No, I’m not kidding, nor am I on drugs; I really liked this SUV from Renault, despite the marques less-than-perfect heritage in the country. It’s an affliction that’s not unique to Renault of course, just about every carmaker represented here has a skeleton or two in their respective closets, but some like Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, etc. have fared worse than others, and that was no fault of the cars actually. They weren’t properly homologated and ‘tropicalised’ for our climate, as I mentioned in my in-car video below…
This is not one of those cars. Through the Renault-Nissan alliance, at least they got this one right unlike the old Alfa Romeo Arna, because the Koleos represents the best of both worlds; Japanese reliability coupled with French panache. The aforementioned Arna got that one bass-ackwards, so let’s try and forget that monstrosity shall we?
In the time I had the Renault Koleos, I clocked up more mileage than any test-car I’ve driven this year, as the photos attest, I legged it out of town. On the open highway, the Koleos – despite its CVT – proved to be quite a remarkable cruiser, effortlessly tackling even the more twisty bits once I said adios to the highway.
Power from its 2.5-litre in-line 4-cylinder is rated at 171Ps and 226Nm, and while these may not be huge numbers, the Koleos does put this grunt to good use, especially when it comes to long-haul highway drives, averaging about 8.3L for every 100km, while attaining speeds well in excess of the national highway limit. The feather in its cap though is the All-Mode 4×4 iTechnology drive system.
In normal driving conditions, all the power from the engine goes to the front wheels, however, during times of hard acceleration, or when the on-board computer detects any wheel-slip, it instantly sends power to the back wheels. You can actually monitor this in real-time thanks to a graphic in the instrument cluster that constantly conveys the front and rear torque-split in percentages. But for actual off-road driving, the Koleos comes with a 4×4 Lockfunction that instantly enables a 50:50 front/rear torque split. Pretty cool. For the full specifications list, click to download this brochure: KOLEOS BROCHURE 2018
Now here’s the best part… thanks to the 0% GST implemented on June 1st, and before the SST kicks in later this year, the Renault Koleos is yours for only RM189,000! Psst! The Koleos 2WD variants are even cheaper. We recently highlighted the new pricing for Renault vehicles in Malaysia, and you can check them right here.
If you’re looking for a full-size SUV, you simply have to check this one out. Take it for a test drive, because to me it’s like a hidden gem among a sea of other more popular SUVs, and it really, really deserves its time in the limelight. I loved it. – Chris Wee.
Does anyone remember the Volvo S60 of the new millennium? If you’re a car freak like me, you should. Debuting in 2000, there was one variant brought in by (then) Federal Auto Cars called the S60 T5 and it looked like this:
Well, unbeknownst to many, this was one of the cars that actually began the widespread use of the term ‘sleeper’ among car enthusiasts because below that unassuming bonnet up front lay a 2.3-litre, turbocharged 5-cylinder engine that produced 247bhp and 330Nm of torque. No, really.
Top speed was a governed 250kmh,and 0-100kmh was achieved in 6.8sec. Those figures are impressive even today, so let’s not forget that this was almost 20-years ago!
Carrying on this fine ‘sleeper’ tradition, the new Volvo S60 has made its debut recently in the USA, and it’s a stunner! Here’s what The Car Connection had to say about the new 2019 S60’s powertrains…
“A trio of engines lie under the 2019 S60’s hood, each with its own name: T5, T6, and T8. In the T5, a 2.0-liter turbocharged inline-4 cranks out 250 horsepower, which is sent via an 8-speed automatic transmission to the front wheels. The T6 adds a supercharger for a total of 316 hp delivered to all four corners. Topping the line is the T8plug-in hybrid that adds an electric motor for a combined output of 400 horsepower.”
Here’s the product walk-around video…
And from Auto Express UK, here’s the latest regarding the 2019 Volvo S60…
Volvo’s journey to fully-fledged premium car maker is now complete. With its XC SUV models matching or beating anything BMW, Audi or Mercedes can offer, and its S and V 90 models providing stiff competition for the likes of the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Merc E-Class, now it’s the turn of an all-new compact executive – the S60.
This model, though, has the toughest task of them all. When it arrives in UK showrooms next year, it’ll line up against an all-new 3 Series, not to mention Mercedes’ revised C-Class, Audi’s A4 and Jaguar’s XE.
Volvo’s President and CEO Håkan Samuelsson calls the S60 “one of the most exciting Volvo cars we’ve ever made” and “a true driver’s car.” Big claims. It’ll be made at an all-new plant in the US in Charleston, South Carolina with a clear leaning to the big and lucrative US and Chinese markets.
Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) and its fully-owned subsidiary Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd have been formally certified by SIRIM to the latest 2015 versions of the ISO (International Organisation for Standardisation) 9001 and 14001 standards, emphasising the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction and environmental responsibility.
To obtain ISO 9001 certification, an organisation must comply with quality best practices in their work processes, with the aim of improving customer satisfaction in every sense. ISO 14001 however, focuses on environmental standards. “SIRIM’s ISO recognition means a lot to Perodua as it reinforces our vision of becoming a regionally competitive player and demonstrates our strive for Kaizen or continuous improvement,” said Perodua President and Chief Executive Officer Datuk (Dr) Aminar Rashid Salleh (below, centre) at a certificate presentation ceremony held recently at Perodua’s headquarters in Sungai Choh.
Also present at the ceremony was SIRIM QAS International Sdn Bhd Managing Director En Mohd Azanuddin Salleh, (above, right) who presented the certificates to Perodua Sales Sdn Bhd Managing Director Dato’ Dr Zahari Husin (above, left). Perodua first adopted ISO standards in 1998. ISO 9001 was extended to Perodua sales and service branches in stages from 2005, standardising the customer experience across the board. All Perodua branches are currently ISO-certified.
Altogether, Perodua has successfully undergone one ISO 14001 and three ISO 9001 version upgrades, including today’s certification, which covers a total of 39 sales and 55 service branches nationwide, plus 35 departments under Perodua Headquarters. “The demands of the market and industry never stop changing, and it is essential that we constantly update our standards and procedures to adapt and respond to those changes. Only if we remain relevant to our customers can we exceed their expectations,” said Datuk (Dr) Aminar. “With this certification upgrade, we hope to further reduce the satisfaction index gap between us and other recognised international players,” he added.
Datuk (Dr) Aminar said that Perodua will also extend these standards to its business partners, be they dealers or suppliers in the near future. “We will ensure our business partners and suppliers comply with green practices as required by ISO standards, including the sourcing of materials in environmentally-friendly ways,” he said. Besides taking customer satisfaction and environmental management to new heights, ISO practices have also led to improvements for Perodua’s internal processes and communications, as well as customer deliveries, amongst many others.
First introduced in 1987, ISO 9001 is one of the world’s most widely-used quality management systems, with the latest 2015 revision expanding the requirements to include risk-based thinking. ISO 14001 was born in 1996 and concerns environmental management and pollution prevention. The latest ISO 14001:2015 revision brings additional emphasis on leadership, strategic planning, proactive initiatives and even communications strategies.
I want both. Oh man, how I would have loved to keep them permanently. Of course it really didn’t help that I tested both the Yamaha X-Max 250Scooter (below) and MT-09 Streetfighter (above) back-to-back, and for the first time ever, here were 2 bikes – well one bike and one scooter, but for the purposes of this article I’ll be referring to both of them as ‘bikes’ – that I really, really despised. Despised the fact that I had to return them of course.
It’s no big secret that I’ve been a biker longer than I’ve been driving cars, having cut my teeth on 2-wheelers long before I was even allowed to ride them legally (sorry, I was a bit of a juvenile delinquent in my youth, but hey I turned out fine….ish. Sorta…), and over the years I’ve owned a slew of high-performance machines, only to unexpectedly and inexplicably turn to the ‘retro’ scene about the decade ago, as well as the scooter scene around the same time.
I reckon the bike that caused this ‘turning-point’ in my biking life was the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 a.k.a. ZZR1400 which I reviewed many moons ago when it first burst onto the scene. Capable of an amazing 200bhp going to the back wheel (not a typo) with its infamous ‘ram-air’ induction system, and a top speed in access of 300kmh, this six-eyed monster was to me the epitome of everything that had gone wrong with the world of biking…
Although I must admit I thought the ZX-14 was (and still is) an incredible feat of engineering and admired the hell out of it for its sheer audacity and in-your-face disregard for political-correctness in an age where we’ve never been more so, I also strongly felt that bike makers had lost the plot completely when it came to biking, by constantly producing bigger, faster and more powerful 2-wheelers. Where would it end?
This incredible leap in technology also sent the price of big bikes rocketing through the stratosphere locally, seeing as how our taxation system for bikes over a specific cubic-capacity was thought of and introduced when the main mode of personal transport was a bicycle called the ‘Seven-up’. Google it… okay, I’ll save you the trouble:
So yeah it was in and around that time when I decided nope, no more insanely high-powered bikes for me, and decided to go retro, starting with a BMW K1100RS, and followed-up with the likes of old skool Suzuki GS’s, GSX’s, etc. etc. etc. and as mentioned I got heavy into scooters. In successive order I’ve owned a V100, VS125 (2 actually), Elegan 150, and a currently a Sym200 VTS.
I’ve toned-down a lot when it comes to biking, preferring instead to just cruise at moderate speed rather than ‘balls-to-the-wall’ type riding, and in that respect, I’ve found that as far as daily-commuting and the occasional scootour long-distance ride is concerned, there aren’t many scooters I’m comfortable on apart from my Sym, and I’ve always bench-marked any scooter I review against my own.
Thus far I’ve been content with the fact that my Sym suits me the best insofar as the riding position, comfort and long-distance capability is concerned; that is until this goddam Yamaha X-Max came along… Here’s my post-ride video that sums up my thoughts nicely:
And then, having returned the X-Max, it just so happened that the new Yamaha MT-09 was available if I wanted it for a few days, and of course I could not say no, because the MT-09 – to me anyway – does not belong in the Yamaha line-up; as a matter a fact, a bike like this shouldn’t be in any bike-makers line-up and here’s why…
The MT-09 is a Streetfighterthrough and through, and although there isn’t a badge, emblem or sticker that reads ‘Streetfighter’ anywhere on the bike that I could see, it definitely is one simply by virtue of the way it looks, the way it’s built and the way you ride it. And the reason a Streetfighter doesn’t belong in any bike-maker’s official stable is because it was created by bikers, not bike-makers, and purely by accident too, literally.
Streetfighters came about when sportsbike owners had crashes and sent their fairings in to be repaired. Since the bikes could still be ridden sans fairing, many did so after slapping on a straight handle bar to replace the inevitably damaged clip-ons, and the trend caught on around 20-odd years ago, when some realised that a sportsbike looked kinda cool with its kit-off, and owners started to remove their expensive fairings from their bikes on purpose – possibly to save them big bucks if they had an ‘off’ – and ‘lo and behold Streetfighters were born.
The moment I swung my leg over the MT-09 and spirited myself away from Hong Leong Yamaha in Sg.Buloh, I could tell this was a Streetfighter right away. The riding-position is possibly the biggest giveaway, because in typical Streetfighter fashion, the rider sits quite upright and very ‘forward’ with his franks and beans right up against the tank. It’s also a very short bike from nose to tail, allowing for incredible maneuverability. Here’s my post ride, jittery, shaky, adrenaline enhanced video…
The nimbleness of the MT-09 is only overshadowed by the unbelievable amounts of torque from it 847cc, 3-cylinder engine. On paper the torque is only rated at 87.5Nm, with a healthy 115Ps @ 10,000 rpm, in a bike that weighs less than 200kgs. You know what that means don’t you? Should I elaborate? Very well then…
This bike is insane. It is so quick you’ll not believe how fast it reaches triple-digit speeds from a standstill, especially since it’s equipped with a ‘Quickshifter‘ you won’t need to use the clutch after 1st gear or shut the throttle to upshift. Hard acceleration sees the digital speedometer become absolutely worthless because this bike’s acceleration is so brutal, it just becomes a blur of flying digital bars that look like they’re on flakka.
It really did remind me of the bikes I used to lust after in my youth, and as the song goes, it made me feel eighteen again. If only for a while anyway. The thing to remember though, is that even with all my years of riding experience, this was still a very hard bike to tame. It’ll take a much younger hand with an equal (or more) amount of riding experience to fully explore the capabilities and limits of this bike, something I was not prepared to do myself unfortunately. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have a lot of fun on this thing…
So back to taking things slow. In a nutshell, if an easy ride is what you’re after, a fuss-free daily commuter that can easily double-up as an occasional long-distance tourer, the Yamaha X-Max 250 is by far one of the best options out there now at around the RM20k price ballpark.
However, if you have the inclination to step-up your game and swing a leg over something totally bonkers, the Yamaha MT-09 at around RM45k is definitely a bike worth considering. I’m still recovering from the adrenaline rush to be honest… – Chris Wee.
Earlier this month from June7th to June 13th 2018, and under the leadership of Italian car brand Maserati and the Maserati West Europe offices, this race, the 5th Edition of the Paris-Modena “Kilometres For Charity” took place. Besides the personal challenge to participants, each kilometer covered during the race (around 100km per day) raised money for the association “Rêves” which aims to realize the dreams of ill children.
Once again Paris-Modena attracted a large number of VIP participants, including F1 former driver and actor Paul Belmondo, Italian national cycling team coach Davide Cassani, former professional cyclists such as Alessandro Ballan, Marco Velo and Paolo Fornaciari. Also attending were José Miguel Antúnez, former Spanish national basketball captain, Italian alpine skier Manuela Moelgg, the Michelin starred chef Andrea Sarri, and Matteo Panini, owner of the Panini Museum, which houses one of the world’s most important collection of historical Maserati cars.
This beautiful adventure was reserved to 35 cyclists, who travelled through France and Italy to reach Modena in five days! The start of the race was on Friday, June 8th2018 at Vienne near Lyon, France, and the route took the cyclists to Mens and the famous climb of Alpe d’Huez.
On Saturday June 9ththey continued their journey towards Galibier pass, till Modane where the city welcomed them for lunch. They eventually reached Turin for the night. On Sunday June 10th the cyclists started the stage from Grugliasco “Avvocato Giovanni Agnelli Plant” where Maserati produces the Quattroporte and Ghibli. The athletes also stopped at the Mirafiori plant where the Maserari Levante is produced. They managed to take a ride on the well-known test track.The route continued through Langhe region.
The fourth day, the participants went to Lido Di Camaiore having a lunch there at Bagno Ariston Mare before a ride to Montecatini Terme. They will pass by Lucca, Collodi and reach the thermal city in the afternoon.
The last leg of the race will lead them from Montecatini Alto through Abetone and then to Modena where the cyclists will benefit of an exclusive visit of the private Panini collection, which includes some of the most beautiful historic Maserati’s cars. The final destination will be the head office of Maserati. Pirelli provided the P Zero Velo tires for the bicycles and the new colored tires for the Maserati cars.
The following was received in its entirety, unedited, from Proton recently, a message special from Abdul Rashid Musa, CEO of Proton Edar on the topic of…
WHAT HAPPENS TO CAR PRICE WHEN SST IS IMPLEMENTED?
According to the market trend in the past, the two months starting from Hari Raya will be a low season for the car market. Therefore, looking at the trend, the Malaysia car market is expected to revive in August.
From now to August 2018 is a good time to buy a car…
However, the recent declaration on the abolishment of the GST to 0% is foreseen to change the situation and we believe that now is the best time for consumers to purchase a new car as the implementation of SST will likely take effect in September. According to various sources, vehicle prices could go up following the return of SST, as mentioned by the President of Malaysia Automotive Association, Datuk Aishah Ahmad in her interview with the media in May, “Car prices will increase when 10% SST is in place.”
New cars provide more convenient loan application and better rates…
In the used car market, due to the stiff competition, sellers generally absorb the GST, therefore, the pricing won’t be affected by the zerorised GST. For consumers with a tight budget, the used car market may be more appealing as the cost comparison seems more reasonable and practical. However, the processes of buying a used car can take a little bit more cumbersome compared to the experience of buying a new car since loan approvals might be easier to obtain and interest rates are lower as a new car poses lower risks, hence, resulting in higher loan amount.
Most popular choice…
Under such circumstances, most car manufacturers come up with various promotional activities. Consumers with limited budget will have a hard time deciding which model to purchase. Take a 1.3cc car for example, consumers are spoilt for choice in the market, when making comparisons on the maintenance, space, safety and stability, and particularly the pricing.
We feel that Proton Saga is the clear winner in all those comparisons – it is spacious, equipped with ESC and TC for the premium model and offers great ride and handling, a key characteristic of a Proton car. The excellent ride and handling, provide a remarkable driving experience, making the drive on highways so stable, comfortable and swift, compared to its direct competitors. Its low maintenance, however, is the key factor for consumers in choosing the Proton Saga over its close competitors.
PROTON is currently offering SAGA from below RM30,000 for its nett selling price*. It is the lowest in its segment and is the best price offered in the last 10 years (well, 12 years, actually!).
Abdul Rashid Musa Chief Executive Officer, PROTON Edar
