Advertisement

Audi R8 Limo – stretching the V10 to the limit

January 19, 2012 at 4:30 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Audi, Cars, International News

Fancy being chauffered around in a Audi R8? Well, you can if you happen to be in the UK sometime after summer this year. Specialist limousine service company Limo Broker has announced plans to create the world’s first R8 stretch limousine.

Work has already begun on the creation of the one-of-a-kind white example, under the guidance of Chris Wright from Carbonyte UK. Carbonyte UK, which is also responsible for the world’s only Ferrari limo, will work in conjunction with Limo Broker to create the vehicle, which is set to become the signature car for the Limo Broker brand.

There’s a rendered video which gives a 3D outline of the concept behind the limo, and an impression of how the finished stretched supercar will look like. The seating arrangement as displayed from the interior rendering looks pretty cool. So, anyone for a ride?

21 Comments      

Peugeot ends its Le Mans endurance racing programme

January 19, 2012 at 3:15 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under Motorsports, Peugeot

Racing, and winning, is good for the brand, but it takes up a lot of resources, which is not abundant in lean times. So many manufacturers have pulled the plug on racing recently, and this time it’s Peugeot announcing that it will end its endurance racing programme with immediate effect.

This means that Peugeot will cease to challenge Audi in sportscar racing, something the French manufacturer has been doing very well. Peugeot ran variants of its diesel 908 prototype in the famous Le Mans 24 Hours and the Le Mans series since 2007. The lion’s finest hour was the Le Mans victory in 2009. Last year, Peugeot won the inaugural Intercontinental Le Mans Cup title.

“This decision has been taken in the context of a difficult economic environment in Europe. Peugeot has chosen to concentrate resources on its sales performance in 2012,” Peugeot said in a statement yesterday.

Peugeot’s decision means that this year’s World Endurance Championship will be a lonely affair. Looking further ahead, Toyota has a new LMP1 programme and Porsche is set to join the sport.

15 Comments      


Saab selling off its Trollhattan museum vehicle displays

January 19, 2012 at 2:19 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, International News, Saab

According to a report, bankrupt Swedish automaker Saab is auctioning off its vehicles on display in its museum in Trollhattan. The company is selling the classic displays online, after failing to find a buyer for the entire collection. The collection is now closed except to serious bidders, with the cars available for viewing online.

Bidding on the vehicles closes tomorrow, UPI reported. A total of 131 vehicles are up for grabs, from the 1946 Ursaab, the first Saab ever produced, to modern prototypes. Also on the list are a blue and yellow 1960 racing Saab as well as a 1981 Turbo 900 “Silver Beast,” which was custom-equipped for James Bond, replete with bullet-proof windows and tires, tear-gas ducts and a “SAAB 007″ license plate.

6 Comments      

Castrol Malaysia brings you the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring: The Sequel – win the ultimate driving experience in a BMW M3 at the Nurburgring!

January 19, 2012 at 1:56 pm By Harvinder Sidhu Filed Under Advertorial, BMW, Cars, Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring, Local News

It is a new year and it is time for yet another exciting round of the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring! Just like the first edition last year, this sequel will see one lucky grand prize winner head to the legendary Nurburgring race track in Germany to enjoy the ultimate driving experience with the BMW M3, which uses Castrol EDGE with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology™.

Now engineered with Titanium Fluid Strength Technology™, the new and improved Castrol EDGE is the strongest and most advanced performance oil yet from Castrol. It is up to 40% stronger than a leading competitor and stronger for up to 35% longer. The new Castrol EDGE is able to withstand high pressures of up to 10,000 kg per square cm. That’s hard to picture, so try thinking of the pressure exerted by two elephants standing on top of a stiletto!

To take part in this 2- stage contest is pretty simple. All you need to do is to head to Castrol Malaysia’s Facebook page and click on the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring: The Sequel application. Here you will have to complete as many laps as possible in a virtual BMW M3, on a virtual Nurburgring! There is a trick to winning as well, enlisting your friend’s help on Facebook will help boost your distance. This simply means that the more you and your friends play, the higher your chance of winning.

There will also be Pit Stops during the virtual race where you will face three challenging questions. This stage of the contest which starts today, ends on 27th February 2012. From here, the Top 20 will get the chance to battle it out at the grounds of the MAEPS Motorsport Park in a BMW.

Here, the top 20 finalists will undergo a defensive driver training and battle it out in a BMW in the ultimate test of driving skills at the exclusive Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring event. We will select one grand prize winner who will get the opportunity to push a BMW M3 around all 72 corners at more than 200km/hour at the iconic Nurburgring track.

The 2nd place winner will get to enjoy the Castrol EDGE Experience Nurburgring at the comfort of his or her own home with a Castrol EDGE-branded Apiga AP1 Professional Racing Simulator Cockpit which comes complete with a steering wheel, pedals, Sony Playstation 3 console, Gran Turismo 5 and a 40-inch Sony Bravia television, cool huh!

The 3rd place winner will walk home with a Tag Heuer Kimi Raikkonen F1 watch while 4th and 5th places will get an iPhone 4S 16GB and a Microsoft Xbox Kinect 360 respectively. That’s not all folks! 6th to 10th places will walk home with a pair of Oakley Hijinx shades while 11th to 20th places will get an iPod Shuffle 2GB. Now that’s a lot of attractive prizes to be given away – if only we were eligible! Hurry up and show who’s the strongest before the contest ends!

1 Comment      

Nasim hands over Pug 308 Turbo to ‘Gimme More’ winner

January 19, 2012 at 1:11 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Peugeot

Lim Hui Min of Kuala Lumpur didn’t expect to be having two Peugeots in her household, but now she has. The owner of a 207 sedan now has an additional Pug, in this case a 308 Turbo, and she didn’t have to fork out a sen for it.

Lim was chosen ahead of 434 other Pug 207 owners as the winner of the Peugeot 207 Gimme More campaign, which sought to reward customers who purchased either a 207 or a 207SV during the campaign period, which ran from July to December last year.

Participants were required to answer three questions and complete a slogan describing what they like the most about the 207. A total of 50 winners were selected from the entries, with Lim bagging the grand prize. The following 20 winners received an iPad2 each, while the remaining 29 winners received exclusive Peugeot merchandise.

Local Pug boys Nasim recently handed over the car to Lim at a special handover ceremony at Peugeot Puchong. Speaking at the ceremony, Nasim COO Datuk Samson Anand George said that the campaign gave the company a chance to see just how creative its customers were in describing what they liked the most about the 207.

“It wasn’t easy picking the 50 winners and judging by the response we received, there are many proud 207 owners,” he said.

Lim’s winning entry was: “I love the Peugeot 207 because it brings back the joy of driving!”
The 33-year-old IT consultant, who purchased her 207 in September, said she came up with her slogan while in her car during heavy traffic.

“I was stuck in a jam and the idea came to my mind. I like the stability and smoothness of the 207. I didn’t think I would win, so it was a pleasant surprise,” she said. Despite winning the 308 Turbo, Lim said she will continue to drive her 207 while her husband will use their brand new ride.

9 Comments      

Proton P3-21A Tuah spotted on carrier along the Guthrie

January 19, 2012 at 1:08 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Local News, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Reader Iwan spotted what looks to be a Proton P3-21A being transported along the Guthrie Corridor Expressway earlier today. Nothing much to reveal, since it’s under wraps, but the car cover is thin enough to offer an outline of the vehicle, which seems to be wearing less disguise and cladding save white masking points at the rear, door panels and headlamp area. In any case, expect the car to be spotted more in the coming future …

115 Comments      

Malaysia in discussions with automakers about making the country a hybrid and EV assembly/distribution point

January 19, 2012 at 12:11 pm By Anthony Lim Filed Under Cars, Hybrids and Alternative Fuel, Local News

The Malaysian government is in the midst of discussions with foreign automakers for the latter to set up electric and hybrid vehicle assembly and distribution points here, Bernama reports.

Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, who made the announcement, said that the discussion is at several stages, adding that the government will wait for the respective companies to make the announcement.

“The manufacturers are from many countries, but I cannot reveal the details for now. Some are serious, and some want to think about the idea,” he told reporters at the launch of the BMW Vision Efficient Dynamics Showcase in KL on Wednesday.

Mukhriz said the plans are in line with the government’s aspiration to transform Malaysia into an electric and hybrid vehicle hub in the region, and also said that Malaysia is trying to look at it from the standpoint of the Asean market rather than just the local market alone.

He added that the government is also talking to several automotive parts and component makers to establish plants here.

“We understand also that there are a number of different components in the car manufacturing industry, including in the hybrid business. So once we are talking wih the automotive sector, we are also talking to the parts and components suppliers to convince them to look at Malaysia as a serious destination for their investment, while at the same time supporting the industry as a whole,” he said.

24 Comments      

F20 BMW 135i M Sports 3-door hatchback spied!

January 18, 2012 at 6:23 pm By Paul Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Spyshots

We’ve already seen patent filing drawings of the 3-door version of the new F20 1-Series, so this isn’t really much of a surprise, but here are spyshots of the 3-door BMW 1-Series from our usual European spyshot contributor SB-Medien.

The model here is said to be a 135i, and its equipped with the F20′s M-Sport package. The 135i with nearly 320 horsepower to the rear wheels will be the hottest 1-Series hatchback as of now because we don’t know if BMW is planning a 1 M for the hatches or not.

12 Comments      

BMW Group Malaysia achieves record sales in 2011, ActiveHybrid models to make local debut this year

January 18, 2012 at 3:41 pm By Danny Tan Filed Under BMW, Cars, Local News

BMW Group Malaysia, in a press briefing this morning, announced that 2011 was a record breaking year for them in terms of sales. The company sold a total of 5,604 vehicles last year, consisting of 5,003 BMWs, 301 MINIs and 300 Motorrad bikes. This surpasses the sales figure of 2010 by 24%, making Malaysia one of the fastest growing markets in the entire BMW Group network.

At the event this morning at Pavilion KL, Briscoe, together with Deputy Minister of International Trade and Industry, Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir, unveiled the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics Concept Car, which will be on show at the posh mall till this Sunday. The futuristic concept car is featured in Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, where it is driven by saviour of the world Ethan Hunt, played by Tom Cruise.

The BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is quite a sight, but it’s not coming to your neighbourhood BMW showroom anytime soon. What is coming are BMW’s ActiveHybrid models, in F30 3-Series and F10 5-Series form, sometime this year. But don’t expect cut price BMWs – these models are powered by 3.0-litre turbo engines, and will not enjoy the tax breaks given to hybrids from Toyota and Honda.

If you didn’t know, BMW’s ActiveHybrid models aren’t all out eco cars, they pack in plenty of performance. We’ve covered them it detail already – click here and here for more on the ActiveHybrid 3 and ActiveHybrid 5. We’ve also driven the ActiveHybrid 7, click here to read the review.

Hybrids aside, BMW Group Malaysia is without doubt the biggest proponent of diesel engines in Malaysia, and it will continue to bring in ‘d’ models. They say that diesels now account for 15-20% of total sales in Malaysia, which is encouraging, but to increase that number, the company is hoping that the Government will do its part in this matter.

“The Malaysian government’s long stated intention of introducing Euro IV spec for fuel for instance is a critical step towards the country’s evolution into an actual green tech advocate, and it’s our hope that greater emphasis will be given towards the alternative engine technologies that are readily available today in the discussion of the second review of the National Automotive Policy scheduled for this year,” said Geoffrey Briscoe, MD of BMW Group Malaysia.

“It is vital that while we pursue new alternatives to achieve sustainability, attention is also given to improve on existing tech such as Advanced Petrol and Diesel engines which run on the lower sulphur content Euro IV spec fuel, as well as the introduction of incentives for all hybrid tech including those for hybrid vehicles above 2,000 cc, as these engines can prove to be more efficient than their smaller counterparts,” urged Briscoe.

If this wish list comes true, BMW won’t be the only party benefiting, but Malaysian car buyers as well.

10 Comments      

Reports: DRB-Hicom to cut Proton’s costs, review Lotus

January 18, 2012 at 9:10 am By Danny Tan Filed Under Cars, Local News, Lotus, Malaysian Makes, Proton

Now that DRB-Hicom is in control of Proton, what’s in store for the national carmaker? A report by Business Times details the changes that will happen in terms of cost cutting and efficiency, trimming “excess fat” currently carried by Proton. The reporter quoted unnamed “sources close to the deal”.

For starters, no large scale staff retrenchment is expected, although some changes in the top management are predicted to happen. DRB-HICOM wants to turn Proton into a serious regional player within three years, before becoming a global player two years from that point. The conglomerate will also strengthen Proton’s vendor and dealer network, while improving staff skills by leveraging on its International College of Automotive (ICAM) in Pahang.

“There will be zero lay-off as the immediate focus is on the low-hanging fruits at Proton. The group will trim any excess fat in product planning, consultancy contracts and third-party service providers, among others,” their sources said.

An example is the storage of Proton cars at a third-party site in Sijangkang, Selangor. “The group does not think it is necessary to farm out this logistic service as Proton cars can be distributed to dealers and branches efficiently by using a good IT infrastructure. A lot of money can be saved from this,” they added.

When it comes to costs, Lotus is sure to crop up. Now that DRB-Hicom is in control, what is in store for Proton’s sports car subsidiary? The British brand is currently in a cost consuming revamp from niche specialist sports car maker to a Porsche challenging brand, led by CEO Dany Bahar, who is fresh from signing a four-year contract last month.

“If Lotus continues to ride on Proton, it will be cancerous, it will be like a parasite. Hence, it requires a review so that it can stand alone and be successful, perhaps like what Audi is to its parent Volkswagen AG,” BT’s sources said, adding that the review will focus on Lotus’ involvement in motorsports sponsorships, especially in F1.

If this report is accurate, there is sure to be plenty of boardroom battles in Proton, in the near future.

168 Comments