Proton Perdana Spyshots & Its Motherhood Story

Much has been said about the new Proton Perdana. It has been an ill-fated project since the mid of last decade and until today it is yet (albeit assumed nearly) to materialize. The original model was introduced back in 1995 to provide an upgraded mobility for the Malaysia aspire to own the stuff like Honda Accord. Things soared to a great success back then with many, many unit sold.

As I recalled, Proton glory days then are over. So are all the mega car plan. The earlier effort was in tandem with the defunct Proton MSX, but canned indefinitely The the resurrection plan was announced to the public with the old bed-partner Mitsubishi Galant and finally there was a hurrah on Nissan Fuga too. Volkswagen Passat was also mentioned somewhere somehow in between. Then Proton shocked everyone by announcing Honda deals, and Perdana-badged on a generation-old Honda Accord soon hits the (government) street.

For the civilian model, Proton said they have re-designed the car in total. How total is that remains to be seen. But judging from this latest spy photos, the changes are quite there.

Comparing it with the 2008 Honda Accord, it can be seen the design lineage is still there. Look at the A-pillar shape and its angle together with the front door cut-out, the car is still visibly carrying large chunk of Accord chassis there. The location of door outside handle, for both front and rear too mimics the positioning on its older Japanese brother. Ditto for the metal trailing edge of the rear door. However the rear door top opening possibly has been altered, together with the redesigning of the C-pillar. The whole rear appears longer then the donor car.

I am not sure if Proton still lengthen the car still, as the old Accord is pretty much "whale-like" already at 4,940mm. Inching to 5m magical mark won't be a case more than extra stroke of styling lines.

The front area will no doubt features Proton trade-mark fascia of wing-like grille ornaments with headlight fixed on the same similar like. Whether it is going to be elaborated like Iriz or subtle like Preve remains to be seen. 

The rear end is described by someone who has seen it as "has a hint of Jaguar". However, I take it as layman description as there is a similarity in Proton Preve rear fascia with the current crops of Jaguar too.

Powertrain-wise, do expect Honda powerplant to stay on. If miracle happens, the Malaysia-design Petronas engine could make it appearance. But since the NE01 is yet to make it launch in its intended market, don't hope too much.

In one of the interview with Paultan, Tun Mahathir says “For high end cars – Nissan has Infiniti, Toyota has Lexus. The Perdana will be our high end car". High expectation indeed.

New Perodua Alza Facelift 2014 Specs Leaked

It is the new Perodua Alza 2014 we are after. Many leaked photos of the facelifted Alza SE/AV has found their ways to internet lately. It is hardly surprising as Perodua Alza is one of the most popular MPV in Malaysian market. Nearly every streets has one. It has become a default choice for the household, even when the family size is hardly growing. Newly weds, 1-kid small family all opted for this mini-MPV, especially after its first 2 years of launching. I just don't know why, but I too was one of them.

Perodua launched this sub-MPV late in 2009 and now time has come for Perodua Alza facelift. It will be introduced in January next year as a 2014 Perodua Alza, with a rationalize model line-up from the base to the top-line Perodua Alza Advanced.

Perodua announced yesterday that the new Perodua Alza 2014 will be available from January. Teaser is up too in the websites. Tagged as "The Alza For Everyone", clearly the 2014 Perodua Alza is set to receive a revised cosmetics, enhanced equipment level and more practicality, such as split folded 3rd row seat.

Thanks to the leaked sales material (all sources can be found at the end of the post), we now know that there is going to be 3 version of 2014 Perodua Alza, namely Perodua Alza Standard, Perodua Alza SE and Perodua Alza AV. The Alza S will be discontinued and thus one can expect the new facelifted Perodua Alza Standard to receive a very competitive pricing.

As for the exterior, all variants will receive new bumper design, revised headlight graphic, revised tail gate garnish, new rear bumper and revised rear combi coloring. The version seen above based on leaked photo is the top-line 2014 Perodua Alza Advanced, sporting exclusive new alloy wheels, all around skirting, clear lens rear combi and rear spoiler. Perodua Alza Standard will have none of those, but the chromed front grille will remain.

For the interior, from the earlier leaked photo we already know that Perodua has re-engineered the 2011 Perodua Myvi gearknob to fit into new Perodua Alza gear console. They have revised the paneling surrounding it too, encompassing a garnished surfaced for both gear console and airconditioning control panel. The car seen above is 2014 Perodua Alza AV. The new Perodua Alza SE will feature red-theme fabric upholstery as seen in Perodua official teaser covering both seats and door trims. The new steering wheel from 2011 Myvi introduced earlier will remains, although only Alza AV will feature the steering wheel button.

The new features however is the change of cabin color for 2014 Perodua Alza Standard, the interior will be two-tone, with beige lower portion, including the seats! Seems Perodua has taken the leaf out from its owner in offering beige cabin in the cheaper variant. 2014 Perodua Alza SE and AV will be monotone black cabin. The automatic version will get new armrest with storage space, while the ISOFIX slot, 50/50 split 3rd row seat will be standard across the board. Roof mounted DVD player is Alza AV spesific, so is the leather upholstery. Multimedia touch screen audio system is available on all bar the Alza Standard.

Safety wise, apart from the aforementioned ISOFIX, all variants will get dual SRS as standard. Opting for Alza SE and AV buys your ABS with EBD. The new Perodua Alza can now be booked at your nearest Perodua outlet and will be delivered starting from January.

In case you find the write-up is too long and can't be bothered to read, the leak specification can be found in the following source:

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New Lease of Life for Mazda Rotary Engine

The fame rotary engine of Mazda is now part of the electric vehicle with range extender gasoline engine. Displacing mere 330cc, the rotary engine has an advantage of super compact packaging which enable it to be installed beneath the boot floor of the compact car, the Mazda2, or Demio as it is known in Japan.

For the technology demonstrator, Mazda has equipped the car 75kW electric motor powered by lithium-ion battery pack. The electric power unit is mounted at the front of the car engine bay, while the rotary engine is installed at the rear, beneath the boot. This is primarily because the engine flat in nature and can be packaged in a horizontal layout. Other advantage of the rotary engine is its quietness, 87dBA at 3,000rpm instead of up to 96 dBA with other type of engine. Displacing 330cc, the engine is connected to 9L fuel tank and can produce up to 25kW of power.

Photo source: Carwatch

Mazda CX-5 2.5L Now On Sale, From RM165,000

Mazda CX-5 fan rejoice. The popular Mazda SUV with super-long waiting list is now available with 2.5L engine. Mazda CX-5 2.5L can now be have with the Skyactiv 2.5L engine similar to the one powering the similarly sold-out Mazda6. The 2,488cc in-line 4 engine produces 184hp@5,700rpm and 250Nm@3,250rpm of power and torque, channel the drive via Skyactiv Drive 6AT to either the option of front wheel drive or AWD.

Compared to the CKD Mazda CX-5 2.0L, the 2.5L gets Bose sound system with 9 speakers, electrically operated sunroof both of which were previously available on the CBU version of the 2.0L CX-5. Additionally, the CX-5 2.5L is equipped with the I-Stop functionality. These all are on top of the current accessories offered with the top line CKD version currently on sale.

Curiously, the 2.5L Mazda CX-5 is a Japan CBU, although all the series of engine available for this SUV are currently being assembled in Kulim. Indicative pricing is RM165k for the FWD and RM175k for the AWD.

Lamborghini Huracan LP610-4 : 610hp, 3.2s to 100km/h, 12.5L/100km

The Lamborghini Gallardo is finally bowing out after 10 years in production and some 14,022 units has found it home round the globe. The successor, Lamborghini Huracan has been officially unveiled and it is set to bring the "entry-level" Lamborghini to an even greater height. Rumoured to be called Cabrera, and was previously rumoured to be a productionized Sesto Elemento Concept, both bulls are bulls as Huracan takes a complete voluminous shape not unlike its bigger Aventador brother.

Lamborghini Huracan adopts a similar design language to that of the Lamboghini Aventador. But it takes the surface crisp precision to a new height with the line that starts off from the hood leading edge before expanding into the hood line before breaking up into a tear drop shaped glass house opening and merging back post the rear pillar. The shape of the headlight and front bumper intake sets carry the lineage of the current Lamborghini. Headlight inner structure is avantgarde, with its geometric light bars arrangement.

 
The rear end is characterized by slim, inward sloping rear light with distinctive graphic. In tune with the rest of world's supercar, the rear fascia is dominated with air outlet. Sharply creases surface and quad exhaust setup completes the rear end.

The side profile emphasize the compact silhouette. The sharp intertwined surfacing with blistered of surface by the air intakes does lightened the overall visual mass. This is further helped by relatively large glass fraction and slim wheel spokes.

The heart of Lamborghini is the engine. Lamborghini Huracan uses a development of the last unit powering the Gallardo. Retaining the V10 architecture and displacing 5.2L, with the direct and indirect injection system in presence, the engine produces 610hp at 8,250rpm and 560Nm at 6,500 rpm of power and torque. Coupled to 7 speed double clutch transmission, transmitting the traction to all four wheel, this is sufficient to propel the 1,422kg car to 100km/h in 3.2s and top speed of 325km/h. The lightweight figure is achieved thanks to a hybrid structure of aluminum and carbon fibre.

Three drive modes are available; Strada, Sport and Corsa. They alters the setup of engine and gearbox response, exhaust, stability control and four wheel drive power distribution and said to give a distinctive driving experience between them. Carbon ceramic brakes are standard, but the variable steering ratio and magneto rheologic damper system are cost option.

The interior is less rakish than the Aventador, but still contains several innovative touch. Dominating the fascia is 12.3" TFT color screen which acts as a meter binnacle as well as the infotaintment system for the car. Among the trims available include Nappa and Alcantra upholstery.

Lamborghini Huracan will be officially unveiled in Geneva Motorshow, where the pricing will be announced. More photos after the jump.