Electric Cars by Chedet

Former Prime Minister of Malaysia Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad blogs these days under the pseudonym Chedet. He is advisor to Proton, the national car company he initiated when he was Premier. He has some interesting things to say about electric cars and the turmoil that is going on in the Australia motor industry. As some of you are aware, Ford will cease production in a couple of years time over there and so will Holden. Toyota is also mulling the same thing. And yes, no one is talking about electric cars over there. It's just dollars and cents and electric cars are indeed a far fetched dream for most of us.

Read the article over there by clicking on the link here.

Volvo Group's UD Trucks delivers world's first Quester units designed for growth markets in Asia

UD Trucks on the 16th of December 2013 delivered the first units of Quester, its all-new heavy-duty truck range, designed specifically for growth markets in Asia and the rest of the world, including Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Regarded as an industry game-changer, the Quester is designed, priced and equipped with features that cater to a multitude of different industries, from distribution to long-haul transportation, mining to construction.

2014 Mercedes Benz W205 C-class

Not going to add anything more than that it is bigger than the earlier W204 and like previous C-classes, apes the current S-class. Mercedes Benz has actually moved the goalposts (larger interior, exterior, materials used, construction, equipment etc) for the compact executive sedan category with this car in my opinion.

Sime Darby Motors lets go of Alfa Romeo in Malaysia

Tough. I remember reading sometime in 2006 that Sime Darby were serious in making Alfa Romeo work in Malaysia. They gave out pretty good warranties for the cars but it seems they have given up - voluntarily relinquishing their distributorship of Alfa Romeo in Malaysia.

Sometimes large conglomerates get over-confident, claiming that they can do wonders. Well, Alfa Romeo is an enigma all by itself and this year Alfa Romeo Malaysia managed a dozen or so cars. Last year they managed slightly below forty cars. This is quite a sad end to Sime Darby's venture with Alfa Romeo. But somehow this end is predictable.

 I mean how the heck can you try sell a premium Italian brand from one miserable showroom and service center in of all places, Jalan Ipoh, Kuala Lumpur? Everyone who sells premium cars is in Petaling Jaya, one should have stayed in Petaling Jaya instead of Jalan Ipoh. You only buy floor tiles and sanitary ware in Jalan Ipoh. How can you sell cars if you're not where the crowd who buys Alfa is? Maybe the only person that could sell Alfa Romeo in Malaysia was Ron Lim, the chap who used to run the previous Alfa Romeo distribution here who now runs Lamborghini Malaysia.

Anyway, press release from Sime Darby Motors after the jump.

Spotted for Sale: Butchered to heck 1969 W108 Mercedes S-class

I sometimes wonder what the heck were they thinking when people start projects like this one pictured herein. 

They take a car that already has some classic status and rarity, throw away the original engine, plonk in a 1JZ ('tiwe' should mean twin turbo) without a proper ECU, which means that the car cannot run or even start but they give you a new 'betty' - battery. The logic amazes me.

2014 BMW M3 AND M4 PHOTOS LEAKED

424bhp and over 500Nm in torque from a 3.0liter turbocharged straight-six engine (downsized from the previous generation M3). 0-100km/h in under 4.0seconds (according to the latest news) onwards to the 250km/h limiter. These are the first leaked photos of BMW's latest M3. It looks good with the different front and rear bumpers, outlet vents at the front fenders and that bonnet hump. This is internally codenamed as the F80

They've done it - New Proton Perdana Limousine AKA Honda Accord stretch

The new Proton Perdana limousine is out. It is basically a stretched previous generation (Eighth) Generation Honda Accord for the government. A Honda-Proton joint venture (or in simpler terms, rebadged engineering - with Proton engineering especially for this limo version). Normal length variants are to follow.

Royal Malaysia Police Land Rover Defender at work

This is a great photograph, taken from a  Facebook page, of an icon operated by the Royal Malaysian Police (Polis DiRaja Malaysia - PDRM). Hard at work during the recent floods in the East Coast. This photograph shows why we all love the Land Rover Defender. We hope that its future replacement would be as useful and as iconic as this one. 

At this moment we have our doubts. I mean, just look at it. The Land Rover Defender.

The reason why Volvo cars aren't selling here in Malaysia (and the rest of the world) these days.

Anyone know anybody who recently bought a brand  new Volvo? Nope? Neither have I. Why is it? The cars are well designed. The exterior looks pretty good and the interior gets some pretty nifty touches like the floating dashboard and unique switchgear. Everything feels well built but no one seems to be actually warming up to the Swedish brand here in Malaysia.

It used to be otherwise. In the 1980s and 1990s you see people driving Volvos everywhere. They were even the choice for Government officials and companies like using them for company cars. In those days Volvos were priced somewhere like where Volkswagen cars are priced these days, slightly lower than Mercedes Benz, BMW and Audi. Companies like giving the Volvo 240 or the 760 series as a car that sits between the higher priced Mercedes w124 200E and 230E cars. Somehow it showed you your place in the company's hierarchy and Volvos sold a fair bit then.

Suzuki Kizashi may not be directly replaced when the time comes - A Shame as we've driven it and it's quite nice.

According to a report by drive.com.au the Suzuki Kizashi is unlikely to have a replacement in the future. It is likely to soldier on for a while longer and may fade out into the annals of automotive history. The reason is that reception to this mid-sized car has been pretty cold. In the report, the MD for Suzuki Australia said that even at launch, the Kizashi was compromised by the American financial crisis in 2009.

With American once Suzuki's largest market being wiped out (Suzuki America declared bankrupty in 2012), sales for this (almost) large sedan dwindled as even in markets like Australia and the UK it was overpriced and underspecced compared to its rivals like the Honda Accord and the Mazda 6. The Suzuki Kizashi is also a tad undersized if compared to the current crop of Japanese mid-sized / full sized sedans. If you compare its size it is closer to cars like the seventh generation Honda Accord (2003-2007) instead of the larger eighth and ninth generation Accords that we're familiar with. You add competition like the huge Toyota Camry and Nissan Teana to the picture and you can see why Suzuki isn't really selling any Kizashis even here in Malaysia. But we've driven it and we like how it drives as well as how it looks. The car looks squat with a wheel at each corner. Very athletic looking and taut.

Three Lamborghini Supercars collide and burn in Malaysia. There is a lesson here to learn you know.

This morning saw three Singaporean registered Lamborghini supercars bite the dust on the North-South Highway here in Malaysia. According to reports all drivers and passengers were unhurt with the exception of their wallets and egos. The drivers of these cars will be forever known to their friends, families, enemies and acquaintances as the Three Stooges who crashed their expensive cars into one another. And Singapore is a small island, word would get around. An ultimate ego-buster right?

According to reports the first car lost control, hit the road divider and the two other Lamborghinis collided into it. Something like a Keystone cops chase scene except this was basically done by people who somehow forgot that driving too closely at higher than normal speeds could do this to them. So if you happen to drive or own superfast cars, do drive safely, smartly and carefully.

And that's all I have to say about it.

photo: thestar.com.my

Updates to the site and we welcome the Mercedes 190e 2.3 8v as part of our fleet.

If you noticed we've now put an 'Our Cars' link as well as a link to our Facebook site so that you may interact with us on that social network. 

The interesting thing is that genuine petrolhead and motoring enthusiast Adlis K who now owns the modern classic Mercedes Benz 190e 2.3 8v with the Cossie bodykit and 190e EVO2 wheels has decided to join forces and become a contributor.

We will be featuring parts of the car's refurbishment under his hands in the coming months. Or Years. It all depends on how long he decides to keep the car. This fella is a serial car buyer, and with that comes serial car seller. So you never know. But do stay tuned folks. Things are picking up in here.

Also to come are reviews of the Suzy Alto 1.0, a few longer writeups that we have planned and other stuff. We can't exactly say as we like doing things at the spur of the moment. It makes life interesting doesn't it?

This is the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Thank God it's not on sale here.

We can thank our lucky stars that there isn't an official Jeep distributor here in Malaysia. The 2014 Jeep Cherokee has a face only a person high on something would love. Daytime driving lights with indicators on top, headlights in the middle and fog lights below. And that funny grille that is totally at odds with the lower grille. What type of drugs was the designer on? This is apparent if you take a look at it full frontal.

 

Photos. From the web.

Sunday Car Porn - The 2013 Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring

As per Alfa Romeo:
"The backbone of the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring is the chassis of the Alfa Romeo 8C Competizione, selected for its light, rigid structure, perfect as the basis for redesigning a high-performance car. In detail, the architecture features a mid-front engine, transaxle gearbox and rear-wheel drive: this layout offers an optimal 49–51% load distribution between the front and rear ends. It features double-wishbone suspension, with forged aluminium uprights and supports and additional strut at the rear for toe-in control.

The compact, light engine is a 450 HP, 4.7-litre V8 with 480 Nm of maximum torque. The gearbox is electrically operated with 6 speeds and paddle control, while the limited-slip differential and self-ventilating brakes are marked by their generous dimensions. With this equipment, the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante by Touring accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 4.2 seconds and reaches 290 km/h."

It's an Alfa Romeo. Enuff' Said.

Two Final Cars - The Lamborghini Gallardo and the Mini Mk2

Recently Lamborghini produced its final Lamborghini Gallardo. The car, a Rosso Mars coloured Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Spyder Performante rolled off the production line ending the production for this Italian supercar. The Gallardo was first introduced in 2003 and it has been ten years in production with a total production figure of over 14,000 units of the car in various guises.

The Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost at KLIMS'13 - This isn't the actual Fiesta we'd be getting.

The Ford Fiesta that wad displayed at the recent KL motor show is not the actual car we Malaysians will be getting. And this is a good thing. Surprised? Those that have been taking extra attention would know what I'm harping on about.

Citroen DS3 to be launched early 2014 in Malaysia

Citroen will be launching the DS3 by the first quarter of 2014 here in Malaysia. The Citroen DS3 is a premium 3 door supermini sized hatchback that was officially launched in January 2010. It has taken this long to arrive in Malaysia as during 2010-2011 the brand was technically in limbo here in Malaysia with Naza Euro Motors appointed as Citroen's local distributor, bringing both PSA group brands under one roof (the other being Peugeot).

Nissan Almera NISMO Package - Why I suggest you should save your money instead.

Oooo....check out the photo...three men standing under a sign that shows 'male'

Currently the best selling non-national car in the market simply because it is fresh and new (before the launch of the all-new Vios. Nissan has a NISMO package for the car and you can buy it together with the Almera or separately. In short you can upgrade any Almera that had been purchased prior to the launch of the Nissan Almera NISMO packages.

All-New 4th Generation Honda City launched over in India. Gee.... didn't we just have a motorshow for Honda to launch something like this?

Honda has just launched the 4th Generation Honda City in India and the Kuala Lumpur International Motor Show 2013 has just finished. What does this tell you? Whilst we are important enough to get the all-new Honda Odyssey two weeks after its Japan launch we aren't important enough to launch Honda's B-segment car. But then again, what's a high tax, price controlled market like Malaysia compared to a market with a billion people like India? Pretty obvious isn't it.

Subaru keeps hoodwinking us all.

Take a look at the slightly overexposed photo of a Legacy and an Australian spec Toyota Camry 2.5 Atisse above. Try to guess which is the Scooby and which is the ultimate uncle-mobile before reading the next paragraph below.