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Politeknik Ungku Omar wins 2011 Perodua Eco Challenge!

June 27, 2011 at 10:43 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua


UPDATE: Full gallery added after the jump.

Politeknik Ungku Omar has won the 2011 Perodua Eco Challenge, held over the weekend at Melaka International Motorsports Circuit (MIMC). The team from Ipoh managed to squeeze 24.07 km from just half a litre of Petronas Primax 95 Xtra petrol, beating closest challengers Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel, 19.1 km) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM, 17.42 km).

PUO took home RM20,000 cash for their efforts, while Unisel and USM won RM10,000 and RM5,000 respectively. In the Engineering category, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) took home RM15,000 for bagging the top place ahead of USM and Universiti Kuala Lumpur-Malaysia Spanish Institute.

In the minor “Design and Participation” category, Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) took home RM5,000 as the chosen team. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) and UTM were second and third.

In the previous two editions, USM took top honors in the automatic category, so they should be a little disappointed at not meeting their “25 km and above target”. They were banking on their ace card, which is cylinder deactivation for the supplied 660 cc three-pot engine. Their simple looking 370 kg machine ran on only one cylinder full time, logical since this “race” doesn’t require much power or speed.

By the way, this year’s PEC is a much tougher challenge, as teams were only given one engine and one (manual) gearbox, as opposed to a complete car in previous years. This means that instead of just stripping and modifying Vivas, students have to also work on chassis and bodywork. And because of this extra work, the seed money given to each team has increased from last year’s RM10k to RM17,500. Also, instead of one litre, they now have to squeeze miles out of 0.5 litres of fuel.

The winning team’s lean machine on skinny tyres relied on measures such as a fuel tank that’s “ngam ngam” in size, with minimal space for air and a very lean 22:1 air fuel ratio, according to team leader Mohd Azmi.

Each team had their own focus – the Universiti Tenaga Nasional (Uniten, last year’s M/T winner) team worked hard on CFD, and were proud of their car’s 35:65 weight distribution, enthusiastic second year Mechanical Engineering student Tan Win Yew told me.

Another team that mentioned “good handling” was Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), whose car had all round double wishbone suspension and 40:60 weight distribution. The logic is that a car that can corner well and relatively fast can maintain momentum by minimising the need to brake.

Some other things caught the eye of yours truly. This year’s grid had a female driver in the small frame of Nur Effarini. The pint sized final year Mechanical Engineering student weighs just 45 kg, in contrast with the big guy driving for PUO. She should have weighed even less after the race, as the UTM car was stuck on the steaming grid for quite some time due to an electrical glitch (according to a team member). It started in the end, and they went home with smiles and cash.

Another eye catcher was the “Lotus Elise” of UKM. In contrast with the skeleton look of rivals, they wanted to do a “body that can be commercialised”, which according to them was part of the original regulations, including closed wheels. Apparently, the rules changed, but they stuck to the plan. The batik cabin is questionable, but it’s not easy to fabricate that body in a short time. But because of the extra weight, they were never really in contention.

Another looker for me is the “Caterham style” white Unisel car with orange stripes. Tanjung Malim based Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah had the most outrageous looking car on the grid. Their hot rod style “classic car concept” didn’t look too lightweight and aerodynamic, though.

The Perodua Eco Challenge is one of the more unique CR initiatives in town, challenging student minds and allowing them an outlet to experiment, and be hands on in practising what they learn from books. Congratulations to the winning teams, see you again next year in Melaka!

Full gallery from the event is after the jump. Spot anyone you know?

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2011 Perodua Myvi – first five buyers receive cars

June 23, 2011 at 3:06 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Perodua

The new Perodua Myvi is chugging along merrily; to date, 12,000 orders have been placed for the car since bookings began on June 4, and today, a week after the car was officially launched, the first five owners – Siva Rajan Subramaniam, Mullai Arunasalam, Tan Soo Hong, Yusainianir Mohd Yassin and Kok Zhien Wei – received their vehicles at a simple handing over ceremony in Subang.

“The first five owners here are the first among thousands to receive their cars in the coming weeks and we could not be happier with the response from the public for our new model,” said Perodua’s MD Datuk Aminar Rashid Salleh.

Aminar said that Perodua will also ensure that customers get their vehicle in the shortest possible time, compared to the previous experience of six to nine months when the previous Myvi was launched in 2005. He said that those who booked their cars before the launch can expect their cars to be delivered anytime between now and end-July.

In terms of exports, Aminar said that the company was on track to ship the first 500 Myvis, under the Daihatsu Sirion badge, to Indonesia this month. “On average, we expect to export 350 units per month of the model to Indonesia within a 12-month timeframe,” he said, adding that the company is looking to export the new Myvi under the Perodua brand to five of its seven export markets, including Mauritius, Singapore, Nepal, Fiji and Sri Lanka.

Domestically, Perodua expects to achieve its year-end target of 195,000 units, with another milestone coming about before the year is out – the two millionth vehicle production mark should be achieved sometime in the fourth quarter.

139 Comments      


VIDEO: 2011 Perodua Myvi instrument panel demo

June 17, 2011 at 12:33 am By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Malaysian Makes, Perodua, Videos

Here’s a short little walkthrough video on how the Camry-inspired instrumentation panel for the top of the line 2011 Perodua Myvi looks and moves. The fade in and fade out of the backlight is a nice touch, and so is the multi-info display integrated into the circle in the middle of the speedometer.

56 Comments      

2011 Perodua Myvi – full details and first impressions

June 16, 2011 at 9:02 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Feature Stories, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua


Click to enlarge

The Perodua Myvi first arrived on the scene in May 2005. With 487,400 units sold since then, the five-door hatchback has certainly been popular with the public – that it has been the country’s best-selling model for five years, from 2006 to 2010, states it all.

Of course, as good a run as it has been in terms of numbers, there’s only one way to ensure further success, so it’s time for a change, or at least a complete makeover for the car. The first-generation Myvi was facelifted in August 2008, but now a full revision is at hand with the arrival of the 2011 Myvi.

From a concept point of view, where the old car was defined as a multi-purpose compact (MPC) by the company, the second-gen vehicle is now tagged as an advance multi-purpose compact, or A-MPC if you will, which essentially translates into a refined compact car that continues its predecessor’s tradition of reliability, but with upgraded features and improved vehicle performance.

The incoming car soldiers on in 1.3-litre form – the promise of a 1.5-litre variant hasn’t come to light, unfortunately – and retains the usage of the same platform as before, though revision work has come about with the chassis.

The short of it is that Perodua says that the new Myvi contains more than mere aesthetic changes, and is really an evolution of the outgoing car, featuring a sleeker exterior, a more spacious and refined interior, enhanced safety features as well as improved NVH and better functionality and equipment levels.

Let’s take a look at the changes in the new car, which is available in three variant forms – Standard, Premium and the top-of-the-line Elegance – at point of launch.

Read our full report after the jump.
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731 Comments      

Unidentical twins: Perodua Myvi versus Toyota Passo

June 16, 2011 at 9:01 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Just for fun, here’s some side by side images showing you the differences between the new 2011 Perodua Myvi and the 2010 Toyota Passo/Daihatsu Boon. You can see the different route that the Japanese companies and their Malaysian counterpart took with the styling of their second generation products. Look after the jump for more pix.
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2011 Perodua Myvi D54T to be launched tomorrow night

June 15, 2011 at 8:52 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Well, the moment has arrived – tomorrow night finally sees the official introduction of the 2011 Perodua Myvi, with the launch of the car at the Putra World Trade Centre being officiated by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Bookings for the D54T began on June 4, so you sort of knew the debut was soon to follow. The new second-generation Myvi was previewed to the media a couple of weeks ago – we’ll have a comprehensive report on the debutant tomorrow night.

Be sure to check in at 9pm! :D

218 Comments      

Perodua Myvi D54T previewed on Buletin Utama TV3

June 4, 2011 at 5:17 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Perodua

Buletin Utama’s Auto segment once again brings us a sneak preview of an upcoming local badged model before its launch. The last model previewed was the Proton Inspira, and this time we get to preview the 2011 Perodua Myvi D54T ahead of its launch this month.

We’ll feature some of the “key” images that was shown on TV after the jump. If you want to view the full episode yourself, you can watch it on Alt Media’s online video portal tonton.
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2011 Perodua Myvi spotted being trailered in the night

June 4, 2011 at 4:32 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Malaysian Makes, Perodua, Spyshots

We thought that yesterday’s posting of two lightly disguised Myvis would be the last of the new 2011 Myvi spyshots before the car’s launch this month, but it looks like we were wrong! Reader Syed Adam snapped a few photos of this trailer transporting a few units of the new 2011 Perodua Myvi without any disguise on them, although we can’t see much anyway as the photo was snapped at night.

I suppose that these Myvis are being trailered to dealerships across Malaysia. There should be many Perodua dealerships with the new Myvi in their compound by now, although I think with strict instructions for them to be covered up before the launch. That probably won’t stop the dealerships from lifting the covers a little if you’re a serious buyer that wants to place a booking though.

Look after the jump for four photos of the trailer.
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2011 Perodua Myvi – last of the spyshots before launch?

June 3, 2011 at 5:31 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Local News, Perodua

New photos of the upcoming 2011 Perodua Myvi have come about – two examples, in white, were snapped near the company’s home base in Sungai Choh, presumably carrying out some final evaluation exercises.

The photos are the clearest of the new car so far, and the cars are seen wearing very little disguise – at the front, the emblem and fog lamps are covered with white tape, likewise at the back, with the emblem and rear fog lamps getting the same treatment, and the rear lamps are covered with minor cladding.

Essentially, this should be the last set of spyshots of the Myvi, which should be launched into the market very soon, given that bookings for the car are officially set to begin tomorrow, which means the launch can’t be too far away!

Gallery after the jump.
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2011 Perodua Myvi – bookings open from June 4

May 31, 2011 at 7:38 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under 2011 Perodua Myvi, Cars, Local News, Perodua

It looks like the launch of the new 2011 Perodua Myvi is around the corner – the company sent an email stating that it will begin accepting bookings for the new car from this Saturday, June 4. Unfortunately, the press release that was supposed to be attached wasn’t there in the mail, so we can’t say what other info there is on the release.

The car itself has already been spotted many times – in disguised form – out on the road, so the shape of the new form isn’t a stranger. What remains to be seen is whether a 1.5 litre version will come about with the D54T, as initially mentioned months ago. Guess the answers to all will be revealed soon enough.

245 Comments