Archive for International News

Volkswagen has BlueMotion, Mercedes-Benz has BlueEFFICIENCY and soon Toyota will make Prius a badge for fuel efficient vehicles that are environmentally friendly. Fiat is wasting no time developing its own “Green” brand called PUR-O2.

The PUR-O2 line of cars will feature fuel-saving technologies such as start-stop systems by Bosch, Eco Drive, green tyres, low-viscocity fluids, aerodynamic bodykits and gearboxes with modified ratios designed for low fuel consumption.

Initially three PUR-O2 models will be offered - the Fiat 500 PUR-O2, the Fiat Bravo PUR-O2 and the Fiat Croma PUR-O2. These cars will feature small displacement petrol engines such as a 1.2 liter unit, and fuel efficient Multijet engines with low CO2 emissions mated to a Dualogic twin clutch automated gearbox with ratios for fuel efficiency.

Maserati’s GranTurismo MC Corse Concept takes the Maserati GranTurismo S and race-preps it with a new intake system, a competition-spec catalyst, a center exist exhaust, an increased track, new front splitter, rear spoiler and side skirts for better aerodynamic efficiency, 18 inch wheels with racing slick tyres and an upgraded suspension for track usage. The intake, cat and exhaust modifications above bring the 4.7 liter V8 engine found in the GranTurismo S up by 10 horses to 450 horsepower.

Look after the jump for photos of the MC Corse.

Click here to read the rest of Maserati GranTurismo MC Corse Concept

Here are some new photos released of both the regular and Ralliart version of the Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback.

The Lancer Sportback is essentially a hatch version of the Lancer to attack the European market and currently has three engine choices - a 109 horsepower 1.5 liter, a 143hp 1.8 liter gasoline engine or a 2.0 liter turbodiesel with 140 horsepower. The 2.0 liter 4B11 that we’ve grown to know seems to be missing from the lineup, but the 1.8 liter unit is also from the 4B/GEMA family.

The Ralliart Lancer Sportback is powered by a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine tuned to produce less power than the Evo X but still registers a respectable 240 horsepower and 343Nm of torque on the crank.

This is mated to either a 5-speed manual or a Twin Clutch SST transmission. Word is that even the regular Lancer Sportback will be able to enjoy the Twin Clutch SST transmission, but we’ll see if this is true at the official unveiling at the 2008 Paris show.

Look after the jump for a full hi-res gallery of the Sportback and the Ralliart.

Click here to read the rest of Mitsubishi Lancer Sportback and Lancer Sportback Ralliart set for Paris 2008 debut

Above is the latest teaser image for the new upcoming front-engined Lamborghini set to rock the 2008 Paris Motor Show, adding to the other two teaser images we’ve already seen (on the left). It seems the name Lamborghini Estoque is being tossed around all over the internet in speculation of what this new Lambo will be called.

“Es Toque” is actually a small sword used in a bull-fight. Toque means touch in Spanish and it means something like a “finishing touch” as it is the sword used to deliver a killing blow.

Will the Lamborghini Estoque deliver the killing blow to its competitors?

Energy-efficient vehicle design specialists Oaktec have been working on Honda’s IMA hybrid system for motorsports usage since 2004 and has recently signed on Lotus Engineering to be a part of a project funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency to develop a stage rally and circuit race version of the Honda Civic Hybrid.

No specs have been released on what upgrades have been made to the Civic Hybrid to make it motorsports-worthy, but Lotus says the Civic Hybrid’s CVT transmission allows the car to be driven in full power constantly, making performance very accessible.

The motorsports Civic Hybrid developed by Oaktec and Lotus will be raced for the first time at the Dunlop Max Sport Cup at the Rockingham circuit on the 28th of September 2008 so perhaps we will learn more about the car after the race. What we know now is that the electric motor has been revised for more power and there is now an upgraded control system to allow for more aggressive brake energy regeneration.

The Chevrolet Volt will be entering our region via Thailand but don’t count on it solving your fuel price woes as it is estimated to be priced at nearly 3 million Thai baht (roughly RM300,000), thanks to current Thai import duty structures. The Volt will be launched in the US in 2010, and the Thai arrival is expected to be as early as 2011.

I suppose the only way for prices to come down to a more affordable level would be local assembly in Thailand. Hybrid or electric car assembly have typically been in places where the manufacturer has a strong foot, but with even Toyota beginning to set up overseas hybrid assembly plants, it could be possible for GM to set up an assembly center for the Volt up north.

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The first initial details on the new Mark 6 Volkswagen Golf GTI have been unveiled by the German manufacturer. Like the previous Mk5 car, it is powered by a 2.0 liter TSI engine. The EA888 gets its power bumped up by 10 PS (only?) to 210 PS, but no other details have been revealed about the engine at the moment. The car’s CO2 output is 178g/km, a drop from the 189g/km of the Mk5 GTI. The 0 to 100km/h sprint is achieved in 7.2 seconds.

The press release also mentions MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link setup at the rear with tuned springs, dampers and anti-roll bars. There is a system much like Audi drive select installed in the car called Adaptive Chassis Control. Choose between comfort, normal and sport to remap steering settings, throttle response as well as adjust the pneumatic dampers. There is also an electric LSD which Vee-dub calls “XDS”.

Volkswagen calls this a GTI “concept” in its press release but I’m pretty sure this is really very close to the production version, which will go on sale in spring 2009.

View a collection of hi-res photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 “Concept”

Mercedes-Benz’s special protection unit division has unveiled the Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard limousine. These vehicles are generally used for not only rich people but very important people - prime ministers, presidents, royalty, maybe even the Pope, etc.

As you can see from the photos, the S600 Pullman Guard is long limousine based on the S600. It is over 6.3 meters in length and has a wheelbase of 4315mm, about 1150mm longer than the longwheelbase S-Class. The roof is also slightly higher for greater headroom in the interior.

Mercedes-Benz says it is not just an S-Class long wheelbase with an additional body section as it would have been impossible to guarantee long-term stability of the vehicle that way. It fits two (including driver) at the front section and four in the partitioned rear section, with the two rows passengers facing each other.

The Guard in its name indicates it has armored protection. It can withstand military grade small-arms projectiles, grenade fragments and other explosive charges. Other protective features include run-flat tyres, a self-sealing fuel tank and a built-in fire-extinguisher.

Rather than add on these protective components and armour onto a finished vehicle, it is fully integrated into the bodyshell during the production process.

Like the S600, it is equipped with a 5.5 liter twin turbocharged V12 engine producing 512 horsepower and 830Nm of torque. Look after the jump for a hi-res photo gallery.

Click here to read the rest of Mercedes-Benz S600 Pullman Guard Limousine

While the Tesla Roadster is being assembled at a Group Lotus PLC factory in Hethel, Tesla is preparing the production center for its next model, a zero-emissions luxury sedan. Tesla is building a $250 million facility that will include a production plant for the new sedan as well as its corporate headquarters and R&D center. It will be located in San Jose, California.

The new Tesla sedan was previously referred to as “Project WhiteStar” and is currently referred to as the “Model S”. It will feature 4 doors, 5 seats, and zero emissions. It will use lithium ion batteries for a maximum range of 386km and its base price will be about US$60,000 or about RM204,000, much cheaper than the Roadster’s US$109,000 price tag.

A more expensive version will come later equipped with a range extending internal combustion engine to charge the batteries when you are unable to get the car to a plug-in charging point - this is much like the concept of how things work with the Chevrolet Volt.

The first Tesla Model S is expected to roll off the production line in late 2010. Both the Roadster and Model S will be priced far out of reach of common folk, but Tesla hopes the profits from the Roadster and the Model S can fund a third car - an affordable electric car currently known as Project BlueStar.

The balik kampung deal fever seems to have infected Proton UK as well, with the prices of the GEN2 receiving slashes up to £2,800 (RM17,520) according to Proton. The 1.3 liter Proton GEN2 now costs £6,995 (RM43,770) while the 1.6 liter version is now priced at £7,495 (RM46,900).

The GSX LE in particular has a price slash of £2,800 and free leather seats worth £1,000. It now costs £8,495 (RM53,160) for the manual and £8,995 (RM56,300) for the automatic and features four airbags (front and side), climate control, foglamps, a tailgate spoiler, all-round power windows, a CD player, and steering wheel audio.

All models come with a 6 year warranty for the powertrain, and 3 year warranty for the rest of the vehicle.