Automotive news: Nippon Paint unveils 40 new colours for automotive use

Mr. Ong Eng Keong, Assistant General Manager-Group Technical Sales Dept. 

Industrial Use and Mr. Alex Yoong, Assistant General Manager-Marketing of Nippon 

Paint Malaysia with the Just Me automotive colour display

Now the automotive industry isn't all about driving and testing vehicles all the time. As you guys know there are support industries all over the place. From car service centres, automotive tint film, oils, chemicals, tyres and other stuff. This makes the industry go round. And there is also paint. Nippon Paint has decided to unveil 40 new supporting colours for the automotive market.

Truck News: Volvo Launches Fast Track Service to Enhance Customer Ownership Experience

Good news. If you run and operate Volvo Trucks in and around Shah Alam.........

Volvo Trucks Malaysia (Volvo) has enchanced its customer service with the launch of Fast Track Service facility at its flagship Shah Alam dealership. The express service is designed to increase efficiency for its customers by enabling quicker turnaround in truck repair. This latest move by the global commercial vehicle manufacturer follows a string of dealership expansions and refurbishments under the company’s network development strategy aimed at amplifying customer benefits and expanding the value and experience of truck ownership for its customers.

Austere Luxury. Something We Don't Get To Have Anymore

I recently came from a test drive of the all-new Hyundai Sonata sometime ago and I was quite impressed with what the car had and what it had to offer its driver and passengers. It had all the bells and whistles. It had Navigation from a Papago based system as well as Waze installed into its ANDROID based infotainment unit. Being an ANDROID based system with cellular data hooked onto it meant that it had normal radio as well as internet based entertainment and software like Spotify for your to listen to your favourite songs. Aside from music, navigation and a whole lot more entertainment, the Sonata came equipped with lots of creature comforts like power windows, electrically adjustable seats, rain sensing wipers, auto lights and a whole lot more. The only thing left for us to do is drive them to where we want to go and when you did that, you would be entertained. And all of this in a mid-priced full sized sedan. Not top of the line luxury brand mind you, just something mid-sized family 

THE McLAREN 650S LE MANS - CELEBRATING 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF A FAMOUS WIN

McLaren have been pretty quiet on the Malaysian front in my opinion. I have been frequenting the usual watering holes around Bangsar and Sri Hartamas over the past year where the usual Ferrari and Porsche cars are spotted. I have only seen two recently. One belongs to someone who I know bought prior to the official McLaren presence in Malaysia and another, which may have been an official McLaren Kuala Lumpur sold car. 

Honda City SX8 into a Honda Impreza from years ago. Malaysia Boleh.

Now speaking about Subaru Impreza GD series (here called V7/8/9) clones, I have to say that the first generation  ASEAN only Honda City SX8 (not counting the two earlier Japan based ones) I saw five or six years ago is the best that I have seen so far. The Saga BLM, Waja clones aren't as good as this. Of course, there were those who bought the Hyundai Accent with the locally made RXS (stupidly using same logo and font for its badge as a Yamaha RXS motorcycle sold years earlier in Malaysia) and rebadged it as a Subaru.

This 'Honda City was only sold in South East Asia and is based on the then recently discontinued Honda Civic EF chassis. That chassis was actually quite good and even though the City came with a SOHC VTEC 1.5liter engine, it could handle the hotter Twin Cam 1.6liter VTEC used in the hotter SiR EF Civics easily. So those days we had some of these Cities with at least 160hp instead of 102hp.

NISMO Almera - In this case, NISMO means (Nis)san, for (M)alaysia (O)nly.

Today, lets take a look at a popular B segment car that has supposedly been tuned by the performance arm of its manufacturer, the Nissan Almera Tuned by NISMO. I looked up the internet to check whether such a car existed over in Japan, Hong Kong and also Singapore. I found out they called the Almera the Latio in Japan, the Sunny in Hong Kong and Almera in Singapore too.

I also found out over at the NISMO website that NISMO does not actually officially sell a bodykit current model NISMO Latio/ Almera sedan over there. Nor is there such a complete NISMO tuned Latio or NISMO Sunny or NISMO Almera for Singapore. If you are telling me that it is sold in other markets other than this well, if it isn't actually sold in Japan, how relevant is your argument compared to mine then?

A short post for today - Similar but not the same?

A few days ago I was driving along LDP in the heavy traffic I saw this creeping up on my left side and then was driving right beside me. 

I was driving my trusty white car that day.

So I thought he was driving the same type of car as he was and I turned my head towards the car, smiling at the driver acknowledging "that we were driving the same brand of car". But he refused to turn his head towards me at all even though my car was actually pacing his car for a good 250 meters or so at about 25kmh due to the traffic.

I wonder why. Maybe he did not see me?

Truck News: Volvo Trucks Opens Newly Upgraded Dealership in Sibu & a bit on the Volvo FM for logging

(L to R) Lim Hock Choon, Dealer Manager, Volvo Sibu and Bintulu

Dato N’gieng Ping Wei, CM Global 

 Mats Nilsson, Managing Director, Volvo Malaysia

Alex Yong, General Manager, East Malaysia, Volvo Malaysia

Volvo Trucks Malaysia has officially opened its newly refurbished and enhanced dealership in Sibu, Sarawak last weekend.  As such, Volvo Trucks now offer more complete transport solutions to its customers over there. The Sarawak market isn't necessarily small as Sibu itself is currently the second highest revenue collector after the central region of Peninsular Malaysia in terms of parts sale for them.

The Volvo Trcuks dealership is situated at a strategic location along the main transport flow and the Rejang river barge. The facility also boasts a complete Volvo customer experience as driver waiting lounge, free wireless internet access, reading materials and complimentary beverages are all part of the company’s complete offering of aftermarket experience. 

Facelifted Perodua Myvi launched - Some bits and thoughts about it.

Perodua has facelifted Malaysia's most popular car, the Perodua Myvi for 2015. And in my opinion its going to keep selling by the bucketloads. I am not going to blurb much about the car in every tiny detail. That would be left to other websites and publications. I'll just touch on what I think are the good points and left you with that.

NEWS: TRIPDA MALAYSIA APPOINTS CAMPUS AMBASSADORS AS ADVOCATES FOR CARPOOLING

There is an Smartphone app by Tripda, a company that runs an online car pooling platform that connects car drivers and passengers heading the same way so that they can car pool together and save time and money (or allow car drivers to make money? IF they don't have a conscience I suppose). 

Anyway, Tripda Malaysia has linked up with university students who act as their ambassadors to advocate the benefits of car pooling. Do read the press release below for more info.

Press Release

TRIPDA MALAYSIA APPOINTS CAMPUS AMBASSADORS 
AS ADVOCATES FOR CARPOOLING

TEST DRIVE: 2014 Ford Ecosport 1.5L Titanium

The Ford Ecosport is based on the current Ford Fiesta B2E platform and was originally launched in 2013. We got it last year and I got to drive it at the end of last year. I tested the Ford Ecosport 1.5L Titanium recently and this here is the long delayed review of the mini SUV.

The Ford Ecosport is Ford's global product. It is sold in is most continents and is specced and tuned with each market in mind. We Malaysians get the one built in Rayong, Thailand and gets a 110ps, 142Nm 1.5liter 4 cylinder petrol engine that is coupled with a 6 speed dual clutch gearbox. We don't get a manual option and it comes in front wheel drive only form too (there is a 2.0liter all-wheel drive variant elsewhere). This last note makes sense as it is marketed as an urban SUV and I doubt anyone who buys this Tonka toy cute little car to go off roading in it. Maybe some flash flood wading, but that's about it.

Scania Driver Competitions 2014/2015 Malaysia-Singapore

Last December 2014 Scania launched the Scania Driver Competition 2014/2015 Malaysia-Singapore to find the best drivers from these two countries. If you happen to work driving Scania trucks or you happen to run a fleet of Scania trucks, I do not see the harm in any of you entering this competition. Details are in the press release below.

Scania G-series Truck

Press Release

Scania Celebrates 10th Year Anniversary of Scania Driver Competitions Around The World.

Honda Malaysia Previews the 2015 Honda HR-V - Ahead of its February launch

An All-New Honda HR-V will be hitting Malaysian shores in February 2015.  It is a subcompact crossover vehicle and is actually based on Honda's Global Compact Series, which includes the current Honda City and Honda Jazz. It is called the Honda Vezel over in Japan (pic below) and uses the HR-V moniker here. The HR-V was previously used in the 1998-2006 HR-V mini SUV.

Latest Revised Volkswagen Car Prices in Malaysia and CNY Sales Rebates

Prices for Volkswagen cars in Malaysia have risen due to the free falling Malaysian Ringgit. Last I looked it was way past 3.53 to the US Dollar. The only consolation is the cheap fuel pump prices we get these days. I have posted a chart below showing the latest prices. Note that even the entry level Polo 1.6 costs at least up to RM2,000 more. However, Volkswagen Group Malaysia have come up with its latest sales initiative,  something called the ‘Volkswagen Red Campaign’!. 

First post of 2015, ramblings, excuses for not writing and the Peugeot RCZ THP156 Automatic

Hello folks. Welcome to the first post of 2015. Yes, yes I have been busy doing nothing much in terms of writing over the past month or so. The reason being the recent school holidays and that I was just plain lazy. It takes a whole lot of effort on my part to actually sit down and type something out as you all would agree that thumb twiddling, latte drinking, shopping, meeting up with friends and other non-productive things to do are so much fun. And when you actually add the fact that keeping this website up to date does not actually pay me a whole bunch of Ringgit every month you can see why I have neglected posting anything over the last thirty days or so. So let's start 2015 with an introduction of why motoring-malaysia.blogspot.com actually started in the first place.

Volkswagen Das Event

Volkswagen Malaysia had previewed the all new Volkswagen Passat B8 tonight. It looks more luxurious than before and has more of the Volkswagen CC styling cues instead of being upright and very stodgy (uncle car-like) They also showed off the electric E-Up and the Golf GTE hybrid.

Aside from that, they have briefed the media about their beefing up of the after sales service by setting up a local parts centre and training of more technical personnel.

Actually a lot of stuff. A proper write up will be published later.

News: JEEP is back in Malaysia

Jeep is back in Malaysia after a long absence. This time around Jeep Malaysia is a company under the DRB-HICOM Berhad group who have been awarded the exclusive distributorship from Chrysler Group International (part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group). Today is the official launch of the brand and also the opening of the first Jeep 3S centre in Malaysia, located in Glenmarie, Shah Alam. By next year, Jeep Malaysia intends to open centres in Penang and Johor followed by one centre each in Sabah and Sarawak by 2016.

Redesigned Hyundai Sonata Wins CARS.COM, USA TODAY

Recently the redesigned Hyundai Sonata won an award over in the United States. The new Sonata, which is not available in Malaysia at the moment won the Motorweek Midsize Sedan Challenge. The new Sonata held up against 9 other brands and came up tops after some expert and car shopper testing.

Volkswagen Malaysia Launches Courtesy Car Programme for its Customers

Volkswagen Malaysia has officially launched its mobility guarantee programme on the 26th of November 2014. As part of its ongoing efforts to improve customer satisfaction, Volkswagen Malaysia is sponsoring and deploying more than 200 vehicles to offer customers complete mobility support.

Trucking news: Scania Malaysia launches the Scania Assistance Service and Scania Fleet Management System

Today I was at Scania Malaysia for the launch of the Scania Assistance Service and Scania Fleet Management System. These are ownership solutions for better profitability for Scania bus and truck operators here in Malaysia. Of course, I get to view some nice machines too. In the heavy duty sort of scale that is. I was busy taking admiring the huge Garrett turbo fitted to the Scania bus chassis to the left of the photo above folks.

Mercedes Benz CLA Shooting Brake

First glimpse of the new Mercedes Benz CLA Shooting Brake folks. I like it. I think.

"Say hello to the new CLA Shooting Brake! The latest member of our successful family of compact models. A unique look of its own! [CLA Shooting Brake | Fuel consumption combined: 6.8-4.2 l/100km | Combined CO2 emission: 156-101 g/km | #MercedesBenz #CLAShootingBrake #CLA #ShootingBrake #compactcars #mbcar" From MercedesBenz Instagram

DBKL will be renaming some roads - A waste of meetings discussing a trivial subject and a bit on the JPJ

KUALA LUMPUR: NINE roads and streets here will be renamed after rulers who have served as Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Jalan Duta will be renamed Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim; Jalan Khidmat Usaha will be renamed Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah; Jalan Ipoh — from the Jalan Segambut junction to the Jalan Pahang junction — will be renamed Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah; Persiaran Duta will be renamed Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin; Jalan Khidmat Setia and Jalan Ibadah will be renamed Jalan Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin; Lebuhraya Mahameru will be renamed Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar; Persiaran Mahameru will be renamed Persiaran Tuanku Jaafar; and, Jalan Semarak will be renamed Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra.
Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said the new names would take effect tomorrow.
He said City Hall had received the cabinet’s consent to rename the roads.
“This is to honour the rulers who have served as Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Phesal said Pos Malaysia would be informed of the changes to the road names to avoid confusion over addresses. New Straits Times 

These days I am not bothered to complain about the nation's politics, politicians, government policies and the people that implement such systems (which are usually quite idiotic). This is the norm for me as I believe, complaining and ranting about local politics and government policies is a bloody waste of time. You see, if you side party A and you are against what party B is doing there would be some who end up becoming keyboard warriors defending or attacking such a person, cause or ideal. It is actually a bloody waste of your time folks.

Test Drive: 2014 Ford Ranger 2.2l XLT Automatic - Traction Control and ISOFIX ..as well as the usual goodies too

The current Ford Ranger has been around Malaysia since 2012 and is quite a familiar sight. First launched in 2011 it has captured a fair number of people who like driving pickup trucks. This 2014 version of the Ford Ranger is the same as it was when it first came out some two years ago. However, Ford basically improved it with the addition of traction control (ESP) and ISOFIX baby seat anchorage points. 

Ramblings about Lotus Cars, the terrible image that Proton Cars have and what needs to be done.

Lotus Suprima S - Imagine the above with massive arches, 18inch wheels, vented bonnet, whale-tail rear spoiler and at least 200bhp. And a PROPER Lotus badge instead of that corny R3 one......Would a true enthusiast buy it for RM105,000? I believe so.

I had been doing some reading up on Lotus Cars recently. Lotus Cars is owned by DRB-Hicom through Proton, the Malaysian car company. Both car companies are actually in a bit of trouble owning to low sales volumes with Proton being second in the Malaysian passenger vehicle sales charts for the past two years or so. Assembler and re-badge experts Perodua have taken over the top spot in passenger car sales in Malaysia and its no question that Malaysians seem to like the brand more these days. Tell me how many of the newly launched Proton Iriz (which in 1.6liter form is not too bad) you see on the roads today compared to the newly launched Perodua Axia (which is the best value for money car you can buy these days with the puny Ringgit). Couple this with the fact that Malaysian banks seem to be tightening down on car loans also do not auger well with Proton who according to my sources have about 50% of customer car loan applications rejected or turned down. Not the fault of Proton, but this bites nonetheless.

LLumar 2014 Asia Pacific Tint-Off Competition - 16 Teams from 14 Countries Take Part. Team from South Korea Wins

Yesterday I attended a tinting competition organized by LLumar automotive window films and its Malaysian distributor Tint Auto (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd . Yes, there is such an event and it was participated by 16 teams from 14 countries. The extra three teams came from China, which as you know is a huge country and warrants extra coverage (as well as sales numbers too).

Anyway, whilst the only cars provided were Volkswagen Passats by VW distributor F.A Wagen it was still an international themed events with tint experts from Oman, Singapore, China and South Korea as well as our own Malaysia to name a few.

Reviews to look forward to: The 2014 Ford Ranger and the 2014 Ford Eco Sport

I have been a tad bit busy with things happening around me. As such, I have two reviews that I have to come up with within the next few days. But here are some pics on the two cars that I have had the pleasure of testing over the past month or so - The 2014 Ford Ranger and the 2014 Ford EcoSport.

Commercial Vehicle News: Volvo Buses Back in Malaysia and Launches New Bus Chassis Range

I attended the launch of Volvo Buses new chassis range for buses in Malaysia. It also marks the return of Volvo Buses (via the current Volvo Malaysia setup) to Malaysia after a number of years.

CARAMA BY CASTROL IS NOW IN JOHOR

Carama, which is Castrol's the value added online guide for car servicing, car maintenance and automobile workshop guide has now expanded to areas in the state of Johor. This means that you can now use Carama.com to book car services over there too instead of just the Klang Valley. 

Basic facts about Carama include over 250 certified and listed participating workshops which aims to ultimately rebuild the trust between Malaysian car owners and workshops. Carama provides all Carama users a 3 months / 5,000 km warranty on labour and spare parts. Additionally, users are entitled to 3% cashback on their total bill. On top of assurance and savings, all Carama users are entitled to 2 x FREE MyTeksi rides (worth RM15 each) whenever they make a booking on Carama.com, ensuring they have transportation to and from their car workshop.

Audi A3 Sedan - The Audi 1.4TFSI & 1.8 TFSI Quattro driven back to back

This is the A3 Sedan 1.8 TFSI Quattro - How do I know? I don't. I had to look through my notes and then found out that the wheel design makes it a 1.8 TFSI Quattro - Ten Spokes.

Audi has recently launched the A3 Sedan in Malaysia and we get two variants, one is the 1.4 TFSI and the other the sportier 1.8 TFSI Quattro. Launched in 2013, the Audi A3 sedan utilises the Volkswagen Group MQB platform first seen in the current Volkswagen Golf and then in the A3 Hatchback and Sportback variants. It is because of this basic chassis sharing that the Audi A3 Sedan is a very familiar animal to drive.

Trucking News: SIN THOW JOO BRICK WORKS TAKES DELIVERY OF FIRST SCANIA TIPPER TRUCKS

L to R - Chairman of Sin Thow Joo Brick Works, Mr Tan Chin Kim  - Managing Director of Sin Thow Joo, Mr Denny CH Tan -  Scania Southeast Asia Sales Director for Truck and Engine, En Roslan Effendi.

Press Release

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY VETERAN SIN THOW JOO BRICK WORKS
TAKES DELIVERY OF FIRST SCANIA TIPPER TRUCKS 

Chemor, Perak, 5 November, 2014 – Scania Malaysia today delivered the first two units

of Scania P410 CB 8x4 HHZ tipper truck with Scania Opticruise to construction industry

veteran Sin Thow Joo Brick Works Sdn Bhd, based in Chemor, Perak. These vehicles

also come with financing and insurance coverage from Scania Credit Malaysia.

Another five units are to be delivered to the brick manufacturer upon completion of the

long wheelbase ‘tipper’ which are currently under construction.

One for a motorhead's reading list: The Most Famous Car In The World- the story of the first E-type

I still pick up a book or two every few months or so. More if they are about cars. This book by Philip Porter titled The Most Famous Car in the World is a good read about the first Jaguar Etype ever made. It became a showcar at motor shows, media test car and then neglected and then restored.

Of course in my opinion the most famous car in the world is the Aston Martin DB5 that James Bond made famous. But the E-type comes close. Especially one as well knowned as 9600 HP.
A good read I might add. Lots of insight about the car and Jaguar during the 1950s and 1960s.

Test Drive: The Proton Iriz 1.6 Premium CVT - Better specs and an automatic make it a better Iriz to drive

Let's cut straight to the chase. The Proton Iriz 1.6 CVT Premium is a much better car to drive than the Proton Iriz 1.3 manual I tried earliet. Some of you may be wondering how can a CVT automatic be better to drive than a manual transmission? The actual answer is the car with the better overall package wins.

Newspaper blunder

Our reporters need to do more research or proof read their articles. Can a Mitsubishi Evolution X be as puny as the specification stated in the picture which was published in a local Malay daily a while ago?  
1.2 liters,100nm torque and 800kg weight to quote. Then it still does over 200kmh max speed. The article mixed the Mitsubishi Mirage/Attrage with some Lancer Evo specs.

This also tells you people out there to check multiple sources instead if just one. In Malaysian politics the best example are the 40000 Bangladeshi voters purportedly brought in to help the ruling party. To date not obe shred of proof has been seen.

To state further, the Lancer Evo makes more than 280bhp and over 350nm torque from a 2.0 liter engine. But I bet you petrolheads already know that.

Spotted....and luckily not for sale: Proton Saga Flying Spur

To quote the President of the United States during his election campaign, "Yes We Can" seems totally appropriate. It seems we Malaysians can do everything and anything under the sun. And that we seem to have so much money to actually pay someone to do this kind of stuff. Wouldn't it be better to actually save the money and try buy a proper premium luxury sedan some time in your life instead of actually trying to turn an entry level car into one? 

So a second hand Proton Saga may cost RM20,000 and some mods may cost an extra RM10,000. What is RM30,000 when it'll become a masterpiece? A piece de resistance? A Mona Lisa? Wait a minute...it's a darn Proton Saga for Godssake!!!!!! And I thought the Audi Saga I posted earlier was ambitious.

The Great Wall M4 - Chunky looks & EEV Tax break status equals to asurprisingly good drive against its local rivals

We have something cheap and reasonably cheery on our roads soon and the surprising thing is that this car is coming from China. The car, the Great Wall M4 (also called the M4 Haval) compact SUV has been previewed and will soon be on sale throughout Malaysia. According to the distributors, Go Auto, the Great Wall M4 has garnered about 1,500 bookings since its preview in July of 2014 and it will be seen on our roads by November if all goes well. Quite a feat. It got me really curious too. So when I was invited to spend some time with the M4 as well as some time with the people who are bringing it in I jumped at the opportunity.

Hyundai Experience Car Fest 2014 - 10th to 12th October 2014!!!!

Hello folks! Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HDSM) will be organising a car fest ths weekend starting tomorrow, Friday the 10th of October 2014 to Sunday, 12th of October 2014. Expect lots of activities including complimentary driving courses and the usual slew of test drives from the current range of Hyundai vehicles.

If any of you are interested in trying out that Hyundai Veloster like in the pic above, a Hyundai Elantra like below or a Hyundai SUV do head over to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

Oh, The event will be held from 9.00am until 6.30pm. And if you're in Johor Bahru, the Hyundai Experience Car Fest will also be held at Jalan Desa Tebrau, Taman Tebrau in Johor Bahru from the 17th to 19th October 2014.

Trucking news: Malaysia competes in the Volvo Trucks Asia Pacific and World Fuelwatch Championship 2014 + Driving Tips

Press Release

Malaysia competes in the Volvo Trucks Asia Pacific and 

World Fuelwatch Championship 2014

Shah Alam, 2 October 2014 – The winner of Volvo Trucks Malaysia’s Fuelwatch

Challenge 2014, Ahmad Bin Othman of Logistik Petikemas Sdn Bhd, Prai, represented

Malaysia at the Volvo Trucks Asia Pacific and World Fuelwatch Championship 2014

held at home of Volvo in Gothenburg, Australia, on 16 to 19 September recently.

In July, Ahmad Bin Othman (pictured below) defeated close to 800 other Malaysian truckers to clinch

the national top spot when he achieved the lowest fuel consumption recording of just 1

litre for 2.52 kilometres in a 40-kilometre drive challenge pulling a 40-footer, 20-tonne

container with a FM 440 62T cab.

New record: Volkswagen Group celebrates 200 million vehicles produced & previews XL Sport Concept Car

VW Group Celebrates a whole lot of vehicles produced...and sold over at the 2014 Paris Motor Show. It also previewed the Volkswagen XL Sport, a concept car powered by a Ducati 1199 V2 engine.

Press Release
• A top value among European automakers

• Record-breaking vehicle XL Sport makes its world debut at Paris Motor 

Show

• French film icon Catherine Deneuve receives €200,000 donation for 

“Cinema for Peace”

Wolfsburg/Paris, October 1, 2014 – A new record for the Volkswagen Group: Europe’s

leading automaker has now produced 200 million vehicles. Volkswagen is one of the

few manufacturers in the world to have reached this impressive total. At the Group

evening, the sports car study Volkswagen XL Sport made its world debut as the 200

millionth Group vehicle. On the occasion of the production record, actress Catherine

Deneuve, founding chairperson of “Cinema for Peace”, received a check for a

donation of €200,000 from the Chairman of the Board of Management of the

Volkswagen Group, Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn.