Archive for International News

Click to enlarge: Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion Estate

Volkswagen’s new Passat BlueMotion will make it’s debut at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show on the 6th of March 2007 - wish I could be there. Following the footsteps of the first BlueMotion vehicle, the Volkswagen Polo BlueMotion, the new Passat BlueMotion offers outstanding fuel efficiency statistics. It’s possibly the most fuel efficient vehicle in it’s segment: using only 5.1 liters per 100km and producing only 136 g/km of CO2.

This means a full tank will get you 1,350km of driving range, and based on an average yearly mileage of 15,000km, this means you only have to refuel the Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion 11 times a year, or about once a month! The 70 liter fuel tank would cost RM110.60 to fill up at current diesel prices of RM1.58 per liter - that’s RM1216 a year!

These impressive stats are thanks to an aerodynamic body with a drag coefficienct of 0.27cD, lower than some sports cars, and a finely tuned 105hp TDI turbodiesel engine with a diesel particulate filter. Despite all the frugality, the Volkswagen Passat BlueMotion’s top speed is not too bad at 193km/h for the sedan and 190km/h for the estate variant.

Mazda gives us a preview of it’s new B-segment hatchback, the Mazda 2. Updated to modern Mazda design language, gone is the boxy outlook of it’s predecessor, instead you get a sporty hatch which is reminiscent of the Toyota Yaris. The new Mazda 2 is shorter at 3880mm, however it still keeps an identical wheelbase of 2490mm.

It has a sporty front, with a large air dam flanked by two smaller ones hosting fog lamps, and large headlamps, however I have to disagree with their choice of front grille design - something bigger would have looked better. Trunk space is rated at 250 liters, but with the seats down it enlarges to 469 liters of space. The 2008 Mazda 2 is expected to be unveiled with three engine options, a 1.3 liter petrol (two variants - 74hp/118Nm and 83hp/121Nm), a 1.5 liter petrol (103hp/136Nm) as well as a 1.4 liter turbodiesel.

Two more photos of the rear and side profile after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2008 Mazda 2 Preview

MINI’s previous Concept Frankfurt gave us an insight into the future of the MINI product range - currently comprising of the One, One D, Cooper, Cooper S and Cooper Convertible. You could say the Concept Frankfurt was a modern incarnation of the old school Mini Traveller, a way of BMW MINI telling us that it plans to develop a new station wagon MINI. However due to legal reasons, the new MINI station wagon will not be called the MINI Traveller, but instead a new name has been chosen: the MINI Clubman.

Spyshots have already been circulating the internet, and the MINI Clubman will feature an assymetrical design, with one side having just a driver’s door, but the other side having a passenger door as well as a small suicide door which swings open to facilitate easy entry into the rear seats. Auto Motor und Sport reports that the MINI Clubman will also receive all-wheel drive technology in end 2008.

Two other rumoured MINI projects include an all-wheel drive MINI Cooper is also in the works, as well as something a little more tricky. This tricky little thing will be called the MINI Colorado, and it will be somewhat like the typical MINI Cooper, however it will have off-road design elements to it, with a higher suspension as well as all-wheel drive, facilitating some light offroading. Colorado is just an internal codename for the moment, but the old school Mini had a variant called the Moke, which was somewhat like a tiny cross between a Jeep and a Mini (refer to photo in the top left).

Subaru’s boxer turbodiesel will make it’s public debut at the 77th Geneva International Motor Show next month, and it will displayed together with a full drive train, mated to Subaru’s symmetrical all-wheel drive system.

Subaru says the turbodiesel boxer will find it’s first use in a vehicle early 2007, perhaps in one of the European spec diesel new Imprezas. No displacement or any power outputs were given in Subaru’s press release, so we will have to wait until next month to get the full details at Geneva. Click the image on the left to view a larger version with more detail.

Ford’s new Ford Mondeo will debut at the 2007 Geneva Motor show, in it’s three forms, 4-door sedan, 5-door hatch as well as the estate variant. Ford says this is probably Ford’s most elegant and technologically advanced car they’ve ever launched, and it is a very important car for Ford’s new line-up.

Standard equipment for the new 2007 Ford Mondeo include ESP stability control, a Thatcham Cat 1 alarm system, follow-me-home lights, a trip computer and an auxillary socket for connecting your MP3 players. The Ford Mondeo will also feature Ford’s new Easyfuel capless fuel filler with fuel inhibitor to prevent the car from being refueled with the wrong fuel.

The interior has a classy piano black styling, and thanks to it’s high beltline, feels more upmarket and gives the occupants a more cosseted feel. Ford has also ensured plastics are soft touch. There are four different trim levels, the basic Zetec series, a mid-range Edge trim targetted at business and family needs, and two top of the line trims: Ghia and Titanium X.

The 2007 Ford Mondeo will go on sale in June 2007.

Click here to read the rest of New Ford Mondeo unveiled

A natural progression to the offroader-looking stationwagon Peugeot 206 Escapade and Peugeot Escapade Concept would be a similar version based on the Peugeot 207, and them French guys have done it - here’s the Peugeot 207 SW Outdoor Concept.

Car manufacturers have realised that the market taste for the classic station wagon look is diminishing, thus offroader design elements like the roof rails and wheel arches have been pumped in to take advantage of the current SUV craze. Some of the features of this concept vehicle which gives us a previous of the upcoming SW variant of the Peugeot 207 are a panoramic glass roof, and a split-opening rear hatch. Expect the over the top lamp designs to be gone when the production version is unveiled.

The engine is a 1.6 liter HDi with diesel particulate filter, making 240Nm of torque from as low as 1,750rpm, with an overboost feature which brings torque up to 260Nm. The engine makes roughtly 107 horsepower at 4,000rpm.

More photos after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 207 SW Outdoor Concept

Acura says it’s Advanced Sports Car Concept which made it’s debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show gives a preview of the styling cues of the next generation Honda NSX, designed by it’s Los Angeles-based design team that will be based at the new Acura Design Center. Sleek styling cues include slim and wide LED headlights, a modernized wraparound rear light design and a long pronounced hood.

Technical specs: the car will feature a front engined, rear wheel drive design, with a version of Honda’s SH-AWD modified to be rear-wheel drive only. First appearing on the 2004 Acura RL, SH-AWD, or perhaps SH-RWD as it should be named in this case, can adjust torque delivery 100% to either the left or right wheel. The engine is expected to be a normally aspirated V10. Other specs: a 2763mm wheelbase, 19 inch front and 20 inch rear performance tires mounted to custom billet-machined, polished aluminum wheels that hide powerful, ventilated carbon ceramic brake discs and eight-piston calipers.

Click here to read the rest of Acura Advanced Sports Car Concept

BMW is bringing in the BMW Alpina B7 into the US market, with the model set to be on show during the 2007 Chicago Motor Show this month. Alpina, an official BMW tuner, has taken the BMW 7-Series and fitted it with BMW’s 4.4 liter V8 engine. Of course, it wouldn’t do justice leaving the engine stock, so Alpina tweaked it with a supercharger, resulting in a monster V8 that makes 500hp at 5,500rpm, and 700Nm of torque at 4,250rpm. Horsepower matches the new E60 M5’s 5.0 liter V10 but kicks in at a much lower rpm, and the force blown motor beats the E60 M5’s torque figures by 120Nm. Clad in a nice trademark Alpina blue, the big luxury saloon goes from 0-100km/h in only 4.8 seconds, only a fraction slower than the E60 M5’s 4.7 seconds.

Of course, to match the sweet engine, you get Alpina sport-tuned suspension with Active Roll Stabilization, an aerodynamically designed bodykit to help with high speed handling as well as huge 21 inch wheels with Z-rated speed performance tyres.

More photos after the jump, and enlarged versions are viewable by clicking each photo.

Click here to read the rest of BMW Alpina B7 based on BMW 7-series

On the international front, car companies have started going online with their advertising because it just plain makes sense, it’s more interactive, it’s results are so much more trackable, and readership can actually be verified. However, screw-ups happen some times. Just like in a newspaper you have to be careful what article your ad appears next to, you have to exercise the same caution on the internet as well.

Above is an example of an unsuitable page that a Toyota eyeblaster ad appeared on - some might find it funny, some may not!

Audi has set up a teaser microsite for the upcoming Audi A5 Coupe, the latest car to join the Audi family. As previously posted, the A5 is an exciting car to be waiting for, as it will be the first car to debut with Audi’s new flexible MLP platform, short for Modular Platform for longtitudinally mounted engines. Read the related posts links below to find out more about this MLP platform.

Anyway, from the official teaser image above on the A5 Microsite, you can clearly see the top profile, and a little bit of the side profile, it is clear that there is only one door on each side of the car, making this a classic two-door coupe, none of that 4-door crossover coupe-sedan stuff. However, there is talk that a larger A7 Coupe will be a 4-door coupe.

The Audi A5 will be shown at the Geneva Motor Show 2007, but in the meanwhile, check out the microsite: Audi A5 Microsite

Related Posts:
Audi A5 to feature new MLP platform
2008 Audi A5 Artists Impression