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Fiat 500L 5-door hatch coming soon, 7-seater on the way!

January 30, 2012 at 4:25 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Fiat, International News

Fiat’s reborn icon is about to grow in size. The popular retro styled 500 will get a five-door hatchback variant called 500L, L for large. Codenamed L-Zero, the supermini sized 500L will make its debut at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show.

Reports say that the 5dr’s front end is similar to the current 500, although the 500L will sit on a widened Punto platform. The 500L will be around 4,150 mm long, which is about 60 mm longer that the current three-door 500 hatch. European sales start in July, followed two months later by a seven-seat version that is around 10 mm longer than the five-seater.

Engine options will most probably include Fiat’s TwinAir turbocharged two-cylinder 900 cc engine (85 hp), a 1.4L petrol with 77 hp or 105 hp, as well as a 1.3L diesel with 75 hp or 95 hp.

The current Fiat Idea small MPV will be discontinued at the end of this year, and the 500L will fill that hole in Fiat’s European range. Continental rivals will include Citroen’s C3 Picasso, Ford’s B-Max and the MINI Countryman. The 500L will be built in Kragujevac, Serbia.

The modern Fiat 500 has been a success for the Italian brand, finding more than 770,000 new homes since 2007. Last year, Fiat sold over 195,000 units of the 500 worldwide, including 26,000 units in North America, a non-traditional market for small cars.

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Striking workers halt Indonesian production output

January 30, 2012 at 11:52 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News

It’s not just natural disasters that can halt production – over in Indonesia, Honda was one of the many Japanese companies forced to stop output last Friday when more than 10,000 workers demanding better wages blocked a major highway, the Nikkei reports.

Police say the workers took to the streets around industrial areas in Bekasi, some 30 km east of Jakarta, effectively closing a highway connecting Bekasi to the heart of the capital and Jakarta’s main port and international airport.

Virtually all companies located at Sumitomo Corporation’s East Jakarta Industrial Park were forced to idle plants when the strike hit. “Operations at 4,000 to 5,000 companies may have been affected,” a government spokesperson was quoted as saying.

Every year, local administrators in the country set minimum wages for each district and sector, and the West Java government decided this year on a 20-30% wage hike in Bekasi. The Indonesian employers association filed a complaint with an arbitration body, which on Thursday ruled for a review of the raise, sparking the massive protest, the report added.

Although management and labour are expected to keep negotiating, West Java is preparing to appeal to a higher body to revoke the ruling. A protracted dispute will have an impact on the supply chains of Japanese and other Asian manufacturers, many of which use Indonesia as an export hub. For example, the world’s number one manufacturer of optical pickups, Sanyo Electric, has its main factory for the key component, which is used in DVD players and the like, in Indonesia.

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F1: Lotus 2012 challenger to be called E20 – E for Enstone

January 30, 2012 at 11:28 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Formula 1, Lotus, Motorsports

Th Lotus F1 Team, formerly called Lotus Renault GP, has announced that its 2012 challenger will be named E20, a departure from the R tagged chassis names of the Renault team. Officially, the E20 name is to commemorate the 20th F1 chassis designed at the team’s base in Enstone, the team’s HQ since 1992. To be driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean for 2012, the E20 will be unveiled on 5 February on the team’s website.

“Our naming of the chassis to recognise Enstone’s importance to the team’s evolution highlights our recognition of the contribution of the facility and the personnel who work tirelessly every year to produce the very best car possible. We certainly hope that this is the case with the E20 and we are looking forward to revealing the car to the world and seeing it out on track for the first time,” said team boss Eric Boullier.

“There are a number of technical changes from last year and we have an exciting new driver line-up to extract the maximum from the E20 through the twenty Grands Prix of the 2012 season, including the 500th race for this team through its different incarnations. We hope that the E20 proves to be a performing Enstone design,” the Frenchman added.

Meanwhile, returning world champ Kimi Raikkonen is feeling positive after a two-day test at Valencia last week. It was quite a session for the Finn, as he returned to an F1 car’s cockpit for the first time in over two years.

“It went well today and overall the two days have been helped me a lot. Even though I was using a two year-old car and the Pirelli demo tyres, I learnt about working with the team and the engineers which means I can focus on the new car once we get to Jerez for the first official test. It was great to be driving an F1 car again and from that respect I feel very positive,” he said.

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Honda CR-Z “Label α” – burgundy coloured special edition

January 30, 2012 at 11:01 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Honda, International News

The Honda CR-Z has been rather well received in Malaysia. Launched in November last year, Honda Malaysia targeted to sell 100 units of the RM115k hybrid by the end of 2011, but has received over 300 bookings within a month of the launch.

In December, Honda Malaysia announced the availability of three new colours – Storm Silver Metallic, Milano Red and Crystal Black Pearl. This year will also see HM bring in a CVT version of the CR-Z, now only available with a six-speed manual gearbox. This will further widen the appeal of the hybrid coupe, which is now only considered by enthusiasts and those with an active left leg.

In Japan, those shopping for a CR-Z will have this special edition “Label α” model to choose from. It goes on sale this week and will be available as a limited release until the end of May. Nothing major, just bespoke burgundy pearl metallic finish on the outside with a matching interior color for the seats, door panels plus the stitching on the leather steering wheel and stick shifter.

The “Label α” also gets aluminum sport pedals and alloy wheels, the latter not standard across the range in Japan. Available in both CVT and manual form, it is priced at 2,510,000 yen (or about US$32,150) in Japan.

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Aston Martin V12 Zagato – first production car to debut in Kuwait Concours d’Elegance in February

January 30, 2012 at 10:59 am By Anthony Lim Filed Under Aston Martin, Cars, International News

Aston Martin is set to debut the first production V12 Zagato at the third Kuwait Concours d’ Elegance, which runs on February 15-18.

The car, which made its debut in prototype form in May last year at the Villa D’Este Concours in Italy, is being built in strictly limited numbers of up to 150 cars, with the first customer deliveries scheduled in late 2012.

The Zagato, based on the V12 Vantage, features a handcrafted aluminium and carbon-fibre body along with a bespoke interior, and is powered by a 6.0 litre V12 mill offering 510 hp and 570 Nm of torque.

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Reports: Volkswagen thinking of F1, to supply engines first

January 30, 2012 at 9:06 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Formula 1, Motorsports, Volkswagen

This is not something we’ve heard of the first time, but Volkswagen is considering joining Formula 1, according to a report from Germany. Apparently, VW’s motor sport representative Wolfgang Durheimer told prominent business mag Wirtschaftswoche that he has come up with a preliminary plan for the future, which includes F1.

“Later this year I will put forward proposals to the executive group for (involvement in) not only the racing series that we do already,” he said. “It is true, in America, Asia and the Middle East, we are not sufficiently represented in motor sport,” added Durheimer.

Wirtschaftswoche cited sources in saying the first step for VW in the premier four-wheel racing series is to be an engine supplier. The VW badge is already seen in F1, as the brand is linked commercially with the Red Bull rookie team Toro Rosso.

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Ford Fiesta facelift begins testing on public roads

January 30, 2012 at 8:54 am By Paul Tan Filed Under Cars, Ford, Spyshots

The latest Ford Fiesta was first introduced as the Verve concept in the second half of 2007, and went into production as the Fiesta in late 2008. Well, it’s 2012 now, which means it’s just about time for a mid-life facelift for the Fiesta, and we believe this set of photos that our European spy photo provider SB-MEDIEN managed to capture should be the facelifted Fiesta.

There’s not much changes on the rear of this particular test mule – everything looks identical to the current Fiesta on sale. But there seems to be big changes at the front as Ford has piled on the disguise pretty heavy. We can also spot daytime running lights installed in the headlamps, which also look slimmer. The engine hood is also different – it now has four creases on it for a more pronounced ‘nose’, instead of the current Fiesta’s engine hood which is flat.

All of these design cues are reflected on the Ford Fiesta ST Concept which made its debut at Frankfurt last year. The Fiesta ST Concept also had reshaped slimmer headlamps, and an engine hood similiar to that installed on this test mule.

It looks like those new design cues won’t be unique to the ST, as this test mule is definitely not an ST, as if you look into the detailed photos in the gallery below you’ll see that this test mule uses rear drum brakes, which points to a non-high performance Ford Fiesta.

Another interesting fact about this set of spyshots is a snap of the logbook inside the car, which reveals the engine under the hood – it says 1.0 GDI 80hp. This might be a three cylinder normally aspirated 1.0 liter petrol engine with direct injection technology.

A few other engines are planned for the Fiesta, like an EcoBoost version of the 3-pot 1.0 liter that makes either 100 PS or 125 PS in two different tunes. The 125 PS version will probably replace the current 1.6 liter Ti-VCT engine, while the 100 PS version would be a nice replacement for the 1.4 liter.

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On eBay: Barack Obama’s Chrysler 300C going for $1m

January 27, 2012 at 3:06 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Chrysler, International News

There’s only one reason for the presidential price tag on this 2005 Chrysler 300C – it was used by US President Barack Obama! Put up on eBay by one “cubfanatic23″ for US$1,000,000, this 300C was said to be used by Obama when he was Illinois State Senator, before he occupied the White House.

The seller says that he has the original Illinois title showing this Chrysler (VIN #:2C3AA63H55H174644) was actually used by Obama. The 300C was transferred to Obama on 13 July 2004 when the vehicle had two miles on it. He then put over 19,000 miles on the clock.

The seller presumes that the 19k miles included many highway miles back and forth from Chicago to Springfield. Obama won election to the US Senate in November 2004 and could have driven the car between Washington D.C. and Chicago in 2005/2006.

Apparently, Obama received negative media attention regarding his choice of car – a heavy drinking V8 Hemi machine. So the man boosted his green credentials and traded it in for a friendlier Ford Escape Hybrid in 2007.

Mr Seller reminds punters that this is not a joke, nor is the $1m asking price. He points out that President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s 1977 Peugeot 504 fetched £1.5million at an auction, and a 1975 Ford Escort GL once owned by Pope John Paul II sold for $690,000 to a Houston multimillionaire.

Interested? You have just over five days left to make a move! :)

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Mandatory jail term for reckless drivers being mulled

January 27, 2012 at 2:35 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News

According to reports, the government is considering enforcing a mandatory jail term for reckless drivers who cause deaths in road accidents, if it’s deemed that such a move can help reduce road accidents and fatality rates.

“If the jail term can reduce the percentage of fatalities on the road, then we have no choice. Educating and appealing alone does not seem to work,” Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters two days ago, in response to Road Safety Council member Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye’s proposal that the government impose such a move.

Lee had earlier issued the call for the mandatory jail sentence to be carried out after the 25th Ops Sikap saw a 63% increase in traffic summonses being issued compared to the previous operation.

Hishammuddin said that enforcement agencies and the government have tried their best to educate the public through awareness programmes and direct appeals, but the public’s attitude hadn’t changed, with the fatality rate increasing.

Meanwhile, in related news, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha said that there was no need to amend the Road Transport Act 1987 to carry out such a move, as the mandatory jail sentence for dangerous driving to the extent of causing death is already provided under the act, Bernama reports.

Kong said the existing provisions under the RTA for serious driving offences had a mandatory jail sentence provided, besides a fine. “The offences cover reckless driving that causes death, reckless and dangerous driving, unsafe and inconsiderate driving, and driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” he said.

He added that Section 41 of the act states that causing death by driving recklessly or dangerously carries a jail term of not less than two years and not more than 10 years, a fine of not less than RM5,000 and not more than RM10,000, in addition to offender’s driving licence suspended for not less than three years. Under Section 42, the offence of reckless and dangerous driving, but not causing death, carries a jail term of up to five years and a fine of between RM5,000 and RM15,000, the report adds.

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VIDEO: Toyota TS030 Hybrid LMP1 car driven on track

January 27, 2012 at 12:26 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Motorsports, Toyota, Videos

Earlier this week, we told you about Toyota’s return to endurance racing when the Japanese company unveiled its TS030 Hybrid challenger. Here’s a video of the hybrid racer seeing some track action at Paul Ricard in France. In the two and a half minute clip, TS030 gets off the mark with an unmistakable EV soundtrack, before more familiar racing noises come into play.

As a recap, the TS030 Hybrid is the successor to the TS010 and TS020 cars which participated at Le Mans with podium success during the 1990s. The new 4.65 metre car sits on a brand new carbonfibre LMP1 chassis that has been developed and produced at Toyota Motorsport GmbH.

It is powered by a THS-R (Toyota Hybrid System – Racing) powertrain consisting of an all-new 3.4-litre normally-aspirated petrol V8 and hybrid system, the latter featuring a capacitor storage system developed by official team partner Nisshinbo.

The front motor system is produced by Aisin AW, while the rear motor system is developed by Denso, with regulations limiting hybrid systems to recovering a maximum of 500 kJ between braking zones, whilst restricting deployment to only two wheels.

Click here to read all about it, and view the pics.

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