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  • Mazda Biante special editions launched in Japan

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 17 comments

    Mazda Biante 20S Limited
    Mazda Biante 20S Limited

    Japan must be rather big on year-end specials, or is it because of the need to clear stocks? Another Mazda vehicle that gets a limited/special/etc edition treatment is the Mazda Biante, which has two special editions – a Mazda Biante Limited Edition and a Mazda Biante NAVI Special.

    The Mazda Biante 20S Limited Edition is based on the 20S but gets extra equipment such as leather on the steering wheel, dual power sliding doors and a keyless entry and start system. The Mazda Biante 20CS Limited Edition is based on the 20CS grade and gets HID headlamps, cleanable seats and leather on the steering wheel.

    The Mazda Biante 20 NAVI Special is limited to 800 units and as you can probably guess from its name, adds a navigation system. This takes the previously mentioned Biante 20S Limited Edition with the power doors and etc and adds a Mazda G-BOOK Alpha-compatible HDD navigation system, that also has features such as parking assist with front, side and rear guide monitors, a DVD and CD player, an analog TV tuner with printed antenna, Bluetooth hands-free, and steering-wheel audio controls.

    Has anyone seen the Biante in grey import showrooms in Malaysia yet? Given the popularity of the Toyota Alphard, it would seem Malaysians like tall roof MPVs as well.
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  • Mazda Atenza 2.0 Style Edition in Japan

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 9 comments

    Mazda Atenza

    Mazda will sell a special “Style Edition” of the Mazda Atenza (we know it as the Mazda 6) in Japan, based on the Atenza 20C model but with various equipment upgrades. These upgrades include LED indicators in the door mirrors, fog lamps, HID headlamps, water-repellent coating for the windows, dark tinted glass for the rear doors and rear window, 17 inch alloys wrapped with 215/50R17 tyres, leather on the steering wheel and shift knob, blackout meters, and an audio-less spec which means the speakers are there but a space is left for you to add your own head unit. Some of these features are probably available on the larger displacement model, so this special version is probably for those who do not want the larger engine but want the little gadgets that the big brother has such as the blackout meters (meters that appear black and only turn on when the car is turned on).

     

  • 2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback unveiled at Bologna

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 19 comments

    2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback

    A whole new batch of photos and a video with driving footage were released when the 2010 Mazda 3 hatchback was unveiled to the public at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show, so check them out after the jump.

    A Bologna show means European specs, which is quite different from the American range which includes large engines such as the new 2.5 litre. The European engine range tops out at 2.0 litres with 150hp and 187Nm for petrol, but the most powerful engine is the 2.2 litre turbodiesel producing 185 horses and a strong 400Nm of torque at 1,800rpm. The baseline diesel is a 1.6 litre with 109 horsepower and 240Nm of torque, while the baseline petrol is also a 1.6 litre but makes less power – only 105 hp and 145Nm of torque.

    The new batch of photos also reveal more about the interior. Check out how tiny that colour LCD display for the sat-nav map display is! Our version will probably get a regular monochrome LCD display though, as we always have most of the time.
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  • First set of Mazda 3 5-door hatchback photos!

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 40 comments

    2010 Mazda 3 Hatchback
    Click to enlarged image

    Mazda has released an initial set of photos of the 5-door hatchback version of the new Mazda 3, set to debut at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show on the 3rd of December 2008.

    European customers will get a new 2.2 litre turbodiesel diesel that was added to the Mazda 6 recently, as well as the existing line-up of 1.6 litre petrol, 2.0 litre petrol and 1.6 litre turbodiesel engines. The 2.2 litre turbodiesel will be offered in two states of tune – a 150 PS version and a high-powered 185 PS version that’s enough to make the Mazda 3 a “warm hatch”, until the turbocharged petrol Mazdaspeed 3 is unveiled of course.

    Head on after the jump to have a look at the hatchback’s images.

    Related Posts:
    Mazda releases “spyshots” of the Mazda 3 hatchback
    2010 Mazda 3 Sedan: official details and photos
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  • Mazda releases “spyshots” of the Mazda 3 hatch!

    In Cars, International News, Mazda, Spyshots / By / / 16 comments

    Mazda 3 Hatchback
    Mazda 3 Hatchback

    Mazda has decided to beat the spy photographers at their own game and publish these high-res high-quality photos of the upcoming hatchback version of the Mazda 3 undergoing road tests, complete with your classic taped up and covered sections.

    The original Mazda 3 hatchback while having an obvious family resemblance to its sedan sibling did not share a single body panel with the sedan. You can expect the new Mazda 3 hatchback to follow its predecessor’s lead, but if we find out the front end is one and the same as the previously unveiled smiley sedan, it’s probably a sign of cost-cutting times.

    Look after the jump for Mazda’s self-published “spyshots” of the Mazda 3 hatchback.
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  • 2010 Mazda 3 Sedan: official details and photos!

    In Cars, International News, Mazda, Videos / By / / 51 comments

    2010 Mazda 3 Sedan

    The new Mazda 3 Sedan has been unveiled at the 2008 LA Auto Show and if this is how Mazda’s new corporate nose is going to look like, it looks like giant smiley grilles like the Peugeot 308′s grille is the new “in thing”, replacing the trapezoidal shield grille of Audi fame. In fact, the new Mazda 3 is so smiley that forumer Mizzoustud from the Mustangworld forums created a new smiley for it.
      

    Anyway jokes aside, the new Mazda 3 is based on the old Mazda 3 chassis and even they admit this but Mazda claims it has made “subtle yet comprehensive” refinements to it.

    For one, the electric power steering now has a 3-point mounting instead of a 2-point mounting to allow reduction in stiffness of the steering gear bushes. This can reduce vibrations transferred through rough pavements. The unibody joints on the chassis have been improved to reduce the transmission of road and powertrain noise into the passenger cabin.

    The chassis also has improved suspension anchor points, welding and adhesive techniques and a better door design. The rear monotube shocks have also been recalibrated, and the front and rear antiroll bars have a new more substantial mounting arrangement. The lower control arm bushes, subframe bushes and mounting bushes have been stiffened to improve steering feel and response as well as cornering grip.

    2010 Mazda 3 Sedan Chassis
    Click for enlarge image

    On the rear, a redesigned crossmember is lighter and stiffer, also contributing to better handling. The braking system also gets an improvment – a new vacuum booster for better pedal response.

    The car has a drag coefficient of 0.29 cD and despite the huge smiley front grille, Mazda claims its actually 20% smaller to minimize the mount of airflow into the engine bay to only the amount needed for intake and cooling purposes – this improves aerodynamics.

    Two engines are available for the American market – both are inline-4 units. One is a 2.0 litre unit producing 148hp at 6,500rpm and 183Nm of torque at 4,500rpm, while the larger one is a 2.5 litre unit producing 167hp at 6,000rpm and 228Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. The power figures are slightly lower for models sold in states like California where emissions rulings are stiffer. Both manual and auto trannys are 5-speed units.

    Look after the jump for a whole load of photos and a video of the new Mazda 3.
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  • Ford reduces Mazda stake from 33.4% to 13

    In Cars, Ford, International News, Mazda / By / / 12 comments

    mazda logoAnother one of the big 3 is dumping their stocks in other car brands in order to stay afloat. This time it’s Ford will be reducing their 33.4% stake in Mazda to just slightly over 13%. Part of the stake will be bought back by Mazda and the rest by a group of Mazda’s business partners at a price of 184 yen per share. The “business partners” have not been named but some of them are rumoured to be Sumitomo, Itochu, Tokio Marine Holdings and Denso.

    “The sale of Mazda shares by our partner, Ford, will not result in any change in Mazda’s strategic direction and we will continue to accelerate our product-led brand improvement and cost innovation initiatives. We will continue our strategic relationship through our ongoing joint ventures with Ford, as well as the sharing of platforms and powertrains,” says Mazda’s Chairman, President and CEO, Hisakazu Imaki.

    What that means is that the Mazda 3 will continue to share platforms and engines with the Ford Focus, the Mazda 2 with the Fiesta, Duratec and MZR will be still be one and the same, and so on.

    Hisakazu Imaki will cease to be the President and CEO, with the vacant posts to be taken up by Takashi Yamanouchi who previously held the post of Executive Vice President and Assistant to President in charge of corporate liaison, purchases, HR, admin, secretariat and auditing. David E. Friedman who is currently CFO will be replaced by Kiyoshi Ozaki.

    There are also a few other Western names like Daniel Morris, David Stickel and Anthony Pastor who will step down as a result of the reduced Ford shareholding.

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    Ford wants to sell Mazda to… Mazda?

     

  • Mazda Demio – changes for 2009 model year

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 9 comments

    2009 Mazda Demio

    Mazda has changed a few things on the Mazda Demio (Mazda 2) for the 2009 model year, it’s not a facelift but more like some minor equipment changes.

    The interior’s center panel is now done up in a semi-gloss black metallic finish. There are also new matching materials for the seat covers and the door trims. These are available in three designs – Calm White, Multi Black and Sporty Black.

    In addition to that, a little bit of silver trim has been added here and there in the cabon, on the parking brake release button, the inner door handles, automatic air conditioning dials, the automatic and CVT shift knobs, and a silver ring on the manual transmission shift boot.

     

  • New 2.2L MZR-CD turbodiesel for Mazda 6

    In Cars, International News, Mazda / By / / 16 comments

    Mazda 6
    Click to enlarge image

    The second generation Mazda 6 was initially offered with 120hp 1.8 litre, 2.0 litre and 170hp 2.5 litre petrol engines as well as a 2.0 litre turbodiesel producing 140hp.

    Mazda has now replaced the diesel engine with a new 2.2 litre MZR-CD turbodiesel engine with a variable geometry turbocharger to the line-up, which comes in 3 states of tune – 125 PS with 310Nm of torque, 163 PS with 360Nm of torque and the most powerful of the entire European line-up which is the 185 PS version with 400Nm of torque.

    The fuel injection pressure has also increased from the 2.0 litre engine’s 180 MPa up to 200 MPa, an improvement of 11%. The injectors now feature 10 spray holes per injector instead of the 6-hole design of the old engine.

    0 to 100km/h takes 10.9 seconds, 9.2 seconds and 8.5 seconds respectively for each state of tune. As a comparison, the old 140hp 2.0 litre diesel did it in 10. 7 seconds. Depending on which version we’re talking about, the new 2.2 litre MZR-CD can return between 51.4mpg to 49.6mpg, and emi between 147g/km to 152g/km of CO2.

    Related Posts:
    2008 Mazda 6: details and specifications

     

  • Mazda RX-8 from official importer for RM233,699

    In Cars, Local News, Mazda / By / / 49 comments

    Mazda RX8

    New Mazda distibutors Bermaz Motor has just launched the new fully imported facelifted Mazda RX8 in Malaysia. The compact 4-door Mazda RX8 rides on an aluminium double wishbone front suspension and a multi-link rear suspension. Its large 18 inch wheels are wrapped with 225/40R18 low profile tyres.

    The RENESIS engine in the RX8 is the new improved model that was launched with the facelift. The gas seal lubrication system has been changed from a mechanical type to a electromagnetic type, and there is now one additional nozzle for a total of 3 now. This improves lubrication performance, which extends rotor seal life and fuel efficiency.

    Mazda RX8A peak horsepower of 212 horsepower (lower than the manual version which revs higher for more power) is achieved at 7,500rpm while peak torque is 211Nm of torque at 5,500rpm, which puts the car’s power figures rather close to the Civic Type R’s 225 PS and 215Nm.

    As you know, the engine is a high revving one, but you should only put such strain on the engine after it has properly warmed up. Much like the BMW M3, the RX8 has a variable redline that prevents overrevving when the engine has not warmed up yet. Its redline varies and goes up in 3 stages according to engine conditions. I’ve never seen the actual car yet but apparently according to sources on the internet, the automatic version has both its redline and peak horsepower point capped to 7,500rpm, presumably because of the transmission?

    Our Malaysian-spec RX8 goes for RM233,699 OTR w/o insurance with a 3-year warranty and comes with a 6-speed Activematic automatic transmission and a 9-speaker Bose Audio system with an in-dash 6-CD changer, 8 airbags, an 8-way electric driver’s seat, ABS, DSC, EBD, body-colour coordinated leather seats, and more – a full list of the equipment can be found in a table after the jump together with a hi-res gallery.
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