Some thoughts on the all new 2014 Honda Jazz

Had a look at this mid spec Honda Jazz. Its big. Very practical but me thinks that it desperately needs a Honda Modulo body kit to hide its length (yes it look like a stretched previous model with a funky front end) and make it look more hunkered down. Interior plastics nothing to shout about but it is well fitted together.

Would I buy it for RM77800? Maybe if I wanted its practicality I would but I dont. I would either buy a VW Polo 1.6 hatch (better built and drives well) or even the Proton Suprima S (a larger, more performance oriented car that could be cheaper with discounts) over this.

Note- this was posted earlier on motoring-malaysia.blogspot.com's Facebook page. Do follow us over there folks. We discuss stuff occasionally.

Spotted for Sale: A 'unique' Honda Civic 2nd Gen for sale

I am flabergasted. I actually own a second generation Honda Civic and used to drive it in the 1990s. But never did I imagine the ingenuity of  my fellow Malaysians when it comes to car modification. Ignore the turbo stickers as according to the original posting, found on a Facebook Honda group, the car has a B18cr engine. Must be the 1.8liter Type-R engine from the DC2 Integra Type R.

What's in a name: The Bluebirds - Cardiff City and the Nissan Bluebird

This recent Eid Ul Fitr or Hari Raya to most Malaysians, I had a few friends over. In between the  constant eating of nasi minyak, lemang, lontong and ketupat, we ended up talking about Nissan and a football team over in the UK. I thought I'd share with you folks out there what transpired.

Most of us are aware that Malaysian tycoons have started making themselves known in football (or soccer as the Americans call it). We have Tan Sri David Tony Fenandez owning the Magpies, or Newcastle United and Tan Sri Vincent Tan owning Cardiff City, also nicknamed the Bluebirds. I for one am not a football fan and whilst it is good Malaysia has a foothold in a sport that most Malaysians love to watch, but are terrible on the pitch - look at most of the football games played in the Malaysian league these days, I think that a third division English league team played against any of them, they'd come up league champions if they tried. Cardiff City would be like Manchester United, FC Barcelona or even Ajax Amsterdam.

JD POWER Asia Pacific's Mass Market Brand Dealer Service Customer Satisfaction Survey Malaysia 2014 - Toyota comes up top

Welcome back folks. This is the first article after a short hiatus due to the recent fasting month. Let's get things started.

Toyota has come up tops in J.D Power's Asia Pacific Customer Satisfaction with Dealer Service among mass market brands in Malaysia for 2014. Note that this means that you will not see Lexus, Infiniti, Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi and those that are obscenely priced. And dear readers note that Volkswagen IS a mass market brand under this survey - I told you earlier that it seems that Malaysians think too highly of the brand.

Sunday Car Porn: The Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera coach building company

It's another Sunday. Today I thought that I'd give you folks a history lesson on one of the best in Italian Coachbuilding. Most of you would be familiar with them designing and constructing the Aston Martin DB5 (below)  styling (oh, you know, the James Bond car)

Formula 1 tests 18 inch wheel and tyre combo - Bye Bye 13 inch balloons?

When I was avidly following Formula 1 (F1) in the early 2000s I always wondered why the heck they keep using 13inch wheels with balloon-like tyres especially when road tyre technology has evolved into rubber band thin tyres running at least 18 inches those days (these days cars run even larger sizes). Then we also had the DTM and BTCC which ran 18 inch wheels and tyres. Also slimmer than the donuts used in F1. But now, F1 together with official tyre supplier Pirelli has decided to test the use of 18inch wheels on the cars. If all goes well, we may soon see F1 cars having more realistic looking rubber bands instead of the donuts used nowadays.

On the marketing of automotive products, the Peugeot 2008 Dakar Buggy and something Spotted on Sale with Ralliart on it.

You know automotive marketing has come a long way. These days manufacturers have motorsport divisions that promote their products through racing and this in turn sells their cars to the general public. It has now spilled over to a complete lifestyle thingy nowadays. You see a manufacturer promoting their latest SUVs with either a bicycle or a surfboard strapped on it. You also see rally cars parked beside their normal road versions.

News: Subaru BRZ will have a second generation says Fuji Heavy Industries' boss

The Subaru BRZ will not be a one hit wonder. In response to the earlier report, the President of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd has stated in Automotive News that Subaru plans to have another generation of the BRZ. Yasuyuki Yoshinaga, president of Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. also added that the current arrangement with Toyota will continue even though Toyota have another joint-venture arrangement with BMW to come up with a hybrid coupe.

Toyota still has a place in the BRZ story due to the fact that Subaru needs the volume that Toyota can sell (the BRZ's Toyota twin is the GT 86) in order for the BRZ to be viable in the first place. Whatever it is, it looks like this pure, normally aspirated rear wheel drive coupe is here to stay. For now that is.

BMW M4 on the 'Ultimate Racetrack'

Here we have the BMW M4 on an aircraft carrier with a racetrack on it. Yes it is a mash-up of actual driving and CGI of a racetrack on an aircraft carrier. Marketing at its best. But, so's the driving in the vid too!