new Volvo XC90

The name Volvo has always been synonymous with safety and safe cars. The pioneered the firs 3 point seat belt and have arguably the safest car in the world. They have been working on this principal for decades but their cars were never all that exciting. they tried to pitch their Polestar version (a hot version) of their S60 against the BMW M3 and fell far short of the performance that the M3 offered. this aside Volvo struggled with sales as their models were raging in the 1990s and early 2000s which saw them lose money.
Subsequently one of China's big car companies decided to buy Volvo seeing that Volvo had technology and good R&D. China could do with the technology Volvo had and Volvo could also have a larger slice of the China market. It appeared to be a good win-win solution for both companies and since the acquisition Volvo really has grown from strength to strength. New models soon came out creating more interest in the brand globally and the cars looked better than before. Dropping away from the traditionally boxy design the new models were sleeker and sportier and also handle better than previous models.

The biggest surprise was their flag ship SUV XC90 which was in service for a very long time and a new model was due. Volvo with their new financial backing went to work to literally kit out the new model with everything you could possibly think of. The new model was launched earlier this year and it came with: 2 litre supercharge and turbo charge engine with a plug-in hybrid system! The car pushed out over 400hp (combined with the hybrid power) and 640Nm with capacity to hit a 100km/h in 5.6 seconds (when both engine and electric power is combined)! this is very impressive for a car that weighs 2300kg!! the best part of it was the claimed fuel consumption of 2.1 litre per 100km.
Volvo was really going all out with technology available now. The new car is big but yet has a sporty look. the interior is also completely new with a nice modern flare to it and it came with the new massive LCD touch screen display that is similar to the one found in the Tesla P85.
The instrument cluster is a mixture of analogue dials and the large LCD display between the speedometer and tachometer.

It still remains to be seen if this car can steal BMW, Mercedes, Audi or Posche customers. It is may even ruffle some feathers in Land Rover. 

Die hard Volvo fans will be happy to see this new model and it may worry some competitors. Good job Volvo to make things interesting again.

strut braces and other supporting braces for chassis strengthening

When a car company talks about car chassis strengthening they refer to spot welding to improve rigidity but when an uninformed person talks about chassis strengthening they refer to strut braces and other pieces of metal that they bolt-on the chassis in the aim of strengthening the chassis.

Race cars only use roll cages to strengthen the chassis to keep the driver's cabin as strong as possible to protect the driver in the event of an accident. the aim is safety rather than anything else. On the layman side buy fancy braces to make their cars look cool like a race car but they forgot that race cars seldom use such strut braces or other types of support braces apart from the roll cage. Buying and fitting the right support braces can help the car's handling slight but will not make a huge difference. BMW and some car companies do fit strut braces on the front suspension to improve rigidity and reduce flexing but the strut braces used are specifically designed and tested to break away in a specific way during an accident to prevent injury to the driver. However for aftermarket strut braces or other chassis support braces are usually not properly tested especially those made in developing countries where motorsport is still not a huge industry. the factories that product such products do not have the funds to invest in vigorous testing, load testing, stress testing or even crash testing. This raises a lot of questions when it comes to safety and how the braces will really perform during an accident.

I have personally seen a 4 point engine bay brace that is connect to the suspension towers and also the front of the chassis (just in front of the radiator), this is a very dangerous design especially during an accident. This brace will reinforce the engine bay and will force the engine into the driver's cabin during an accident and since the cars usually don't have a roll cage the driver's cabin is not reinforced. the engine will be pushed into the driver's cabin and will very likely kill or seriously injure the driver and front passenger!

There has been some false reports that were used by the factories that make these products claiming that their product saved a customer during an accident but the information was very misleading. The car hit a guard rail on the side of the highway and the car rolled over and barrel rolled down a hill. The car was only fitted with a strut brace, front fender brace and a rear suspension brace. When a car barrel rolls down a hill all these braces do nothing to save the driver. the only thing keeping the driver alive is the strength of the A, B and C pillar which has nothing to do with the braces installed in the car.

Before you go out and buy a chassis strengthening brace for your car, think about the application and whether it is going to do your car more good or more harm! Adding braces will increase weight and if you over stiffen the front it will cause the car to understeer more. If you want better handling, get a good suspension kit and have it setup properly and maybe change to thicker or stiffer anti roll bars that suit your car.

Car paint protection coatings

The current craze for car owner is the car paint protection coatings. there are several types of coatings, glass, ceramic, titanium and carbon. The most popular being the glass type because it gives off a bright shiny effect like glass but it is a short term solution that requires regular maintenance to maintain the shine or gloss. Many of the glass coatings originate from Japan, Korea or China. Despite the hype and over selling that goes on at more car coating shops, the owners of the shops fail to tell the customers that the glass coating is not as durable as one thinks.

here are some of the pit falls of glass coating:-
- the extreme hardness of the glass coating claimed by the vendors are not durable and being extremely hard means that it is not soft enough to move with the surface since the painted car body will expand and contract slightly due to heat and cold. In tropical climate the extreme heat and sudden rain in the afternoon will cause the glass coating to crack and flake off over time.
- not all glass coating can repel water or is resistant to acid rain which results in staining.
- the shine does not last as long as claimed, many merely last 3-6 months rather than the 3-5 years as claimed (you can call it extreme exaggeration during the sales pitch).
- glass coating is old technology and the difference in grade is enormous since you can get glass coatings from as much as $100 per car to $1000 per car!
- all claims to be scratch, stain and dirt resistant but this appears not to be true since many of the low grade glass coatings have a lot of stains build up on the car.

Ceramic coating:-
- is newer in technology compared to Glass and is meant to be more durable as ceramic is known to be but is more expensive than glass
- claims to be scratch resistant but the jury is out on this one!
- heat resistant but not proven yet
- some vendors claims to be selling ceramic coating but it cracks like glass coating over time so no one really knows if the vendors are selling real ceramic coating or glass coating.

Titanium coating:
- no real test was done to prove that it is truly titanium!
- similar claims to ceramic and glass but suppose to be more durable
- not as easy to apply as glass coating

Carbon coating:
- still relatively unknown and could be a fancy name slapped on glass coating and sold at inflated prices.
- durability is still unknown since only very few vendors are selling this type of coating.

The simple advise here is to do thorough checks before investing your money on such coatings. Many are making wild claims just to sell their products. Be ware of their 5 years warranty program which require you to bring your car back to check annually. The "check" is really to top up the coating which you already paid for. The danger is that the company that is selling the coating may close down before your 5 years warranty is over leaving you with a patchy looking car. It is better to pay less for a shorter so called warranty period and pay to top up the coating if necessary. this way you are not in danger of over paying and potentially not getting what you paid for.

In all fairness if the coating is good you will be able to see a good level of gloss, is truly stain resistant (meaning it is very easy to clean with minimal use of chemicals or can easily be wiped off with water and a cloth), will not crack, looks cleaner than other cars despite not washing for 2-3 weeks and will not look dull under the sun.

new Honda NSX

Honda is finally back after so many years with their brand spanking new NSX! it is loaded with a whole load of technology from torque vectoring, 4WD, electric motors hybrid and turbo charging! wow! They literally packed in all the technology they could get their hands on. The car looks good, current era design and also has the nice view from the driver's seat like all typical Hondas.

All is great with the exception of a few things:-
- the price! it is more expensive than many of the super cars it is competing against such as the Audi R8, the Porsche 911 Turbo and the BMW i8. this itself may put off some buyers.
- they are very late to the game! Took Honda far too long to develop this car and it was so highly anticipated for so long.
- The torque vectoring system on the front wheels dumbs down the feel of the steering.
- all the advanced electronics took away the meaning of the original NSX concept which was to be a pure driver's car that had a lot of driver involvement and was rewarding to drive.

It seemed like Honda was trying to show the world that they can compete with the best by add all the gadgets and latest tech into the NSX but purists are complaining that it is no longer the real NSX that they know and love. the original NSX changed the way sports cars were made and made Ferrari rethink how sports cars should be made. The new NSX is like playing catch up and it not really with the original plot.

Yes! the tech in the car is impressive but it is still slower than a Nissan GT-R and does not have the Porsche branding behind it and it is not a driver's car. There is simply far too many advanced electronics doing the driving taking away the driver involvement.

Mazda stuck to their guns and made the MX-5 fun and they have been doing it generation after generation. They also made other car companies realise that you don't need massive power to have fun and kept true to their motto of making a car fun to drive. I don't see why Honda couldn't do that. The NSX was legendary but the new one is just not on the same page as the original!

Racing electric vehicles

Put a man in 2 or 4 wheels and he will race it regardless if it is fossil fuel powered or electric powered. The main difference is the sound which is part and parcel of racing. The absence of engine sound or exhaust notes makes it feel strange. it is as if one is driving a remote control car running on batteries. I watched Formula E which is formula cars driven by electric motors. The concept is different from Formula One where the Formula E cars have a certain amount of electrical charge and can have a limited driving range, the driver will stop mid race to swap cars with fresh batteries instead of refuelling in F1 (used to have refuelling stops).

The Formula E car only emitted a whining type of sound which was very strange and it did not create a sensation of speed and excitement. the cars are on level playing field where all are using same chassis and power units. The teams are permitted to change the suspension setup to suit their drivers and they need to manage the use of the power in the batteries to balance speed and range.

We are very likely to see many more races using electric vehicles but the lack of sound really does make it a bit dull.

VW's problems

In their quest to be the number 1 car maker in the world VW took bold steps to push for more sales but by doing so their reputation took a massive hit when countless number of problems surfaced due to the lack of focus on quality and reliability. Firstly the transmission problem for the dry DSG gearboxes, then the cylinder malfunction in the 1.4 TSI engines and now the diesel gate scandal. I am not sure who should be blamed but the CEO at the time was very driven by sales figures.

Naturally making a car is never easy since there are so many components that make up a car. For a car maker that has so much history and experience one would expect them to be more professional in their approach to quality and reliability. Like Toyota, their cars are rather conservative but undeniably reliable and this made for rock solid residual values and dependability that all consumers like. Toyota don't make the most exciting cars but they make by far the most reliable cars on the planet. VW obviously forgot about this point and furthermore, they forgot about the critical value of after sales service.
If a customer had a problem with the car and the car maker was very willing to fix the problem at no cost to the customer, naturally the customer would feel good and willing to come back to buy another car in the future knowing that the car maker is responsible and will assist or support in the event of a problem. The knowledge of this assurance in the minds of the customer will keep the customer loyal. Customer loyalty is more powerful than trying to sell a car to a new customer. It was obvious that VW forgot about this as well.

Having heard stories from VW senior managers in Beijing who had to endure the ordeal of hiding in their office until 4 am because of the angry customers protesting outside their office is incredible. You would think that VW Germany would do the right thing to step in and fix their problems firstly by recalling faulty cars or immediately rectifying the problems faced by customers. the lack of responsibility by senior management really goes to show their lack of leadership and direction for the company.

I seriously wonder if VW will ever regain the respect they once commanded. the confidence in the brand has been seriously tarnished by the foolish and irresponsibility of the VW senior management in Germany. The problems was not isolated to several countries but worldwide. VW management was very slow to react and practically did nothing to help angry customers. the problems that they face now will not go away for a long time to come.

Mahendra buys Pininfarina

The surprise news of the week has to be Indian company Mahendra buying Pininfarina. This is definitely interesting since more and more European automotive companies are being bought by Asian companies. The trend is definitely not letting up and it is clear to see that the Asian companies regardless if they are from India or China, they have the funds and also the desire to move forward with their car development. Jaguar LandRover after being bought by Tata several years ago have gone from strength to strength unlike when it was under Ford. The company was floundering and only introduced very few models that made any impact to the company's profitability. Since Tata took over Jaguar LandRover we have seen a flurry of new exciting models and new technology that made a difference to the company.

I believe Pininfarina will see a turn for the better and Mahendra will utilise Pininfarina's design expertise to the max. Better looking Mahendra models will definitely be coming soon and don't be surprised to see Pininfarina doing more business in Asia. For a company like Mahendra having Pininfarina in their group will be advantageous since Mahindra is not known for their good looking cars. It may also help Mahindra enter the European market via Pinanfarina's connetion in Europe.

No more gasoline or diesel cars by 2050 in selected countries

Yes you read it right, several countries in Europe and 5 states in US have declared that they will stop the sales of fossil fuel powered cars by 2050. This is serious news for automakers and they would have to shift their focus on developing electric or alternative energy cars. This basically will play into the hands of Tesla and other early adopters of electric cars.

It was a matter of time before the Green movement will create enough influence to make Governments sit up and change the law.  this being said the battery technology is still not quite there yet with the demands of consumers since only Tesla currently possess the technology to provide a driving range of 400km per full charge of the battery. To be viable any electric car needs to have a driving range of at least 400km to make it sensible to drive daily with the flexibility to drive in between cities. the car must also have a quick charge system that will allow 80% charge of the battery within 20 minutes.

Porsche has jumped on the bandwagon and announced that they will put into production their new electric sports concept that boasts 80% charge in 15 minutes with a driving range of 310 miles or 496km. this definitely good news but Porsche being Porsche the car won't be cheap and will be out of reach for most ordinary folk.  Nissan's Leaf and Renault's E-Fluence seem to be too out of date to be competitive since their driving range is barely 200km despite their claims of 250km or more!

Toyota has introduced their hydrogen powered car which is butt ugly but seems to be a workable concept since it is not running on fossil fuel.

Lets see what other car makers can come up with. With the impending commercialisation of Graphene battery technology we may see many more electric cars in the years to come.

Digital Instrument cluster

Mercedes Benz, Lexus and now Audi has launched cars using LCD displays instead of typical mechanical instrument clusters. This has taken a new dimension to the design and also the information that can be displayed in front of the driver. Lexus was one of the earliest to introduce this in the LF-A but this technology quickly trickled down to the IS model Lexus. the original idea was to replace the analog tachometer because the engine of the LF-A could rev faster than any mechanical tachometer can keep up. the benefits of using the LCD display was very evident as more information could be displayed on the LCD compared to the analog meters.

Mercedes also introduced it in the new W-222 S Class. The entire instrument cluster is also LCD and it gave off the cool exclusive look to the car's interior.

The most impressive of all is the one from Audi which was included in the newly launched Audi TT. the entire instrument cluster can be altered to display the navigation system map and the size of the actual speedometer and tachometer is reduced to make way for the navigation map.

this is the next wave in terms of car design and functionality. I believe many other auto makers will follow suit. It is unlikely that budget cars will see such LCD displays replacing the traditional analog meters but in the next 10 years more cars will be fitted with new LCD displays instead of traditional analog meters. 

The creative use of the LCD display is definitely impressive and it is here to stay.

VEP - Vehicle Entry Permit in Kuala Lumpur

The Kuala Lumpur city council together with the Government proposed to introduce the VEP (Vehicle Entry Permit) for cars entering the city centre in an attempt to reduce traffic congestion and also air pollution in KL City. this is similar to that introduced in London several years ago. However despite the idea being a logical one there little thought that went into its proposed implementation. Neither the city council nor the government actually worked out the mechanism on how to charge the cars that entered the city during the chargeable hours!
this is very typical in the way which Malaysian government related agencies function. Mooting ideas is not the problem but seeing through their ideas is the problem.
It would not be practical to install toll gates as this will increase the traffic problem and slow traffic down tremendously, secondly there is no space to put up toll booths. The permit collection system is simply not available and it is not like how it is done in Singapore where the ERP gantry system works very efficiently to collect fees from the car wirelessly without stopping.
The current Smartag solution available is out of date and cannot be used in such a case. The Smartag system is not effective enough as the cars have to be driven below 10km/h for it to read, this will cause a problem if it was implemented.

It is quite silly to want to impose such rulings without having a suitable solution available in the first place. It is little wonder why the Malaysian public always laugh at the Government as they constantly contradict themselves and have no ideas how to solve problems that are presented to them.

New models from Proton - is it too late?

Proton recently teased the Malaysian public with a few new models, a new EV Iriz model and a new Perdana model and also a new 1.3 turbo engine. The company seems to be going all out to win back some confidence from the public with such announcements but the question remains if this is all in vain and is it really too late for Proton to make a come back?
the damage done over the years is really quite a large hurdle. the public perception of Proton has always been poor and even the die hard supporters of buy Malaysian made has abandoned them. Proton cars are still seen as low value, low quality and low tech cars and Proton does not bring anything new to the table every time. they are always trying to play catch up and have not innovated anything. Unlike the Hyundai which should be the direct comparison since Hyundai and Proton start around similar time has gone on to be a force to be reckoned with. they have done well in US as well as other parts of the world. Their cars are still cheaper than Japanese but they are no longer looked at as low quality and low tech cars.

Hyundai regularly package their cars to be good value since they bundle in a wide range of accessories and new functions to their cars. these new function are usually found in much more expensive European cars or Lexus.
Proton has not made any impact outside Malaysia and with domestic sales dwindling it is a monumental task for them to claw back any kind of momentum. Firstly they need to capture back a larger slice of the domestic market before going on to attack the overseas market. I often wonder if Proton has a 10, 15 or 20 year plan for their development and marketing. It seems everything is haphazardly done and stop gap measures are often introduced to solve some problems. With the cash pile that Proton had during the 1990s Proton should have gone on to team up with foreign automotive engineering companies to develop new models and build on that momentum. Instead a lot was wasted on silly ventures such as on the MV Augusta motorcycle and Lotus. Both companies bled out Proton plus employing far too many useless engineers to do simple jobs.
Dr. Mahathir has to face reality and let go of his huge ego and shut down Proton if it cannot compete. He is already in his 90s and he will not live that much longer. there is no shame in shutting down his pet project that has become a national burden.

All the signs are there to show that Proton should not be in existence today.
1. small domestic market
2. poor engineering and design
3. poor quality control
4. limited technology transfer from Lotus
5. few export markets buying Proton cars
6. Out of date technology
7. dwindling local sales
8. low local confidence
9. poor engineering expertise
10. lack of innovation

currency crisis and car prices in Malaysia

In the recent month the Malaysian currency has plummeted by more than 25% against the US dollar. Earlier in the year the Malaysian ringgit was trading at RM3.50 to USD 1, now it is hovering around RM4.40 to USD1. The drop in the currency will have serious implications on the automotive sector and the prices of parts and cars itself will surely increase. Nearly all cars sold in Malaysia have parts of components that are imported, even cars like the Perodua Myvi or the Proton Iriz there are components that are imported. Not every single part is made locally.
Tyre companies also announced that prices of tyres will be going up by 20%. This knock on effect will naturally have a big impact on transportation and cost of basic necessities since you need transport for all items sold or distributed around the country. The government is in denial about keeping the cost the same since it is impossible for the importers or producers to absorb the price increase. the increase of price will be passed on to the consumers.
Porsche was one of the first to announce that the price of their cars will go up by 15% to 20% depending on model. this may not affect so many since it is a luxury car but if a 15% increase is implemented for small compact cars like the Myvi it will affect the buyers.
The cost of replacement parts will be badly impacted since a lot of the parts of non local cars are imported. People will turn to using second hand parts or turn to salvage yards to find used parts. This is again going against the govt's plans of eliminating the use of second hand parts in the name of safety. Since the cost of new parts will be a lot more expensive the poorer consumers will have little choice but to buy used parts.
Japanese car companies may not see such a big price increase since the drop against the Thai baht and the Indonesian Rupiah is not as big as against the US Dollar. The currencies of the neighbouring countries also dropped significantly against the US dollar.
No one knows how long this will carry on and all hope that the currency will stabilise soon.

Proton blaming their problems on lack of Government support

In a recent interview Proton chairman, Dr Mahathir blamed the company's problems on the lack of support from the Malaysian government. This was criticised by many members of the public as Proton has been on the few companies that enjoyed decades of assistance and protection from the Malaysian government. The company was extremely complacent when it was protected and did nothing to improve itself nor invest in new technology or improve on its quality. the Malaysian public grew tired of being forced to buy Proton cars since the taxed levied on imported cars were well beyond the means of the ordinary working public.
Proton was the brain child of Dr. Mahathir whom many hailed as the man who industrialised Malaysia. He was also the man guilty of making a mess of the automotive industry which drove car makers to thailand to setup regional manufacturing plants. For the sake of protecting one company many billions of dollars worth of investment went to thailand.
In the recent years Proton's market share has slid tremendously and it is now struggling again. Like any government linked company in Malaysia who struggles, they just stick their hand out to ask for support from the Government. this never ending bail out or support will never help the company that is embroiled in so much corruption.

Many Malaysians wouldn't mind seeing Proton close shop and stop wasting tax payer's money on bail out after bail out. Closing down proton would be a slap in the face for Dr. Mahathir. He cannot bare to see his car company fail. His ego could not take it!

Proton should have closed down many years ago and the automotive industry should be liberalised to allow more foreign investment to come into Malaysia.

after market suspension kits

There are hundreds of brands of after market suspension kits in the market now. From big brands to unknown ones are flooding the market. big names such as KW, Koni, Eibach, Bilstein, Ohlins are among the famous ones while the lesser known ones from China and taiwan are also plentiful. buying a suspension kit is dead simple, just pay money for a kit however, how many people really know how to get the best out of the suspension kit.

A simple kit can cost as little as $500 for a coil over kit to over $3000 for a sophisticated premium branded kit. The trick is in tuning the suspension rather that just buying and having it installed. Getting the spring rates right as well as the damper settings to suit the car's weight and how the driver likes the car to handle. this is undoubtedly one of the most difficult things to get right. it is a black art and top race car drivers are able to communicate their requests to the technician to have the setting done right. the difference in getting it done right can easily translate to shaving seconds off lap times. Every driver has a different preference to the way their car is setup and having infinite combination possibilities makes it a real nightmare to setup the suspension correctly.

the layout of the car is also factor in how the suspension should be setup. For example a rear wheel drive car and a front wheel drive car behaves differently and the way the suspension is to be setup has to take this into account. Front wheel drive cars have a tendency to understeer which means that the drivers will most likely want to dial out the understeer with their suspension setup.

the problem with the retailers of the suspension kits is that very few of them really know anything about setting up the suspension. they are just focused on selling it only. A few small group of retailers will have the know-how on setting up the suspension and this will tip the balance in their favour and allow their hardware to shine on the track. Brand and quality does play a part in the suspension since the bigger brands have spent a lot of time and money on racing and research and development to improve their products. Having said that just buying the best Ohlins and not setting it up correctly will not yield much results.
I have heard numerous stories from car enthusiasts who invested money to buy a good set of TEIN suspension and said their cars handled very badly, this was down to the setting of the suspension rather than the hardware. TEIN has been used by many race teams with great success.

Find a good suspension tuning specialist then buy the right suspension kit to suit. You will be smiling when you get the desired results.

Cars getting hacked into

New cars are fitted with more electronics and the security for the electronics is one part that is forgotten. unlike the internet and PCs where anti virus and firewalls are installed to protect the PCs the car's onboard computer is open to hacking. the encryption and security is not very sophisticated as the car companies never expected anyone to want to hack into car.
this is where the car companies' expectations were shattered when a Tesla car was hacked into and recently a Jeep was also hacked into. this of course is only possible if the car is connected online via a wireless network or via the OnStar system.
The other way of hacking that took place much earlier is the tuning of the ECU via OBD ports. Nissan famously declared that the R35 GT-R's ECU was not crackable but within months of the car's global launch the car's ECU's security was cracked and the ECU could be reprogrammed easily.

What does this all mean? the car companies cannot be complacent with their approach to security of the car. As more electronics control the car it allows the hackers to access more functions of the car. Electric power steering, drive by wire throttle, active assist braking and onboard GPS could possible allow a hacker (when connected) to drive the car remotely. this of course may sound like something out of a James Bond movie but it is becoming a reality.

A terrorist could easily mount explosives in an empty car and drive it remotely and detonate it in a crowded location and no one will know who did it. this is a scary thought and could possibly happen. this is just an example of a potential terrorist attack. there are many other possibilities and problems that can occur.
Car companies really need to think ahead in terms of security and plan way to mitigate any potential hacking into the car's ECU and electronic system.

There was also a recent Youtube video of a guy breaking into a car using a simple device to unlock and lock back a car without triggering the alarm system. the device he used looks like a universal lock pick that is much more sophisticated than any traditional lock pick set. it is able to by pass the basic lock and also re-lock the door within seconds.

New cars will come with more electronics with each new generation, the question is whether the security measures are able to be developed as quickly as the car's electronic technology.

Selfies and driving

It is now a common occurrence to see crazy people who are obsessed with taking selfies while driving! I personally  have witnessed numerous cases where silly people would be busy taking selfies while driving regardless whether the car is moving fast or slow. In most cases it would be during slow traffic or when the car is stopped at the traffic lights. Naturally this would cause distraction to the driver and would be dangerous if the car is still in motion.

the bulk of the selfies taken in the car are women (this is in Asia but may not be the case in other countries) that are under 35 years old. they use either a selfie stick or directly with the phone. there were several cases of a group of people who took selfies while driving that died in a car accident just shortly after. It is highly distracting and is a terrible trend. Why would you be so obsessed with taking your own picture all the time? are you really that insecure??

This selfie taking trend while driving is leading to many more accidents and the lack of responsibility will endanger other road users. One may call me old fashioned but it is more about being practical about safety while driving. What would happen if a small child was cross the street or stepped on the street to pick up a ball and the on coming car's driver is busy taking his or her own picture?!

Taking a selfie while driving is just as bad if not worse than texting while driving! All it takes is a split second of distraction to cause an accident.

back to basics sports car or modern sports car

Mazda recently launched their new MX-5 which is one of the most basic form of sports car. It is aimed at providing real driving pleasure with maximum driver involvement while reducing all the fancy electronic aids. It is not the most powerful nor the fastest sports car out there but it is direction is very simple, bring the pleasure back in driving a sports car. Many car companies get caught up with adding more power, more electronic aids to keep the car on the road, more safety features and all this ends up with a lot more weight on the car than it really should have.

A pure sports car is a simple, sharp handling car with good brakes and lots of driver feedback. Mazda has kept true to its tradition and the new model is no exception. The car is light, agile, sharp handling and easy to drive. It only has 156hp on the 2.0 litre model. Sure, the car can do with a lot more power, like say 100hp to make it go faster but in true sports car sense it is not about going faster but the fun of driving it.

The new generation MX-5 is a big step up from some of the previous models as some of them have gotten a little too fat and too heavy. Similarly with sports cars made by other car companies all have ended up being too heavy.
This new MX-5 has plenty of room for enhancements such as turbo kits, brake upgrade, suspension upgrades and etc. Come 2016, the Tokyo Autosalon will have a flurry of new tuning products for this car. The Toyota GT 86 is getting old and people are getting bored with it so the introduction of the new MX-5 is timely.

At the end of the globe European car makers are making their sports cars more powerful and adding a tonne of driver aids to keep the car safe. Seems strange that they don't want to focus more on driver involvement rather than outright power. Yes, most guys would wish to have more power but how many can really handle the car with 500hp?! It definitely looks good on the sales brochure that the car has 500hp but in reality how many of us get to use all 500hp? The horsepower war has gotten out of hand and seems to be endless. It is just about bragging rights or all about ego?

Ride Sharing and Uber

The ride sharing concept Uber seems to be popular in the US but it seems to have many hiccups worldwide. As usual we would expect the commercial vehicle licensing bodies to have a hard time with Uber since it is not regulated and the drivers are not validated. Sure it is a good way to make extra income for those who have a car and free time. I still cannot comprehend how Uber can raise so much funding when it is not really worth that much!

The next issue comes with safety and security. Since none of the vehicles on Uber are checked for safety compliance and the drivers are not personally screened through for character checks it is quite dicey to get into a car late at night with an unknown person, especially if the passenger is female. The recent incidence in India where a woman was sexually assaulted by a Uber driver gave rise to this potential problem.

Several countries have banned Uber completely and have gone so far as to arrest anyone who is caught offer such services without a commercial license. Sexual assault is just one, there are other potential issue such as murder or even accidents resulting from reckless driving. In such cases naturally Uber will remove itself from responsibility.

I would consider taking Uber rides as a risk.

Cars getting hacked!

Tesla recently had an incident where one of their cars got hacked into and forced to stop. The hacker was doing it not as an attack on Tesla but to show that the car is vulnerable to such potential threats. It is a good demonstration and reminder that with all the new cars becoming increasingly more electronic and dependent of computers such attacks can easily take place in the future. The Tesla is currently the most advanced car on the planet with online software updates and advanced design. Elon Musk's team quickly contacted the hacker not to slap him with a legal suit but to hire him to be part of the Tesla team. Smart move as this person obviously is talented and have the ability to help Tesla improve its online security and also potentially help push the car's development further.

This hacking exercise would also turn many observers to stick to traditional cars that are more mechanical and less dependent on electronics. The cars will be less complicated and would provide a better sense of security knowing that no one can hack something that is not connected digitally.

Like any evolution of technology there will be hurdles and also new challenges to face. Tesla's team took the right direction to pull in the talent rather than throw the law book at them. Had it been a large car maker, the situation would be quite different and the hacker would almost certainly be slapped with a legal suit.

motoring magazines

I grew up reading all kinds of car magazines such as Road & Track, Evo, Autocar, Car, Performance Car, Motor Trend and Fast Car. I also watched a lot of Top Gear, Best Motoring (Japan) and many other motoring programs. I grew to appreciate the amount of work that goes into the journalism and also the comments whether they are a true reflection of the car itself or it was paid to say good things about the car. International magazines such as Motor Trend and Autocar seem quite neutral about their views regarding a car and provide good and honest feedback regardless if it is good or bad. To me this is true journalism.
If you read some magazines like Top Gear the reviews are generally quite good but often it is skewed towards British cars. Similarly for motoring shows like Best Motoring from Japan, the comparisons very often look questionable when they pit Japanese cars against European cars and make the Japanese cars look better than the European cars. There will always be a certain level of patriotism in journalism. It also applies to Americans too where test driver Randy Pobst will always favour an American made car.
In countries like Malaysia where the motoring journalists are expected to say good things about local made cars such as Proton, as a consumer it is down right frustrating to read the publication. This applies to the local newspapers that periodically do car features. This is one of the reasons why people love Jeremy Clarkson so much, he will tell it like it is... despite his usual bias towards British and European cars but he will comment fairly if the car is badly designed. Jeremy Clarkson has an army of fans in Asia and appreciate his brand of humour and brutal honesty about a car. No one really wants to read some story about a car that is all prepared by a marketing team from a car company. The readers want to read the real comment and feedback from journalists who has driven the car.
I always feel cheated if I read an article about a car that has been padded up but does not live up to what it was described in the article.
I would part with this piece of advise, do not buy a car just because you read good reviews about it in magazines. Always test drive it and get your own opinion about it. Not everyone shares the same opinion. Magazine car reviews are very subjective and somethings may appeal to a journalist but it may not necessarily appeal to you.

Female drivers

This story may sound a little sexist but I am still going to say my piece about it. Female car ownership is on the rise world wide as more women enjoy the independence that come with it. It is good that women drive since it helps them in many ways. Car companies also realise this and have added many extra accessories to cater for this segment of the market. Simple examples being the mirror on the sun visor on the driver's side and the bag hooks attached to the headrests. These accessories were previously missing from older cars.
We also hear many claims or statements made that women and better drivers then men. This is completely untrue and this statement is made by a woman!
The reality is that women drivers can be very erratic and unpredictable and may have poor spatial awareness and coordination while men are often very reckless and drive too fast making them dangerous drivers. We have all seen many Youtube videos of women drivers destroying gas pumps by driving off without removing the gas pump, then there are cases of women crashing their cars in car parks or driving their cars into pillars or bollards!
Saying all this the point goes back to driver education and the testing criteria in order to obtain a driver's license. In Asia there has been many accidents caused by female drivers who were oblivious to their surroundings opt to stop in the middle of the freeway because she was lost! One can obtain a driver's license by bribing driving test officers in South East Asia bringing into question the level of competency of the drivers on the road.

There is nothing wrong with having female drivers... I believe all drivers regardless men or women should really undergo defensive driving and should be subjected to more stringent test before the driving license is issued to them.

car enthusiast vs an ordinary commuter

There two groups of drivers out there.. the ordinary commuter who buys a car just to get from point A to point B, they don't care so much about the car's performance and is more concerned about fuel economy, reliability, safety and price. These are the same bunch of people who would opt for a very safe Toyota or Honda (non sporty models), Daihatsu, low end Chevrolet, entry level Renault or entry level VW. These cars literally can put you to sleep while doing long distance driving.
On the other hand there are those who will only buy fun and exciting cars to drive. Being seen in a Toyota or a Honda will make them feel embarrassed or ashamed! They do not care so much about fuel economy. The key element is excitement and the fun factor. Quite often the buyers will opt for a BMW, Porsche, Subaru (performance models), AMG Mercedes, sports model Renaults and performance Audis or VWs.
Unfortunately the bulk of the population fall into the ordinary commuter category thats why car companies design the bulk of their cars to be boring! some companies such as Kia and Hyundai invested heavily in pinching top tier designers which has made the cars look much more appealing. The investment has paid off handsomely with both Kia and Hyundai attracting more buyers who would previously shy away from these two brands. Of course to the car enthusiasts they would still snicker at the thought of buying a Kia or Hyundai since these cars have never been exciting to drive.
A simple aesthetic redesign can change the way a buyer perceives a brand. Car companies cannot be blamed for pursuing this direction in car development. Companies like Toyota are the best at making boring cars and just alter the exterior and interior parts of the car to make it look new but underneath the car is still using the same old engine and same old transmission. The introduction of a new engine or transmission is usually more than 10 years apart. They keep holding on to the ideology of "if it is not broken don't fix it". This has served Toyota well for the past 3 decades but the problem now comes with the competitors introducing better engines and better transmission system which has eaten into Toyota's market share. Toyota is now scrambling to redesign their cars and introduce new innovations to the new models, they are quite late to this but Toyota has the financial capabilities and resources to make it work for them. One of the key changes will be engine down sizing with turbo. While the Europeans have been doing this for the past 20 years Toyota now only decided to join the party.

The next time you see a car pull up next to you at the traffic lights, take a look and see what car it is. Often you can tell if the owner of that car is an ordinary commuter or a car enthusiast.

Taxis in Japan

Taxis in Japan are very clean and have a good reputation for being honest and polite. The standards are by far one of the best in the world, if not is the best in the world. Taxis usually get a lot of negative comments hurled at them since many taxis around the world are not well maintained, try to cheat the passengers or the taxi drivers are rude or have an attitude problem.

The strange thing about taxis in Japan is that they use very old Toyota Crowns. Unlike Australia and many other countries where the Toyota Prius is used as a taxi. Why Japan does not use the Prius or any hybrid as a taxi? It is far more fuel efficient that the current Toyota Crown. It is also cleaner since the emissions from the new Prius is cleaner than the old Toyota Crown.

The Toyota Crown is a big car no doubt and the luggage space is good but it is also very old. Many of the taxis are well over 10 years old and some even reaching 20 years old. Since Japan is the creator of the hybrid concept and they sell hybrid cars all over the world, why don't they use it as their taxi fleet?
It is just like Japan still likes to use the fax machine rather than email. It is like they have been stuck in a time warp and only progress and innovate on selected things.

UAE motoring

Driving in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is an interesting experience. The roads there are by far the best in the world with ultra smooth highways and very well paved roads all around. The speed limits are also a little higher with some tolerance of up to 140km/h on some sections.
The fuel price is also incredibly cheap at UAE$1.71 per litre for Ron 95 gasoline. The cars there are also very cheap and you can easily pick up a VW Touarag for US$40k!! One would easily spot an exotic car any time of the day. If you would sit in front of the Movenpick hotel at Jumeira walk you would see a steady stream of Lambos, Ferraris, Corvettes, Rolls Royce, Aston Martins, Mercedes SLS, Mclarens and etc. What you can think of you can see it there.

It sounds like a motoring paradise where fuel is cheap and cars are cheap and good roads to drive on. One can even see a Ferrari or Lambo park out in the sun day after day as this is normal for them. Cars are cheap enough for them to do that. Most of the people dont care about fuel since it is so cheap. However the cheap fuel is about to end. Recently the Minister of Environment in UAE announced that they will float the fuel price to follow the rest of the world. This means that they will no longer enjoy very cheap fuel. As one would have guessed having such cheap fuel now many of the residence would buy big engine cars or gas guzzlers since it cost them so little to fuel up the car.

The aim of floating the fuel price is to pull it in line with the rest of the world and reduce wastage and protect their diminishing fuel supply. The oil supply will not last forever and it would be a matter of time before the oil runs out. The Minister of Environment also cited that air pollution is getting worst each year since there are so many cars in such a small country.

Frustrations of living in a country where car prices are ridiculous!

People who live in countries such as US, UAE, Great Britain, Germany, Japan and New Zealand enjoy cars as and when they wish because cars are just cheap! However in many other countries that slap ridiculous amounts of tax on cars the car lovers all suffer. All moan and groan about having to fork out substantially more than they should for cars. Countries such as Singapore where land area is very limited it is understandable why the Govt would slap heavy taxes on the cars as a means to control car population if not the country will juts become one massive car park.

Apart from Singapore countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Brazil and Vietnam all slap massive taxes on cars often reaching as much as 300% making a simple car cost that would cost US$10,000 in US to well over US$30,000. To cap it all off the roads in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam are not exactly top notch. Even if the person had sufficient money to buy a nice sports car the road conditions would make it frustrating to drive on. Many of these countries have pot hole ridden roads and massive traffic problems. Public transportation is not efficient leading to many people needing to buy a car or motorcycle for transportation.

To top this all off race track facilities are also limited in these countries compared to those where cars are cheap. Japan, US, Germany and Great Britain has numerous race tracks scattered all over the country making it easy to get access to track driving. This in turn would push the motorsport industry forward as well as help develop the motoring industry as a whole.

The taxes collected from car sales have become such a huge tax revenue earner that these countries find it hard to do away with import taxes on cars. Malaysia for one has been postponing the call to reduce import taxes on cars for decades. Collecting over $2 billion annually is significant enough to justify continuing the imposition of this tax.  To make matters worse some even introduce Excise duty which typically is considered to be a form of tax on controlled goods such as cigarettes, liquor or some restricted item. The excise duty is just a way for the Govt to further increase their tax revenue through car sales.

Proton's collaboration with Suzuki

Proton started out in 1985 as a car maker that only knew how to assemble cars rather than build its own cars. It decided to try its hand at designing and building its own cars in 2000 and it failed miserably with the models being rough, poor fuel consumption, jerky and of low quality. Proton went back to assembling cars again with Mitsubishi and Honda. Now looks like Proton has given up on building its own cars and gone full steam with assembling cars with it recent collaboration with Suzuki.
From the images that have leaked out Proton is aiming at fighting Perodua head on with a Suzuki model that is similar in size with the Perodua Myvi. Proton's engineering team appears to be at least 15 years behind and can only retool their equipment to assemble cars. The design and development team seem to be lost and going the route of being an assembler rather than a proper car maker is definitely more suitable for Proton. Without the right expertise to develop its own cars it isn't so bad to be a car assembler.

Companies like Luxgen in Taiwan was a car assembling company which in the last 5 years decided to develop its own model. It took a while to gain acceptance but they took the knowledge they gained from assembling cars to develop their own in-house models. So far from what has been seen in motorshows and even reviews in Taiwan car magazines the Luxgen models are quickly catching up with the Korean car makers which is quite an achievement since its car building history is not every extensive. Unfortunately despite the long history that Proton has had, it has achieved practically nothing. They cannot compete on the international level and even in the domestic market it has fallen behind Honda and Toyota for sales volume. The walk towards the grave is getting shorter by the year for Proton. The Malaysian public cannot accept another bail out for Proton.

sexy promoters automotive shows

It is quite common these days to see automakers using sexy models at their car launch or at motorshows. I often question whether this is to attract the guys to come to the event to see the girls or the cars! The girls will no doubt attract a certain number of guys but the question is whether the girls will over shadow the car or the product at the event. China has banned the use of sexily dressed models at motorshows because it was getting out of hand at one point where the models were barely wearing anything or the clothing they wore were just too revealing.

A classy model at a car show is perfectly acceptable as it may be a nice touch when it comes to take photographs. If the sexy model is used to promote products I seriously doubt that the company promoting the product is really getting the real attention that they are after since the sexy models only attract the guys interested in taking pictures of the girls rather than the product itself. I have personally seen cases where the crowd will follow the girls and when the girls leave the booth for a break or walk to another location, the crowd follows leaving the booth with little or no visitors. The right attention is not there. There were even cases where the booths that did not hire any models literally had no attention or visitors at all! the crowd was there to just look at the girls.

The companies who use models to promote their product should really think whether they want real visitors who are seriously interested in their products or perverts who want to only see the girls?!

For branding purposes using a sexy model will definitely help since many pictures of the girls with the brand or logo will be taken and shared on social media or in print publications. The brand name can easily be seen circulating around.

YEMA Motors china

During one of my business trips to China I was invited to visit a local car factory. The factory is a second tier Chinese automaker by the name of YEMA Motors. Most of us outside of China wouldn't have heard of this company but apparently it has been manufacturing cars for 25 years! The car is nothing to shout about since they copy the designs of Audi, VW, Ford, Toyota and Subaru.

It was my first visit to a second tier China car factory. The manufacturing facilities are nowhere near as advanced as the big boys like BYD or SAIC. Design wise they look poor copies of Audi's Q7, VW Touarag, Subaru Forester, Toyota Altis, Ford Fiesta and Toyota RAV4. I did not have a chance to test drive their cars but upon inspection of the interior it really does look like it was designed 20 years ago. The plastics quality is poor and so is the finishing of the car. The exterior door panels were not perfectly straight as one can easily spot the wavy lines on the panels itself. Much of the assembly process is done by hand instead of using robotics. The factory is not exactly small but it is not big either.

During the factory tour one of the senior managers were explaining about the company's history and future direction. their aim is to go fully electric and introduce a whole range of models using only electric power. They currently make electric buses which are being used by some municipal governments in China. They took the idea from Tesla and created a modular system whereby additional battery packs can be added for more range or more power. They were claiming good driving range for their electric cars however I have some reservations about it since their emphasis is not in quality rather than lower price.

YEMA claims that they are currently exporting their cars however I suspect that their cars would only be sold in 3rd world countries or smaller developing countries since automotive crash testing may not be mandatory in these countries. I question YEMA's car if they would pass NCAP or other European or Japanese crash tests.

We were not provided a tour of their R&D centre so it is hard to gauge how good is their R&D resources. They did bring out a VW Touarag looking model that is 100% electric. The car is still a prototype but they did try to take visitors a on joyride to let them feel this new car. It is a positive step for the company but in terms of design development they have a long way to go before they can compete with the bigger tier 1 China car companies.

China's automotive market is big enough to have numerous car makers with each carving out their own market segment. Unfortunately nearly all aim only for cheap cars with low quality materials and old engines. It is about time they followed Hyundai and Kia to engage foreign experts to accelerate their design and development of the cars.

Mazda vs the other Japanese car companie

Mazda may be one of the smallest car makers in Japan and in terms of financial and research resources they are probably the smallest. Mazda has survived this long due to their different approach in car design. They have been known to create some very good looking cars but never did have the engine technology to match. In the recent years where they launched the SkyActiv engine and re-worked the body of the car models, the results have been positive. Their sales numbers are up and they are able to attract a wider group of buyers compared to previous generations of cars.

The new line up of Mazda 6, 3 and 2 have gained momentum and many young buyers are now considering Mazda over traditional brands like Toyota and Honda. It is a good thing since Mazda has adopted the Zoom Zoom theme for the last 10 years and now with the current evolution of the models the cars have the looks to match. The new models' interior has also broken away from the traditional Japanese styled interiors. The new Mazda 2 and 3 have a European look to it, similar to Audi and BMW. It is also packed with features and functionality that are not found in competing models such as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Honda City or the Toyota Vios. Pegging it at very similar prices the Mazda models are now a serious contender and the fresh look will attract buyers wanting something different rather than the run of the mill Toyota or Honda.

In this day and age where technology and design themes move so quickly, Mazda did the right thing by thinking outside the box in terms of design. It is little wonder why Toyota just signed an agreement to collaborate with Mazda. Toyota needs an injection of youth and fresh design while Mazda needed access to more R&D resources.

Take a look at the current designs of the Mazda 2 and 3 and you will see what I mean.

car companies that defy convention

There are two car companies that I personally admire the most for their approach to car making. Unlike typical large car companies that makes cars by the hundreds of thousands and use parts that are shared with more than 8 models to keep costs low and the cars are made for the masses without passion.
Tesla and Koenigsegg are the only car companies in the world that shake up the automotive world with their ingenuity and forward thinking.

Tesla is by far the best electric car in the world with state-of-the-art technology that even main stream car companies that are flush with cash struggle to come close to. The Tesla cars are so well designed that they are unlikely to be called old fashion in the next 5 years. The cars are designed to allow in-model evolution where wireless updates can be carried out periodically to improve the car's battery life, extend the driving range, improve performance, fix bugs and all functions to on-board control system. This is truly forward thinking. The cars did have bug initially which have gradually been ironed out. As with all other cars that roll out, the first few years will see the car companies rectifying bugs in the car. The amazing thing about Tesla is that it's designed is far beyond anything BMW, Porsche or even Toyota is able to follow. The Tesla is also able to out drag powerful American muscle cars on a drag strip and yet drive home in comfort. Tesla is now making its way into emerging markets such as China to grow its sales volume. It may not have turned a profit yet but it will get there as more people come to accept its technology.

Koenigsegg is on the other extreme end of the scale where Christian von Koenigsegg spares no expense to develop his hypercars to be the best in the world. His unrivaled passion to be the best and produce the best has won him many admirers and respect from the automotive industry. Koenigsegg was the first company to make and use carbon fibre wheels and also 3D print their own turbo. This is totally unheard of. Koenigsegg also broke convention by redesigning the car's door and even transmission system. He believed that conventional may not be the best so we he designed it to suit his purpose. He was willing to explore the usage of new materials and new manufacturing techniques to make things better. The Koenigsegg car may be one of the most expensive in the world but those who are able to afford one knows that they are buying passion, innovation and creativity. It like having a bespoke suit made by the best tailor using the best materials possible sparing no expense.

Both these companies are not big in comparison to General Motors, Toyota and VAG group. The resources at their disposal is far smaller than any of these giants.

Rich but can't drive!

China's economic growth in the last decade is nothing short of phenomenal. There are so many new found rich in China and many of them have barely 10 years driving experience but have the cash to buy the fastest and loudest super and hypercars money can buy. You can walk down XinTiandi in downtown Shanghai and spot dozens of Ferraris, Lamborghini's, Aston Martins, Mercedes SLS, Mclarens and etc. The new found wealth is no doubt great for super car dealers since they have move so many cars from the showroom floor. However, the big problem comes when most of these Chinese buyers can barely handle a 200hp VW Passat let alone a 550hp Ferrari. It is like learning how to fly before you can even crawl!

Ferrari claims that more than 30% of the cars sold in China are crashed but the owners who do not have the skill to control the car. Ferrari has been actively promoting their driving programs to help the new owners learn how to drive the cars safely. Being rich, the ego factor comes into play and many of these rich buyers cannot be bothered attending the driving programs and just literally buy the cars and drive it the way they wish. There has been many documented cases where many super cars have crashed on city streets or highways in China. Recently a Porsche 918 was destroyed by a young rich owner and in the last 2 days the first La Ferrari was destroyed also by a young driver.

Like the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. This is something that ego alone cannot save the driver. It is like giving a loaded 357 Magnum to a child! The problem is more pronounced in China. The problem occurs world wide where rich people buy the toys that they want but not necessary that they know how to use it.

Car makers really need to install a super nanny program to limit the power of the super car until the owner has gone through the driving program and passed before the car company will give them the access code to unlock the full potential of the car. This nanny mode is good since it can be activated at any time and if the owner himself is not driving and the keys are handed to a person with little or no experience with such powerful machinery they are less likely to wreck it! or kill other people along the way. Alternatively, the car company can provide 2 sets of keys just like how Dodge Hellcat has a black key and red key. The black key is on safe mode and limits the power of the car. For the case of China the owner will be handed a black key to start with and the red key will only be provided once they have gone through the driving program.

Seeing pictures of wrecked exotic cars are not pleasant and I am sure that car companies also do not want to see pictures of their cars destroyed. it is bad publicity!

Audi's incredible development of new diesel

Audi recently developed a way to create diesel fuel from water and carbon dioxide. This is truly amazing since all this while all automakers have been dependent on either electricity or fossil fuel. Audi's engineering team worked out a way to create diesel by using hydrogen from water and fusing it at high temperature with carbon dioxide to create a clean new diesel fuel. This could spell disaster for oil companies since this method of creating diesel is renewable since the key ingredients are readily available. Audi is now doing further tests on this new fuel and claims that it can be combined with regular diesel or run 100% on its own.

This could be a new chapter in Audi's business and could potentially boost their income many times over. Being a renewable source of fuel the key thing now is to bring the cost of production down once the fuel is 100% stable. As it is already well documented, diesel engines are very efficient and offer great torque but a little noisy. Audi claims that the new fuel is quieter and cleaner than regular Euro 5 diesel. This is great news for EU countries since their regulations are always focused around carbon emissions.

If the price of the new fuel is able to be cheaper than regular diesel, don't be surprised to see Audi's new fuel overtaking regular diesel as a fuel source in the near future. Oil companies would want a piece of this technology and would pay top dollar just to buy the license or the patent for it. Since VAG is a big auto maker it is likely that they turn this technology into a cash cow for many years to come.

Japanese car companies finally decided on engine downsizing with turbo!

The European car companies started engine downsizing over 10 years ago and now the Japanese finally decided to join the party. Honda being the first to announce this move last year with the planned introduction of 1.5 litre turbo engines for the Civic, Accord and several other models. They finally saw the benefit of the engine downsizing and how much the European car makers have been pushing this initiative. BMW, Mercedes, Audi/VW, Peugeot, Citreon and Renault have all been using small turbo charged engines to great effect since 2004 and earlier (VW and Mercedes).

The next to follow is Toyota who also announced their plans for small engines with turbo but it is rumoured that they are collaborating with BMW for engines. In terms of out right engine technology and development Honda and BMW are among the best in the world for making ultra efficient engines which punches well above its weight each time.

Gone are the days of using a regular 2 Litre engine on a mid size saloon (Camry or Accord size), a 1.6 litre turbo will offer more power and more torque while using 15-25% less fuel. For the guys who cannot resist the temptation of tuning, the turbo engine open up a lot of potential for tuning. A quick ECU remap will easily gain another 20-25% more power and torque. Of course this is a headache for car companies who want to keep their warranty programs intact.

Small engines with turbo plus hybrid system will be next wave after this. all because of the elusive search for better efficiency. From 5L/100km average will soon drop to 3.5L/100km with hybrid systems.

It is time for American car companies to think about improving themselves. Their dinosaur age engines are too far behind and lack the required levels of efficiency to compete with the best from Europe and Japan.

CVT transmissions with torque converters

Recently I had a chance to test drive 3 cars back to back, Subaru XV, Honda HR-V and the Mazda 3. The first two are equipped with a modern CVT transmission with a torque converter. The early generation CVT transmissions all felt like rubber bands to drive. The addition of the torque converter was to eliminate or reduce the rubber band like effect which annoyed many drivers. I personally hate the hell out of CVT transmissions since I could never accept how the power was delivered and when you wanted power it was never there!
Having spoken to a very convincing Subaru salesman I decided to see if he was talking hot air or Subaru really made some improvement to the age old CVT transmission. The Subaru XV is a decent car overall since it mixed the SUV ride height (slightly lower than typical SUVs) with a sedan type handling. The car was miserable from the inside since the interior's design is so old and so out dated! it is was time Subaru fired the designer who was responsible for designing the interior. The interior's design looked so dated and unfitting for a car of this current generation. Nevertheless the interior was not of my concern, I was more worried about how the car would drive. Taking it out for a spin on a busy city streets the car seem smooth as expected since that is what the CVT transmission is good for. The problem only came when I decided to see how well the transmission will react to my heavy right foot input. The initial get go was decent with the car showing good response but thats where it all ended too! When I had my foot at half throttle the car was moving along nicely, but when I full throttled the car, it made no difference in acceleration initially and it kind of paused for a second before the torque and horsepower came into play. This is seriously not confidence inspiring! if you were in a situation where you had to overtake a truck you would have to plan really far ahead to take into consideration the lag or the empty spot where the power should be! This car is ONLY suited for city driving. You can drive in comfortably on the highway at cruising speeds and I believe the fuel economy will be good but I wouldn't want to try to overtake anything since any heavy right foot inputs will make you frustrated!

Next came the Honda HR-V, this is Honda's baby SUV which is selling like crazy! over 7,000 bookings in the first month alone!! this must be a new record for Honda. It is an incredible feat to garner so many bookings in the first month alone. Yes, Malaysians are suckers for new car models and when any new car models are launched car crazy Malaysians will jump at it and buy it as if their life depended on it. To Honda's credit, the HR-V is a decent looking car and has a nice modern interior with many new gizmos to create even better value. Having a 1.8 litre engine sourced from the Civic you know the car should be decent. The only thing is that this car also comes with a CVT transmission! As it is designed to be a city car the CVT transmission again is there to serve its purpose. During the test drive the city driving environment is where this car performs best. The CVT transmission was responsive at low speeds but once I decided to again stomp the throttle the engine would screams its lungs off and viola.... nothing happens! the car does not accelerate like it should. The damn CVT transmission masks the acceleration and the engine revs to 4000rpm and stays there. The engine is loud but I don't feel any acceleration! the rubber band effect is back when you ease off a little to allow the car to so called change gears (CVT transmission doesn't change gears! it has one gear with infinite ratios). I believe it would be very frustrating to drive on the B roads when you want to push the car a bit harder. As a car on its own, it is a very decent car for its price and good for city driving. Do not even once start to think that this car will be happy going up to Genting Highlands.

The last car is the Mazda 3. This car is equipped with the regular 6 speed automatic. The car's interior is definitely nicely designed and is similar to a European designed car. The interior is modern, sporty and also has many bells and whistles. The car does have a more expensive feel to it since the design itself is not Japanese looking. Zoom-zoom theme is carried forward to this model. On the car the car feels firm and more zippy. Naturally the handling would be different since it is not a SUV. It is a sedan car with sporty nature. The car's engine and transmission is responsive and was very predictable in its power delivery. There are some small flat spots at some points along the RPM but the car was able to perform as you would expect meaning stomp on the throttle the transmission will kick down a gear and accelerate hard or be light on the throttle and it will stay in a higher gear to save fuel. I am glad that out of all the Japanese car makers, Mazda decided to stick to the conventional automatic rather than the dreaded CVT. Nearly all Japanese car companies are using CVT as they want to achieve better fuel economy but it just removes the joy in driving the car.

implementation of GST and its impact on the Malaysian automotive industry

From 1 April 2015 GST will be implemented in Malaysia for the very first time. The 6% GST has created enough problems for all industries including the automotive industry. there has been various discussions about how it will affect the final price of the cars. The original sales tax of 10% will be removed and the 6% GST will replace it, this naturally created the impression that there will be nett discount since there is 4% less tax to pay. However this is not quite true since GST is charged at every level of the sales chain and this could potentially lead to high final price.

The original sales tax of 10% is charged upon importation (for imported cars) but GST is charged at the point of import, plus when the distributor sells the cars to dealers and when dealers sell the cars to customers. The nett effect could see the final price go up by 1-2% depending on the situation. This naturally does not bode well for customers since everything has gone up in price recently ranging from food to basic supplies.

Then there are also cases where some car dealers will use this opportunity to mark up prices a little more to make more money in the name of GST implementation. The problem is the prices between layers are not transparent and no one knows if there is any sort of profiteering involved. The Malaysian Govt should take actions to check and investigate car dealers and determine if there are any profiteering involved and if there are such cases a suitable punishment or penalty should be imposed.

how the automotive industry will shape up after the introduction of GST will be a hot topic for many months to come.

Volkswagen's image in Malaysia

Volkswagen is a well known name in the automotive world being famous for the Beetle and the Golf. VW's presence in South East Asia was weak to say the least until 2007 when VW decided to embark on expanding its business into Malaysia. Having introduced a handful of models it gradually increased the model line up to match the market demand.

With each passing year, VW's sales volume grew and so did its reputation as a good alternative European car for buyers who were tired of driving Japanese or Korean cars but did not want to pay BMW, Audi or Mercedes prices. The strategy worked well until one Managing Director who was appointed to head the local operations decided to focus nearly all their efforts on sales volume rather than providing adequate after sales service. Naturally, selling a car would require sufficient after sales service to match. Not having enough service centre locations the back log of cars to service kept growing. This was not the only problem but the way the management only focused its efforts on sales.
The initial introduction of the 1.4TSI engine with the dry sump DSG transmission was good but problems soon started appearing and the management did not take it seriously to help customers facing the problems. As the number of problems grew the number of angry customers grew leading to a publicized demonstration in front of the VW building creating massive bad press for VW.
The news got around and the sales volume started to drop. The damage was done and VW management had no choice but to take damage control actions to protect its damaged reputation.

The fault was of course with the previous management that put little effort to support customer problems. When there is a problem, customers would expect full support from VW however, VW's approach was very sly and shifted the blame back to the customer which infuriated the customers more. There was also the ridiculous policy of voiding the warranty if the customer was late to service their car by a few days. Having insufficient service centres coupled with long queues it made it impossible for customers to service their cars according to the schedule.

With the miserable sales volume now, VW is desperate to fix their reputation. Many used car dealers now refuse to take trade in for VW cars and many sales centres are struggling to sell enough cars to survive. Despite changing their approach with the service, warranty and customer support, it will be a very long way before VW can repair its reputation. Too much damage has been done and it is unlikely that VW can achieve the sales volumes from 3 years ago in the near future.

Rebuilding the image and reputation is an incredibly difficult task!

design philosophy of car makers from different countries

the 7 main car making countries being USA, Japan, Korea, UK, Italy, France and Germany approach car making in a very different manner.

USA
- cheap
- big engine and thirsty
- mediocre quality
- old technology
- overly soft suspension
- lousy handling
- lazy transmission
- mass market cars with nothing special to offer

Germany
- technology and innovation driven
- designed for appeal and driver emotion
- pushes the technology envelope but at the expense of reliability
- firm suspension setup for superior high speed stability
- expensive in comparison to American and Japanese cars
- leans a lot on motorsports for development

Japanese
- innovative small engines with good fuel economy
- boring to drive (Mostly Toyotas and run of the mill Hondas and Nissans)
- mass market cars with little soul or character
- reliable, dependable with good resale value
- sometime repackage as luxury model (lexus and Infiniti)
- work horse that will keep working and working

Koreans
- cheaper than Japanese cars
- innovation that is catching up to Japanese
- car development often based on German marques
- offers more value than Japanese
- sometimes makes false claims about its performance and economy figures
- not as durable as Japanese
- boring to mass market cars
- previously ugly as hell but since pinching European designers the cars look much better now

Italian
- eccentric car makers
- niche market cars and not the most reliable
- pushed technology envelope at times
- makes cars that are characterful but sometimes defies logic
- supercars are not reliable and often has a love hate relationship with owner
- from cheap to very expensive

French
- makes quirky cars
- innovative design and technology but not always reliable
- strange logic is sometimes applied to their designs
- not the most sought after cars
- moderately priced

British
- good engineering but lacks the follow through on quality and reliability
- nearly all British car makers are dead and / or owned by foreigners
- unreliable and questionable quality
- innovative designs and technological advancement
- poor residual values

The latest force to be noticed is China since it is now the largest car market in the world.
China
- up and coming force in the automotive world
- cheap and tacky
- improving technology and design
- ugly designs with some improvements of late
- questionable quality and reliability
- crude assembly

Peugeot RCZ

The French car makers have been making cars for a long time and they have made some real odd ball cars in their history of making cars. Some of the ideas were no doubt fresh but strange. They also had good tendencies to explore their creativity, innovation and design talents. However despite all this the French has never been known to make very reliable cars or super cool cars that people would yearn to buy with the exception of the Bugatti Veyron which ultimately is owned by VW. Since the Bugatti is not a mass market car we would ignore it in this story.

The car that came out about 4 years ago that looked good on the outside is the Peugeot RCZ which is based on the Peugeot 308. The car looks very good from the outside giving it more head turning ability than the Audi TT. The designers did a good job to make this car's exterior design very attractive but that is as far as it goes. It is as if Peugeot decided to walk 80% of the way and decided to stop! The engine is no different from the one in the Peugeot 306 Turbo with the exact same power output, it also had the same gearbox and similar interior with less space.

Since the exterior already made the car look nice and sporty why not go all the way and put in a stonker of an engine to allow it to have the performance to match the looks? I am sure in the parts department Peugeot could find at least a 2.0 litre turbo or a 3 litre engine to push out at least 300hp to make it worth its shape! The car is quite a let down to drive considering the exterior looks makes you want to driver it harder and faster.

In the end it is categorized as a "could be but isn't!" car, meaning it could have been a nice sports car but it isn't, it is just a sporty car! It is just a car for posers who to be seen in but later laughed at by car enthusiasts.

Proton's survival

In the recent released 2014 car sales statistics for Malaysia, the combined sales volume of Proton and Perodua dipped below 50%. This meant that the dominance of the local cars are weakening and the consumers have made choices to buy non local made cars. This is the first time in 25 years where a local car has not dominated the car sales figure in Malaysia. Proton's enemy is not the foreign brands but Perodua. Perodua has consistently chipped away at Proton in the initial years and when the Myvi was launched this model put tremendous pressure on Proton to introduce new models to compete.

The Myvi was almost single handedly forced Proton to work rather than just be complacent with their existing models thinking the Malaysian public will keep buying their out of date models. Perodua was far more innovative and had newer products that appealed to the public.

Proton is now facing certain doom at the rate it is going. All it is doing is revising their existing models by adding more accessories and simple parts to spruce up its image. The facelifted models with additional kits are costing far more than the public is willing to pay for and Proton struggles to sell at higher prices as the it still has the cheap image tagged on it. It is also clamoring for survival by trying to find cooperation partners in China, Middle East and Indonesia. Without fresh new models and improvement in quality it will continue to struggle. The competition from Japanese and Korean brands which are now very established are very difficult to beat. The design and product development teams of Korean and even Chinese car companies are much larger than Proton and all have much larger economies of scale which also means lower costs of production.

Proton is like in a state of limbo where it cannot really get out of this current predicament without new models and wavering support from the local market does not help. The only way out would be for Proton to focus on rebadging and assembly rather than designing new models. Proton's capacity to design new models is just not up to par with other car companies.

The question remains is whether its founder Dr. Mahathir will let it shut down or bail it out using tax payer's money.

Toyota cars for ASEAN market

Toyota may be the leader in selling cars in South East Asia and even many other regions. They are of course known for their impeccable reliability and also durability. Their cars have probably the best resale value among all the brands in the market. This is something that Toyota has gotten right for the last 30 years. The brand cannot be shaken and when the Toyota name is mentioned two words spring to mind: reliability and good resale value.
In domestic Japan, being its home grown it gets the latest technology and innovations in their new models but in the rest of the world depending on where the cars are sold the specifications vary. The one thing that irks me about Toyota is that the models sold official in South East Asia are mostly assembled in Thailand or Indonesia and often come with out of date engines and transmissions. The bread and butter models such as the Vios (known as the Yaris sedan) is in its 3rd generation now but the engine and gearbox are still the same as the first generation! All Toyota has done has changed the exterior and interior to make it look different. This is the same for the Camry and Hilux. The other model that is using an ancient engine is the Innova.
While the other car companies are constantly evolving for the better, Toyota seems to be building cars with old tech instead of the latest tech for the ASEAN region! why???! it is like short changing the buyers. Toyota know full well that their cars will sell regardless what engine or transmission they put in their cars but at least show some innovation and move with the times.
I know for a fact that putting old engines and transmissions into their cars help them make a lot of money since the R&D cost has been amortized decades ago.

A simple comparison between the Toyota Vios and the new Mazda 2 will show massive difference in technology. Mazda 2 has 6 speed auto transmission, engine start / stop function, keyless entry with button on the door handle, Skyactiv engine, head up display, integrated LCD with touch screen with wireless connectivity and reverse camera. None of these are available on the top spec Vios that sells for a higher price. It is little wonder why Mazda and Honda are stealing sales away from Toyota. The public is not as stupid as they think, and they are becoming more well informed. They want value and they want to buy something new and not something repackaged to look new when it is not!

In the case of the indestructable Toyota Hilux, the same model has been in production for close to 10 years now! The rest of the competition has already introduced replacement models and started to steal sales from Toyota. The motto of "if it is not broken, don't fix it!" cannot help protect the sales figures forever.

Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi

I was fortunate enough to visit the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi in my recent trip to UAE. It was an impressive facility with top notch surface for racing, new special run off surface and tip top hospitality facilities. They even had a Johnny Rockets and a Coffee bar at the viewing deck from the racing school building.

Yas Marina is one of the newer circuits in the F1 calendar and it hosts the last race of each season. The track and its surroundings is impressive and very well maintained even during off season. They have a good and comprehensive driving experience program with cars ranging from the Aston Martin GT4, Radical SST and the Formula 3000 cars available. There is also a drifting school program where the student will learn how to drift in a Toyota 86.

The driving experience programs are well managed with well trained foreign instructors guiding the students around the track (for first 1-2 laps) and then allowing the student to push hard thereafter. The cost of the programs are also very reasonable starting from 1200 AED for the Radical SST where you get 20 minutes of track time. The cars are not tuned down to make it safe and slow, the cars are actual race cars with full power at your disposal. The driving programs are well patronized by visitors from all over the world.

Depending on the skill level of the student the instructors will alter their amount of guidance provided. Everyone has a different skill level so it is a good chance to learn or improve one's driving skills behind the wheel of some of the best racing cars in the world.

Right next to the Yas Marina circuit is the Ferrari world theme park. It is nowhere near as big as other mainstream theme parks but it is nonetheless the only Ferrari theme park in the world.

For any car nut, the Yas Marina circuit is a must visit. check out their driving programs on www.yasmarinacircuit.com/

Malaysia's Energy Efficient Vehicle incentive program

The Malaysian government introduced an Energy Efficient Vehicle incentive program with the aim of improving the automotive industry and provide better incentives for car companies to introduce more fuel efficient cars in Malaysia. The incentive is by way of tax incentives if the models of cars that were introduced complied with the so-called standard of fuel efficiency gazetted by the Malaysian Government. The fuel efficiency standard is not a global standard by one devised by Malaysian Government's advisory body.
Japan has its own domestic fuel efficiency test and so do the Europeans. No one is sure where the fuel efficiency standard figure is obtained from for the Malaysian standard. Many hybrids and European and Japanese vehicles already meet these fuel efficiency standards but not all have benefited from the tax incentive.
All the car makers are aiming to benefit from the tax incentive to reduce the price of cars in Malaysia. It looks like the government is either reluctant to provide the incentives or have no plans to honor it. Thus far only a handful of models have seen any kinds of price reduction benefits. Mercedes Benz's S400 hybrid has been one of the few models that benefited from this scheme but to a limited degree as there is a quota for the benefit. By right such a scheme should be to the benefit for all car makers who have cars that are able to meet the fuel efficiency rating and there should not be any quota. It is as if the govt wants to show it is trying to do some good for the automotive industry by providing such an incentive but on the other hand it is reluctant to honor it. What is the point of mooting such ideas when they don't want to honor it?! this is nothing new in the Malaysian context as it is similar to the Govt pledging to remove the much hated AP (Approved Permit) system where selected businessmen who are linked to the govt are giving import permits for cars. The govt has pledged to remove this AP system for years but this removal deadline has been push back further and further each time saying that the Malaysian Auto industry is not ready for it. The truth in the matter is that only Proton is not ready and the businessmen linked to the govt will lose their benefits. The remainder of the automotive industry is ready and waiting for years for the automotive industry to be opened up.

In 2014 it is the first time in decades where both local car makers Proton and Perodua combined failed to capture more than 50% of the market share. Combined they only managed 46% which is a big drop from 2 years ago. The competition from foreign car makers are getting stronger and the public is sick and tired of buying substandard quality Protons. The one to suffer the most is Proton since Perodua still managed a good slice of the market with its low cost K-cars which serve the masses.

2015 will be an interesting year to see how the automotive industry will fair. There is much speculation that it may contract with the introduction of GST while others believe the prices will drop a little but since the cost of everything will go up, the public may decide to cut spending.

tokyo Auto salon 2015

Tokyo Autosalon came and went for 2015. The same usual exhibits were there again... such as the DAD crystal decked cars and many cars that were recycled from last year's show. It seems like the excitement of this auto show has dimmed or the Japanese tuning industry is falling asleep. Nothing new and exciting is being put on display or there is not major innovation. 10 years ago the auto salon show cased many new tuning concepts and tuning parts. These days the auto salon features far too many recycled cars from previous year's shows such as the JUN GT-R, the Liberty Walk Lamborghini, HKS tuned Toyota 86, Rocket Bunny 86, DAD crystal Mercedes SL and some stanced MPVs. It is quite boring to see the same old cars being exhibiting year after year.

the only thing new to the show as the candy covered car. It is by no means a performance car but more of a display of outrageous design idea. Despite the same cars and products being featured, the show is still packed with car enthusiasts from all over the world.

The halls are completely full of people from Friday afternoon till closing time on Sunday evening. The auto salon is a big event in Japan and the show has expanded to cover 12 halls which is an impressive feat on its own but the more impressive thing is that every hall is nearly completely full of visitors.