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.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

First of all I think it’s best to define what a hybrid car is, and the various types of hybrid cars available on the market. A hybrid vehicle essentially combines two or more power sources to move the vehicle. It commonly refers to hybrid electric vehicles, which combine a combustion engine with electric motors.

When you implement a hybrid system, there are a few ways to configure the combustion engine and electric motors. With the introduction of the Honda Civic Hybrid, we’ve been introduced to the concept of a mild power assist hybrid system, or a mild parallel hybrid system.

In a mild parallel hybrid system, the internal combustion engine is always used as the primary power. A electric motor is installed between the engine and the transmission. It is only used to assist the combustion engine whenever needed, hence Honda calling it an Integrated Motor Assist system. Because the motor steps in whenever the driver demands more power, a smaller and more fuel efficient combustion engine can be used. However with this configuration there is no such thing as a zero emissions full EV mode – the car cannot run solely on the electric motor.

And then you have series hybrid cars, where a combustion engine running at a constant most efficient RPM is used as an electricity generated to power an electric motor, which drives the wheels.

The THS Hybrid Synergy Drive system in the Toyota Prius is of the variant called a full hybrid, a power-split hybrid or a series-parallel hybrid. It offers the best of both world, can run on either the combustion engine only, electric motor only, or both, but is heavier as it has more parts, and more complicated in design.

THS consists of an internal combustion engine, two water-cooled motor-generators (electric motor with dynamo functions), a powersplit device, and a battery pack. The first motor-generator functions as a power generator, converting the internal combustion engine’s mechanical power to electric power, which recharges the battery and supplies electricity to power the second motor-generator. The second motor-generator is used to drive the vehicle. It is mounted on the driveshaft. It also serves as a dynamo during brake-energy regeneration.

Power from the internal combustion engine is split via the power split device and goes to either the front wheels or the first motor-generator. The Prius combustion engine revs independently of the vehicle speed much like how a car with a CVT transmission would, but there is no CVT transmission in a Prius! Some trickery between the power split device, motor-generators and the combustion engine play around with the engine revs that one would find confusing, but the bottom line is the end result is perceived to us as CVT-like. Toyota calls it an ECVT system.

But the best part of such a system is the EV mode where the car runs on the electric motor only. On one end really fast 0 to 100km/h acceleration times can put a smile on your face but I found out that the other end is also true! Complete silence from the car while you are creeping through a traffic jam or looking for parking in a parking lot can be strangely satisfying, it could be something to do with the fact that your car can do something that most likely no other car in that parking lot can do.

The internal combustion engine of the new Prius is the 2ZR-FXE, an Atkinson cycle engine with 1.8 liters of displacement. This is up by 0.3 liters from the previous 2nd gen Prius 1.5 liter engine. The new engine puts out 99 PS compared to 77 PS from the 1.5 liter engine, and 143Nm of torque at 4,000rpm. Now why does a 1.8 liter engine put out so little power you ask? It’s because of the Atkinson cycle – it’s more fuel efficient however has less power density. The engine is now beltless thanks to an electric water pump. The combined output of the motor-generators produce 60kW and 207Nm of torque.

The Prius continues to use a NiMH battery. Some competitors have talked about starting using lithium ion and Toyota says they also have a li-ion battery coming by the end of this year but according to Prius chief engineer Akihiko Otsuka, NiMH and Lithium Ion both have pros and cons. EVs might need the larger capacity of lithium ion batteries, and they can be larger because of the lack of a combustion engine and fuel tank, but in hybrids where the battery can be smaller and of less capacity, NiMH is more suitable as it can sustain a high power output over a shorter period of time. But for plug-in hybrids in the future, they can benefit from lithium ion technology.

Something interesting is an optional feature which is a solar panel on the roof. This panel doesn’t recharge the battery but it actually helps keep the car cool while it is parked under the sun. Unfortunately from what I hear, UMW Toyota specifications for the Prius in Malaysia will not carry this solar panel.

There were no city drives as part of the test drive session that I attended at the Tokachi International racetrack in Hokkaido. Instead, Toyota had designed a series of acceleration and braking patterns set by a pace car over a total of 10.2km on the racetrack that’s meant to emulate city driving. While this isn’t really an indicator of real life driving, CBT’s Thomas Huong and I managed to score a nice average 31.6km per liters fuel consumption, which was the most economical figures of the day.

We later repeated the same track run at full throttle and managed to score about 9km per liter, which is still pretty decent considering it was pedal to the metal for most of the track. I think the Prius would be able to score a decent 20km+ per liter in real life fuel consumption, which is impressive for largeish (you could call it European D segment) car with a 2,700mm wheelbase. The chassis is a common one called the MC platform shared with some Toyota cars such as the RAV4, Estima, Avensis and Auris.

The model with the 17 inch wheels was actually pretty surprisingly fun to drive on the track thanks to a decent chassis with a compliant suspension coupled with the strong torque of the electric motor assist. Grip levels and the tight handling were far lower on the second gen Prius and third gen models with smaller wheels, with VSA stability control kicking in to reel the car in way too often. Big difference – just shows you how much wheels play a part in the dynamics of a car. But all in all, really very surprising for a car that’s focused on boring old fuel economy. Could be something to do with the fact that the chief engineer drives an Alfa Romeo…

The first thing you notice about the interior of the new third generation Prius is the fact that the big Electro Multi Vision touch screen is now gone. Other Prius trademarks are still there such as the tiny shift by wire gearknob and the On button that does nothing but bring some of the dashboard lights up to life. It doesn’t feel like you’re turning a car on but more like an electrical appliance.

The EMV system has been replaced by integrating more displays into the instrumentation panel located at the forward-most end of the dashboard, closest to the windscreen. Stuff like the fuel consumption bar graph history and the real-time display monitoring what sources of power the car is currently powered by are much smaller now but functionality-wise it is much better as they can all be looked at by glancing quickly at the panel instead of looking left at the EMV as per the 2nd generation Prius.

This is all in the interest of keeping the driver focused on the road. Another feature that helps in this aspect is the Touch Tracer system. As the vehicle monitoring display is now near the windscreen, there is no longer any touch screen functions. Instead you control the various displays via steering wheel controls.

You may feel like taking your eyes off the road and glancing at what your steering wheel to look at what button your fingers are resting on. With Touch Tracer you don’t have to do that. The steering wheel controls have dual level sensitivity. Touch lightly and a display on the instrumentation panel that mimics the steering wheel control design shows you what button your finger is touching. Then you activate the button only if you press down a little harder.

All in all the changes to the new Prius makes it look and feel more like a normal car but with exceptional fuel economy rather than a hybrid. The exterior looks way better, less space-age and more sporty, but the interior is more like a regular car, and somehow while it looks much more modern it feels much less expensive compared to the 2nd gen Prius. It’s not just the dashboard but the instrumentation panel – the graphics look quite pixelated. But the third gen is definitely an improvement over the 2nd gen, and the Hybrid Synergy Drive system trumps the motor assist systems of its competitors both in owner experience and in terms of fuel economy.

However in Malaysia the estimated price is expected to hover around a Camry 2.4’s price. That’s quite a premium and if you’re buying this to save fuel, that’s alot of fuel “prepaid”! The drawing factor will undoubtedly be the whole hybrid lifestyle such as the ability for the EV mode, and making an eco statement.

And we still don’t have any clear answers as to how long the battery lasts and how much it costs to replace, though Toyota claims it will last over 10 years and possibly the lifetime of the car. There needs to be a solid answer and guarantee for this. Perhaps a longer warranty for the battery compared to the rest of the car will give better customer confidence. More details on the Malaysian specifications for the Prius will come when the car is launched next month.

MORE PHOTOS: Live photo album from the test drive event!

GALLERY: Toyota Prius Product Shots

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

Mazda’s new front grille which features a rather large smiley is the first thing you’ll notice if you have the front of the car in view. The design is quite dynamic and has a little organic touch to it, looking more like a hybrid metal and organic alien lifeform rather than what we’re used to seeing, especially in the design cues of the typical C-segment sedan. And it’ s a very happy-looking one indeed.

The sporty stance is helped by the fact that it looks quite compact. The current pick of the crop best all-rounder Civic dwarfs the Mazda 3 in comparison, and this theme continues in the interior – it feels narrower than average and rear legroom is also quite limited. It’s going to be quite a tight squeeze in there if you have a tall person in the driver’s seat, and if thats the case functionally it’s going to be a 3+1 seater.

Surprisingly the new Mazda 3 is one of the few modern cars who still provide some really nice soft padding on the dashboard, although its only in a majority of the surface and not everything, so that’s a nice touch. The seating position is slightly higher than a regular sedan’s so it depends on your personal preference whether you like this or not. Nevertheless when the situation comes, it helps with maneuvering the car around tight spaces because you get to see the edges of the car more clearly.

The entertainment system and steering wheel are chock full of various dials, buttons and other controls because the car is specced quite generously, with a CD changer with USB and MP3 text support, and a trip computer with lots of useful tools such as service reminders, a dedicated odometer for maintenance tasks such as tyre rotation, rain sensor wipers, light sensor headlamps and etc. In other markets the multi-info display is available in full colour with integrated GPS navigation but in Malaysia it gets a regular monochrome display with a white backlight, which looks rather out of place in a sea of red on black displays.

The 2.0 model has a two-tone dark grey and beige interior and a matching two-tone black and beige colour for the decent supportive leather seats (it seems that the leather is a RM2,800 option), which are done locally instead of coming together with the imported car. A quick chat with the Bermaz folks upon returning the test unit revealed that customers can customise the leather seat colour if they really want it, but it could cause delays in delivery time.

Some controls especially on the center dash area are just about above average in feel but the steering wheel controls and signal stalks feel very good and tactile, especially the switch-like controls on both sides. The steering wheel audio controls are quite complete with even a quick mute button to quickly silence your audio system for incoming calls.

There is a paddle shift function and the implementation is not the usual left to downshift and right to upshift, but instead both sides of the steering wheel provide the same upshift and downshift functions via pulling and pushing respectively. Manual shifting can also be done via the gear lever and I like that Mazda has implemented the “proper” way of pulling to upshift and pushing to downshift.

Unlike the Focus which has the same powertrain, the Mazda 3’s transmission has 5 gears instead of 4 allowing for a bit more flexibility in choosing just the right gear to be in when you attack a corner, as there more ratios within a specific range. You won’t be forced to go in with an overly screaming engine, or too slow with the engine not in the powerband.

The Mazda 3 has bi-xenon headlamps, which means you get xenon headlamps for both the high beam and the main beam. Alot of car manufacturers only equip xenons for the main beam, leaving the high beam functionality to a regular halogen bulb. The default setting is pointed rather high so you may want to adjust this in order not to annoy other road users, but at the default, the cast of the beam is far, wide and bright. The 2.0 liter model also uses LED for the rear lighting instead of normal bulbs for the 1.6 liter.

The 2.0 liter model produces 145 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 182Nm of torque at 4,500rpm. The test unit we drove probably had something wrong with the engine. The same engine is found in the Focus 2.0 and the previous Mazda 3 and it definitely did not feel the same. For the test unit, while the engine pulled strongly towards the redline, it was quite hesitant, a little rough, and there were little pockets of random torque dip on the way there. The engine had less than 5,000km on it so it could be something wrong with the run-in process? Any early adopters of the Mazda 3 here? How does your engine feel like?

In terms of ride comfort, it tackled road irregularities decently enough though the ride is slightly on the firm side.. Most bumps and rough roads can be felt but its nothing jarring, with the car soaking up some but not most of the vibration. It’s a trade-off for the sporty handling, though the steering and the way the 3 behaves as it slices through the bends isn’t quite as engaging as the Focus. Firm and planted but somehow not as fun, could be something to do with the high-ish seating position.

There’s lots of grip and not much bodyroll though so it’s still enough to impress all but the most sensitive butt-o-meters who are fussy about how much the steering picks up everything it goes over. Although its platform-mate the Focus provides a more engaging drive together with the same engine, but the Mazda 3 holds its own quite well in that aspect. It can be used as a tool to enjoy the occasional B-road on the way back to the kampung, or just up and down for fun without any particular destination in mind.

Safety features include 6 airbags (all of them are for the front passengers), and anti-lock brakes. Sadly, no traction control! The remote control is able to control the car’s windows so that’s an added convenience, allowing you to pre-air the car after its been parked all day long on a hot day before you embark on your way home.

So what kind of car is the new Mazda 3? It’s more of a niche product for someone who wants something that looks different and drives sportily enough. The car has little nice and friendly touches to it to remind you that you’re in something different, such as the center dash illumination that pulsates every time you change the volume, or the welcome and good bye messages that display on the multi-info display. Heck, you can even customise the volume of your turn signal indicators clicks! All these little things are nice touches and let you know you’re driving something out of the ordinary, especially at this segment. For those who want to move their family in comfort and want the most metal (equals to space) for their money, you’ll be disappointed with the smallish interior. It’s more of between the B and C segments.

At over RM131k (it’s apparently around RM133k now) it seems like alot of money to pay (probably because its fully imported, and even then word is that the introductory price is going to go up by abit!) but the 3 gives back to the buyer in terms of equipment level, though the cheaper but very well equipped 308 manages to do the same at a cheaper price. But that’s only for those who don’t mind a hatchback.

So what you’re paying for here is some exclusivity and a relatively high equipment level. Like I said, a niche product and a rather charming one at that, because based on my own personal needs I can’t bring myself to pay this price for a small interior.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

The exterior design of the 308 is pure Peugeot. It’s a hit or miss thing because of its rather unorthodox looks. Many people are used to a more conventional face on their car. The 308 has a completely unique feline look with large headlamps that sweep far backwards. Look at the 308 from the side and the headlamps actually extend behind half the length of the front bonnet. And then you have the Peugeot badge on the nose – there’s no separation between the radiator grille and the lower bumper grille – it is just one large grille with a thick brace through the middle.

From the side you get a sleek 3-door profile which looks way better than the more practical 5-door. The doors are not frameless though, which would have added a nice touch, but it’s not something you miss. The large 18 inch wheels suit the car in the sense that they do not leave you wanting for something bigger, you might get the urge to slam the car lower though.

Click for enlarged image

The car has a nice rear end though far from as radical as the front and, and I find that it’s pretty odd Peugeot decided to keep the car’s exhaust tail pipes hidden when this is a sporty model. Malaysian Peugeot distributors Nasim probably agree with me as say they are working on a bodykit that includes some visible tail pipes at the rear.

Click for enlarged image

The driver’s seat is a very nice place to be. In front of you are some of the best-designed instrument clusters around. The dials have a white face with a red needle and the individual gauges have a classy chrome ring surrounding them. At night, the dials light up in entirety instead of just the numbers being backlit.

If I were to be fussy, perhaps having the speedo and RPM needles start from the 6 o clock position would make them seem sportier, but if that were the case it would not be possible to fit the various indicators, clock and odometer in the 5 to 7 o clock area of the two main dials.

Click for enlarged image

Between the two main dials is a little red multi-info display with various information such as fuel consumption and above that are two little dials that show the fuel gauge and most importantly the temperature, something that is slowly disappearing from alot of modern cars.

The rest of the interior is also nice, with a soft touch dashboard and a decent feel to the various controls. It’s all very classy somehow. The dash leans towards the front of the car and ends near the windscreen with a little LCD display that displays various in-car entertainment details, including a graphical display of the front and rear proximity sensors that shows how close you are to objects near you. You can also access various configuration settings of the car from this display, such as follow me home lights timing, auto-door lock and etc.

Also, notice the CD changer? It isn’t really a “changer” per say, there are dedicated slots for each CD! Looks kinda like an air cond vent to me at first. There is also the JBL Hi-Fi system. The audio controls are mounted on a separate stalk and that needs getting used to a little at first but it was a quick learning experience for me. Steering wheel looks a little bland though.

That aside, somehow everything just seems to have some kind of nice flair about it which invokes a happy feeling, like this car wasn’t just made to make money but to please the owner too. The cabin feels very airy and nice thanks to the massive panoramic moonroof, which can be covered up with a shade in case you’re driving in too hot a day.

Click for enlarged image

And now to the driving. After all, isn’t that what one would have in mind when one buys a turbocharged hatchback with a manual transmission? Well for one the 308 GT definitely does not feel as fast as the Cooper S. As you row through the gears there is a massive push when you start off because of the turbocharger’s 240Nm of torque kicking in so early but the engine somehow goes a little out of breath towards the upper edges of the redline, like the kind of torque curve best mated to an automatic.

Click for enlarged image

The shift knob feels nice in your palm and the gears click in nicely though I wouldn’t call it one of the best slick-feeling shifters I’ve ever used. The clutch is set way too high with a short range of travel. This combined with a snappy accelerator pedal means it will be a tad frustrating to drive the 308 GT smoothly at first, but this is something you’ll hopefully get used to. There is also no foot rest.

The ride is a little firm but still pliant. There’s lots of grip afforded by the very nice 18 inch Pirelli tyres, and the steering tightens up at high speeds to provide the driver more precise control over the steering angle.

Click for enlarged image

Open the rear hatch and you get access to a pretty deep boot but it’s not very tall. The headlamps are a real dream to drive with at night, they are so bright and clear and a passenger actually commented that they might be a little too bright and was afraid we were offending oncoming drivers.

On the interior the front seats are decently sized and they fit my big bulk quite nicely. It doesn’t have super aggressive semi-bucket-like side bolsters. Most importantly they look reasonably upmarket, along with the rest of the interior, which is really a nice place to be in. The rear seats will fit 2 comfortably (see legroom and headroom shot).

I feel Peugeot tried a little too hard to appeal to too wide a spectrum of customers with the 308 GT. They should have left that job to something like the Turbo. Despite 3 doors and a 6-speed manual the car somehow still feels a little too soft. Like it doesn’t have enough hot hatch DNA. Or is that a job that Peugeot delegated to the 207 GTI? Is a 308 GTI coming later?

Click for enlarged image

But it is because of all the soft edges that makes the 308 GT a practical enough yet fun car to be used everyday, even if you regularly have to take in rear passengers. The interior is far from cramped, the ride is pliant enough and operating the front passenger seat to allow access to the rear bench is not cumbersome. Heck, the huge moonroof makes the interior such a nice place to ride in that I’d pick hitching a ride in this car over a sedan in the same segment anytime, if its not a very long journey!

It’s a decent daily or weekend car to have, especially with the potential tweaking that can be done to that turbo engine. On top of the base price of RM159,999, potentially over 200 horses could be unleashed if you spend a little money.

Only problem is if you spend that kind of money to solve its imperfections to suit your needs will it push the overall cost to that of a pre-registered Golf GTI?

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

Toyota Vios S Automatic

Design

The current Vios features an “organic” design style, with more curves and a more “roundish” look. Personally, I prefer the previous Vios, as it looks a little more “solid” and aggressive, over the current design language. With a design that, to me, is more suited to the opposite gender, the top of the line Vios S comes with a few more additional fitments over the base models that help improve its rather modest looks.

These include 15 inch 5-spoke alloy wheels, and an Aerokit which comprises of a front bumper spoiler, side skirting, and a trunk spoiler that helps the Vios feature a wider stance which is a good thing. The Vios S also comes with a chrome package can be seen on the rear license plate garnish and on the body side moulding.

There are also wing mirrors (power adjustable & retractable) with integrated signal lamps. Although the opinion on the exterior design is very much subjective, and that the large number of Vios’ on the road is a clear indication of how most of us feel about the car, I just wished that the exhaust tail pipe is straightened, instead of featuring a visible tip that points downwards.

Interior

The first thing I noticed as I got into the Vios S, is the very much noticeable finish quality of the dashboard, in terms of visible gaps that are not consistent. It looks as though its put together better, especially compared to the base Vios J series, which can be justified by the lower price tag. But wouldn’t it be good if both car models offer the same finish quality?

To me, with a height of 178 cm, sitting on the driver’s seat isn’t much of a problem, with decent legroom and headroom, but I feel that the steering angle can be further improved. Although the steering angle is adjustable, but I feel that the Vios can offer a better seating position if the steering can be tilted upwards a little more, perhaps by an inch.

With even an inch, it would give a person with an average height a more comfortable and sporty seating position. Even at maximum setting, the steering wheel is mounted rather too low, and it should prove to be a little difficult for a plus sized individual to feel completely comfortable behind the wheel.

The other thing about the Vios seating position is it’s rather high, more towards the typical sitting position of a car like the Honda Jazz rather than of a sedan. I know most women like this but it feels odd, like you’re sitting on a stool rather than nicely cosseted in a chair.

Apart from the above, the Toyota Vios is pretty much a decent place to be in, with easily reachable switches and buttons. The Vios S and G comes with a dashboard integrated audio system with steering mounted controls that features MP3 and WMA playback with a CD player, tuner as well as 6 speakers and a printed antenna. The Vios S also comes with a Multi Information Display (MID). To me, the centre mounted instrument panel isn’t much of a problem, and I did not find any difficulty getting used to it.

With a generous use of plastic that is justified by a rather affordable price tag, the Vios also features a comfortable rear cabin with adequate legroom and head clearance. The practicality of the interior is also enhanced with a total of three cup/bottle holders, excluding two bottle holders featured on the front door cards. The Vios also has a number of compartments, such as the ones both sides of the lower part centre console, as well as a storage compartment on the right side of steering wheel. The rear seat back rest can also be folded down via a 60:40 split (for all models expect J) to help increase its 400 liters trunk space.

Driving

The front wheel drive Toyota Vios features an inline 4-cylinder DOHC 16-valve 1.5 liter powerplant with VVT-i and, in the case of the Vios S, is mated to a 4 speed automatic with Super ECT and a gate shifter with ratios set at 2.847 for first,1.552 for second, 1.000 for third and 0.700 for fourth, and with reverse set at 2.343.

The Vios offers reasonable performance, especially when accelerating from a standstill. With a 1.5 liter engine what is tuned to produce the most amount of performance it can while consuming little fuel, the powerplant does its job pretty well overall.

During acceleration, there is no noticeable torque dip, while gear change, although not that quick, is rather smooth. The more I spend time with it, the more I notice that the gear ratios are tuned to offer better acceleration from speeds that are less then 100 km/h. On the highway, the revs on the engine settles at about 3,100 rpm, while traveling at 120 km/h in top gear, with reasonable wind noise. This feels rather high, but proves the shorter city-tuned gearing. It is at such speeds, acceleration proved to be a little on the heavy side of things. It drops a gear when you floor it, and acceleration also becomes highly depended on the gradient of the road. But end of the day, its a B-Segment people mover and at such a price, so I don’t expect it to act like a sports car.

Overall, engine performance is very decent, and considering my experience with the latest Honda City, I must say, that Toyota has done a slightly better job in this department. Although the City has 125HP and 145Nm of torque, while the Vios has 107HP and 141Nm of torque, the Vios has an upper hand. This may also be due to the lower kerb weight of the Vios. Compared to the City’s 1,140 kilograms weight, the Vios is lighter by 90 kilograms, at 1,050 kilograms. While driving on a downhill, the transmission kicks down a gear to make sure that the Vios is at its optimal gear position at such a condition.

Suspension wise, the Vios comes fitted with a MacPherson strut setup with stabilizer up front while the rear features a standard torsion beam. With its electric power steering, that isn’t too light (which is a good thing), the Vios also features good handling. Although it has hints of understeer and body roll, but I only noticed it when I pushed the car closer to its limits at sharper bends. Even on a long distance drive, the bump absorption is pretty good, leaving the car to go over certain road irregularities unnoticed.

Stopping power is up to expectations as well, with ventilated discs up front and solid discs at the back for Vios S and G while the Vios E and J features drum brakes at the rear end. With decent NVH, the Vios performs very well as a city car, and it can even be taken for long distance journeys without a fuss.

Getting in and out of heavy traffic as well as parking spots is something the Vios is very good at. Overall in my opinion, the Vios S is a nice city car, with its RM 88,325 (with insurance) price tag. Other models include Vios G Automatic, which does not come with the Aerokit that goes for RM 85,025 while the Vios E Automatic which comes with a 2-DIN Head Unit with MP3 and WMA compatible CD Player as well as 14 inch alloy wheels can be fetched for RM 79,425.

The base J range, that comes with a 1 DIN head unit with CD Player and steel wheels can be taken home for RM 73,525 for the automatic variant and a very affordable RM 69,825 for the 5 speed manual version. All models also come with warranty for 3 years, or for 100,000 kilometers, whichever comes first.

Other features

Other fitments the come with the Toyota Vios, among others include; dual SRS airbags (for Vios S and G, only driver’s airbag for E, and no air bags for J), ABS, EBD (Electronic Brake-force Distribution), Brake Assist, reverse sensor, collapsable steering column as well as Whiplash Injury Lessening (WIL) for the front seats.

Toyota Vios S TRD (Automatic) and Toyota Vios J TRD (Manual)

Features

Toyota would be offering a number of styling and performance upgrades with its TRD package, but at the moment, it is still at the development stage, so expect additions (less likely) and omissions of certain features. As mentioned earlier, the auto maker has made available two variants, based on a Vios S and a Vios J. Both cars are finished with a number of TRD fitments including, TRD front and rear bumper spoilers as well as TRD side skirts, a TRD trunk lid spoiler, TRD fuel tank cap, 15 inch sports wheels, door visors (for the Vios S TRD) and the TRD Sportivo logo mounted on the trunk lid that make up the exterior upgrade.

On the inside, these cars feature different seats, TRD gear knobs as well as TRD pedal sets. The Vios S TRD is fitted with seats that are covered with TRD designed seat covers while the Vios J TRD is fitted with FIA full bucket seats. To help improve performance, Toyota has added a TRD radiator cap with 1.3 bar of pressure resistance, a TRD oil filler cap, a TRD air filter as well as sports suspension, that includes the TRD Sportivo suspension on the Vios S TRD that lowers the car by 15 mm and TIEN suspension that brings the Vios J closer to the ground by 45 mm. The springs on the Sportivo suspension is a little hard than the standard springs, while the TIES suspension features even harder springs and tuned dampers.

Among the above mentioned performance enhancing features, the only ones that really make the difference include the new suspension and the TRD air filter, which should bump up the horsepower by about 3 to 5hp (speculation only).

Driving: Toyota Vios S TRD (Automatic)

Visually, the Vios S TRD with the TRD bodykit treatment looks a little better than the Vios S with the Aerokit. Just like the Aerokit, it makes the Vios S TRD look a little more aggressive thanks to its wider and lower stance, at a higher level compared to the Aerokit. Inside, the Vios also looks sportier with the TRD gear knob, TRD pedals and TRD seat covers which I quite fancy.

All this aesthetic features help bring out some sportiness from the Vios. The driving experience is also improved, offering a sportier drive. The first thing I noticed is the slightly hardened suspension, compared the Vios S. Being stiffer, I had more confidence negotiating curves, thanks to reduced understeer and bodyroll at its limits. However, ride comfort is slightly compromised.

Although I did not notice much of it while driving it in the city, except when I went over potholes, I did definitely feel the difference when I got onto the highway, as every single bump on the road can be felt. But don’t get me wrong, it is not excessively stiff, just a little, which is tolerable. If Toyota plans to offer a sporty suspension option, this setting is perfect as its offers a very good balance between good ride quality and improved handling.

The next thing I noticed is the slight improvement in power delivery and a more engine note, thanks to TRD’s sports air filter. Especially while accelerating, I felt a slight improvement, with the needles on both on the rev meter as well as on the speedometer moving upwards that much quicker. Sound coming out of the engine is more noticeable, but it isn’t intrusive at all. Overall, I like what they have done with the Vios S TRD. It features a good trade off between comfort and performance, while looking better at the same time.

The only thing I have to complain, is about the lip on the front bumper. It is mounted a little too low, causing it to scrape the road surface if I go slightly faster over speed bumps. Although I can go slower, it still doesn’t change the fact that it scraps the cement surface while I made my way down the elevated parking lot of Gardens MidValley, no matter how slow I was driving. I feel there has to be at least an inch more in terms of ground clearance. Other than that, its perfect!

Driving: Toyota Vios J TRD (Manual)

The Vios J TRD, compared to the Vios S with the TRD treatment features racing bucket seats, as well as a suspension that is further tuned to offer race like handling and a MOMO sports steering wheel that is removable, with just a push of a button. The TEIN suspension, as mentioned earlier, is fitted with stiffer springs and dampers, while it brings the car lower to the ground by 45 mm. It is really quite low, in fact so low that Toyota had to remove the front lip from the original bodykit because it kept scraping the irregularities on the road. Other upgrades such as the TRD radiator cap and TRD air filter are retained.

With the manual, the acceleration performance is slightly better compared to the automatic transmission. As opposed to what I mentioned earlier during my initial test drive at the Sepang F1 Circuit, the gear lever now offers better tactility. Toyota has probably fine tuned it or probably the gear lever saw better days during the test Sepang. The lever offers a slick and precise feeling when shifting gears. The lever feels more properly weighted which is a very good thing.

The bucket seats are fixed and conform to FIA specifications, meaning they hug you like they never want to let you go, which is great when you take the car to the track, but not very practical for daily driving which involves frequent access and egress. The problem I faced with the Vios S TRD regarding the front bumper spoiler that is too low was not evident with the J TRD, as it was removed since this version is significantly lower than the S TRD, which would make it almost impossible to go over speed bumps, no matter how slow you drive. The fact that the suspension is so much stiffer than the Vios S TRD’s is really noticeable.

If I were to compare it with another car, It would be the Honda Civic Type R! It is very stiff, and too stiff for daily use. Unlike the Civic Type R, which is justified by it having a powerful motivator, the “super hard” and race like suspension would serve no purpose with a 107h powerplant. However, it does enable the Vios to offer excellent handling characteristics with understeer and bodyroll that is almost unnoticeable.

It gave me the confidence of pushing it harder, and it allowed me to do so. The TEIN suspension would be excellent for track driving, although I would not say the same for daily use. Toyota may also offer official TRD exterior decals, like the ones which are visible both these cars, but as mentioned earlier it is still in the development stage.

Conclusion

Overall, comparing both the Vios S and J TRD, I reckon that the upgrades performed on the Vios S, minus the front bumper spoiler, would be preferable for daily use, while offering a sportier ride compared to the standard Vios. It is more balanced, with a just “perfect” sports suspension that is easy to live with, compared to the more vigorous TIEN setup on the Vios J TRD. I also like Toyota’s take on the meaning of performance upgrades, that includes upgrades for improving engine output and handling of the car, unlike just esthetic or visual upgrades.

I will also prefer if Toyota can further improve the engine’s power output, via the package, by another 10HP perhaps? But that may prove to be heavy on the wallets of the buyers, as development cost may drive up the price tag of the upgrade package. On the other hand, buyers can also perform upgrades to hike up the horsepower via the aftermarket scene. We will update you as soon as Toyota launches the official TRD upgrade package for the Vios. Stay tuned!

Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

LCI Changes (Life Cycle Impulse, BMW nomenclature for facelift)

BMW has definitely been listening to the grouches from consumers about the 3-er’s styling. Frankly the slightly oddball cues were made even worse by the E92 3-Series Coupe released later which looked perfect, hardly anything to complain about. When the M3 Sedan came out it had the benefit of the 3 Coupe’s front-end, while the Sedan soldiered on with the flat kidney grilles until this facelift.

The 3 Facelift returns to a 1-piece kidney grille design. The bonnet gets a new set of crease lines in the middle that’s meant to look like the narrow and sharp nose of a Formula One car. The bumper is also different. Headlamps have been revised to use LED signal indicators.

On the side, there is an additional line carved into the side skirts give the side profile a little more character and it helps with the car’s stance as well because of the way it curves from the front to the rear. The side mirrors are also larger to offer a larger view to the driver.

On the rear end, the butterfly lights are finally gone and we’re back to the traditional L-shape design of the E46. Because of the reshaped tail lamps, the boot lid has also been redesigned. The tail lamps have two strips of LEDs into them, which seems to be a new design direction for the tail lamps of all BMWs these days, something that was also found on the E39 5-er. Like the front, the signal lamps light up with LEDs. The rear is supposed to look wider because its rear track has been widened by 24mm thanks to a new wheel carrier and other modified suspension parts.

The bonnet has been reshaped to include an extra two profile lines in the middle, which BMW says mimic the thin and sharp nose of an F1 car.

The front bumper’s lines are more curvaceous now and I feel the looks of the front end of the regular E90 and the M-Sport E90 are closer now. On the rear end there are various different tailpipe configurations. The regular cars will get a twin tailpipe design on the left side, which is similiar to the 330d that you will see in this post’s photos. The 335i gets a twin tailpipe design too, but with a large tailpipe on each side of the rear bumper. Quad tailpipes are of course reserved for the M3.

There are not much changes in the interior in terms of looks, just a few extra chrome highlights around the aircond vents, push-button starter and various other control knobs. BMW says the center console (arm rest storage area) offers a larger storage compartment now, and within it is an aux-in socket, a power socket and a special recess for a MP3 player to be stored in.

Other than the new iDrive system which we will cover later, one of the best changes in the interior is the fact that BMW has improved the door armrest padding. It’s much more comfortable for you to rest your arm there now. On the driver’s side, the power window and side mirror adjustment control panel have been moved back 2cm towards the driver for more comfortable access.

The Drive

I have been on some international media drives before but this time it was unique as I had a chance to drive the car alone, after my driving partner had to leave mid-way to settle some issues. Driving in Munich (or any other similiar European country) in the beginning of Autumn is truly an experience as you take in all the amazing colours in the show that nature just begins to put on for the people living there right before they have to go through a grey, wet and gloomy winter.

I’ve always remembered the 3-Series to be ever so slightly on the harsher side of things when it comes to ride comfort and compliance in Malaysia but it was amazing in Germany, where the roads are just so much better, especially on the Autobahns. I am not entirely sure whether this is because the 3-er has had some sort of change to the springs to make them softer, or it’s just the difference in roads. It probably explains why BMW was so eager to go all run-flat especially with the latest run-flat technology.

But in any case if indeed the 3-er is softer now it’s a wise move to make in a world where a facelift model is contending with the new A4 and the new C. Being more comfortable would give the 3-series more appeal while reserving the best driving experience for those who opt for the M-Sport suspension.

Driving dynamics is still the best in class in terms of steering feedback, body reaction to steering input and lane change composure. There’s just something about the way the tight BMW chassis responds to a quick lane change maneuver that the W204 and the B8 just cannot seem to match at the moment, at least according to my personal experience. They’re close but its just not the same, and it is this magic ingredient of the driver feeling so connected is what pushes the E90 or just any other sporty BMW sedan ahead of its competitors.

Sweet 6-potter petrol and diesel engines

This trip was the first time I was getting to sample the new twin turbocharged 3.0 liter petrol engine, mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission. The engine is a true cracker, serving loads of boost from the get-go pretty much immediately, and sustaining it all the way to the redline.

306 horsepower and 400Nm of torque means overtaking without dropping a gear is seriously possible, if you are lazy to shift down with a manual of course. With the auto the gearbox is pretty responsive to downshift commands. I only have on complaint, somehow I suspect the direct injection has spoiled the engine note a bit.

The N52s in the 325i etc we have here in Malaysia are alot more metallic and screaming like a banshee towards the high-ends of the rev range, in a very good way of course. The turbocharged direct injection N54 just did not sound as good somehow. It’s a bit muted and somehow just not as smooth.

The N52 is being replaced with the new direct injection (High Pressure Injection) normally aspirated N53 around the world, and although I’ve never driven one yet I hope they don’t end up sounding like the N54. It’s a good thing our petrol is shit, otherwise we won’t be able to still continue enjoying the N52!

As for the diesel, we used to have a 320d in Malaysia in wagon form but with the LCI that’s been removed. I managed to sample the 330d with a 6-speed manual. It was my first time driving a modern manual BMW. The clutch was not overly light but far from heavy either, the feel very just nice. No complaints about the shift feel. But what truly surprised me was the diesel.

This is a new diesel engine, a development over the previous generation 3.0 liter. It has an aluminium crank case and is lighter in many areas. Some of you who drive diesels would probably know this common trait of many diesel engines – they start off very strong but taper off shortly after, sometimes feeling very heavy-ish even as early as 3,500rpm. This VGT-equipped diesel was not like that.

It was bloody amazing! It stayed strong all the way to the redline, just like a petrol engine. In fact, you could hardly tell you were driving a diesel if not for the slightly different gruntier engine note, but there’s not much injector clatter either.

But then again it’s not to the point where you would wind down your windows in a tunnel at night and really work the engine just to hear the engine note. No, it doesn’t sound THAT good of course. You’ll wind down your windows to hear the woosh and whine of the turbine, but that’s about it. So BMW still has more room for innovation, so until the next diesel.

The new all-improved BMW iDrive

All in all iDrive is so much easier to use now especially the maps and address searching because it runs from a hard drive now so access speeds are much faster than loading stuff from a DVD. I believe the processor also must be faster. Maps are now from TomTom’s TeleAtlas subsidiary, instead of the DVD-based Nokia-owned Navteq system.

There is a map 3D view now that shows gradients. Apparently there is also a version which can show the buildings around you but I think our route did not go through an area with that kind of detailed mapping, but it did have the gradients though, showing uphills, downhills and the mountains around us.

In our journey we managed to try out how iDrive works with traffic info systems, something that we cannot try in Malaysia. On the journey to the airport for our trip home, some of the other media got trapped in a massive traffic jam which caused them to miss (or nearly miss, I forgot) a flight. iDrive actually warned us of the traffic jam and took us around it.

The user interface takes cues from one of the most popular consumer electronics out there, the iPod. Rotating knob interfaces are always associated with the iPod anyway and most of us already intuitively know how to operate it thanks to Apple having already “trained” us.

The new iDrive system’s hard drive can also function as a music jukebox, so you don’t have to carry your CDs around with you and risk them being damaged from being in a car that’s being baked under the hot sun all the time. Just load them in and rip them. iDrive will store them on its built-in hard drive. Only a couple of gigs out of the whole large drive will be used for music of course, because in Europe the 3D maps and etc are huge and take up alot of hard drive space. These maps do not take up as much space in Malaysia so there will actually be alot of wasted hard drive space that’s not being used by maps but not allowed to be used by music.

We had the opportunity to test out BMW’s new ConnectedDrive web browser which uses a SIM card for an EDGE speed data connection. The web browser is based on NetFront, which is a commonly used web browser when it comes to embedded applications. It is also used in devices like the Amazon Kindle, and the PSP as well as the Playstation 3. No Flash support yet though, and Gmail loads up in HTML.

From the video above I think you can already see one improvement that BMW can make – when you key in the website address there should be predefined choices for “.com”, “.net” and “.org”. BMW has already realised this of course and it is planned in the next version. It’s quite interesting that BMW’s rationale for Google to be its starting website is that so many people use Google as their start page these days, so it helps the user feel that the web browser can access “real internet”, not a special limited “BMW internet”.

I tried the browser again later and the speeds are actually quite bearable, EDGE is much faster when it works properly compared to the kind of 3G/3.5G service we get here (I’m looking at you, Maxis). Text can be small and hard to read at times but there is a zoom feature.

On local soils

The 3-Series LCI is already here, with some new models and some models gone. The 320d Touring will be missed by the likes of enthusiasts but the common folk really won’t notice its gone. The 323i is a good move, replacing the regular 325i without the M-Sport kit and allows a cheaper entry into 6-cylinder BMW ownership.

I still like the 3-Series the best out of the German trio that compete in the premium C-segment. Discounting the 320i of course. I love the tight chassis and the way it responses to driver commands. To me, it’s really not about how each car does at the very edge of safety but how it handles regular spirited driving, something you do when the roads are a little more empty and you stick the gear shifter into DS. The 3-Series does that the best and provides the best feedback.

It still retains the throne of the best driving car in its segment. But for those who don’t care about driving that may not be enough looking at its competitors compelling features and “new factor” (they’re just released).

Oh yeah, not to forget, I wanted to show you guys this comparison photo above. The 3-Series is so much bigger now that it’s almost as big as the previous generation E39 5-Series! How much larger will it grow?

Please enjoy the large set of high-resolution images below.

GALLERY: BMW 330d LCI

GALLERY: BMW 335iLCI

GALLERY: BMW E90/E91 LCI

GALLERY: BMW E91 LCI (Touring)

GALLERY: BMW E90/E91 LCI International Media Launch

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

Measuring over 5 metres in length, think Mercedes R-Class and S-Class in extended ‘L’ guises. It is perhaps even taller than the trendy and popular deep-freezer-on-wheels Toyota Alphard. This is another repeat of maximum bang-for-bucks from the Koreans!

Splendid, I thought to myself since most guys, if not all, love bigger things generally (stop your wandering minds people!). A preference applicable even to handsets now, unlike in the early 2000’s when Nokia’s most ‘iconic’ and smallest handphone, the 8210 were so ubiquitous.

In all honesty, almost all the folks that spotted me piloting the Starex – a parallel imported MPVs dealer included – were more impressed with its exterior styling than the other slab-sided metal chunk wearing that coveted ‘T’ badge. Some even commended that the Starex’s rear profile was reminiscent of the current Mercedes-Benz Vito/Viano to a certain extent. Now that must be quite flattering for Hyundai’s Starex going into its third generation.

It’s also very heartening and appetising to digest figures like 170 hp and 392 Nm of torque at 2000 to 2500rpm coming from Hyundai’s 2.5L turbodiesel, equipped with Variable Geometry Turbo (VGT). Definitely class-leading figures for an oil-burner MPV at RM138,888 or for any 12-seater for that matter. Much like the double-digit load capacity washing machine I still cherish much until now; seating the Starex up to the max didn’t seem to bog it down, with cruising at legal speed (and beyond) and also passing slower pickup trucks (even Estimas 2.4) a breeze.

The 2.2 tonne Starex also passed my self-coined uphill-sprint-test with flying colour, lugging the same full load of passengers. That’s the beauty of near-400Nm of turbodiesel torque working with you, for you, via the 5-speed auto ‘box. Interestingly, I have managed to clock about 580km to the tankful of 75litres of diesel, for what is mostly highway blasts at ‘high’ speed, with some urban driving thrown in.

This behemoth from Hyundai is best left cruising down highway since its sheer bulk and high centre-of-gravity don’t usually translate to fun tackling the twisties. That’s to be expected but it’s not to say that it pitches and rolls badly around corners, far from it.

In fact, I found the Starex mostly as planted as the SsangYong Stavic tested years ago, if not for what is recalled as slightly better tracking composure of the latter’s front axle into corners. Needless to say, both makes are best driven sedately around bends since they are after all massive vehicular masses in motion.

The brakes of the Starex is very adequate though, and for those who like to split hairs about having drum brakes at the back (e.g. Naza Ria, Toyota Innova and the Grand Livina), the rear axle items on the Starex are not only discs but huge, ventilated rotors! The turning radius of the Starex is simply superb, enabling an unusually small semi-circle for making U-turns, even better than some FWD sedans with lengthy frontal overhangs! In addition, this also makes parallel parking easier than you imagine.

One of the few gripes I have with the Starex is the absence of a rear screen wiper when even a reverse camera is standard. You know how an expansive rear windscreen on a near-vertical tailgate gets easily sprayed with smudges after a rainy day drive. In an already tall van, the taller bee-sting radio antenna only serves to scrape ceilings, an occasional overhead fire sprinkler’s piping and sometimes metal frame scaffolding of basement car parks.

In the meantime, I found the vague release of the parking brake lever deep in between the driver and front middle seat mostly inconvenient.

More often than not, the parking brake does not disengage fully unless and until I extend my elbow and wrist, each time having to consciously push the lever deep down to the carpet trim level. Also, what’s with the old school instrument dials with plain green backlighting at night and ever-so-boring fonts, looking bargain basement and much like a commercial goods carrier’s?

Come to think of it, I have spotted a white panel-van version of the H1 – as the Starex is known as – in the UK last year. But c’mon Hyundai, surely there’s room for differentiation at the meter panel! Plenty of manufacturers do it.

Interior wise, the ceiling is lined bilaterally with A/C vents which kept all three back rows’ passengers cool, near freezing-cold even in scorching mid-day sun. Though the seats sizes are just adequate, trimming them in soft beige leather did help in increasing their comfiness and even adds a tinge of class to things.

In fact, the overall cabin ambiance is far more inviting and luxurious versus the likes of the Toyota Hiace and the Kia Pregio. Heck, there is even a touch screen double-DIN DVD player up front along with a ceiling mounted LCD screen to keep my kids and their cousins quiet during an outing to Kuantan, and back!

After returning the tester unit, this writer was actually contemplating getting one for his ever-expanding, at times extended family. If only the economic uncertainty that looms ahead with the doom of global financial crisis wasn’t so murky and threatening.

Nonetheless, at sub-RM140k there is nothing like this spacious behemoth there in CBU form (or even CKD for that matter) and as a brand-new vehicle for you to pick. So it does make sense – even more so in these trying times – as say, a third ‘car’ for mass transportation or utility purposes for a large family. That’s provided you can get past the usual badge snobbery that seems to be prevalent in the Malaysian buyer mentality. For the record, this Hyundai is already well received by the decision makers in the hospitality, travel and tourism industry.

Personally though, if only this Grand Starex comes equipped with electronic stability program (ESP) like the H1s in South Korea… that would have made my decision easier.

Or am I just dragging my feet?

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

The RS 125 is, as the name suggests, a 125 c.c. 2 stroke racing styled machine. Very closely patterned after their 2008 125 GP bikes, the RS125 is very much intended for the young racer, or racer wanna-be. A Rotax single cylinder liquid cooled engine with crankcase reed valve and a balance shaft delivers the power smoothly, although the engine needs to be brought up to the upper reaches of the power band before things start happening. Fuelling is via Dell’Orto carburetor, with the exhaust swept up the left side and tucked up out of harm’s way.

The cockpit is minimalist, as is to be expected from a racer, but it comes with everything you need to know, including a lap timer.

The twin beam aluminium frame brings everything together, with 40 mm USD forks, and there’s a hydraulic shock handling absorption duties at the rear. Brakes are typically racer like in feel and bite, with a single disc front and rear. The front brake is a 4 piston caliper, biting a 320 mm disc. More than adequate to bring the entire package of rider and bike to a stop in less time than it takes for you to read this sentence. The brakes are very controllable, and showed some signs of fading after several hard laps around the track. I suspect this might be because the rider is, perhaps, slightly heavier than the whippet weight 125 jockeys this bike was designed for.

The office, as you can well imagine, is a trifle cramped. This bike is definitely designed for slim, fearless, young men in their late teens or early 20s, not older riders who prefer to, shall we say, stretch things out a little. Saying that, once you fold your legs up onto the pegs, bend your elbows slightly outboard of your knees, ( and your elbows will touch your knees in race position), and place your chin on the tank, it feels right, allowing you to dream of being Simone Corsi.

But, the way to ride a small capacity 2 stroke can be summed up in two words. Corner speed. In this, the RS125 does admirably well. Although taking off calls for some cold hearted treatment of the throttle and clutch, once things get going, the 6 speed gearbox is smooth, each gear clicking into place without hesitation. You rev the engine towards 10,000 r.p.m., aim for the corner, and then, You. Must. Lean.

The RS125 is capable of some very extreme lean angles, allowing you to carry and hold the corner speed. At this stage, you really don’t want to start messing with the throttle, because any loss of engine speed takes a long time to claw back, due to the lack of torque. But if you do it right, the bike takes care of it all, allowing you to concentrate on the line, and the exit. Taking turn 9 at Sepang, the corner that is perhaps the hardest to get right, due to its off camber entry and invisible exit, was carved admirably well on the RS125. The light weight of the bike allowed this slightly ham fisted rider to choose a line, and lean over without fear of launching himself, and the bike, into the sky. This is something I couldn’t ever get away with on, say, a Ducati 999.

The RS125 is a motorcycle that rewards a brave rider. It is perhaps not suited for the rider who prefers something that requires minimal maintenance, or a daily commuter, as the Rotax engine requires regular maintenance to have performing at optimum. The handling is razor sharp, and easy to control, as any well designed motorcycle should be.

The peaky engine, together with its insane lean angle and corner speeds, makes this bike one for the racetrack, in the hands of a young racer.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

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.

I believe one of the first questions you would like to have answered on the Proton Exora MPV is whether it is underpowered or not. The next would be whether it is spacious inside and comfortable. I will quickly answer these concerns. Bear in mind all of my testing was done with between 6 to 7 people on-board, so I don’t know how the car performs with only 2-3 people in it. I would assume it would be so much better. Comparing kerb weights, you can actually predict that an Exora with only the driver in it would probably feel like a Waja with 4 people in it?

The engine used under the hood is the Campro CPS engine and its CPS and VIM activation parameters are similiar to the unit installed in the Waja CPS and the GEN2 CPS. It is only the Satria Neo CPS which has different CPS activation timing. It produces 125 horsepower at 6,500rpm (7,000rpm redline) and 150Nm of torque at 4,500rpm. I am sure there is still some improvements that can be squeezed out here as a competitor engine can churn out 160Nm of twisting power from a normally aspirated 1.6 liter and the CPS is a long stroke engine which means it should be able to be quite torquey by nature. The gearbox has had its final drive modified to help with the power delivery, and 110km/h RPM on the auto is somewhere between 2,700 to 2,800rpm (cannot remember exactly right now for some reason).

The achilles heel of the Exora is the Campro CPS engine. With the automatic transmission, it is best described as being just enough to move the car, and you can feel the engine being worked really hard to move the MPV, which was loaded up with 7 people. With a kerb weight of 1,380kg, adding all the passengers brings it close to its gross vehicle weight of over 1,900kg. It is seriously no mean feat.

You can truly feel the torque curve of the CPS engine with your butt-o-meter, no measuring devices necessary. Every dip and peak in the curve can be felt because the pace of the MPV’s acceleration depends on every single Newton meter that the engine can churn out. Proton’s famous air conditioning compressor which works great but seems to sap plenty of engine power can already be felt in cars like the GEN2 CPS, but it is even more prominent in this car, slowing things down considerably when it kicks in.

Now the thing is, the only time where acceleration was found to be sluggy to the point of annoyance was when the Exora was starting from a standstill. Not so much in the manual version but it’s quite bad in the auto on even a slight incline. Once it gets going and the Campro engine is in its powerband, things get going sufficiently. I won’t go to the extent of describing it as swift or any similiar words, but I think perhaps 80% of the time and an majority percentage of situations, the Exora has enough power. Most Genting slopes can be taken with 2nd gear in the manual if you have enough momentum, with only the steepest requiring a shift to 1st gear. Mind you, this is according to a Proton engineer as we didn’t climb Genting in our drive.

The manual has more ratios and saps less power. The auto is a little more lethargic and there was one occasion on an incline where it felt really sluggy because I had the pedal to the metal and there was room to do a downshift but it did not! Perhaps there is still some work and finetuning to be done on the TCU? Had to manually downshift via the auto’s gate shifter.

Click to enlarge

I think you can begin to visualise how you will have to drive this. Plan your journey well and look far ahead at traffic as to plan your route through the road’s traffic – minimize braking and keep the momentum up, because once you slow down, acceleration is going to take awhile. Stay out of the fast lane because if you change lanes to overtake, it’s going to take a long time and you might annoy the hell out of cars coming up behind you. I personally drive a car that is quite underpowered as well and for slow and comfortable driving you won’t have issues with the Exora.

Just don’t try to get anywhere in a hurry. Not with your entire family on board anyway – too heavy and not good to endanger them. Also you have to be careful when trying to get across busy crossjunctions or enter busy roundabouts, I foresee that might be a problem with the auto.

On an empty road and ample space for acceleration, the Proton Exora can actually achieve some really high speeds. 140 to 160km/h are no problem given enough time and even beyond that is possible on a downhill stretch. These high speeds can be sustained easily, it is only when you slow down and try to climb back up to those speeds where it takes a long time. Typical Campro and Campro CPS, only shines at the top end, which is why I feel turbocharging with a low pressure turbo will do wonders for it.

Another thing I noticed is how smooth the engine was. It was very loud at high revs approaching the 7,000rpm redline and its boom echoed throughout the interior, but there was not much vibration, something that many current CPS-equipped car owners experience when they send their rev needles to the redline, especially in the Satria Neo. And the engine is pretty docile at regular highway cruise speeds. It’s quite quiet actually. Conversations can be carried out all the way form the front row to the third row without having to raise voices. That is a sign of some pretty impressive sound proofing and NVH optimisation. It remained calm and serene without us having to raise our voices to have a conversation even at speeds of beyond 170km/h. It’s really impressive. Like I mentioned before, the only time the cabin seemed overwhelmed with noise is when the Campro CPS is near the redline. Then you get the boom and blare.

Click to enlarge

The Exora dashboard is probably a first Proton dashboard that does not seem like it is built for midgets in a long long time. It isn’t set too low in the interior. Had no complaints about it so I guess it is at a proper proportionate height. The gear shifter is raised and is very near to the steering wheel so it’s pretty easy to reach for whenever you need to shift gears. The speedo is easy to read and done in white and red.

There is now an instant real-time digital fuel consumption readout but in our prototype vehicles this was not working. It displayed data but was incorrect, with consumption numbers (in liters per 100km) being excessively low most of the time. A Proton engineer told me the prototype car had an old version of some software update and had not been flashed to the latest version yet so the calibration for the instant fuel consumption readout was all wrong. I have a miff with the way you get the meter to display but I will cover this in a later story.

I was happy with the position of the steering wheel. It isn’t too far away. Near enough for me to have a comfortable and firm grip. The seat could be pushed back as far as I required (I am 182cm tall) and I even tried pushing it completely to the rear, but there was still a seriously large amount of legroom in the 2nd row. The driver’s seat was slightly elevated and offers a SUV-like commanding view of what’s ahead. The Proton Exora was stable and planted for as fast as I drove, which is only up to about 160km/h at one point. The fastest I went most of the time was only 140km/h, if I recall correctly. I didn’t dare speed further than that actually as there were 6 other people in the MPV with me, I didn’t want to risk anything.

The steering has a nice weight to it and is easy to keep steady through negotiating a corner. It was precise too, pointing the nose of the car exactly where you expect it to go. No complaints about the brakes and there was also minimal brake dive. The Exora can be ever slightly floaty at times depending on how undulating the terrain is but I found that I only felt this as the driver, didn’t notice it as a passenger.

Click to enlarge

I drove more like a typical MPV driver would, but as a passenger I witnessed some pretty mad cornering around the Karak curves at speeds of 120 to 140km/h without the Goodyear Assurance tyres even making much of a fuss. As usual, the Proton boys have got the car’s ride and handling close to perfect. One of the most impressive things about the MPV is the fact that the third row felt as chill as the 1st or 2nd row, just that it has less space. At this price level or even much more expensive than the RM70k to RM80k that the Exora is expected to be priced at, you usually get a third row that is quite uncomfortable when the vehicle is on the go, because of its position right over the vehicle’s rear axle. It’s usually quite bumpy and headroom is sometimes limited. The Exora trumps all its competition at this.

The third row is so comfortable compared to the bouncy stuff you get with other cheap MPVs and even when one fellow journalist was whacking the corners at high speeds, I didn’t feel thrown around or dizzy. When the Proton Exora travels over an irreguliarity in the road such as the usual place where 2 different pieces of an elevated highway joins together during a corner, the rear end of the car remained composed and calm. Other MPVs would swing and bounce around, creating discomfort for the third row. There are air cond vents for all 3 rows, and the rear rows get its own dedicated blower located in the space above the rear left wheel. The fuel filler is on the other side of course. The rear ceiling vents also have their own blower speed control mounted on the ceiling. Air conditioning for 2nd and 3rd rows is really best in class and the vent angles can be adjusted easily.

Now that we have the Proton Exora’s engine, handling and comfort nailed down let’s talk about space and later proceed to usability/ease of use. As previously mentioned, there is plenty of second row space. Both the 2nd and 3rd row have the ability to have their seat recline adjusted. The third row backrest and seat angle moves together when you adjust its reclining position to maintain a comfortable hip point. For me to fit in the third row requires the 2nd row to be a little more straight up than the optimum comfortable position. That way I can fit comfortably with only the cloth of my pants barely touching the 2nd row seat back.

Third row legroom – I am 182cm tall

I didn’t really feel like I was sitting on the floor of the Proton Exora though my knee was higher than usual and it was impossible to do any form of leg stretching, but get into the third row of an Exora from a competitor and you’ll feel relieved. There is also plenty of headroom for all 3 rows. Headroom is seriously aplenty here. It makes it easy to get into the third row as you do not have to bend down too much. The third row is going to be seriously comfortable for kids. With the third row fully reclined, the seatbacks are pretty much very close to the rear glass. Luggage space is limited to the triangular-shaped area between the seatback and the floor, which fits 1 golf bag and a few other small items. If you make the third row seatback a little more straight up, you create more luggage space, but it’s not going to be very comfortable for adults at all. The M-Line also lacks any headrests for the third row so it could touch the rear glass sometimes.

Third row headroom – I am 182cm tall

The second row of the Proton Exora has no sliding ability. But what it can do is tumble-fold completely forwards, creating an empty space in the area where the 2nd row is. This makes it quite easy to get into the third row. The 2nd row seats split 60:40 and the tumbling mechanism can be done independently of each other. The tumbling mechanism works via pulling a strap – from what I understand you pull it a little and it folds down once, pull it completely and it tumbles completely forward against the first row seatback. As I previously mentioned, there is quite alot of space in the 2nd row. Perhaps some of that space should have been allocated in improving some of the third row space. When I suggested this, a part of the Proton team gave an answer that makes sense somehow. Proton wanted the MPV to feel big, spacious and comfortable. It is the number one selling point for an MPV and an MPV has to do that well for it to be considered a good MPV. Not handle well or outrun a sports car. So what they did was make sure at least 5 out of 7 people in the MPV enjoy a great experience. Not 7 people enjoying a mediocre experience.

A convenient teh tarik hook is located in the lower area of the dash near the front passenger footwell, and the front seats have some hooks at the back of them for 2nd row usage as well. There are plenty of cupholders and bottleholders, even for the third row.

One main pet peeve I have is that NONE of the Exora variants destined for Malaysia have ISOFIX points, not even a single one in the Exora. When I asked the engineers about this, the reason given was cost and the lack of regulations requiring ISOFIX points in Malaysia. Personally I feel as a national car company which gets plenty of incentives from the government and is government-owned, safety for the rakyat and future leaders of the nation should be at least given priority! Not just airbags, etc. You harp on the necessity to have seatbelts and force people to wear belts in all seats, so why deny children the safety of a properly fixed child seat? I know this isn’t up to the engineers and decide and from what I know they have no problems implementing this, so it is more of a product planning decision.

AA surveys show that child seats that are fitted with the adult seatbelts are typically 70% to 80% misfitted with around 30% being seriously misfitted. So what happens during an accident or harsh braking? Your child might just fly together with the misfixed seat! When even the Satria Neo has ISOFIX points, why not in the Exora? if you say lack of regulation requirements – then why are they in the Neo? Cost, how much can ISOFIX points cost! RM50 to RM100 per point? A maximum of RM500 per car, with overly inflated costs for 2 ISOFIX-equipped seats in the 2nd row? Couldn’t scrapping some of your Corporate Social Responsibility programs cover the cost of proper ISOFIX points in your Exora? Spend the money on your real customers instead of others!

Why wait for the government to enforce something? Proton should be proactive in taking this step. Malaysians are not educated on such safety features. Do your part in educating them. Perhaps in your focus group studies for the Exora, none of the potential customers asked for ISOFIX points because they don’t even know what ISOFIX is. That is no reason for you to omit them. Put them in and educate them. Don’t be penny-wise pound-foolish. The good PR from this will be valuable, more than the cost of the points themselves. Really good child seats with ISOFIX support can be expensive. Package them together with your hire purchase loans for families to be able to afford them.

Do it, and do it soon. Showing that you are concerned about your customers will do wonders for your image. Then move on later to more than just 2 front airbags, and perhaps some form of stability and traction control. Dual SRS airbags should really be made standard. I hope there are people in the Proton management/product team reading this.

The Proton Exora MPV is a very impressive product on the overall, and even more so when you take into account its expected price level. It’s got best in class interior room and can be compared to vehicles that are on class above. It can move a whole family along in comfort, just that it is slow in getting moving. I know it sounds like I’m making excuses for Proton but from my own personal driving experience there were only certain times when I felt it was underpowered. Given that most of our drive was on the highway, most of the situation we only had to get up to cruising speed once and the Exora maintained its speed well. It’s just too bad that Proton has no powerful engine to put in it at this point and has to compromise with the Campro CPS as the sole option. It’s fine as a very baseline engine but it really cannot be the only option. Hope that’s fixed with the Campro Turbo.

The lack of certain features such as ISOFIX points in the Malaysian version in no way cripples the ability of the Exora to be a fine MPV of course but it reflects the still on-going shortchanging that Malaysian consumers always seem to get, because from what I was told, ISOFIX will be in the export cars. In fact these are only the very few things that I have to complain about, the MPV does its MPV duties really well and I am impressed at how Proton engineers really got it right the first time.

Anyway forgive me for the lack of photos from the actual test drive session. We weren’t allowed to use any photos actually and had to get photos approved on a case by case and photo by photo basis with justification. Whatever photos I justified using are already in this story. I must thank Proton especially their corp comm team and engineers for organising a well-planned and extremely informative test drive session. More to come – some juicy details on some various new features and specs of the Proton Exora including the BCM module.

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

Sometime in April last year we said goodbye to the Jaguar S-Type sold by SISMA Auto and welcomed the Jaguar XF. While the old S-Type was a modern reinterpretation of the old Jaguar Mark 2 design from the 1960s, the XF can be immediately identified as some kind of downsized Aston Martin Rapide of sorts. It was first shown to the world as the Jaguar C-XF, but like all concepts it was much more fiercer and racier especially at the front with those sleek and slim headlamps that somehow got translated into the fat ones you see here on the production version.

In Malaysia, the XF takes on German rivals such as the Mercedes-Benz E 280 and the BMW 530i, as well as the Japanese Lexus GS 300. At RM 488,888, it has a much higher price than its other rivals which retail at approximately RM 453,800, RM 438,888 and RM 419,444.20 respectively for the BMW, the Benz and the Lexus (some are with insurance some without). But is the XF worth the premium? Perhaps SISMA are pricing it against the CLS instead of the E-class segment.

Read our findings after the jump.

Design

Take a closer look at the front end of the vehicle and you can see signs of the old S-Type it replaced. The headlamps obviously started off as a twin headlamps but with another shape interconnecting them, much like what Mercedes-Benz did with the W203 C-Class “peanut” headlamps. The grille is large and square with rounded edges, a more modernised interpretation of the S-Type’s round grille.

Personally I think it would look better with the distance between the front grille and the headlamps minimized. Because of the large gap on the current design, at certain angles the front end may feel a little empty and with a little less presence.

But Jaguar is generous with the chrome on the grille as well as on the bumper sections flanking the main center intake.

The coupe-like roofline is said to have been developed using Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), which allows the engineers to design it with aerodynamic efficiency even before a model is made and tested in a wind tunnel. The result is a drag coefficient of 0.29 cD, with a front to rear lift balance of zero. The downside is that boot space ceiling is a little low so tall objects may be a challenge (it is however wide) and so is the rear headroom.

So why did Jaguar make such as drastic change to its XF? Well, apparently Jaguar’s current worldwide customer average age are between 10 to 15 years older than the average age of a typical BMW customer, and this average age seems to keep getting older over time, so it’s obvious that the breed of Jaguars before the XF are way off target when it comes to being appealing to the newer generations.

The XF is the solution to that and its working – it seems that over half to two thirds of XF owners are first-time Jaguar owners!

Interior

The interior of the Jaguar XF uses a combination of wood and aluminium so well in ways that only Jaguar could manage to pull off. In many cars you either have metallic aluminium or wood, but in the XF you have both, and they blend together so well. The controls were inspired by modern Motorola handphone designs, right down to the buttons and the hue of the lighting (Phosphor Blue). The designers obviously used lighting in a big way to set the interior ambiance as even at night there are hidden LEDs here and there to give subtle lighting to areas like the power window button cluster.

Once you get in you may wonder, where are the air conditioning vents, and where is the gear lever? Watch the videos below and you’ll see the Jaguar XF’s start-up sequence, where the circular gear knob and the air conditioning vents appear. The red start/stop button then pulses, compelling you to push it. Press the brakes and hold it down for abit to start the car, no key insertion necessary as there’s keyless go.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Startup Sequence

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Gear Selector Knob Controls

It’s all very gimmicky and these might be some of the few items that break down and have to be replaced at a very expensive cost perhaps 10 years from now, but you have to give it to them that they’re unique and at least makes the driver feel a little more special when he gets to his car after a game of golf with his friend who has an E60 or a W211. The feeling of luxury is further accentuated by the leather wrapping on the top part of the dash and doors. All the buttons and dials on the dash and the steering wheel all have good tactile feedback to them and never feel cheap.

The in-car entertainment system are controlled via a touch screen set in the upper half of the center dashboard area, flanked between the two hide-and-seek air conditioning vents. Nothing special about the interface which looks kinda dull and monotonous, and in overseas markets this also doubles up as a TV but this feature was not included in the test car. The audio system supports Aux input, data files from a USB drive as well as direct iPod control. Browsing multiple files and folders on a USB drive was easy and resembles what you’d be used to on a computer so there’s no high learning curve there.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Touch-screen LCD Interface

So yes, a really nice interior. You can even see the bulge on the hood when you’re driving so that reinforces that feeling that you’re driving something special. It appears that Jaguar’s interior designer actually did some DESIGNING here and that makes the world of a difference, unlike whoever did the E60 and the new W212’s interior, which seem more like a random mesh of angles rather than it being a design as a whole.

Even the bottom of the cupholders look good and have the looks to match the gear selector knob’s top. The glovebox opens with a touch of a marked area of the wood trim and you even work the in-car lighting using a simple touch of your finger rather than press any buttons.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Interior Lamps Control

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Glovebox

The only complaints I have is the feeling you get working the door handles on the outside of the car, they seem abit cheap, plasticky and stiff. The multi-info display between the two gauges on the meter panel also looks pretty low-resolution which would be okay 3 to 5 years ago but looks dated today. There is also no sunroof for a car at this price level, and I wish they used a bottom-hinged accelerator pedal that feels better rather than a top-hinged one.

Rear headroom is limited as expected from the coupe-like roofline so this is a decent compromise and the XF is a car you’ll want to drive and not be driven in especially if you are tall. The rear visibility is quite bad because of the slim rear window but a rear view camera which displays its video feed on the in-car entertainment system’s LCD display helps alot with this. But it’s quite low tech, just a video feed and that’s all – no automatic parking guidelines shown on the display.

Driving

While the car has really ready to go looks, the engine disappoints. The 6-speed ZF transmission shifts are slow and smooth which is great for slow drives but doesn’t increase its urgency when you have the pedal to the metal or are in Sports mode on the gear selector. It is also very slow to respond to kickdown requests. The 530i and E 280 AMG in comparison both have special sports modes which invoke a harsh but very quick shift mode that gives you an exciting feel when you drive spiritedly. The good thing is the gearbox is intelligent enough not to shift when you are taking a sweeping bend, thus preventing a slow shift from upsetting the car’s composure in the middle of the bend.

The Jaguar XF’s 3.0 V6 petrol unit is good for 238 hp at 6,800rpm and 293 Nm of torque at 4,100rpm and sounds great, with a very apparent rumble when you gun it. Some V-sixes can be quite muted in this aspect but not the XF’s. In fact, past the 5,000rpm mark it’s so rumbly and loud that you can feel vibrations through the floor, which I feel is not something that should be happening in a car of this stature. The exhaust note sounds even better from the outside, so sometimes you may want to drive with your windows down to enjoy the soundtrack.

It’s got an all-aluminium light weight design with four overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder, Continuously Variable Cam Phasing (VCP) and variable geometry air intakes. The engine and gearbox have no problem going all the way to the redline whenever needed but it is quite dead below engine speeds of 3,500rpm, and sounds stressed near the redine. 0 to 100km/h in 8.3 seconds also feels very sedate in the car, compared to the 530i’s 6.6 seconds.

City driving is a fuss-free agenda and the car is very easy to maneuver thanks to the light steering wheel and the nice grip afforded by the steering wheel, but when you expect a little more in terms of performance or spirited driving, the XF does not seem to deliver and does not offer that confidence you seek to feel like you can always push the car just a little bit further. It’s also not as comfortable as an E-Class during regular city driving as it doesn’t tackle road irregularities and remain composed enough, which makes the Jag a neither here or there affair when it comes to ride comfort or sharp handling.

It also tends to get floaty on the highway from 160km/h onwards, and rather heavy wind noise becomes quite apparent from as low as 120km/h, which made me wonder if there was something wrong with the test unit’s door seals. Braking power is good and no complaints there, with 326mm x 20mm vented front discs and standard 326mm x 20mm discs at the back.

The Verdict

The XF a well-behaved car as long as you keep in within its limits. City driving and moderate cruising on the highway are job descriptions it knows well, just not when you push it harder. The exterior and interior are really gorgeous and the gimmicks while being what they are – gimmicks, are fun (over the short 3 day drive at least), so I handed over the keys back to SISMA Auto with the feeling that the XF is more like a hot girl that you date for her looks rather than substance. Some friends even mistook it for a Maserati, and I can see why especially when you look at it from the rear three-quarter angle.

But it’s comfy but not comfy enough, and the engine and handling pales in comparison with its competitors. It would make more sense to buy one in Singapore since it is cheaper than the equivalent 5 and E, but in Malaysia it’s actually more expensive, so its a tough one to recommend. You’ll buy it only for its sexy looks and a lovely interior that’s miles ahead of its competitors while being aware of its drawbacks, and you’ll be a happy owner of a relatively rare and great-looking car in a sea of Es and 5s.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Exterior

Jaguar Director of Design Ian Callum, provides insight into the XF’s exterior design.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Interior

Jaguar Design’s Alister Whelan discusses what makes the XF’s interior a contemporary space.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Drive Modes

Jaguar Chief Engineer Mike Cross provides a driver’s view of the XF’s Drive Control system. The Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) system uses the anti-lock braking and traction control systems to give the driver better control of the car.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Performance

Jaguar Chief Engineer Mike Cross describes the XF’s in-built strengh and agility, including the XF’s body structure and suspension technology.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Start-Up Sequence

Jaguar Design’s Wayne Burgess describes the XF’s unique start up sequence. At start-up, the button in front of the JaguarDrive Selectorâ„¢ pulses red; once you press it, the engine starts and the JaguarDrive Selectorâ„¢ rises softly into the palm of your hand – what Jaguar calls the Jaguar handshake.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Refined Drive

Members of the XF Engineering and Technical team discuss the importance of sound engineering, not just making the car quiet but how the overall car sounds.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Bowers & Wilkins Acoustic system

Jaguar Design’s Wayne Burgess and Danny Haikin of Bowers & Wilkins describe the XF’s sound system.

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – Random Footage and Interviews

VIDEO: Jaguar XF – TV Commercial

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

Along with the official launch of the Satria Neo CPS, members of the media were given the chance to test out the new Neo CPS at an empty parking lot. Although excited about testing the new spiritual successor to the Proton Satria GTI, I wasn’t too keen about driving the up-rated Neo within the confines of a rather small area. Proton had setup a pointless-looking mini race track within the compounds of the APAC parking lot and I managed to get a taste of both manual and automatic variants.

First up was the automatic version. Featuring similar cabin room as the standard Neo, the CPS variant also suffers from lack of head clearance. In my honest opinion, it was quite fun to drive the Neo CPS through tight spots, as the handling was rather sharp. At average speeds of up to 60 km/h, I only felt some easily correctable understeer at the limits of car. While negotiating those tight turns, I felt very minimal body roll, while the nicely-weighted steering wheel offered good feedback.

The sprint performance with the auto tranny was just about average. As expected, the performance of the automatic transmission during my initial test was made me to look forward to the manual Neo CPS. The manual is the only way to really enjoy this car!

The first thing I did when got myself into the manual Neo was to have a feel of the gear lever hoping for it to be nicely weighted, as opposed to being “soggy” or “lose”, and I am happy to say that my hopes were realized. A little on the hard side of things, gear change was slick and precise, which is good since this car is positioned as a performance variant. For the manual Neo CPS test, there were longer straights on the temporary track, which allowed me to feel the CPS powerplant’s good performance on high revs.

Through out the quick test drive, I also noticed that the throttle response was also up to expectation. I would like to mention about its ride quality but unfortunately the test drive was rather short, so looks like we have to wait for a longer drive. But based on the short drive, things are pointing the right direction for the Neo CPS. The handling and performance seems to suit the aggressive looks on the outside. Some might say that the body kit treatment is a little over the top, but personally, I feel its alright.

I just wish that the wheels were extended by half an inch or so, but that may affect the overall handling. I also feel that the rear exhaust box should have been hidden neatly. The way it is now makes the rear diffuser look bad. So far, my thumbs are pointing upwards for the Satria New CPS. Stick around as we will bring you the test review as soon as we get a test drive unit.

Story by Harvinder Singh, because Paul Tan cannot fit properly in the car while wearing a safety helmet, thanks to the headroom.

VIDEO: White Satria Neo CPS

VIDEO: Black Satria Neo CPS

Proton Satria Neo CPS – Launch Photos

Proton Satria Neo CPS – Exterior Photos

Proton Satria Neo CPS – Interior Photos

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

The Japanese B-segment market is indeed a hot one and is dominated by the H and T badges, despite honest efforts by other manufacturers such as Suzuki to make an impact with cars such as the SX4 sedan. The City and the Vios remain the champions of the under RM80k non-national sedan market and are the target of many people who long to break out of what they feel is the curse of Proton ownership, so naturally the launch of the new Honda City this year was very eagerly awaited. The new City is blessed with good looks and now that the launch and fanfare are over, it’s time to take a good look at the car and see if it is indeed as good as it looks.

Read my full driving impressions after the jump.

Design

While the design of the City is not perfect, it’s way better looking than the odd hatchback with a boot slapped previous generation City. It’s also got a more classic sedan look to it with none of that A-pillar triangular window stuff. A sports sedan to be exact. I still like the shape as much as I did when I first saw it on the spyshots on the internet, especially the white one transported in China. It’s just too bad Honda isn’t offering the car in white here, in fact there are no white Hondas on sale except for the Type R, but I was told white is being added to the CKD paint process soon.

The top of the line model gets foglamps but I kind of prefer the bumper without the foglamps as somehow it helps make the car look wider and shorter. Chrome for the door handles are a nice touch, while the fuel lid opens up with just a touch much like more pricey European cars.

Interior

With the new City, you no longer get that airy feeling that was present in the old City. This is the result of the seating position being much more car-like rather than mini-MPV-like, thanks to Honda distancing the City from its boot-less Jazz sibling. While the Ultra Seats are gone, things like using the bottom of the rear seats to store an umbrella is a great idea. Never again do you have to place it in some random area on the floor of your car and get your whole carpet/mats soaked more than necessary.

Being someone about 181cm tall, I was quite happy in the driver’s seat of the City. Everything was quite ergonomic, from steering position to seat height and position. The storage compartments are also easy to use and the little storage area under the driver side air cond vent is quite usable for your Touch N Go card as its slant prevents the card from sliding out of the compartment. The fuel tank is located under the front seats so there’s not much room for you to install your aftermarket ICE amplifiers there.

The raised floor caused by the fuel tank also juts out a little when you push the front seats nearly all the way back as I needed to do because of my height, so you are quite limited in where you can rest your leg if you want to fold it inwards towards you instead of placing it on the footrest.

There is enough headroom at the rear and decent leg space. Nothing to complain about there. You could definitely seat 3 adults in the rear bench with reasonable amount of comfort, as it is wide enough. The rear bench is reclinable in the top spec model so that adds a bit more comfort for long journeys as you don’t have to sit too upright.

The instrument panel looks good and is easy to read, and there is a multi-information display that can show you various data such as fuel consumption in real time. Well, not exactly fuel consumption but more of fuel economy as the reading is in km per liter, so the higher the bar goes the more km you are getting from each liter according to your driving style.

The CD player slot is hidden behind the radio display, which is rather neat and I liked how the paid attention to how the radio display actually flipped down – it doesn’t just snap down like how a cheap metal pencil case made in China would open, if you get what I mean.

The USB interface is hidden in front of the gear lever in the storage compartment. You can load MP3s and WMAs from a USB device, and because the USB port is powered, if your PDA uses a USB cable for charging you can just plug it into the USB port and juice up. The radio LCD display is a very low resolution one with limited text display capabilities so it doesn’t do much to show your full song title or CD ID3 text completely.

Despite refinement in certain areas, Honda could really have done better with the choice of colour for the whole center dash area. It seems poorly styled compared to the rest of the vehicle. Sure, it’s functional, but choices of material in certain areas especially the center dash makes it look rather toy-like. It’s got nothing to do with the quality of materials as I am sure they could have pulled this off within budget and not look cheap at the same time. A case of good intentions but misguided styling perhaps. While you may be put off by it at the showroom, this is something that you will get used to and forget after a while.

The boot is cavernous at 506 liters, and to achieve this space there is no full-size spare tyre but one of those thinner emergency ones. One nice touch is how Honda has neatly hidden away the wheel jack and other tyre change tools under a plastic part with a wheel jack logo on it.

Driving Experience

The City handles Malaysian roads quite well, absorbing road irregularities to a level that is expected from a car like this, and striking a good balance between comfort and handling which is what a Honda buyer would expect. The steering and pedals are light and easy to use for a beginner driver. The City can take corners with confidence and even when you start sliding out of control it is very easy to correct. The combination of the electric power steering accuracy, weight and the lack of any excessive bodyroll except in the extremes makes the City a car that’ll keep the driver happy, that is until he is joined by passengers.

Honda’s media drive to Malacca assigned 3 of us to a car and I began to understand why Mainland China consumers get a 1.8 liter motor in the City. The City may feel sluggy at times and it was made worse by the really hot day. While the engine boasts 120 PS of output, this is only achievable way beyond the 6,000rpm rev range so none of it is actually usable when you are in a hurry but exactly in a hurry enough to slam the pedal to the metal and let the car rev to the redline in all gears. It’s enough power to get going but not enough for the whole gutsy feeling that Honda likes associating the car with. So yes, it’s best to drive gently and smoothly whenever there are maybe 2 or more passengers in the car to keep both yourself and the engine happy, otherwise you’ll be looking for air filter, exhaust and all sorts of mods to extract more power from the car.

You also don’t get to keep the revs up as often as you’d want because despite having 5 gear ratios, the last 2 are overdrive gears with one extra tall gear for more silent and economical highway cruising (for this purpose it works rather well), so during City driving and acceleration it performs identically to a 4-speed auto. While this works well for a car like the Civic 2.0 where the engine is meaty enough, perhaps Honda could also have taken the opportunity to provide more closely-spaced ratios instead to improve acceleration, and have just one extra tall overdrive gear (instead of one very tall one and one not as much) for high speed cruising?

The feeling of a stepped gearbox is nice, and contributes to giving the City a more sporty feel, rather than the rubberband-ish feeling of a CVT, no matter how much more efficient a CVT actually is. The engine doesn’t seem as smooth as a Honda should be, getting a little loud and rough (and slightly Campro-ish metallic raspy reverb) from the high-mid revs onwards. But under normal and relaxed driving conditions, none of these characteristics are noticeable.

I eagerly wait for the day Honda decides to phase out this stuff and replace it with a 1.4 liter i-DSI Turbo or something. 120 PS and 180Nm of torque from at low as 1,400rpm sounds nice. They already have an i-DSI turbo for the Honda ZEST.

The high spec car’s paddle shifts are easy to work and just plain works, but this isn’t a quick shifting DSG box so there is a noticeable lag between you pressing the paddle shift and the gearbox actually doing something. If you engage paddle shift mode in the S mode, you will be in the M mode which means the gearbox will not shift even if you go past the redline, after of which the revcut will kick in and prevent you from over-revving the engine. The gearbox will also never downshift on command if it detects that the engine will be over-reved on a downshift.

The car was quite stable and planted (some would say it feels “solid”) at most speeds until you reach about 160km/h where in a straight line you could feel a little nervousness in the car, like your tyre contact patch to the ground wasn’t very large. It was only present in the lower spec car, which at first we attributed to the smaller wheels but once we gave this feedback to the Honda engineers he said the difference should not have been that big. This could have been an alignment issue with the test cars which we were told were prototype cars, so I hope to have this tested again in another drive.

If you keep to the brand values that the average Joe on the street associate Honda with, this new City seems much more like a “Honda” than the previous City ever was but at the same time loses what made the previous City unique. The previous City was something more like a Citroen or any random wacky European manufacturer in its concept, it did what it was supposed to do really well and was nice and airy on the inside but its looks suffered because of the good interior dimensions.

This new City on the other hand has a traditional sporty forward-shooting wedge design, and has the driving position to match. I’ve tried my best to give you a detailed report of my day with the car, the rest is up to you to feel the car yourself and do a little more research on (if there are) any potential problems early adopters might be encountering, and how to go around them.

While there are 2 airbags and the standard anti-lock brakes, nowhere in the world is the Honda City available with any form of stability control, which is a concern at the moment if Honda wants to bring the car to Europe, unless it is only thinking of the poorer Eastern Europe countries. They are working on this, so it may be a feature that will debut with the facelift model.

Next up I will try to get the City again for a fuel consumption test as well as another high-speed stability test. To learn more about the new City, read the two stories below. There’s alot more to read and know other than the driving impressions in this report.

Related Posts:
2009 Honda City 1.5E and 1.5S launched in Malaysia
2009 Honda City in-depth details and specifications

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Test Drive Review Photos

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Product Photos

GALLERY: 2009 Honda City Launch Event

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

Do you have RM200,000? Great! Go out and buy a Golf GTI.

If you don’t, well, consider one of two options. Rob a bank or read more about what Shannon Teoh has to say about its smaller brother, the Polo GTI.

Read more after the jump.


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Like the respective sports they are named after, the Golf is a far more mainstream car. Fits five comfortably, is well-balanced and has a really sweet engine for the Malaysian driving experience.

The Polo is for people who enjoy smashing their crotch against something hard as they chase about a field trying to hit a ball in exactly the sweet spot that will make it travel significantly instead of just swinging a long stick aimlessly around.

The Polo is a far more challenging car. Which is another way of saying it is less accomplished. In today’s world of motoring, the Golf is far more palatable. Decently spacious, a six-disc front-loading stereo, DSG, and 0-100 in 6.9s.

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The Polo can be a tight fit for the non-average Asian, has a medicore sound setup, a five-speed manual and a 1.8l turbocharged engine which helps it to the ton in 8.2s. But hell, what do you think people used to drive say, 30 years ago when the first Golf GTI was made? Back in the day, that thing was hella impressive. It did the sprint in 9.8s on a 110hp 1.6-litre naturally aspirated engine. How? It weighed less than 900kgs.

Having driven that car after it was updated with a 5-speed, it did a slightly faster 9-second sprint. But it felt phenomenal! Ferrari-like! It felt so fast because it was so damn bare. Imagine riding a bicycle that accelerated like a motorbike and you’ll get what I mean.

In a sense, the Polo GTI is like driving an old-school Golf GTI. Not only is the engine the same one as the Mk IV Golf GTI, it basically shares similar dimensions to the first Golfs, and has a five-speed transmission that needs a bit of work to get the most out of the car.

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At 1,164kg, the Polo is pretty light in modern terms. Coupled with a suspension lowered by 15mm and the 148hp engine, the Polo is what you’d call nippy and agile. But it takes some getting used to. The turbo lag is tangible and can be annoying when getting around bends, especially lower-speed ones where wheelspin can and will occur. With 220Nm of torque available from 1,950rpm, the ESP stability control and TCS traction control are usually working overtime.

But there is no way you can immediately handle this car the way you would a Golf GTI. The Polo’s balance is a bit off, maybe due to the large engine in front, or simply that the chassis setup is inherently not as good.

I believe that this is probably true. The same engine produced 237hp in the old Audi TT. They must have toned it down for a reason and in this car, the setup feels like it is at the edge of acceptability before it just becomes too “difficult” to drive.

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Priced at RM138,888, it is the other side of the spectrum for the same budget as say, the “easy” choice of a Honda Accord. But why buy a big saloon if you don’t need the space and comfort?

In fact, recently, a dealer, VW Cars, was apparently throwing the price down to RM119k. And with the year-end in sight, they’ve gone lower for a limited amount of units (probably to get rid of old stock). The Polo GTI can now be yours for under RM100,000. RM99,999 to be exact. That’s something to think about, then…

Because like the original Golfs, however, it can be rewarding if you work at it. The steering feels less direct and the attention you have to pay to switching gears can be fun, if not as efficient as sticking the DSG into S. And the DSG typifies the reason why Golf GTIs, like all cars, have evolved today to become so easy to drive and make racecar drivers out of mediocre talents – people like to have tools that make them do better.

And it’s still hard to do better than a Golf GTI.

Story by Shannon Teoh.

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© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

The MINI Clubman and Clubman S are the second body variant of the second generation BMW MINI, with the first being the R56 hatchback and another upcoming one being the new convertible. We recently took a spin in the Clubman and did some of the typical lifestyle stuff – a duty that this vehicle is expected to carry out well, since its priced way over the RM200,000 mark. Read our findings after the jump.


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Some MINI enthusiasts might consider the MINI Clubman to be the most pointless and sacrilegious MINI around (old school Mini fans probably think this of all of BMW’s new MINIs). For one, it’s the use of the name Clubman. In the old Mini terminology the name Clubman was used to indicate the newer squarer facelifted Minis while the station wagon version was callde the Traveller. The Traveller name is not used anymore for the BMW MINI station wagon, and in its place is the name Clubman.

However, there are some people who actually prefer the MINI Clubman over the MINI Cooper. Namely yours truly. I find that the MINI Cooper looks abit too cutesy and stunted, like a midget car. The Clubman might look odd as a MINI but once you get past that, as a car on its own its actually quite a looker. I especially like how the rear end looks, especially the S version with its bumper-integrated twin tailpipes.

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We took the Clubman up north to a hot springs, fully loaded with 4 people and a boot load of stuff. Unlike the MINI Cooper which had a 2+2 seating configuration with about the same legroom as an Audi TT except with better headroom (in short, pretty much unusable), the MINI Clubman is a proper 4 seater. There is seriously a good amount of legroom back there, even a tall person could sit comfortably without his knee getting pressed against the front seats. So the MINI Clubman passes as a vehicle for you to get on the road with your little entourage.

What about luggage space? Most of the car’s increased length went to improving the legroom at the rear so the boot has not been increased to very impressive proportions. You can load maybe an estimated 3 sports bags in with room for a couple of other stuff stacked on top of them, as you can see from the photo below. Only one large air travel luggage will fit in there.

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Access to the boot is via two doors split in the middle which swing sideways instead of up. Closing them after accessing the boot can be a little tricky, at least for me. You have to somehow make the two doors meet together a certain way and in the correct order, then only push them close otherwise it’ll threaten to jam up and that can be very alarming especially when you’re handling such an expensive car that’s not yours!

This is the first time I’ve sampled the normally aspirated version of the BMW-PSA Prince 1.6 liter engine. I was frankly quite surprised by how decent the acceleration was, despite the engine having only 120 PS at 6,000rpm and 160Nm of torque at 4,250rpm. This wasn’t some kind of engineering voodoo of course, it was probably thanks to the quick-shifting and responsive 6-speed automatic transmission which helps keep the engine revving high and in its powerband more often. It’s some nice and honest fun and is probably what the Satria Neo could aspire to be. More ratios would definitely help the sluggy Campro out stay in its powerband.

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The weirdest thing about the Clubman is of course, the Clubdoor. It’s on the wrong side of the road! It gives me the feeling of sloppy engineering – BMW engineered this car for the left hand drive market and said it could not fully convert it for right hand drive usage, so the third door for access to the rear bench is on the driver’s side instead of the passenger’s side. I found having to get out and later readjusting the driver’s seat position each time someone had to enter or exit the rear quite annoying.

BMW says this is because it was too costly to relocate the refuelling hardware which was on the left side of the car. But seriously… considering the country this car is built in is a right hand drive country?!

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At the end of the day I must say I enjoyed my time with the MINI Clubman. Its easy to drive, park and the funky design kind of puts you in a good mood. It’s also rather stable at highway speeds but as with all of the new MINIs the soundproofing and interior material quality is not particularly impressive.

It’s also got paddle shifts, and it’s glad to see these aren’t just exclusive to the Clubman S model. BMW should seriously consider paddle shifts across its model range, not just reserved for the top of the line cars such as the 130i and the 530i.

With so many other options available in the market that make so much more sense, this is only for those who must have a MINI (an emotional choice) and with loads of cash to spare. It is priced at RM 225,000.00 and RM 259,000.00 for the Clubman and Clubman S respectively OTR without insurance. There is also an optional MINI Tender Loving Care plan for RM888 similiar to BMW’s Service Inclusive which means you do not have to pay for your MINI’s maintenance for 3 years or 50,000km.

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PHOTO GALLERY: MINI Clubman and Clubman S
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

The E60 BMW 5-Series has come a long way since it was first unveiled to the world. You could say it gave a rude shock to those who loved the low slung elegance that the E39 portrayed. It was a no holds barred styling affair for Chris Bangle after warming himself up with the E65 7-Series launched earlier.

A few years and a facelift later, we’ve all pretty much gotten used to what the new 5-Series looks like. I still prefer the E39’s looks but in two years or so that will already be two generations old and the new F10 5-Series will be out, which will probably look like a downsized version of the F01 7-Series. That means GIANT nostrils.

I was recently acquainted with the three mainstream models of the 5-Series range here in Malaysia over the period of 2 days. Continue reading to find out more.


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The E60 BMW 5-Series here is offered in 523i, 523i SE, 525i Sports, 530i and 540i Individual guises. There is also the V10-powered BMW M5 but to this date I’ve yet to experience the car’s high revving 500 horsepower madness. I did get to try the 523i SE, the 525i Sports and the 530i though.

The BMW 523i SE costs RM376,800 compared to the Mercedes-Benz E200K’s RM353,888 price tag. Thus the E200K is really more similar in terms of price to the 523i which goes for RM349,800.

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Now the 523i insignia does not mean it is powered by a 2.3 liter engine. This is where BMW is starting to get confusing. The 523i is powered by the N52B25 magnesium-alloy engine, which is a 2.5 liter unit. This engine is also found in the 525i but in different state of tune. For the 523i state of tune it produces 190 horsepower at 5,900rpm and 230Nm of torque at 3,250rpm. This is mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

Now the difference between the 523i and the 523i SE (other than the exterior wheel design) is the gadgets that comes with the car. Both the 523i and the 523i SE have your standard 8 airbags, DSC, ABS, Start-off brake assist, Active Steering, and the iDrive system which also displays a nice visual parking assistant. You also get creature comforts such as automatic headlamps, rain-sensing wipers, and a Bluetooth handsfree system.

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But while the 523i has a standard BMW Business radio CD player with 6 speakers, the 523i SE has that upgraded to a BMW Professional radio CD player with 10 speakers and MP3 capability. Because of the GPS navigation system, the iDrive on the 523i SE has a larger screen at 8.8 inches compared to the 523i’s 6.5 inch display.

An additional creature comfort with the 523i SE is the automatic high-beam control. This feature is useful especially on roads like the Karak Highway. Once this is activated, the high beam remains on to help you light up the road better but turns off automatically when it detects an oncoming car. Another upgrade with the headlamps are Adaptive Headlamps, which turn according to your steering angle to help light up the ground around a corner. A nice touch is the Lights package, which features downwards-pointing LEDs that illuminate the ground on the car’s entry points from the door handles and the wing mirrors.

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I think the best thing about the 523i SE is that the baseline BMW 5-Series now no longer feels like the baseline model. You could probably settle for this and be completely happy with it without ever envying the 525i Sports or 530i owner. The 190 horses and 230Nm of torque is enough to give you a decent feel of progress when you floor it (though a little more low end grunt is appreciated), and most importantly it has that wonderful metallic inline-6 sound. No, this baby is quite far from the 520i you find in Singapore with an inline-4 engine from the 320i.

The 523i SE tackles the bends wonderfully though there is quite a noticeable amount of bodyroll thanks to the car’s more comfort oriented suspension. If you take a corner too sharply the rear suspension tends to bounce around a little, but all of this happens while you still feel quite confident and in control of the car thanks to the decent steering and the weight balance which makes you feel like the car is turning around you as an axis of rotation rather than you being pulled along for the ride by the engine in the nose up front.

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Those who are in for the driving will prefer the 525i Sports. The M Sport suspension can be a little jittery when you go over those annoying thick yellow markers on the road but most of the time you won’t believe you’re driving a car with an M Sport suspension, unlike the M Sport suspension on short wheelbase cars like the 130i M Sport which threaten rattle you to pieces.

The 525i Sports features a tuned up version of the N52B25, producing 218 horsepower at 6,500rpm and 250Nm of torque at an impressively low (for a normally aspirated engine) 2,750rpm. 0 to 100km/h takes 7.9 seconds and it is also mated to the 6-speed automatic transmission. Being a Sports model, you would expect it to have paddle shifts but sadly it doesn’t, with those being reserved for the 530i.

Other than the obvious M Aerodynamics package and shadowline trim on the window frames, you also get alloys that are up by one inch – 18 inchers with the Double Spoke 135M design, wrapped with 245/40R18 tyres. In the interior you get a lovely aluminium trim, and M sports seats for the front. The rest of the equipment is similiar to the 523i SE.

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The BMW 530i carries over the equipment from the 523i SE but adds as sunroof and keyless entry and go. It gets sports seats as well and its own gear shifter and steering wheel design, complete with paddle shifts. This car gets the Heads-Up Display function which usually just shows a digital speedometer but is extremely useful whenever you are using your GPS navigation as it can display the directions in front of you rather than have you glance at the iDrive display in the middle.

It also has BMW Night Vision which uses an infrared camera to point out people in the dark at night. As it is heat sensitive it also picks up stuff like the exhaust pipes of the car in front of you. The audio system is also an upgrade over the 523i SE’s as you get a 13-speaker LOGIC7 Hi-Fi System Professional system.

The 530i has quite a few gadgets compared to its rival the E280 that I get the feeling that BMW is trying hard to push it and get more on the road. You see, BMW Credit & Finance’s Easy Ownership Packages (balloon financing) and low interest Straight Line Financing packages are usually only offered for the baseline cars such as the 118i, the 320i and the 523i/523i SE but this time the entire 5-Series range was available with the special finance plans during the recent Hari Raya promotion, while the only 3-Series you could get the deal for was the 320i and 320i Sports.

It makes sense really, get more of the 530i on the roads by making it easier to own and the owners of these cars will most likely show-off all the nice gadgets that his/her car has to passengers which may most likely have a similiar spending capacity. In the long run this encourages an impression that the 5-Series is not only a comfortable cruiser but a very advanced car with all the latest technologies, etc. It’s not helping BMW by having a flagship 5-Series with all sorts of nice features but it’s not out there making an impression.

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The car’s N52B30 engine produces an exciting 272 horsepower at 6,600rpm and 315Nm of torque at 2,750rpm. That’s not only quite a low peak torque point for a normally aspirated engine, but the torque also exceeds the usual 100Nm per liter of displacement ratio, instead approaching more of a 3.2 liter engine’s torque instead.

Driving it is an interesting but strangely a slightly disappointing experience. The 6-speed automatic that is mated to the N52B30 engine not only has a new shift lever but it has a Sports button that enables you to increase the shift time for faster and more aggressive shifts. You’ll probably want to use this only when you’re all out giving the engine a good workout as it can get quite jerky. But it helps give a more sporty feeling. Now this is where it gets a little disappointing.

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You get the ultra-fast shifts completely with paddle shifters, the sports seats, the very powerful engine, but the 530i handles more like the 523i SE thanks to its standard non-M Sports suspension that gives it noticeable bodyroll and bounce through the corners. It’s just too bad the car doesn’t have one of those magnetic suspension systems that can stiffen up on demand.

The top of the end non-M 5-Series 540i Individual was not available for us to drive and it’s probably not too relevant to the masses as well, being priced over RM600k thanks to the BMW Individual program which allows you to customise the interior with more exotic materials. It’s interesting to note that while the E39 540i had a 4.4 liter V8 engine, the E60 540i has a smaller 4.0 liter V8 engine.

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The interior of the E60 is alot more plush and comfy thanks to the seats compared to the E39, but as far as the actual design of the dash goes… well, for one, the center dash area is no longer driver-focused, which is disappointing. But I must say I am glad that BMW has finally added proper cupholders to the 5-Series. The E39 only had these miserable crappy can-holders at the front that tended to break very often and can cost you over 200 ringgit to replace.

The E60 comes with proper cupholders at the front that pop out of the dash. But don’t expect to be able to use these safely if a very tall passenger is in the front passenger seat as his knees might hit them. What’s with Germans and the lack of cupholders in their cars? Even the W211 E-Class does not come with cupholders, and only the left hand drive version has an optional single cupholder at the front which swaps out the ash tray.

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The facelifted E60 also gets rid off those awkward vertically angled power window controls that the pre-facelift E60 had and replaces them with proper conventional horizontal ones that do not need you to bend your wrist at an awkward angle to work them.

So when it comes to usability, the E60 is quite decent, it’s just that the iDrive system may be a turn-off for older people who are more likely to be able to afford these luxury D-segment cars. iDrive was seriously overkill before BMW rolled out GPS navigation into its Malaysian models. The entire 5-series range has GPS except for the 523i. Perhaps this is why Mercedes-Benz chose to equip the baseline E models with a very easy to work conventional radio. It’s so much more familiar and easier to work with, though it’s not impossible to get used to iDrive and work it with as much ease as a traditional system.

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After so many years, I am still not used to the E60’s looks. The overall shape of the car has grown on me and I like the rear end now but the detailing of the front end is just too weird. The kidney grilles feel like they are fixed at the wrong angle and I have no idea what Chris Bangle was thinking when he did those oddly shaped eyebrowed headlamps that seems quite feminine compared to rest of the car’s masculinity. On the rear, I find that the non-M sport version looks better than the M sport, due to the two red reflectors at the rear helping to frame the bottom end of the car and hide how fat the car really is.

But the car sure drives like a dream. It’s so civilised when you want it to, but it can be fiery too, to a certain extent. They’ve managed to achieve such a good balance with the car that it’s truly a lifesaver for the deep pocketed family man that has to choose between comfort for his family and agility for the weekends.

Click for enlarged image – 2nd gear and 2,000 more RPM to go!

BMW 523i – RM 349,800.00
BMW 523i SE – RM 376,800.00
BMW 525i Sports – RM 409,800.00
BMW 530i – RM 453,800.00
BMW 540i Individual – RM668,800.00

PHOTO GALLERY: E60 BMW 5-Series Facelift
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

VIDEO: E60 BMW 5-Series

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia recently launched an upmarket variant of its Triton pickup truck series. This new variant, designated as the Triton 3.2 brings the total models available to 4. These are the Triton Lite available in manual mode only, Triton 2.5 which is offered both in automatic and manual transmission options and the fore mentioned 3.2, available in only automatic. We’ve just finished putting the new Triton 3.2 through its paces. Read Harvinder Singh’s write-up after the jump.


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Design

Those were the days when the designs of pickup trucks weren’t really a strong point of such vehicles, as practicality was the most important aspect of these work horses. These days, the gap between looks and practicality is closer than ever, and I must say, for the Triton, although it was very novel when it was initially launched, they really pulled it off in terms of the design.

It looks very aggressive and futuristic at the same time, and I like the front profile of the Triton as it gives a very masculine statement, when I stare at it and let my imaginations fly, it’s like the Triton is saying to me; “What?! Who you looking at?!”. Usually when it comes to pickup trucks, being a classic car nut, I would prefer the conventional Ford F100/F150 or the Ford Ranger design cues, but if they stop designing pickup trucks in such a way, or if the trucks are just plain not worth the money (in terms of quality, options, etc.), I will settle with this “more futuristic” Triton.

Of course I wouldn’t say the same for the more affordable Triton Lite which has a much more modest and down to earth look, but its thumbs up all the way for the 2.5 and 3.2 models. Compared to the 2.5, this new 3.2 features a redesigned front bumper which brings out the imposing looks even more, a rugged metal mesh grille finish, and plastic wind deflectors on all four doors. The rest of the truck is pretty much similar to its 2.5 younger brother, except for the different wheel design and of course the 3.2 insignia.

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Interior

The twin cab does offer adequate room on the inside. Leg room and head clearance isn’t a problem for any of the passengers either in the front or the rear. Apart from the redesigned climate control knobs on the dash, everything else is similar to the 2.5 Triton. I wouldn’t say the design of the interior components such as the dashboard, seats and door cards are luxurious, but it’s definitely reasonable for pickup trucks.

Both the 2.5 and this 3.2 features a “User Interface Display” screen which tells you the time, and journey data such as average fuel consumption, and yes of course, typical of a modern off-roader, it has a digital compass, a barometer, an altimeter as well as temperature indication. The fuel consumption meter on the Triton requires a long time to update the reading as the speed of your vehicle changes, sometimes minutes which is quite irritating for me. This is because it only displays your average fuel consumption over the whole journey instead of it being in real time.

It has a Kenwood audio player which, apart from a standard AM/FM tuner, it can play MP3 and WMA via CD or a USB stick. You can also hook up your iPod (and most MP3 players) via a built-in AUX in jack. The practicality of the interior is further enhanced with enough compartments and cup holders for front and rear passengers.

I do wish it had a fully functional centre arm rest. The reason why I said “fully functional” centre arm rest is because it’s just not high enough, leaving the driver nowhere to rest his left arm. The low ratio transmission transfer case shift lever can be also be a potential annoyance due to its constant vibration. This can be avoided by using a shift-by-wire knob like in the D-Max and Ranger.

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Driving (Engine)

The Triton 3.2 features 4 cylinder 3.2 liter turbo diesel power plant, which is a major upgrade compared the 2.5 standard diesel engine used in the Triton Lite and the 2.5 turbo diesel used in the Triton 2.5. Unfortunately, I wouldn’t call it a major upgrade after driving it, of course I do feel the power difference but, not as much as I expected, it feels more like a “slightly” more powerful version of the Triton 2.5. There is torque however across the entire rev range, especially from the low end, but just like most turbo diesels out there, it tends to lose power after 4,000 rpm.

Acceleration for the 160 horsepower motor is more on the modest side and when I took it to a constant high speed of 160km/h, the revs settled down on 3,000 rpm. The in cabin engine noise is on the high side thanks to thin insulation and the noisy diesel engine but its acceptable for a pickup truck.

The turbo boost on the other hand was lag-free and kicked in whenever my feet became throttle happy. Around town, the Triton behaved well, as I didn’t feel like I was driving a big huge truck and the Triton offers a decent 5.9 meter minimum turning radius. Getting in and out of parking spaces wasn’t much of a problem.

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Driving (Transmission)

The gear shifts of the Triton 3.2’s 4 speed automatic transmission was rather smooth, although I did notice that it tended to stay in gear longer at high revs right before it shifts into higher gear. The tranny kicked down into lower gear right away when slammed the pedal to the floor while cruising on high speeds (160km/h), giving me instant torque.

The Triton also comes with the “must have” transfer case enabling the driver to switch between 2 wheel drive high range, 4 wheel drive high range and the off-road, friendly 4 wheel drive low range. Shifting between 2WD HR to 4WD HR was a breeze as I was able to do it while driving (up to 100km/h) and to tackle a more stubborn or a steep road condition, I just needed to stop the vehicle, pop the Auto lever into neutral, and shift to 4WD LR mode.

In order to give it’s off roading capabilities a shot, I took the Triton (with 3 other passengers) to an off road trail nearby Genting Sempah at Karak, and after a short and very slow drive, I found that the Triton has good light off-roading capabilities, which is further helped by a standard limited slip differential. Since it was fitted with road tires, we didn’t take it further into the tropical jungle.

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Driving (Ride Comfort & Handling)

To my surprise, the ride comfort of the Triton isn’t all that bad, considering most pickup trucks offer very stiff (sometimes too stiff to me) ride qualities, especially for the rear occupants. Even on high speeds, it absorbed those irritating bumps well enough for me.

Unfortunately, to give way to a more comfortable ride, the Triton seemed to suffer from a “slightly more than usual” body roll and under steer whenever I pushed it harder on the modest twisty roads of the Karak highway, both on medium and high speeds. Anyway personally, when it comes to pickup trucks, I actually prefer to have a slightly better ride comfort, even if I have compromise on a little on handling, and I feel Mitsubishi deployed a good balance with the Triton.

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Competition

Well, as we all know, there is strong competition within the double cab pickup truck segment in Malaysia with Toyota’s Hilux, Nissan’s Frontier, Isuzu’s DMax, and Ford’s “built tough” Ranger. Among all, Triton has the cheapest low range version, priced at RM 58,129 (Triton Lite). The cheapest version you can get from other manufacturers are all priced RM 80,000 and above.

For the mid range level, all 5 manufacturers offer their 2.5 Turbo Diesel variants, all between RM 80,000 to RM 95,000, depending on specifications, however do note that there’s no automatic transmission option for the Nissan Frontier. As for the high range version, none of the other manufacturers have a 3.2 liter option, the closest is the Isuzu Dmax with a 3.0 unit as the rest retain at 2.5 liters. However, the Triton 3.2 is the most expensive one, retailing at RM 97, 041, about three thousand ringgit more than the DMax.

Click for enlarged image

Verdict

So, as you can see, Mitsubishi has a wider range, especially with the extremely affordable Triton Lite. However apart from having the Lite, and having the most amount of cubic inches within in the high range pickups, the competition is very strong among within the mid range trucks as all are available with 2.5 Turbo Diesels.

At first glance, I will opt for the Triton 2.5 if you are asking me to choose between that or the Triton 3.2, but then again, the 3.2 is only roughly RM8,000 more than the 2.5 with auto.

So, here’s my final verdict: I would stick to the Triton 2.5, especially when the road tax cost is cheaper than the 3.2 (RM 898 opposed to RM 2264). Both the Triton 2.5 and 3.2 share almost everything that matters except for the larger 3.2 motor, but as mentioned earlier on, I didn’t feel a significant power difference with the 3.2.

Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

Eager to enter the increasing market for 7-seater MPVs, Subaru first unveiled the Subaru Exiga concept at the 2007 Tokyo Motor Show and the production version was unveiled in July this year. Having a car industry that is completely based on CBU imports, Singapore gets the Subaru Exiga almost immediately thanks to the quick response of Singaporean Subaru importers and distributors Motor Image.

I don’t know how long the Exiga project has been in existence but I can’t help but feel the Exiga is the result of some Toyota DNA injected onto FHI – it seems somewhat like a quick and efficient fix to a problem. The Exiga is built on the Legacy’s platform, taking the D-segment sedan and stationwagon (Outback)’s body and increasing its size to fit 7 people. However the problem with being somewhat based on the Legacy is that it somehow automatically looks dated despite being a new model.

It seems like Subaru went a little adventurous and tried to develop a new styling language with the likes of the Version 9 Impreza and the pre-facelift Tribeca but with these new batch of models quickly rolled back to the old design language before brand perception got worse, resulting in dated looking new models.

Anyway, the result of the Exiga project is a people carrier that is rather fit to be called a Subaru. It has the two key things you’d expect from a Subaru – a horizontally opposed boxer engine and all-wheel drive. There is even a turbocharged version.

After a short drive with the normally aspirated Exiga 2.0i, I found it to handle reasonably well for such a large vehicle. It did not feel large at all and was easy to maneuver. I was immediately reminded of the current generation Honda Odyssey. Nice, an MPV that drives like a 5-seater car! I’m sure the low center gravity of the boxer engine helps alot in this department. The Exiga also has a double wishbone suspension at the rear.

The interior is a class above the likes of the Mazda5, Toyota Wish and Honda Stream in terms of space but falls short of the interior space offered by the Honda Odyssey. The windscreen in front of the driver’s point of view is wide and tall. As evident from the exterior of the car with its taller roof, the interior had plenty of headroom.

Getting into the third row via folding down and sliding forward the second row seat is an easy one-handed affair. I had no problems sitting in the third row (I cannot fit in the Stream’s third row without making the second row unusable) though.

But we’re just talking about fitting without threatening to cut off blood supply to my legs from the pressure against the back of the second row seats like AirAsia planes. The seating position was not exactly comfortable as the distance from the seat to the floor is too close so the third row is still best left to children.

My head was quite close to the ceiling (did not touch it), but apparently this is intentional. According to Subaru, the second row and third row increase in height in steps so that all three rows get a good clear vision of the view in front. But with the third row in use, there is really not much luggage room left. Perhaps enough for 2 suitcases, definitely not 7!

And despite only having air cond blowers at the front, Subaru surprisingly managed to design the airflow to hit the passengers all the way at the back through vents at the front which point to the top, which is quite commendable. This may turn off some people who expect more blowers because of the car’s near-Odyssey (which has blowers for all 3 rows) price tag regardless of whether the front blowers do their job or not.

However, the 2.0 liter normally aspirated engine with 148 PS at 6,000rpm and 191Nm of torque at 3,200rpm can only manage the weight of the Exiga with only 4 people in the car. Add three more plus luggage and it’s going to feel pretty sluggy. The lack of power is reflected in the spec sheets which indicate a top speed of 160km/h and 12.7 seconds from stand still to the 100km/h mark. The 4-speed SPORTSHIFT automatic has nothing sporty about it and is quite sluggy to downshift when power is needed.

The higher spec and more powerful turbocharged Exiga 2.0GT with the turbocharged 2.0 liter boxer engine was not available for test drive, but I reckon that would be a much more suitable powertrain for the car thanks to its 225 PS at 5,600rpm and 326Nm of torque at 4,400rpm. Being turbocharged, it would be much more tuner-friendly too. Its gearbox also has one extra cog, making a 5-speed unit. It also adds a panoramic moonroof and a black interior instead of being extremely light and beige like in the normally aspirated version.

Sadly the turbocharged model is JDM-spec and is speed limited to 180km/h – this would not be a problem in Singapore but if you want to go a little more crazy with the throttle when you travel up to Malaysia on the North-South Highway you may want to research if there’s a work-around for this on your own at a JDM accessory shop.

Look after the jump for more photos of the Subaru Exiga.

PHOTO GALLERY: Subaru Exiga in Singapore
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

The new Hyundai Elantra was launched some time ago and it has the distinction of being one of the few 2.0 liter C-segment sedans priced under RM100,000 which is sure to attract a few customers in this increasingly price sensitive market. We have just finished testing this Korean car. Here is what we found out.

Read Harvinder Singh Sidhu’s review after the jump.

Design

The new Elantra looks much more refined and mature now compared to the boxy old model. The first thing you will notice is the beautiful lines the car has along its sides that remind you of the Audi A5, as under the right time of the day, these lines will really stand out. It gives the car more character.

The front headlights seem to look at you more aggressively this time, and I would also say that the rear lamps compliment them very nicely. You will also notice that there is strangely no Elantra insignia anywhere on the car, instead there is only the “X20” emblem, which generally means the car has a 2.0 liter unit under the hood.

Click for larger image

Interior

The interior of this new Elantra is rather decent actually, since it did make me feel like I was sitting a luxury B segment sedan. It also has very good leg and head clearance for the driver, as well as for front left and rear passengers.

I was quite happy with the seating position as I didn’t get any back ache as result of a long drive. The car however does have huge looking centre dash, but I was pleased with it since it is fitted with lots of compartments, which is very practical. Another neat feature is a cabin luggage hook (located at front left passage area) which can carry items up to 3kg which very good news for us Malaysians since we can use it to hang our “teh tarik” (Malaysian Tea) packets, safely and in a more proper manner.

The Elantra is also fitted with a decent in-car entertainment system which can play CDs, MP3s, WMAs and is also equipped with an aux-in jack for your iPod or any other mobile music player.

The only thing I didn’t like was the way the climate controls were illuminated at night. I was taken back a little when I first noticed the “extremely blue” lights. Thank goodness it was connected to the rheostat. It was just too bright and I really thought I was going to lose my eyesight.

In fact the climate control buttons are made out of transparent white rubber, which to be honest, does not deserve to be associated with anything “Luxury”. They may just go yellow over time just like your old Nokia 5110 mobile phone from the late 1990s.

Driving

Here’s the part when I tell how I was disappointed by this new Hyundai Elantra. In my first few kilometers of the test drive, I straight away noticed how bad the car really handles, and I noticed this in a housing area at first, which is not good news at all.

Against my first impression, I took it to a more appropriate location so I can step the gas a little harder. After doing that, I had no choice but to follow my first impression. It was just going all over the place when I put the car under more pressure; and on top of that, I also learned that the brakes were shoddy as well.

The suspension is tuned heavily towards comfort and as a result the ride may get a little floaty at high speeds.

The 2.0 liter 16 Valve DOHC CVVT engine (143 PS at 6,000rpm and 186Nm of torque at 4,600rpm) seemed a little heavy on acceleration but at higher speeds it was more responsive. The gear change of the 4 speed automatic transmission with VFS and Grade Logic is rather smooth, but more gear ratios is preferred. If Volkswagen can put 6-speed units in all of their automatic cars and are now even phasing out autos for the 7-speed dry clutch DSG, I don’t see why 4-speed autos are still around.

In city driving, I’ve also noticed that this Elantra, which is fitted with an electric power steering system, has a good turning radius of up to 5.17 meters curve to curve. Safety wise, the car comes with standard dual SRS airbags, ABS (Electronic Anti-Lock Brake system) and EBD (Electronic Brake Force Distribution).

Another cool feature the car has is a reverse warning sensor with voice, and distance display (fitted above the rear windscreen, from the inside). So basically, when put it into reverse and look at your rear view mirror, you can clearly see the distance in feet, and as you get closer to the object behind you, the car “talks” to you, alerting you on the distance.

Verdict

The Elantra looks great, with a decent interior and a respectable amount of equipment. It, however drives like a cow, and could do with stronger brakes. The engine and drive train performs reasonably well. We also found that the noise was a little on the loud side at highway speeds – more padding and soundproofing needed perhaps?

Another thing we forgot to mention is the Elantra’s very good fuel economy as it gives you about 12 kilometers per litre of petrol. In fact, Kah Bintang is also claims that this new Elantra can take you from Johore to Butterworth in a full tank of petrol (53 liters). Hyundai also added that the electric power steering feature saves you up to 1 mpg.

So, here’s the big question; would I buy it? Well for me personally, I won’t as it is not a driver’s car, but as a daily A to B driver it deserves serious consideration given the large interior space it offers and its low price point of RM93,888. It’s plenty of metal for your money.

Story by Harvinder Singh Sidhu, photos by Leong Tik Tsin and Paul Tan

PHOTO GALLERY: Hyundai Elantra X20
Click thumbnails to view high resolution photo

© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

We have finally got our hands on the new installment of the E70 BMW X5 “Sports Activity Vehicle” for a drive on our local roads! BMW Malaysia offers three variants of the new X5 for the local market – a 3 liter petrol, a 3 liter turbodiesel and a mouth-watering 4.8 V8 petrol version. We had a go in the model which we think would attract more attention especially when fuel consumption is on everyone’s mind today – the 3.0d oil burner.

Read the review by Harvinder Singh Sidhu after the jump.


Click to enlarge

Design

At first glance, you would straight away notice that the new X5 definitely looks so much better than the old one, which, to be honest; looked like it was designed 15 years ago. It looks really posh and aggressive at the same time which is very good news. The front is forward looking and at the back you will notice the typical BMW L-shaped rear lenses. Apart from that, it is 18.7 cm longer and 6.1 cm wider than its predecessor. The wheel base is also up by 11.3 cm. All in all, just like I mentioned earlier, it looks like a winner.

Click to enlarge

Interior

As you open the door and get yourself onto the driver’s seat, you will definitely feel the roominess of the new X5, it has good leg and head clearance for both front and rear passengers. It’s just enormous in there. You will also find that the interior design is very elegant, giving justice to its exterior good looks. I did feel like I was in a RM 600,000.00 penthouse. There is a touch of refinement everywhere, from the wood finish on the dashboard, to all the practical compartments.

The second version of the iDrive system is very user friendly as well in terms of navigating the interface but can be abit annoying while you wait for the GPS navigation system to load stuff up thanks to its DVD-based storage. The Bluetooth hands-free system works great but trying to load my phone’s address book via Bluetooth resulted in a PC Suite error appearing on my Nokia, so that did not work.

The X5 has a huge trunk space as the rear seats are foldable. The X5 is basically a 5 seater, but you can opt for extra 2 seats at the back to turn it into a 5+2 seater, but, quite frankly they are so tiny it’s just ridiculous. If you expect your children to just stop aging at 7 years old, then its ok, for the rest you, the X5 should remain as a 5 seater.

Click to enlarge

Engine & Transmission

Behind the wheel, the 3 liter turbo charged in line 6 power plant feels very smooth, responsive and has plenty of power to offer. The turbo boost as well is almost instantaneous. As you would know, turbo diesel engines have a huge amount of torque, well, its good to know this 3.0d X5 packs a total of 520 Nm of torque at 2000 rpm. Apart from good fuel consumption (about 9 liter for every 100km), the diesel motor is rather quiet, so most of time you will not notice that it’s a diesel under the hood. Overall, BMW hit a hole in one with this 3 liter turbo diesel, except for making my stomach sick from the constant feeling of an airplane taking off.

Transmission is pretty much the standard ZF 6 speed automatic with Steptronic with silky smooth shifts and kickdowns. However there is something interesting about this particular one, it uses a new shift by wire gear stick. Say goodbye to conventional automatic gear sticks! To shift gears (from Neutral to Reverse) you just need to nudge (within 1 cm) the gear stick to the front or back and to get it to park is the easiest thing to do; just hit Park button on the top part of gear stick.

The only thing I got to complain is the fact that this all wheel drive car (powered by BMW’s xDrive system) does not have a low ratio gearbox, which is bad news for adventure junkies out there, you just have to look elsewhere.

Click to enlarge

Ride & Handling

The handling is very good for such a huge vehicle I must say. You don’t feel like you are behind the wheel of a 3 ton lorry. Other than the feeling of being slightly higher on the road, you will surely feel you are driving a rather sporty car with reasonable handling. It is very sharp plus the steering wheel feels quite light as well. It’s simply amazing and I keep hearing people say the X6 is even better than this so it’s made me extremely curious to find out what the X6 drives like. The xDrive system and all other electronic aids work really well to keep you out of trouble.

In terms of ride quality, it is a bit on the stiff side but forgivable since it is a car with very good handling characteristics. It is also slightly bumpy on high speeds (don’t forget to thank Malaysian roads) but you would hardly notice it. The X5 felt very stable when I was cruising on the motor way at about 160 – 170 km/h.

Click to enlarge

Verdict

The new X5 is generally true to its Bavarian form; a well built vehicle. I like the way its looks, that way it makes me feel when I am in it, and when I am driving it.

However once you complete your enjoyable drive and park it in your nice bungalow’s porch (you’d better have a nice home before you spend so much cash on this monster!), step out of the car and you’ll find that your serene garden now reeks of the terrible smell of diesel, like a lorry just left the area. This is more of our diesel quality than a problem of the X5 but its still an issue with diesel-powered luxury cars here in Malaysia.

The other thing is the fact that you can’t have off road driving in mind when you think about the X5. The only “off road” thing about it is that it is all wheel drive, and the Auto Descend (via a switch on the dash board) feature. The X5 is not even high enough for off road driving. For that, you may want to check out the Mercedes M-Class, the VW Touareg and the best 4X4 there is, the Land Rover.

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The CBU X5 3.0d is on sale for RM 568,800 (without insurance) with 3 years free service. So would I buy it? Well, if I want to keep it on the tarmac, I would. Before I end another thing which interests me is that whenever I drove the X5 on the fastest lane of the free way, cars in front tend to move on their own whenever I want to overtake. No need for flashing the highbeams. Its sheer size I suppose?

Related Stories:
2007 BMW X5 4.8i and 3.0d Test Drive in Athens
E70 BMW X5 3.0si, 3.0d and 4.8i launched in Malaysia
New 2007 BMW X5 – details and specifications
New 2007 BMW X5 4.8i M Sport

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© 2009 Paul Tan's Automotive News. All Rights Reserved.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Sun, 22 Nov 09 20:25:23 +0800.

The new Proton Gen-2 CPS was unveiled earlier this year and has attracted a lot of interest from the public as the Malaysian auto maker fitted the new Campro CPS power plant. Proton has also made various revisions on the exterior and interior.

Will it be just another disappointing product of Proton, or is there light at the end of the tunnel? We shall see in our test drive report.

Looks

At first glance, you’ll notice that the new Gen-2 is treated with refreshed front and rear bumpers, blacked-out head lights up front and an addition of a rear spoiler. You will also notice the grey-painted 15 inch alloy wheels.

Personally, the Gen-2 isn’t the best looking 4 door hatchback out there but with all those exterior improvements it certainly looks better than the its predecessor as it outlines a more aggressive and sportier characteristic of the car. When you look it, it does make you think ‘”hmmm, I wonder what is under that hood?”, which is a good actually.

Interior

Interior wise, it is very much similar to the Proton Persona as the odd-looking clock on the center of the dashboard is removed, and a handier glove compartment is made available. The colour scheme is grey now instead of beige.

The Red-Black sporty schemed interior of Gen-2 CPS is also fitted with leather seats. Another improvement made is relocating the power window switches from the center console of the old Gen-2 to the driver’s door panel. The door panels are also carried over from the Persona and have a much more practical layout now.

Drivers and passengers will also enjoy 4 cupholders as 2 are placed in the center console up front and another 2 are featured at the rear end of console for the rear passengers. The interior feels and looks much better than the old one, but yet again, Proton is still lacking when comes to the quality of the interior.

The dashboard has uneven gaps and lose bits here and there and I cannot help but notice the dodgy steering wheel as the center silver finish isn’t aligned properly, and it worries me that if even a simple alignment such as that cannot be got right, what about the airbag inside? The quality of the sun visors also look pretty shady, pun intended.

The row of buttons above the head unit are also not very functional in terms of human interface design. They offer no tactile response whatsoever to let you know whether you’ve successfully pressed it or not. You can only tell whether some of the buttons are activated or not at night – its colour changes from orange to green but you cannot see the difference during the day.

Lets look at the brighter side of it, the interior is very roomy in terms of leg room for both front and rear passengers, although you would notice that due to the body frame design of the Gen-2, the head clearance for the rear passengers isn’t something Proton can be proud of. This is fixed in the Persona which has a different roofline. The slim center dash area (where the air conditioning controls are) allows for a larger footwell and knee space for the front passenger and driver. The trunk space is rather large for a hatchback, and the rear seats are foldable.

Performance

To my surprise, the new 1.6 CPS engine performs really well, definitely the best performing engine fitted in any Proton. Proton claims that the CPS power plant in the refreshed Gen-2 has a total of 125 hp at 6500 rpm, enabling it to offer a 0 to 100km/h acceleration time of 10.6 seconds and a top speed of 190 km/h.

In the first 20 kilometers of my test drive, I found out that it does live up to its expectations. When I drove it hard, I noticed that both the CPS (Camshaft Profile Switching) and the VIM (Variable Intake Manifold) systems worked when they were supposed to at their designated engine speeds. The rev happy engine feels very light.

I definitely felt like pushing the car to its limits whenever I got into the car, plus sounds really good too. It really makes me wonder how it would perform if a 1.8 or 2 liter CPS motor is fitted. The gear change is also smooth and precise.

Fuel consumption is reasonable as well; I’ve learned that when I was driving it around town, it was consuming about 7.2 liters for every 100 kilometers according to the trip meter. The only complain I have is that whenever I drive the car; the A/C compressor sucks up a very noticeable amount of e