Archive for International News

Honda will add yet another new variant to the Honda S2000 model range, called the Honda S2000 Club Racer. A prototype version is currently being displayed at the 2007 New York International Auto Show called the Honda S2000 Club Racer Prototype.

It features a new aerodynamically proven full bodykit which reduces lift, plus a quicker steering ratio, wider rear tyres with grippy Bridgestone Potenza RE070 tyres, firmer springs and dampers, and larger stabilizer bars. Additional structural bracing has been added to the storage area previously used to store the soft top. Yes, the Club Racer has no retractable soft top, but instead comes with an aluminium hard top, saving about 40kg when removed. Yes, it is a removable hard top, not one of those new fancy auto folding ones like the one on the new MX5 variant.

The F22 2.2 liter DOHC VTEC engine makes 237 horsepower at 7,800rpm and 220Nm of torque at 6,800rpm, mated to a close-ratio 6-speed gearbox with ratios designed to keep the engine revs within the VTEC powerband. There is also a limited slip differential to help the car perform better around the bends. Strangely for a somewhat track engineered car, it comes with an electric power steering which is seen as some as having less feedback than a conventional hydraulic one.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Honda S2000 Club Racer Prototype

Caterham’s new Superlight R400 is a part of a range that are the successors to the original Lotus Seven by Colin Chapman launched 50 years ago. The 400 in the Superlight R400 refers to it’s massive 400 horsepower per tonne power to weight ratio, thanks to it’s Caterham-tuned Ford Duratec 2.0 liter engine putting out 210 horsepower at 7,800rpm and it’s stripped down 525kg weight. Thanks to this power to weight ratio, those 210 horses take the Superlight R400 from 0 to 100km/h in less than 3.8 seconds! This engine is much more powerful than the K-Series engine used in the previous Superlight. You shift through 6 gear ratios (Caterham’s own design), and power is sent trashing through the rear wheels with a De Dion setup LSD differential.

The new chassis tubes are precision laser-cut and are jig-welded by a Panasonic robot and is an all-new design, tweaked to offer 12% more rigidity, thus increasing grip, feedback, resulting in an increased ability to get faster lap times around the track. The rear suspension has also been improved with 30 changes to the dampers, as well as optimization to the anti-roll bars and road springs.

Check out this video of a Caterham-clone car going around an autocross track. It is not a real Caterham but one of those home-built clones. Nevertheless, a spectacular performance.

More photos after the jump.

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After it’s more premium sibling, it’s now the Touareg’s turn to be facelifted, and Volkswagen is calling it the Volkswagen Touareg 2 in the US market. The 2008 Volkswagen Touareg 2 features an updated VR6 engine, from 3.2 liters up to 3.6 liters much like the V6 Cayenne’s upgrade. It now makes 280hp, up from 240hp. The V8 FSI makes 350 horsepower, up from 310 horsepower in the previous non-FSI V8, while the top of the range 5.0 liter V10 TDI Twin Turbo now makes 310 horsepower, but what takes the cake is the 750Nm of torque available. No sign of the massive 1000Nm 6.0 liter V12 TDI though, but it is available in another Touareg-platform SUV, the Audi Q7.

There are some nifty new features added to the SUV besides the facelift and “enginelift”. Something new is ABSplus, which innovatively pushes a portion of road material under the temporarily locke dwheels to form a chock. This helps the car stop and can shorten braking distance on loose roadbeds by up to 20 percent. Other brake-related features are rain brake support, which periodically wipes the brakes with the brakepads if the rain wipers are on. There is also a new improved rollover sensor that works with the airbags to activate them faster if a rollover is imminent.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Volkswagen Touareg 2 (facelift) launched in US

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche was “grilled” at a shareholder’s meeting yesterday, for not moving fast enough to dispose of Chrysler, seen as a patient leeching off the profitable German half of the DaimlerChrysler supposed “merger of equals.”

Lawyer Hans-Richard Schmitz represented the shareholders and issued this statement on behalf of the shareholders: “Chrysler is the worst problem in the group. It has been a patient for so many years and a burden for some time. I dont understand why you are so hesitant. The only thing to do is execute a separation. You are underestimating how poisonous this pill can be for your company.”

Besides Schmitz, more shareholders came forward personally to criticize Zetsche during the meeting. “For nine years you have been sitting on this scrap heap called Chrysler. What have you been doing for nine years? Nobody has learned anything. To call this a sale is a euphemism. If you pay for the garbage man to empty the dust bin, then does that mean you have sold something to the garbage man?” said Ekkehard Wenger.

Previously Ekkehard Wenger and another shareholder Leonhard Knoll proposed a name change of the company back to DaimlerBenz because the name Chrysler brought a negative image to the company. DCX’s board responded by saying that was not a valid ground to change the name of the corporation.

Other shareholders have blamed the failed partnership on cultural differences. “Germans care about quality and technical expertise. Americans only want money. They dont care about the craftsmanship of the product. This is an arrangement that must end,” said Georg Nuemeier, also a DCX shareholder. “Ten years should have resulted in a better return. The fact is just that the marriage never worked,” said shareholder Klaus Fiereck.

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This is one of the most radical facelifts I’ve seen on a car model yet, changing from something radical into something not so radical. This is the face of the facelifted Subaru B9 Tribeca, transforming it into something that looks not bad at all, a huge improvement from it’s previous fascia that looked like something out of a horror movie.

The new Subaru B9 Tribeca gets Subaru’s new nose identity, also seen on the recent new Version 10 Subaru Impreza. The new nose is executed alot better on the new Tribeca than it is on the Impreza. Even the round Porsche-like headlamps have been dropped for more conventional ones. It looks like there are no re-used body panels from the old to the new, except for perhaps the roof.

Not only has the exterior been updated, but the Subaru B9 Tribeca gets a new engine under the hood too. The new 6-cylinder normally aspirated boxer engine now has 3.6 liters of displacement, and puts out 256 horsepower, up slightly from the previous engine’s 250 horsepower. Torque is now rated at a peak of 335Nm at 4,400rpm, up from 297Nm at 4,200rpm. Why the small gain? This is because the new engine is tuned to run on regular-grade fuel, while the previous engine needed premium fuel. The gearbox remains a 5-speed unit but it’s logic has been tweaked for better shifting.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Subaru B9 Tribeca Facelift

[ LATEST UPDATE: Click here to find out more details on the Toyota Vios that will be available here in Malaysia, straight from the Malaysian press preview launch! ]

[ UPDATE: Toyota is currently having a pre-launch promo campaign for the new Toyota Vios. Click here to find out more! ]

The new third generation Toyota Vios has been launched in Thailand, without much suprise as spyshots of the new Belta on test in Thailand as a Vios have been captured recently. The new Toyota Vios is based on the Toyota Belta, or the Toyota Yaris Sedan, which is currently being sold globally. This means the third gen Vios is now a global model instead of being a regional ASEAN model. You can already see the hatchback version being sold in the Malaysian market, the Toyota Yaris. Of course, trim level and some other variables are changed here and there with the different regions.

Compared to the 2nd generation Vios still being sold in Malaysia, the third gen Vios wheelbase is longer by 50mm at 2550mm, which is also longer than the Yaris hatchback which only stands at 2460mm. It is also heavier, now weighing 1045kg compared to the 2nd gen Vios’ kerb weight of 980kg. The 1NZ-FE engine and 4-speed Super ECT gearbox is retained, producing 109 horsepower and a maximum torque of 142Nm at 4,200rpm. This means you may feel the 2nd generation Vios is slightly more zippy than the 3rd generation Vios once it gets launched in Malaysia.

On the interior, dash layout is pretty much the same as the Toyota Yaris being the same car, and the plus point is it shares the Yaris interior’s abundance of storage space. However it also shares the Toyota Yaris meter panel’s centrally-mounted location, which some dislike and prefer a conventional location.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Vios launched in Thailand

Yet another German tuner has laid their hands on the new W204 Mercedes Benz C-Class. This time, it’s Carlsson, who took the standard Mercedes Benz C350 and engineered this new Carlsson CK35. It features a race-proven Carlsson kit, with a bodykit made of high-grade polyutherane, an upgraded interior, as well as Carlsson 1/11 Brilliant Edition 19″ wheels wrapped with Dunlop SP Sport Maxx tyres.

What does Carlsson mean by race-proven? Basically, the 3.5 liter V6 in the C350 had been tuned up and used in a Mercedes Benz SLK in the VLN Long Distance Trophy at the Nürburgring for many years. The 3.5 liter V6 now makes 295 bhp and 385 Nm of torque, and 0-100km/h now takes 6 seconds.

The polyutherane bodykit includes a front lip, a rear diffuser-style skirt, side skirts, as well as an aerodynamically functional rear spoiler. The bumper grille gets a new insert made from electro-polished material, and this is matched to double-headlight units with fog and driving lights. These parts can also be fitted with the W204 standard bumper instead of the CK35’s bumper.

Check out two more photos and a video after the jump. Enlarged versions of all photos in this post available by clicking on the original images.

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Click here to read the rest of Carlsson CK35: Carlsson tunes up the W204

Ford will be using the recently unveiled Mazda2 platform as the base for it’s next generation Ford Fiesta, and word is that it’s going to come with a softroader option. With the likes of the CrossPolo and the Suzuki SX4, why am I not suprised?

The other conventional models will be the usual 3-door and 5-door models, but in the future Ford is considering extending the Fiesta to become a supermini-MPV, which to some might not be unimaginable, but hey, supermini-MPVs are already in Malaysia! Just take a look at the Toyota Avanza.

The last time BMW offered a high-priced limited-run exotic sports car was the BMW Z8, with 5,703 units sold between the years 2000 to 2003. The E52 Z8 was a production variants of a concept shown in 1997 called the BMW Z07. It had an all-aluminium chassis and body, and was powered by a 4.9 liter 32 valve V8, making 400 horsepower and 500Nm. This engine was also used in the E39 M5, and in the Z8 is positioned behind the front axle to provide that 50:50 weight distribution that every BMW must have. It had a 6-speed manual, but Alpina’s took the Z8 and created the V8 Roadster using a different engine and gearbox combo.

The Alpina version was instead powered by a 4.8 liter V8 from the first gen BMW X5, tuned up to make 375hp which was less than the original Z8, however made more torque: 520Nm peaking at a lower RPM than the original engine. The Z8 was also a Bond car, it made it’s appearance in The World is Not Enough in 1999.

We might see something similiar soon - BMW will be revealing the BMW Z9 Concept at the 2007 Shanghai Auto Show beginning April 20th 2007. An industry source says this Z9 Concept will definitely make it into production, and BMW expects to sell 15,000 BMW Z9 cars a year. It will be positioned against similiar luxury sportscars like the Mercedes Benz SL and the Audi R8.

Previously a car called the Z9 Concept (shown above) had already been shown back in 1999 at Frankfurt 99, which was a 2-door roadster with gullwing doors and powered by a 245hp, 560Nm 3.9 liter V8 turbodiesel, an engine lifted from the 740d back then. I don’t think the new Z9 Concept will be anything like that old 1999 concept, as it’s been 8 years! Styling cues from the old Z9 Concept looks like they ended up in the 6-Series.

Source

Fiat’s Abarth in-house tuning division will be making a comeback with the new Fiat Grande Punto Abarth. Set to bring Fiat back into the hot hatch game, the Grande Punto Abarth will feature a 1.4 liter Turbocharged engine making 150 horsepower at 5,500rpm on regular grade petrol, or 155 horsepower on RON98. With this engine, you get 6-speeds of manual fun to shift through. Peak torque is at 3,000rpm, with 230Nm, but only if you activate the sports mode which up the boost. Otherwise it is 206Nm at 2,000rpm. A more powerful version is also set to be revealed, with a total of 180 horses under the hood from the same engine.

The suspension system uses a McPherson layout at the front, and a torsion axle at the rear, similiar in setup to the Honda Civic 5-door Type R, something that has attracted criticism but somehow manages to perform well on the track. Brakes have Brembo twin pot calipers up front on 305mm ventilated discs, while the rear caliper is a single piston setup gripping 264mm discs.

An Abarth-tuned Fiat 500 is also in the works, which could prove to be quite fun.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Fiat Grande Punto Abarth