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.

Short Test Drive: Proton Iriz 1.3MT Executive

.....

Proton has just launched its latest compact car and it is called the Iriz. The name, derived from the flower Iris but with a 'Z' is Proton's latest foray into the compact hatchback market. Prior to this we had the Savvy and before that, we were served the Tiara. Both the Savvy and Tiara were hard hit with criticism and in my opinion, were less than average creations. I wouldn't have bought them too. So is the Proton Iriz a compact hatch that any of us would want to buy or let alone drive? Well, I had a go in the Proton Iriz 1.3 Executive Manual and I think that it is better than any Savvy or Tiara out there. But is it better than its biggest competitor here in Malaysia? The Perodua Myvi?

To answer that question you'd have to start with the Proton Iriz 1.3 specs in direct comparison with a Perodua Myvi 1.3 (the 1.6 Iriz has the same dimensions if you are wondering but I am not touching on that variant here). The Proton Iriz  is longer at  3,905mm (3,690mm for the Myvi), wider at 1,720mm (Myvi: 1,665mm) and is 1,550mm tall (1,545 for Myvi). The Proton Iriz has a longer wheelbase at 2,555mm (Myvi 2,440mm.) The 1.3 litre Iriz's engine, a supposedly new VVT based engine has 95 PS and 120 Nm of torque at 4,000 rpm, (Myvi 1.3 litre has about the same horses if you believe Perodua's statement that the Electric Power Steering brings 10hp back to the 86hp engine - 96hp  and 117Nm torque at 4,400 rpm). 

Trucking news: Volvo Trucks Drives Malaysia’s Progress with Launch of the All-new Volvo FM and FMX

Volvo Trucks Drives Malaysia’s Progress with Launch of the All-new Volvo FM and FMX

Launch event also marks a truck handover ceremony to 1st Malaysian customer to receive this new range – FELDA Transport


KUALA LUMPUR, 25 September 2014 – Volvo Trucks Malaysia today proudly unveils its latest cutting-edge truck range to the Malaysian market – the all new Volvo FM and Volvo FMX. Launched in conjunction with the ASEAN Logistics and Transport Show 2014, the new trucks are poised to become the future generation of haulers set to contribute to the nation’s growing economy.

(L to R - His Excellency Mr. Bengt Carlsson, Ambassador of Sweden to Malaysia; Mr. Mats Nilsson, MD of Volvo Trucks Malaysia and Mr. Wan Mohd Zain  Mohd Ismail, CEO FELDA Transport with the Volvo FM)

“Malaysia as a key Asian market is seeing exponential growth in construction, transportation and logistics sector and we are certain that our new truck range addresses the demand for total transportation solutions. The introduction of our new truck range goes to show that we are committed to our customers and we are here to stay, grow and contribute,” said Mats Nilsson, Managing Director of Volvo Malaysia.

Short Test Drive: Perodua Axia Advance Automatic - Viva Replacement with so much more value for the Ringgit

I have been busy with a whole lot of things these past few weeks. My family affairs, work and other pet peeves have taken some precedent over writing. I managed to take time in between these various activities to look at new car launches and test drives though. On the higher end of things, I spent some time poking about in the interior of a Mercedes Benz S400 Hybrid and it is everything a Chairman, a CEO or even a Towkay would want in a car. Its interior is so darn impressive that it would give any Bentley a run for its money in terms of ambiance as well as tactility. 

News: VW spare parts discounts to those in their 6th year of ownership

A press release from Volkswagen Malaysia states that they will be giving their long term customers discounts on clutch replacements which should include DSG clutch replacements too. Note that DSG means a dual clutch gearbox and they require clutch changes eventually (aside from what ever complaints we may have heard over time). Even the reliable VW Golf GTI Mk5, which does not suffer much problems at all would need clutch changes eventually - Yes, very reliable as I know a chap who has one and has over 160,000km on it. Oh. The Golf Mk6 would need it too. Its dry clutch DSG system needs a little more TLC than a wet clutch DSG.

PRESS RELEASE

"Volkswagen customers in their 6th year of ownership will be able to enjoy savings of up to 50% for clutch replacements at any Volkswagen authorised service centres nationwide. The offer which guarantees genuine parts from as low as RM1,888 comes as a showcase of Volkswagen’s fervent commitment and continuous efforts to improve the ownership experience of existing customers."

News: The new BMW 518d & 520d.

We should see (at least) the BMW 520d with the BMW's new diesel engines soon hopefully. Nothing more to say actually (Just that I hope these new BMW diesels are quieter than what we get here in Malaysia these days - they're pretty clattery)

PRESS RELEASE
Setting the pace, showing the way: The BMW 5 Series builds further on its efficiency lead in the executive class.

New generation of four-cylinder diesel engines with BMW TwinPower Turbo technology increase the driving pleasure offered by the worldwide bestseller and achieve further reductions in fuel consumption and emissions – The new BMW 520d outclasses its segment rivals in the efficiency race: engine output rises to 140 kW/190 hp, average fuel consumption drops to as little as 4.1 l/100 km [68.9 mpg imp] and CO2 emissions to 109 g/km.

The Mercedes-AMG GT

I am not going to say much about this new Mercedes-AMG sports car as I simply think that its fabulous. It looks smaller, lighter and svelter than the Mercedes AMG SLS. It changes the game slightly from a bruiser of a GT to a smaller, more nimble one for Mercedes-AMG. The SLS may have had more presence, this is more compact.

All-New Mazda MX-5 "Miata" previewed

Mazda has just previewed the all-new Mazda MX-5. The 'Miata' or MX-5 Roadster as it is known to us keeps the tradition going. Supposedly a 2016 model year car, you get the same open top motoring available to you except that it now has edgier styling than previous generations. This fourth generation MX-5 is supposedly also 100kg lighter on some models and it will still be normally aspirated. The largest engine would be the 2.0liter GDI SkyActiv and it should still come with a manual (six speed) transmission as well as an automatic for lazier people (like the previous one).