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The title is right, ladies and gentlemen. The folks from Honda Malaysia will be giving away NINE different models this year in conjunction of their Road to 900,000th Unit Milestone Campaign where they will be celebrating the sale of 900,000 units which is going to happen in Q3 2019. (more…)

One of the world’s most recognized companies and legendary die-cast toy car manufacturer Hot Wheels made their way to the AOS 2019 (Art of Speed Malaysia) and to make things extremely special, they’ve unveiled their latest Hot Wheels Japan Historics 3 collection. (more…)

♦ Rain created a drama-filled race which delighted spectators who had not seen so much action in a while.

♦ Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen collected his second win of the 2019 season. The Dutch driver has won 7 F1 races to date.

♦ Lewis Hamilton, who was ill, finished 11th but got promoted two positions up as a result of 30-second penalties imposed on both Alfa Romeo drivers for start-line offences.

♦ Robert Kubica’s promotion to tenth place gave the Williams team, powered by Mercedes engines, its first point of the season.

♦ Russian driver, Daniil Kvyat, had two reasons to celebrate after the race. First was his unexpected third place after a chaotic race and second was the birth of his first child the same day.

♦ The event might not have been run this year had Mercedes-Benz not come in to provide support as the main title sponsor and provided much-needed financial support.

Next race in Hungary on August 4

 

Race starts at 3:10 pm in Germany/9:10 pm in Malaysia

♦ In spite of being ill (believed to be the flu) this weekend, Lewis Hamilton still managed to capture pole position on the starting grid. Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen will be alongside the Mercedes-AMG driver. In the event that he decided he cannot race, reserve driver Esteban Ocon was ready to take over in his place.

♦ The Ferraris should have had a chance at the front row but technical problems in qualifying saw Charles Leclerc getting into tenth spot while Sebastian Vettel will start from the back. Vettel’s car had a turbo failure while Leclerc’s was due to a fuel problem.

♦ Although he has not raced his car in the rain, Renault F1 Team’s Daniel Ricciardo is hoping for a wet track as he thinks it may provide with just a slight edge. He said that he noticed that the car performed well in the wet last year.

♦ As some other circuits have been experiencing, the extremely high cost of hosting a F1 round means they can no longer do so. Hockenheim has hosted F1 rounds since 1970 (though not every year) is likely to have its last race this year for this reason. If so, there will be no German Grand Prix in 2020 (and beyond) since the Nurburgring circuit also stopped being a F1 venue.

 

 

Our older readers will remember the dynamo which was a small device rotated by the bicycle wheel. As it rotated, sufficient electricity was generated to light up the lamp. That simple idea of using the tyres to indirectly generate electricity is being revived with a new technology being developed by engineers in Japan.

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, together with Professor Hiroshi Tani of Kansai University, have developed the ‘Energy Harvester’ that takes advantage of the build-up of static electricity. Known as ‘frictional charging’, it can produce power efficiently as the tyre turns. However, where the dynamo used a magnet and coil to generate electricity, the Energy Harvester has a much more sophisticated approach.

Inside are two layers of rubber each covered in an electrode, along with a negatively-charged film that interfaces with a positively-charged film. When fixed to the inside of a conventional tyre carcass, it generates electricity as the tyre deforms during each rotation.

Energy Harvester

Eliminate reliance on car’s battery
The engineers believe the Energy Harvester could lead to practical applications as a power source for sensors used in Tyre Pressure Monitoring Systems and other small automotive devices without drawing on electricity from the vehicle’s battery or electrical system.

The Energy Harvester is being developed as part of Sumitomo’s R&D programme to come up with technologies that target improvements in safety and environmental performance. The research project has now been selected by the Japan Science and Technology Agency as a Type FS Seed Project under A-STEP (Adaptable and Seamless Technology Transfer Program through Target-Driven R&D). Sumitomo Rubber Industries will now advance this research with support from the Japan Science and Technology Agency.

Toyota owners on the western side of Selangor now have an authorised Toyota outlet near them to aftersales services. The new outlet, located at Pandamaran, is operated by PS Otomobil (Bukit Tinggi) Sdn Bhd which has been an authorised Toyota dealer since 2015 with a sales outlet located in Bukit Tinggi, Klang.

Over the past four years, as its sales have grown along with its customer base, it has made new investments to expand its facilities to raise the quality of services. This has led to the establishment of the new 2S outlet.

Toyota service centre

The service centre is equipped with 19 service bays with trained personnel to ensure that customers’ vehicles are promptly attended to. It is also equipped with diagnostic equipment and the necessary Special Service Tools to maintain Toyota vehicles. While waiting for their vehicles to be serviced, customers can relax in the lounge which has amenities for their comfort and convenience.

Business partner since 2015
Commending PS Otomobil (Bukit Tinggi) Sdn Bhd on their commitment to provide Toyota customers with high quality aftersales services, UMW Toyota Motor’s President, Ravindran K. said: “PS Otomobil (Bukit Tinggi) Sdn Bhd has been our business partner since 2015 and has provided good services to customers. We are delighted to see that with the growth in their business, they have made the decision to upgrade their facilities to enhance their aftersales services. This has truly reflects the Toyota “Customer First” philosophy where priorities and value-added services are prepared for our customers’ convenience.”

PS Otomobil (Bukit Tinggi) Sdn Bhd joins the constantly growing network of Toyota dealerships nationwide. To locate a dealership near you, visit toyota.com.my.

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