Archive for Test Drive Reviews

The new Michelin Primacy LC is the successor to the Michelin Energy MXV8 and was just introduced in Malaysia in April this year.

Michelin claims a reduced rolling resistance of 13% compared to the MXV8, as a result of testing conducted on a Honda Civic 1.8 i-VTEC using 2.4 bar tyre pressure on all four tyres. Michelin also recorded reduced dB levels for road and tread noise compared to the MXV8. The new tread pattern also gives 21% more rubber contact on the road surface compared to the MXV8.

Michelin’s product positioning has placed the new tyre under the Primacy line to move it up towards the Performance category instead of Entry-level category. There will be three “brands” in Malaysia for passenger cars – the Pilot, the Primacy and the Energy.

The Primacy LC is available in various sizes – 31 in total, ranging from 15 to 19 inch and 40 to 65 series, with 195 to 245 section widths. There is Rim Protector for all sizes 55 series and below. It is made from a full silica compound and comes in V, W and Y speed indexes.

Click for enlarged image with available tyre sizes

I tried out a 205/55R16 tyres on my Perdana V6, replacing the set of Bridgestone Potenza Adrenalin RE001 tyres that were previously had fitted. I had previously found the RE001 a little too loud and while it is a high performance tyre that gave excellent grip in the dry and decent enough in the wet (no crazy stuff in the wet for the Perdana), and a great feel devoid of much tyre flex during cornering, it didn’t really suit the kind of ride and feel that I wanted with the Perdana. The noise levels were too high for my liking and to put it plainly, the tyre felt too ‘hardcore’ for a stock standard Perdana. It’s more of a performance tyre and I really should have gone for a “touring” or comfort kind of tyre instead.

The tyres are rather smooth and exceptionally quiet on roads where JKR have been holding up their end of the bargain, but it somehow gets very affected when the roads are a little bad, though I would still say they perform quite well in absorbing most of the little bumps and imperfections on the roads. Driving right through a puddle of water on the highway (at non-excessive speeds of course) also proved to be no problem for the tyres. I’ve not taken the tyres to the limit yet but so far the car continued feeling as stable as a Perdana can be when negotiating the usual medium-speed bends and curves especially on highway entry and exit ramps. I really doubt the grip is going to be outstanding but the tyre’s characteristics suit the kind of drive I am looking for.

I think it’s a decent candidate for those looking to replace “baseline” tyres and are looking for something quiet and comfort-oriented. Are any of you using Primary LC tyres, or any of its similiar competitors? Share your experiences to help other fellow motorists make a decision their next tyre purchase.

Click here to read the rest of Michelin Primacy LC – pretty decent comfort tyres!

It may be different for the enthusiast but say the word hybrid to the layman and he’ll automatically associate it with the Toyota Prius. And now, the third generation is here, and slated to be launched in Malaysia next month. Let’s have a look at the new iconic hybrid Toyota that you’ll be able to buy at showrooms before the end of the year.

Click here to read the rest of 3rd generation Toyota Prius: first impressions

Ah, it’s nice to see yet another C-segment competitor here in Malaysia. The new Mazda 3 was launched about a month ago by new Mazda distributors Bermaz, part of the Berjaya group. Although it has an all-new exterior and interior, the new Mazda 3 continues to ride on an adaptation of the old car’s platform. What kind of competitor is this new sporty-looking sedan and should you buy it? We find out after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2010 Mazda3 2.0 Sport: a sporty niche product

Click for enlarged image

With the arrival of the Peugeot 308 GT last year on Malaysian shores, Malaysians now have a cheaper way to enter the world of European turbocharged hot hatch motoring.

The MINI Cooper S is a bloody fun car to drive and many will be looking at the 308 GT as a cheaper way (RM159,999) to experience something close to the Cooper S. This is because the Cooper S and the Peugeot 308 GT share the same engine. It’s also way more practical in the sense that the 308 can seat 4 comfortably while the Cooper’s rear seats aren’t a very nice place to be in.

The 1.6 liter Prince engine with direct injection and a single twin scroll turbocharger, producing 175 horsepower and 240Nm of torque from just 1,500rpm. That’s a full 25 horses and 40Nm less than the Golf GTI, but surely the 6-speed manual will make up for it in terms of driving experience?

Find out my thoughts on the 308 GT after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Peugeot 308 GT: 175 PS 3-door hatch tested!

Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu

The Toyota Vios is doing well in placing itself among the best in terms of sales in Malaysia’s B-Segment vehicle class, even with strong opposition from the Honda City, as well as from the much cheaper Proton GEN2.

To help maintain the Vios’ strong stance in the segment especially that the new City is here, and to prove that Vios can also be used to take you from point A to point B swiftly, UMW Toyota Motor has been working around the clock to come up with an official TRD (Toyota Racing Development) performance and styling package to offer Vios drivers the option to make their city movers look a little more aggressive, and perform a little better in the engine performance and suspension departments.

The auto maker has transformed two standard Vios’ (Automatic S and manual J). Although still in the development stage, Toyota has decided to pass on both these cars to us to find out what we think. Before we move on to these upgraded rides, lets first check out the standard Toyota Vios S.

Continue reading after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Toyota Vios S, Vios S TRD Prototype and Vios J TRD Prototype Group Test Review

A few members of the Malaysian media got to drive the Kia Koup today. Yes, the production model that was just unveiled less than a month ago – I believe our congregation is the first in the world to get to try Kia’s latest 2-door coupe out.

I believe the Kia Forte marks a significant milestone in the history of Kia models. For the first time (at least for me) in a long time a Kia model looks bloody good enough for a thought to spark in my head that it would be nice to see one parked in my garage, something appealing for me to look at when I step out of the house every morning, and not just something that I tell myself I bought because it was merely cheaper.

The Koup in particular is also Kia’s first two-door coupe, while its Korean sibling Hyundai has gone down that road many times even a long time ago with the Scoupe.

The Forte and Forte Koup’s design and details are pleasant to look at, without anything garish or shocking, with the only thing that stands out being the rather aggressive front bumpers. In fact at first glance the Forte Koup looks pretty much like just a 2-door Forte but the Koup actually only shares the engine bay hood with the Forte, with every other panel unique, for example the front fenders may look the same but the Koup’s are actually more aggressive and seem to bulge out more to cover the front wheels.

In the US, it goes head to head against the Honda Civic Coupe (which it looks kinda similiar to), the Scion tC, the Chevy Cobalt Coupe and the aging Ford Focus Coupe. The chassis uses MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the back.

We had two units of the Kia Forte Koup to try out, both automatic models, one with a 2.0 liter engine and the other with a 2.4 liter engine. The 2.0 liter engine produces 156 horsepower and 195Nm of torque mated to a 4-speed auto transmission while the 2.4 liter model puts out 173 horses and 227Nm of torque, mated to a 5-speed auto. Both models had pre-production interior panels without any texture but the dash looked finished.

The Kia Forte Koup has a decent seating position with the driver’s chair able to go far back enough for a comfortable driving position for me, however with my seat pushed far back rear legroom was compromised, but that was better when a shorter Korean engineer took the driver’s helm with me sitting at the back. The steering has both rake and reach adjustability which means I was able to adjust the steering wheel to be close enough to me for an optimum driving position, which means the base of my hand was able to rest on the top of the steering wheel.

And off we go. Our test drive was not on public road but in Kia’s Namyang R&D center, where there was a very long and wide multi-lane straight where we could drive down, do some low and high speed lane change maneuvers, and U turn at the end in whatever fashion you’d like, whether a regular smooth turn or a crazy one if you can make yourself do so in front of the Kia Motors engineer in the car.

First up was the 2.0 liter. It is from the Theta II engine family but with CVVT only on the intake, unlike the new Optima facelift’s dual CVVT on the intake and exhaust. 156 horses felt quite spritely, which was expected really as it felt decent in the Optima so it should do better in the lighter Forte, and do better it did. Gearshifts are smooth and response to kickdown was quick and satisfactory, and so was the manual shifting with the gear lever. There is no Sport or S mode on the gearbox, you can either go into D or into manual mode. Push forward for upshift and pull back for downshift – I would have preferred it the other way around really as it feels more natural.

The 2.4 liter was pretty powerful though like the 2.0 it didn’t sound particularly exciting, which is something every inline-4 engine faces. In stock form it just buzzes all the way to the redline without any rumble or grunt like a V6 or V8, and not even silky smooth like an inline-6. 173 horses and 227Nm of torque is nearly as much as the MINI Cooper S actually, so flooring it from gear 1 on the automatic did cause some protest from the tyres, though the engine is either 1) not powerful enough to cause any kind of torque steer or 2) Kia managed to sort out the driveshaft length and front suspension right.

Our cars were equipped with Kia’s MDPS or Motor-Driven Power Steering. This is an EPS system much like in the Civic, which uses an electric motor to drive the steering instead of it being directly hydraulically driven. This allows variable steering assistance – heavy at high speeds but lighter at low speeds to assist with parking. But I found that Kia hasn’t really got the speed, angle and assistance levels mapped out perfectly yet – it does not feel very smooth and natural and sometimes it switches from heavy to light when you don’t feel like it should.

At low speeds, some maneuvers that did not require much of steering angle still resulted in a heavy steering – it’s only when you turn more that assistance increases. But other than that it felt like a proper hydraulic system with nicely weighted self-centering and etc, which is okay for a first time attempt at EPS but a second generation improved version should be worked on immediately! We may not get the EPS at all of course, because Kia engineers say a traditional hydraulic power steering is also an option with the car so it depends what the Malaysian distributor orders.

The Forte Koup has a slightly firmer suspension than the Forte sedan, with reduced ride height too. A sharp turn produced in no awkward reaction from the chassis, there was some body roll in protest to the sudden maneuver but there was no awkward bouncyness or etc so that’s decent.

So yeah, it’s quite a nice 2-door coupe actually and from what I hear our local Kia distributors are looking into bringing both the Forte sedan and Forte Koup in, with 1.6 from the sedan and 2.0 for the coupe. I reckon the 2-door coupe as a CBU unit could be priced at around the Honda Civic or Hyundai Coupe’s level, matching the two cars as a 2.0 liter automatic C-segment vehicle but I think Naza Kia would have to load up the car with nice specs such as a sunroof to get around the badge snobbery.

Rear legroom especially the seat behind the driver’s seat varies depending on how far the driver’s seat is pushed back, but headroom is sufficient for someone 183cm tall like me, as there was still a 2 to 3 finger gap or so between my head and the ceiling, so its perfectly capable of being a 4 or 5 seater, though 5 may be abit of a squeeze especially since the rear floor is not flat.

Other things nice to have but absent on the Koup are a slightly thicker steering wheel rim for a nicer grip and paddle shifts for the automatic.

I can’t wait to get the Koup down on some real roads to see how it really drives like because it looks good (looks are subjective of course, how many of you agree with me?) but as a coupe that looks like it has some pretty sporty intentions, how fun the drive is will be very important to maybe half the customer base out there, with the other half likely to buy it purely based on its looks. From initial findings it definitely drives better than the rather softly setup Hyundai Elantra which it shares a chassis and alot of parts with, except the engine where the Kia uses a newer, better and more modern family.

Look after the jump for a full gallery of the Koup from our test drive session at the Namyang R&D center.

Click here to read the rest of Kia Koup Preview Drive at Namyang R&D Centre!

When the E90 3-Series first came out, it was not to many people’s tastes. The signature L-shaped tail lamps were gone and the front kidney grilles had a little chrome bar running across the top, a design feature nicked from the 6-Series.

The 3-er had also swelled to proportions nearly the same size as the E39 5-er, so enthusiasts started to worry whether it would lose the qualities that made the E46 so popular. Despite all of this, it sold well of course, and minor design concerns can barely do any damage to the 3-er’s fantastic road-holding and agile feel.

The 3-Series facelift is now in Malaysia, with a new variant, the 323i. We’re not going to touch on that today, instead let’s go into the details on what has changed in the new 3-Series on the overall, as it’s not just a reskin on the outside, but it introduces BMW’s new and much improved iDrive sytem. We’ll also look at BMW ConnectedDrive and the features it offers the owner.

You’ll also read our impressions of a 335i automatic and a 330d manual, which features BMW’s new and improved 3.0 liter single turbo diesel engine.

Have a look at our write-up after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of 2009 BMW 335i and 330d LCI Review

Story by Dr. Max Long

Size does matter. Super size me. Some of the corny Hollywood movies tagline and script, right out of box office flicks, with the latter referring to upsizing of portion at fast food outlets, another one of American hegemonic foray into our societal food culture.

However, it is interesting to note that the fully-auto washing machine I paid for close to a decade ago at 13.5kg capacity is a maxed-out tumbler available only from a notable Korean appliance maker. Not from the Japanese, not even at any price at time.

I am not sure about the Americans then but they are unlikely to be competitively priced by the time brands like Maytag – of equivalent size and wash load – gets shipped to our beloved country.

And now we have this ‘Starship Enterprise’ of a people mover, van, minibus or full-size MPV or whatever you might want to call it. Hyundai themselves call it by at least 3 names. Over here it’s known as the Hyundai Grand Starex. It’s simply huge.

Read our test drive review after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Hyundai Grand Starex Malaysian Test Drive Review

Story by Mohan K.R.

I remember a time when 2 strokes were ubiquitous on the road. Their light weight, knife edge power bands, a power to H.P. ratio that wouldn’t look out of place on the specifications sheet of a 750 c.c. bike.

The minimalist chassis, coupled with a sub-150 k.g. weight, meant that 2 strokes were suited for kamikaze corner bashing, and head down antics in pursuit of top speed. But their rather anti social tendency to smoke unburnt 2-T lead to their swift banning in many countries around the world because of pollution concerns.

2 strokes are still with us, of course, in dirt biking, and in the GP 125 and 250 classes. Aprilia Malaysia recently launched the RS125 in this country at Sepang International Circuit. We had a go at it, so read our report after the jump.

Click here to read the rest of Aprilia RS125 – The Razor’s Edge

It was a day of many firsts for me, the day Proton corporate communications invited some of us to test drive a prototype of the new Proton Exora MPV. Yup, we got to drive a pair of Exoras, both the same colour but taped up in the typical black disguise that you’ve seen countless of times on the spyshots featured on this site.

We drove 2 prototype units, one with a manual transmission and one with an automatic transmission, from Proton’s plant in Shah Alam along the KESAS highway, then onto the MRR2, Karak Highway, and then the East Coast Expressway, where we made a U-turn at the Lanchang exit and on back to the Proton plant (we stopped at Karak town for awhile). The first half of my journey was in the manual model while the 2nd half was in the automatic model.

Look after the jump for my experiencing with the Proton Exora, as well as some other information gathered from our session with the engineers.

Click here to read the rest of Proton Exora Prototype Test Drive Experience!