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.
Monday, 26 January 2015
Thursday, 22 January 2015
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.
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.
Thursday, 1 January 2015
reviving car companies
In the recent years we have seen several notable car brands going into bankruptcy and then end up in the hands of Chinese or Indian companies. The prominent ones were Volvo, LandRover / Jaguar and MG. Volvo and MG were bought over by China companies while Jaguar/ LandRover were bought by Indian car company Tata.
All of these companies have now turned a new leaf in their business and are doing much better than when they were managed by their previous European owners. Why is that? Is it due to better management from the new owners or bigger injection of capital to boost R&D and product development?
From Volvo's perspective, having a Chinese owner helped boost their sales in China which is by far the most lucrative market in the world right now. The same goes for MG, being Chinese owned they were able to penetrate the China market enabling them to increase their vehicle sales many times over. Tata also did a fantastic job to turn around Jaguar / LandRover in the recent years. LandRover was stuck in a time warp with the previous generation models until Tata came along and took over the company. The new model line up was much more appealing to consumers and also created a new image for LandRover. The same thing happened with Jaguar, once deemed as an oldman's car is now much fresher and younger looking with several impressive new models that has given the motoring world some excitement.
Were the previous owners too stuck in their old ways or were they too cash strapped to make any progress? Getting into the two largest emerging countries in the world definitely helped and a positive change in management boosted the companies' ability to create fresh new products that people would want to buy.
All of these companies have now turned a new leaf in their business and are doing much better than when they were managed by their previous European owners. Why is that? Is it due to better management from the new owners or bigger injection of capital to boost R&D and product development?
From Volvo's perspective, having a Chinese owner helped boost their sales in China which is by far the most lucrative market in the world right now. The same goes for MG, being Chinese owned they were able to penetrate the China market enabling them to increase their vehicle sales many times over. Tata also did a fantastic job to turn around Jaguar / LandRover in the recent years. LandRover was stuck in a time warp with the previous generation models until Tata came along and took over the company. The new model line up was much more appealing to consumers and also created a new image for LandRover. The same thing happened with Jaguar, once deemed as an oldman's car is now much fresher and younger looking with several impressive new models that has given the motoring world some excitement.
Were the previous owners too stuck in their old ways or were they too cash strapped to make any progress? Getting into the two largest emerging countries in the world definitely helped and a positive change in management boosted the companies' ability to create fresh new products that people would want to buy.
Tuesday, 2 December 2014
Nissan GT-R buyers - skill or just boyracer?
Ever since the R35 Nissan GT-R was introduced in 2008, it basically rewrote the history books on how a supercar can be beaten by superb engineering. Nissan turned the supercar industry upside down with the might GT-R that easily show many supercars a clean pair of heels. The car was made so fast and so easy to drive that one often wonder if there is any skill involved in driving it. As prices for used specimens fall when the newer updated models are released the GT-R has become more affordable to a larger crowd.
Of late, there has been hundreds of used GT-R hitting the streets, many bought by young drivers. The next question is about responsibility. There has been numerous fatal accidents involving GT-Rs that are raced on the streets and highways. The car may make the driver feel like god behind the wheel but there are physical limits. the danger comes when the car is driven beyond those limits and the car will likely end up in a wall or an armco barrier.
The limits of the car is extremely high and the onboard computer will do its best to keep the car under control but there is something called physics and no matter what the on-board computer will do to protect the car, for example: going into a tight 90 degree turn at 180km/h will likely spell trouble. The high limits makes giving a false sense of confidence. The car is ridiculously easy to drive fast and this is like giving a big machine gun to a child. The problem doesn't end there because the car is so easy to modify to boost power many of the owners have gone on to up the car's power beyond 600hp.
The worst thing about this is that many of the young guys who buy this car think they are Lewis Hamilton and is the best driver on earth! the car naturally helps stroke the already inflated ego since most of the work is done by the car. A fat ego, a super fast car and perception of one's amazing skill equals trouble!
We have seen many GT-R owners bragging about how good they are or how fast they are at the pub but are they really that good? if you take them out of the GT-R and put them in a 125cc go-kart how will they perform? I believe that more than 90% of them can barely come within 5 seconds of the lap record on an said go kart track.
Of late, there has been hundreds of used GT-R hitting the streets, many bought by young drivers. The next question is about responsibility. There has been numerous fatal accidents involving GT-Rs that are raced on the streets and highways. The car may make the driver feel like god behind the wheel but there are physical limits. the danger comes when the car is driven beyond those limits and the car will likely end up in a wall or an armco barrier.
The limits of the car is extremely high and the onboard computer will do its best to keep the car under control but there is something called physics and no matter what the on-board computer will do to protect the car, for example: going into a tight 90 degree turn at 180km/h will likely spell trouble. The high limits makes giving a false sense of confidence. The car is ridiculously easy to drive fast and this is like giving a big machine gun to a child. The problem doesn't end there because the car is so easy to modify to boost power many of the owners have gone on to up the car's power beyond 600hp.
The worst thing about this is that many of the young guys who buy this car think they are Lewis Hamilton and is the best driver on earth! the car naturally helps stroke the already inflated ego since most of the work is done by the car. A fat ego, a super fast car and perception of one's amazing skill equals trouble!
We have seen many GT-R owners bragging about how good they are or how fast they are at the pub but are they really that good? if you take them out of the GT-R and put them in a 125cc go-kart how will they perform? I believe that more than 90% of them can barely come within 5 seconds of the lap record on an said go kart track.
Low Octane fuel and American cars
During my recent trip to the US I rented a Dodge Charger 3.6 for the fun of it to see if regular American cars made any progress in terms of development. Here are my findings:
- the car's engine is lazy as usual with good torque at low rpm but the fun stops there!
- the suspension is soft as expected and has good cushy ride on the highways
- the transmission (6 speed auto I think), we acceptable but not particularly fast
- fuel consumption, returned about 30 MPG+ (according to the onboard computer)
The strange thing about this car is that knowing full well that in the west coast of the United States you can easily get RON87 fuel which is super low grade by developed country standards. The car's engine started knocking at 4,500rpm using RON87. I would think that Dodge would design the engine to run efficiently on RON87 since it is a common fuel in US.
I had the chance to dyno test the car to see how much power it would produce at the wheels, to my surprise the 3.6 litre engine only managed 191hp at the wheels which is very low. I would imagine that the transmission would have sapped out about 25% but 191 hp is very low.
The car felt clumsy to drive around the city but was comfortable on the highway. I am not sure how much worst it was before this but in terms of car development the average American car is nowhere near the Europeans or the Japanese!
- the car's engine is lazy as usual with good torque at low rpm but the fun stops there!
- the suspension is soft as expected and has good cushy ride on the highways
- the transmission (6 speed auto I think), we acceptable but not particularly fast
- fuel consumption, returned about 30 MPG+ (according to the onboard computer)
The strange thing about this car is that knowing full well that in the west coast of the United States you can easily get RON87 fuel which is super low grade by developed country standards. The car's engine started knocking at 4,500rpm using RON87. I would think that Dodge would design the engine to run efficiently on RON87 since it is a common fuel in US.
I had the chance to dyno test the car to see how much power it would produce at the wheels, to my surprise the 3.6 litre engine only managed 191hp at the wheels which is very low. I would imagine that the transmission would have sapped out about 25% but 191 hp is very low.
The car felt clumsy to drive around the city but was comfortable on the highway. I am not sure how much worst it was before this but in terms of car development the average American car is nowhere near the Europeans or the Japanese!
Thursday, 27 November 2014
Porsche 991 GT3
I have driven many supercars and sports cars in my life but not all are as good as they appear. There is the Mclaren MP4-12C, looks great, very fast but lacks character and soul. Then there is the Nissan GT-R, high capable supercar killer that makes everyone who drives it think they are a hero! No thanks to that, many young punks who buy this car end up killing themselves when they drive beyond the limits of the car.
I could be considered old school in my thinking but I like a sports car or a supercar that I can feel and connect with. The 911 has been a very traditional type of sportscar that has evolved over time to be the superlative supercar. It is not as fast as cars such as the Koenigsegg, Pagani or even the Mclaren but the main difference is that the 911 evolved step by step over time and did not go for out right power. it kept to its design philosophy and made the driving experience pure.
The new 991 is somewhat an interesting animal because of the changes made to the car from the 997. The new car has electric power steering and the new torque vectoring system to give the car better handling. Naturally for Porsche their main selling models will be the Carrera and the Carrera S models which are easy to drive in the city, comfortable highway cruiser and a good weekend warrior sports car. However, for those who are in the market for a real "driver's car", the GT3 is the best of the lot. It is not as fast and the Turbo or the Turbo S in a straight line but boy does it put a simple on your face when you throw the GT3 around corners.
The key difference of the GT3 vs the faster Turbo models is that there is no turbo lag, despite the Turbo models having very little turbo lag these days. The GT3's power delivery is clean, very predictable and linear making it very predict how the car will behave when you are very aggressive on the throttle. Driving the GT3 is not all about power, it is how the car is able to be so precise and agile at the same time.
The GT3 as a complete package is by far the best driver's car in the market in my opinion. Some would beg to differ saying that the Ferrari 458 Speciale is better and faster but the Porsche is anytime more accessible and is way cheaper than the 458 Speciale.
The GT3's active rear wheel steering system works brilliantly to make the car so agile and able to carry so much speed around turns. The way the engine is so eager to rev to 9000rpm is simply amazing similar to the Honda S2000 engine by only bigger, louder and much more power. The chassis is also very well tuned to provide so much feedback to the driver and you can feel everything that's happening under the car and if the tail will step out and how much opposite lock you need to dial in to keep the car under control.
Having the engine over the rear wheels have previously made the 911 a difficult car to drive as the rear acts like a pendulum but the new 991 models have made this very manageable and easy to live with. This is serious progress in terms of development.
I could be considered old school in my thinking but I like a sports car or a supercar that I can feel and connect with. The 911 has been a very traditional type of sportscar that has evolved over time to be the superlative supercar. It is not as fast as cars such as the Koenigsegg, Pagani or even the Mclaren but the main difference is that the 911 evolved step by step over time and did not go for out right power. it kept to its design philosophy and made the driving experience pure.
The new 991 is somewhat an interesting animal because of the changes made to the car from the 997. The new car has electric power steering and the new torque vectoring system to give the car better handling. Naturally for Porsche their main selling models will be the Carrera and the Carrera S models which are easy to drive in the city, comfortable highway cruiser and a good weekend warrior sports car. However, for those who are in the market for a real "driver's car", the GT3 is the best of the lot. It is not as fast and the Turbo or the Turbo S in a straight line but boy does it put a simple on your face when you throw the GT3 around corners.
The key difference of the GT3 vs the faster Turbo models is that there is no turbo lag, despite the Turbo models having very little turbo lag these days. The GT3's power delivery is clean, very predictable and linear making it very predict how the car will behave when you are very aggressive on the throttle. Driving the GT3 is not all about power, it is how the car is able to be so precise and agile at the same time.
The GT3 as a complete package is by far the best driver's car in the market in my opinion. Some would beg to differ saying that the Ferrari 458 Speciale is better and faster but the Porsche is anytime more accessible and is way cheaper than the 458 Speciale.
The GT3's active rear wheel steering system works brilliantly to make the car so agile and able to carry so much speed around turns. The way the engine is so eager to rev to 9000rpm is simply amazing similar to the Honda S2000 engine by only bigger, louder and much more power. The chassis is also very well tuned to provide so much feedback to the driver and you can feel everything that's happening under the car and if the tail will step out and how much opposite lock you need to dial in to keep the car under control.
Having the engine over the rear wheels have previously made the 911 a difficult car to drive as the rear acts like a pendulum but the new 991 models have made this very manageable and easy to live with. This is serious progress in terms of development.
Thursday, 18 September 2014
salt water powered supercar - Qaunt e-sportlimousine
Once in a while someone makes a massive breakthrough in technology and it has just happened in Europe with the Quant E-sportlimousine. It is the first car in the world to be powered electricity using salt water. This is amazing on many levels as salt water is abundant and the performance produced by the electric motors is nothing short of staggering.
Instead of normally charging the batteries of the car using electricity, the Quant E-sportlimousine uses salt water with a chemical reaction to create electricity. It promises very good driving range of 600km and incredible power and torque figures. There is an electric motor attached to each wheel and is computer controlled to allow it to determine how much power and torque is sent to each wheel which is handy for torque vectoring to optimise performance.
The big surprise is that the car produces 644hp and 8552 lbs-ft of torque!! that is more torque than 10 supercars added together!! The concept also took the storage of electricity to another level for cars. Instead of just charging up the batteries the traditional way, it can be topped up by replenishing electrolytes which is kind of like adding gasoline to the car. The energy is stored in 2 large capacitors from which the electric motors draw their energy from.
Once this technology is able to be made more affordable I believe more cars will be using this technology instead of the existing flawed hybrid system or the current pure electric car system with limited operating range.
Instead of normally charging the batteries of the car using electricity, the Quant E-sportlimousine uses salt water with a chemical reaction to create electricity. It promises very good driving range of 600km and incredible power and torque figures. There is an electric motor attached to each wheel and is computer controlled to allow it to determine how much power and torque is sent to each wheel which is handy for torque vectoring to optimise performance.
The big surprise is that the car produces 644hp and 8552 lbs-ft of torque!! that is more torque than 10 supercars added together!! The concept also took the storage of electricity to another level for cars. Instead of just charging up the batteries the traditional way, it can be topped up by replenishing electrolytes which is kind of like adding gasoline to the car. The energy is stored in 2 large capacitors from which the electric motors draw their energy from.
Once this technology is able to be made more affordable I believe more cars will be using this technology instead of the existing flawed hybrid system or the current pure electric car system with limited operating range.
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