Spotted For Sale: The "Toyota AE86" you never ever wanted

This is for one for those days where you thought things couldn't get any weirder but it does. My friend Firdaus has friends who search the classifieds for unique used cars to lust after. But sometimes they come across cars that you have no idea why they are what they are in the first place. This is one of them - a Proton Saga Iswara that wants to be a Tofu transport vehicle, the Toyota 'Hatchiroku' or 86.

Peugeot 508 facelifted for 2015MY

Peugeot has facelifted their large family sedan, the 508 for the 2015 Model Year. The new nose gets its new themes from the recently launch 308 and is actually more promiment as well as being a more conventional split two grille front end rather than one large grille previously. Lots of brands seem to eschew the large single grille and are now reverting to the traditional split grille setup. Ah, how things are so fluid in the automotive industry.

The facelift covers the sedan, the SW estate and also the crossover RX wagon (which isn't on sale over here) and aside from the front end rework, the new stuff are some new engines and the interior, which has new dials, instrumentation, less clutter (from less switches) and a larger infotainment screen. There are also blind spot sensors and a reverse camera as options too.

Facelifted 2015 Mercedes Benz CLS launched - new front end, LED headlights and a new gearbox

The facelifted Mercedes Benz CLS has been previewed. Typical of most new Mercedes Benz facelifts, the 2015 CLS now gets a nearly completely new front end. The 'honed front section' is actually a familiar looking face. It looks so much like the facelifted W212 E-class instead of being more of a 'halo' car for Mercedes. Maybe there is a need for more of a family look to it. It does have a Diamond pattern type grille of the latest sporty models though. Still breathtaking though.

RM199 per month for a Golf, Polo Sedan or Polo 1.6 - too good to be true?

"It’s never been easier to own a Volkswagen. For an amazingly low monthly instalment of RM199*, you can drive home a brand new Golf, Polo Sedan or Polo 1.6. And because we have stock readily available, there is no waiting for your dream car either."

So is it too good to be true? If it were RM199 per month forever, then theVolkswagen Golf 1.4TSI would be yours after about 779 months, a Polo Sedan could be yours for 452 months or 37 years. So......This is only for the first year okay. After that things should revert to the normal high hundreds or low thousands or RM.

Tech Talk: Mercedes Benz Malaysia says its not their fault you're having problems with Grey Imports and...

....I have to agree with them. This issue cropped up due to Malaysians who buy grey import Mercedes Benz Direct Injection (CGI) or even the CDI diesel models who are suffering from engine ailments caused by Malaysian petrol being of Euro 2 standard when the Euro or Japan Specced models brought in by grey importers or AP holders require at least Euro 4. Those that bought via official Mercedes Benz dealers (like Yours Truly...Muahahahahaha) will not face such problems.

Perodua drops prices of the Viva, why Perodua is successful and why Proton aren't

You've got to hand it to Perodua. The second national car maker has dropped prices for their cheapest model again. 

Viva 660 BX manual – RM22,000 ( from RM25,000, less RM3,000)
Viva 850 manual – RM27,900 (from RM33,200, less RM5,300)
Viva S auto – RM29,900 (from RM35,200, less RM5,300)
Viva Elite MT – RM32,900 (from RM38,200, less RM5,300)
Viva Elite AT – RM36,800 (from RM41,300, less RM4,500)

Mercedes AMG previews a new engine for its upcoming GT

"A compact design, low power-to-weight ratio, great fuel efficiency, and signature, distinctive AMG sound all work in harmony to create the high-performance AMG 4.0 Liter V8 Biturbo Engine (M178). This engine is truly bigger than the sum of its parts – and a quantum leap into the future of technology."

Opinion: Of Nissan Teana and Nissan Sylphy - CVT on the old and new models.

It may be very okay to buy this new 2014 Teana.....

...but not very okay to buy this previous Teana.

I just noticed that the new Nissan Sylphy and the new Nissan Teana....have the same engine and gearbox. Note that the earlier Sylpillis, er Slyphy...no, Sylphy and the earlier Tena, no, that's an adult diaper were running the same CVT gearbox and different engines. This time, both have four cylinder Nissa-Renault MR Series 2.0liter engines running a slightly modified CVT gearbox. You also get the same engine and transmission in the recently launched Renault Fluence (which I totally forgot was also recently launched - makes you wonder how much I was looking forward to it being around Malaysia).

Tech Talk: Of steering feel and steering weight. No, they're not the same

The steering of this Mazda has supposedly less feedback than.....

......this 1990 Proton Saga??????

I have on many occasions noticed that most of us Malaysians confuse 'steering feel' with 'steering weight'. There was this one time when a friend of mine was trying to sell his Mazda MX-5 Roadster and the chap who wanted to buy it said that the Roadster had no steering feel. This was unlike his 1990 Proton Saga Megavalve Manual which to him had tons of feel.