Archive for Spyshots

Proton will be attempting to stave off Perodua’s attack with a smaller but cheaper Perodua D46T MPV combined with a more desirable Toyota-associated brand because of the original model (it will be derived from the Toyota Passo Sette) this coming November.

The D46T is no secret, we’ve already seen the exterior and interior of what the Perodua version will look like, and the Toyota Passo Sette has already been around for quite sometime for all to see. In fact, one of the Passo Sette we’ve seen on Malaysian roads on road tests may in fact be likely to be owned by Proton.

The weapon of choice will be a cheaper version of the Exora. Right now the Exora is only available in M-Line and H-Line variants, with the only differences between them being creature comforts and minor styling differences.

A cheaper Exora will be further downgraded in terms of equipment, and will likely feature a manual gearbox, which actually could be more of a blessing for the Exora, as the auto while capable of taking the vehicle up to cruising speed and keeping it there, is rather sluggy to move around at city speeds.

Reader Kenneth spotted this Exora on the Penang bridge. It has light disguises on but we all know it’s an Exora. The LED tail lamps are still there but if this is a version of the production B-Line or manual model, we can see some evidence of downspeccing in the form of steel wheels with a cover instead of proper alloy wheels.

Look after the jump for the rest of the spy photos and a video.

Click here to read the rest of Proton readying Exora B-Line Manual for launch?

This Aston Martin Rapide suspected to be very close to production was spotted in Belgium and snapped by kim of Autogespot. The car looks pretty much undisguised, and while it’s still as good-looking as all Aston Martin can be, I feel the concept car somehow looked longer and sleeker, and this production version has its proportions slightly out of whack because of those headlamps that look a little too large for the car and seem to have some kind of extra layer over it. Look after the jump for a trip back through time, revisiting the original concept Rapide through a photo gallery.

Click here to read the rest of Undisguised AM Rapide spotted in Belgium

Now this is the 5-Series that alot of you will be alot more excited about – the sedan version of the next generation BMW 5-Series codenamed the F10.

Sure the 5-Series GT may be a new-ish segment entry for both BMW and the automotive world but Malaysia is a sedan market.

The next generation 5-Series will include 3 bodytypes – sedan, estate and the already unveiled GT. This prototype videotaped by German news agency TVnews Hessen after it was stopped by German police on the autobahn because it looked suspicious – I cannot blame them, just look at the heavy disguise!

Not much detail on the headlamps either but I think we can most probably expect the front end of the 5-Series sedan to look quite similiar to the 5-Series GT.

The cameraman also managed to take a peek into the interior of the vehicle. Like the outside the interior is also heavily disguised so not much can be seen except that the new steering wheel design that debuted on the F01 as well as the black panel instrumentation will be in the F10 – notice the chrome ring around the meter panel does not extend into a full circle at the bottom – that’s where BMW’s new multi-info display is.

Our resident photo-manipulator Theophilus Chin has already presented to us his take on how the F10 Sedan might look like, with cues taken from both the F01 and the 5-Series Gran Turismo.

Look after the jump for the original video.

Click here to read the rest of F10 BMW 5-Series Saloon Interior Videotaped!

Honda will not leave BMW and Toyota to play alone in the new segment that they seem to have carved out for themselves with the Toyota Venza and the BMW 5-Series Gran Turismo. VWVortex forum member GoVdubSPEEDGo/M. Balisky spotted two of these lightly taped up Accord CrossTour crossovers up in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in southeastern US.

The side profile can be quite positively identified as similiar to the US/Asian market Honda Accord, with a sloping hatchback rear end and previous gen Accord Coupe-like rear lights. Acura will have its own similiar segment vehicle called the Acura ZDX.

Look after the jump for more photos.

Click here to read the rest of Honda Accord CrossTour aimed at the Venza

A Toyota Passo Sette 3-row MPV or rather the upcoming new Perodua MPV was spotted by reader Goniothalamus on his KL-Bentong journey.

The compact people mover had barely any disguise on, with only a few simple black tapes covering key identification marks such as the badges. In fact looking at the position of the badges that are covered up and the typical Japanese rear window black tinting, it could potentially just be an actual Passo Sette from Japan (compare to this photo), which means this car doesn’t necessarily belong to Perodua.

Toyota Passo Sette Interior

Perodua MD Datuk Syed Hafiz has previously indicated that the Perodua MPV (codenamed Perodua D46T for now) will be sold with a price tag of between RM57k to RM66k and a launch date has been set for somewhere in Q3 this year, which would be anywhere between July to September.

It has already been previously spotted in Malaysia from as early as April this year (check out Perodua MPV photo and video spyshot) and Perodua has also exhibited the Perodua MPV’s interior in Johor.

Look after the jump for all the spyshots.

Click here to read the rest of Perodua MPV or Toyota Passo Sette spotted again!

Now that was pretty darn quick – right after french magazine L’Automobile magazine posted up a story with full undisguised albeit low-res production photos of the new BMW 5-Series GT 5-door hatchback, a full set of even more photos untainted by watermarks have surfaced on the internet!

But they are still low res of course, we’ll have to wait for the official unveiling for the full hi-res images, which should be very soon, perhaps even in a week’s time.

I still don’t really like how it looks like. The long flowy front seems suddenly interrupted by a short and stubby back. The front end is clearly inspired by the BMW Concept CS, but with all the details toned down significantly. It does share a family face with the new F01 but as I’ve always said, having oversized kidney grilles are fine really if only they are slightly rectangular instead of the F01’s square shape, and here we go, on the F10 with their slightly rectangular shape they look so much better. I can’t wait to see how the F10 sedan looks like.

There are many more photos of the interior in this set, with some showing off the car’s massive panoramic roof that will give the 4 passengers a nice open and airy feel. Yes, the car only seats 4 as there is an armrest cum storage area going through the middle of the two individual seats in the rear, which by the way are said to be reclinable!

Look after the jump for the full set of images.

Click here to read the rest of More low-res leaked shots of BMW 5-Series GT!

Don’t know how they did it but French car magazine L’Automobile Magazine managed to get these press release photos of the new BMW 5-Series GT – BMW’s very own D-segment hatchback with a Prius-like roofline and dual-mode tailgate.

As explained before in detail when the Concept 5-Series GT was unveiled, the dual-mode allows access to the storage area either via opening the whole hatch or just a small door, something like the Skoda Superb’s TwinDoor. The rear carries regular 5-Series badging (530d in this instance) but on the left side there appears to be a “GT” badge.

You will be able to see some interior photos after the jump, which continue the theme set by the new F01/F02 7-Series and even includes the Black Panel LCD to display various driver aid information below the two main speedo and RPM meter gauges.

UPDATE: Many more leaked photos here!

Continue after the jump.

Related Posts:
Production BMW 5-Series GT previewed in video!
BMW Concept 5-Series Gran Turismo
F10 BMW 5-Series Sedan Artist’s Impression

Click here to read the rest of BMW 5-Series GT Production Photos Leaked!

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UPDATE: The Kia Forte has been launched in Malaysia. Follow the link for more details on specs and price.

Reader acesDSI spotted this Kia Forte with JPJ plates roaming the streets of Batu 3 Shah Alam heading towards Section 20 Shah Alam. It looks like the good-looking Kia Forte is going to be launched soon, and sources in Naza say it’s most likely to be offered in CKD locally assembled form.

Although we cannot really see the badge on the car because of the resolution of the photos, the photographer said the car had Naza badges on, so maybe what we’re going to get is a Naza Forte instead of a Kia Forte.

Click for enlarged image

There are positive and negative points about that, firstly having a Naza badge on is likely to give the company more bargaining power with duties resulting in a lower price, which is ultimately beneficial for consumers if a simple badge swap (that could even be supplier by showrooms) will “fix” it. Secondly it will stop potential customers from waiting for Naza Kia to Naza-ize a Kia Forte in anticipation of further price drops.

If the Naza Forte is to become a proper bread and butter sedan for Naza Kia it has to replace the Spectra in the product range so expect it to come with a 1.6 liter engine, with larger engines reserved for the Kia Koup 2-door coupe which I tested in South Korea recently.

Here we have it, BMW’s most powerful M car ever, a 550 horsepower monster that should be making over 650Nm of torque. It’s also an SUV and happens to be turbocharged, has a relatively low redline of 7,000rpm (compared to the M3 and M5) and is probably mated to an automatic gearbox.

No official specs or details of this new BMW X6 M are out yet but these are an initial low resolution leaked batch of photos which found its way onto the internet. It has a very aggressive front bumper with no foglamps and plenty of large air intakes for the turbo M engine, and a quad tailpipe rear end for the exhaust gases to escape after they’ve done their job spooling up the turbine.

Like the regular X6, the X6 M has paddle shifts too but they are in the proper left to downshift right to upshift config instead of BMW’s two-way push and pull paddles that they put on the non-M cars. There’s really nothing much to say at the moment, except the X6 M is due for an officla reveal at the NYIAS next week so official details and high res photos should be released really soon.

Check out more shots of the first M SUV after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of First low-res photos of the BMW X6 M

It started off as what seemed to be a fairly usual video that BMW would make about its concept cars. It revolves around an interview with the 5-Series GT’s project leader, Hans-Jurgen Branz. But there is something exciting about this latest video of the BMW 5-Series GT, previously known as the Progressive Activity Sedan.

Things start getting interesting beyond the 1 minute mark when a grey-coloured 5-Series GT appears. This one is missing some of the concept car’s details such as the chrome bits on the door handles and the funky door mirror mount. I believe this is the actual production version that is going to be released!

Watch the video with some screencaps after the jump. Unfortunately the video is in German only for the moment, so I have no clue what he’s talking!

Click here to read the rest of Production BMW 5-Series GT previewed in video!

Phase 2 of the Proton GEN2 export and rebadging deal with China’s Youngman group under the Europestar brand is well underway and this is the new styling that Europestar will be applying on their locally assembled GEN2, called the Europestar RCR.

The changes are mostly on the front end with new headlamps, bumper and grille and the rear gets lots of badges including a Lotus Europestar badge, a new rear bumper and a new tail lamp design. The first phase involved CBU cars and styling was identical to the GEN2 other than different badges. The Europestar RCR is also called the Europestar Jingsu.

Source

Here’s another shot of the Great Wall Wingle being tested in Malaysia, this time snapped in Genting by reader Mior. This time there’s a very clear front shot of the car, featuring a design that was clearly “inspired” from the Volkswagen Magellan Concept (shown left). I have no idea when this is scheduled to launch, but from what I am aware of, it uses a Bosch-developed 2.8 liter turbodiesel engine putting out 95 horsepower and 225Nm from 1,600rpm. Having it appear so often doesn’t really mean anything especially with a Chinese marque as there is a precedent somewhat set by the ChangAn CM8, which was also spotted over a year before it was actually launched. In case you’re wondering what’s with the odd name, Wingle is actually said to be a combination of Wind and Eagle.

Related Posts:
Great Wall Wingle pick-up truck spotted in Segambut!

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These shots are courtesy of reader H+Z who spotted these two Proton Exora MPVs in the new Pyrite Brown colour at the Medan Selera Tanjung Malim near the Padang MDTM parking lot, thanks man! The Exora will be built at Proton’s plant in Shah Alam but I suppose these test units went up for Tanjung Malim for some purpose or another.

There are a few shots after the jump with one that is particularly interesting – while it was hard to snap photos of the interior because of the window’s reflections, there is one clear shot of the automatic transmission gear shifter area. Looks like there’s a gate-shift but no manual override function, which isn’t really important as it’s mostly a novelty on such a car. There are actually 2 Exoras there, and according to H+Z the one with the B461A has a manual transmission while the B462A was automatic.

Look after the jump for more of H+Z’s shots!

Click here to read the rest of Proton Exora in Pyrite Brown spotted in Tg Malim

Reader T P L sent in these shots of a lightly taped up truck spotted in Segambut. Could it be the new facelifted Ford Ranger, or maybe a Chevy-badged Isuzu Dmax (Chevy Colorado)? These are the only few possibilities, and the side profile definitely rules the Tata Xenon out. What do you think? Check out more shots after the jump.

UPDATE: Reader chaku/maru has identified this as the Great Wall Wingle, a pick-up truck by a Chinese manufacturer. It has an Euro 3-compliant 2.8 liter direct injection turbodiesel engine that puts out a rather sedate 95 horsepower and 225Nm from 1,600rpm that was developed with the help of Bosch.

Click here to read the rest of Lightly taped up pick-up truck in Segambut

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I have managed to source a very high resolution version of the first Proton Exora dashboard instrument panel and steering wheel teaser that Proton put up in the daily papers for you guys, thanks to a source that wishes to remain anonymous. This is probably the original image file for the ad sent to the newspapers and it reveals the full high resolution glory of the textures that Proton have put on the Proton Exora’s dashboard.

The instrumentation panel hood and upper dash seems to have a different texture from the rest of the dashboard and the center dash area where the 2-DIN head unit and air condition controls are also seem to have a sort of brushed look to it. The meter panel can also be seen in full high resolution glory, so check it out!

For other details please read our previous coverage of the Proton Exora MPV, the national carmaker’s first 7-seater 3-row MPV set for an April 2009 launch.

Related Posts:
Proton Exora MPV teaser scans: flat-folding seats
Proton teases the Proton Exora MPV dashboard
Proton Exora 7-seater MPV Interior Details Revealed!
Proton Exora – the MPV Proton will launch!
HOT: Proton MPV 100% fully uncovered
Proton MPV exclusive initial details revealed!
SPYSHOT: 2009 Proton MPV sheds some of its disguise
Proton MPV design registered with UK patent office
SPYSHOT: Proton MPV next to a Nissan Grand Livina