News: JEEP is back in Malaysia

Jeep is back in Malaysia after a long absence. This time around Jeep Malaysia is a company under the DRB-HICOM Berhad group who have been awarded the exclusive distributorship from Chrysler Group International (part of the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles group). Today is the official launch of the brand and also the opening of the first Jeep 3S centre in Malaysia, located in Glenmarie, Shah Alam. By next year, Jeep Malaysia intends to open centres in Penang and Johor followed by one centre each in Sabah and Sarawak by 2016.

Redesigned Hyundai Sonata Wins CARS.COM, USA TODAY

Recently the redesigned Hyundai Sonata won an award over in the United States. The new Sonata, which is not available in Malaysia at the moment won the Motorweek Midsize Sedan Challenge. The new Sonata held up against 9 other brands and came up tops after some expert and car shopper testing.

Volkswagen Malaysia Launches Courtesy Car Programme for its Customers

Volkswagen Malaysia has officially launched its mobility guarantee programme on the 26th of November 2014. As part of its ongoing efforts to improve customer satisfaction, Volkswagen Malaysia is sponsoring and deploying more than 200 vehicles to offer customers complete mobility support.

Trucking news: Scania Malaysia launches the Scania Assistance Service and Scania Fleet Management System

Today I was at Scania Malaysia for the launch of the Scania Assistance Service and Scania Fleet Management System. These are ownership solutions for better profitability for Scania bus and truck operators here in Malaysia. Of course, I get to view some nice machines too. In the heavy duty sort of scale that is. I was busy taking admiring the huge Garrett turbo fitted to the Scania bus chassis to the left of the photo above folks.

Mercedes Benz CLA Shooting Brake

First glimpse of the new Mercedes Benz CLA Shooting Brake folks. I like it. I think.

"Say hello to the new CLA Shooting Brake! The latest member of our successful family of compact models. A unique look of its own! [CLA Shooting Brake | Fuel consumption combined: 6.8-4.2 l/100km | Combined CO2 emission: 156-101 g/km | #MercedesBenz #CLAShootingBrake #CLA #ShootingBrake #compactcars #mbcar" From MercedesBenz Instagram

DBKL will be renaming some roads - A waste of meetings discussing a trivial subject and a bit on the JPJ

KUALA LUMPUR: NINE roads and streets here will be renamed after rulers who have served as Yang di-Pertuan Agong.
Jalan Duta will be renamed Jalan Tuanku Abdul Halim; Jalan Khidmat Usaha will be renamed Jalan Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah; Jalan Ipoh — from the Jalan Segambut junction to the Jalan Pahang junction — will be renamed Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah; Persiaran Duta will be renamed Persiaran Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin; Jalan Khidmat Setia and Jalan Ibadah will be renamed Jalan Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin; Lebuhraya Mahameru will be renamed Lebuhraya Sultan Iskandar; Persiaran Mahameru will be renamed Persiaran Tuanku Jaafar; and, Jalan Semarak will be renamed Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra.
Mayor Datuk Seri Ahmad Phesal Talib said the new names would take effect tomorrow.
He said City Hall had received the cabinet’s consent to rename the roads.
“This is to honour the rulers who have served as Yang di-Pertuan Agong.”
Phesal said Pos Malaysia would be informed of the changes to the road names to avoid confusion over addresses. New Straits Times 

These days I am not bothered to complain about the nation's politics, politicians, government policies and the people that implement such systems (which are usually quite idiotic). This is the norm for me as I believe, complaining and ranting about local politics and government policies is a bloody waste of time. You see, if you side party A and you are against what party B is doing there would be some who end up becoming keyboard warriors defending or attacking such a person, cause or ideal. It is actually a bloody waste of your time folks.

Test Drive: 2014 Ford Ranger 2.2l XLT Automatic - Traction Control and ISOFIX ..as well as the usual goodies too

The current Ford Ranger has been around Malaysia since 2012 and is quite a familiar sight. First launched in 2011 it has captured a fair number of people who like driving pickup trucks. This 2014 version of the Ford Ranger is the same as it was when it first came out some two years ago. However, Ford basically improved it with the addition of traction control (ESP) and ISOFIX baby seat anchorage points. 

Ramblings about Lotus Cars, the terrible image that Proton Cars have and what needs to be done.

Lotus Suprima S - Imagine the above with massive arches, 18inch wheels, vented bonnet, whale-tail rear spoiler and at least 200bhp. And a PROPER Lotus badge instead of that corny R3 one......Would a true enthusiast buy it for RM105,000? I believe so.

I had been doing some reading up on Lotus Cars recently. Lotus Cars is owned by DRB-Hicom through Proton, the Malaysian car company. Both car companies are actually in a bit of trouble owning to low sales volumes with Proton being second in the Malaysian passenger vehicle sales charts for the past two years or so. Assembler and re-badge experts Perodua have taken over the top spot in passenger car sales in Malaysia and its no question that Malaysians seem to like the brand more these days. Tell me how many of the newly launched Proton Iriz (which in 1.6liter form is not too bad) you see on the roads today compared to the newly launched Perodua Axia (which is the best value for money car you can buy these days with the puny Ringgit). Couple this with the fact that Malaysian banks seem to be tightening down on car loans also do not auger well with Proton who according to my sources have about 50% of customer car loan applications rejected or turned down. Not the fault of Proton, but this bites nonetheless.

LLumar 2014 Asia Pacific Tint-Off Competition - 16 Teams from 14 Countries Take Part. Team from South Korea Wins

Yesterday I attended a tinting competition organized by LLumar automotive window films and its Malaysian distributor Tint Auto (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd . Yes, there is such an event and it was participated by 16 teams from 14 countries. The extra three teams came from China, which as you know is a huge country and warrants extra coverage (as well as sales numbers too).

Anyway, whilst the only cars provided were Volkswagen Passats by VW distributor F.A Wagen it was still an international themed events with tint experts from Oman, Singapore, China and South Korea as well as our own Malaysia to name a few.

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.

The Great Wall M4 - Chunky looks & EEV Tax break status equals to asurprisingly good drive against its local rivals

We have something cheap and reasonably cheery on our roads soon and the surprising thing is that this car is coming from China. The car, the Great Wall M4 (also called the M4 Haval) compact SUV has been previewed and will soon be on sale throughout Malaysia. According to the distributors, Go Auto, the Great Wall M4 has garnered about 1,500 bookings since its preview in July of 2014 and it will be seen on our roads by November if all goes well. Quite a feat. It got me really curious too. So when I was invited to spend some time with the M4 as well as some time with the people who are bringing it in I jumped at the opportunity.

Hyundai Experience Car Fest 2014 - 10th to 12th October 2014!!!!

Hello folks! Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HDSM) will be organising a car fest ths weekend starting tomorrow, Friday the 10th of October 2014 to Sunday, 12th of October 2014. Expect lots of activities including complimentary driving courses and the usual slew of test drives from the current range of Hyundai vehicles.

If any of you are interested in trying out that Hyundai Veloster like in the pic above, a Hyundai Elantra like below or a Hyundai SUV do head over to the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.

Oh, The event will be held from 9.00am until 6.30pm. And if you're in Johor Bahru, the Hyundai Experience Car Fest will also be held at Jalan Desa Tebrau, Taman Tebrau in Johor Bahru from the 17th to 19th October 2014.