Archive for Cars

Volvo has updated the specifications for the Volvo S40 here in Malaysia. The 2.4 liter engine has been replaced by a 2.0 liter unit which is essentially the Duratec unit found in the Ford Focus and the Mazda 3 here in Malaysia. It makes 145 PS at 6,000rpm and 185Nm of torque at 4,500rpm.

But what’s most interesting is the fact that the engine is now mated to a Ford Powershift transmission, which is basically a 6-speed twin clutch transmission. This makes it the first locally assembled (CKD) twin clutch car in the country. Powershift is a development of Getrag Ford Transmissions GmbH, a 50:50 Ford and Getrag JV.

Like VW’s DSG, there are two versions of the Powershift transmission out there – one with wet clutches and another with dry clutches. The unit installed in the S40 is the wet clutch version. Generally dry clutch versions like Volkswagen’s 7-speed DSG (the 6-speed used a wet clutch) are more efficient and lighter because an oil bath is not necessary, Ford/Volvo says wet versions have reduced wear and tear and thus last longer. Ford will use its dry clutch version on smaller cars like the Fiesta.

A twin-clutch transmission basically means the gearbox works like a manual transmission but it has two clutches, one for the odd gears and one for the even gears. While the odd clutch is in 3rd gear and is currently the active gear selected, the even clutch pre-selects 4th gear, so that when the time comes to shift, the switchover is much faster and smoother – an almost continuous flow of power.

0 to 100km/h with manual transmission takes about 9.5 seconds in a 2.0 liter Volvo S40 which is really quite far from blazing. The Powershift model is rated at 9.8 seconds, just fractions of a second slower than a true blue manual. As for fuel consumption, the car is rated for 11.3 liter per 100km in the city, 6.4 liters per 100km on the highway, and 8.1 liters per 100km on combined usage.

Other than the engine change, this new S40 specification also adds dual xenon headlamps and the Blind-Spot Info System that notifies the driver (with a blinking light) of objects in the car’s blindspot zone, which personally I feel is a little too sensitive.

The new Volvo S40 2.0 Powershift retails for RM169,950.00 OTR without insurance, which just happens to be the exact same figure as the 2.4 liter model. But what you’re paying for the Powershift is actually just slightly more than the 2.4 by a couple of hundreds of ringgit. This is because the OTR without insurance price includes road tax, and the 2.0 model naturally has cheaper road tax at RM379.50 as opposed to the 2.4 liter model’s RM815.

Look after the jump for a PDF brochure and pricelist of the new car.

Click here to read the rest of Malaysian Volvo S40 updated with 2.0 liter engine and Powershift twin clutch transmission!

Nissan has launched facelift versions of the Latio hatchback and sedan in our neighbouring country of Thailand, where the two models are called the Tiida and Tiida Latio respectively. The facelift has already been out for quite sometime actually, on sale in its country of origin Japan and even Singapore.

Basically Nissan has found a grille that ‘works’ along the way of its various experimentation with styling and are now sticking the Nissan Murano’s grille onto pretty much everything they have. Edaran Tan Chong Motor has yet to do anything about its locally assembled Latio and Latio Sport here.

The front grille is differentiated between the sedan and hatchback by its colour – dark and light grey respectively. There is also a new front bumper design. Look after the jump for a gallery of nice images that Nissan Thailand sent over.

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I’ve managed to obtain photos that show a closer view of the new Proton Turbo engine that our King and Queen previewed at Lotus in the UK just a little more than a week ago. The photo doesn’t really tell us much but I think there are some details that have been revealed just by looking at the engine.

We get to see the top of the engine, the intake, as well as abit of the turbocharger peeking out from behind the block. The top of the engine looks slightly different from the Campro and Campro CPS engines. It looks more similiar to the Campro engine though because of the shape of the spark plug cover, but there are some minor differences in shapes. I’m not sure what the Campro IAFM looks like without the engine cover.

I’ve heard many times before that the new Proton Turbo engine will not have functions such as CPS which mean higher costs. Forced induction that is properly tuned can provide sufficient torque over a wide RPM spread thus you do not have to do funky things to improve airflow such as variable valve lift or timing. The turbocharged Campro engine that we saw in the Proton Exora Prestige earlier this year was also based on a regular Campro and not the Campro CPS.

Finally, I think we gotta also keep an open mind that this might not even be the production Campro Turbo engine in the first place. It may be just a bolt-on prototype similiar to the one in the Exora Prestige Turbo. But it sure is nice getting to see one part of what the Royal Family managed to see. After all, Proton is our national carmaker and whether you love them or hate them, I find that almost everyone wants to know everything about them!

Related Posts:
Proton Exora Turbo based on the Exora Prestige
Royal Family check out the Proton Campro Turbo Engine

Click here to read the rest of A closer view at the new Proton Turbo engine

The last time there was an update to the Auris and covered on this blog, the 1.4 liter model was replaced with the new Dual VVT-i 1.33 liter engine with auto start-stop capabilities. This happened just late last year.

Now it’s time for a mid-life facelift, with the Auris now featuring new headlamps, taillamps, bumper, grille, alloy wheels and hood design. That’s considered to be quite major considering a typical Toyota mid-life model change these days.

On the inside some materials have changed. The 1.8 liter engine has been upgraded to Dual VVT-i, and is mated to a CVT transmission with paddle shifts. So far the facelifted Auris has only been launched in Japan but expect the updates to roll out in Europe soon. No word yet about a facelift to the Toyota Blade, the Auris’s more premium counterpart in Japan with 2.4 and 3.5 liter engines.

Next up will probably come an update to the sedan variant of the Auris platform – the Corolla and Corolla Altis! But for now, look after the jump for a full gallery.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Auris gets facelifted in Japan

BMW has no competitor for the RS4 Avant as yet. I know there are customers out there that would definitely like an M3 Touring but I guess it’s just not enough for BMW. If you pick up copies of BMW Magazine or Performance BMW from the newstands you can sometimes see E46 Tourings turned into makeshift M3s. Each of the other 3-Series bodies have already received its M3 – the E90, E92, and the E93, but at least the E91 has a 335i, which can be chipped into an M3 contender.

Another option would be to get one of these babies – an “M3 Estate” custom-built from an E91 by Manhart Racing. It’s not exactly an M3 with a touring tail – the engine and transmission package in the engine bay is completely different as well and comes from the ‘older’ E60 M5. This means a big 5.0 liter high-revving V10 putting out 550 PS and BMW’s 7-speed single clutch SMG transmission. It’s already been pre-tuned with various bits and pieces from factory – a stainless steel quad-pipe exhaust, 200-cell racing catalysts, 6-pot front/4-pot rear Stoptech brakes, Bilstein PSS10 coilover suspension, etc.

The rear end of the car is typical E91 wagon (in these photos it is the pre-facelift version) but at the front, the whole unappealing pre-facelift E90 front-end has been replaced by the E92 coupe look, which is the same thing that BMW did with the E90 M3 Sedan anyway. You can buy one for €120,000, and of course converting your existing E91 is cheaper. But at the same time, an M5 Touring only costs under €100,000.

Click here to read the rest of Fancy a compact BMW wagon with a V10?

Alot are of the opinion that F1 technology rarely makes it into road cars because of the completely different way of doing things when it comes to racecars, but with F1’s budget cuts forcing components to last longer (i.e. more than just one race), R&D to improve durability can definitely benefit road car usage, or at least transmission maker Xtrac strongly thinks so.

Xtrac is a name that alot of you will probably be familiar with. They make the 4WD gearbox that goes into our Proton Satria Neo Super 2000 rally car. According to Xtrac’s chief metallurgist Steve Vanes, the latest specification of steel being required to significantly extend the life of a Formula One gearbox could be broadly applied to a wide range of vehicles to improve their driveline reliability and efficiency.

“From a cultural point of view the world of motorsport has changed considerably, and the costs and relevance of its technology to wider consumer markets has become more important. For example, the trend towards engine downsizing in road vehicles to improve fuel efficiency and reduce CO2 emissions can be complemented by the downsizing of transmissions, requiring the intervention of new technologies and manufacturing processes for stronger and more lightweight components,” says Vanes.

According to Vanes, the recent cost-cutting measures in F1 have lead to the development of a brand new specification of steel necessary to extend the service life of gears, shafts, bearings, dog rings, hubs, selector forks, final drives and other highly stressed driveline components. Vanes claims that until recently the typical life of a set of gears for a main shaft was approximately 350,000 cycles. To quantify the improvement that this new Xtrac steel development as the result of F1 R&D is an extension of typical service life to more than 2.5 million cycles.

Like wagons? Good. Like Mercedes-Benz wagons? Even better. And to top it all off, there’s some very nice European countryside greenery for those who have yet to make it for an Eurotrip. Here’s a nice promo footage clip of the estate-bodied W212 E-Class AMG in action. UPDATE: Added footage of regular wagon. Watch the clips after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of VIDEO: Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG Estate

Want a cheap “landaulet”? Get a Daihatsu Basket Concept when it goes into production. Right now it’s just a concept little lifestyle “K-truck” with a removable soft top over the rear seats. There’s even a little boot deck behind the rear seats for tools and stuff in case the Basket is used to carry stuff, like another tool commonly used by people with the same name, the common basket.

And then we also have this fridge on wheels that’s called the Daihatsu DecaDeca. There is no B-pillar and both the front and rear doors swing outwards towards the front and rear of the van respectively. And like most K-vehicles in Japan, it is powered by a 660cc engine. And it’s nice that both the DecaDeca and the Basket do have a certain family resemblance about them.

A delicious trio of the Volkswagen Scirocco, the Volkswagen Golf GTI Mk6 and the Volkswagen Passat CC are now listed on Volkswagen Malaysia’s website with specifications though there are no prices yet. I understand a preview of the Scirocco and the Passat CC (not sure about the Mk6) was done at Volkswagen showrooms a few weeks ago. According to sales advisors at Cartrade-ABT when they showcased their Abt-kitted cars a few weeks ago as well, the Scirocco is expected to go for around RM250k while the Mk6 GTI will be cheaper. But these are just preliminary prices and things may change.

Pininfarina is a name that has been heavily associated with Ferrari, but it’s going to have its own car soon. They are scheduled to introduce their new all-electric Bluecar in 2011.

The production Bluecar that was unveiled at this year’s Geneva Motor Show is a 5-door 4-seater compact MPV powered by a Lithium Polymer battery pack, which along with a supercapacity energy storage system can enable the car to deliver 250km of driving range. It would take a few hours to recharge the batteries (via a 230V power outlet) and Pininfarina revealed the batteries will have a life-span of 200,000 km. For once, a car manufacturer that’s honest about the lifespan of the battery they’re putting into their cars!

The Bluecar EV also has solar panels on the roof which can help recharge the batteries. The vehicle will be produced as part of a joint venture with French industrialist Vincent Bollore. Bollore may be interested in manufacturing his own batteries for the Bluecar in France. Regarding the matter, Pininfarina’s CEO, Silvio Pietro Agnori told Italian press, “Bollore is probably interested in providing the battery to the world, and we are interested in designing electric cars for other manufacturers.”