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Ford Driving Skills for Life programme aims to create better drivers

The Driving Skills for Life (DSFL) programme by Ford, which it has organised in Asia for the past 10 years, is meant to educate drivers of the importance of road safety. This year, organised in conjunction with local distributor of Ford vehicles, Sime Darby Auto Connexion (SDAC), saw over 140 Malaysian drivers taking part to better understand how to deal with different types of situations whiel driving.

According to the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), 7,152 people were killed out of the 521,466 road accidents that were reported last year. And as such, the automaker and its local distributor believe programmes such as this will help drivers be more vigilant while on the road which would in turn, reduce the number of road accidents reported each year.

Those who attended this year’s DSFL included members of the CitiCLub by CitiBank, employees of Sime Darby Berhad, fans of Ford Malaysia’s social media channel, as well as members of the general public. The six half-day training session workshop was conducted by a panel of safety experts and was held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS).

“Driving Skills for Life is designed to equip drivers with the skills they need to be better and safer on the road. Road safety is a very serious issue and we feel it is our responsibility to help reinforce this message among Malaysian motorists,” said Syed Ahmad Muzri Syed Faiz, Managing Director, Sime Darby Auto Connexion.

During the workshop, attendees were made aware of the risks that drivers face while on the road, dealing with unexpected situations, the peril of distracted driving such as the use of mobile phones while behind the wheel, hands-on driver training that covers hazard recognition, vehicle handling, speed/space management, and distraction awareness.

DSFL is free-of-charge and is part of Ford’s global corporate social responsibility programme. Besides Malaysia, the automaker conducts this awareness programme in a number of countries such as China, India, Myanmar, Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

Lotus Elise Sprint edition is the anorexic Elise you’ve been waiting for

Lotus has introduced a new variant to its featherweight Elise family. Named Sprint edition, the new car adopts new clever weight saving measures that are reminiscent of the good old days when Colin Chapman was running the shop.’

Engineered in and out to be the lightest of the Elise family, the Sprint edition receives new distinctive styling to the exterior and interior of the car. It gets new front and rear aesthetics which are in line with the company’s design language including the lightweight open-gate gear selector mechanism seen on the Exige Sport 350. Other visual changes include bodywork keyed colour inserts for the sports seats, transmission console and HVAC surround, along with Sprint badge stitching. In addition to that, the car also receives an array of optional Alcantara trim panels on the doors, sills, seats and vents surrounds with contrasting stitching.

Improvements to the body include redesigned lightweight front clam panel, wider radiator apertures and mesh pattern grille, rear transom panel with two rear light clusters with reversing and fog lights mounted inboard. Aerodynamics have been tweaked too, with the addition of rubber elements on the flat underside ahead of the front wheel and an additional diffuser vane at the rear to improve air flow.

Lotus boasts that through various weight saving measures, it was able to bring down the overall weight to a mere 798 kg (dry). This was done by utilising lightweight components which include a Lithium-Ion battery (Saves 9kg), carbon race seats (saves 6kg), new lightweight forged alloy wheels (saves 6kg) as well as a carbon access panel, roll hoop cover, engine cover and polycarbonate rear screen that saves 6kg.

Comparatively, the Sprint edition is about 26kg lighter than the previous Sport and Sport 220 models even when fitted with optional two-piece brake discs (4kg lighter). Buyers can either opt for a 1.6-litre engine (134bhp and 160Nm of torque) or a supercharged 1.8-litre (217bhp and 250Nm of torque) one. As such, 0-100km/h for the Elise Sprint is 5.9 seconds and 4.1 seconds for the Elise Sprint 220. Lotus’s acoustic engineers have made some improvements to make the engine note more appealing to the 6 year old in all of us.

Stopping power comes courtesy of AP racing twin-piston calipers and Brembo single-piston rear calipers, however, a lightweight two-piece brake disc setup is also available as an option. Lotus does offer a number of ESP driving modes which are Drive, Sport and Off. The new Elise range which includes the Sprint, retain the same suspension configuration with fully independent double wishbone setup and a front anti-roll bar as well as Bilstein high-performance gas dampers and Eibach Coaxial coil springs for the front and rear.

Despite the lightweight measures, Lotus has still given the Sprint edition a new in-car entertainment system that offers Bluetooth and iPod connectivity, but like most Lotus buyers, the engine note is all the music we need.

The Sprint Edition sits above the the rest of the Elise line up but slots under the Elise Sport 220. Lotus plan on delivering cars to respective customers in April of this year and we hope it lives up to all the weight saving measures Lotus says it has.the hypeLotus says it deserves.

Honda City sales reach 250,000 cars

Honda Malaysia has achieved another milestone with its Honda City. The company is celebrating the sale of its 250,000th City, a feat worthy of recognition. The Japanese automaker’s B-Segment sedan has accounted for a significant chunk of its yearly sales and market share.

Starting with the second generation City, which was launched in 2001, Honda Malaysia managed to shift about 61,000 cars overall. When the third generation car came along, sales numbers increased to more than 84,000 cars sold. Then, with the introduction of the current 4th gen vehicle, which the company claims is its most success model of the lot, captured 33% of the B-segment market share in 2014 but rose to 39% toward the end of 2016.

As of now, the automaker claims that it has managed to sell 100,000 cars of the 4th gen City since 2014. What might bolster the sales figures even further, is the addition of the face-lifted car which has received about 2,500 bookings so far. The most popular of car colours for the City are the Taffeta White and Modern Steel Metallic colours.

Speaking of the sales achievements, Honda Malaysia Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Katsuto Hayashi said, “We express our sincere heartfelt thank you and appreciation to all 250,000 City customers. Customer support and feedback have pushed us to set the benchmark for B-segment cars in each generation. Their support and belief in the Honda brand have enabled our models to achieve segment leadership positions including the City which is the B-segment leader.”

Tan Kian Hui was the lucky buyer who bought the 250,000th City and to congratulate him on his purchase, Honda awarded him RM1,000 worth of vouchers, a full set of Honda merchandise and Honda Genuine Accessories consisting of Modulo package, Urban package and Utility package worth RM5,300.

He is one of 25 customers who will received the RM1,000 worth of service vouchers with the remaining 24 being notified through the Honda Malaysia Facebook page. Apart from the vouchers, there are multiple sales campaigns that are being run concurrently by Honda which include “Best Deals Promotion”, Best Time to Get Best Protection” and “The Digital Treasure Hunt Wall Contest”. Visit the company’s website to no more about these or other deals that are currently on offer.

Chevrolet Corvette C7 Aerowagen by Callaway

Ever wondered what a shooting brake Corvette would look like? Well, wonder no more because Callaway, a US based company has done to the C7 Vette. Considered sacrilege by die hard Corvette fans, the car is offically known as the Aerowagen. Despite the extensive work on the car, the styling and fitment wouldn’t look out of place if it did roll off GM’s production floor.

The Callaway name is synonymous with modified performance Vettes since the early 2000s. And this Aerowagen in particular, has received more than just styling adjustments, Callaway gave the car performance tweaks as well. Originally, the Vette’s 6.2-litre V8 produced 650 horsepower in stock form, but Callaway has bumped up the power to 757bhp.

The car was featured on former The Tonight’s Show host Jay Leno’s famous YouTube channel, Jay Leno’s Garage. Jay did his usual walk-around of the car while interviewing owner/producer of the respective car that is on his show. This time around for the Aerowagen, it was Peter Callaway, General Manager of Callaway Cars Inc and his father Reeves Callaway, the founder of the company. And as you will see in his video, and as expected, he takes the car on his signature test drive. Take a look at this clip for the full video:

Like Brabus is to Mercedes-Benz, Shelby is to Ford, Callaway has been been tuning and upgrading Corvettes for a very long time. That said, the company, which was incorporated in the 1970s, initially gained recognition for offering Alfa Romeos and BMWs with a lot more horsepower then when they came from the factory. And despite being supercharger experts today, from the 1970s to 1990s, the company’s bread and butter was turbochargers.

As impressive as the Aerowagen is, this particular type of styling isn’t to everyone’s liking as it’s more of an acquired taste. Ferrari too tried its hand at a shooting brake with the introduction of the GTC4Lusso and despite coming from the Mac daddy of sports car makers, it wasn’t a stellar hit. Only time will tell if the Aerowagen does gain any popularity.

Mitsubishi delivers Triton to Sarawak Forestry

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, in an effort to support wildlife conservation efforts in Sarawak, has handed the keys of a brand new Mitsubishi Triton to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to be used for wildlife rescue and conservation works at Matang Wildlife Centre (MWC).

Chief Executive Officer of Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia, Tomoyuki Shinnishi, personally handed over the new pick-up truck to Wong Ting Chung, CEO of Sarawak Forestry in a ceremony at MWC. This good deed is said to be part of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility programme to promote a sustainable future.

During the ceremony, Shinnishi, said, “Mitsubishi Motors is proud to assist and support SARAWAK FORESTRY, an organisation that devotes its’ time for a good cause. We acknowledge their efforts in rescuing wildlife of various species which are brought in to Matang Wildlife Centre for rehabilitation purposes.”

Speaking of the latest addition to Sarawak Forestry’s inventory, Wong, said ““Due to increasing public awareness on wildlife conservation and protection, Matang and Semenggoh wildlife centres are facing growing demands for additional capacities in rescue, rehabilitation and other operational aspects such as transportation. Therefore, contributions such as this Triton pick-up truck by MMM is timely, practical and very much appreciated for our works here at Matang Wildlife Centre.”

At the Matang Wildlife Centre, several endangered mammals, birds and reptiles are looked after and given the protection they deserve. The centre also has an orangutan rehabilitation programme where these endangered animals are cared for in order to increase their population. Initially, rehabilitation efforts were concentrated at Semenggoh Wildlife Center at Semenggoh Nature Reserve but in 1998, due to the increasing population of orangutans, the programme was launched in the Matang Wildlife Centre to reduce in an effort to reduce overcrowding at the Semenggoh facility.

The Triton is Mitsubishi’s answer to the Hilux, Ranger, D-Max and Navara. It features a MIVEC turbodiesel engine and can be had in either a 4×4 or 4×2 configuration. Visit the automaker’s website to learn more about the models that it currently sells in the country.

Volkswagen release Luv Bug video

VW is trying to rekindle the love many had with the original Beetle for the soon to be launched Volkswagen Atlas with the release of a short video dubbed “Luv Bug”. The story is about a young couple just starting out life together. When they start having a family, and as it grows with every addition, the couple are forced to trade in their older and smaller VWs for newer and bigger ones to accommodate the whole family.

https://youtu.be/DZ3cDd-L1Qg

Speaking of the video, Vinay Shahani, Senior Vice President of Marketing, Volkswagen America, said, “Luv Bug shows the evolution of the Volkswagen brand through the eyes of a growing American family, as they graduate from the iconic Beetle to the compact Jetta sedan then to the versatile Tiguan and eventually to our all-new 2018 Atlas. We are excited to debut the Atlas with an ad campaign that celebrates our heritage and journey, alongside that of our American consumers.”

The song featured in this short video is Dean Martin’s “The Birds and the Bees” which is rather fitting considering how PG13 the video actually is. VW’s clever objective in this video is to portray the large size and spaciousness of the Atlas to viewers by introducing the tagline “Life’s as big as you make it”.

VW’s Atlas is the company’s biggest offering yet and will be built at the company’s manufacturing facility in Chattanooga, Tennessee. It is said to be specifically tailored to meet the needs of the American consumers. Volkswagen says that the SUV offers class-competitive levels of technology and speciousness while maintaining the driving dynamics expected from vehicles that bear the its badge.

Measuring 5037 mm long, 1979 mm wide and 1768 mm high, the Atlas is the biggest VW yet to roll off the production line to date. There are two engine option to choose from, which are the 2.0-litre TSI four-pot that produces 238bhp and a 3.6-litre VR6 one that produces 280bhp. Both engines will be mated to an 8-speed transmission but buyers can opt to have either a front-wheel-drive or 4Motion all-wheel-drive configuration. VW’s Atlas is slated for launch towards the middle of 2017 in the US and with it, VW hope to take the fight to the American Juggernauts known as Ford, Chevrolet and Jeep.