Paul Tan on the Automotive Industry
Here’s another leaked shot of the soon to be launched Proton P3-21A, posted over at funtasticko. Don’t mind the slightly misaligned bootlid, it’s probably because the boot was not shut properly. The horizontal strip running across the bootlid is similiar to the one found on the Proton Exora – although it’s body coloured here, perhaps like the Exora it will be finished in chrome on high end models. What do you think of the design so far? It’s quite a departure from the Proton Tuah Concept eh?
Yours truly was in Shah Alam yesterday when this camouflaged truck came into sight. It was heading towards the Guthrie Expressway, so I stopped at a petrol station to swap seats with my passenger. Camera out and ready, I realised that the “mystery truck” in question is the new Ford Ranger.
Covered in black and white swirl patterns to confuse and distract, we can still see the outline of the Blue Oval logo on the tailgate. In any case, the three square tail lamp design is a giveaway, and looking at the large size of the thing, it can’t possibly be any of the one-tonne pick-up trucks on sale today.
On the Guthrie, we overtook the truck for the side profile and front views you see here. And the front shots confirm that it is indeed the Ranger T6.
Recently, we saw a video of a blue new Ranger towing all its rivals, and now this. Looks like the second quarter 2012 local launch of the new truck is right on track. We will be getting the new 150 hp/375 Nm 2.2-litre engine, paired to either a six-speed manual or six-speed automatic gearbox.
The range topping 3.2-litre Wildtrack model is not yet confirmed for now, but we think it’s a matter of time before the fully decked out “ultimate Ranger” hits town.
We have been previously told that the 2.2L Ranger will be competitively priced against rivals, and not far away from the outgoing Ranger. At launch, only the dual-cab XLT will be offered; other cab styles and the XL will come later. The Wildtrak model, if brought in, will be priced to match the Hilux 3.0 and Triton 3.2, despite boasting a longer kit list.
We’ve driven the new Ranger in Thailand already, and think that it’s a truck worth waiting for. Watch out for the test drive report!
Remember the yellow Proton P3-21A that showed the upcoming sedan’s face uncovered? It looks like a partial rear shot of that car has been circulating online, showing us the tail lamps without any masking. Even as we analyse it, bear in mind that this may or may not be the final production design.
Shown at funtastickodesign, the lone image shows a rear lamp cluster that’s unlike the wraparound old Subaru Legacy style rear design of the Tuah concept, so perhaps Proton is looking at a more contemporary look. The edges look a bit sharp and abrupt, though.
We can see that there’s a chrome bar visually linking the two sides of the tail lamps, like how Jaguar does it for the XF.
What we see here is also consistent with what’s visible from the masked test mules running around – full red with a clear strip running in the middle, with part of the lamp extended into the boot lid.
Do you prefer this or the rear end look of the Tuah concept?
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.
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.
The previous gen Suzuki Swift, which is still current in Malaysia, spawned a sedan in India called Swift Dzire. The looks were odd, but the booted Swift proved popular. Here’s the new one, based on the latest Swift. Caught on camera by MegaPower Services, it confirms that the Dzire name has been continued, and that a launch is imminent.
Viewed from the rear, the “Swift Sedan” looks decent, but the funny proportions are unavoidable, since Suzuki wanted it to be below four metres in length to enjoy the Indian government’s excise benefits for small cars. As a result, the stubby tailed new Dzire is shorter than the old one, which is 4,160 mm long.
In front, the Dzire is distinguished from the hatch by a new grille and fog lamp housings. The cabin is carried over from the new Swift, which dumped the old minimalist dash for a more conventional layout. Being a sedan, the Dzire is trimmed with “luxury” in mind, as opposed to sporty – a two-tone theme and wood trim can be found.
Engine options are said to include a 1.2-litre K Series petrol and a 1.3-litre Multijet diesel from Fiat, engines that already see service in Maruti’s range.
And here we have our first real peek into the interior of Proton’s upcoming P3-21A global sedan, thanks to reader Daud who spotted a group of 3 units being test driven by Proton engineers parked in Genting Sempah.
Click the image below to zoom in and you’ll be able to see some details. We’ve done our best to enhance the contrast of the image so you can make out the details through the reflection. It’s a pretty good looking dashboard, and we think we can spot out paddle shifters, an engine push-start button, and a multi-info display in the instrumentation cluster.
The interior is predominantly a sleek black/dark grey and silver, with a curved centre console that meets the centre dash area. The in-car entertainment controls seem to be mounted high up the dashboard, close to the centre air conditioning vents.
Check out the gallery below for more shots from the set. Some other angles we have area rear disc brakes, an oil cooler spotted behind the bumper, and a shot of the rear tail lamps of the P3-21A lit up.
The new BMW 1-Series with the codename F20 was unveiled back in June, but only in five-door hatchback form. Now, here are some patent filings to show us how the three-door hatchback variant will look like.
No big departure from the 5dr, which is expected. Measurements should be unaltered, too. The 1er is both longer and wider than its predecessor, while wheelbase has grown by 30 mm to make 2,690 mm. Taken bare, the wheelbase is quite long, but because of the 1-Series’ unique cab rearward RWD layout, cabin space should be more snug than a typical C-segment hatchback.
BMW launched the 5dr with two different trim levels – Sport Line and Urban Line. Will the 3dr come with the same option, or will it be just Sport? Click here for more pics and info on the F20 1-Series.
Here we go yet again – the Proton P3-21A continues its road-testing, today out in the rain. Reader Mnazri.tan was on the PLUS highway a while ago when the evaluator went past him near the Pedas area. He says that his friend’s Saga BLM was having a hard time catching up in the wet conditions, doing around 150 km/h, adding that the test mule looked very stable and poised at speed.
