BMW launched the M version of the 6-series in the UK – the BMW M6, powered by the same venerable 5 liter V10 engine found in the ultimate luxury sports sedan – the BMW M5. More details are available after the jump. Click here to read the rest of BMW M6 with 5.0 liter V10
Seeing that the post on the highway speed limit was quite hot, let’s have a look at the German Autobahn.
The Autobahns are a series of highways in Germany, though there are some Autobahn-class highways in other countries too, like Austria and Switzerland. The highways are labelled with the capital letter A, followed by a two digit number. Click here to read the rest of The Autobahn
The automotive industry and the blogosphere has been fused with GM launching it’s new FastLane blog.
GM says it’s FastLane blog is all about GM’s cars and trucks. GM also has another blog called the Smallblock engine blog, to celebrate Chevrolet’s successful small-block engine’s 50th birthday.
The blog is written by GM vice chairman Bob Lutz. You can read him ‘defend’ some decisions the GM board made which to most people don’t make sense and could be the final nail in the coffin for the company’s dwindling sales.
Let’s have a look at crash test results again shall we. These tests were done by the American Insurance Institute For Highway Safety (IIHS), an independent, nonprofit, scientific and educational organization dedicated to reducing the losses from crashes in the US.
Let’s have a look at crash test results for two very different vehicles – a 2002 designed Mini Cooper and a 1997 designed Ford F-150 large pickup, which has not been redesigned until recently last year. Click here to read the rest of Mini Cooper vs Ford F-150 Crash Test
Those who hoped proposal to raise the highway speed limits to 120km/h are in for a disappointment, as Minister of Works Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said the government had rejected the proposal and will not entertain anymore proposals on the speed limit as it is final.
The Cabinet had earlier agreed to the proposal to raise the speed limit, but rethought it’s decision due to high accident rates.
Earlier this month, the Transport Ministry released the list of speed-trap camera spots in effort to reduce accidents during the balik kampung season.
These speed trap cameras are installed along accident prone areas. While this move is very unorthodox, it has it’s purpose.
If the drivers know these high-risk areas have speed traps, they will slow down and thus the accident rates will go down. Excellent reason, shows that the government is focusing on lowering death tolls during the balik kampung season rather than collecting revenue from speed summons.
The Edge reported on Monday that Proton Holdings Bhd is exploring partnership options with other automers including Mitsubishi Motors Corp of Japan. Talks between Proton and Volkswagen AG seems to have run into difficulty.
It’s interesting to hear that Mitsubishi has popped up among the possible partners that are Volkswagen AG and Hyundai (well, mainly through Sime Darby). Proton had a 20 year old relationship with Mitsubishi which broke down. Mitsubishi disposed it’s entire 16% stake in Proton, most of which were picked up by Khazanah Nasional, which holds 42.7% of Proton shares now.
The Mitsubishi-Proton partnership was deemed a failure because of the lack of technology transfer. What would be different about it this time? Does NAZA and Peugeot’s partnership on the Peugeot 206 involve technology transfer? It’s an outgoing model after all, due to be replaced with the Peugeot 207.
If talks with Volkswagen really break down, we may not see the proposed use of Volkswagen’s Sharan and Passat platforms for Proton’s new MPV and Perdana replacement model.
Whatever the result, everything has just been speculations so far from industry sources. We eagerly await solid outcomes with official announcements.
I got my GReddy E-Manage installed today at N1 Racing in Sunway. I managed to get the last unit. I was actually aiming for the second hand unit but someone had bought it already. So I got a brand new one. Click here to read the rest of My dyno tuning experience
Mitsubishi Motors and Smart gmbh have signed an agreement where Mitsubishi will supply its next generation normally aspirated and turbocharged small-capacity engines to smart to be used in the successor to the Smart Fortwo model due in 2007.
This same engine will be used in the Mitsubishi i minicar. The Mitsubishi i will be available in January 2006. The engines will be produced at Mitsubishi’s engine plant in Mizushima. According to spec sheets of the concept, it’s powered by a 3-cylinder turbocharged MIVEC engine, so likely that and a normally aspirated version would be supplied to smart.
This deal will help ailing Mitsubishi Motors Corporation realize better economies of scale for the new minicar engine series, lowering costs per unit.
Sorry for the hiatus.
I have been busy with my car. My Proton Satria 1.6 went through a ‘heart surgery’ after overheating problems screwed up the engine head. Something happened to the radiator fan while the car was running in a parking lot. The radiator fan did not spin, so the engine overheated. Ever since, the engine had been burning up lubricant and the radiator wasn’t doing it’s job. Top gasket gone case.
I had it’s 4G92P block and head replaced with a 4G93 single cam. It was a pretty cheap conversion, less than RM2000. The 4G93 SOHC makes much less horsepower than the 4G93 DOHC found in the Putra and Satria GTi but it’s torque was nearly the same, and comes in at a much lower RPM, common trait for a single cam engine. I figured that would be better for the traffic jam and city driving that I always go through, plus it was much cheaper as the engine was not really in demand.
I re-used my 1.6 injectors and ECU in the beginning but discovered the air fuel ratio was too lean. Not enough fuel getting into the combustion chamber so it was knocking whenever I pushed the accelerator pedal more than quarter depth.
Had the 1.6 injectors which were 180cc swapped with 1.8 SOHC injectors which are 210cc. Seems the 4G91 DOHC which is a 1.5 engine and the 4G93 SOHC has the same size 210cc injectors. I heard the 4G93 DOHC uses 240cc injectors.
It was a bit better but knocking was still present. I’m currently deciding whether to go for an ECU rechip flashed to 4G93 SOHC fuel mapping or go for a piggyback engine management solution.
Looks like Karamjit’s plight had reached the cabinet, thanks mostly to Malay Mail’s efforts. Our PM Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi raised the matter of Karamjit Singh’s lack of sponsorship to continue rallying at the cabinet on Wednesday. He asked, “If Karamjit is a Malaysian and has been producing results and bringing honour to the country, why has support not been accorded to him?”
Karamjit was slapped a RM46,000 (10,000 Euro) fine by FIA after he pulled out of the World Rally Championship due to lack of funds to run the races. He also needs RM57,000 to ship his car back from New Zealand. He is currently in the process of finalising the sale of his apartment to pay for the fine and the transport fees if there are no sponsors in the next few days.
Karamjit said he is touched by offers to set up funds to raise money for him to race, but he will not use public or Sports Ministry funds to race as he believes there are enough big corporations in Malaysia who can sponsor him. Otherwise, he will race for another country next year.
Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman Said said that the government will do whatever they can to assist. She mentioned there are several possibilities to help Karamjit continue racing and those options are being explored before a decision will be made.
Sources: Malay Mail 1, 2, 3
Related blog posts:
Why can’t Karamjit Singh secure sponsorship?
Karamjit will not be able to defend APRC title
