FastMotoring Motor News In Speed

Last weekend Lotus Malaysia has unveiled a special Chrome Lotus Evora which it’s also feature in the upcoming movie “The Host” which is from a novel written by Stephanie Meyer ( the author who wrote “The Twilight Saga”).

Lotus Owners Club Malaysia also participated in the event. 75 cars from various Lotus models gather at the  Lotus Flagship Showroom & Center in Sg. Penchala, Damansara for a convoy to Kuala Lumpur. The chrome Lotus Evora, as seen in the movie driven driven by Natasha Seatter – a Malaysian racing sensation led the all the Lotus cars convoy to Pavillion KL for a special movie screening of  “The Host” as well as some photo session.

Lotus has a strong cinematic history; with appearances in two ‘Bond’ films – in ‘The Spy Who Loved Me’ out-racing a motorbike and helicopter before taking to the sea as the iconic submersible Esprit, and in a cool role in ‘For Your Eyes Only’; “cornering like it’s on rails” with Julia Roberts at the wheel in ‘Pretty Woman’; and taking part in an adrenaline fuelled chase sequence along the San Francisco coastline with Sharon Stone in ‘Basic Instinct’.

‘The Host’ follows the plight of ‘Melanie’ played by Irish actress Saoirse Ronan as she battles an unforeseen enemy lead by the ‘Seeker’ played by Hollywood favourite Diane Kruger. A romantic action-adventure which sees Melanie join resistance fighters as they battle for the survival of the human race, ‘The Host’ is a tale of spirit, individuality and determination – traits that echo Lotus’ own character.

Negotiations for a “hero car” for the movie started in early October 2011 and by the end of the month Lotus had agreed to provide a number of Evoras to the project directed by its screenwriter Andrew Niccol who was looking for an extraordinary car for the role. The Lotus Evora was chosen for its stunning and futuristic aesthetic, which when juxtaposed with contemporary locations, gives a truly alien element to the Sci-Fi movie.

In conjunction of this Hollywood block buster movie, public will have a chance to view the Chrome Lotus Evora up-close. The Chrome Lotus Evora currently on display at Level 3, Couture Pavilion from 1st April 2013 until 10th April 2013, and later the car will be displayed at IPC (Ikano Power Centre) Shopping Centre, Mutiara Damansara from 11th April 2013 until 28th April 2013. 

The Chrome Vinyl Wrap Lotus Evora with special-effect lighting is driven by the “baddies” in the movie to get rid of human race from earth by overtaking the human physical body and erasing the memories of human mind.Check out the movie trailer “The Host” below and get a glimpse of the chromed Lotus Evora in action before you head to the cinema.

Gallery : Lotus Evora in Chrome

The New Toyota Vios 2013 is finally here, not available in Malaysia yet but the Vios will look pretty much same if not identical to the one just revealed in Thailand. Designed to be more appealing to the younger generation, the new Toyota Vios certainly looks much better compare to the last generation that we Malaysian call it the “dugong Vios”.  Aligned with the New Toyota vehicles design theme, the New Vios certainly looks sportier, at some angle it reminds of the Ford Fiesta.

Disappointingly it is still powered by the same 4 speed gearbox mated with 1.5L engine that produces 109 HP (80 kW) and 141 Nm of torque that is more than 10 years (since 2002). There will be a few variants of specs as we can expect here. In Thailand, the higher end model will have projector headlight, bigger wheels, all round disc brakes and some interior, exterior differences.

The swift body lines helps the new Vios looks sporty, it makes us feel like the designer had took more effort when designing this Vios. The interior in 2013 Toyota Vios looks much better than generation as well. We see some resembles of the current Honda City. Toyota has got rid of the center speedometer design of the previous generation. Again, more swift lines continues of the design of the interior which makes the new Vios 2013 feels like it has upgraded itself to a different segment.

The current Toyota Vios is sold around RM70,000+ to RM90,000 . We expect the new Vios 2013 will be priced at this range to keep the competition with the vast variety of competition in this segment ( Honda City, Nissan Almera, Mazda 2, Ford Fiesta & etc). By looks, we are quite confident it will do a good sale once it reaches our shore. However, we look forward for Toyota to bring in some new engine at our shores.

Gallery : 2013 Toyota Vios

In Round One of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia, Martin Ragginger took victory at Malaysia’s Sepang International Circuit as part of Formula 1 support race yesterday.

Martin Ragginger of Team Eagle, led from pole to chequered flag over the 10 lap race, but was never given the chance to pull clear of his closest rival, crossing the line just over three tenths of a second ahead of Imperatori. Series newcomer, 22-year-old Earl Bamber of Nexus Racing surprised us for taking the final podium place in this race.

Fourth across the line was LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa of Japan, ahead of Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila.  Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin crossed the line in 6th, but was later excluded for a technical infringement.

In Class B, it was category pole sitter Egidio Perfetti who took the win in his Mentos Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, finishing 7th overall amongst an intensely competitive field.  Second was OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia ahead of newcomer, Alif Hamdan.  Hamdan was the top finishing of the three Malaysian drivers, Nexus Racing team mate Adrian Henry D’Silva going out early on in the race with a broken radiator, and Sime Darby Auto Performance guest driver, Fairuz Fauzy, succumbing to pressure from a hard-charging Avila.  Fauzy rejoined the race, but was unable to climb back through the field before the flag as we expected.

As the lights went out and the season got underway as part of the 2013 FORMULA 1 PETRONAS MALAYSIAN GRAND PRIX Ragginger bolted off the grid, holding the lead into Turn 1.  Behind him, Imperatori dived past Bamber and up to second, while Avila passed Tung on the outside. Tung went off at Turn 5 after a tangle with Team Yongda Dongfang’s Benjamin Rouget, before regaining his position.

Francis Tjia diced with Hamdan for Class B runner-up position, the pair putting on thrilling battle for the crowds.  Tjia won the day this time, claiming second, but the stage is set for a thrilling season in the category.

But it was the fight for victory which had the crowds on their feet, with Imperatori piling on the pressure in a desperate bid to claim the psychologically-significant opening win.  Ragginger held firm, despite the lock-up on the penultimate lap giving a clue as to the intensity of the fight.

After the dramatic race in Malaysia, where the entire 25-strong field put on a display of GT racing at its finest, the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia will be back in action next month @ 2013 FORMULA 1 UBS CHINESE GRAND PRIX in Shanghai from 12-14 April 2013.

2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Round 1 Results

*Non-series registered 

Fastest Lap: Alexandre Imperatori/PICC Team StarChase/2:12.046/Lap 4

Points After Round 1

Overall

Class B

Martin Ragginger took the pole position for the opening round of the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia during yesterday qualifying session in Sepang International Circuit. At the close of the session, the top four drivers were separated by less than a single second.

The Austrian, embarking on his second season with the region’s premier sportscar championship, topped the timing sheets for most of the session, temporarily nudged off the top spot only by reigning champion Alexandre Imperatori of PICC Team StarChase. Imperatori took provisional pole mid-way through the 30-minute session, waiting in the wings before putting taking to the track and snatching provisional pole. Ragginger replied with a scorching lap of 2:10.022 on the 5.54km Sepang International Circuit to retake the lead.

Nexus Racing newcomer, 22-year-old Earl Bamber of New Zealand, made a thunderous entry to the series, putting his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup alongside Ragginger’s for the start of the 10-lap race with an impressive last-minute charge.

Imperatori will line up on the second row of the grid alongside LKM Racing Team’s Keita Sawa of Japan, ahead of Sime Darby Auto Performance guest driver Fairuz Fauzy of Malaysia, and Budweiser Kamlung Racing’s Tung Ho-Pin of China.

Class B pole position was won by Mentos Racing’s Egidio Perfetti, back with the series for a second season, 12th quickest overall in the session. Second fastest in the category for non-professionals was series newcomer, Nexus Racing’s Alif Hamdan of Malaysia, 22, with OpenRoad Racing’s Francis Tjia third quickest in the session.

For Ragginger, who took the first championship point of the season with his pole position, it was a perfect start to his title campaign:  “It’s my first points for the season. It’s my goal to collect as many points as possible and win the championship, and pole position for sure is a big help. At the last corner it was a bit wet, so my first run was not good enough – I knew that. I knew I needed a good lap with my second set of tyres, and all in all, the car was good. It’s nice to have Earl (Bamber), another quick driver makes the top (of the grid) more interesting.”

Newcomer Bamber was unable to disguise his delight at his debut, and was full of praise for Nexus Racing where he is partnered with Malaysian drivers Hamdan and Adrian Henry D’Silva: “I’m very surprised, but really stoked with the car and the setup. I’m a bit rusty myself, but the team made a huge effort. I’d only had about two days’ experience in the car, so I was just getting more and more comfortable with the car. It would be fantastic to be in the top three (in the race), but the plan is to build up for Shanghai and Zhuhai. We’re not planning to set the world on fire so early. This is a real quality field and you just couldn’t pick the order of the top five or 10.”

Class B pole man Perfetti was pleased with his run:  “Not so bad!  It was the same as in practice. The car is sliding a bit, and so I don’t think I was quite as happy as I was with the test.” 

The 25-car field roared onto the track at the start of the session shot with slicks on a track drying after a downpour. Ragginger shot to the top of the times, with Tung second quickest out on track ahead of Benjamin Rouget of Team Yongda Dongfang who missed out on Friday’s practice session with a broken radiator. Basetex Racing’s Zhang Da Sheng of China and newcomer Jason Zhang Zhiqiang of China both put in strong performances, before dropping down the order later in the session as both Tung and Team Jebsen’s Rodolfo Avila found the pace.

2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Asia

Round 1 Qualifying

*Non-series registered

Mitsubishi Motors Malaysia (MMM), has launched it’s first 100% full electric Vehicle. After about  17 months of testing since October 2011, the i-MiEV is finally ready for sale to the Malaysia Market. The full electric Mitsubishi i-MiEV has zero emission because it is powered by an electric motor and battery.

 The small electric car is able to produce a humble 49kW but a 180Nm torque which equivalent  to a 2.0L petrol engine’s torque. This electric motor is tuned to give the i-MiEV a smooth power delivery yet quiet ride. It’s top speed it’s 130km/h. The a complete total package of the i-MiEV is offered with accessories of 2-DIN touch Screen Entertain with GPS Navigation System, Solar Tint film, Auto Climate Control for Air Conditioner. For the front headlights there’s a double LED lamp and for the rear, there’s also LED combination lamp. The lights are also automatically controlled. A pair of aero wiper blade is also included for better visibility during the rain. Also given it’s the charging cable with a control box. The little Mitsubishi i-MiEV is easy to handle and park. It is also capable to do a 4.5m turning radius.

Safety is not compromised in the small car, it has a 6 air bags ready deploy should things go wrong and the car is design with Mitsubishi RISE( Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution) body construction which absorbs impact and protecting passenger within the cell during collision.  Even the 330V lithium-ion battery is located under the luggage compartment it’s a waterproof and enclosed with a well-crib frame to protect against impact. The Mitsubishi i-MiEV can be recharged from a regular home socket. A per 8 hour charge can run up to 150km. Customer can also drop by to the Mitsubishi Malaysia’s first official EV Center in (Chan Sow Lin) for a free charging facility.

The Mitsubishi i-MiEV is priced at OTR without insurance price of RM136,118.50. There will be 2 colours to choose for now, which is Frost White and a 2-tone Red Frost White. Buyers that consider this range of vehicles can look into the Mitsubishi i-MiEV because it comes with a free 5 years maintenance package and a 5 years warranty or 100,000 km that also covers labour cost for periodical vehicle check, air con filter and brake fluid.