Archive for Local News

The new facelifted Toyota Camry must be coming soon as the updated car has made an appearance on UMW Toyota’s website.

• Toyota Camry 2.0E – RM144,990.00
• Toyota Camry 2.0G – RM154,990.00
• Toyota Camry 2.4V – RM174,990.00

One thing that I can spot is that the 2.4V has something called “Smart Entry and Start System” listed as part of its equipment. The 2.0E and 2.0G has this listed as “without”. This must be a keyless push start system.

Look after the jump for full specifications and equipment list for the new models, as well as a photo gallery of the facelifted Camry from its China launching.

Click here to read the rest of New Toyota Camry teaser on UMW website

Click for larger image

A new facelift for the Mitsubishi Lancer is scheduled to be released sometime this week and as a teaser, Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia have posted a teaser image on the frontpage of their website. The teaser reveals the new Lancer through a moving shroud but I’ve managed to piece together the whole car so you can have a clearer view.

The Lancer sedan has a new front end with a cleaner front bumper, somewhat like the cleaner look that the Lancer Evolution’s bumper has. If you think it looks familiar, it’s basically the same bumper that can be found on the 5-door Lancer Sportback.

The original Lancer bumper put more prominence on the bumper area that flows between the upper grille and lower grille. Given that so many people just loves to paint the center piece black to emulate the Evolution’s style, Mitsubishi seems to have done this for them from the factory. The look is complete with a trim piece surrounding the grille as a whole, top to bottom.

Perodua launched the new Perodua ViVA Elite today, aimed at offering the market a variant with a more stylish image compared to the original ViVA. It is an aesthetic modification in the style of the Myvi SE, and at the same time they’ve revamped the model line-up a little.

Click here to read the rest of Perodua Viva Elite: a new look for the Viva

One of the first Hyundai cars to feature the new i naming scheme is now in Malaysia, but it is not the first i car in Malaysia, as that honour has gone to the i10.

The Hyundai i30 is a C-segment contender designed by their European center for the European market, but that has not stopped it from offering it elsewhere unlike the Kia cee’d’s European exclusivity. The i30 shares the same platform as cars like the cee’d and the upcoming Forte. Proof of that is the fact that the i30 is now here in Malaysia and the wagon version is even in the US, called the Hyundai Elantra Touring.

Three variants are sold here, and the good news for manual fans is that there’s a manual version for the 1.6 liter. The following are the prices of the Hyundai i30 variants here in Malaysia:

• Hyundai i30 1.6 (M) – RM92,388.00
• Hyundai i30 1.6 (A) – RM97,888.00
• Hyundai i30 2.0 (A) – RM112,888.00

The 1.6 liter engine makes 121 PS at 6,200rpm and 154Nm of torque at 4,200rpm, while the larger 2.0 liter unit makes 143 PS at 6,000rpm and 186Nm at 4,600rpm. The 2.0 liter engine is the same as the one in the Elantra/Avante, and not of the GEMA series found in the Sonata.

The 5-speed manual 1.6 gets 15 inch wheels with 185/65R15 tyres, the 1.6 auto goes up one inch with 205/55R16 tyres while the 2.0 auto gets 17 inch wheels with 225/45R17 tyres for a sportier stance. The car rides on a 2,650mm wheelbase chassis (the i30 wagon/Elantra Touring has an extended wheelbase of 2,700mm) with MacPherson struts at the front and a multi-link suspension setup at the rear.

In terms of safety features, all cars get 2 SRS airbags at the front as well as ABS brakes, and good news is that the 2.0 liter automatic gets ESP stability control. Another safety feature for your wallet – a 5 year or 300,000km warranty.

Hyundai is offering 1.99% loans for 5 year tenures, and this also applies to the rest of the Hyundai range except the Starex. Speaking of the rest of the Hyundai range, it looks like the Elantra has been renamed the Avante in the new Hyundai-Sime Darby line-up.

This probably happened when the Hyundai franchise was unified here in Malaysia – there are no longer two separate companies selling different Hyundai models, only the Sime Darby unit. The i30 will be in showrooms August onwards. If you like the car and are already thinking of how to pimp it up once you’ve bought one, here’s some inspiration.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai i30 1.6 and 2.0 launched in Malaysia!

The MAA have announced that the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show will be held in December next year – between the 3rd and 12th December 2010 to be exact.

KLIMS10’s motto will be “We CARE”, and CARE is supposed to stand for Commitment, Advancement, Reliability and Environment. The KLIMS organising committee says the show will take up 30,000 square meters of space at the PWTC and expects to attract over 200 exhibitors and over 330,000 visitors.

That’s a long time to wait. See you at KLIMS next year then!

The new Goodyear DuraPlus was launched recently in Malaysia and the company claims it is able to achieve mileage as much as 100,000km. That sounds like really good news for the budget-conscious consumer who just want to buy something, fit it on and forget about it for the next few years.

The 100,000km figure was obtained during Goodyear’s tests on company tracks in France and Luxembourg, as well as open roads in Thailand. According to Goodyear, 100,000km is a good estimate and the tyres actually lasted even longer during the tests. The tests were conducted using 185/65R14 tyres.

The key behind the durability of the DuraPlus is what they call TredLife Technology, which actually consists of a few key design features that enables the tyre to last longer. A wide face cavity leads to increased footprint and more wearable rubber in contact with the road. A higher land to sea ratio tread depth allows for more wearable rubber.

The tyre also uses a carbon-based tread compound so the tire has a higher resistance to frictional wear, contributing to the tire’s long tread life and also increased mileage due to the lower rolling resistance. A new carcass design incorporating a stronger fabric that provides less resistance to tire rotation, leading to improved fuel efficiency. The tread pattern is asymmetric, placing more rubber on the outside shoulder of the tire, resulting in increased grip during cornering.

11 sizes are available in Malaysia, for 13 inch to 15 inch wheels. The Duraplus replaces the Goodyear GT3 in the Malaysian line-up.

Here’s more info on the Connex Stolen Vehicle Recovery system that is currently an option with the Accord.

The system is actually by the Cobra vehicle security company, and is pretty reknown. For example, the Italian company’s Connex systems are being used by alot of companies such as Audi France where they use Connex as the standard alarm and recovery solution for the Q7, A8, S, RS and V8-engined cars.

When you buy the package from Honda at RM3,660 inclusive of installation, first year annual service fee (RM360) and a compensation guarantee (optional and worth RM140), it will be installed at the Honda dealer. This package is currently for Peninsular Malaysia cars only, and comes with a 3 year warranty.

Now what is the compensation guarantee? Basically if your car is recovered within 72 hours of theft management notification, you get cash of up to RM5,000 and bills of up to RM5,000. This covers bills for repair and replacement of damaged parts.

If the stolen vehicle is not recovered within 72 hours, you get a cash compensation of RM15,000 and a RM15,000 subsidy at Honda dealers for a new car if the car is not recovered at all. If recovered after 72 hours, you get a RM5,000 compensation for repair and replacement of parts related to the theft.

The system operates based on GPS to track the vehicle location and a GSM-based communication device that runs on the cellular networks to communicate with the Cobra Connex operation center. The annual fee of RM360 (first year free) covers the GSM device charges, you will not have to pay any extra cash to maintain the Connex system’s GSM SIM card.

The last unit of the Perodua Kancil rolled off Perodua’s production line today. It will be replaced from Thursday onwards by a new baseline variant of the Perodua Viva called the Viva 660 BX manual. The following are the specifications (or rather lack of specifications) of the new Perodua Viva 660 BX:

• 660cc DVVT engine 47hp @ 7,200rpm, 58Nm @ 4,400rpm
• No power steering
• No power windows
• No central locking
• No radio
• No reverse sensors
• Unpainted bumpers
• Manual transmission only
• Only available in Ivory White, Ebony Black and Glittering Silver

The cost? RM25,300.00 from Thursday onwards. Also watch out for another update on the Perodua Viva later this week called the Perodua Viva Elite.

Nasim has added two new colours to the Peugeot 308 VTi. The red shade you see above is called Babylon red and is the same one previously only available on the Peugeot 308 GT and the Turbo. It’s a very nice colour for the 308 and looks like it was meant to be a “hero colour” for the 308. As for the blue which is called Ocean Blue, it’s only available for the VTi. Look after the jump for a couple more photos.

Click here to read the rest of 2 new colours for the Peugeot 308 VTi

Proton and hitz.fm is organising something pretty cool at the 1 Utama Shopping Centre this Saturday. If you love autocross-styling driving you really gotta check it out if you have time. Basically the event is called the Proton Satria Neo Unleashed with hitz.fm and they will be having a Satria Neo CPS Ride & Handling Challenge.

It’s basically time-attack challenge where you have to drive the Satria Neo CPS through a straight line and obstacle course. It’s pretty much the best way to test drive the Satria Neo CPS in case you’re considering buying one. Showroom test drives won’t give you a course to try out the car’s handling so this is your chance! You can choose either a manual or automatic Neo CPS, and whoever clocks the fastest time will win the prizes! There’s some pretty good money up for grabs.

• 1st place – RM3,000
• 2nd place – RM2,000
• 3rd place – RM1,000
• Consolation 4th to 10th – RM200 each

Better be quick and register at 11:30am at Entrance 1 of One Utama on the day because there are only 48 seats for the competition. Participants need to have a valid driving license. Basically there will be four groups and 12 participants in each group. The top 3 in each group will qualify to the final round. A safety helmet is required and will be provided.

Proton will also be exhibiting the Campro CPS engine and engineers will be there to explain how it works. Various R3 cars will be on show along with the two Satria Neo styling concept cars – the Satria Symphony and the Neo Desire. The Satria Neo S2000 rally car will also be there so you can go check it out. From what I hear some Satria Neo owner clubs will also be there so you can network with some exiting owners before you decide to make your purchase decision.

You can also place bookings there for any Proton car (regular Proton models will also be on display), and customers who place bookings for the Saga and the Savvy on that day will receive a RM500 service voucher.

Related Posts:
New Proton Satria Neo CPS details and specifications
Proton Satria Neo CPS short parking lot test drive review
Cool facts: The Proton Satria Neo S2000 racer