PROTON MSX - What could have been.......

Recently, there was a spy photos of Chinese Youngman SUV, strongly resembling Lotus APX/Proton MSX. Adding more to that, apparently, Proton boss, Dato Syed Zainal admitted that Proton, through Lotus is indeed providing consultancy to Youngman for their SUV based on Proton platform. It was also mentioned that there is a possibility of buying back that model and rebadged it to become Proton SUV.

More juicy details after the jump.

Blast from the past - Sogna supercar of 90's

90's is the time zone when super and hypercar rules. This is the era of excessive power, extremely flashy design and explosive (not necessarily controllable) performance. Cars from this era makes current crops of supercar appears tame, clinical and nerdy.

One of the most interesting looking is this car, Art & Tech Sogna, which is based on Lamborghini Countach.

Read more after the jump.

Kia Sportage, Range Rover and Audi A1 - week 25 debutant

Week 25 is a busy week for Malaysia car distributor. No less than 3 new or facelift models were introduced.

New Kia Sportage, facelift Range Rover and new Audi A1 made their debut on our shore.

Read more after the jump.

BMW M5 - 552 bhp twin-turbo 4.4l V8 power

The headlines figure speaks for itself. 552 bhp and 680Nm V8 lump displacing 4.4l and forced by twin-turbocharger. Century sprint is completed in 4.4 seconds on its way to top speed of 155/190 mph, depending whether you choose Standard or M Driver package.

There's no extreme stylist cues on the car. Conforming to M-car customary, the body changes are pretty subtle and discrete, but agressive in detailing. Frontal view is dominated by gaping air intakes while subtle spoiler adorn the trunk lid. The bumper has M-sport overtones to it, but every curve has been enlarged and muscled out.

Enjoy the tasty photos after the jump.....

Nissan Lafesta

This car was launched in Japan recently. Essentially a rebadged Mazda 5, with some cosmetic changes for front fascia and most importantly, loses the side wavy lines. Personally I think this looks much better.

Same headlamps. But just look how big is the impact of front grill and bumper design. Gone is the fish face of Mazda5.

2011 Myvi Premium Automatic Test Drive Impression

The new Perodua Myvi 2011 has a lot of weight over its (little) shoulder. Its predecessor has set a clear benchmark on how small family hatchback should be designed, engineered and drive. That car was so easy to drive, small enough to chuck around tight city streets, yet spacious enough for family trip of 500km away using highway at speed no less than 130 km/h. How do I know? I'm also a Myvi driver and this set a perfect preset expectation on how this new Perodua mid-range model has progressed. Read on to see how this new car compared with its predecessor. The model I tested is the Premium Automatic version which cost RM 50,900 OTR.

Exterior Design

Front view is dominated by large uniquely shaped headlamp. The large grill opening is topped with chrome garnishing with prominent Perodua badge. The air intake on the bumper mirror the shape of radiator grill above it, flanked by fog lamp (Premium & Elegance model only) of both side.The body side is adorned with strong lines along the sills, surrounding the window and outer door handles. This greatly reduced the slab sided effect that is so obvious on outgoing model.

As can be seen above, there's a great detailing inside the headlight. The projector main beam is arranged above the signal lamp. The gap between bumper and panels is consistent and tight.

The rear end is simply more attractive than before. It is not a single surface boxy item anymore. Intricate taillights with intersecting lines from the flanks create a big volume to the rear end that also appear more rounded.

Flush panel fitting is observed through the rear, raising a high perceived quality of this car. Gone are simple rear combi of old, replaced with more modern item, with smooth integration with its surrounding panel with no different in height observed in the show car.

The new Perodua Myvi 2011 - Lagi Best

The much-awaited new Myvi has been launched tonight. The car has a big shoes to fill, as its predecessor is the best selling car in Malaysia, topping the sales chart almost every month since its launched in 2005.

Dimensionally, the new car is slightly shorter than the old Myvi at 3660mm    ( vs 3750mm for current car), similar width at 1665mm and slightly lower at 1545mm ( vs 1550 mm of current Myvi). Wheelbase is identical too to current model at 2440mm.Interior length is 15mm more than before but interior width is 20mm less, despite identical width to the old car. This is due to the thicker door trim.

Difference in exterior dimension is demonstrated below ( difference with old model in bracket)

Exterior styling

The new model is so obviously more stylish than the current model. As Perodua discover their competencies in advanced styling surfacing, the design of their car become more intricate. The headlight is no longer a simple triangulated item, now more pentagon in shape, with complicated inner panel to match ( with projector headlamp no less).

Side mirror too get some "filleting" treatment. Character line was also put in the transition zone between tailgate panel and the rear glass.

Side profile is now garnished with character lines than run around the side window, like Alza. This greatly reduce the effect of slab sided of current Myvi.

As for the rear end, the tailgate now featuring character line than runs from the taillights.

Interior Design

The interior is drastically different not only to current Myvi, but also bear no resemblance to its Japanese sibling, Toyota Passo and Daihatsu Boon.

Perodua Myvi 2011 - Standard and Premium Brochure

Sourced from http://www.buy-perodua.com/. Below is the brochure for Myvi 2011 - Standard and Premium variant.

Perodua Myvi Elegance full brochure

Brochure for Perodua Myvi Elegance, source from http://www.buy-perodua.com/ . Extra equipment noted over standard and premium variants are bodykit, chrome door handles, leather seat cover and touch screen ICE. Refer the brochure for greater detail.

Myvi 2011 - final puff of photos before launching

http://www.buy-perodua.com/ has some more photos of the new Myvi. Head to that blog for full price list and also specs for each of the variant ( Standard, Premium and Elegance).

The car comes with Isofix seat mount, Electric Power Steering, Power retractable side mirror and projector headlamps.

It can be seen that the Standard and Premium model has different fabric grade. The top one is standard, while the bottom one is more premium looking. We already know that the auto and manual version will have different placement for gear shifter. For auto version, lack of shifter at the floor console leave a sizeable oblong-shaped storage space, in addition to dual cupholder at the front of the console, similar to current Myvi. The rear edge of the floor console looks carry-over to me, from current Myvi, I'll reconfirm when I visit the showroom. The picture also reveal the design of front door trim, which feature grab handle. I would guess the accent on the grab handles willl be model-grade spesific, with the premium model here looks like silver accent.

Perodua Myvi 2011 advertisement in Mudah

Seems that the eager Perodua salesman has put up an advertisement for the new 2011 Myvi. Below are the photos. It is clear that this could be their internal event, as all the people in there seems to wear same shirt, probably the new Myvi shirt

Nissan Grand Livina Facelift

Nissan has launched the facelifted Grand Livina. Cosmetically, the new facelift is differentiated by different front grille design. The 1.6 variant gets the smoke-plated treatment, while the 1.8 version is chrome plated. This differentiation in plating is no different from pre-facelift model. Wing mirror with a turn indicator is also a new addition.

The interior is now black in color. 1.6 version gets black facbric, while the 1.8 version get black leather as standard. Tan leather option is available for both model for RM 2,000.

Brochure - New Myvi 2011

Arena Kereta has published the leaked brochure of new Myvi. Apparently, there will be 3 variants; Standard, Premium and Elegance.



Tentatively the price are as follow:

RM44,926.00 (M) Standard
RM47,726.00 (M) Premium
RM54,908.00 (M) Elegance
RM47,926.00 (A) Standard
RM50,726.00 (A) Premium
RM57,908.00 (A) Elegance

2012 Mercedes M-Class revealed

Mercedes-Benz has unveiled the new M-Class SUV at Stuttgart yesterday. The new car is the third generation of the SUV. The model will debut at Frankfurt Motorshow later in the year.



More prominent front grill with greater detailing than outgoing model



Wrap around rear combi, similar C-pillar styling cue to previous model

 

At launch, the SUV will be available with 3 engines; ML250 Bluetech with 2.1 litre 4-cylinder diesel. This powertrain produced 204 PS and 500 Nm of power and torque respectively.

Second variant is ML350 Bluetech, equipped with 3.0 V6 diesel and produced 258 PS and a whopping 619 Nm of power and torque respectively.

Third variant is for petrol lover,  ML350 Blueefficiency. It is powered by 3.5 V6 that produced 306 PS and 370 Nm of power and torque.

All powertrain option are paired with 7G-Tronic plus transmission with all-wheel-drive.

Perodua New Myvi 2011 - seen on TV3

Perodua has previewed their latest baby on TV3, auto section. Of course one can viewed it again on their websites. The review has reveal few more new facts about the new Myvi. Firstly, like Alza, the auto version will have its gear lever on the dash, while the manual one remains on the floor console. In what look like a higher-trim  version, GPS, touch screen and a very premium meter binnacles are featured.

Very classy meter binnacle - very Camry-like

High end variant have a premium audio system

Automatic variant with dash-mounted shifter

Premium audio systems seems to be GPS-enabled too

Storage cubby holes replaces the shifter on manual variant, better executed than manual Alza

Bentley Continental GT in Malaysia

Bentley KL launched the second generation of Continental GT model yesterday. The entry price is RM 1.74m, excluding insurance and before option. The upper limit is up to your own taste.

Truly the car cater the upper echelon of the market, the car is a true craftsmanship product. Expansive (and expensive) hides, wooden panelling, aluminum accents and extreme detailing complete the interior experience.

60 minutes to refresh your Proton

Proton has introduced a "60 minutes express service" to its costomer, part of initiative to enhance its customer service and satisfaction.

Initially available at 21 outlets, this scheme cover lubes  and filters change as well as 18 points quality and safety check. Under this deal, no pay nothing if they exceed 60 minutes mark.

The catch is this deal is available only by appointment, from Monday to Friday only.

Perodua also introduced similar scheme sometimes back. But from my experience, as soon as you add one more task item, for example " absorber make some sound", one hour deal is not honoured anymore!

Myvi 2011 - count down towards 16 June

Some more pics of new Myvi 2011.