Ever since the R35 Nissan GT-R was introduced in 2008, it basically rewrote the history books on how a supercar can be beaten by superb engineering. Nissan turned the supercar industry upside down with the might GT-R that easily show many supercars a clean pair of heels. The car was made so fast and so easy to drive that one often wonder if there is any skill involved in driving it. As prices for used specimens fall when the newer updated models are released the GT-R has become more affordable to a larger crowd.
Of late, there has been hundreds of used GT-R hitting the streets, many bought by young drivers. The next question is about responsibility. There has been numerous fatal accidents involving GT-Rs that are raced on the streets and highways. The car may make the driver feel like god behind the wheel but there are physical limits. the danger comes when the car is driven beyond those limits and the car will likely end up in a wall or an armco barrier.
The limits of the car is extremely high and the onboard computer will do its best to keep the car under control but there is something called physics and no matter what the on-board computer will do to protect the car, for example: going into a tight 90 degree turn at 180km/h will likely spell trouble. The high limits makes giving a false sense of confidence. The car is ridiculously easy to drive fast and this is like giving a big machine gun to a child. The problem doesn't end there because the car is so easy to modify to boost power many of the owners have gone on to up the car's power beyond 600hp.
The worst thing about this is that many of the young guys who buy this car think they are Lewis Hamilton and is the best driver on earth! the car naturally helps stroke the already inflated ego since most of the work is done by the car. A fat ego, a super fast car and perception of one's amazing skill equals trouble!
We have seen many GT-R owners bragging about how good they are or how fast they are at the pub but are they really that good? if you take them out of the GT-R and put them in a 125cc go-kart how will they perform? I believe that more than 90% of them can barely come within 5 seconds of the lap record on an said go kart track.
Tuesday 2 December 2014
Low Octane fuel and American cars
During my recent trip to the US I rented a Dodge Charger 3.6 for the fun of it to see if regular American cars made any progress in terms of development. Here are my findings:
- the car's engine is lazy as usual with good torque at low rpm but the fun stops there!
- the suspension is soft as expected and has good cushy ride on the highways
- the transmission (6 speed auto I think), we acceptable but not particularly fast
- fuel consumption, returned about 30 MPG+ (according to the onboard computer)
The strange thing about this car is that knowing full well that in the west coast of the United States you can easily get RON87 fuel which is super low grade by developed country standards. The car's engine started knocking at 4,500rpm using RON87. I would think that Dodge would design the engine to run efficiently on RON87 since it is a common fuel in US.
I had the chance to dyno test the car to see how much power it would produce at the wheels, to my surprise the 3.6 litre engine only managed 191hp at the wheels which is very low. I would imagine that the transmission would have sapped out about 25% but 191 hp is very low.
The car felt clumsy to drive around the city but was comfortable on the highway. I am not sure how much worst it was before this but in terms of car development the average American car is nowhere near the Europeans or the Japanese!
- the car's engine is lazy as usual with good torque at low rpm but the fun stops there!
- the suspension is soft as expected and has good cushy ride on the highways
- the transmission (6 speed auto I think), we acceptable but not particularly fast
- fuel consumption, returned about 30 MPG+ (according to the onboard computer)
The strange thing about this car is that knowing full well that in the west coast of the United States you can easily get RON87 fuel which is super low grade by developed country standards. The car's engine started knocking at 4,500rpm using RON87. I would think that Dodge would design the engine to run efficiently on RON87 since it is a common fuel in US.
I had the chance to dyno test the car to see how much power it would produce at the wheels, to my surprise the 3.6 litre engine only managed 191hp at the wheels which is very low. I would imagine that the transmission would have sapped out about 25% but 191 hp is very low.
The car felt clumsy to drive around the city but was comfortable on the highway. I am not sure how much worst it was before this but in terms of car development the average American car is nowhere near the Europeans or the Japanese!
Thursday 27 November 2014
Porsche 991 GT3
I have driven many supercars and sports cars in my life but not all are as good as they appear. There is the Mclaren MP4-12C, looks great, very fast but lacks character and soul. Then there is the Nissan GT-R, high capable supercar killer that makes everyone who drives it think they are a hero! No thanks to that, many young punks who buy this car end up killing themselves when they drive beyond the limits of the car.
I could be considered old school in my thinking but I like a sports car or a supercar that I can feel and connect with. The 911 has been a very traditional type of sportscar that has evolved over time to be the superlative supercar. It is not as fast as cars such as the Koenigsegg, Pagani or even the Mclaren but the main difference is that the 911 evolved step by step over time and did not go for out right power. it kept to its design philosophy and made the driving experience pure.
The new 991 is somewhat an interesting animal because of the changes made to the car from the 997. The new car has electric power steering and the new torque vectoring system to give the car better handling. Naturally for Porsche their main selling models will be the Carrera and the Carrera S models which are easy to drive in the city, comfortable highway cruiser and a good weekend warrior sports car. However, for those who are in the market for a real "driver's car", the GT3 is the best of the lot. It is not as fast and the Turbo or the Turbo S in a straight line but boy does it put a simple on your face when you throw the GT3 around corners.
The key difference of the GT3 vs the faster Turbo models is that there is no turbo lag, despite the Turbo models having very little turbo lag these days. The GT3's power delivery is clean, very predictable and linear making it very predict how the car will behave when you are very aggressive on the throttle. Driving the GT3 is not all about power, it is how the car is able to be so precise and agile at the same time.
The GT3 as a complete package is by far the best driver's car in the market in my opinion. Some would beg to differ saying that the Ferrari 458 Speciale is better and faster but the Porsche is anytime more accessible and is way cheaper than the 458 Speciale.
The GT3's active rear wheel steering system works brilliantly to make the car so agile and able to carry so much speed around turns. The way the engine is so eager to rev to 9000rpm is simply amazing similar to the Honda S2000 engine by only bigger, louder and much more power. The chassis is also very well tuned to provide so much feedback to the driver and you can feel everything that's happening under the car and if the tail will step out and how much opposite lock you need to dial in to keep the car under control.
Having the engine over the rear wheels have previously made the 911 a difficult car to drive as the rear acts like a pendulum but the new 991 models have made this very manageable and easy to live with. This is serious progress in terms of development.
I could be considered old school in my thinking but I like a sports car or a supercar that I can feel and connect with. The 911 has been a very traditional type of sportscar that has evolved over time to be the superlative supercar. It is not as fast as cars such as the Koenigsegg, Pagani or even the Mclaren but the main difference is that the 911 evolved step by step over time and did not go for out right power. it kept to its design philosophy and made the driving experience pure.
The new 991 is somewhat an interesting animal because of the changes made to the car from the 997. The new car has electric power steering and the new torque vectoring system to give the car better handling. Naturally for Porsche their main selling models will be the Carrera and the Carrera S models which are easy to drive in the city, comfortable highway cruiser and a good weekend warrior sports car. However, for those who are in the market for a real "driver's car", the GT3 is the best of the lot. It is not as fast and the Turbo or the Turbo S in a straight line but boy does it put a simple on your face when you throw the GT3 around corners.
The key difference of the GT3 vs the faster Turbo models is that there is no turbo lag, despite the Turbo models having very little turbo lag these days. The GT3's power delivery is clean, very predictable and linear making it very predict how the car will behave when you are very aggressive on the throttle. Driving the GT3 is not all about power, it is how the car is able to be so precise and agile at the same time.
The GT3 as a complete package is by far the best driver's car in the market in my opinion. Some would beg to differ saying that the Ferrari 458 Speciale is better and faster but the Porsche is anytime more accessible and is way cheaper than the 458 Speciale.
The GT3's active rear wheel steering system works brilliantly to make the car so agile and able to carry so much speed around turns. The way the engine is so eager to rev to 9000rpm is simply amazing similar to the Honda S2000 engine by only bigger, louder and much more power. The chassis is also very well tuned to provide so much feedback to the driver and you can feel everything that's happening under the car and if the tail will step out and how much opposite lock you need to dial in to keep the car under control.
Having the engine over the rear wheels have previously made the 911 a difficult car to drive as the rear acts like a pendulum but the new 991 models have made this very manageable and easy to live with. This is serious progress in terms of development.
Thursday 18 September 2014
salt water powered supercar - Qaunt e-sportlimousine
Once in a while someone makes a massive breakthrough in technology and it has just happened in Europe with the Quant E-sportlimousine. It is the first car in the world to be powered electricity using salt water. This is amazing on many levels as salt water is abundant and the performance produced by the electric motors is nothing short of staggering.
Instead of normally charging the batteries of the car using electricity, the Quant E-sportlimousine uses salt water with a chemical reaction to create electricity. It promises very good driving range of 600km and incredible power and torque figures. There is an electric motor attached to each wheel and is computer controlled to allow it to determine how much power and torque is sent to each wheel which is handy for torque vectoring to optimise performance.
The big surprise is that the car produces 644hp and 8552 lbs-ft of torque!! that is more torque than 10 supercars added together!! The concept also took the storage of electricity to another level for cars. Instead of just charging up the batteries the traditional way, it can be topped up by replenishing electrolytes which is kind of like adding gasoline to the car. The energy is stored in 2 large capacitors from which the electric motors draw their energy from.
Once this technology is able to be made more affordable I believe more cars will be using this technology instead of the existing flawed hybrid system or the current pure electric car system with limited operating range.
Instead of normally charging the batteries of the car using electricity, the Quant E-sportlimousine uses salt water with a chemical reaction to create electricity. It promises very good driving range of 600km and incredible power and torque figures. There is an electric motor attached to each wheel and is computer controlled to allow it to determine how much power and torque is sent to each wheel which is handy for torque vectoring to optimise performance.
The big surprise is that the car produces 644hp and 8552 lbs-ft of torque!! that is more torque than 10 supercars added together!! The concept also took the storage of electricity to another level for cars. Instead of just charging up the batteries the traditional way, it can be topped up by replenishing electrolytes which is kind of like adding gasoline to the car. The energy is stored in 2 large capacitors from which the electric motors draw their energy from.
Once this technology is able to be made more affordable I believe more cars will be using this technology instead of the existing flawed hybrid system or the current pure electric car system with limited operating range.
Tuesday 26 August 2014
Why are the Japanese car makers still using CVT transmission?
In the last 8 years the Japanese car makers have been using CVT transmission is most of their cars with the exception of Mazda and Suzuki. All the other Japanese brands such as Toyota, Honda, Nissan, subaru and Mitsubishi use the CVT transmission extensively in their model range. The most extreme being Subaru who actually used the CVT transmission for the new Subaru WRX. Unlike the Japanese, the Koreans and German car makers either did no adopt the CVT or abandoned it quickly after 1 generation of models.
CVT is suppose to be more fuel efficient than regular torque converter type automatics but it dulls down the driving experience to the point where the car is boring to drive. The simulated gear shifts programmed into the CVT transmission makes it feel like it is changing gears but the driving experience is still numb to say the least. Furthermore the transmission is unable to handle sudden increase in torque if the car's engine is modified.
I am wondering when the Japanese car makers will wake up and switch twin clutch gear boxes.
CVT is suppose to be more fuel efficient than regular torque converter type automatics but it dulls down the driving experience to the point where the car is boring to drive. The simulated gear shifts programmed into the CVT transmission makes it feel like it is changing gears but the driving experience is still numb to say the least. Furthermore the transmission is unable to handle sudden increase in torque if the car's engine is modified.
I am wondering when the Japanese car makers will wake up and switch twin clutch gear boxes.
Wednesday 13 August 2014
evolution of tyre technology
The black round things that keep our cars on the road that we call tyres or tires (US spelling) has been around for more than 100 years but the concept of it has not really changed. It is still filled with air or nitrogen and will puncture if it hits a nail or a sharp object. Tyres of course have become stronger, more durable and also more resistant to heat and also is able to withstand more damage. Comparing a tyre made in the 1990s and a tyre now, the new tyre is able to withstand much higher speeds (high performance tyres) and offer much better grip and return better fuel economy.
Materials used to make tyres have also evolved in search for better performance.
Many years ago a concept developed by Michelin appeared in some car magazines and this concept tyre did not use air. The outer tread is suspended on rubber spokes on the inside (kind of like a bicycle wheel). Many observers thought that this idea was brilliant since the tyres will never go flat due to a nail or damage from sharp objects. It is still unsure why until today it has not gone into production. Perhaps the tyre companies probably thought that they would loose a lot of money from the reduction of replacement tyre sales resulting in damaged tyres. The tyre companies would only make money on selling replacement tyres that had no more tread left. There is also the possibility that the spokes inside could make the ride harder since you cannot alter the air pressure inside.
Materials used to make tyres have also evolved in search for better performance.
Many years ago a concept developed by Michelin appeared in some car magazines and this concept tyre did not use air. The outer tread is suspended on rubber spokes on the inside (kind of like a bicycle wheel). Many observers thought that this idea was brilliant since the tyres will never go flat due to a nail or damage from sharp objects. It is still unsure why until today it has not gone into production. Perhaps the tyre companies probably thought that they would loose a lot of money from the reduction of replacement tyre sales resulting in damaged tyres. The tyre companies would only make money on selling replacement tyres that had no more tread left. There is also the possibility that the spokes inside could make the ride harder since you cannot alter the air pressure inside.
Tuesday 5 August 2014
going electric
As far as we can think back the car has always run on gasoline or diesel but due to the ever rising cost of fossil fuel this will eventually come to an end. Electric cars seems to be making big in roads into the automotive world. Initially many people were skeptical about electric cars with many commenting about the possibility of electromagnetic radiation, short driving range and long charging times and the possible dangers of the car being stuck in a flood. Toyota's hybrid cars were a good in between solution that offered the best of both worlds but the problems came with the recycling of the batteries and the diminishing battery life.
Some car companies took it one step further by developing sporty electric cars to make it more appealing since the regular electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf was boring to say the least. Tesla Motors took the concept and made it much better by introducing better driving range, luxurious interiors and more efficient use of the power. BMW on the other hand turned their attention to the i3 and i8 both of which are revolutionary to some degree. Keeping true to their motto of making "ultimate driving machine", BMW made the i3 as the city car with an optional gasoline range extender motor and the i8 as the first electric sports car.
Despite earlier criticisms by motoring journalists, BMW managed to prove that their electric cars are worthy of the BMW badge and made the car enjoyable to drive.
The number of pure electric cars sold worldwide is less than 1% of the total volume of cars sold but the number is growing steadily, more so in developed countries where the charging infrastructure is better. Countries like Japan hybrid and electric cars are common as many car parks have charging facility for electric cars.
Once car companies are able to squeeze out a range of 500km on a single charge I believe will be a big impact on the sales of electric cars. The range anxiety problem is still common until now since many of the current electric cars only offer up to 250km range but in reality most of them run out of power by 180km. this basically restricts the owners of driving long distance with the electric car.
The introduction of the induction charging system will help with the sales of electric cars to some degree but someone has to bear the cost of installing the system in public places to allow the electric cars to be charged while stationary.
More evolution of the electric car is yet to come. It will get seriously interesting when the electric cars are self driven and is capable of driving ranges in excess of 500km on a single charge.
Some car companies took it one step further by developing sporty electric cars to make it more appealing since the regular electric cars such as the Nissan Leaf was boring to say the least. Tesla Motors took the concept and made it much better by introducing better driving range, luxurious interiors and more efficient use of the power. BMW on the other hand turned their attention to the i3 and i8 both of which are revolutionary to some degree. Keeping true to their motto of making "ultimate driving machine", BMW made the i3 as the city car with an optional gasoline range extender motor and the i8 as the first electric sports car.
Despite earlier criticisms by motoring journalists, BMW managed to prove that their electric cars are worthy of the BMW badge and made the car enjoyable to drive.
The number of pure electric cars sold worldwide is less than 1% of the total volume of cars sold but the number is growing steadily, more so in developed countries where the charging infrastructure is better. Countries like Japan hybrid and electric cars are common as many car parks have charging facility for electric cars.
Once car companies are able to squeeze out a range of 500km on a single charge I believe will be a big impact on the sales of electric cars. The range anxiety problem is still common until now since many of the current electric cars only offer up to 250km range but in reality most of them run out of power by 180km. this basically restricts the owners of driving long distance with the electric car.
The introduction of the induction charging system will help with the sales of electric cars to some degree but someone has to bear the cost of installing the system in public places to allow the electric cars to be charged while stationary.
More evolution of the electric car is yet to come. It will get seriously interesting when the electric cars are self driven and is capable of driving ranges in excess of 500km on a single charge.
Thursday 31 July 2014
the impending Doom of Malaysia's automotive industry
In the wake of the reappointment of Dr. Mahathir as Proton's chairman has led to another set back for the Malaysian automotive industry. As expected by many observers that if Dr. Mahathir is reappointed as the chairman of Proton he will exercise his influence over the company and the government. Since his reappointment he has requested US$2 billion from the Government to pay for all the research and development Proton has done. This of course to any sensible person would sound ridiculous since Proton is a private company and the Government should have nothing to do with how Proton performs.
It is widely expected that Dr. Mahathir will ask the Government to provide some sort of protection for Proton again. Proton has struggled with their new models in the recent years and saw their market share decline substantially. Proton being his pet project since the 1980s he was not going to let it close down without some kind of help. The problem is the help that he seeks is again from the Government which in turn gets money from the tax payers. Asking any man on the street whether they would want to see Proton be bailed out and the answer is a flat "NO!". The average Malaysian is sick and tired of having to pay high prices for something that is a necessity and not a luxury.
It won't be long before the Government will cave into the demands of Dr. Mahathir and impose some sort of protection for Proton at the expense of the other car makers who have invested billions to build their facilities in Malaysia.
The Government's original plan of liberalizing the automotive industry will definitely take a step back and that also means the end of lowering import taxes on cars. Foreign car companies who invested millions in their production or assembly plants will feel betrayed by the Government. No one would blame them for wanting to relocate their facilities to India or Indonesia where the market is bigger and they would not face such inconsistent policies from the Government.
No one wants to pay more than they have to for a simple car, but in Malaysia it is a luxury to own car no thanks to a certain individual who has their own personal agenda.
It is widely expected that Dr. Mahathir will ask the Government to provide some sort of protection for Proton again. Proton has struggled with their new models in the recent years and saw their market share decline substantially. Proton being his pet project since the 1980s he was not going to let it close down without some kind of help. The problem is the help that he seeks is again from the Government which in turn gets money from the tax payers. Asking any man on the street whether they would want to see Proton be bailed out and the answer is a flat "NO!". The average Malaysian is sick and tired of having to pay high prices for something that is a necessity and not a luxury.
It won't be long before the Government will cave into the demands of Dr. Mahathir and impose some sort of protection for Proton at the expense of the other car makers who have invested billions to build their facilities in Malaysia.
The Government's original plan of liberalizing the automotive industry will definitely take a step back and that also means the end of lowering import taxes on cars. Foreign car companies who invested millions in their production or assembly plants will feel betrayed by the Government. No one would blame them for wanting to relocate their facilities to India or Indonesia where the market is bigger and they would not face such inconsistent policies from the Government.
No one wants to pay more than they have to for a simple car, but in Malaysia it is a luxury to own car no thanks to a certain individual who has their own personal agenda.
Friday 20 June 2014
Supercar inter-car club endurance go kart race
Having been out of the racing seat for several years and minimal time in a go-kart in the last 5 years got me concerned when I represented the Porsche Club for the annual inter-car club Go kart endurance race. The odds were stacked against my team which was made up of former go-kart champions and hobby go-kart racers and we had to race against professionals who were active Touring car race drivers and former regional go-kart champions.
Looking ahead at the event endurance go-kart race is about consistency and reliability rather than outright speed. One of the drivers having the ability to put in super fast lap times every now and then will not cut it if the remainder of the team is slow. Finishing the race was also key to having the chance to win the race. We had to formulate our strategy in order to remain in the hunt.
Qualifying started and we qualified 4th in a field of 7 teams. Not good and not bad either. The top 3 positions were filled by teams who fielded professional drivers as expected. The crunch time came when the race started. Our objective was to always remain on the lead lap and never get ourselves one lap down. Driver 1 did a sterling job to keep our team on the lead lap and maintained our position of 4th overall when he came in for the driver change. Next up I had to take the driving honours and make sure that we remained in the hunt and not drop off a lap down. The other teams also chose to pit and change drivers.
The pressure was on me to made sure nothing goes wrong and not to wreck the kart. During my stint I was able to gain some advantage and passed 4 drivers (at this stage we unsure the positions of the other drivers) and made up ground and moved our team up to 2nd overall. Our 3rd driver once again continued the job and passed another 2 drivers (again not sure about the positions of other drivers) and moved us up to 1st.
Things started to get interesting as other teams started to have problems with their karts and were not pushing consistent lap times.On the second half of the race things got heated up as our team kept trading positions with 2 teams.
With the race coming to a close in 11 minutes we were 2nd overall but we had already done all our mandatory pit stops and the lead time still had to make their last pit stop. This gave us the advantage and our last drive was crucial to stay in the lead. The first team pitted and lost more than 30 seconds to us and were unable to make up ground.
On a day where we faced an uphill battle, our strategy and consistency prevailed and got us the trophy.
Looking ahead at the event endurance go-kart race is about consistency and reliability rather than outright speed. One of the drivers having the ability to put in super fast lap times every now and then will not cut it if the remainder of the team is slow. Finishing the race was also key to having the chance to win the race. We had to formulate our strategy in order to remain in the hunt.
Qualifying started and we qualified 4th in a field of 7 teams. Not good and not bad either. The top 3 positions were filled by teams who fielded professional drivers as expected. The crunch time came when the race started. Our objective was to always remain on the lead lap and never get ourselves one lap down. Driver 1 did a sterling job to keep our team on the lead lap and maintained our position of 4th overall when he came in for the driver change. Next up I had to take the driving honours and make sure that we remained in the hunt and not drop off a lap down. The other teams also chose to pit and change drivers.
The pressure was on me to made sure nothing goes wrong and not to wreck the kart. During my stint I was able to gain some advantage and passed 4 drivers (at this stage we unsure the positions of the other drivers) and made up ground and moved our team up to 2nd overall. Our 3rd driver once again continued the job and passed another 2 drivers (again not sure about the positions of other drivers) and moved us up to 1st.
Things started to get interesting as other teams started to have problems with their karts and were not pushing consistent lap times.On the second half of the race things got heated up as our team kept trading positions with 2 teams.
With the race coming to a close in 11 minutes we were 2nd overall but we had already done all our mandatory pit stops and the lead time still had to make their last pit stop. This gave us the advantage and our last drive was crucial to stay in the lead. The first team pitted and lost more than 30 seconds to us and were unable to make up ground.
On a day where we faced an uphill battle, our strategy and consistency prevailed and got us the trophy.
Sunday 25 May 2014
Proton appointed their founding father as the Chairman and Advisor
After floundering for years building rubbish quality cars that no one wants to buy, Proton decided to try to stop the slide by appointing their founder Dr. Mahathir as their Chairman and Advisor. Many observers are scoffing at this because Dr.M does not take competition lightly and only knows who to create protection for any company he has interests in. All this came in the wake of Malaysia starting to liberalize the automotive industry after decades of protectionism of Proton. Proton has failed miserably to make itself a proper global car maker despite having massive head starts over car companies from China, Korea and India. Proton was cash rich in the 1990s and made the biggest mistake of buying loss making motorcycle company Augusta and sports car maker Lotus.
Numerous Proton parts suppliers and consultants revealed that the company is not only riddled with corruption at almost every level but also their engineering team is incompetent. Parts suppliers complained that the only way to secure a parts supply deal is to provide sufficient kick backs to authorizing personnel in the company at the expense of quality parts which was hardly surprising since Proton parts are notoriously poor quality. Consultants who visited their plant and engineering team also noticed the engineering team's lack of expertise and knowledge on car design and manufacturing.
One of the main examples was the in-house designed Proton Satria Neo. The engineering team forgot to incorporate the height of the seat rails as part of the measurement for head room inside the car cabin, upon receiving the seats from the seat factory, they only realized that the seat rail had to be added! hence... the seat position is much higher than it should be and this affected the head room of the cabin. Tall drivers would struggle to get in and sit comfortably.
Proton's own design engine the Campro which supposedly was designed to have the cam profiling function to help engine performance was a fuel guzzler and lacked torque and refinement. The engine was coarse and matched to a poorly chosen transmission which made the car sluggish and dull to drive.
After being forced to buy a badly made and badly designed car, how much longer does the Malaysian public have to put up with such poor quality cars from Proton. If the company is losing money hand over fist and is incapable of designing their own cars the least it should do is shut down or just focus on rebadging better designed cars from other car manufacturers.
Dr.M's argument is that if Proton closed down over 100,000 people will lose their jobs. The answer to that is a YES and a NO. Yes. a lot of people will lose their jobs, No, if the Government does not have to protect Proton and liberalizes the car industry and mandate that foreign car companies must have a local assembly operation in the country in order to sell cars (or enjoy lower taxes), it would see that most of the 100,000 people be employed again plus create greater business and employment opportunities from the supporting industry for the investments pumped in by the foreign car companies.
Dr.M's argument is lame to say the least but it is a plain attempt to save the company he started.
Malaysia's automotive industry just became bleaker!
Numerous Proton parts suppliers and consultants revealed that the company is not only riddled with corruption at almost every level but also their engineering team is incompetent. Parts suppliers complained that the only way to secure a parts supply deal is to provide sufficient kick backs to authorizing personnel in the company at the expense of quality parts which was hardly surprising since Proton parts are notoriously poor quality. Consultants who visited their plant and engineering team also noticed the engineering team's lack of expertise and knowledge on car design and manufacturing.
One of the main examples was the in-house designed Proton Satria Neo. The engineering team forgot to incorporate the height of the seat rails as part of the measurement for head room inside the car cabin, upon receiving the seats from the seat factory, they only realized that the seat rail had to be added! hence... the seat position is much higher than it should be and this affected the head room of the cabin. Tall drivers would struggle to get in and sit comfortably.
Proton's own design engine the Campro which supposedly was designed to have the cam profiling function to help engine performance was a fuel guzzler and lacked torque and refinement. The engine was coarse and matched to a poorly chosen transmission which made the car sluggish and dull to drive.
After being forced to buy a badly made and badly designed car, how much longer does the Malaysian public have to put up with such poor quality cars from Proton. If the company is losing money hand over fist and is incapable of designing their own cars the least it should do is shut down or just focus on rebadging better designed cars from other car manufacturers.
Dr.M's argument is that if Proton closed down over 100,000 people will lose their jobs. The answer to that is a YES and a NO. Yes. a lot of people will lose their jobs, No, if the Government does not have to protect Proton and liberalizes the car industry and mandate that foreign car companies must have a local assembly operation in the country in order to sell cars (or enjoy lower taxes), it would see that most of the 100,000 people be employed again plus create greater business and employment opportunities from the supporting industry for the investments pumped in by the foreign car companies.
Dr.M's argument is lame to say the least but it is a plain attempt to save the company he started.
Malaysia's automotive industry just became bleaker!
Wednesday 7 May 2014
BMW i8 - signs of things to come
BMW recently introduced their i8 hybrid sports car. On paper it looks quite impressive considering that it has a 3 cylinder 1.5 litre turbo engine with an electric motor. The design is very clever in the way that it uses both the engine and motor for real performance that can humble traditional sports cars but yet return fantastic fuel economy. The car was designed with a single purpose of efficiency but not forgetting the fun factor. The electric motor offers serious grunt when the driver calls upon maximum performance.
The car does not look ugly like a typical boring Japanese hybrid. It turns the design concept upside down where the exterior and interior looks like the car is from 20 years in the future. The car on its own looks like something from Buck Rogers and instills some curiosity from onlookers and also the driver.
I believe that this car is quite a revolution in the hybrid world and is definitely going to change the way we look at hybrid engine and hybrid cars. It is not something to laugh but it definitely a great step forward for hybrid cars. BMW did think completely outside the box when designing and engineering the i8 and they did a fantastic job.
The car does not look ugly like a typical boring Japanese hybrid. It turns the design concept upside down where the exterior and interior looks like the car is from 20 years in the future. The car on its own looks like something from Buck Rogers and instills some curiosity from onlookers and also the driver.
I believe that this car is quite a revolution in the hybrid world and is definitely going to change the way we look at hybrid engine and hybrid cars. It is not something to laugh but it definitely a great step forward for hybrid cars. BMW did think completely outside the box when designing and engineering the i8 and they did a fantastic job.
Monday 21 April 2014
Luxgen Taiwan - Taiwan's own home grown car maker
For a small country Taiwan has done very well for itself especially in the technology and consumer electronics field. It is known for their big brands like Acer, HTC, Mio, Garmin, Asus and Tatung. It was never know for its automotive industry because in the past all it did was sell cars made in Europe, US, Korea and Japan.
6 years ago major car assembly company YuLong decided to take a big risk and embark on making their own car branded as Luxgen. Up to now they have 4 production models with another 2 possible new models hitting the market in 2015. For a car company with so little history they have done very well. The engine is self developed and coupled with an Aisin 6 speed gearbox. The engineering team took a lot of lessons from other car companies by sharing parts and platform to keep the production costs low. Their current model line up include a SUV, MPV, cross over SUV and a sedan. Each model has some similarity with one another showing their same Luxgen DNA.
Being an electronics hub in Asia, Luxgen took the opportunity and fully equip the car with electronic gadgetry such as multi camera parking system, full multimedia system, digital displays, climate control air conditioning, multi sensor parking system and an innovative dash board design. Luxgen showed its dedication to improve their car by constantly researching new parts and components to help their car compete with bigger car makers with more experience.
In early 2014, Luxgen's R&D team based in Taipei set the lap record for a production car in the Pen Bay Circuit beating other major car makers.
Their cars are now sold in China, Russia, Middle East and Vietnam. it is always good to see a new car maker trying their very best to improve themselves to make themselves competitive on the world stage.
6 years ago major car assembly company YuLong decided to take a big risk and embark on making their own car branded as Luxgen. Up to now they have 4 production models with another 2 possible new models hitting the market in 2015. For a car company with so little history they have done very well. The engine is self developed and coupled with an Aisin 6 speed gearbox. The engineering team took a lot of lessons from other car companies by sharing parts and platform to keep the production costs low. Their current model line up include a SUV, MPV, cross over SUV and a sedan. Each model has some similarity with one another showing their same Luxgen DNA.
Being an electronics hub in Asia, Luxgen took the opportunity and fully equip the car with electronic gadgetry such as multi camera parking system, full multimedia system, digital displays, climate control air conditioning, multi sensor parking system and an innovative dash board design. Luxgen showed its dedication to improve their car by constantly researching new parts and components to help their car compete with bigger car makers with more experience.
In early 2014, Luxgen's R&D team based in Taipei set the lap record for a production car in the Pen Bay Circuit beating other major car makers.
Their cars are now sold in China, Russia, Middle East and Vietnam. it is always good to see a new car maker trying their very best to improve themselves to make themselves competitive on the world stage.
Tuesday 18 March 2014
Coming to terms with a 997 Carrera S
Having finally bought myself a 997 Carrera S, it took me a while to really come to terms with this car. I have owned all types of front engine turbo cars with front drive and rear drive and even four wheel drive. I test drove a lot of 911s in my life together with the Caymans and Boxsters but never owned one long term until recently.
I did spend 2 full days in a 997 turbo prior to my purchase and I found the car too light at the front for my liking but then again that car had a tonne of torque which meant that under heavy acceleration the front will naturally lift and make the front end feel very light.
The 997 Carrera S was actually very easy to live with and having a naturally aspirated 3.8 litre engine mated to the PDK gearbox the car was very tractable at low speeds. The newer 3.8 litre engine in this car had direct injection which helped the car's engine response even with the slightest touch of the throttle.
Most people who say that having driven a 997 Turbo you would love to have that extra 80hp but in reality the Carrera S is fast enough and gives you a greater sensation of control and feel of the car rather than just the massive shove in the back when the turbo kicks in. The front end of the car did feel light like a typical 911 but it was not as pronounced as the turbo model. The car's turn in was good and the wide rear tyres was confidence inspiring. Where I live requires me to drive through a winding street that snakes around a hill giving me plenty of chance to put the car through its pace. If a car does not have good handling the effect is very clearly demonstrated on this piece or tarmac. The 3.8 litre engine is very linear in power delivery which means that it is very predictable to drive.
the only 1 gripe with the car is the brakes. It takes a bit of getting used to. The driver has to press quite hard on the brake pedal to initiate any kind of speed retardation but once you get used to this the brakes are actually very good.
The best part about the car was the Sport Chrono function which came with the Sport Plus button. This little button really changes the behavior of the car from sporty to very angry. The engine would very willing spin to the redline and the suspension will stiffen up to reduce body roll. The animal really comes out and feels like the car will squeeze out the extra 5 to 10hp. It is definitely more applicable on the race track but nevertheless it is still fun on a empty piece of road.
Many motoring journalists have given good reviews about the 911 as the sports car of the century. I have to agree. The engineers have poured in enough hours to improve the car to such a point that it is a real driver's car. they also managed to overcome the rear pendulum effect and made the car drive very well.
I did spend 2 full days in a 997 turbo prior to my purchase and I found the car too light at the front for my liking but then again that car had a tonne of torque which meant that under heavy acceleration the front will naturally lift and make the front end feel very light.
The 997 Carrera S was actually very easy to live with and having a naturally aspirated 3.8 litre engine mated to the PDK gearbox the car was very tractable at low speeds. The newer 3.8 litre engine in this car had direct injection which helped the car's engine response even with the slightest touch of the throttle.
Most people who say that having driven a 997 Turbo you would love to have that extra 80hp but in reality the Carrera S is fast enough and gives you a greater sensation of control and feel of the car rather than just the massive shove in the back when the turbo kicks in. The front end of the car did feel light like a typical 911 but it was not as pronounced as the turbo model. The car's turn in was good and the wide rear tyres was confidence inspiring. Where I live requires me to drive through a winding street that snakes around a hill giving me plenty of chance to put the car through its pace. If a car does not have good handling the effect is very clearly demonstrated on this piece or tarmac. The 3.8 litre engine is very linear in power delivery which means that it is very predictable to drive.
the only 1 gripe with the car is the brakes. It takes a bit of getting used to. The driver has to press quite hard on the brake pedal to initiate any kind of speed retardation but once you get used to this the brakes are actually very good.
The best part about the car was the Sport Chrono function which came with the Sport Plus button. This little button really changes the behavior of the car from sporty to very angry. The engine would very willing spin to the redline and the suspension will stiffen up to reduce body roll. The animal really comes out and feels like the car will squeeze out the extra 5 to 10hp. It is definitely more applicable on the race track but nevertheless it is still fun on a empty piece of road.
Many motoring journalists have given good reviews about the 911 as the sports car of the century. I have to agree. The engineers have poured in enough hours to improve the car to such a point that it is a real driver's car. they also managed to overcome the rear pendulum effect and made the car drive very well.
Monday 17 March 2014
F1 - the new vs the old
The new Formula One season just kicked off with the Australian GP. The big difference this year is the introduction of new regulations with new engines and new KERS system. All the changes were made to make the sport more exciting and also to make the sport Greener! if that is ever possible!
The new 1.6 litre turbo engine is aimed at higher fuel efficiency but it has taken away the shrieking exhaust note from the old 2.4 litre V8 engine. Many fans complained that the car has lost its character and is no longer as interesting. Apart from the sound the new regulations have made the sport more interesting from the spectators point of view. The new KERS system is much more powerful with 160hp extra power and 33 seconds worth of boost. The drag reduction system also has a greater effect allowing easier overtaking.
The smaller front and rear wings also mean that the cars will have less down force making it more tricky to drive this will see more drivers making mistakes to allow more overtaking. The first race was a good preview of what is yet to come for this season. Some of the former midfield teams may just pull out some surprises over the top teams.
Several of the rookies showed their skill in the season opening race with Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo making a name for themselves by taking on the former world champions and beating them convincingly. The 2014 will definitely shape up to be an exciting season indeed.
The new 1.6 litre turbo engine is aimed at higher fuel efficiency but it has taken away the shrieking exhaust note from the old 2.4 litre V8 engine. Many fans complained that the car has lost its character and is no longer as interesting. Apart from the sound the new regulations have made the sport more interesting from the spectators point of view. The new KERS system is much more powerful with 160hp extra power and 33 seconds worth of boost. The drag reduction system also has a greater effect allowing easier overtaking.
The smaller front and rear wings also mean that the cars will have less down force making it more tricky to drive this will see more drivers making mistakes to allow more overtaking. The first race was a good preview of what is yet to come for this season. Some of the former midfield teams may just pull out some surprises over the top teams.
Several of the rookies showed their skill in the season opening race with Kevin Magnussen and Daniel Ricciardo making a name for themselves by taking on the former world champions and beating them convincingly. The 2014 will definitely shape up to be an exciting season indeed.
Wednesday 12 March 2014
Proton asking USD1billion to develop a new car
It is hardly surprising to read that Proton is once again struggling. No one really wants to buy their new car or existing cars unless they cannot help it financially. Their sales figures have been on the decline and new models are not selling as fast as they had hoped. They recently asked the Malaysian government for US$1 billion to help them fund the research and development of a new model. The level of corruption in Proton is well known among many suppliers who previously supplied parts to them. The US$1 billion request is scoffed at by the public as many believe that half of that money will end up in the pockets of a few people in the company.
Realistically Proton could easily adopt a much easier route if they were serious about developing a new model in the attempt to do real honest business. They can easily buy an existing chassis from a major car company and buy the engine and transmission from another, or simply do a rebadging job and alter the physical appearance to call it their own. Since they don't have the right engineering team to develop a car ground up that is worthy to compete on the global market, they are better of just doing a rebadging job. Saves them time, money and they can offer more models to the market which will help them take a slice in the market in various market segments.
With the founder Dr. Mahathir leaving the company as advisor, the company is in a predicament where they do not have someone of power to lean on to for help. The company has been protected long enough and until today they cannot compete in the domestic market without protection. Shouldn't it be time for this poor excuse for a car company to shut down and call it a day instead of continuing to burden the Malaysian public!
Realistically Proton could easily adopt a much easier route if they were serious about developing a new model in the attempt to do real honest business. They can easily buy an existing chassis from a major car company and buy the engine and transmission from another, or simply do a rebadging job and alter the physical appearance to call it their own. Since they don't have the right engineering team to develop a car ground up that is worthy to compete on the global market, they are better of just doing a rebadging job. Saves them time, money and they can offer more models to the market which will help them take a slice in the market in various market segments.
With the founder Dr. Mahathir leaving the company as advisor, the company is in a predicament where they do not have someone of power to lean on to for help. The company has been protected long enough and until today they cannot compete in the domestic market without protection. Shouldn't it be time for this poor excuse for a car company to shut down and call it a day instead of continuing to burden the Malaysian public!
Tuesday 11 March 2014
Has Japan finally caught the engine downsizing bug?
It appears that Honda will be among the first Japanese car makers to follow the Europeans to downsize their engines and couple it with a turbo charger. It is about time too!! The Europeans have been doing this for about 10 years. The news is definitely exciting as Honda was a proponent in turbo charging back in the 1980s and now they are back to it again.
It will be interesting to see how Honda's new engines will compare against the European car makers. The newer turbo technology has made turbo charging more appealing than before offering better efficiency and also less turbo lag.
The soon to be released Honda Civic Type R will be the first of the Type R models to feature a turbo charged engine with impressive performance figures. This car will likely give VW and Audi a run for their money performance wise and it is likely that the car will also be cheaper than the VW and Audi.
We shall see which other Japanese car company will follow this direction.
It will be interesting to see how Honda's new engines will compare against the European car makers. The newer turbo technology has made turbo charging more appealing than before offering better efficiency and also less turbo lag.
The soon to be released Honda Civic Type R will be the first of the Type R models to feature a turbo charged engine with impressive performance figures. This car will likely give VW and Audi a run for their money performance wise and it is likely that the car will also be cheaper than the VW and Audi.
We shall see which other Japanese car company will follow this direction.
Sunday 26 January 2014
2014 National Automotive Policy
The Malaysian Govt recent announced the much awaited National Automotive Policy. This is the new policy to be introduced since 2009. It appears that nothing much has changed and protecting the local automotive industry has done nothing for improving the country's automotive industry.
The 2014 policy saw the removal of the tax exemption for imported Hybrid vehicles and the government back tracking on its pledge to remove the APs (approved permits) for importation of cars at the end of 2015. As expected the policy is geared toward protecting Proton and the companies linked to the Government leaving the man on the street to bear the high cost of car ownership.
During the announcement several top management executives from major car companies were seen cringing and make statements such as "Unbelievable!" due to their frustration. It is evident that the policy has only benefited a very select few and the rest are left to work within the framework. Frustrating as it may be there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the Malaysian automotive industry. The policies so far has yielded insignificant levels of investment from foreign car makers and many have opted to focus their investments in neighouring countries such as Thailand and Indonesia.
The recent KL International motorshow was a good example of the state of affairs for the Malaysian automotive industry. The government claims that they cannot lower the taxes of the cars due to the fact that the Government is in need of money. Heavily taxing the cars only causes more financial burden on the public and in a country where public transport is not well planned and inefficient buying a car is a necessity.
Now there is rumour that the government will revoke the fuel subsidy for people with a certain level of income and provide the subsidy for the poor. this is again open to abuse and cannot be adequately policed effectively.
The 2014 policy saw the removal of the tax exemption for imported Hybrid vehicles and the government back tracking on its pledge to remove the APs (approved permits) for importation of cars at the end of 2015. As expected the policy is geared toward protecting Proton and the companies linked to the Government leaving the man on the street to bear the high cost of car ownership.
During the announcement several top management executives from major car companies were seen cringing and make statements such as "Unbelievable!" due to their frustration. It is evident that the policy has only benefited a very select few and the rest are left to work within the framework. Frustrating as it may be there is no light at the end of the tunnel for the Malaysian automotive industry. The policies so far has yielded insignificant levels of investment from foreign car makers and many have opted to focus their investments in neighouring countries such as Thailand and Indonesia.
The recent KL International motorshow was a good example of the state of affairs for the Malaysian automotive industry. The government claims that they cannot lower the taxes of the cars due to the fact that the Government is in need of money. Heavily taxing the cars only causes more financial burden on the public and in a country where public transport is not well planned and inefficient buying a car is a necessity.
Now there is rumour that the government will revoke the fuel subsidy for people with a certain level of income and provide the subsidy for the poor. this is again open to abuse and cannot be adequately policed effectively.
VW's reputation in Malaysia
Volkswagen did a great job in the last few years promoting its cars and its brand. Their market share increased significantly over the years and is the top selling German car brand in Malaysia. With the growth it naturally sounds good but the problem came when they did not put much emphasis on after sales. With more cars sold the number of problems also grew. Many were the lower powered engined cars with the dry clutch DSG transmission.
Of late Facebook has been the place where disgruntled owners have vented their frustration about the lack of support and service by VW centres. The cars are all sold with 5 years warranty with the warranty made up of 2 years manufacturer's warranty and the balance of the 3 years supported by Allianz insurance. The problems came when the owners made claims after 2 years of ownership and Allianz would drag their feet to honor the claims. There are also cases where the VW warranty is not honored when the customer supposedly missed the service or was late to service their car by 300km which in our opinion is ridiculous considering that scheduling a service will take 2 weeks and to tell the owner not to drive their car for 2 weeks fearing that their warranty will be void once the buffer mileage will be exceeded.
To makes matters worse the customer service crew at many of the VW service centers were not adequately trained to handle unhappy customers.
It appears that in the attempt to go for large volume sales VW has compromised on its quality and attention to detail. The number of complaints is mounting every month giving VW a bad reputation. This is quite surprising considering the VW should have known about the problems with the cars and put more emphasis on service and support. Once a customer has had a bad experience with a brand, they will unlikely return to buy another. We all know that it is hard enough to win a customer, it is even harder to retain a loyal customer.
Looking at the present situation, if VW does not step up its customer support and provide better after sales service, their honeymoon period of good sales will come to an end soon.
Of late Facebook has been the place where disgruntled owners have vented their frustration about the lack of support and service by VW centres. The cars are all sold with 5 years warranty with the warranty made up of 2 years manufacturer's warranty and the balance of the 3 years supported by Allianz insurance. The problems came when the owners made claims after 2 years of ownership and Allianz would drag their feet to honor the claims. There are also cases where the VW warranty is not honored when the customer supposedly missed the service or was late to service their car by 300km which in our opinion is ridiculous considering that scheduling a service will take 2 weeks and to tell the owner not to drive their car for 2 weeks fearing that their warranty will be void once the buffer mileage will be exceeded.
To makes matters worse the customer service crew at many of the VW service centers were not adequately trained to handle unhappy customers.
It appears that in the attempt to go for large volume sales VW has compromised on its quality and attention to detail. The number of complaints is mounting every month giving VW a bad reputation. This is quite surprising considering the VW should have known about the problems with the cars and put more emphasis on service and support. Once a customer has had a bad experience with a brand, they will unlikely return to buy another. We all know that it is hard enough to win a customer, it is even harder to retain a loyal customer.
Looking at the present situation, if VW does not step up its customer support and provide better after sales service, their honeymoon period of good sales will come to an end soon.
Monday 13 January 2014
2014 Tokyo Autosalon
It is Autosalon season again and this year the show is as big as last year's! so many crazy tuned cars and so many bodykits on display. The show organizers did cut back on the number of Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ on display. A better variety of cars were on display with some serious bizarre looking vehicles which look totally unrecognizable.
As usual there were plenty of girls to grace the cars and also big collection of new wheels on display with a massive 32" set of wheels put on a Lexus GS model. Some of the cars were wrapped in extreme graphics and new textured wraps. It is amazing to see how creative some of the tuners get when they have unlimited budgets.
The up and coming tuner, Liberty Walk was on display with their ultra wide body Ferrari 458 and several other models. Subaru took the chance to display their new upcoming Levorg model which is similar to the upcoming WRX wagon. Not sure if Levorg is the name that will be used in Japan only but the car looks good nevertheless. It is definitely a big improvement over the previous Subaru models. Nissan also took the chance to display their new X-Trail and Skyline which also looks much better than previous models.
There were also American muscle cars on display such as the Hennessey Corvette C7 and the HRE Ford GT. Over the 3 days, the Autosalon easily attracted over 250,000 visitors cover all 11 halls. The show's support came from car makers which now recognize the Autosalon as a major automotive show that they cannot miss.
Many tuning companies and parts suppliers also displayed their product for all to see. Racing teams also took the opportunity to show their race cars for 2014.
As usual there were plenty of girls to grace the cars and also big collection of new wheels on display with a massive 32" set of wheels put on a Lexus GS model. Some of the cars were wrapped in extreme graphics and new textured wraps. It is amazing to see how creative some of the tuners get when they have unlimited budgets.
The up and coming tuner, Liberty Walk was on display with their ultra wide body Ferrari 458 and several other models. Subaru took the chance to display their new upcoming Levorg model which is similar to the upcoming WRX wagon. Not sure if Levorg is the name that will be used in Japan only but the car looks good nevertheless. It is definitely a big improvement over the previous Subaru models. Nissan also took the chance to display their new X-Trail and Skyline which also looks much better than previous models.
There were also American muscle cars on display such as the Hennessey Corvette C7 and the HRE Ford GT. Over the 3 days, the Autosalon easily attracted over 250,000 visitors cover all 11 halls. The show's support came from car makers which now recognize the Autosalon as a major automotive show that they cannot miss.
Many tuning companies and parts suppliers also displayed their product for all to see. Racing teams also took the opportunity to show their race cars for 2014.
Thursday 2 January 2014
Motorshows in Asia
Motorshows are always fun and exciting events that show case new, future and current cars. The big named car makers will take the chance to display their technology and new concepts to tease the public on what will come soon. Of course we cannot forget the beautiful models that are also part of the motorshow.
In Asia the best motorshows to visit are Tokyo (because of all the new technology and numerous concepts on display), Thailand (being the Detroit of South East Asia), Shanghai (China car companies take the opportunity to show how far they have come and their new models due to be launched) and Korea (Kia and Hyundai have made great improvement in terms of design and technology it is worthwhile checking out their latest cars). These motorshows bring an element of excitement to the motoring industry. These shows are so popular that over one weekend over 100,000 visitors will flock to the shows.
On the opposite end of the scale, the worst shows to visit in Asia are the KL International Motorshow in Malaysia and the Singapore motorshow. Both of these shows are a complete waste of time as 30% of the major car makers are absent from the show leaving the event somewhat disappointing. Missing big names is one issue but showing mostly current models that are already sold in the showrooms really means that the visitors have nothing new to see at the show. To makes matters worst, the cars are locked and visitors are not permitted to open the doors to view the interior!
If you happen to be in Tokyo, Bangkok, Shanghai or Seoul during motorshow season, make sure you don't miss out and spend half a day to visit these shows. On the other hand if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore during Motorshow season.. don't bother wasting your money. you can see the same cars at car dealerships for free!
In Asia the best motorshows to visit are Tokyo (because of all the new technology and numerous concepts on display), Thailand (being the Detroit of South East Asia), Shanghai (China car companies take the opportunity to show how far they have come and their new models due to be launched) and Korea (Kia and Hyundai have made great improvement in terms of design and technology it is worthwhile checking out their latest cars). These motorshows bring an element of excitement to the motoring industry. These shows are so popular that over one weekend over 100,000 visitors will flock to the shows.
On the opposite end of the scale, the worst shows to visit in Asia are the KL International Motorshow in Malaysia and the Singapore motorshow. Both of these shows are a complete waste of time as 30% of the major car makers are absent from the show leaving the event somewhat disappointing. Missing big names is one issue but showing mostly current models that are already sold in the showrooms really means that the visitors have nothing new to see at the show. To makes matters worst, the cars are locked and visitors are not permitted to open the doors to view the interior!
If you happen to be in Tokyo, Bangkok, Shanghai or Seoul during motorshow season, make sure you don't miss out and spend half a day to visit these shows. On the other hand if you happen to be in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore during Motorshow season.. don't bother wasting your money. you can see the same cars at car dealerships for free!
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