The Mercedes Benz A200 - Beautiful, but shame about the ride

It's the month of Ramadan and I have been doing what I do best during this period. What I do best is nothing much at all as when you're fasting, doing nothing is the best thing one should do. Unproductive it may be but I believe that if you do not move, you do not burn so much calories and therefore do not need to consume more sustenance until it is time to break fast.

But sometimes you do need to go out and get some chores done. One chore is trying out the newly launched Mercedes Benz A-class. The A200 to be precise. 

2013 Kia Cerato - It Seems Things Were Not So Smooth At The Recent Media Event

I heard this piece of news directly from a few journo friends of mine. Their road trip in the new 2013 Kia Cerato (Kia Forte replacement) for Malaysia did not end up too well. I suppose the cars prepared by Kia were not very prepared in the first place.

One car suffered traction control failure making its anti-lock braking system pulse unnecessarily. This of course made forward progress impossible. 

Classic AMG - The W114 250 and the 300ce 'Hammer'

Here are some photos of the earlier AMG cars long before they became Mercedes Benz-AMG. One is a W114 250 that has been breathed by AMG and the other a 300ce in the wide arch form.

The 1970s 250 was one of the first few cars that AMG breathed upon. Nothing much on the exterior except the lowered stance and wheels but the engine allowed it to chase BMWs. No one modded Mercedes Benz is those days. No, it did not have a stonking V8, the 250's 2.5liter straight six was tuned in the traditional way - camshafts, exhaust, exhaust manifolds, carburetor tweaks, cylinder head port and polishing and pistons. I think 146bhp must have became 180-190bhp at the very least. This was in the 70s. Fast enough to scare the 1974-75 Porsche 911 Carerra drivers. That Porsche had a mere 210hp at the time.

SHORT TEST DRIVE: 2013 Peugeot 208 1.6VTi - Luxury in a small package

Now let's get back to reality after Malaysia's 13^th General Elections. I want things to go back to normal. This means everyone goes back to work, school, retirement or college. This also means that the Bangladeshis (any other race that you can say are illegal voters) are not harassed and can go back to doing whatever Malaysians do not want to do. I say, when you don't want to do it yourself, you call them to do it. But when you want a conspiracy, you also end up using the same people you need to run your factories, restaurants and what nots. So make sure life goes on. If not how the heck am I going to continue carrying on with my life in peace?

Anyway, my search for a new family car has basically not ended after my recent purchases. This is because I am a serious Motorhead. Even when there is no need to buy a new car I am still on the lookout for a new car. Right now the Reza family feels the need to 'upgrade' the Pink Perodua Myvi to something a little more flashy that has a little bit of pizzaz. So I have driven the Peugeot 208 1.6 Vti 5 door hatchback recently and I find it to be one of the better little hatchbacks that you can buy under RM90,000. (update - it's 2016 and we actually have not upgraded!)

Oil Prices around the world vs Petrol Prices around the world

We are only the 27th largest oil producer on planet Earth yet our unleaded petrol prices are 11th cheapest in the planet. Aren't we glad for subsidies? I decided to share this info with you guys out there after I had a fantastic drive to Ayer Keroh, Melaka yesterday morning. The Mercedes Benz C180's pedal to the metal. It felt good burning some fossil fuel. Although I do wish that Malaysian road tax were cheaper. If it were, an AMG C63 would be nice. All RM15,000.00 worth of annual road tax (approx) of it.

Car Prices In Australia, Malaysia and South East Asia

I recently took my family across the border to the Lion City for some shopping and sightseeing. It wasn't a Rest & Recreation type of holiday. It was Arab Street (above) for the wife's clothing material, Orchard Road for more shopping and the Jurong Bird Park for the little girl's sightseeing. My feet felt like lead after three days and then we had to face quite a horrendous jam whilst trying to make it back to KL. But it was a fun filled trip. Lots of things to see and do over there.

The great thing about the trip down south was that it was the first really long trip using the car I recently bought - the Mercedes Benz C180 CGI BlueEfficiency and even after the six or so hours driving back from Singapore I felt as fresh as when I started the journey. Everyone needs to own one of these or better. But let me tell you a secret. You could do the same thing with a Toyota Camry. It is even quieter than a C-class. It isn't as sporty to drive as one buy if you want to feel as fresh as you started your journey, the unclemobile could be your choice. Remember the Unclemobile folks.

Anyway, I was actually quite intrigued by the fact that there are quite a number of newly registered C180 (1.6) C-classes over there. This with the fact that COE (certificate of Entitlement) prices are sky high at over SGD60,000 per car and the very recent tightening of car loans over there (50% downpayment and a maximum of 5 years). A C180 costs SGD 185,000 or thereabouts. Now convert that to Ringgit, it is a bomb. And there are many of them around.

This got me thinking about car prices around South East Asia. The reason being that so many Malaysians out there seem to be complaining about not being able to afford cars over here with the excise duty and other taxes and whatnots. Let me enlighten you guys out there by saying that Malaysia isn't as bad as we think.

Let's take a Mercedes Benz C200 CGI as an example. In good ol' Malaysia the C200 CGI Elegance sells for RM262,000.00. It looks steep doesn't it? With all those zeros behind and all that. Now lets compare the price of the same car elsewhere in the region.

IDR (Indonesian Rupiah)    559,000,000   -  RM177,404.22
BHT (Thai Bhat)                    2,250,000    - RM236,362.83
Peso (Philippine Peso)            3, 280,000   -  RM248,005.97
SGD (Singapore Dollar)           220,888    -  RM550,791.07

AUD (Australian Dollar)             64,954   -  RM209.851.00
NZD (New Zealand Dollar)        69,999   - RM181,775.72

I converted using xe.com's currency converter and I did not pick these figures out of nothing. Note that we are second highest in the list, but our figures aren't that far from other countries where the automotive industry has government protection, namely Thailand and the Philippines. Cars are cheap if you buy those manufactured locally (Toyota in Thailand as an example - you will see that everycar is a Toyota and a fourth or fifth is another brand).

It isn't that rosy in Australia too. Whilst you may think that AUD65,000 is a small amount but a junior exec in Australia may earn AUD6,000 or AUD72,000 per annum, but he is liable to get hit with income tax of between 9.1% to 21% depending on his deductions (The super rich here pay a maximum of 44.9% in taxes, still not as high as Sweeden where you pay up to 56% of your income for 'FREE EDUCATION AND HEALTH CARE'). The best bet is the junior exec gets off with 12.5% average and on top of that a 1.5% Medicare levy (now WHO SAID things were free in developed countries).

Now add to the fact that everything you buy in Australia is susceptible to Goods and Sales Tax (GST)of 10% it gets a little tougher overall. In 2011-2012 there was such a thing as Flood Levy which the junior exec would have to pay 0-0.25% of his hard earned income to subsidize the rebuilding of Queensland after the 2010-2011 floods over there. So as a result, when I was holidaying in Australia in 2011, there are not many luxury compact executives running around. Its either the cost of living is high, or everyone there does not want earthy possessions which are slightly more luxurious than others (I doubt so).

In Singapore things are ultra shitty. You got GST at 17%, and 3 room condos going for SGD 3.5million (Here in PJ, its still a 'sane' RM750,000 or thereabouts). Junior exec earning SGD6,000 may get hit with a 10% income tax (maximum payable tax in SG is 20%) and no chance ever to buy a house or a Mercedes Benz.

Over in Jakarta, Indonesia you wouldn't want to drive a Mercedes Benz. The traffic is horrendous and everyone around you is in a state of poverty that you are liable to be kidnapped, car-jacked for money or your car simply keyed. You'd want something third world like a Toyota Kijang Innova to run around.

So what are we complaining about? The food here in Malaysia is good, houses aren't as stratospheric as Singapore, our living conditions aren't as crazy as Bangkok or Jakarta or Manila, we don't pay ridiculous amounts of taxes.

Malaysia is the best place to be. Full stop.

The Mercedes Benz CLA 45 AMG

Mercedes Benz AMG previewed this car at the 2013 New York Motor Show. Based on the Mercedes Benz CLA series, a car itself based on the A45 hatchback shares its drivetrain with the hatchback Mercedes Benz A 45 AMG.

The 2013 Mercedes Benz CLA 45 AMG is powered by an AMG 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol engine with 355bhp/450Nm torque, 4MATIC all wheel drive, SPEEDSHIFT DCT 7-speed sports transmission, AMG sports suspension with independently developed front and rear axles, electromechanical AMG speed-sensitive sports steering, AMG high-performance braking system, 3-stage ESP with "SPORT Handling" mode.

The Mercedes Benz CLA is Mercedes Benz's smallest sedan. It takes over the position from the C-class and in its usual base form is front wheel driven. This baby gets all wheel drive and a sexier bodykit. It does look awkward in certain angles (especially the rear three quarter angle below) but when compared to its rivals, the BMW 1 series and now the newly revealed Audi A3/S3 sedan it knocks the socks out of these cars with its edgier and more aggressive styling. This sort of styling will attract the younger crowd. Just compare its looks with the recently launched A3 sedan. That car looks pedestrian doesn't it?

And with this AMG model, it will whistle and fart as it steamrolls over its rivals. I mean, have you seen the A45 AMG's video release of it running on a track? Wheeee....then proootttt, as the dual clutch gearbox shifts a gear. This is what the CLA 45 AMG will sound like too. Of course, with over 300bhp, it would be pretty fun too. AMG's first highly tuned production 4 cylinder makes this something different too. We used to read, hear or drive AMG V8s. This is a throwback to the days when they used to tune a whole lot of 4 cylinder cars in the 1980s (especially the 190E 2.3-16 variants for their customers).

And what a heck of a way to win over new fans. And to keep old ones very amused and very interested.

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