Archive for Rumours

[ UPDATE: The Perodua Viva has been launched! Click here for full details on specifications and pricing, as well as many clear photos of both exterior and interior! ]

I saw a teaser ad for the Perodua Viva, or Perodua D18D as it’s called by it’s codename on the Motor Trader main page. It’s the banner above that says “Looking for love?” If you click it, you’ll reach a flash page with the codename D18D in it’s URL address, and what you see is shown in the photo above. Basically it’s a small quiz thing aimed at getting a mailing list or something, which will be used for Perodua Viva launch updates perhaps?

Some journalists have already been to a media test drive somewhere, and with the appearance of these teaser ads, it means the Perodua Viva’s launch is coming soon.

Check out the Perodua D18D Looking for love teaser site.

[ UPDATE: The new 2007 Ford Ranger TDCi has been launched. Click here for more details. ]

Motor Trader has spyshots of the new Ford Ranger in Ford Malaysia’s holding bays at it’s plant in Shah Alam. This means the new Ford Ranger will be launched here soon to replace the current aging model that used to be the king of pick-up trucks in Malaysia, until the Japanese took over with the Mitsubishi Storm and later the Nissan Frontier.

As with most of the pick-up truck offerings here other than the Isuzu D-MAX, the variant offered here would most likely be the 2.5 liter turbodiesel. The DuraTORQ 2.5 liter DOHC turbodiesel uses a Variable Geometry Turbocharger with an intercooler, and common rail injection. Based on the Philippines specs, it makes 143hp at 3,500rpm and 330Nm of torque from 1,800rpm. The current pick-up horsepower king in Malaysia is the Mitsubishi Triton with a 136hp and 314Nm torque engine.

The gearbox options are either a 5-speed auto or a 5-speed manual, and if offered here should give it an edge over all the other pick-ups as it would be the only pick-up with a 5-speed auto, with the others only offering 4-speed units.

Check out the related post below for more details on the Thailand-spec new Ford Ranger. You can have a look at the new interior, which is refreshingly truck-like in a sea of pick-up trucks that try to sport car-like interiors. I believe a truck should be all truck - mean and macho!

Related Posts:
New Ford Ranger with 5-speed Auto in Thailand

Autobild says Mercedes Benz is currently working on a Mercedes Benz C400 to compete with the BMW 335i. Mercedes Benz’s current highest spec non-AMG C-class is the C350, which at 272hp and 350Nm is a step lower than the BMW 335’s colossal 306hp and 400Nm of torque over a nice, wide torque curve.

Taking the horsepower war one step above, it’s expected to make roughly 400 horsepower and might employ the use of forced induction, which is entering RS4 and M3 territory, and the AMG models will make even more power. But for the moment this is all just speculation from a German magazine, so we shall wait and see.

BMW is considering a new 4-door car with a coupe-like roofline, which will allow it to compete in the battlefield of 4-door coupes comprising of the Mercedes Benz CLS, future Audi A7, future Aston Martin Rapide, and future Porsche Panamera.

There are conflicting reports on what the name of the new 4-door coupe would be. Some say it will be known as the 8-Series, with model variants most likely being the 835i, 850i, and the M8. Others say it will be launched as a 6-series when it is time for the BMW 6-Series to receive an all-new model replacement, which will mean the future 6-series will be available in both 2-door and 4-door form.

Maserati is preparing a Spyder version of the new Maserati GranTurismo, essentially a short-wheel-based cabriolet of the car. It will make it’s public debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2007. Engine and transmission will likely be the same, and you’d be happy to know it will come with a proper automatic instead of a computer controlled manual clutch which is seen as some to be too unrefined for a luxury car.

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Lexus is rumoured to be developing a more track-oriented lightweight version of the Lexus IS-F, which is seen by some to be too tame to be a competitor to the Audi RS4 and the BMW M3. Obviously inspired by lightweight editions of it’s competitors like the M3 CSL, the new lightweight version is to be called the Lexus IS-F Evo, will use carbon fibre bodywork and have it’s interior stripped out. 0-100km/h acceleration times are expected to be under 5 seconds.

Porsche is planning a smaller SUV that will join the existing market filled up with the BMW X3 and the future Audi Q5, Infiniti EX35 and Volkswagen Tiguan, according to German magazine AutoZeitung. The new smaller Porsche SUV would likely share the same platform as the Q5/Tiguan, and carry over the Cayenne’s V6 and V8 engines. Let’s hope Porsche’s styling department can execute a small SUV styling better than it’s done with a large SUV. The Cayenne isn’t really the best looking SUV around.

It’s strange how we’ve come to accept that more and more sports car manufacturers are going all out to develop SUVs. I wonder why Land Rover, Hummer or Jeep hasn’t decided to build a high performance sports car.

Auto Motor und Sport carries this artist’s impression photoshop image of a possible Audi A3 cabriolet. Engine options will be similiar to the current A3, but will also introduce TSI models like the current 1.4 TSI and a new 140hp 1.2 TSI.

Even though Audi has a hard top auto folding convertible roof it can take from the Volkswagen Eos, it is likely to go with the traditional soft top option with the A3 Cabriolet. The Audi A3 Cabriolet is rumoured to make a debut in September at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show.

As luxurious and exclusive as Maybach is, it seems the buyers are not swayed by the other superluxury brands like Bentley and Rolls Royce, with trade estimates putting 2006 production at a paltry 280 units.

The Maybach 57 and 62 is estimated to sell 175 units a year by the year 2010, greatly overshadowed by Rolls Royce’s 3,000 cars and Bentley’s 10,000 cars.

DaimlerChrysler is going back to the engineering drawing boards with the Maybach brand, with possible new models including a Mercedes Ocean Drive Concept-like convertible Maybach as well as a Maybach SUV based on the Mercedes Benz GL (shown above). The Maybach GL SUV would be sold only in the US, and would be limited to a run of 1,500 units in total.

A Maybach based on the Mercedes Benz CLS is also being conceptualized, which would give Maybach it’s much needed mid-sized model.

Source

Audi officials have hinted of a convertible version of the sleek Audi A5 coupe that might hit the market next year. While Audi clearly has access to coupe-convertible technology, as Volkswagen has implemented it in it’s Volkswagen Eos coupe convertible, Audi says it is most likely that the Audi A5 convertible will be a soft top instead of having an automatic hard top.

A more hardcore performance version of the Audi S5 is also in the works, to be called the Audi RS5. The S5 to begin with is a performance A5, so that’s two levels of tune-up!