, if implemented with spaced out intervals such as every 3 years instead of every year. It’s good news but not all good news, as the ban on used part imports from June 2011 still stays.

Click here to read the rest of Vehicle scrap policy scrapped… for now