Some Thoughts About Really Small Cars

I had an epiphany recently. Then again I always have one, two....or three hundred or so epiphanies every few days. This is as I think alot....if I didn't, nothing would be written in here.It's pretty obvious isn't it.

Sometimes you read about small cars with supposedly usable rear seats.  But when you actually sit inside one you find that there is no real usable space. Click here to read more about it.

Genting at Sentosa or Genting at the Highlands? A motorhead's answer.

This was something I wrote for myautoblog.org. Singaporeans pay SG$100 before they can start gambling at Resorts World Sentosa (we can get in there and start losing money for free). So I have suggested that they come over to the Highlands and hit the twisties (the Jalan Gombak-old Bentong Road as an example) before they lose more of their money at the tables.

Click here to read about it.

The Recent Malaysian Football Team Cup Win, a Naza Citra Review ....sort of....

And so the Malaysian football (soccer) team wins something and make benefit glorious nation of Malaysia. In non-Borat English, it means we got a public holiday by them winning the AFF Suzuki Cup. Every working individual benefited from this glorious victory. It may not have been winning the World Cup, but it was close. I remember coming home from dinner to the roars and cheers of hundreds all over the apartment complex watching Malaysia play against Indonesia. Of course, being an avid non-footballer but a person that keeps track of local events I knew that the Malaysian football team instead of the Malaysian Badminton Team playing that night.

Hearing hundreds of people at the mamak upfront, the tomyam shop at the side and people in their individual apartment units shouting, cheering and watching the game made me realize that football has actually brought a whole nation together. Malaysians decided to band together in front of their plasma, LCD, LED, tube TV or projector screens to cheer on the national team on towards a 2-1 loss, of which we won the champiohship on aggregate.

It also occurred to me that supporting a Malaysian team has benefits. Like Borat on his mission to actually marry Pamela Anderson instead of actually "makebenefit glorious nation of Khazakstan", supporting Malaysian football has bigger ramifications and benefits to the Malaysian population as a whole.

You see,Malaysian football fans should bloody stop supporting Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea, Barcelona, FC Porto and start supporting  local flavour. As I remember stating sometime back (go look through my earlier posting on football) there is no actual benefit in supporting the teams mentioned above. I mean, you don't even buy tickets to watch them play football. You can't basically since you're in Malaysia and not in Old Trafford. A ticket would also mean a flight ticket and hotel accomodation which isn't actually cheap for the average Malaysian supporter.

The only person that benefits from your watching football on telly is the mamak stall owner (if you don't have pay-TV as you need to at least buy a mug of teh tarik) and the person who owns ASTRO as you have to pay for the transmission. The only other person that benefits is the company that prints the team t-shirts, jerseys, caps and so forth of which I can bet you that most of this apparel comes from China. So your staunch support of certain international football teams allow some factory owner in China to buy his Ferrari (since China is one of the most lucrative new markets for Ferrari).

Imagine this, our footballers can't even buy a brand new Honda Civic 2.0 while the Beckhams and Rooneys run around in Bentleys and Lamborghinis. If everyone interested in football really start supporting Malaysian football and the Malaysian football association as well as each team in the Malaysian League start thinking strategically off the pitch we could see massive commercial value in them. The Selangor team seems to have some commercial value that could, and should be milked properly.

I mean, all of the support to English Premier League teams have made them incredibly rich. Too rich for their own good. If you look at things from an economic point of view, supporting a local football team would actually allow Malaysians in general to benefit from it. Imagine if there were two or three teams with the proportions of AC Milan, Real Madrid or Chelsea all due to local conglomerates pumping in advertising and sponsorship, TV coverage, local supporters packing out the stadiums making the stadium upkeep profitable. The burger sellers at the stadiums make more money, the footballers get a large fat salary and with the big fat salaries the burger sellers as well as the footballers get to wine and dine in finer places. Hotels and restaurants get more customers enabling their staff to get paid better too. Car salesmen get to sell Bentleys and Maseratis and earn a fat commission instead of car salesmen in say, Manchester. Everyone actually wins.

Of course, you may then argue that the standard of Malaysian football on the evolutionary scale is only slightly above a sea urchin but if you intend to actually help the Malaysian economy and therefore yourself, you should start burning that Bayern Munich jersey so that you can get some official local team merchandise (local teams should start having OFFICIAL stuff regardless of low demand for the long run). So if you're into football, start being into local football instead of supporting teams thousands of miles away. In short, supporting local football would not only give us more public holidays. Get it?

And on the car front, I recently drove a local family favourite, a two and a half year old Naza Citra (a.k.a updated 1st Generation Kia Carens). It did everything decent and the only thing that deserves comment is that when I drove it I adjusted the seat like I do in every car. Arms slightly bent, seatback upright and legs nicely spaced. My friend who owns it looked at me, shook his head and said "It's a F***in' MPV for God'ssake!".

He drives it in a relaxed, seat slightly reclined manner. I suppose I take driving a little too seriously. He knows I do as a grin broke out after he said what he said above. And that is all I have to say about that.

Naza Citra Engine	2.0 L
Transmission(s)	4-speed automatic
Wheelbase	2,570 mm (101 in)
Length	4,490 mm (177 in)
Width	1,750 mm (69 in)
Height Performance	1,610 mm (63 in) It's a MPV...who cares

2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302: Two Ignition Keys Too Many

The 2011 Boss Mustang is a car we won't see here in Malaysia (UNLESS, some crazy person buys one even though its left hand drive). There could be someone as a friend of mine recently sent me a photo of a Cobra GT500 in its full left hand drive glory at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

The reason I wrote about it is that the car has something silly called a 'TRACKEY'. It is basically another key that you'd use to unleash more throttle response, feel to the steering and some power I suppose but I find it more related to marketing crap.

Read the article which has been posted on carthrottle, here.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS AND A MERRY NEW YEAR...AND ER, CHRISTMAS

Happy Holidays Everyone. It has been a memorable 2010. Lots of nice cars driven, tested and lots of cars criticized as well as lots of theories and ideas exchanged. I look forward to another fabulous year ahead and I leave you with the picture of yours truly on the North-South Highway - Not trying one bit to keep up with the fabulously sounding Triumph Stag up front as the old gal from the mid 1950s that I happened to be driving  was already suffering a tad bit at highway speeds.

Drive save people, and don't go buying crappy MPVs or Toyota Avanzas especially or become like some Mitsubishi Lancer forumers and defend the Avanza as if the car (and its owners) are like Manna from heaven/ a miracle from God/ magic/something close to Ferrari/ angelic/fantabulous or something as 'good' as a Proton Inspira original version in the first place.

I do appreciate the guy who posted it there though. Thank you and may you have a good year ahead too!

Third World Toyota Called the Etios

As the Toyota Vios gets more and more upmarket, a void opens up. If you remember, the Vios started life as the Soluna, a 'world' car for developing nations. This became the 1st generation Vios and then the current 2nd generation Vios. Notice that the car has gotten steadily upmarket and now, the car is supposedly too pricey for markets like India and Thailand, where Toyota have spotted a gap for a basic family sedan.

Wasn't the Soluna/Vios a base sedan in the first place? Now they had to create the Etios. What Etios means is a mystery that only Toyota knows...Short for ambETIOS? I suppose being Japanese means they cannot spell properly. But what does Vios stand for? Short for obVIOS? Another mis-spelt word?
Much like BMW. By making the 3 series larger and larger and larger. They had to put a 1 series there. And now, we're hearing of them coming up with a car that is smaller than the 1 series.

This is never ending. And if you want to read more on the Etios, click here.

More on KLIMS 2010

Yes. My write up on KLIMS 2010 has not ended.

Click here to read about what I think of the concept cars featured at KLIMS

AND

Click here for the report and more pictures of KLIMS overs at SGCARMART.COM.

I have been a busy boy haven't I?

KLIMS 2010: KIA & Hyundai

The Koreans brought out some heavy hitters. Hyundai brought their new Sonata and their newer Avante sedan for us to preview. Not a bad effort but I prefer Kia's design philosophy. Getting that guy from Audi is a coup for Kia. Take a look at the new Optima and the new Cadenza and you can see what I mean. Of course, I'd rather own something else. But if I saw someone driving a new Optima or a Forte, I would never criticize their choice of car.

Click HERE to read more about it at myautoblog.org .

KLIMS 2010: MyAutoBlog articles

.....two articles on KLIMS 2010 posted over at myautoblog.org.

• click HERE for some pics on the show girls - some seem to be from Thailand or even further up North. They understand Sawadeekap and Mandarin better than Malay or English. Hmmmm....

• click HERE for a write up on Proton - The manufacturer threw in everything but the kitchen sink...and that could be at the VIP Hospitality area too. Oh yes..I get to take a picture with Alister McRae.

KL INTERNATIONAL MOTOR SHOW GETS COVERED.....

......And I haven't even begun to write on the previous article yet! It has really been a fantastic few weeks for me....Anyway, do head over to Car Throttle as they have posted my coverage on the matter. Click HERE to head towards it.

I Have Been Absolutely Busy Over The Past Weekend..........

Hello chaps! It has been a stormin' weekend for me. In so many ways.....including driving this....

 ..... for about 200km in the Malaysian sun and unfortunately, the Malaysian rain. Expect a write up soon.....as soon as I can!

Oh yes...I also managed to have a short drive in this....

Its Harry Potter Time Again, The Ford Anglia, The VW Kombi, The Morris Minor 1000 and the Perodua Myvi?

It's that time of the year again. Another Harry Potter movie for us to consume. Another Harry Potter movie for kids from age 0 to 99 to get all excited about. Another Harry Potter movie for the producers, director, stars and JK Rowling to rake hundreds of millions. Another Harry Potter movie to finish off the series.

I have posted once before about good ol', or young, Harry. To me, this chap is the ultimate nerd hero. He wears glasses. He's pretty short. He's all goody two shoes. He still lives with an uncle and aunt that hates him yet does not blast them to oblivion (or to someplace like the Bermuda Triangle) with this magic wand. He has a friend that is equally nerdy, one who has a dad that drives of all things, a Ford Anglia. He has not bonked Hermione after so many sequels even though he does have the hots for her (why Hermione seems to like nerdy ol' Harry is another thing altogether and would need some analyzing). He is also the chap that, with his friends, can outwit all the adults with years (some with centuries or eons) of experience.

The Honda CRZ and One With Totally Radical Mods

I nearly threw up the tea I was having when this photo came up into my laptop. A CRZ with a turbo as big as its engine. And yes, it is still a hybrid. So it still supposedly saves the ozone layer, rain forests, tuna, whales and so on. Amazing. I promptly noted that the car is also Japan's Car of the Year, beating out the new VW Polo. This was of course the highest ranking non-Japanese car in the event, but I suppose, the CRZ had more innovation than the Polo (and that it is Japanese not German).

Click here to go read about this. Posted on Myautoblog.org, written by yours truly.

Khan & Anderson Do Some Audis....Some News Over At MyAutoblog.org

Project Khan......

 click here to read what I think about a company famous for tuned Ranger Rovers.

 Anderson.........

And click here if you want to read on the extremely slight differences on how to spot a R8 V10 from a V8...It's all down to the rims basically.

Both writtin by yours truly and posted on MyAutoblog.org. Oh, and in case you're wondering why the R8's picture is much larger than the Q7 the answer is that it looks a whole lot better than any modified SUV.

More Pictures of the Proton Inspira Over At MyAutoblog.Org

Follow this link to see a photo of the meter cluster, door panel and a few more exterior shots for the Proton Inspira. IF you're interested that is.

Proton Has Recently Launched The Inspira....So How Does The Original Drive? A Look At The Lancer GT

I did an article way back in 2007 on the Mitsubishi Lancer GT when it was launched. I think it would make a compelling read to those who want to know more about the original version of the Inspira. Of course, the facelifted version of the Lancer GT with that chrome strip around the wide-mouthed grille has some better plastic than this first batch model. I really felt the plastic in this 2008 model was really, really crappy.

We Have A New Formula 1 Driver's Champion

Sebastian Vettel. F1 World Chmpion. Who would have thought that would happen. After quite an impressive start and a lot of mistakes (like some shunts and funny overtaking moves) mid-season this junior driver seems to have gotten the best of double world champion Alonso who started this race 15points ahead of Vettel.

And that's all there is to know about this year's driver's championship.

Skoda Celebrates IRC Championship Win With The Fabia RS Special Edition

I somehow wish VW would let themselves go crazy on car design sometimes. The Skoda Fabia RS it a VW Polo 1.4TSI that looks like a Suzuki Swift with a chrome grille and if it had wide arches like the IRC Rally Car, it'll be super. Click here for some details on the Europe only special edition.

Lotus’ New Lineup & Why I Feel Shortchanged

I wrote this editorial piece for CarThrottle.com recently on Lotus. News from Autocar said that Lotus is planning to build only the Esprit after previewing 5 cars at the Paris Motor Show recently. I feel slightly shortchanged as it's more about building hype than actually building cars. Not to mention the fact that the Lotus Esprit concept isn't that light in the first place even if they claim it is. Click here to read about it.

First Impressions: Proton Inspira at its Official Launch and the Peugeot 207 Sedan

Since today was the official launch of the Proton Inspira, I decided to head over to the Proton Showroom at Jalan Ampang to get a first look at the car. 

I find it reasonably priced: 

• Proton Inspira 1.8 M/T – RM78,999
• Proton Inspira 1.8 CVT – RM84,999
• Proton Inspira 2.0 CVT – RM91,999

It is basically a Mitsubishi Lancer with a happier looking front end. The Lancer frowns, like someone just recovering from constipation. The Inspira has a happier front end, with its upturned grille and lighter disposition. Of course, by giving the Inspira new bumpers front (with a different grille) and rear, a Proton badged steering wheel and engine cover as well as different rims. Even the luxury spec 2.0CVT comes with Nappa leather seats - like the Lancer GT sold locally. 

The Inspira on display is so much more Mitsubishi than Proton from what I can see. The hard plastic you feel throughout the dashboard is the same as the one in the Lancer. The feel of the plastics are similar. It is only the middle part of the steering wheel that differs from the Mitsu as it has a Proton logo embossed on it. The pedal shifts behind the wheel in the 2.0 CVT version feels similar. I only think the feel of the front door pulls are slightly better than on the original Lancer GT launched 2 years ago. It looks like Mitsubishi has improved the quality of the Lancer a tad bit and it shows in the Inspira. And that's about it. Proton has only conducted some solid badge engineering here. Much like what Perodua is doing with their cars. 

This is nothing too serious as everyone seems to be doing it throughout the world. It seems that the only real difference between the way this car and its Lancer original is the suspension. The settings Proton would have used to begin with would have come from the Lancer 2.0GLS or EX version and not the stiffly sprung GT. The good thing about not following in the Lancer GT's footsteps is that it rides too harshly for Malaysian roads. You can do grip and handling without setting up the car too firmly as some cars have shown (Proton's own Persona, Satria Neo as well as the Swift Sport are good examples). The Lancer 2.0GLS , with its smaller anti roll bars, smaller wheels, smaller diameter disc brakes and 16inch rims is a better riding car.  I have been a passenger in one and it is more suited to our road. If it rides better than the GLS I am glad. 

The 2.0CVT is called the 2.0P and the 1.8manual the 1.8E. The exterior differs in that the 2.0 comes with a body kit that includes a deeper front lip, side skirts and a skirts at each side of the rear bumper (which I can barely tell at a glance). The 1.8E comes sans bodykit (the silver car above). So how does the manual and clutch feel like? Very light and easy from the looks of it. It wouldn't be a pain to drive in traffic and the gearshift isn't notchy too. However, the gear knob is just hard plastic. I'd get rid of it and fix one of those MOMO ones if I bought one.

(note the manual gear knob - imagine that, a reasonably priced 1.8liter car with manual transmission sold in Malaysia!)

The engines are pure Mitsubishi. The 2.0 runs the more familiar 4B11 engine that powers the Lancer GT we see on our roads. The 1.8 is its baby brother. Everything should sound the same including that slightly tinny (and pathetic) sounding exhaust note of the Lancer.

Would I buy the darn thing? I would if I was looking for a decent family sedan. Right now you get more Mitsubishi parts on the car as it is still the first round of Inspiras. I looked at the radiator and found the words 'CALSONIC KANSEI Made in Japan' on the radiator. I peered into the engine bay deeper and noticed that the brake master pump still wore the Mitsubishi Three Pointed Diamond logo. Why waste your money on a Mitsubishi when you can buy this cheaper? 

In fact, I 'd now have to say that for around RM80k-90K. This is a better buy than a Vios, City and the Latio as these are smaller in size and have lesser technology built into them. All the cars mentioned have beam axles for crying out loud. The Inspira is a whole class bigger and has multi-link suspension and a 1.8liter and 2.0liter options. If you compared it with the Kia Forte it would be a close call as both are of the same price and size category (although the Lancer is actually even bigger).

But if you compared it to the newly launched Peugeot 207 Sedan, the Inspira wins by a million, trillion, zillion miles. The 207 Sedan isn't a 207. It is a 206 with a boot and a 207 front end grafted to it. It was made specially for the growing Chinese, Iran and  poor developing nations.

 For its price of RM73K or thereabouts, it is horrid. The interior is horrid (made of hard plastic that looks so bad that even a Proton Saga's interior is classy). The driving position is horrid. The overall shape is horrid (It's worse than the previous generation Honda City as it has a tall ride height making it look even more horrid in real life - press pictures show its best - somewhat like the hippo horrid 3008). The handling must also be horrid as I looked at the promotional video and it was bobbing its tail and nose all the way through a corner like someone stepping out from the pub after too many Jack Daniels - it looked utterly awful. I would get car sick if I was a passenger in that 207. How they managed to show a promo video like this and expect people to think that that bobbing and swaying equals to sublime handling is beyond me. The car is just horrible....... and after looking through it, sitting in it and taking a final glance at it I don't even have the appetite to test drive one. How can anyone would want to buy this car at RM73,000 remains a mystery. 

Is Malaysia a third world dumping ground for automobiles? Just because its a Peugeot doesn't mean you should go out and buy one. So if you're looking at a decent family sedan that's priced below RM100K, look at the Inspira. Ignore all those comments about badge engineering as folks, this is Malaysia. This is the best deal you can get at the moment. Your complaints about AFTA, high vehicle prices and what nots will not be listened too. You want a decent drive? Drive the Inspira and make it into an Inspiralution, as you have no choice. The other new car called the 207 sedan is actually a fate worse than getting stuck in the middle of a mine field while being blindfolded.