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.

Honda S660 gossip - S660 Type R for Japan and S1000 for the global market

The Honda S660 is one of those Japan market only kei car coupes.Here it is pictured in Mugen form. It has about 64 hp from its VTEC 660cc engine. Small light and therefore nimble enough to feel like a proper MG Midget or Austin Sprite from the days gone by. But I think Honda are listening to global feedback with this car and is rumoured to have okayed  1000cc version of the car which will be sold globally. It will be called, get this, Honda S1000. Imagine calling it like the Honda S2000. Honda S1K. Cool eh?

Proton and Lotus enter into a Joint Venture with Goldstar of China

Looks like Proton and its subsidiary Lotus have signed a Joint Venture agreement with Goldstar Heavy Industrial Co Ltd of China. According to the press release, a new JV company will be formed for the purpose of R & D activities that will eventually produce and sell Lotus branded passenger cars in China.

Hyundai Veloster Turbo officially launched in Malaysia

About darn time. Hyundai Sime Darby Motors finally brings in the Hyundai Veloster Turbo. The Veloster Turbo, is the first Hyundai vehicle to be fitted with the 1.6-litre T-GDI engine delivering power, superior efficiency, lower emissions and higher reliability.  Producing 186 PS horsepower and 265 Nm of torque, the 1.6L Veloster Turbo delivers top speed of 214 kph and acceleration from 0-100 kph in 8 seconds.  Maximum torque is delivered between 1,500 rpm and 4,500 rpm.

GearUp accessories for the Perodua Axia

Perodua has a new range of accessories for their Axia. They call is GearUp. Look at the photos I've uploaded and see if you want all of these items on your Axia. At the moment, from the photo above, the items are on promotion.

Hyundai uses cars to write a really big message that can been seen from space

Eleven Hyundai Genesis full sized sedans do some ballet on earth and draw or write out a message so big that it could be seen from space. It is considered as the largest tyre track image in the world and measures 5.55sq km.

Land Rover Range Rover Evoque (TECH PACK) RS250 by Project Kahn

This is for you guys who have Range Rover Evoques lying around and need some inspiration on what to do with your ride in order to make it stand out from the others. On a personal point, I do think the Evoque is one of those crossover vehicles that actually look good and work properly well. It is surprisingly grippy on high speed corners even though it actually is quite tall. It actually looks good and handles well too. So give me one of these over an Audi Q5 anytime.

PRESS RELEASE

The latest Land Rover Range Rover Evoque (TECH PACK) RS250 to roll off the Project Kahn production line will unquestionably turn heads.

Our Cars: The W204 C180 needs and gets new tyres - Continental MC5

It seems so fast. It has already been two and a half years since I purchased the Mercedes Benz w204 C180. In mileage terms, I have done slightly over 40,000km in it and it now needs new tyres. The car came with expensive Continental CSC5 tyres (which recently came up tops in EVO's tyre of the year recently). That tyre was good in the dry, good in the wet and quite quiet on most road surfaces. It was consistent in its grip and its give. It was predictable too and you could give the C180 a shove out of junctions so that the tail would wag a little when turning left or right. I suppose that this is because it is a top dollar tyre. Top dollar prices too.

A Volkswagen Weekend in Ipoh - 18th & 19th April 2015

This weekend Volkswagen will be at the Stadium Indera Putra Carpark in Ipoh.  The VW roadshow will feature its cars and there will be the usual sales promotions for their cars. If you are in Ipoh, and have nothing better to do this weekend. By all means head over there for test drives and other activities.

A Volkswagen Weekend in Ipoh

Date : 18th & 19th April 2015 (Saturday & Sunday)

Only in South East Asia - ENKIE Alloy wheels

I saw this at a local tyre shop earlier today. It looks like I have stumbled on the now classic 15 inch Enkei RP01 alloy wheel here. I thought that this would be a good replacement to the tired looking wheels that are on the Proton Wira I maintain. Of course, upon closer examination you can make out that they are ENKIE and not ENKEI. The genuine RP01 had the words ENKEI at the same spot as this set of wheels.

VW Malaysia and Cergaz Autohaus to launch the first Volkswagen Technical Service Centre in Malaysia

Volkswagen Malaysia has partnered with authorised dealer Cergaz Autohaus to launch Volkswagen Technical Service Centre – the first of its kind in Malaysia.


The centre, which is based on Jalan Sungai Penchala in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, is equipped to deal with repairs and after-sales service for all non-commercial Volkswagen vehicles, regardless of age or model. 

Century Battery launches its latest campaign - Robots and an SMS Contest.....

Century Battery has launched its latest campaign for its products in Malaysia. This time around they have decided to go the route of featuring large robots in their advertisements – CenturyBots. It looks like the guys over at Century Battery have decided to play Transformers.

Spotted for sale: Ferrari Lamborghini City.

As usual, Monday morning. Sent my kid to school, came home, went to the loo to deposit some waste, had my morning mug of coffee, started up the notebook and opened up Mudah.my to search the ads for interesting cars that I fuel my dream of owning my next project car. And I see this.

Guest Post: Owner's review - 2010 Volkswagen Golf R Mk6

Hello folks. Today we have another guest post. Firdaus Asri, owner of the 2010 Volkswagen Golf R Mk6 we reviewed and posted earlier has decided to do an owner's review on his new baby. Or Baby Elephant as he calls it. In the very passionate and technical review, you will find that he is very much in love with his new car, from the performance aspect as well as its flaws and all. It is one really detailed review too. If you wanted to know how much he has spent over the last few months since getting his Golf R do read on. The graph he prepared is an eye opener.

My Mk6 Golf TSI Convert….Err Golf R

My 6R  - unexpectedly likeable, handsome and charming

People who know me have been fully aware that I have been trying to offload my then VW 9N3 Polo GTI 1.8T for the longest possible time. It is not that the car isn’t any good or problematic, far from it really. But there is a time in later part of life that I need to grow up and move on to a matured car but can still be fast when I need it be.

BMW wins some reader awards over in Germany for the 4 series Grand Coupe and 2 series Convertible

Two BMW models took top spots in the readers survey conducted by German motor mag Auto Zeitung. The BMW 4 series Grand Coupe and the BMW 2 Series Convertible.