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F10 BMW M5 to offers KERS boost system?

June 24, 2009 at 2:02 am By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars

BMW LogoWhen BMW first announced that the BMW Sauber F1 team would be implementing electric KERS, they had this to say: “The BMW Group can transfer the knowledge gained within the BMW Sauber F1 Team directly into the development of standard production vehicles. This makes Formula One the ideal pre-development platform for innovative drive technologies.”

And it looks like it really happened after all! It seems that the next generation F10 BMW M5 will have a type of KERS system! Scott27, a BMW insider of sorts on the German Car Zone forums has revealed that the final engine to be slotted into the next generation F10 BMW M5 has not quite been decided yet. But what is confirmed is a kind of KERS system that will be exclusive to the M5. It will forge a big link between BMW M and BMW’s EfficientDynamics program because it will be taking what is essentially wasted energy but recycling it and turning it into power.

As BMW’s F1 cars uses a electric implementation of KERS, the BMW M5′s KERS system will likely use Brake Energy Regeneration to recover energy and store it via some kind of battery of supercapacitor system. This energy can then power a high-powered motor that can boost up power by a certain amount for a few seconds.

The F1 car’s KERS system weighs under 40kg and stores enough energy under braking for 60kW of output for 6.5 seconds. BMW picked an electric KERS system instead of a mechanical (flywheel-based) or a hydraulic system (abandoned) likely because it was already using similiar technology in the EfficientDynamics program and it would be easier to transfer the knowledge gained to production road cars.

Back to the engine – there are two engine options being evaluated right now. One is very likely some form of tuned up version of the same M TwinPower Turbo V8 engine in the X5 M and X6 M, but the other is something a little more exciting than that, though it was not revealed towards which option management is leaning towards.

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Challenging Spirit: Honda and Motorsports

June 24, 2009 at 1:04 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, Motorsports

Honda has always been associated with motorsports, ever since from day one with their founder Soichiro Honda. It began with Mr Honda heeding the call to compete in the Isle of Man TT races. It was a classic “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” case for Honda, and a real need in the face of looming bankruptcy because the Juno scooter flopped.

It had many issues – it had reliability issues and was too heavy, thus making it underpowered. Honda needed to sell bikes to get sales on the move again, and motorsports was one way to get the brand out there. The Tourist Trophy race program on the Isle of Man was Soichiro Honda’s choice of platform to showcase his race bikes. It took him 5 years for the first Hondas to race on the island, and 2 years later, Honda bikes won the Tourist Trophy category that they were racing in!

Honda F1

It’s a shame that they had to pull out of F1 at the moment due to the high costs associated. But I believe that it’s only something temporary, as Honda has been in and out of F1 before. They’ve been involved in F1 way back – since the 1960s, and they even won a race in 1965, just one year after they joined. And that amazing chassis that’s contributing to Brawn GP’s success now is the result of Honda F1 engineer development.

Even if they are not in F1 (they could possibly join the FOTA’s new Grand Prix Racing though?), they are still heavily involved in many other types of motorsports, both bikes and cars. Many of the technologies gained through racing R&D have been channeled into their road cars and bikes. Amongst many other races, in Malaysia, a factory team never fails to join the MME endurance race every year, and it races an NSX in the Super GT race.

VIDEO: Honda Motorsports “Reasons to Exist” – MME 2008

Their MME team is manned by Honda Malaysia staff and it helps them build team spirit, not to mention the knowledge and experience they gain under Mugen when building the race car. This is another way that motorsports can help a car company.

Honda NSX-GT

The Honda NSX-GT was in Malaysia during the weekend. It’s a race car based on the NSX, or the Honda New Sports eXperimental, a rear wheel drive, mid-engine mounted sports car powered by either a 3.0 litre or 3.2 litre V6 VTEC engine.

The NSX-R GT came much later as a response to the requirements of Super GT car requiring production car homologation. It was limited to a production run of only 5 cars to comply with JGTC rules. The NSX production car sales halted in 2005 to make way for a new V10 supercar (which was later put on hold around the same time as Honda pulling out of F1), but the NSX GT cars continued racing in the Super GT.

Honda NSX-GT
EPSON Nakajima Racing team is geared up to start

The Honda NSX Super GT car races in the GT500 class and runs a tuned up C32B engine, with displacement increased from 3.2 litres to various figures depending year to year. It was 3494cc in 2008 but this year lower at 3,396cc, but they all put out a rated 500 PS. There are even years where a force inducted 3.0 litre was used. The race car has evolved significantly since the road car, even down to the fact that the engine is now mounted longitudinally instead of transverse as per the road car.

VIDEO: Honda NSX GT car on-board cam at Fuji

In the GT500 race during the Sepang leg of the Japan Super GT last weekend, the NSX took 2nd (Keihin NSX) and 3rd place (ARTA NSX) after a Nissan GT-R, which very competitive considering that some might consider it an old chassis. Fourth position also went to the Raybrig NSX, with HIS Advan Kondo’s GT-R trailing it at 5th place.

Honda is currently having a competition called “Our Challenging Spirit” contest where you can basically nominate your friend with a Honda and Honda Racing-liked value (there are two – Passion and Dedication) and a reason for why you think your friend encompasses the spirit of Passion or Dedication, in under 300 words. You have to upload a picture of the person you are nominating.

Honda Contest

Then you also have to fill up a slogan (example of Challenging Spirit) of not more than 100 words. Winners will be chosen based on both reasons for nomination and the required slogan. You can follow updates on the competition and Honda Racing updates at the Honda Racing Malaysia Facebook page. Go on, join and become a fan, I have!

If you any favorite nominee you noticed, do let us know in the comments so we can go check the nominee out together!
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Proton Edar Drive for Cash: RM50k Grand Prize!

June 23, 2009 at 11:22 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Drive For Cash

Good news for anyone who plans to buy a Proton in the next two months. Proton Edar is currently having a contest where anyone who buys a Proton from between the 1st of June 2009 to the 31st of August 2009 will be able to be eligible for entry. What you need to do is answer a few pre-determined questions (should be easy) and complete a slogan of less than 20 words beginning with “I prefer a PROTON because…”

Every week, 30 entries will be selected from the entries received during that week. Out of this 30 entries, 17 will be selected as weekly winners for the week, while the remainder will be entered into a monthly pool to win the monthly winner prizes. Out of the 17 weekly winners, 2 will win RM5,000 each, while the rest will win a Proton GPS navigation unit.

Next we go to the monthly pool. There should be about 13 entries every week (30 minus 17), and with roughly 4 weeks a month you should have 52 entries each month. From this monthly pool, a number of entries will be selected. One entry from the monthly selection will win the monthly prize of RM20,000, while the rest goes into a Grand Prize pool, which will be picked at the end of the contest. The Grand Prize is RM50,000 cash.

The prizes will be awarded based on the number of correct answers and the best creative slogan based on Proton Edar Sdn Bhd’s panel of judges.

So as a recap of the prizes:

Weekly selection 2 x RM5000.00
Weekly 15 consolation x GPS System
Monthly selection 1 x RM20,000.00
Grand Prize 1 x RM50,000.00

Click here for more details on the contest.

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Gallery: Sights at the Toyota Automobile Museum

June 23, 2009 at 10:48 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Toyota

Toyota Auto Museum

The Toyota Automobile Museum in Nagoya was built by the Japanese car company to commemorate the history of the automobile. It isn’t just a building full of Toyota cars – it’s full of cars from as early as 1902! Interestingly the 1902 car is the Baker Electric, which had a 1 horsepower electric motor and took it up to 40km/h.

There is also a charcoal gas-powered Buick replica which was quite interesting to check out. It started off as a regular 1937 Buick but was converted to use charcoal, as per the norm back during the days of World War II in Japan. Import of petrol into the country was restricted and many cars were converted into alternative energy cars powered by charcoal gas, wood gas, natural gas, etc.

There’s a whole list of cars on display here. Look after the jump for a whole live photo gallery of the museum.
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Lotus considering to produce a new Esprit?

June 23, 2009 at 12:43 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Lotus

British-based sports car maker Lotus, is rumored to resurrect the Esprit sports car, which was first produced back in 1976 and starred in the 1977 Bond movie, The Spy Who Loved Me along side Roger Moore. Apparently, the new Esprit would go head to head with the Audi R8.

If there is any truth behind the rumor, expect the new model to feature a Toyota-sourced mid-mounted V8 motivator. The Esprit would also be bigger, both in terms of length and width, than the recently launched Lotus Evora.

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Euro-spec Mugen Honda Civic Type-R: first images

June 23, 2009 at 12:31 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Honda

First two images of the Euro-spec Mugen Honda Civic Type-R have been released onto the Internet. The new Type-R features a 4-cylinder 2.0 litre i-VTEC powerplant that is expected to produce up to 240HP. The front wheel drive hot hatch is also expected to offered with a 6-speed manual transmission.

On the outside, the Mugen Honda Civic Type-R comes with new front and rear bumpers, blacked out front grille, wider fenders, a new hood with twin-scoops, redesigned sideskirts, a rear diffuser as well as a dual exhaust system. The new Mugen Honda Civic Type-R is expected to be priced anywhere between €40,000 and €50,000. Continue reading to view another image.
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Citroen to launch production DS3 in Frankfurt, DS4 and DS5 models to arrive in 2011

June 23, 2009 at 10:44 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Citroën, Concept Cars

Words are being exchanged that French auto maker Citroen, will unveil the production version of the DS3 three-door as early as September this year, at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The production DS3 will be inspired by the DS Inside Concept which was showcased at this year’s motor event in Geneva. A number of design elements will be carried over into production, and rumor has it that the vinyl roof option may be offered as well.

According to Autocar, Citroen also revealed that both the DS4 and DS5 models will arrive in 2011, as 2012 models. The DS4 would be a coupe-ish MPV with a crossover touch, that will be based on the C-Sportlounge Concept, first shown in 2005.

The DS5 on the other hand is expected to compete with the BMW X6, but with a cheaper price tag as one of it’s benefits over the German offering. The DS5 will be based on the Hypnos Concept, showcased in Paris last year. It is expected to be powered by, among others, a diesel-hybrid engine. The DS range, including all the above mentioned vehicles will be part of Citroen’s new up market vehicle line up.

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Electric smart fortwo to enter small series production after positive trial

June 23, 2009 at 9:48 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, smart

Smart Electric Drive

Daimler has confirmed that it will put the smart fortwo electric drive into small series production after a successful 100 car UK trial involving the Metropolitan Police, universities, local councils, architects and energy companies. The trial involved select customers leasing the vehicle for 4 years at a monthly cost of £375.

The smart fortwo electric drive is powered by a 30kW electric motor built by Zytek. It runs on a single gear transmission and smart claims that cost-wise, it is able to achieve the equivalent of 300mpg. You charge it via a regular 3-pin plug as it has its own own-board charger. 0 to 60km/h takes 6.5 seconds, which isn’t very sluggy at all actually but because it only has a single gear ratio, top speed is limited to more or less 100km/h.

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Iacocca Silver Mustang celebrates 45th anniversary

June 23, 2009 at 2:03 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford

Silver Mustang

Lee Iacocca’s name may pop up more frequently these days in Chrysler-related matters, but it’s clear his heart still lies with the other one-third of the Detroit Three – Ford. Iacocca, designer Michael Leone and California-based coachbuilder Gaffoglio Family Metalcrafters have came up with this Iacocca Silver Mustang, limited to a 45 unit production run.

At first sight you may notice a ilttle difference – this is more than just a kitted up Mustang. Its actually a whole new custom made body installed ontop of the 2010 Mustang chassis. It’s the most obvious from the side profile – the roofline is alot more like a fastback, rather than the 2010 Mustang’s rear section which has a more prominent boot.

Two engine options are available – a 320hp 4.6 litre V8 (up 20 horses from the standard V8 Mustang, let’s not talk about the V6 Mustang), or a supercharged version of the same engine putting out 400 horsepower. The engines are available exclusively with a 5-speed manual for these cars.

And why a Mustang? He was deeply involved in the production of the first Ford Mustang, which was launched in 1964. It so happens that 1964 is also the same year he became president of Ford’s Ford Division (yes it sounds weird, but as opposed to Ford’s other brands) after joining Ford way earlier in 1946.

Look after the jump for more pix of the Iacocca Mustang.
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Opel reveals the interior of its 2010 Astra

June 22, 2009 at 10:39 am By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Cars, Opel, Vauxhall

German-based and General Motors-owned auto maker Opel, has released interior shots of its 2010 Astra, ahead of its official launch at this year’s auto show in Frankfurt. The sixth generation Opel Astra, which will also be sold under the Vauxhall brand name features a fresh interior that not only looks good, but one that is functional as well.

Design wise, the interior is treated to, among others, red ambient lighting (from above the centre console and within the door handle recesses), a four-gauge instrument panel with chrome outline on each gauge plus an LCD trip display and soft-touch surfaces. The auto maker assured that the interior offers a high-quality ‘feel’ with the materials used, as well as with tactility offered by the buttons and switches.

With the lack of storage areas in the previous model acknowledged as a problem, the new one comes with various storage solutions, including a sun glass case inserted above the door opening on the driver’s side, pen holders, a two-part glove box, under-seat drawer (for passenger seat), centre console with a 9-CD holding capacity and more.

Featuring a platform that is also used in the Chevrolet Cruze, the new Astra is expected to be offered with a number of engine options including a base 1.4 litre normally aspirated petrol, a 120HP – 140HP with 175Nm – 200Nm of torque 1.4 litre Turbo as well as a 180HP 1.6 litre Turbo that is carried over from the Insignia. There will also be a few turbo diesel engines including a 1.3 litre, a 1.7 litre as well as a 2.0 litre version. Continue reading to view an image gallery.
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