Want to buy a full sized luxury car? Here are some pointers......

A Jaguar XJ - like no other car....

If you had money here in Malaysia what would you go out and buy? These days I actually believe in owning luxury personally. I do get to drive nice and fancy cars some times but owning one has always been a dream. So how do you actually choose a premium car of your dreams? 

For me it is simple. Heritage, refinement and then ask yourself what Jeremy Clarkson would say about a purchase. And speaking about Jeremy Clarkson, I am sad to hear that the chap got booted out of TopGear all because of a 'fracas' with a producer. I also hear he is taking his co-hosts James May and Richard Hammond with him and they may soon have their own show without any association with BBC and of course TopGear. Well, good for them. The BBC is in some ways like our RTM. More liberal but still a little fuddy duddy as it does belong to the government of England.

This....is actually...

...this underneath it all

30 years of the Hyundai Sonata

The Hyundai Sonata has come a long way. It all started in 1985 when Hyundai needed a mid sized executive car to compete with something called the Daewoo Royal over in South Korea. It was based on the Hyundai Stellar and basically took over from the Stellar from 1988 onwards. And slowly the Sonata reputation has grown into what it is today.

Trucking News: Volkswagen creates integrated commercial vehicles group - MAN, Scania & VW Commercial vehicles

For those not in the know, Volkswagen Group also owns MAN and Scania commercial vehicle brands aside from the usual car brands. So now, they are creating an integrated commercial vehicle group lumping these two familiar names together with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles too. 

Another baby dies in a car accident - Not secured in a Child Safety Seat is the reason - A bloody waste

This was taken from the Malay Tabloid Harian Metro (My comments and part translation would be below):

Bayi Maut Tercampak

Johor Bahru: Bayi perempuan sembilan bulan maut selepas tercampak dari Proton Exora dipandu bapanya yang terbabit dalam kemalangan tiga kenderaan di Kilometer 22, Lebuhraya PLUS arah selatan dekat Senai, di sini, pagi tadi.

Trucking News: Volvo Trucks Provides Platform for Truck Drivers to Raise Road Safety Issues

Mr Carl Johan Almqvist, Traffic and Product Safety Director, Volvo Trucks, sharing the company’s ‘Zero Accidents’ vision and truck accident statistics at the Volvo Safety Forum.

Somehow this is good timing. The chaps at Volvo Trucks had recently organised a safety forum for companies and truck drivers to discuss and raise road safety issues. Volvo’s Sweden-based Accident Research Team had examined more than 1,500 accidents around the world and their collection of data found that 90% of traffic accidents were caused by the human factor. 

Test Drive: Facelifted Peugeot 3008 SUV

I got my hands on a facelifted Peugeot 3008 SUV recently. This car, was a car that in my opinion truly needed a facelift. When it first came out back in 2009 I have to say that it was one ugly looking crossover vehicle. It was the automotive equivalent of a hippopotamus to me. But that being said, it was successful for Peugeot and won some awards for them too. They sold over 500,000 units of the crossover that really combines a large hatchback, a mini MPV and a SUV together.

But now things are a little better. In 2014 Peugeot facelifted the 3008. It gets a new front end which now sports the current Peugeot family looks and looks more like the 508, 5008 and the new 308. The front grille is no longer an extremely large smiley grille. There are new headlights that have LED daytime running lights up front and a new LED rear light cluster too. The facelifted 3008 looks a little more sleeker and is definitely more pleasing to look at in my eyes. It still is a little dumpy looking as it has to pull out from its bag of tricks interior space, SUV height and other practical needs yet still look decent. So it does have some awkwardness if you look at it at some angles. But this facelifted 3008 is so much better than before. Less opinion dividing than the previous version. So in terms of looks, I could live with this facelifted 3008 for a while.

Guest post: Top 5 Pre-Loved Hot (and Warm) Hatchbacks under RM60,000

Today is a public holiday in Malaysia. It is therefore a day to chill and relax.  So we now have an article written by my friend and fellow petrolhead Firdaus Asri. You may remember him as the chap who wrote that eye watering article about his latest purchase (and spending), the Volkswagen Golf R Mk6. Now he gives us a list on his favourite fairly new and affordable used Hot (and warm) Hatchbacks that you can get in Malaysia. 

My Top 5 Pre-loved Hot (and Warm) Hatchbacks

I have always had a soft spot on hot hatches because I grew up in the one that kick-started the whole hot hatch genre thing, it was a 1976 VW Mk1 Golf. A short trip back to memory lane, I vividly remember that my parents bought it from my almost abnormal uncle and for years it was pretty much the only car that we had that sort of worked and worked well.

Sunday Car Porn: Light years away from the current crop of Ferrari - The 365 GTB4 'Daytona'

The Ferrari 365 GTB4 'Daytona' is my favourite Ferrari of all time. It is light years away from the current crop of Ferrari with their cutting edge technology and wind tunnel sculpted looks. This was purity of design. But in 1968 this was considered a milestone in what Ferrari claims to be 'extreme high performance front engined sports car'. It was produced from 1968 to 1973.

Parents killed with one child on DUKE highway - All because of a car club convoy and what I believe is another important reason....

This was taken from the Star:-

KUALA LUMPUR: A family of three, including a seven-month-old baby, was killed when the vehicle they were travelling in overturned after it was rammed by a speeding car at the sixth kilometre of the DUKE Highway here.

The impact of the crash resulted in 35-year-old Fairuz Nizam Husain, his wife Nova Safitri Azhari, 27, and their daughter Nur Firuza Annisa being thrown out of their Mitsubishi Pajero Sport four-wheel drive vehicle.

Race Tech: Racing technology right from the 3D printer: BMW makes water pump wheel for DTM racecars

The usage of 3D printing for plastics and nowadays alloys has now progressed via leaps and bounds. Even in the field of motorsports manufacturers are toying around with 3D printing. BMW has embraced this method in their DTM and GT3 cars with a 3D printed aluminium ally water pump wheel.There are already 500 water pump wheels in DTM and Z4 GT3 in use and according to BMW, worked without a hitch in races.

Industry News: SHELL HELIX ULTRA CELEBRATES SUCCESS WITH TRADE PARTNERS

Ms Cheong Chuu Yng, 26, from Perak was the big winner of the night and drove home the BMW.  She received the keys to the new car from Shell Lubricants General Manager, Mr Leslie Ng

Shell Lubricants Malaysia held an event to celebrate a successful 2014 with more than 700 business partners. The event also gave recognition to 12 mechanics from Helix Branded Workshops around the country. One of the guests wins a BMW 320i, the grand lucky draw prize in the event. The prize car marks the recent global partnership between Shell and BMW. 

200 unit limited run Volkswagen Beetle Bug Edition launched in Malaysia

Volkswagen Malaysia officially launches Volkswagen Beetle Bug Edition. The car is the 1.2TSI Sport version with Volkswagen Bug side sill, side decals, body stripes and a Bug logo. It costs RM146,888, up by RM6,000 for the normal Sport version. Only 200 units of this Bug will be offered starting May 2015. It will be available in five colours - Graciosa Brown, Deep Black, Pure White, Saturn Yellow and Tornado Red)

Lotus confirms Crossover vehicle which will be built in China

2006 APX Concept car

Lotus recently confirmed plans to build a Crossover vehicle according to an interview between Autocar and Lotus CEO Jean-Marc Gales. The vehicle should be part of the recent arrangement with Goldstar Heavy Industrial, China to build market and sell Lotus vehicles in China.

The crossover or SUV is scheduled to be produced in 2019 and will initially remain a China only model. But there would always be a chance that it would be made for other regions. The market in China loves crossover vehicles and being the largest market in the world, could be the key to Lotus' long term survival. It would be beneficial for Proton too as Proton owns Lotus. Dividends and bonuses.

Spotted for sale: Mercedes Benz 190E Evolution II Replica - The price asked? A whopping RM50K

You're not going to see this for sale very often. This is a replica of the 1990 Mercedes Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II. Asking price is an extremely high RM50,000 for something which is not an original. Simple tell-tales would be the fact that the original was only made in left-hand drive. The fact that there were only 502 made by Mercedes Benz means that if it were a real thing it would also cost in excess of USD$100,000 these days. I actually wrote about the original here some days back in fact.

Trucking News: Iveco launches its range of vehicles in Malaysia

(L-R) Iveco GM Koray Kursunoglu, Iveco Regional MD Michele Lombardi, Federal Auto MD Cheng Seng Fook and Iveco Biz Mngr Ken Choy with the Stralis prime mover

Iveco, one of the world leaders in road transportation, enters the fast-growing truck market in Malaysia in partnership with exclusive distributor Federal Auto Holdings Berhad. Today, it has introduced a full range of vehicles and services that provide complete solutions for the commercial vehicles industry. 

At the press conference earlier today, they officially presented to the Malaysian market the Iveco Stralis and Iveco 682 heavy commercial vehicles, the Iveco Trakker off-road truck, the Iveco Eurocargo medium truck and also the New Daily light commercial vehicle. These models will be on display to the public at the Malaysia International Bus, Truck & Components Expo, which will be held in Kuala Lumpur on 14-16 May 2015.

DTM 2015 - BMW Motorsports are defending champions and some new rules and regulations for 2015

Munich (DE), 27th April 2015. Much will be new when BMW Motorsport kicks off the 2015 DTM season in Hockenheim (DE) this weekend. For the first time for 15 years, each event in the popular touring car series will feature two races with the same number of points up for grabs on Saturday (40 minutes) and Sunday (60 minutes). In total, 18 races await the BMW drivers and teams over the course of nine weekends.

Trucking News - Volvo Prime Movers still the preferred choice for Malaysian Railway's Multimodal Freight company

Mats Nilsson, Managing Director, Volvo Malaysia with YBhg. Dato’ Sr. Ahmad Zainuddin bin Jamaluddin, Director of Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd

Volvo Trucks recently delivered the final 14 units of the Volvo FM440 trucks from a total of 50 units to Multimodal Freight Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd.

The Nissan Cefiro A31 'Skyline' mod a.k.a the R-TERTIPU

Heavily modded - more R34 than A31 

I was perusing through some older photos and thought I'd like to discuss about a certain old Nissan that was, or still is quite popular with the car modding and drift scene - the Cefiro A31. This car was produced from 1988 to around 1994. It shared the same platform as the Nissan Skyline R32 and the lesser known Nissan Laurel. It shared its MacPherson strut front suspension with the S13 Silvia with the exception of the 4WD version which shares the same front and rear suspension as the R32 Skyline GT-R.

Sunday Car Porn: Abarth 850 TC and the even madder 1000 TCR

1000 TCR

They don't make 'em like they used to. A lot of people say that but in this case, it is very true. Car regulations and profit margins have stopped tuners and also manufacturers to come up with totally bonkers cars. Take for example this Abarth 1000 TCR from the mid 1960s. Totally bonkers.

Perodua Myvi Event scheduled for 24th May 2015

Myvi Nation event coming this 24th of May 2015. Perodua Myvi owners are encouraged to register and participate and stand a chance to win a special 10th Anniversary Edition of the Myvi. The event is scheduled at the Setia City Mally in Setia Alam, Selangor from 7.00am to 6.00pm. 

I suppose if you want to be a Myvi owner rubbing shoulders with thousands of other Myvi owners you could go. That's a lot of Myvi owners in one place. If i go I'll take another make or model and be a little different.

Peugeot RCZ will have no successor. A pity.

Car manufacturers are chasing the bottom-line these days. It is all about profits and staying in the black rather than in the red. This is obviously good business practise as who the heck goes into business to lose money. And because of this we have Mitsubishi deciding to soldier on with the Lancer for a good while longer and companies like Peugeot deciding to cut its current range of 26 cars to a slender 13. Cost cutting really rears its head here.

Proton Inspira production has ended. Buy them while you still can

A source mentioned to me that Proton had produced its last Inspira in early April. Yes folks, production of the rebadged ninth generation Mitsubishi Lancer has wrapped up. This was inevitable as I believe the original arrangement to rebadge and assemble the Lancer here in Malaysia has come to an end. I actually find it a pity as the Inspira offers fanstastic value for money.

I've already mentioned in a previous posting how good this car is for its price and I still think its a darn shame many of you aren't buying it over the smaller, slower, less comfy Toyota Vioses and Honda Cities out there. So much more car for you money.

Spotted for Sale: Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing - Own a 'Lotus' for RM65,000

"Like my new  Lotus?" asked Mr A

"What Lotus? Where?Where got Lotus? All I see is a Satria Neo lah." replied Mr B

Yup. This must have been the dialogue between the chap who bought that obscenely expensive Proton Satria Neo R3 Lotus Racing for RM115,000 in 2010. Even if you brag about the fact that you can afford to spend your money on a RM115,000 Satria Neo would never impress your friends. They'll just think you did not take your meds for the day. This was at a time when the Satria Neo CPS cost somewhere in the region of RM60,000.

The original online ad for the RM115,000 Proton Satria

Volkswagen's 'Polo Goes Zero' promotion for Uber Partners in Malaysia

This is something Malaysian Uber Partners (i.e Drivers) to upgrade (or you may never know, downgrade) their rides into the Volkswagen Polo 1.6 Hatch and Polo Sedan at zero percent (0%) intrest and zero (0) downpayment for a total of seven years via Volkswagen Malaysia's 'Polo Goes Zero' Campaign.

Test Drive: 2015 Volkswagen Beetle 1.2 TSI Sport "Bug" Edition - The little bug that could

Not many cars end up being icons. These cars have something inherently unique about them that they end up being revered after a period of time. Some gain such a reputation by their performance. Some by their style and some manage to do both.

On one end of the scale, there are those icons like the Porsche 911. A car renowned for its performance and also its styling. It has become one of the benchmarks for a performance car and its silhouette is immediately recognisable. There are also cars like most Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati. The mere whisper of their name sends motorheads weak in the knees. These are performance icons.

McLaren 540C unveiled

This folks, is the new entry level model in McLaren's lineup. By entry level you're still looking at prices from £126,000. Add local taxes and excise duty, well, if you have to ask.....

Of religon, the lifespan of certain cars, the oldest of them all and that the idle mind is the devil's workshop

Lada 2107 - still in production in Egypt to THIS VERY DAY!!!!

Somewhere in the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur a group of think that the faith of muslims will be threatened by the mere sight of a cross and a church in their area. Aside from the conspiracy theory that this is to divert attention from what ex-Prime Minister and car guy, Tun Mahathir's scathing attacks on the current Prime Minister (who to me seems oblivious to what the heck is actually going on in our country) it goes to show that there are people who sit around with nothing better to do than to complain about normal things that we see in Malaysia. 

We have mosques everywhere, so why isn't the faith of so many non-muslims affected? I think that these people have too much time on their hands. They actually need to have proper jobs and then a hobby...like racing cars on weekends. Take a look at Yours Truly over here. My kindergarten was behind the largest church in Taiping. I went to two different La Salle schools - St. George's Institution in Taiping and St. John's Institution in Kuala Lumpur. I am still who I am and not suddenly Padre Rig from Nacho Libre.

The 'truth' in advertising

If car companies marketed their products truthfully, it would be like some of the ads below. You can click here to go to sniff petrol's archive of Not Advertisements.

Holy smoking cigars! RM219K for a 3cylinder 1.5liter BMW?

The BMW 218i Active Tourer is on sale at RM219,000. Okay. RM219,000 for a BMW. That's nothing to shout about. RM219,000 for a three cylinder 1.5liter BMW. Now we start shaking heads and dropping our jaw a little. Then you can add RM30,000 for some luxury options in a car that is supposedly a luxury car already.

But what does it put on the table that is different from a BMW 316i which is cheaper at RM209,000. A higher roofline, a rear hatch instead of a boot and 100cc less. It still carries five as it isn't the full seven seater variant. And it's a 2 series which by BMW hierarchy sits below the 316i.

Sunday Car Porn: Happy 25th Anniversary to the Mercedes Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evolution II

Last month marked the 25th anniversary of the totally mad and outrageous Mercedes Benz 190E 2.5-16 Evo II. This model, made during an era where manufacturers had to homologate or put into production what ever bits of souped up parts that they actually needed to use for racing in their road cars.