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.