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Stock Renault Megane RS 250 Cup makes almost 300hp!

October 31, 2011 at 9:07 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Local News, Renault, Videos

When we talk about high-performance hot hatches, only few come to mind. These few include the Volkswagen Golf and Scirocco R, the Ford Focus RS, the Mazda 3 MPS and as the title suggests, the Renault Megane RS 250 Cup. Just like its competitors, the RS 250 is often referred to as a hot hatch which you can drive to work on the weekdays and at the same time, something which you can bring to Sepang on the weekends and practice your driving lines :)

Under the hood lies a 2.0 litre 4-pot turbocharged (twin-scroll) unit which has over 25% of new parts compared to its predecessor. 0 – 100 km/h can be achieved in 6.1 seconds with a top speed of 245 km/h. As highlighted in the “250″ designation of this French beauty, it makes 250 hp at 5,500 rpm at-crank and 340 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm with 80% of it available from 1,900 rpm. Or does it?

There are two ways to look at horsepower. One is at-crank (direct output from the engine) or on-wheel (horsepower measured on-wheel after transmission losses). The latter would naturally be lower than at-crank and auto makers use the former in the spec sheets. Most of the time, it is very hard for an owner to get similar horsepower figures when they carry out their own dyno tests. The conditions have to be right and the right fuel has to be used. So, you can safely say that most of the numbers are slightly optimistic.

Interestingly, with the Renault Megane RS 250 Cup, it’s the other way around. We were recently at a dyno session where the RS 250 was being tested, and it turns out that the RS 250 can actually give you an on-wheel horsepower figure that is almost similar as the at-crank figure showed in the brochure! The demo vehicle used in the video is an all-original unit, with no modifications whatsoever and it was used for media as well as customer test drives by Tan Chong Euro Cars and the vehicle has already clocked 25,000 kilometers.

During a test at GT Auto in Sunway, using RON97 fuel, the car actually achieved 248 hp and 355 Nm of torque on-wheel. After a simple math work, we managed to come up with an equivalent at-crank figure of approximately 295 hp which is almost similar to the at-crank number of the Ford Focus RS! The 295 hp number was derived from the 16% transmission loss calculation (from crank to wheels). Now we all know that the actual numbers will run off a little, but 45 hp is no joke.

Furthermore, reliable sources have confirmed that higher on-wheel horsepower figures were also achieved in two other units (you can view the dyno charts in the gallery). It was also said that the Renault Sport cars are tuned to work well in various climate conditions and ambient temperature. These sportier Renaults can also run on RON 95 fuel and the engines are built on a mass production line and that slight variances in horsepower from one engine to another is common.

It was also said that due to the slight differences, Renault Sport is being rather conservative with the published figures. Moreover, tests were also carried out overseas and these tests also confirmed that the RS 250 actually produces more power than promised. EVO UK also carried one out and they learned that their RS 250 media car recorded 270hp at-crank. You can check out the video here.

Other than a power mill with interesting figures, the Megane RS 250 comes with a sports-tuned chassis and suspension setting which helps give it its sharp maneuverability and chuckability, with comfort still in mind although there is a hint of acceptable stiffness to it. Suspension features include a 10mm lowered chassis as well as uprated dampers, springs and anti-roll bars.

Strong stopping power is also vital for a vehicle of such nature and this is provided by Brembo. The front wheels tease 340 mm vented and slotted discs along with 4-pot calipers. The brake tune strikes a good balance of stopping power and reliability in terms of maintaining brake pressure even during demanding driving scenarios such as pushing the car’s limits on the track.

No fancy or sophisticated dual-clutch transmissions here, just a good old, precisely weighted six-speed cog box which works well in shifting gears. All you need to do is acquire the skills of heel and toe, a dying art if you ask me, to ensure smoother shifting. There is also a mechanical LSD working in the background. Overall, the RS 250 retails for RM229,800 OTR without insurance and with that additional 45 hp, it gives the RS 250 better value for money.

If you want to learn more about the Renault Megane RS 250 Cup, you can read a full test drive review right here.

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My Proton Makeover – next up, a 17-year-old Wira sedan!

October 31, 2011 at 5:33 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Proton

The next recipient of the My Proton Makeover programme has been identified – Sashideran Radha Krishnan’s 17-year-old Proton Wira, which he inherited from his father, will be given the reworking treatment by the R3 unit of Proton’s Motorsports Department.

The 24-year-old budding engineer is the first winner and second recipient of the Proton programme. The first was of course Fadly Hisham Roplay’s 1992 Saga, which was reworked by the R3 boys and handed back to him in September.

The white Wira that will receive the makeover was purchased by Sashideran’s father, Radha Krishnan, in March 1994. Interestingly, the day the car was registered also coincided with both their birthdays. “I still remember the day she was driven up the driveway of my house, all gleaming in white. I knew straight away that she was special!” Sashideran said.

In his submission for the contest, Sashideran described his Wira as more than just a car, rather a member of his family. The car reminded him of many key nostalgic moments, from ferrying him on his first day in a new school to bringing his mother and new born baby brother home from hospital.

His “darling Wira”, as Sashideran calls her, was also instrumental in being part of his first date, and was his reliable mode of transport to his first job interview and subsequently his first job.

“At one time, she sheltered me when I was away from home with no money to spare, becoming my room and bed for the night,” he explained, remembering once that he threatened never to speak to his father again when his dad said he was going to sell the Wira to get a new car. Dad has since relinquished full use of the Wira to Sashideran, who maintains the car quite intently.

“Sashideran’s story was so well written that it would be wrong not to reward him and his family for the love they shower on the car,” said Proton Director of Group Marketing, Branding and Motorsports, John D. Chacko. “We were a little amused considering that Sashideran is a passionate car lover, but his father still keeps a strict eye on him about how he cares for the car!”

Tengku Djan Ley, Head of Engineering of the R3 unit at Proton Motorsports, explained that Sashideran’s story caught the team’s attention because they weren’t expecting a “love story” with a car described in such a unique and heartwarming manner. “He and his family really love their Proton Wira, and the car definitely deserves the gift of a new zest of life,” he said.

The My Proton Makeover contest will reward four more lucky Proton car owners with a complete makeover of their car – entries close on December 28. As for Sashideran’s Wira, it’s scheduled to be returned to him in November.

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Chevrolet Cruze and Captiva – promotion on both vehicles until Dec 31 in the Chevrolet Centennial Celebration

October 31, 2011 at 4:55 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Chevrolet, Local News

In conjunction with the Chevrolet Centennial Celebration, Naza Quest has announced a promotion for the Cruze sedan and Captiva SUV, which runs from now until December 31.

During the promo period, buyers of the Cruze, which is now available with a Jet Black interior with Titanium Stitching, will receive an in-dash DVD navigation unit, equipped with Bluetooth connectivity, free with their Cruze purchase.

Meanwhile, new owners of the Captiva 2.4L petrol will receive a three-year or 100,000 km warranty as well as three-years or 60,000 km free maintenance and parts with every Captiva purchase during the Chevrolet Centennial Celebration promotion.

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Subaru Palm Challenge: Weather not being kind, only 58 contestants remain, three Malaysians still standing!

October 31, 2011 at 4:48 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Subaru

We’re in Singapore to cheer on Team Malaysia as they take on the MediaCorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge 2011, also known as the Subaru Palm Challenge. This is the grand finals of the annual event – to read more on what it’s all about, read our opening post from yesterday here.

The weather hasn’t been kind, and the skies above Lion City is finally clearing after few hours of heavy rain. Last night was a critical period, and the 124 still standing contestants from our last update have been more than halved to 58 people as of now. 340 have given up. Some were reported to have been hallucinating!

Of the 58, three of them – Tan Hong Sheng, Saw Sen Chiew and Tan Chuan Kok – are Malaysians. The Filipinos have taken over from Thailand as the best regional team with five still standing. Four Thais are still in it, while Indonesia and Vietnam have two each. Besides the car, there are prizes for a “Country Winner” and an “Asian Winner” for the longest lasting non Singaporean.


L-R: Cheryl Desiree Chan, Su-Anne Tan and Kuek Zi Yi of the Subaru Stunt Driving Team

While the palmers were testing their endurance at Ngee Ann City, we were at the Singapore Turf Club to sample some Subaru cars via the usual emergency brake and lane change tests.

We were supplied with Impreza 1.5 AWD sedans and the most beautiful driving instructors this writer has ever seen. Meet from left to right, model/host/DJ Cheryl Desiree Chan, hot mum Su-Anne Tan and national inline skater Kuek Zi Yi, members of the Subaru Stunt Driving Team. Ladies that look good and can kick your behind in driving – we need more of them around :)

Unfortunately, they didn’t get to show us much, and the planned autokhana challenge for the media had to be called off due to heavy downpour. A real downer, since I was just getting all warmed up. Oh well!

Stay tuned for updates!

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MediaCorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge 2011: Half of 10 Malaysians are out, five palms are still on the cars

October 30, 2011 at 11:45 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Subaru

We’re in Singapore for the MediaCorp Subaru Impreza WRX Challenge 2011, more commonly known as the ‘Subaru Palm Challenge’. This is the grand finals of the annual event, where the longest lasting palm on the car drives home a Subaru. As usual, the event is being held at Ngee Ann City or Takashimaya along Orchard Road.

Last month, Motor Image had a Malaysian leg of the palm challenge at Pavilion KL, where 57 contestants vied for 10 places in the Singapore finals. They’re here now, competing with 310 Singaporeans and 80 others from Cambodia, China, Macau, Indonesia, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Our contingent of Richard Law, Mohd Fadhlly, Yoon Kok Leong, Tan Chuan Kok, Amier Amzar, Jonathan David William, Chan Hon Ki, Hubert Koh, Saw Sen Chiew, and Tan Hong Sheng started the challenge 1pm yesterday, but unfortunately, five have dropped out after nearly one and a half days in the sun and rain.

As of now, there are 124 contestants still in the running. Of the regional contingents, the Thais are showing true grit – 9 are still in the game. The Philippines are close behind with 8 and Vietnam has 7 still standing. Besides the car, on offer are cash prizes for a “Country Winner” and an “Asian Winner” – the latter for the longest lasting non Singaporean. Will the Malaysians defy the odds to outlast the rest?

Unlike the heats in KL, there are no challenges here, one simply needs to outlast the others to win. It’s not just physical strength, but mental power counts a lot too, if not more. The weather hasn’t been too kind as well, I was told by the crew that it alternated between heat and rain yesterday.

Contestants are entitled to a 5-minute break once every six hours, at 1pm, 7pm, 1am and 7am each day. They will need to do all their business in these short breaks – pee in your pants and you’re out, for instance. Only in the 7pm break that one family member is allowed to enter the arena to offer some moral support. Otherwise, it’s a long, smelly and lonely journey out there.

Last year, 45-year-old Singaporean Aloysius Lim lasted 75 hours and 17 minutes, but the ultimate record belongs to George Lee from 2008. He palmed the car for an astonishing 81 hours and 32 minutes to win the duel. How far will this year’s ‘palmers’ go? Stay tuned!

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smart fortwo electric drive on display at 1 Utama

October 28, 2011 at 9:07 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Local News, smart

No, it’s not available commercially in Malaysia, and even if it was, it would easily cost more than a C 250 CGI. The smart fortwo electric drive seen here is actually making a stopover in the country – the Singaporean-based vehicle is in town courtesy of its appearance at the recent 1st Malaysian-German Sustainable Automotive Mobility Conference 2011, which was organised by the Malaysian German Chamber of Commerce.

You can however catch the car in the metal, if that be your sort of thing, over the weekend – the fortwo electric drive is on display at the Highstreet zone of 1 Utama shopping centre, and it’ll be there until Sunday.

A bit about the car, for those who don’t know what it’s all about yet. The second-generation fortwo electric drive is equipped with a 30 kW permanent magnet motor offering 120 Nm of torque, and driven by a single-speed fixed gear ratio transmission.

The car’s water-cooled 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, which is housed between the axles and occupies the space where the fuel tank is located in a conventional fortwo, is good enough to give it an operating range of 135 km. Which won’t quite take you from KL to KLIA and back, but ample enough for light-duty in-town use.

The 148 kg battery – made by Tesla Motors – has a full recharge time of eight hours, juiced via a household socket, but if you only need to do around 30-40 kilometres of travelling a day, the vehicle only needs to be charged for three hours.

And if you putter around at the average 25 to 30 km/h that smart says is normal in city traffic, the fortwo electric drive can go for around four to five hours continuously before it needs to be recharged.

Other performance figures for the 890 kg rear-wheel drive fortwo include a 0-50 km/h (yes, you read right, half a century) time of 5.8 seconds (or if you prefer, a 0-60 km/h time of 6.5 seconds) and a maximum speed of 100 km/h.

As you’d expect, due to the cost and supporting infrastructure limitations, there aren’t that many fortwo electric drives about – the few thousand examples worldwide are in the hands of selected customers, with leases offered for a period of four years and 60,000 kilometres. In the case of this example, it’s part of a EV case study being conducted by the Singaporean government.

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VIDEO: Proton’s ‘The Transporter’ concludes with Part 5

October 28, 2011 at 6:44 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

Yesterday, Proton released parts three and four of its five-part The Transporter video series, and today, the fifth and final segment is out. Hanis Salleh, who emerged as the winner of The Transporter contest, won a 4-day/3-night all expense-paid trip to catch the 2011 Singapore GP, heading to the race with a trio of beauties, in this case Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys

The first video centred around the prelude to the trip, while the second showcased the quartet’s experience at the event with exclusive paddock passes. In the final instalment, Jojo Struys, Yasmin Hani and Diana Danielle head to the Black and Gold Mystique F1 party at One Altitude, the highest alfresco rooftop bar in the world. With Hanis, of course. :)

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Hyundai Santa Fe: standard spec joins lineup, RM151k

October 27, 2011 at 4:41 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hyundai, Inokom, Koreans, Local News

Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors has introduced a standard specification variant of the Inokom Santa Fe, available only in the vehicle’s 2.4 litre petrol form. This version of the seven-seater SUV rolls in around RM8,000 cheaper than the premium specification model announced recently, being priced at RM150,888 (on-the-road, with insurance).

Again, no difference to the output figures of the 2.4 litre Theta II engine, which are 174 PS and 228 Nm. The vehicle comes with a six-speed maintenance-free automatic transmission and continues to feature an electronically-actuated 4-wheel drive system that changes from two- to four-wheel drive or 4-wheel lock at the touch of a button.

The main differences from the premium variant are in terms of interior trim, and some features have of course been omitted. Off the item list are the Audio Visual Navigator/GPS (AVN) unit, sunroof, smart key/push start button, reverse camera and driver power seat. The standard spec version features black leather seats.

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Volkswagen Tiguan facelift arrives in Malaysia – RM237k

October 27, 2011 at 12:47 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Volkswagen

The facelifted Volkswagen Tiguan, which made its debut in Geneva earlier this year, has quietly made its way into VW showrooms in Malaysia. Reader Farhan spotted an example in a JB outlet, and duly snapped a couple of photos for us.

It’s available in a single engine variant form, this being a 2.0 litre TSI unit offering 210 PS at 5,300 to 6,200 rpm and 280 Nm of torque at 1,700-5,200 rpm, and the 4MOTION permanent all-wheel drive vehicle also wears a seven-speed DSG transmission.

Features for the SUV, as listed on the VGM website, include Vienna upholstery leather seats, six airbags (front, side and front/rear curtain), bi-xenon headlamps with integrated LED daytime running lights, cruise control, electronic parking brake with an Auto Hold function, speed sensitive electro-mechanical power steering as well as park distance control PDC, replete with ‘Rear Assist’ rear view camera, among others.

The Tiguan 2.0 TSI, which sits on 17-inch New Orleans style alloys wrapped with 235/55 series rubbers, is priced at RM236,888 on the road, without insurance. A tip of the hat to Farhan for the spot.

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VIDEO: Part 3 and 4 of Proton’s ‘Transporter’ adventure

October 27, 2011 at 12:00 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton, Videos

The five-part video series chronicling Proton’s The Transporter adventure in Singapore continues, with part three and four just out. As is already known, Hanis Salleh, who emerged as the winner in The Transporter contest which ended in August, walked away with a 4-day/3-night all expense-paid trip to watch the 2011 Singapore GP at the Marina Bay street circuit, travelling to the republic with no less than Yasmin Hani, Diana Danielle and Jojo Struys!

The first video centred around the prelude to the trip, while the second showcased the quartet’s experience at the event with exclusive paddock passes. In the third episode, watch Diana Danielle battle it out with Jojo Struys on the “Batak machine” that F1 drivers train on to test their reflexes and reaction times, at the Proton Motorsports showcase in Clarke Quay.

As for part four, the Proton Transporter doesn’t know what he’s in for when the three ladies hit Arab Street. Expect the last installment, which presumably wraps things up, to be out soon enough. Shame it all had to end, eh, Hanis? :)

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