Aston Martin has unveiled the Valour, a limited edition sports car to mark its 110th anniversary. And guess what? It has a manual gearbox!
The model boasts a retro-inspired look that is unlike anything else in the lineup and is modelled after the 1980 RHAM/1 ‘Muncher’ Le Mans racer as well as the original V8 Vantage.
The Valour has a clamshell hood with a ‘horse shoe’ vent and twin NACA ducts, as well as carbon fibre bodywork. A large grille, vertical air curtains, and round LED headlamps are further down. A noticeable splitter and accents made of exposed carbon fibre connect them.
Most cars released these days are fitted with new technology or as the automakers call it, “cutting-edge technology.” However, new technology does not seemingly translate to good quality. Some are just unnecessary and the car would do fine without it.
The JD Power 2023 US Initial Quality Study, based on 93,380 participants who purchased or leased new 2023 model-year cars in America, found that the industry average increased to 192 problems per 100 (PP100) vehicles from 180 in 2022.
Now, we are not hating on electric vehicles (EVs) but according to the study, the majority of problems are from EVs. We can see why too. Because every automaker wants to release a new model that will “wow” the people, but this seems to cause more problems in the long run.
Apple CarPlay is arguably one of the best device-to-car applications introduced in the history of the automobile. It offers seamless connectivity between an Apple device and a car, but one of the major drawbacks is that CarPlay does not integrate vehicle settings, which means that a user will have to backtrack to the main menu to change vehicle settings, which can be annoying and distracting.
But Porsche seems to have figured it out, and claims to be the first manufacturer to do so.
The Porsche companion app, which is available on the App Store and lets users access a car’s status and get real time data such as travel range, tyre pressure, trip data, close status of the windows and doors, among others. It also allows users to remotely turn on the air-conditioning, and even supports remote parking.
The app has obviously been useful but it has now been upgraded to make it simpler for drivers to control numerous car functions from within the CarPlay interface. A supposed first for any car maker.
The My Porsche app, which was updated on Monday, gives users access to several aspects of the car, including the battery’s level of charge, destinations for the navigation system, and air conditioning settings. These features have been added to CarPlay in an update to the app.
Drivers can now view images of their exact car model within CarPlay, as well as sound profiles, radio station controls, climate management, and ambient lighting, according to the upgrade. The various settings can be configured inside wellness modes like “relax” or “warm up,” and can be called up using Siri, using quick actions in CarPlay.
Volvo Trucks Malaysia (Volvo Trucks) has officially introduced its fully electric heavy-duty prime movers for Malaysia and the launch also marked the first electric heavy-duty prime mover to be launched in the Southeast Asia region.
Following the announcement, Swift Haulage Berhad, an integrated logistics company, became one of Volvo Trucks’ first adopters of the electric truck.
According to Volvo Trucks, the emissions from one heavy-duty truck are comparable to those of up to 47 passenger vehicles. The comparative research revealed a larger requirement for stakeholders to develop an electric vehicle (EV) ecosystem that is friendly and appealing to operators in the transport and logistics segment from the policy level through to the operational level.
Charging and Power
The Volvo FM, FH, and FMX fully electric models were all introduced as part of the formal unveiling. For different applications and market niches, Volvo’s electric prime movers are built with a variety of axel layouts. This is mirrored by variable battery configurations available with a total energy storage of up to 540kWh.
According to independent tests, under the same driving conditions, the electric truck has the ability to use 50% less energy than a Volvo FH diesel-powered engine, giving businesses better fuel economy for travelling the same distance.
The debate has been raging for years now – which petrol actually takes you further? Some swear by Shell, other say it is BHPetrol or Petronas.
But there has never been a real world test conducted – till now.
The team at PISTON took it upon ourselves to finally put an end to the debate.
The contenders – Petronas, Shell and BHPetrol – were chosen as they are some of the most widely available fuel providers around the Klang Valley and Peninsular Malaysia.
The cars we chose for this comparison are three Honda City RS e:HEV, or otherwise known as the Honda City Hybrid.
Why did we choose the City Hybrid? Well, the objective of the comparison was to see which fuel gives us the most mileage over the most diverse terrain we could find.
We wanted to drive through heavy traffic, uphill and downhill, through highways and back roads. And because the City Hybrid is impressively frugal, we were confident that we would not need to refuel despite driving close to 500km’s in a day.
And we were right, the Honda City proved to be the perfect companion as it offered impressive comfort and features like Apple Carplay and Android Auto to keep us entertained throughout the long, tiring drive.
We would like to extend a special thanks to Honda Malaysia for loaning us the three Honda City’s.
We also took as much care as possible to eliminate all possible variables. First we extended a request to Honda Malaysia to service all three cars with new lubricants to which they generously obliged (thank you Honda!). This was to ensure that the engines of the three cars were working equally as hard and there was not one working harder than the other.
Secondly, we ensured that the tyres of all three cars had the same pressure. This was to ensure equal rolling resistance. Low tyre pressure results in higher rolling resistance which in turn increases fuel consumption. So it was essential to ensure the tyre pressure of all three cars were the same!
And we also ensured all three cars had a lone driver. Vehicle load also increases fuel consumption, and because all three drivers were roundish around the sides, weight was about the same as well.
And finally, we took special care to ensure that residual fuel was minimised. We did not want fuel brands mixing up with one another. So we were sure to empty out the tanks as much as possible (by driving instead of draining) and then refuelling with the competing fuel.
So with this, we hit the road from Kayu Ara towards the Damansara toll. Our journey took us east towards Raub via the Karak Highway, and then off the highway towards Sungai Koyan. From there we headed West towards Cameron Highlands, and then north via the old Tapah road. From there, we hit the highway heading south and ended at the Jejantas Sungai Buloh.
From 1 August 2023, Puspakom Kuching operations will move to a new branch at Puspakom Kota Samarahan which is located at Lot 11320 & 11321, Block 59, Kota Samarahan Industrial Estate (Extension), 94300 Kota Samarahan, Sarawak with operating hours from Monday to Friday, 8.00 morning to 5.30 pm.
