Archive for International News

Independent automotive warranty specialist Warranty Direct conducted a car reliability study covering more than 450,000 vehicles from 33 manufacturers in the USA and UK, and Mazda came out tops - with almost 92% of Mazda cars surveyed between 3 and 9 years old suffering no mechanical failure of any type.

Mazda’s failure rate was 8.04 per cent of all vehicles aged between three and nine years old. It’s Ford brother Land Rover scored 44.21 percent failure rates, which is ironic considering 4WD vehicles are supposed to be more hardy? Honda comes in at second place, close on Mazda’s trail at 8.90 percent, while Toyota is at third place with 15.78!

Of course, this survey does not reflect the likelihood of mechanical failures of new cars by these manufacturers as they cover old cars between 3 to 9 years old. But you may find this table useful if you want to purchase a second hand car.

Table after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Warranty Direct Reliability League Table 2007

BMW explains why it’s manual transmission E60 BMW M5’s DSC stability control cannot be disabled. The issue is with the huge amount of power and torque that the engine outputs - it causes excessive axle tramp.

What is axle tramp exactly? Axle tramp is when a wheel moves up and down very very violently, with such force that it actually leaves the ground - like a car hopping. A problem with putting power down to the wheels, worse than torque steer. It is caused by the axle rotating slightly with the wheels then springing back repeatedly.

With the 7-speed SMG III-equipped E60 BMW M5, BMW could fine tune the operation of clutch plates to combat axle tramp during crazy tyre burning starts even with DSC off, but this was just not possible with a pure manual gearbox with a pedal-operated clutch. BMW’s solution - leave DSC permanently on but offer a mode that is less intervening called M Dynamic. Which makes me wonder, why not somehow set up the engine to limit torque delivery in the first gear, so that traction control can be fully off in all the other gears? Did BMW’s engineers miss something here?

Related Posts:
E60 BMW M5 now with manual transmission

Mitsubishi Motors Corporation and PSA Peugeot Citroën signed an agreement regarding the supply of turbodiesel engines by the French manufacturer to it’s Japanese partner. PSA Peugeot Citroën will supply it’s 2.2 liter common rail direct injection particulate filter turbodiesel engine to Mitsubishi.

PSA Peugoet Citroen has adapted the engine to be installed in it’s two SUVs based on the Mitsubishi Outlander platform - the Peugeot 4007 and the Citroen C-Crosser SUV, and Mitsubishi will be using the engine for it’s own Mitsubishi Outlander from mid-2007 onwards. The common rail direct injection turbodiesel makes 156 bhp and 380Nm of torque, and is biodiesel ready. Biodiesel fuel up to a 30% mixture can be used without any modification to the engine.

If anything happens between Proton and PSA Peugeot Citroen, I hope it somehow involves turbodiesels as it is somewhat essential for the European market.

Naza has exported it’s first batch of Naza Sutera and Naza 206 Bestari cars destined for the international market on the 26th of January 2007. A small shipment ceremony was conducted at Port klang. The first batch is destined for Nepal, for it’s Nepalese dealer Alpine Motors Co., Ltd, of which has it’s own finance company, Union Finance Ltd, which leases and provides loan facilities through Union Money Transfer Co. Ltd. Alpine Motors, which will have 2 showrooms in Nepal and is also the first automotive retailer in Nepal to have credit card facilities.

Like Alpine Motors, all Nazas distributors will undergo training programmes for both Sales & Service in Malaysia at Nazas training facilities in Gurun. There is a comprehensive aftersales support system in place, including warranty & spare parts backup. The Sutera and 206 Bestari is also destined for Bangladesh, Mauritius, Pakistan, Nepal & Madagascar.

According to Tan Sri Nasimuddin, due to production constraints and local demand, the first phase of Naza’s exports will be to smaller markets like Bangladesh, Mauritius, Pakistan, Nepal & Madagascar. Export efforts will be stepped up once Naza’s Bertam Plant is completed in 2008 with the introduction of new models.

Subaru will be unveiling it’s next generation Subaru Impreza in a few month’s time at the 2007 New York International Auto Show - 4th April 2007. what we’ll see is the conventional Impreza in 5-door hatchback form, as the mad turbocharged WRX and WRX STI variants are not expected to be ready for unveiling until 2008. The 5-door hatch design is expected to be similiar to the Subaru B5-TPH Concept shown above.

The bread and butter Subaru Impreza is rumored to be powered by normally aspirated 4-cylinder boxers in 1.5 liter and 2.0 liter displacements. The WRX will likely come with an evolution of the potent 2.5 liter turbocharged boxer engine in the current performance Imprezas.

Along with the new Impreza WRX, 2008 will also bring us turbodiesel boxer versions of the Subaru Legacy and the Subaru Outback (Legacy Stationwagon), a 4-cylinder turbodiesel boxer engine has been in development for quite some time now. Subaru announced that the diesel engine was almost complete back in October 2006. It is expected to make about 170hp and 340Nm of torque from a 2.0 liter displacement.

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The current W203 C-Class has been on the road since the year 2000, and has already been facelifted. Despite being so old, the post-facelift model still manages not to look dated on Malaysian and international roads, however that is not a reason for Mercedes Benz to sit on their asses all day and not come up with a successor. This is the new W204 Mercedes Benz C-Class, which had it’s world premiere this month.

More details after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of New 2007 Mercedes Benz C-Class (W204) Unveiled

Toyota Motor Co is open to a more involved partnership with Ford if Ford wants to, reported Japanese business daily Nikkei. Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe said Toyota is open to talks of a technological alliance. Toyota and Ford currently have a partnership in place involving hybrid technology. Ford licenses part of Toyota’s market-leading hybrid engine technology for the hybrid versions of its Ford Escape and Mercury Mariner SUVs.

Struggling Ford, just like the other American giants, could use some of Toyota’s excellent Daihatsu-developed small cars, as the US and world market shifts it’s focus onto small and fuel efficient cars.

Source

BMW has unveiled the mid-life facelift of it’s new BMW 5-series in both Touring and Sedan form. It will begin production in March 2007. This update is more than just an aesthetic facelift though, the 5-series now has improved engines and some funky new technology. Let’s have a look at what’s new with the BMW 5-series facelift after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of BMW launches BMW 5-series facelift

Proton’s new Proton Savvy facelift was launched in Taiwan on the 3rd of January 2007, and sports a few changes, mainly on the rear end design as well as the interior. Previously we’ve tasted a sneak preview of the new Proton Savvy facelift at the A1 Grand Prix, where a few facelifted Proton Savvy cars were on the track, as seen in previous photos. The new Savvy facelift was supposed to be launched here in Malaysia sometime late last year shortly after the A1 Grand Prix, but it was postponed for reasons unknown at this point. Anyway, the Taiwan Proton Savvy facelift is a left hand drive car, so check out the post after the jump to see what’s new with the Proton Savvy facelift, as well as see what a left hand drive Proton Savvy looks like on the interior.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Savvy facelift in Taiwan (left hand drive)

BMW is preparing it’s plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. to build as many as 40,000 units of it’s upcoming new model, the BMW X6. According to BMW of North America CEO Tom Purves, the new BMW X6 (concept art shown above) will be priced above US$50,000, will not be as big as the Mercedes Benz R-class that it is going up against, but will have all-wheel drive, BMW sport handling and room for five adults. This dispels rumours that the BMW X6 will be a 7-seater.

BMW’s Spartanburg plant currently builds the 2nd generation E70 BMW X5 and the BMW Z4 Roadster. Faurecia, one of BMW’s suppliers in North America says they are heavily into “launch mode”, which means we should expect the BMW X6 to be launched soon.

Source

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