Archive for International News

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Here are more details on the Suzuki Alto, which we sort of had a look at earlier in teaser form and also as a rebadged Nissan Pixo. The new compact A-segment hatchback is targeted to sell about 60,000 units a year in Europe following its Spring 2009 launch. It’s also set to be one of the few top sellers in India under the Maruti name.

The new Suzuki Alto measures 3,500mm long, 1,600mm wide and 1,470mm tall with a wheelbase of 2,360mm. This means it is shorter, wider but lower than the Viva which has dimensions of 3,575mm x 1,475mm x 1,530mm. As for boot size, the Alto can take 129 liters with the rear bench in place and utilised.

The Alto uses a MacPherson strut suspension design at the front and what Suzuki calls a proprietary 3-link torsion beam at the rear, whatever that means. Under the hood is the inline-3 1.0 liter K10B unit that made its debut with the Suzuki Splash. It produces 68 PS at 6,000rpm and 90Nm of torque at 4,800rpm.

With a kerb weight of 910kg for the high-spec automatic version, it has a power to weight ratio of 13.38kg per PS, compared to the Viva 1.0 Premium automatic’s 13.33kg per PS. This means its performance should be very similiar to the Viva 1.0 Premium, though the VIva’s peak torque of 90Nm kicks in earlier at 3,600rpm.

Look after the jump for 3 more shots of the Alto.

Click here to read the rest of New Suzuki Alto: performance and dimensions

Mitsubishi quietly revealed a high-powered version of the Mitsubishi L200 (known as the Triton here) at the 2008 Paris Motor Show with the “2.5Di-D High-Power” designation.

The 2009 L200 2.5 Di-D High-Power features a 2.5 liter engine that produces much more power than in its 136 PS standard form. In fact, the figures are even higher than the recently launched Triton 3.2L!

The new engine gets a 29% power boost up to 178 PS at 4,000rpm and 400Nm of torque at 2,000rpm for manual versions or 350Nm of torque for automatic versions. Fuel consumption is 8.5 liters of diesel per 100km while CO2 output is 223g/km.

The 2009 L200 also gets better sound and vibration insulation, additional side airbags for the Club Cab varaint, side and curtain airbags for the Double Cab, and a new front seat design with improved cushion and side support.

If you pair this new high performance engine with the Walkinshaw Performance Sport Pack Upgrade, your L200/Triton will surely be a riot! The upgrade pack (an estimated £2,595.00 - RM16k - inclusive of installation) replaces the L200’s rear solid axle with a multi-link rear suspension featuring coil springs.

Other enhancements in the Walkinshaw pack include PU performance bushes for increased axle control, rubber performance chassis bushes for reduced road noise transmission, Koni performance shocks for the front and rear as well as a stainless steel twin tailpipe performance exhaust.

The Perodua Kelisa has been the cheapest automatic car in the UK for quite some time now but according to Nissan, the upcoming Nissan Pixo is likely to take away that title, with an expected price tag of under £6,500 (RM40,000). Other cheap automatic small cars include the Kia Picanto which is priced over £7,500.

The Nissan Pixo is a badge engineered Suzuki Alto and comes standard with safety features such as ISOFIX points for child seats, dual front SRS airbags and ABS brakes on every model variant including the baseline “Visia” trim level. The high-spec “Acenta” model will feature side airbags as well as other creature comforts such as power front windows, a split-folding rear bench and foglamps.

You cant really load much with it so don’t expect it to be able to take a family and luggage for balik kampung trips as its capacity is only 129 liters with the rear bench up and in use. The Pixo measures 3565 mm long, 1470 mm tall and 1600 mm wide with a 2360mm wheelbase. It weighs about 855kg.

Suzuki’s 1.0 liter inline-3 engine sits in the engine bay emitting only 103g/km of CO2 on average with a fuel economy of 4.6 liters per 100km on the combined cycle for the version with the manual transmission. It produces 65 PS at 6,000rpm, and 90Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. It is mated to either a 5-speed manual or a 4-speed auto.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Pixo.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan Pixo: UK’s cheapest automatic car?

I’m sure that somewhere along the way inside Mitsubishi’s headquarters a bunch of people have been telling their design theme that the whole shark nose theme (Mitsubishi calls it a “Jet Fighter” grille) that the Lancer has going on won’t work on a small car.

But they didn’t listen, so here you have the Mitsubishi Colt major facelift for the 2009 model year. Mitsubishi claims only 35.1% carry-over parts from the pre-facelift Colt.

The new Colt also introduces the new Clear Tec brand that indicates which Colt variants are especially friendly to the environment, which will also include a Flex Fuel vehicle that will probably be able to run on petrol or a mixture of ethanol and petrol.

The Mitsubishi Colt CZT hot hatch receives a new name - the Mitsubishi Colt Ralliart, and is now available in both 3-door and 5-door form. It continues to have a 1.5 liter turbocharged engine putting out 150 PS. The suspension has had 8 different changes in different points including a thicker front stabilizer bar to reduce body roll.

Non-Ralliart engine options include a 1.1 liter inline-3 petrol engine with 75 PS and 100Nm of torque, a 1.3 liter petrol engine with 95 PS and 125Nm of torque and a 1.5 liter petrol engine with 109 PS and 145Nm of torque. These are mated to either a 5-speed manual or an AllShift automated manual gearbox.

Note that other markets come with a CVT transmission instead of this AMT transmission, including the ones we have in Malaysia. The diesel Colt has been discontinued as the pre-facelift sales mix consisted of only 13% oil burning Colts.

Look after the jump for plenty of hi-res photos of the new Colt.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 Mitsubishi Colt unveiled: details and photos!

You could say that Nissan’s workhorses are equally as iconic to the company as their 4WD sports cars. The C22 Vanette is still very popular for businesses and is still begin produced in Malaysia. Though most contractors still love the Hilux more, the basic Nissan Frontier is popular choice as a workhorse and remember how many small businessmen used the Nissan AD Resort as their workhorse and family vehicle at the same time? Such is the versatility of stationwagons but somehow the Malaysian car-buying public has forgotten about this bodystyle.

The old Nissan 1400 single cab pick-up truck also served its buyers well and up until recently it was still sold in South Africa, which gives it a total lifespan of 37 years. It can now finally retire with the unveiling of the new Proton Arena-style Nissan NP200 utility vehicle based on the Dacia Logan pick-up. The front rides on MacPherson struts while the rear has a H-type torsion beam.

It has a modern engine that’s vastly different from the 1400’s old carburetted 1.4 liter engine. Instead, a 85 horsepower 8 valve 1.6 liter engine is used, with 128Nm produced at 3,000rpm. This is quite weak for a 1.6 liter but Nissan has shortened the first three gears of its 5-speed manual to give the NP200 better acceleration and more pulling power away from a stop when fully loaded up to its maximum payload of 800kg.

It tailgate supports up to 300kg of load, and the load-bed has 16 anchorage points comprising of 4 bed surround fasteners, 2 safety hoop hooks and 6 rings on the bed floor. Load area is 1,200 liters while the load length is 1.8 meters.

The interior features a 300 liter storage compartment behind the two seats. It has a power steering and an optional radio. In South Africa no air conditioning is available but there is a heater and a 4-speed fan. No ABS or airbags either but future high spec version for other markets may feature all these creature comforts and safety equipment.

Look for more photos of the NP200 after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Nissan NP200 ute based on Dacia Logan pick-up

In efforts to make it easier for more people to enter the world of rally motorsports, Renault Sport Technologies have created a new variant of the Clio R3 Maxi called the Renault Clio Renaultsport R3 Access.

In countries with relatively weaker currencies such as ours, motorsports can be even more prohibitive to the grassroots, with only the rich with tons of disposable income being able to participate in races and the rest of us having to contend with trafficlight sprints and rempiting on long straights in the middle of the night.

The R3 Access Clio aims to open up “access” to motorsports to a wider range of people with a pre-tax price of €32,600 (RM158,000) and a calculated average competing cost of €17 (RM82) per km. If one wants to upgrade to R3 Maxi specs later they can easily do so via a “Premium kit” which will upgrade the chassis, brakes and engine up to R3 Maxi specifications.

The Access model features a Clio Renaultspot bodyshell strengthened with a welded roll cage featuring more than 40 meters of tubing. The 2.0 liter high revving engine derived from the Clio Renaultsport 197 produces 200 horsepower at 7,500rpm and 214Nm of torque at 5,250rpm. It goes on to a redline point of 7,800rpm at which you will shift to the next cog of the Sadev 6 speed dog-teeth gearbox with a ZF LSD.

The wheels are identical to the Maxi spec version featuring 17 inch Speedline alloys wrapped with Michelin rubber. The car rides on Bilstein dampers at all four wheels and has the 4-pot Brembo brakes standard on the Clio Renaultsport 197.

Look after the jump for a few more hi-res photos.

Click here to read the rest of Renault Clio Renaultsport R3 Access

Volvo has unveiled a “greener” version of the Volvo XC60 SUV that emits less than 170g/km of CO2 emissions. The new variant of the XC60 reduces fuel consumption and emissions by having a front wheel drive drivetrain instead of a heavier all-wheel drive system and an improved Euro5 compliant 2.4 liter diesel engine.

The new diesel engine has an additional 12 horsepower and 80Nm of torque over the previous version for a total of 175 horses and 420Nm of torque. This is thanks to reduced internal friction and pumping losses in the engine, increased pressure in the intake and exhaust system, increased injection pressure and a refined fuel-injection system thanks to new Piezo injectors.

Lamborghini has just released an official press release and hi-res photos of the Lamborghini Estoque. Interestingly, Lamborghini makes no attempts to call the Estoque a 4-door coupe, instead it refers to it as a 4-door 4-seater super sedan.

It’s quite a large monster, measuring 5150mm long, 1990mm wide and 1350mm tall, with a wheelbase of 3010mm. The wheels are 22 inch five double-spoke alloys at the front and 23 inchers at the rear. The boot is said to be able to store a few golf bags.

No photos of the interior have been revealed but Lamborghini says it fits 4 comfortably despite the low stance thanks to a relaxed seating position. The interior is done up in the highest quality Nappa leather, and the driver gets to enjoy a large LCD display showing vehicle and route information. This LCD can show information in either analog with virtual circular meter dials or digital form.

Mounted at the front behind the front axle for optimum weight distribution is a range of engines, one of which will be the V10 from the Lamborghini LP560-4. The 5.2 liter direct injection normally aspirated V10 produces 552 horsepower and 540Nm of torque.

Lamborghini says that this will not be the sole engine option. A turbocharged V8 derived from the V10 is one alternative, while a “greener” option could either be a V8 with a mild hybrid motor or a high-performance TDI turbodiesel that can be easily obtained from the Audi and Volkswagen engine stables.

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

Click here to read the rest of Lamborghini Estoque Official Details and Photos

Honda’s Indian distributor Honda Siel Cars India Ltd CEO Masahiro Takedagawa says that Honda is seriously studying the possibility of developing a small diesel engine for compact cars such as the Honda City, especially for countries such as India where diesel cars are extremely popular thanks to the 30% price difference between petrol and diesel fuel.

Honda currently has a 2.2 liter second generation diesel engine called the i-DTEC. The first generation was called the i-CTDi and some of you may remember the cute ad campaign that debuted with the engine.

India will also become a key manufacturing base for Honda’s global supply chain as certain key engine components will begin to be supplied from there. The Indian engine component plant will mainly supply the ASEAN market, so in the future our 1.5 liter i-VTEC engines in the upcoming new Honda City may come from India.

The FTA which allows special duty benefits for 8 to 10 engine components traded between the two countries allows India to enter the ASEAN engine component market. This list may be widened in the future.

And who knows, we could see a 1.4 liter Honda City i-DTEC some time in the future too! Though it may have little hope of making it onto our shores as our diesel prices are now very close to petrol prices despite having very low quality, after enjoying many years of being alot cheaper than petrol.

Click for hi-res image

Lexus has unveiled the Lexus IS Convertible, its competitor to the E93 3-Series Convertible at the 2008 Paris Motor Show.

The Lexus IS250C features a 3-segment folding hard top using a lightweight aluminium alloy. It can change from coupe to convertible at the touch of a button in 20 seconds. Lexus has designed the boot to be able to contain a golf bag with the top down.

Under the hood is the 2.5 liter 4GR-FSE with direct injection putting out 208hp at 6,400rpm and 252Nm of torque at 4,800rpm, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

The IS250C will go on sale in Japan in spring 2009. Look after the jump for a gallery and a video showing the IS250C’s hard top in action.

Click here to read the rest of Lexus IS250C Convertible unveiled at Paris 2008