The 2022 Myvi Facelift Comes With PSDA, But What Is It And How Does It Do It?

Now that the 2022 Myvi facelift is finally upon us let's talk a little bit about its most significant upgrade,
Perodua Smart Drive Assist (PSDA).

Perodua Smart Drive Assist or commonly known as ASA 3.0 is Perodua's latest Advanced Safety Assist feature, first seen on the
Perodua Ativa
.

ASA is basically a safety system that steps in when the driver is distracted. It helps the car avoid collisions by taking preventive measures. Perodua's ASA senses danger via a two-lensed stereo camera behind the rearview mirror. Along with its software, the camera is there to help judge distance.

It's not as fancy as radar systems in more expensive cars,
but it does do the job
. The only downfall of the system is that it may be compromised during bad weather, as it is a stereo camera system after all. The driver will be notified, however, via a warning light, indicating it is not working in the instance it is compromised.

Nonetheless, with the addition of ASA 3.0 on the Myvi, Malaysia's most loved vehicle has officially raised the benchmark for safety in the compact vehicle segment, making it the most advanced vehicle in terms of passive safety equipment.

When did ASA get to version 3.0?

ASA first debuted on the
third-generation Perodua Myvi in 2017
. It comprised of a Pre-Collision Warning (up to 30 km/h), Pre-Collision Braking (up to 30 km/h), Front Departure Alert and Pedal Misoperation Control, all of which work together to mitigate frontal collisions.

ASA 2.0 then appeared on the
 Aruz in 2019
, adding Pedestrian Detection (up to 50 km/h) to the suite and upping the operational speeds of Pre-Collision Warning and Pre-Collision Braking to 100 km/h and 80 km/h, respectively.

ASA 2.0 then found its way to the 2019 Axia and 2020 Bezza before finding its way to the
Myvi in 2020
.

As we mentioned before, ASA 3.0 or PSDA made its debut in the Perodua Ativa. It came with an upgraded stereo camera and once again upped the game by increasing the operational speed - upping the autonomous Pre-Collision Braking speed up to 120km/h for vehicles and 60km/h for pedestrians.

It also increased Pre-Collision Warning operational speed from 100 km/h to 120 km/h for vehicles and 50 km/h to 60 km/h for pedestrians.

ASA 3.0 was also able to detect bicycles and motorcycles, which was a step up from ASA 2.0 as it was only limited to vehicles and pedestrians. ASA 3.0 also works at night by detecting a car's taillights.

Because of the new camera and radar sensors installed on the inside of the rear bumpers, ASA 3.0 was also able to offer Level 2 autonomous driving, which opened up features such as Adaptive Cruise Control, Lane Keep Control, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert.

So is the system in the 2022 Myvi facelift just a software upgrade?

The ASA 2.0 sensors had their limitations, so for the 2022 Myvi facelift to have ASA 3.0, quite a bit of new hardware, software, and electrical components had to be put into place.

Two of the main things that the Myvi facelift needed to have ASA 3.0 with Level 2 autonomy are the new stereo camera and radar sensors in the rear bumper.

New software and electrical architecture that supports the new hardware make the 2022 Myvi facelift one of the safest cars on the road, even if it's only the AV variant that gets the entire host of features. All other variants except the basic G variant will still come with ASA 3.0, but without advanced driving assistance systems such as Adaptive Cruise Control, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Cross-Traffic Alert.

While it might seem like the Myvi facelift's upgrades are only skin-deep, the implementation of ASA 3.0 did require some intricate overhauling of the previous car. No wonder it cost them
RM50 million to develop it.

That plus the other aesthetic and drivetrain changes makes the 2022 Perodua Myvi a very compelling package even in 2021. We don't see it losing its top spot in Malaysia anytime soon. Do you?


2016 Mercedes-Benz A-Class Facelift To Debut This Weekend?

Not locally, of course, but at the coming Goodwood Festival of Speed (FOS), so it seems. Word on the line is that
Mercedes-Benz
 will be giving its facelifted baby
A-Class
 an unveil at the coming FoS show (June 25
th
 to 28
th
).
It’s even been reported that the
updated A 45 AMG
 will make a run up the hill itself. Could it be driven by present Nico Rosberg while he’s there anyways? We can’t say for sure, but apart from his 2014 Formula 1 car, Nico will also have his pick of AMG GT S and C 63 S to choose from.
The A-Class facelift’s potential reveal this weekend would be fast-tracking its supposed debut at September’s Frankfurt Motor Show. The makeover itself is expected to show some minor styling and headlight updates around the front-end, while the interior is believed to have been reworked slightly to keep things on the fresh.
On the AMG front, and the A 45 is expected to develop up to 400PS of power, and be offered with a new S variant. You can read more about that
HERE
.
Stay tuned to Carlist.my as this develops through the weekend!


New York 2017: Audi R8 “Audi Sport” Edition Coupe Unveiled – Only 200 Worldwide

Audi have introduced a limited edition version of its seminal supercar,
the R8
, which pays tribute to the company’s motorsport arm, Audi Sport. The R8 Audi Sport Edition is limited to just 200 units and introduces some special aesthetic highlights and wears Audi’s racing colours of silver, red and black.
In addition to floret silver, matt or gloss, the selection of paint finishes also include “Mythos black” and “Ibis white”. The sideblades and exterior mirrors are finished in “Brilliant red” to produce a striking contrast.
At the front, the front splitter compliments the single-frame grille and diffuser insert, finished in black, while at the rear, trapezoidal tailpipe trims are also finished in gloss black.
The special edition wears with 20-inch forged aluminium wheels, with 245/30 front tires and 305/30 rear tires. The rims feature a 10-spoke Y-design finished in a gloss anthracite black paint.
The interior features illuminated door sill trims, made from aluminium, the inlays bear the Audi Sport label complete with the red rhombus, and the model’s exclusiveness is indicated by a numbered inscription, “1/200”.
The door trims and sports seats are finished in Nappa leather, with a color combination of black and contrasting red. The seat backrests are embossed with the R8 emblem – exclusively for the special edition model. There is also contrasting stitching in dark silver accents the steering wheel, door trims and seats.
The Audi Sport Edition of the R8 Coupé will be built in a limited production run of 200 cars, and orders can be placed worldwide beginning in May 2017. In Germany prices of the V10 variant with 540hp starts at EUR181,900 (RM851,037), while the 610hp V10 plus variant starts at EUR205,800 (RM962,855). Deliveries will begin in around September 2017.


The Only Working Lamborghini Concept S In The World Goes Up For Auction

The
Lamborghini Gallardo
 was introduced in 2003 with the Spyder version making its debut three years later. In between those two models, the Italian supercar maker also produced this concept you see here, the Lamborghini Concept S.
RM Sotheby’s is now putting this one-of-a-kind Lamborghini on auction in New York city this November with prices estimated to be between $2.4 million to $3 million (RM 9,137,280 to RM 11,421,600).
Penned by
Luc Donckerwolke
,
Lamborghini’s
 former head of design, the Concept S was initially made as a non-running design study at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show for an extreme illustration of an open-top Lamborghini Gallardo. However, the initial car was merely all show and no go.
Strong interest from the public prompted Lamborghini to produce a fully-functional version a year later to gauge potential customer demand, and it was presented at the Concorso Italiano.
Appropriate words that can be used to describe it include exotic, show-stopper, attention-grabbing, rare, and stunning. Harping back to the single-seat roadsters of the past, this modern interpretation utilises a ‘saute-vent’ instead of a traditional windscreen, and divides the interior into two compartments with the bodywork continuing between the seats, serving as an air inlet for the engine, a 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated V10 taken from the Gallardo.
If you’re wondering where the rear-view mirror is, look closely at the “partition” between the two interiors and you’ll spot an electronically retractable one which is hidden when not in use.
This example is a production-ready, one-off Lamborghini with the chassis number 001 (ZHWGE32T86LA00001) and is fully operable and street-legal. With only 180km on the clock, it’s also very much unused, serving more as a showpiece at events around the world.


4 Dreamy KIAs That We Want To See In Malaysia

The lack of momentum and new models from KIA in Malaysia has been going on for some time now, and we finally know why.

Blaming it on the COVID-19 pandemic which has caused the automotive market to go soft, it seems that the NAZA Group has started to sell their KIA branches to its dealers in preparation for a change.

We'll keep you updated as this unfolds, but to tell you the truth, we're excited that this is about to happen because perhaps we will finally get to see some of KIA's terrific new cars on our roads.

While my colleague writes about what
Peugeot
 cars he wants to see in Malaysia under the new regime, I thought I would write about which KIA cars I would like to see.

Apart from the half baked launch of the
KIA Seltos
 in Malaysia, it's been a while since we have seen a new KIA hitting the showrooms. While other countries have had the pleasure of enjoying these fantastic new cars, we have been left to just gawking at them through our monitors.

So without further ado, here are four of the cars that we would like to see.

KIA Telluride

The
Telluride
 is the largest SUV Kia has produced to date. Although the big SUV was made especially for the American market, we think it could bode well here amongst other gigantic SUVs like the BMW X7, Mercedes GLS and Mazda CX-9.

Built on a modified version of the KIA Sorento chassis, the Telluride, which is named after a town in Colorado, is a 7-seater luxury SUV that is powered by a transverse-mounted 3.5-litre direct-injection V6 petrol engine and an electric motor which produce a combined total of 400 hp and 355 Nm of torque.

Apart from its big engine, the Telluride is big on looks too with its handsome and muscular-looking front end headlining the attractive design. The combination of practicality, great looks and affordable pricing made it 2020's Car of the Year by World Car Awards. It'll be pretty hard to sell it here due to the big engine and left-hand drive configuration, but one can always dream.

KIA e-Soul

To the surprise of many, Kia was the biggest winners of the 2020 WCOTY program (World Car Of The Year), having bagged the World Car of the Year title through the Kia Telluride as well as the World Urban Car of the Year through the KIA Soul.

It beat the MINI Cooper SE Electric and the Volkswagen T-Cross to achieve this award so it must be one heck of a car. The Kia
e-Soul
 features a powerful battery-electric powertrain and is offered across Europe with a choice of 64 or 39.2 kWh battery packs.

Able to travel up to 452 kilometres on a single charge (64 kWh models; WLTP 'combined' cycle), the e-Soul offers drivers greater all-electric range than many more expensive electric vehicles, making it the ideal companion, both in the urban environment and beyond city limits.

Although Malaysia's infrastructure to fully support e-vehicles is still developing, we would like to see more companies support the cause by selling EVs here. The e-Soul could be a great addition to the EV fraternity in Malaysia which currently compromise of the Nissan Leaf, grey market Teslas, MINI Cooper SE as well as Porsche's Taycan.

KIA Optima (K5)

When it comes to the best looking KIA, there's no denying that the all-new
KIA Optima
 is one in the top three. At first glance, you could be forgiven for thinking that the car is a next-generation Dodge Charger, but you'd be wrong because it's actually a KIA.

We've had Optima's here before so there could be a high chance that this could be a possibility. Borrowing design cues and proportions from the larger and sleeker Kia Stinger, whilst previewing the future design DNA of the brand, the K5's headlining feature apart from its stunning looks is its powertrains.

The new powertrain includes a 2.5-litre turbocharged (GDI) four-cylinder engine making 290 hp and 421 Nm of torque, paired with the new 8-speed "wet" Dual Clutch Transmission. A newly-developed all-wheel-drive system is said to give the K5 a Golf GTI rivaling 5.8 seconds 0-100 km/h time. A smaller 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder delivering 180 hp and 264 Nm is also on offer, paired to an all-new 8-speed automatic.

KIA Picanto facelift

Malaysians have an affinity for small cars, and one of the most liked is the
KIA Picanto
.

Everyone's favourite Korean Mini received a facelift back in May, and from what we saw the Picanto did not only receive a facelift, it has also had some upgrades that'll make its competitors look a bit shy.

First up is that swanky looking exterior. Some plastic surgery has really enhanced the look to what was already a handsome looking fella, with new headlights featuring projector lens with signature LED daytime running lights as part of the unit. A reshaped grille that looks like the GT Line from the previous vehicle has also been included, as well as a new front bumper that gives the updated Picanto an even more aggressive appearance. The rear has not changed much as KIA only tweaked the tail light a little and included some fake dual chrome pipes that also takes its cue from the GT Line.

Now, the piece de resistance for this facelifted Picanto is its safety attributes and cabin experience. Safety wise, the Picanto now comes with Driver Fatigue Monitoring, Lane Keeping Assist, Lane Departure Warning, Rear Cross Traffic Alert with Rear Cross Collision Prevention Assist, which basically can stop the car if the driver doesn't, and the car's forward Auto Emergency Braking (AEB) system will also be capable of pedestrian detection. Blind-spot monitoring will also be included - that's a lot of safety gear for such a small car, fantastic!

Which of these KIA's do you want to see?


Audi Malaysia Introduces Progressive Financing Plan

Audi Malaysia has announced the introduction of the Audi Progressive Financing Plan in an effort to provide a more flexible payment scheme for potential owners.
Slated to run from now until the end of April 2016, prospective owners can opt to start payment from as low as RM999 (for the
A3 1.4 TFSI
) per month for the first year, and enjoy interest rates of as low as 0.98 per cent per year.
For example, those who buy the Audi A3 1.4 TFSI which is priced at RM 186,900 (without insurance/road tax) needs to make a down payment of 10 per cent or RM 18,690 to enjoy a low interest rate of 2.08 per cent for the entirety of a seven-year loan tenure (2.38 per cent interest rate if for nine years, and an incredibly low 1.18 per cent for the minimum five year tenure).
Under the seven year financing plan, the buyer will be able to enjoy monthly instalments of just RM999 for the first year, rising to RM1,600 for the second and third years, RM2,650 for the fourth and fifth years, RM 3,410 for the final two years and a final instalment of just RM283.38.
In case you’re wondering how much the monthly instalment for the first year would be for other Audi models that fall under the Audi Progressive Financing Plan, they are as mentioned below:
A3 – RM999
Q3 – RM1,100
TT – RM1,500
Q5 – RM1,700
A6 – RM1,700
A5 – RM1,900
Q7 – RM3,100
A7 – RM3,300
A8L – RM3,500
R8 – RM6,600
According to Audi, the current
A4
 is not part of the plan as the model is due to be replaced very soon.
That being said, potential buyers need to keep in mind that the interest rates and progressive payment rates differ by model, specification and loan tenure. So, the best thing to do is to visit an Audi dealership to find out more.
All official Audi vehicles come with a four-year or 120,000 km (whichever comes first) manufacturer warranty.
Thinking of purchasing an Audi? Find one at
Carlist.my


Bosch Turns Towards Electro-Mobility

Ever wondered how the future of mobility is going to be like? Most of us thought that flying cars were going to be next.
However, according to Bosch, it seems like the days of flying vehicles are yet to arrive and the era of electromobility is upon us.
The company just announced that it estimates that nearly 20 million hybrids and electric vehicles will be produced in 2025.
The company also mentioned that it regards electromobility as an area of future importance. For this reason, the supplier of technology and services is now setting up an operating unit specifically for electromobility.
The unit will be part of the new Powertrain Solutions division.
From the start of 2018, this will include the company’s electromobility activities as well as today’s Gasoline Systems and Diesel Systems divisions. In the future, therefore, Bosch will supply existing and new customers with all powertrain technologies from a single source.
As well as expanding electromobility, Bosch also said that it will work intensively on further improving combustion-engine technology.
With its new Powertrain Solutions division, Bosch said that ultimately, it wants to be able to offer its customers powertrain-related support from a single source, and to increasingly offer complete systems solutions in addition to individual components.


Spyshot: All-New 2019 Ford Ranger Spotted In Melbourne

The current T6 generation Ford Ranger has been around since 2011, before receiving an update in 2015. Similar to the current Ranger, Ford’s Australia arm is taking charge with development work for the new generation model.
Spotted in Melbourne city centre, this Ford Ranger mule was accompanied by another left-hand drive lightly-camouflaged Ranger.
While Ford did release a teaser of the upcoming
Ranger Raptor
 for the Thai market, we believe that this mule is not that as the wheels are noticeably different from the ones on the Raptor.
The Ranger Raptor teaser mentioned a 2018 debut, possibly hinting that the outgoing T6 platform will be given one last hurrah before it gets replaced in 2019.
Exterior aside, the new generation Ford Ranger is expected to drop its current Duratorq turbodiesel engines, replaced by
two new engines
. First is the EcoBlue 2.0-litre four-cylinder and a 3.0-litre PowerStroke V6, developed in collaboration with Land Rover and PSA Group.
Also noteworthy feature for the new generation Ford Ranger are rear disc brakes, something that is missing from the outgoing model. Interestingly, almost all test mules spotted had rear disc brakes, possibly hinting that the future Ford Ranger lineup could come standard with.


Lebih RM3 Bilion Saman di Johor Belum Dibayar Sejak Tahun 2000 Hingga 2021

PDRM
 Johor menganggarkan sebanyak RM3.021 bilion nilai saman tertunggak di negeri itu melibatkan pelbagai
kesalahan jalan raya
 di negeri ini yang masih belum dijelaskan sehingga hari ini.

Timbalan Ketua Jabatan Siasatan dan Penguatkuasaan Trafik Johor, Deputi Superintendan Khairul Azhar Ismail berkata, jumlah itu melibatkan tunggakan sebanyak 10.073 juta
saman
 yang dikeluarkan oleh pihak berkuasa di bawah kesalahan Pol. 170A dan Pol. 257 sejak tahun 2000 hingga 30 November 2021.

Pol. 170A ialah notis yang dikeluarkan di atas kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh kenderaan tanpa kehadiran pemandu atau kesalahan yang dilakukan oleh pesalah trafik tanpa ditahan oleh polis. Manakala Pol. 257 pula merujuk kepada notis yang akan diberikan kepada pemandu ketika kesalahan tersebut dilakukan.

Sebab utama saman di bawah Pol. 170A ialah pandu laju, halangan lalu lintas dan mengabaikan isyarat lalu lintas. Manakala bagi kesalahan di bawah Pol. 257 pula membabitkan kesalahan tiada
lesen memandu,
 lesen memandu tamat tempoh, ubah suai kenderaan dan guna telefon semasa memandu.

Khairul Azhar berkata, dalam tempoh sama, terdapat sebanyak 193,583 saman berkaitan kesalahan jalan raya membabitkan warga Singapura yang masih belum dijelaskan sehingga kini. Jumlah keseluruhan saman tertunggak yang belum dibayar melibatkan warga Singapura sahaja bernilai RM58.074 juta.

Bersempena dengan pemberian diskaun 80 peratus pengurangan saman trafik yang diberikan oleh kerajaan sehingga hujung tahun ini, Khairul berkata sebanyak 35,027 saman telah dijelaskan dengan nilai keseluruhan sebanyak RM1.6 juta berjaya di kutip oleh Polis Johor.

Daripada jumlah keseluruhan kutipan tersebut, daerah Johor Bahru Selatan (JBS) merekodkan kutipan saman paling tinggi iaitu sebanyak RM730,960, diikuti daerah Batu Pahat (RM539,380) dan daerah Muar (RM469,500).

Beliau turut memberitahu bahawa saman terbabit boleh dibayar di 14 cawangan trafik di setiap ibu pejabat polis daerah Johor. Kaunter bayaran saman dibuka dari jam 8.30 pagi hingga 5 petang dan orang ramai diharapkan dapat mengambil peluang ini untuk membayar saman pada harga yang lebih murah berbanding harga asal. Khairul turut berharap bahawa orang ramai dapat memberi kerjasama untuk merebut peluang ini.

Sementara itu, polis Pulau Pinang pula telah mengutip bayaran saman bernilai hampir RM5 juta sejak pelaksanaan tawaran diskaun 80 peratus saman trafik ditawarkan pada umum. Kutipan itu hasil bayaran saman yang diterima daripada orang ramai yang telah mengunjungi kaunter pembayaran saman di cawangan trafik di semua Ibu Pejabat Polis Daerah (IPD) negeri.

Menurut Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Acryl Sani Abdullah Sani, tempoh tawaran diskaun pembayaran saman telah dilanjutkan sehingga 31 Disember ini bagi memberi masa lebih panjang untuk orang ramai menjelaskan saman.

Bagi mengelakkan kesesakan di kaunter trafik di IPD sehingga terpaksa beratur panjang, orang ramai boleh menjelaskan bayaran saman melalui portal dan aplikasi mudah alih seperti MyBayar Saman, ATM Maybank dan Pejabat Pos Malaysia.


Honda Sweeps Thailand's Car of the Year 2015 Awards

Honda took home four Thailand Car of the Year 2015 Awards yesterday. The awards were presented in conjunction with the 2015 Bangkok International Motor Show.
The four awards given to Honda were for the:
1. Honda HRV - Best SUV under 1,800cc
2. Honda Jazz - Best Hatchback under 1,500cc
3. Honda Accord Hybrid - Best Hybrid Mid-size Sedan under 2,000cc
4. Honda City CNG - Best Sedan CNG under 1,500cc.
In a statement to the press, Honda Automobile Thailand said:
"The awards received this year escalate Honda’s pride as the automobile company that consistently delivers superb driving performance and highly satiable products to customers. All the award-winning models are in the most competitive segments of Thailand’s automobile market: Honda Jazz in subcompact segment; Honda Accord Hybrid and Honda City CNG in the alternative energy category; and most notably,
Honda HR-V
 that received a good acceptance beyond expectation after its launch late last year is now recognized as the best SUV. This success reflects Honda’s commitment to developing high quality, eco-friendly products that respond to lifestyle preferences of new-generation customers."
The Thailand Car of the Year awards are jointly organized by the Society of Automotive Engineers Thailand, Thailand Automotive Journalists Associations, Royal Automobile Associate of Thailand, and Grand Prix International Co., Ltd - organizer of the Bangkok International Motor Show.


5 Bad Driving Habits On Our Roads

We have all been taught how to drive by a driving school at some point, and if you haven't, you shouldn't be on the road! To us, the whole point of a driving school is so that we can learn how to live with each other on the road peacefully and this includes learning good driving manners and the knowledge of how to avoid accidents whenever possible.

It seems that after some time of driving, drivers tend to pick up bad habits, and all though it seems trivial anything that strays away from the rules of the road as well as what we learnt at a driving school increases the chances of us encountering hazards.

What bad habits do you have? Here are some that we noticed:

1. Jangan main phone lah!

The Klang Valley is one of the biggest car parks in the world. The streets are jammed up with cars most of the time and to get through it, many drivers tend to scan their phones for brief entertainment. It is one of the worst bad habits out there as it takes your concentration away from the road, and your hazard perception is no longer present for anything road and car-related.

2. Woi! Bapak punya jalan kah?!

We're quite sure that at motoring school they teach drivers to pull out of a road, crossing, intersection, etc. when it is right to do so. Still, many drivers on the road tend to expect an oncoming car to slow down abruptly so that they can pull out. Not only is this extremely dangerous but also annoying, especially when they go slow after pulling out.

3. Bang, kereta mahal, takde indicator ke?

Have you heard this before? "If you indicate another driver will try to speed up instead of letting you into the lane, so it's better not to". Well, if you haven't, this ideology is out there along with many others. Whatever the reasons are, not indicating is dangerous for yourself as well as others. Some are just lazy to indicate and tend to switch lanes without doing so, causing havoc while doing it.

4. Seatbelt mana?!

There is NO reason to justify not wearing a seatbelt! The seatbelt is one of the greatest inventions in the motoring world and has saved countless lives. Even your favourite race car drivers wear it.

5. Ko tengok mamat nie, tak reti pilih lane!

It would be best if you always drove in the middle of the lane instead of driving in between lanes. We have seen many people do this blaming it on bad roads, potholes etc. Not only will you be a danger to yourself as other motorists find furious creative ways to overtake you, you are also holding up traffic.


BMW PHEV Wireless Charging To Debut In 2018 - Full Charge In 3.5 Hours

In an effort to make living with electric cars easier, BMW became the first manufacturer in the world to offer wireless charging for a production model –
the 530e PHEV
.
Although the feature will only be available next year onwards, the brand has released a video explaining how the system works.
From what we can see, the system works just like any other wireless charging solution on the market, consisting of a base pad with an integrated primary coil which can be installed in a garage and also outdoors.
How it works is that the 530e will guide the driver to park over the charging pad on the ground which connects to a 220-volt outlet, and as the ignition will be turned off at this point, wireless charging will begin automatically.
Once the process begins, an alternating magnetic field is generated between the base pad and a secondary coil that is integrated in the underside of the vehicle, through which electricity is transmitted without cables or contacts at a charge rate of up to 3.2 kW.
According to BMW, the 9.4 kWh battery, which gives the 530e an all-electric range of 46 km, can be fully recharged wirelessly in about 3.5 hours.

Still in the midst of being tested, the pricing of BMW’s wireless charging system which is due to be released in Europe next year has not been revealed yet.
After the 530e PHEV, it is expected that more cars launched later down the line by BMW, either fully electric or hybrids will adopt the same technology.


MITI Raises Minimum Age Requirement For Classic Car AP To 35 Years

The Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) has announced that effective 1-July 2018, the minimum age requirement for classic cars imported into the country using Classic Car AP will be raised from the current 25 years to 35 years. The minimum age for vintage vehicles remains at 50 years.
Currently, dealers and private individuals are allowed to import of classic and vintage vehicles by applying for a Classic and Vintage Vehicles Import License Approved Permit (AP) from MITI.
All other conditions remain the same. As before, the vehicle’s age is determined based on the vehicle’s manufacturing year, replica and rebuilt vehicles are prohibited.
Vehicles must be certified as a classic or a vintage by a recognised certification body from the exporting or manufacturing country. All applications must include copies of Certificate of Origin or a Certificate of Registration. A certified translated version is required if the language used in the original documents is other than Bahasa Malaysia or English. The vehicles must be registered with JPJ and are non-transferrable within five years.
The move effectively means that all your favourite JDM legends from the ‘90s will go even further out of reach, driving up prices of well-maintained, original condition units that remain in the country. Cars like the R32 Nissan Skyline GT-R, Toyota Supra Mk IV or even a Honda NSX or S2000, can no longer be imported into the country come 1-July 2018, at least not for several more years.
The latest models that can be allowed into the country will have to be manufactured in 1983, which rules out even an E30 BMW M3, which was made in 1985.
No reasons were given for the revision and the new 35-year old age limit is inconsistent with standards used in the European Union and even USA – both of which define classic cars as original condition vehicles aged between 25 to 50 years old.
The conditions for Open APs, the ones used for reconditioned cars, remain the same – not less than 1 year old and not more than 5 years old. However unlike Classic and Vintage Car AP, Open AP calculates the vehicle’s age based on the model’s first date of registration at its country of origin, not the particular unit’s year of registration/manufacture.


Perodua Enrols Its First Candidates In MARii's Vehicle Inspection Management System Course

When it comes to buying a second hand car, often times it feels like you're being short changed or there's a lot of guesswork that you need to do to figure out what potential problems you'll be facing, or the hidden costs. But one thing that has wowed enthusiasts the world over is the consistency in the grading system that the Japanese employ for their used cars at auction, which takes into account myriad details.
The system in question is developed and operated by Automobile Inspection System Inc, Japan (AIS), and they've brought it over to Malaysia in a joint venture with AucNation Sdn Bhd. But more important than that is the fact that AucNation is conducting courses at the Malaysian Automotive, Robotics and IoT Institute (MARii) to teach this system. Perodua has taken advantage of this and enrolled 40 of their valuators in the program.
The system is extensive and helps a great deal for customers looking to trade in their vehicles. Known as the Vehicle Inspection Management System, it comprises of two analyses: Visual and Diagnostic. The visual inspection looks at the exterior for defects, while the diagnostic analysis uses an on-board tool to check for fault codes or other engine or electronics based problems.
This goes in hand in hand with Perodua's opening of their Pre-Owned Vehicle showroom and business, as it ensures potential customers that they aren't going to be buying a lemon. “For Perodua, having certified valuators recognised by the government will fortify our Pre- Owned Vehicle (POV) business as our customers will be assured of international standards,” Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd Managing Director Dato’ Dr Zahari Husin said.
Perodua currently operates a
pre-owned showroom
 in Jalan Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, offering high quality used cars that come with warranty on engine and transmission (up to 18 months, depending on vehicle condition).


Proton Iriz And Persona Facelifts Make Public Debut

At the ongoing Malaysia Autoshow 2019 there are a number of debuts and previews, but at the Proton booth it is the Iriz and Persona facelifts that take centre stage.
This pair of cars has been teased and previewed in various ways over the last few months, and this display at the show marks their first public debut.
The styling is the main talking point for this facelift, as these two models were the last to be developed prior to Geely's acquisition of Proton.
With numerous changes to the exterior, these models now stand in line with the Proton X70, which has taken the market by storm with a huge number of models put on the road.
Powertrains remain largely unchanged, with the only notable addition to the features being the inclusion of the infotainment system of the X70 for the top spec models.
Pricing has yet to be announced, and you can read up about the cars in our
quick review of the Iriz here
. Interest in the models has surged as collective bookings stand at over 8,000 units.


Are Car Manufacturers Making Cars For Women?

Do car manufacturers make cars for women? Do they take the needs and wants of a woman into account when making cars?

According to research from Cars.com, 62 percent of all new cars sold in the United States are bought by women, which also found that women influence more than 85 percent of all car purchases.

The car industry has been slow to recognize the buying power of women. Why? Because the industry has been run by men and car guys.

“Most
automotive
 companies expressed continual surprise when they discovered evidence of women’s economic power,” says Katherine J. Parkin in Women at the Wheel: A Century of Buying, Driving, and Fixing Cars. Although automobile companies did occasionally seek out female consumers, their fundamental inclination was to ‘ignore’ them. In other words: just get a car that we (men) would buy.

When women were not ignored, automakers relied on stereotypes to appeal to them. This enduring buying power of women has forced male automakers to ask time and again: “
What do women want in a car?
”. The only problem is, they were mostly asking men.

In 1955,
Dodge
 put that thinking to work with La Femme, a car made for women. The dolled-up version of the Custom Royal Lancer was offered in heather rose or sapphire white, with dainty rose upholstery and Cordagrain trim. The sedan also came with accessories like matching pink rain cape, handbag, compact and lipstick. Despite an attempt to revive sales the following year, La Femme flopped.

A Frost & Sullivan study in 2012 found from data shared by a few car companies, that between 50 to 70 percent of their women customers were dissatisfied by their cars and three in four females felt misunderstood by car companies.

So how are car manufacturers reacting to all this? As a start, General Motors and
Citroen
 appointed their first woman CEO in 2014,
Nissan
 has chosen to focus on women as a key customer in their organization and others started hiring female engineers, particularly in fields like materials and design, in creating a female team production.

“Women have been more important to the industry for decades than the industry has recognized,” Erik Gordon, a professor of business at the University of Michigan, told ABC News. “Car companies that catch on with women will have a real sales advantage. It’s time for car companies and dealers to wake up.”

Porsche, for instance, took a bold step by positioning its
Porsche Macan
, the smaller twin brother (or sister perhaps) of the Cayenne, towards women. The Macan, introduced in May 2014, was a massive hit with 8,000 cars allotted for the U.S snapped up. 80 percent of the Macan’s first customers are new to Porsche, and 15 percent of those are women.

This, of course, was in response to the
Range Rover Evoque
, which, somewhat thanks to ex-Spice Girl and designer, Victoria Beckham’s design and endorsement, is driven more by women than men. Females accounted for 40 percent of Evoque sales for the 2014 model year and that number jumped to 60 percent four years later, as reported by Forbes.

The shift is also reflected in hiring as dealerships are actively recruiting female sales associates. Jeff Schuster, an analyst at LMC Automotive, told ABC News that the stereotype of car dealerships as boys’ clubs has been recognized as outdated. “Having more female salespeople is changing the culture at dealerships.”

Indeed, industry watchers say that female buyers are being considered at every stage of the manufacturing and selling process, but the real question is, why is there no car designed specifically for women? This writer believes (and begs to differ) that it all comes down to the fact that women are comfortable driving a car marketed towards men, but guys simply don’t want to drive a 'chick’s car’.

Perodua, for instance, launched its
Perodua Myvi
 1.5 Limited Edition (Myvi LE) in 2010 specifically targeting female drivers with a Dazzling Red colour, which had a decidedly pink hue to it, and the inclusion of a vanity mirror on both the driver and passenger side. Although 'an' attempt from Perodua, this writer experienced a few male friends mocking a guy driving this particular Myvi in its rather
stand-out
 hue. He had to justify that this car is borrowed from his sister to travel to work hence, he had no ‘choice’ regarding the color option.

This in turn raises the question "Do women like pink cars?" or "Are pink cars only for women?" Over-generalizing that a certain color attracts a certain gender is definitely not cool and should not be accepted in this era. Similar to not all men like pickup trucks, well, not all women like pink. Is simply painting a car in pink the best that car manufacturers can do to cater to women?

As a Malaysian woman, this writer is unimpressed with the attempt of car manufacturers branding a car as a 'woman’s car', simply by adding some touch-ups that are considered as ‘necessary’ for women to have in their cars, such as vanity mirrors and floral trims in the interior. How many car manufacturers in 2021 actually ask women what they want in a car? After all, are we not your buyer base too?

Unlike men, most women don't make buying decisions based on horsepower or handling. Instead, our concerns are practical: How much cargo space is available? How comfortable are the seats? Is the vehicle reliable over the long haul?

When the
Volvo
 Your Concept Car, known as the Volvo YCC debuted at the Geneva Auto Show in 2004, it was a hit with the press. The YCC is the first concept car to be designed from start to finish by a team composed exclusively of women.

The pressure was high for the nine-person team, yet the most common question fielded by the expert crew was: Will the car be pink? “No, it will be anything but pink,” Camilla Palmertz, a biomechanical engineer in the team recalls responding, “and it will not be cute.”

The car was designed with the needs of female drivers in mind, but its innovations would make owning and operating a car easier for anyone. Sporty and muscular, the three-door
coupe
 was designed with broad shoulders so corners could be viewed from the driver’s seat for easier handling, while a higher chassis improved visibility. All of the doors, including the trunk, could open automatically. The Autopark system could help drivers steer through a
parallel parking
 maneuver with the touch of a button.

While the car was never intended for production, at least 22 of its features found their way into
Volvo
 models, including the Park Assist Pilot. Notably, polls taken by Volvo during the car’s two-year press tour show that men and women favored the same YCC features, just in a different order. “What we ended up with was a car for everyone,” says Palmertz. “It doesn’t mean that we excluded the men. It was more that we included women.”

And there you have it in a nutshell...
it was more that we included women.


Discount up to 50% from PDRM from 18-21 May 2020

PDRM will be offering discounts of up to 50% on your unpaid summonses from 18 to 21 May.

Bukit Aman Traffic Investigations and Enforcement Department director Deputy Comm Datuk Azisman Alias said payments can be made online through
www.myeg.com.my
 or
www.rilek.com.my
.

According to Datuk Azisman this initiative by PDRM is to alleviate the burden of the public during this MCO plus Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.

The offer only extends to certain types of summonses. Accident summonses, non-compoundable summonses, or summonses subject to court cases or arrest warrants, summonses currently under trial, and summonses issued during Ops Selamat are not entitled to the discount.

Service counters will also be opened in stages at state and district headquarters beginning May 18 to allow the public to settle their summonses in person.

Operating hours for the states of Kedah, Johor, Kelantan and Terengganu are from 9am to 2pm on Monday, Wednesday and Sunday.

For the other states it will be from 9am to 2pm on Monday and Wednesday, and 9am to 12pm on Friday.

While I'm sure many of you who have outstanding summonses will be jumping for joy, I have to question the bigger implications of another saman discount season, every year like clockwork PDRM finds an excuse to offer the rakyat discounts on summonses. So much so, that now we all know better than to pay our summonses on time, hold on to it and wait for discount season. What message does that send to new drivers, the future generation that will be getting their driving licenses soon? Do the deed, but don't worry, you'll get a discount on the fine in due time. I for one disagree with this initiative from PDRM but I'm also pretty sure I'm in the minority.


This Is How Toyota Builds Some Of The World’ Most Reliable Cars

Toyota’s reputation for reliability needs no further introduction. Fleet operators swear by their Hiace vans, workmen rely on their Hilux trucks, adventurers trust their lives on their Land Cruiser SUVs, while Corollas and Camrys are commonly passed from father to son/daughter.
Taxi drivers from around the world also overwhelmingly favour Toyota hybrids, which despite their hi-tech image and complexity, has proven itself to be extremely reliable, with one Austrian taxi driver recently crossing the
1 million kilometre
 mark on its odometer with the same engine and hybrid battery pack.
Toyota’s President Akio Toyoda is a rather unconventional leader. He is the only head of a major car company besides Aston Martin’s Dr. Ulrich Bez, to personally race his own company’s cars at the Nurburgring 24 Hours.
The great-grandson of Toyota’s founder Sakichi Toyoda, Akio fears that his engineers are getting increasingly reliant on computers, robots and laboratory testing in developing cars. While it is necessary to utilize the latest technology in developing new cars, Toyota’s approach towards technology is rather different.
Toyota’s staff are often reminded to follow the Japanese philosophy of ‘Genchi Genbutsu,’ which roughly translates to ‘go and see for yourself.’ It teaches engineers to not depend on secondary reports when making decisions, but instead, encourages them to go down to the factory floor, and out in the field to get a first-hand experience before coming to any conclusion.
Toyota engineers regularly conduct field visits, gathering data on road conditions from around the world.
Some say that Toyota has the world’s largest database of driving and road conditions from every continent. ‘Listening to the roads’ is something that Toyota engineers are often told to do and remember when developing a new car.
To reinforce the spirit of ‘Genchi Genbutsu,’ Toyota is currently embarking on an unprecedented Five Continents Driving Project, also known as the Ever-Better Expedition in the US. The aim is to test Toyota vehicles in every possible driving condition in every continent, with real production Toyota cars, driven by engineers who will be tasked to build the next generation of Toyota models.
The first leg of the drive began in November 2014, with 50 Toyota engineers driving 15 Toyota models, covering 20,110 km over 72 days, across some of the roughest roads in Australia.
"It was a perfect testing ground as Australian roads represent 80 percent of the world's driving conditions," said Akio Toyoda.
"Throughout the entire project, each and every member of the team was able to learn new things from listening to the cars and roads.
"In fact, after driving on so many roads, our team members' expectations for future test-car courses will never be the same because of all the stark realities that they experienced," said Toyoda.
"Touring Australia reminded us that cars are vital partners in our lives. Any breakdown in the outback has thepotential to be fatal.
"I am confident that our engineers will use the knowledge they have gained on this drive to create ever-better cars for customers. We can't wait to share these new cars with you, and the lessons we have learned, in the near future."
With the rough road driving leg in Australia over, the team has now moved to USA, where another team will drive nine Toyota models across USA and Canada, covering over 26,550 km across 110 days.
One Land Cruiser 200 (right-hand drive, Australian specifications) from the Australian leg continued its journey to the US. Despite the punishing driving conditions experienced, the only breakdown so far has been a faulty alternator.
The convoy recently made a stop to New York city, to experience some of the worst traffic jams in the US and to see for themselves how Toyota’s hybrid models stand up to New York’s stop-go traffic, and how to make better cars for these taxi drivers, who often spend up to 12 hours a day in their Toyota hybrids.
In the '80s, Toyota shared its Toyota Production System with the rest of the world, much to the disappointment of companies like GM, who had expected to uncover some advanced technology employed at Toyota’s plants as the reason behind its stellar quality.
In truth, there was no super advance technology behind Toyota’s quality. It was all about adopting a different way of thinking, of ‘genchi genbutsu.’
To prove a point, Toyota even offered to jointly build cars with GM, at the NUMMI plant in Fremont, California, which was once the worst performing automotive plant in USA.
Toyota employed the same group of staffs initially laid off by GM, which the company said was the worst group of plant workers in the US. Toyota treated them differently and succeeded in training them to build high quality cars. One model, the Toyota Voltz, was even good enough to be exported back to Japan.
Between 1984 to 2010, some 8 million Toyota, Chevrolet, and Pontiac cars rolled off the NUMMI plant, before GM pulled out of the joint venture, prompting Toyota to do the same, selling the plant to Tesla Motors.


PM Ismail Sabri to Elon Musk: Bring Tesla To Malaysia

It’s no secret that Malaysia wants
a bigger piece of the EV pie
, but recently our PM has extended an invite directly to Tesla to set up shop in Malaysia. Will they accept?

In addition to already having
an official presence in Singapore
, the electric vehicle maker’s CEO Elon Musk has recently been showing renewed interest in Indonesia to potentially establish a factory for battery manufacturing and/or vehicle assembly.

Bring Tesla to Malaysia!

Not wanting to feel left out, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has rolled out the proverbial “red carpet”, according to
Bernama
, to American investors, especially Fortune 500 companies in the digital economy, green technology, and electric vehicle sectors.

In Washington DC as part of a four-day diplomatic visit, after a meeting with Ambassador Ted Osius, president and chief executive officer of the United States (US)-ASEAN Business Council (US-ABC), the Malaysian PM told journalists: "I've suggested to Tesla to invest in Malaysia in producing electric cars,”

"They regard Malaysia as an important trading partner of the United States," the Prime Minister said of the US-ABC.

It’s not known when or in what capacity this invitation was made or if it was directly to the Tesla CEO, but it doesn’t come as a surprise that Malaysia is campaigning for their interest given the aggressive moves the government has made over the past 6 months to encourage EV adoption and local investment.

EV space - Malaysia or Indonesia?

Still, that might not be enough to
sway the biggest players
 in the EV space. Even if the PM’s offer was welcomed, it isn’t likely to bear fruit in the short term given how long Tesla has been in discussions with Indonesia’s representatives, particularly to leverage its ample reserves of raw materials for battery production, a bargaining chip Malaysia just does not have.

The fact remains that, from a manufacturing perspective, Indonesia presents a much more appealing case for itself - from its wealth of nickel and cobalt
just waiting to be mined
, to its less expensive real estate and labour. It doesn’t help that they also dwarf Malaysia’s new vehicle market by volume.

Other Fortune 500 companies might see bigger opportunities in Malaysia but if our PM is to entice EV makers like Tesla, justifying it will take much stronger arguments.


No More Mercedes-Benz Engines After 2039, So What Will Happen To AMG Motorsports?

Earlier this month, Daimler’s new CEO Ola Källenius dropped a bombshell and announced that Daimler
will not be making any combustion engines after 2039
. Yes you’ve read that right, the brand that invented the modern car is giving up on combustion engines.
Under its Ambition2039 plan, the company aims to have half its fleet made up of fully-electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles by 2030. By 2039, combustion engines will phased out completely, replaced by a zero emissions, carbon neutral fleet – which could mean not just fully electric vehicles but fuel-cell hydrogen too.
A Swedish national, Källenius is the first non-German to lead Daimler. Under his charge, the remuneration of Daimler’s board of management is now tied to the company’s CO2 reduction efforts.
The announcement is not unexpected, but still shocking nonetheless. After all, this is the same company with a deep heritage in
hand-assembled AMG V8 engines
.
The push towards electrification is driven mainly by an increasingly strict emission regulations not just in Europe, but also China, thus selling combustion engine cars will become an increasingly difficult business in the coming decades.
In a few years’ time, many European cities will begin banning combustion engine cars from entering the city centre. Meanwhile in China, all of the top-5 largest Chinese cities are capping registration of new combustion engine cars using a license plate lottery system while electric vehicles are exempted from the limit.
Like nearly every other car company operating in Europe, Daimler is expected to pay billions of Euros in fines to the European Union (EU) if it fails to meet the fleet-wide C02 reduction target set by the EU, which is determined based on the average weight of a company’s fleet.
Daimler’s Ambition2039 also brings into question the future of its storied motorsports program, which dates back to the 1909 Lightning Benz – the first car to hit 200 km/h.
A car company gets involved in motorsports for two reasons – marketing and engineering. At its simplest form, “Race on Sunday, sell on Monday,” explains the motivation behind corporate involvement in motorsports, never mind if the actual race car is no longer the same as what the customer can buy today because motorsports sells an image, a dream of many kids. Much of the allure of a Ferrari road car or a Porsche 911 is tied to their image in motorsports.
But what happens if AMG no longer makes combustion engines. What returns will AMG’s continued involvement in Formula 1 be if the company no longer makes engines, even hybrids?
Right now Mercedes-AMG’s motorsports programs include Formula 1, German Touring Car Championship (DTM), and customer racing series in the GT4 and GT3 category. All of the brand’s race cars are related to its road cars, one way or another.
Even in its most extreme Formula 1 form, the EQ logo plastered in Lewis Hamilton’s F1 car is shared with Mercedes-Benz road cars. The company’ upcoming AMG
Project One
 hypercar uses the same 1.6-litre turbocharged hybrid engine from the Mercedes-AMG F1 car.
Even the F1 Safety car is a Mercedes-AMG GT R.
The yellow stripe livery on a road-going AMG C63S Edition One is intended to draw parallels to the similar looking DTM race car, which also uses an AMG V8 engine (albeit a different one).
No more engines essentially means no more racing, unless you include Formula E but that series has no relation to a road car.
So what will happen to AMG Motorsports after 2039? Perhaps Mercedes-AMG’s upcoming participation in the all-electric Formula E series may give us some clues. Mercedes-Benz will join the 2019/2020 season of Formula E but the team won’t be using the AMG name. Instead, it will be known as the Mercedes EQ Formula E Team. The race car will be known as the Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01.
It’s also a convenient coincidence that Formula E’s contract with the FIA will expire in 2039 – the same year Daimler targets to stop producing combustion engines. After 2039, the FIA will give Formula One the option to go fully-electric. Until then, the all-electric Formula E will run independent of the petrol-electric hybrid Formula 1.
We cannot imagine Mercedes-Benz abandoning the highly valuable AMG brand so at some point, both AMG and EQ sub-brands will somehow have to come together.
Perhaps once the transition to electric powertrains is complete, the EQ brand will be dropped in the same way Mercedes-Benz no longer use the Kompressor badge now that all its engines use forced induction.
Motor racing is unlikely to go away. The fans it attract however will change and the form in which motorsports will evolve into might be difficult for traditionalists to accept.
For example, viewership of F1 and other racing series have been dropping but interests in esports is growing fast. If allowing fans to participate in an actual F1 race and compete virtually with real F1 drivers on an actual race could reinvigorate the sport, why not?
As the car industry trends towards driverless cars, will there be a form of racing where artificial intelligence is the driver, and teams are pit against one another to build the best driverless race car? Think about the movie Real Steel, but motor racing instead of boxing.
This is not some far-fetched idea. Roborace is currently being developed as a side-project within Formula E’s ecosystem and trial runs already being conducted.
Without cars, motorsports will cease to exist and if the industry is trending towards electrification and driverless cars, motorsports will have to find its future somewhere within that space. The motorsports fanbase will inevitably split, as those who grew up watching Senna's and McRae's emotional outburts and flamboyant driving won't have any interest in Formula E or AI race cars, which leads us into a bigger question - is motorsports still relevant then, if it no longer appeals to the most basic of human emotions?


Quick Summary Of Brands: New Prices Without GST Here

Now that all the mainstream and premium brands have announced their new prices that have withdrawn the GST levy of 6%, we can tabulate all the prices here for a quick reference.
The first few weeks of June 2018 will be the best time to purchase a new car, as companies are providing Raya festive promotions on top of the GST-free prices.
Come September 2018, Sales and Services Tax (SST) will be re-introduced
 as this only mean that prices will certainly go northwards.
Here are the quick links to the new prices and their respective festive promotions, with effect from 1st of June 2018 until further notice.
Ford
Honda
Hyundai
Isuzu
Kia
Maxus
Mazda
Mitsubishi
Nissan
Perodua
Proton
Renault
Toyota
Volkswagen
Premium brands
Audi
BMW
Jaguar and Land Rover
Infiniti
Lexus
Mercedes-Benz
MINI
Porsche
Volvo


How Strict Are Malaysia’s DUI Laws Compared To Other Countries

With an alarming number of deaths – not just of drivers but innocent people on the roads – there’s been a lot of public outcry for stricter punishments in Malaysia with regards to drunk driving.

In January 2020, the then Transport Minister Anthony Loke had announced amendments of Sections 41, 44 and 45 of the road Road Transport Act 1987 for more severe penalties than that of the current Section 41(1) code. Which, if found guilty for driving under the influence (DUI), a person may be fined not less than RM5,000 to a maximum of RM20,000, and serve jail time of 2 years and not exceeding 10 years.

Yesterday, we took a deep dive into the
what’s what of DUI offences
 in Malaysia.

Just to recap, the legal limits of consumption as prescribed in Section 45 (G) of the road transport act.

35 microgrammes (μg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of breath (measured using a breathalyzer)

80 milligrammes(mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood (0.08% Blood Alcohol Content - BAC); or

107 milligrammes (mg) of alcohol in 100 millilitres of urine.

As a continuation of the topic, we thought it’d be wise to look at our current DUI laws and punishments and how they compare to DUI laws in other countries.

Singapore

Photo by
Kin Pastor
 from
Pexels

Singapore has roughly the same Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) legal limits as Malaysia, and they too have a law to arrest without warrant if the offender refuses to provide a breath sample when requested. As for the
penalties
:

Fine of between SGD2,000 and SGD10,000 and/or up to 1 year’s jail for first-time offenders. At least 2-year driving ban.

Fine of not less than SGD5,000 and SGD20,000 and/or up to 2 year’s jail time for repeat offenders. At least 5-year driving ban.

The maximum penalty that can be imposed for causing death or grievous hurt with dangerous/careless driving under the influence of drugs/alcohol:

10-years imprisonment (8 years for dangerous driving + 2 years for DUI). Driving ban of up to 5 years. This if for a first time offender.

The sentence can be doubled on all counts for repeat offenders.

The Singapore government is also mulling stiffer punishments for driving under the license disqualification, which will also include fines and up to 3-years jail time.

Australia

Photo by
Patrick McLachlan
 from
Pexels

Australia's laws regarding DUI cases are slightly more layered
 depending on the jurisdictions
 in which the crime is committed. Punishments are also levied based on the content of BAC at the time of testing and punishment can range from fines to jail time, and include license disqualification and even include the installation of an alcohol-interlocking device for your vehicle, which will not let you start the vehicle unless your breath sample is under legal limits. The state of Victoria has some of the
strictest punishments
 surround DUI cases.

As for causing grievous bodily harm or death, the long arm of the law can impose the following punishments:

Jail term of between 7 and 14 years for DUI and causing grievous bodily harm.

Jail term of between 10 and 20 years for DUI and causing death.

Japan

Photo by
Aleksandar Pasaric
 from
Pexels

Japan is another country that is moving towards a
zero-tolerance policy
 for drunk driving, however, given the penalties already enacted, one would imagine punishments are severe as it is. Japan employs progressive levels of punishments depending on the BAC content of the offender during the police test. The unit they use in Japan to measure toxicity is a milligramme of alcohol per 1-litre of the breath sample.

Over 0.15mg but less than 0.25mg – jail time (with work) for a maximum of 3 years, a maximum fine of JPY500,000 (RM20,264), license revoked for 90 days, 13 demerit points to license.

Over 0.25mg – jail time (with work) for a maximum of 5 years, a maximum fine of JPY1,000,000 (RM40,528), license revoked for at least 2 years, 25 demerit points to license.

As for causing serious injury or death to others, while driving under the influence:

A maximum jail term of 15 years for causing serious injury.

A maximum jail term of 20 years for causing death.

Japan also penalises persons that ride in a car with a drunk driver at the wheel.

Taiwan

Photo by
Timo Volz

from
Pexels

Taiwan is said to have some of the toughest laws and punishments in the world for
DUI offences
. For one, it employs a lower legal BAC limit of 0.05%, which is lower than that of Malaysia. As for punishments for a DUI:

Maximum jail time of 2 years, fine of NT$200,000 (RM28,897).

As for causing serious injury or death to others, while driving under the influence:

A maximum jail term of 7 years for causing serious injury.

A maximum jail term of 10 years for causing death.

In March of 2019, the Taiwan cabinet approved a
draft amendment
 to its criminal code making death by DUI an indictable murder offence. Other proposals include a life sentence for causing death and up to 12 years of jail time for causing serious injury to other persons.

United Arab Emirates

Photo by
Aleksandar Pasaric
 from
Pexels

Being a Muslim country, the UAE has very little tolerance for the
consumption of alcohol
, let alone drinking and driving. For one, you are only allowed to consume alcohol in licensed places when in possession of a drinking permit, which must be applied. There’s even a minimum wage requirement to get the drinking permit. Hence, if you drink and drive, you might be breaking several laws all at once. If caught drink driving:

Fine of DH20,000 (RM23,473) and/or a jail term to be decided by the courts. Vehicle confiscation for 60 days, and license demerit of 23 points.

Other punishments, at the discretion of the courts, is the suspension of license between 3 months and 2 years.

Caught for DUI while not having a permit can bring on the punishment of up to 6 months jail time, and a fine of DH5,000 (RM5,868)

Causing serious injury or death to others while driving drunk will likely impose much heftier sentences than the above, at the discretion of the courts. Caning offenders (up to 80 lashes) is also another punishment that can be decreed by law. In addition, if your car is damaged during a collision while DUI, your insurance is considered null and void and repair costs will have to be borne by the offender.

Photo by
Pixabay
 from
Pexels

Now that we’ve examined the punishments for DUI in other countries, it's fair to say that Malaysia’s punishments for drunk driving are in no way menial. And with calls to increase punishments to include a maximum fine of RM100,000 of jail time of up to 20 years (almost equaling that of manslaughter charges) – will make Malaysia’s laws among the most stringent in the world.

However, it need not come to that if everyone simply follows the rules and finds a sober way of getting home. This is because, once you have had a drink and decide to drive, you’re really on your own!

Cover image credit:
energepic.com
 from
Pexels


MAA – Car Dealerships Won’t Survive Much Longer, Further SST Exemptions Needed

In a recent press conference event – the Malaysian Automotive Association has issued a warning that many car dealerships won’t survive much longer under the
current FMCO lockdown
 which deems car sales and distributorship a non-essential economic activity and thus required to close.

In addition to announcing the revised forecast for the Total Industry Volume (TIV) – from 570,000 to 500,000 units – the MAA also said the further SST Exemptions are needed to allow manufacturers and dealerships to make up for the substantial losses encountered during the current lockdowns.

In a media Q&A, MAA president Datuk Aishah Ahmad said, “All our members are very concerned about the current situation. We do not know when our showrooms can open, and for plants to produce CKD vehicles. This is our worry. A lot of the small dealers are already very tight with cashflow and if this continues, there will be retrenchments,”

She added, “The dealerships are independent dealers and their cash flow is limited. If there are no sales, they still have commitments to fulfil – rental, salaries and all that – and yet there’s no income. The only thing they can operate is the workshops (service centres), and even that is with limited staff. So, because of that, many have indicated that if this MCO is extended, many will have to say goodbye to the industry because they cannot survive any longer,”

The situation very much echoes the reality of the used car industry, which
we recently concluded was also in dire straits
 due to loss of income, and yet have to manage fixed operational expenses, with little to no assistance from the Government, even after the latest
PEMULIH stimulus packages
 were announced.

The situation is justifiably worse for Sales Advisors (SA) who rely on monthly sales to generate income, without which they’re only paid a basic salary close to that of the country’s minimum wage. Further to that, SAs also depend on auxiliary streams of income that are generated by selling insurance and accessory packages to customers, all of which go out the window when they can’t sell the base product.

As it stands – only 1921 units were delivered in June 2021, down from 47,204 units in May, just prior to the full lockdown coming into effect. Much of that dismal June number is from carry-forward registrations spilling over from May 2021.

A larger problem that stems from the closure of dealerships is the reduced operation at OEM plants. MAA says that OEMs are stocked highly currently, and plants are currently idle because cars cannot be delivered so production of CKD cars has also taken a big hit.

Although total production volume in the first half of 2021 increased 45.3 percent to reach a total of 241,288 units compared to 166,049 units in the same period in 2020, inactivity over the past two months has affected OEMs and subsequently parts and components suppliers, meaning the entire supply chain is affected.

To this Aishah said, “There’s nothing going to the dealers right now – we can’t get vehicles from our plants, and CBUs are also not coming in – the carmakers themselves are very highly stocked. The CKDs that we ordered four months ago are at the port, and clearance is very slow. In terms of payments, some of the franchise holders and OEMs make it easier for the dealer; they don’t push them to pay up so soon. But to give them support financially, I think the OEMs also find difficulties at this moment in time,"

"So, we’re hoping the govt will ease the MCO conditions to enable us to survive, and to be able to start selling so that we get income. Once the OEMs are able to operate, then dealers will be able to operate. The only good news is that the SST exemption is still there, and the orders are still coming in – but we cannot deliver, and that’s the problem,”

At the same time,
MAA pleaded with the Government
 to extend the SST Exemptions for an additional six months – until the end of June 2022 – so that the automotive industry can make up for lost time due to the current lockdowns.

The exemptions, which removes 100 percent of sales tax for CKD passenger vehicles and 50 percent for imported (CBU) vehicles has proved a critical factor in enticing new car buyers to make purchases of new vehicles. The SST Exemptions proved instrumental in bolstering sales since it was first introduced with the PENJANA package in June 2020, leading to TIV of 480,965 in 2020, even surpassing MAA’s forecast (of 470,000 units) for 2020.

Under the Government’s National Recovery Plan (NRP) automotive plants, distribution centres and sales showrooms would not be allowed to operate during
Phase 1
 and Phase 2
, and only allowed to be open when Phase 3 takes effect. Several states have moved into Phase 2 but with ever-increasing COVID-19 cases in KL and Selangor, it seems unlikely that the current situation would reverse itself anytime soon.


Audi Brings Integrated Android OS to the Q8 Sport Concept

With each new generation of car, we see systems becoming more and more integrated. Those who were around long enough to remember a time when cassette players were a common feature in a car will have had the pleasure of watching the evolution of in-car entertainment and systems, from regular radio sets to touch screens, and now the Android Auto/Apple CarPlay generation of products that mirrors smartphone functionality on the built-in system.
But where do we go from here? Audi (and BMW) think that full integration is the way forward. To do that, a company must pick a particular operating system to work with; Audi has chosen Google and their Android system, which makes a bit more sense given Google's flexibility with their Android functionality and features. Audi is using their
Q8 sport concept
 as a test bed for this new system, which Audi is presenting at the Google I/O conference.
Functionality is aplenty with the system in the Q8 sport concept. Everything from Spotify, to Google Play Music and Google Assistant are all available to the user on the integrated MMI display in the centre of the dashboard. Audi hasn't exactly been up to par with their entertainment systems (their Virtual Cockpit is pretty awesome though) and this new integrated system could really help them remain competitive when it comes to interior features. There is also Google Maps in addition to Audi's "HERE" database for navigation, giving users the option to choose.


Tips Elak Stres Ketika Memandu

Pernahkah anda menjadi stres ketika memandu sehingga memberi kesan kepada mood anda sepanjang hari?

Faktor utama kemalangan di Mumbai adalah disebabkan stres ketika memandu, mengikut satu kajian oleh syarikat insurans India, ICICI Lombard.

Keputusan tersebut diperoleh dari 100 pemandu yang menunjukkan degupan jantung dan tekanan darah yang meningkat dengan ketara melebihi paras normal semasa memandu kereta, tanpa mengira umur, jantina atau jenis kenderaan.

Bukan sahaja di Mumbai yang terkenal dengan kesesakan trafik dan kepadatan penduduk, malah di mana sahaja di dunia, memandu boleh mengakibatkan stres malah boleh
mengundang bahaya di jalan raya
 jika dibiarkan berterusan.

Bagaimana cara untuk mengelak stres ketika memandu?

1. Rancang perjalanan anda

Kita sering mendengar tentang
merancang perjalanan untuk balik kampung
 atau perjalanan jauh, tapi adakah kita melakukannya? Merancang perjalanan untuk urusan harian juga dapat membantu menghindari stres.

Penting untuk merancang perjalanan lebih lagi jika anda tidak biasa dengan tempat yang ingin dituju, misalnya ke tempat baru untuk urusan kerja. Jadi, biasakan diri untuk melakukan perkara ini:

Periksa jarak dari kediaman ke destinasi baru dengan aplikasi GPS di telefon anda, sebelum bergerak ke destinasi

Periksa sebarang halangan sepanjang laluan seperti kesesakan trafik, kemalangan atau
sekatan jalan raya
 (ubah laluan jika perlu)

Persiapkan diri dan kereta sejam lebih awal, misalnya dokumen penting untuk dibawa, bekal anak ke sekolah atau mengisi petrol

Tetapkan penggera untuk memastikan anda tidak terlewat ke destinasi

2. Bersedia sejam sebelum memandu

Pernahkah anda terlambat untuk sesuatu urusan dan tiba-tiba semua benda jadi tergendala - lampu merah terlalu lama, kereta di hadapan anda memandu macam kura-kura dan pelbagai kejadian yang tidak diingini akan berlaku. Apabila makin lambat, anda makin tak keruan!

Kebiasaannya, situasi ini akan mencetuskan panik dan anda cenderung untuk melakukan sesuatu di luar kebiasaan, seperti memotong di garisan berkembar atau ‘menyucuk’ kereta di hadapan anda. Jika terlanggar, bukankah menyusahkan diri sendiri?

Jadikan satu amalan untuk menyiapkan diri dan bersedia untuk memandu, sejam sebelum waktunya. Ini akan menghindari anda dari stres yang bakal muncul jika kelewatan.

3. Pasang muzik mengikut citarasa anda

Menurut laporan BBC News, bunyi muzik dan bunyi bising mempunyai kesan yang berbeza pada mood dan emosi kita. Ini kerana dopamin, sejenis neurotransmiter yang memberi signal kepada otak akan mempengaruhi perasaan kita terhadap sesuatu perkara.

Jika anda sukakan muzik yang tenang atau bingit sekalipun, carilah yang sesuai dengan halwa telinga masing-masing. Muzik juga dapat menenteramkan anak anda, malah boleh
sing along
 kalau dia mendengar lagu kegemarannya.

Jadi, pasang muzik mengikut citarasa anda atau
anak anda di dalam kereta
 untuk membangkitkan mood tenang dan happy ketika memandu.

4. Mute telefon bimbit jika perlu

Bagi mereka yang cepat menggelabah, lebih baik untuk letak telefon bimbit pada mod senyap atau
silent
 untuk mengelak anda menjadi stres ketika memandu. Ini juga dapat meningkatkan fokus anda kepada pemanduan lagipun, mana boleh menggunakan telefon ketika memandu. Salah tu!

Jangan risau jika anda perlu menggunakan
aplikasi GPS
, kerana telefon anda masih berbunyi ketika GPS memberi panduan. Panggilan masuk atau mesej tidak akan berbunyi jika anda
mute
 telefon bimbit anda (bergantung kepada model telefon anda).

Penulis sering mencuba cara ini dan ianya sangat membantu, terutamanya ketika memandu di kawasan yang baharu dan memerlukan anda fokus pada GPS dan pemanduan.

5. Abaikan road bully

Ini adalah perkara paling sukar untuk dipraktikkan dan memerlukan latihan – mengabaikan
pembuli jalanan
.

Apa jua situasi yang melibatkan anda di'cucuk' rapat, dihon berkali-kali, ditunjuk jari tengah di jalan raya dan lain-lain insiden, sila abaikan selagi tidak membahayakan nyawa anda.

Biar
road bully
 tadi melintas anda atau anda berhenti di tepi jalan dan
let it go!

Anggaplah si pembuli mempunyai masalah yang sebenarnya tiada kaitan dengan anda yang menjadikan dia bertindak sedemikian. Jangan disebabkan tindakan
road bully
, kita pula yang ditimpa kesusahan apabila membalas tindakannya di jalan raya.

Jika meletakkan gambar keluarga atau orang tersayang dalam kereta dapat membantu anda untuk berasa tenang, boleh berbuat demikian jika berdepan
road bully
.

Tidak dinafikan, kita berdepan dengan pelbagai stres setiap hari, memikirkan nak makan apa pun boleh jadi stres, bukan? Tapi yang penting adalah bagaimana kita menangani setiap tekanan supaya urusan harian dan kesihatan kita tidak terganggu.

Semoga tips di atas dapat membantu anda mengelakkan stres ketika memandu dan selamat sampai ke destinasi. Selamat mencuba!


2019 Perodua Axia Now Open For Booking, AV Variant, STYLE Variant, From RM 24,090

In a rather surprising bit of news, Perodua has decided to update their range of Axia models with features and a few new variants for 2019, and while they haven't officially been launched, bookings are now open. The 1.0-litre powertrain - available with either four-speed automatic or five-speed manual transmissions - remains the same. Five years on and the Axia remains a very popular model, but with these updates it certainly raises the bar for an entry level car.
The AV variant is one that some may recognize from the Myvi and Aruz, and as the name suggests, it is an Axia that comes packaged with Perodua's Advanced Safety Assist 2.0 (ASA 2.0). The suite of driver assist systems includes pedestrian detection at speeds of up to 50 km/h, pre-collision warning at up to 100 km/h, pre-collision braking at up to 80 km/h, as well as front departure alert and pedal misoperation control.
On top of that, the GXtra variant and up get VSC, or vehicle stability control, a feature that many Malaysians are quickly expecting in any new car on the market. With the exception of the base E variant, all Axias come with ABS and EBD. The STYLE variant is on the price list, but Perodua is tight lipped as to what the actual model carries in terms of equipment. All that's known is that it's a little less efficient on fuel at 20.8 km/litre, compared to 21.6 km/litre in the automatic variants and 22.5 km/litre in the manual variants.
Par for the course with Perodua, the 2019 Axia is offered with a five-year, 150,000 kilometre warranty - whichever comes first. The price list for the various Axia variants is as follows:
For the best deals on a Perodua, click
here
.


Lexus Flagship Centre Enriches Brand Experience Through Major Revamp

Lexus Malaysia has opened the doors to its refurbished flagship Lexus facility in Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya, marking its further elevation beyond being just a premium automotive brand. Guests can now experience the exquisite Lexus luxury lifestyle in a facility that truly elevates all the five senses and more.
Through liberal use of high-tech digital innovation and technology, the new facility is able to create an unparalleled Lexus experience for every guest who visits the new outlet be it for a brand new Lexus automobile, quality after-sales care, a high-quality certified pre-owned vehicle or simply to purchase Lexus Lifestyle merchandise.
In presenting the new Lexus Mutiara Damansara, Ravindran K., President of Lexus Malaysia said that the enhancements to the facilities allowed Lexus Malaysia to redefine its core brand values and to clearly showcase them with a truly exclusive Lexus experience.
“Not by any means is the Lexus brand and its products deemed conventional. Neither then should the retail experience be. By designing innovative ways to excite and change the world, Lexus remains the visionary luxury brand that anticipates the future for people and society,” said Akio Takeyama, Deputy Chairman of Lexus Malaysia.
Part of the challenge for a luxury lifestyle brand is to remain in step with the customer and at Lexus, this challenge is amply met through its ‘omotenashi’ mantra (unique Japanese hospitality) by anticipating and fulfilling customers’ needs at every touch point.
Highlights of the new Lexus Mutiara Damansara include:
The Lexus Centre will delight all the senses beginning with the Lexus Signature Scent of ‘Wild Earth’ greeting visitors
Seamless and wireless sales and service experience where customers and prospects are able to receive precise, consistent and updated information via the Lexus Touch tablets
Coffee is of the highest quality and sourced from Cafés Richard, a highly sought-after French brand synonymous with high-end Parisian cafés
Discussion tables with high partitions for privacy
A highly-digitalized experience with surround LCD displays, digital vehicle information consoles, real-time service status and digital reading materials available throughout the building
A Mark Levinson audio system is installed in an acoustically tuned room for guests to experience the kind of audiophile-quality sounds they can enjoy in select Lexus vehicles
The flagship outlet boasts a retail space offering an array of well-stocked premium quality Lexus Lifestyle Collection merchandise allowing customers to fully enjoy their lifestyle aspirations
The new Lexus Centre features a Zen Room where guests can enjoy a few moments of tranquillity relaxing to soft music on the massage or lounge chairs while their vehicles receive expert care
The new Lexus Mutiara Damansara facility on Jalan PJU7/2 is open daily showcasing brand-new and pre-owned Lexus models as well as offering quality care for all Lexus vehicles. For more details, visit Lexus.com.my.


All-New Toyota Alphard On Sale In Malaysia, Sort Of

Look what we found while going through over
2,000 listings for Toyota Alphard
 models on Carlist.my – it appears that some grey importers are already selling the all-new third generation Toyota Alphard ahead of UMW Toyota.
We saw
two models
 listed by a dealer, both asking for RM460,000, cash only too. That’s quite steep considering that the outgoing model was sold by UMW Toyota at RM333,547, with three years warranty and five years free maintenance, not to mention that UMW Toyota will be responsible in carrying out any recalls should a defect is uncovered, none of which are offered by grey importers.
The all-new third generation Toyota Alphard was launched in Japan earlier in January 2015.
The rules governing the Open APs used by grey importers (authorised importers use a different Franchise AP) states that a car must be at least 13 months old before it can be imported into the country.
Assuming that production of the all-new Alphard began two months before its launch in Japan (highly optimistic), the earliest time a grey import Alphard can be imported into the country is November 2015, so we are very surprised to see the car here when we are only into August.
Within ASEAN, the all-new Alphard is already on sale via Toyota’s official dealer networks in Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore.
Read also:
All-New Toyota Alphard And Vellfire Makes ASEAN Debut In Thailand


Tambang Mahal, Lesen Syarikat e-hailing Boleh Ditarik – Menteri Pengangkutan

Sekiranya
syarikat e-hailing
 mengenakan surcaj melebihi 200% daripada tambang asas, lesen operasi syarikat tersebut akan ditarik balik atau digantung, kata Menteri Pengangkutan, Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.

Tambah Wee, mengikut tambang asas, harga yang sepatutnya dikenakan adalah antara RM0.70 hingga RM0.90 satu kilometer namun syarikat pengendali e-hailing diberi kelonggaran mengenakan surcaj yang ada peraturan, berdasarkan kepada permintaan dan penentuan harga dinamik.

MOT Beri Amaran Kepada Syarikat e-hailing

Wee telah mengingatkan supaya syarikat e-hailing tidak terus mendesak kerajaan dengan pelbagai permintaan dan alasan atau Kementerian Pengangkutan (MOT) terpaksa mengambil tindakan mengawal selia industri itu.

“Jangan paksa saya, satu hari nanti saya terpaksa mengawal selia industri e-hailing. Saya tidak mahu sehingga kami terpaksa ganggu ekonomi gig sebab itu saya kata kita kena buat secara harmoni,” katanya.

Ekoran
penjelasan
 Grab baru-baru ini yang mengatakan punca harga naik adalah kerana permintaan meningkat dan pemandu berkurang, Wee berkata alasan itu tidak masuk akal.

Sambil itu, Wee juga menegaskan bahawa MOT tidak memihak pada syarikat e-hailing seperti yang dinyatakan oleh Gabungan Persatuan-Persatuan Pengguna (FOMCA) dan Persatuan Pengguna Islam Malaysia (PPIM).

Beliau turut menyifatkan dakwaan syarikat pengendali e-hailing bahawa MOT tidak membantu industri e-hailing sebagai amat mengecewakan kerana kerajaan telah memberi kemudahan kepada mereka untuk mencari pekerja.

Namun, Wee berkata mereka masih lagi meminta keistimewaan supaya
Lesen Kenderaan Pengangkutan Awam (PSV)
 untuk pemandu e-hailing dimansuhkan.

“Kepada mereka yang mahu berkecimpung menjadi pemandu e-hailing, mereka perlukan lesen PSV dan ia adalah dasar yang jelas,” tambah Wee.

Jelas Wee, syarikat pengendali e-hailing tidak boleh menyalahkan MOT jika mereka tidak boleh mencari pemandu kerana mereka telah diberi kelonggaran untuk kursus PSV yang dikendalikan di syarikat masing-masing.

Lapor Pada MOT Jika Tambang Mahal

Wee menyeru orang ramai yang mengalami tambang e-hailing empat kali ganda lebih tinggi supaya tampil membuat laporan rasmi dan MOT tidak akan teragak-agak untuk mengambil tindakan jika laporan itu didapati betul.

Setakat ini, sebanyak 28 syarikat e-hailing yang beroperasi di Lembah Klang termasuk yang berkapasiti kecil selain perkhidmatan
teksi
.

Ini membolehkan pengguna membuat pilihan menggunakan perkhidmatan yang lebih murah jika tambang yang ditawarkan sesebuah syarikat itu tidak munasabah.


Faraday Future, The Electic Car Upstart Staffed With All-Stars

Faraday Future isn’t a name you’re used to hearing. Admittedly, that applies to us as well. But the California upstart has big plans for electric cars, specifically they plan to launch one in 2017. For a company barely a year old, that’s borderline impossible.

The company has remained relatively silent since its 2014 inception until quite recently, as Motor Trend reported on their string of hires from electric car companies Tesla and the EV divisions of larger manufacturers. Surely they must have had a killer proposition to sway them over.

Much like Tesla, their name is also an homage to a scientist, swapping out Nikola Tesla for Michael Faraday. Faraday is largely credited with the discovery of electromagnetism in the early 19
th
 century and regarded as one of the most influential scientific contributors in history.

Currently, Faraday Future – or FF as they like to be called - is occupying the former
Nissan
 research and design centre in Gardena. Perhaps
Ferrari
 might have an opinion or two about that name. They currently have around 200 employees, with the report also pointing to them hiring 10 more each week with a targeted 300 headcount by next year.

It’s still very early in the comapny's life to ascribe future predictions. History is littered with the corpses of many once-upon-a-time electric car start-ups. What makes FF a more curious case is the strong team they have assembled, which other than Tesla’s, include those who worked on BMW’s ‘i’ vehicle program, the Chevrolet Volt, as well as from SpaceX, another Elon Musk venture.

These hires aren’t middling execs, but team heads and project chiefs of engineering and design. As an example, they include Nick Sampson, Product Architect, former Vehicle and Chassis Engineering for Tesla Model S, and Richard Kim -- Head Design, former
BMW

i8
 Concept, BMW
i3
 Concept. That, plus a “boatload of former Tesla employees”, including those from HR, purchasing, and manufacturing.

The rough outline for the first FF production car that the company has teased seems impressive, with a 15 percent greater specific energy than a Tesla Model S with an 85 kWh battery pack, which should allow a greater range than the
Model S’s 435km
.

FF also wants to design their battery cells in such a way to allow for quick replacement of single cells or certain groups of cells. At the moment, battery cell failure would typically mean the costly replacement of the entire pack. Also, FF is looking to improve the energy density of those cells.

Of course, surely every electric car manufacturer has those same goals on their minds too, which leaves us asking what a small upstart with only a dark rendering of a car can bring to table to accelerate progress on some of these tough problems.

Still, we wish them all the best. Tesla has proved how a small start-up can grow to produce a great car, but as there are far from many like them, proves how hard it is. FF is definitely following Tesla’s lead, at least in these early stages. Let’s see if their brash play pays off.


KLIMS 2018: Perodua Teases Upcoming SUV

Perodua has finally brought out its new SUV model, one that is based heavily on the recently-introduced Toyota Rush.
While the upcoming SUV remains confined to a box, Perodua was kind enough to provide holes around the box to allow visitors to take a glimpse at its new model.
After a quick peek at the new Perodua SUV, we found that most of the exterior is identical to the Toyota Rush. Despite that we can expect some Perodua touches to the front bumper, grille, rear bumper, and wheels.
Under the hood, we can expect Perodua to utilize the same powertrain as the new Toyota Rush, featuring a 1.5-litre Dual VVT-i four-cylinder petrol engine mated to a 4-speed automatic, sending drive to the rear wheels.
As Perodua has officially teased its new SUV, an introduction should be just around the corner. Stay tuned for that.


Pickup Truck Buying Guide - 2020 Toyota Hilux VS 2020 Mitsubishi Triton VS 2020 Isuzu D-Max

Just last month, Toyota announced that the latest version of the Hilux, our king of pickup trucks, is officially open for booking. As successful as it is, is the Hilux really the best model out there, or are you better off with something else?

That being said, let’s put
the new Hilux
next to two other models that were also launched recently over the past year - the Mitsubishi Triton and the Isuzu D-Max and see what they have to offer.

2020 Toyota Hilux

Let’s start with the Hilux - Customers now have a choice of five variants with the Double Cab 2.4 E A/T being a new addition. The new Double Cab 2.8 Rogue A/T replaces the current Double Cab 2.8 Black Edition, while the new Double Cab 2.4 V A/T is an upgrade from the current Double Cab 2.4 L-Edition.

For those who prefer a manual transmission, the Double 2.4 G and Single Cab 2.4 will still be available.

Various styling elements of the new Hilux have been redesigned, such as the front bumper, grille, and also the foglamp bezel. For the flagship Hilux Double Cab 2.8 Rogue, there’s a new bonnet moulding and skidplate while the base variants get new designs for the 17-inch and 18-inch alloy wheels.

Inside, the notable change for the flagship variant is a new interior trim design, new meter design, addition of illuminated door trim garnish and a new key cover design. The base variants get a new meter design with additional information on the Multi Information Display (MID).

The 1G-FTV 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine has received improvements that raise both power output and torque. Maximum power output is now 204PS at 3,400 rpm (27PS increase), while maximum torque is 500Nm between 1,600 and 2,800 rpm (50Nm increase).

In line with Toyota’s aim of making motoring safer and reducing accidents, many of its models are now getting the Toyota Safety Sense (TSS) system, including the Hilux. The TSS system consists of three systems: Pre-Collision System (PCS), Dynamic Radar Cruise Control (DRCC), Lane Departure Alert (LDA), with Yaw Assist.

2020 Isuzu D-Max

Besides the Hilux, another pickup truck that has also proven to be quite the workhorse is
the Isuzu D-Max.

Launched a year ago, this is the third and most extensive facelift of the (RT50) D-Max which was first introduced in 2013, and after the first facelift in 2016 (RT85), and another minor update in 2018.

The new 1.9-litre Ddi Bluepower engine, dubbed RZ4E replaces the older 2.5-litre VGT (4JK1) turbodiesel and promises even better fuel economy (a longstanding trademark of Isuzu engines), bulletproof reliability, lighter weight, and lower emissions. The larger (4JJ1) 3.0-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel will continue to serve as the most powerful engine of the D-Max pickup range.

The new 1.9-Litre RZ4E engine develops 150PS @ 3,600 rpm (up by 10 percent over the 2.5L) and 350 Nm of torque between 1,800 rpm and 2,600 rpm (an improvement of 9 percent). The new engine is mated to new six-speed manual or automatic transmission.

All this while halving the road tax costs to RM399.20 (previously RM839.20 for the 2.5L) in Peninsula Malaysia. Similar (52 percent) reductions of road tax prices apply in Sabah and Sarawak too. The 1.9-litre Ddi Bluepower D-Max is also the first pickup truck in Malaysia to be conferred the Energy Efficient Vehicle (EEV) status by the Road Transport Department (JPJ).

The 3.0-litre variant, by comparison, produces 177 PS at 3,600 rpm and 380 Nm of torque between 1,800 and 2,800 rpm. The 3.0-litre engine is paired with a five-speed manual or automatic transmission.

In terms of aesthetics, depending on variant, the new D-Max sports a redesigned front grille, new LED headlamp with Daytime Running Lights (DRL), and new fog lamp garnish design. Along the flanks, there are new 18-inch alloys wheels and sticker decals that run along the lower edge of the doors. Round the back, the major highlight is the new (optional) tailgate assist function which dramatically reduces the effort required to open/close the tailgate.

On the inside, the new D-Max receives newly designed leather seats and an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system which is hooked up to an 8-speaker audio system. There’s an additional USB charging port for the added convenience of rear seat passengers. Auto Start/Stop and auto-folding side mirrors are other notable highlights of the new model.

All variants are supplied with ABS, EBD, Brake Assist, Stability Control, Traction Control, and Hill-Start Assist as standard. All variants are also supplied with a minimum of two-airbags, except the 3.0-litre 4x4 AT-Premium variant, which receives a total of six-airbags.

2020 Mitsubishi Triton

Available in five variants,
 the new model
 boasts - among other things - a comprehensive redesign of the exterior and interior, an expanded list of active safety features and more importantly, a far more sophisticated Super Select 4WD II drivetrain which comes with four selectable off-road modes.

Under the hood of the new Triton is the same 2.4-litre MIVEC turbodiesel engine. Although it's carried over from the previous Triton, it's not exactly an old engine as it was only introduced here in late 2016. It's still the only engine in its class to feature lightweight aluminium construction and MIVEC variable valve timing. As before, it makes 181 PS at 3,500 rpm and 430 Nm at 2,500 rpm. The engine is paired to either a 6-speed manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission; both are new for the Triton range.

The highlight of the drivetrain is Mitsubishi's Super Select 4WD II system which allows 4WD driving on both tarmac and off-road. Instead of the usual 2H, 4H, and 4L modes, the Super Select 4WD II system allows the driver to select between 2H, 4H, 4HLc, 4LLc - with Lc for locking centre differential. There's also a selectable off-road mode which optimises the drivetrain for sand, mud, gravel, or rocky terrain.

In terms of features, the Triton is quite generous, especially in the range-topping variant. You get Super Select 4WD (2H, 4H, 4HLc and 4LLc modes), Bi-LED automatic headlamps, LED daytime running lights, Automatic wipers, Apple Car Play and Android Auto support, Paddle shifters, Leather wrapped seats, Power adjustable driver's seat, Seven airbags, Forward Collision Mitigation (FCM), Blind Spot Warning, Lane Change Assist, Rear Cross Traffic Alert, Auto High Beam, Ultrasonic Misacceleration Mitigation System, and Front parking sensors.

If we are to compare these models, there is no denying the fact that the Hilux, Triton, and the D-Max are proven workhorses. In terms of their capabilities to go off-road, to transport things, and to be used to carry “barang” they all perform admirably.

The difference is actually in terms of the driving characteristics. Out of the three, the one that feels the most car-like is actually the Triton, due to how its chassis is setup and seat design.

Since the Hilux and D-Max feel more like a typical pickup truck, those who are looking for a 4x4 for pure urban usage, and for “wayang” purposes, you are better off with the Triton.

Those who want pure power and hardiness may want to stick to the Hilux as well, because it probably has the best track record. Where the D-Max excels is in terms of fuel consumption, and cheap road tax.

Where convenience and practicality are concerned, all models are almost equal, and most necessities you find in the car like mobile phone connectivity, a user-friendly infotainment system, kick-ass safety features, and driver assistance, are available in all these models.

So, depending on your budget and purpose, the three most recent models here are well worth considering. Remember to test drive, and see which model tickles you in the right places.


The Build Log: A track-ready Toyota GR Yaris that’s driven over 40,000km a year!

Some people treat their track-prepared cars and their daily drivers very differently,
but for Timothy, those cars are one and the same
. And according to him, his beloved GR Yaris takes on both roles incredibly well.

Join the fastest cars in Malaysia at the CarTell Track Attack Volume II happening on May 27th 2023 at the Sepang International Circuit. Featuring 2 sessions for 8 hours of on-track action big gifts for the fastest cars of the day.
Register now!

Back to GR Yaris, Timothy's ownership experience has also been one of consistent smiles and shocking reliability, a pattern that began even before he took delivery of his Toyota AWD super-hatch. Even as early as him merely hearing about the car, he knew he’d must have one.

Clearly, that combination of chassis and underpinnings developed with WRC competition in mind, compact dimensions, potent but lightweight turbocharged 3-cylinder engine, and an advanced GR-Four 4-wheel drive system made this car something truly special.

Unsurprisingly, the demand from Malaysian car enthusiasts was overwhelming
when it was launched here
 in December 2020. This sentiment was echoed globally, but Toyota remained adamant that production would not exceed 25,000 units globally.

While some are too happy to keep their examples as pristine as possible, Timothy insists the car should be driven, driven fast, and driven often. Instead, his other prized possession, a Lotus Elise, is kept safely in Langkawi for the occasions he finds himself there ready to enjoy some laid back island cruising.

Besides the few modifications such as aftermarket wheels and a set of better tyres to match, he’s kept his GR Yaris untouched, saying that the pursuit of further ‘improvement’ would only serve to ruin the tuning and balance so perfectly set by the engineers.

For him, the car delivers plenty of thrills and driver involvement even when driving on normal roads with its 1.6-litre G16E-GTS providing plenty of pulling power and refinement. Power and torque are always at the ready with 261PS at 6,500rpm and 360Nm from 3,000rpm to 4,600rpm, but it’s the car’s 6-speed manual gearbox in particular that’s so engaging to use.

He’s not kidding when claiming the GR Yaris is his daily driver either as he can be seen on many days belting up and down the KL-Seremban Highway to and from work. He’s even got the title of highest mileage car within the GR Yaris community, clocking up more than 40,000km driven in a single year!

Passing by the exit to the Sepang International Circuit almost on a daily basis makes taking a detour every now and again impossible to resist, and Timothy has had many occasions where his GR Yaris gets willingly spanked on track.

It’s all in good safe fun, of course, which he maintains should be the point of any track day with friends. Regardless, his chosen car plays this dual role perfectly, and afterward the car simply exits the track and heads home like the daily driver street car it is, never skipping a beat.

In fact, that’s exactly what Tim and his car will be doing at the upcoming CarTell Track Attack Volume II.

Happening this weekend on May 27th as the centrepiece of CarTell Speedfest, our Track Attack pits together the fastest cars in Malaysia with big gifts and prizes going to the one that tops the charts.

If you think your car has got the right stuff to set a blazing time or if you just want to test your mettle around a world class circuit,
register to participate
 today!

That said, because Speedfest is an all-day event with many other exciting activities, prizes to be won, and the Velocity Motor Show bringing the best of the car customisation and aftermarket scene, you are more than welcome to join us, hang out, and just have a good time with family and friends. Once the track lights up with action and the engines start roaring, you'll definitely not want to miss the excitement. All are welcome to spectate!