Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2019 i TopGear Malaysia

editor@topgear-malaysia.com My first taste of the Sepang International Circuit came behind the wheel of the Renault Megane RS 250. I remember fumbling my lines, much to the driving instructor’s alarm, but returning to the pits grinning from ear to ear anyhow. It wasn’t always the case with the track days that followed. But the same elation returned a few years later when I took a newer version of the French hot hatch, the RS 265, up Genting Highlands, such was the car’s overflowing charisma that put the fun in driving. At a time when the Civic Type R wasn’t exclusively a hatchback – an era that pre-dated AMG’s 45-numbered compacts that were ridiculously quick – the Megane RS, along with the Golf GTI, played a vital role in making hot…

Howdy partners! As you have doubtless guessed from my greeting, it’s all change in the Cheery Bong II development programme, as we move onto the hot weather testing phase. Yes, after a challenging and varied 10 months in the Arctic Circle, followed by a surprisingly comfortable 14-hour flight in the hold of a North Korean military charter, I’m now soaking up the sun in Green Lakes, California. I assume this name is an example of the Americans’ legendary sense of humour, because I cannot help noticing that Green Lakes is not green, and has no lakes. Green Lakes is slap-bang in the middle of Death Valley. By day the temperature on the desert floor touches 50ºC. By night, the temperature in my motel room touches 50ºC. Though I have suffered…

1 You’re laying off 12,000 people and shutting plants including Bridgend. Didn’t your bosses in Detroit just want to get rid of Ford of Europe, like GM sold off Opel/Vauxhall? No. Right to the top they want to stay in Europe. Different regions go through cycles. 2 But this is really bad. What went wrong? We were slow to take investment out of bad bits of the business. Among other things, we stayed in MPVs too long, and were too slow with crossovers. 3 What are you doing about it? This cost-cutting will right the ship, and there are good bits of our business to invest in – some versions of the Focus like the wagon, the ST, the Active. The Ranger pickup does well. Vans do well and our…

UNBELIEVABLE TEKKERS AIRLESS TYRES, HERE IN 2024 SHOULD I CARE? Ever had a puncture on the motorway and had to change a wheel? In sideways rain? With trucks whistling past, metres away from your head? Try it! SHOULD I BE SCARED? No. Airless tyres have been around for a while but none have yet been fitted to a regular road car. That’s going to change in 2024, when Michelin and GM aim to introduce their ‘Uptis’ tyre (unique puncture-proof tyre system) that replicates a normal, air-filled wheel. SHOULD I TELL MY FRIENDS? Yep, lots to talk about. Made from rubber and resin-embedded fibreglass, it can “bear a car’s weight at road-going speeds”, which is handy for, y’know, driving. SHOULD I SPEND MY MONEY? Why not? The risk of punctures will…

01 RED BULL ARE THE PIT MASTERS Congrats to the Verstappen crew, who managed a pit stop at Hockenheim in a scarcely believable 1.88 seconds. Quickest ever. We’ve had sneezes that last longer than that. 02 BMW X7 PICKUP Based on an old test car that would otherwise have been sent to the scrapper – 12 BMW trainees have built a BMW X7 pickup. Bravo – anything’s better than a normal one. 03 AUDI R8 LMS GT2 Yours for €338,000, this R8 LMS GT2 racer is based on the road R8, but with CFRP panels and winglets all over, and full racing suspension. And a 640bhp 5.2-litre V10. And it looks the nuts. 04 ELECTRIC F-150 PULLS A TRAIN… …full of F-150s. Inception meets marketing stunt. Ford is working on…

Audi RS3 The other 4WD, turbo nutter. ‘Only’ 395bhp for this £46,285 motor, and the Audi’s is a 2.5-litre 5cyl. Don’t worry – Audi will sort that out soon BMW M2 Comp Want your thrills a little purer and simpler, but still need four seats and 400bhp? Not as quick out of corners, but more engaging Toyota Supra See also Porsche Cayman or Alpine A110. £50k buys you a lot of coupe. Two seats only, but the kids would only have got car sick VW Golf R Of the“Hang on a sec, why am I spending £50k on a hatch” mindset? Save £15k and if you want it A45-fast, get the engine mapped…

Mazda3 Interesting styling and rich cabin, though cramped rear. Get the Skyactiv-X petrol for diesel-ish economy and a perky drive Mini Clubman Internecine rival steers more sharply than the BMW, but the ‘club’ tail doors are an annoying gimmick Mercedes A-Class Nice if you get one of the bigger engines: small ones are rough, and paired to poor suspension Used BMW 340i Touring Nearly new old-style Touring has sweet six and RWD. Maindealer warranty. Still want that M135i xDrive?…

We are in a new age as far as hot hatches are concerned. We say this simply because a certain German marque has birthed one packing super-carlike power levels – over 400bhp – and even equipping it with ‘Drift Mode’. Yes, that sounds sensational. But, if history has taught us anything, overwhelming power corrupts, and it corrupts fully. So, where does that leave those yearning for something that stays truer to the hot hatch script – one that’s built to reward ‘real’ drivers, especially those who pride themselves on mastering three-pedals and a stick? Ask us that question last year and our go to response would have been a certain Japanese power hatch called the Honda Civic Type-R. This year though, we might have to change our answer as France’s…

On the first night, I take the plunge. Not the swimming – that came later, after I’d summoned up a second helping of courage. The first was needed for stockfish. Grey-tinged, slightly chewy, high in protein, off-grey in taste and Norway’s second-biggest export. Why they keep any of it for themselves beats me, but there it is, occupying half the real estate on every menu. This is how to experience it, though – with curiosity and before you’ve seen what it looked like a week earlier. In the winter, cod swim south from the Barents Sea to the more temperate, Gulf Stream-fed waters around the Lofoten archipelago. Mating season. For the past thousand years or more, fisherman have been interrupting cod coitus, the unfortunate paramours subjected to a barbarously medieval…

Mercedes-Benz Malaysia has finally launched the A35 AMG, but not in the form you might have expected. New here is the lightly souped up version of the V177 Sedan, an appetiser of sorts for spicier things to come - hint, A45 – that still packs 306bhp and 400Nm of twist. The output of the two-litre four-pot turbo is delivered to all four wheels via a seven-speed gearbox to propel the compact sedan from 0-100kph in just 4.7 seconds. Yes, it’s 4Matic, and Mercedes claims that torque distribution ranges from full FWD to a 50:50 split. Top speed is limited to 250kph while rated average consumption is kept to a relatively low 7.3l/100km; this is probably the most efficient AMG your Ringgit can purchase right now. In typical AMG fashion, there’s…

Perodua has updated its most affordable offering, the Axia, for 2019. As before, the range starts with the strikingly bare Axia E priced at RM24,090 before topping out at the Axia AV that costs RM43,190 – the price you’ll need to pay for ‘premium’ features such as sat-nav, a reverse camera and ASA 2.0. Manual-only E variant aside, all Axia models soldier on with the same 67bhp one-litre three-pot engine mated to a four speed automatic gearbox. The biggest highlight in the updated Axia catalogue lies curiously in the middle of the table. And it’s called the Axia Style. Priced at RM38,890, the SUV-esque interpretation of the mid-spec Axia is dressed up in beefier bumpers, black plastic surrounds with matching roof mouldings and 15-inch alloys – the largest wheel options…

The wait is over as UMW Toyota Motor officially launched the all-new Toyota GR Supra recently – the new Japanese sports car ready to take the fight up against things like the BMW M2 Competition and the Porsche 718 Cayman. Loyal TG followers will know by now that the new A90 Supra – or GR Supra as it’s officially called – isn’t exactly a Toyota through and through. For the benefit of those who still don’t know, Toyota’s latest flagship sports car was built upon the same bones – and heart – as the BMW Z4. The Malaysian-flavoured version of the GR Supra comes in one single guise, powered by BMW’s B58 3.0-litre straight-six twin-scroll turbocharged mill that’s good for 335bhp and 500Nm. Said outputs go on to power the…

IT STARTED OFF SO WELL. IT FINISHED SPECTACULARLY WHO: JACK RIX, DEPUTY EDITOR We were in Italy to have a go in Lamborghini’s recently restored, utterly pristine LM002, but didn’t have a location sorted. “Well, there’s an abandoned mine down the road we have exclusive access to, if you fancy that?” said the Lambo PR. Er, yep, that’ll do. Cut to a day largely spent drifting three tonnes of V12 SUV around in ankle-deep mud and puddles. Problem was, the wiper broke, so the windscreen quickly became caked, forcing me to trundle back to the rest of team with my head out the window… and straight into a shin-high concrete block, bending the front bull bar. Thank you, Lambo, for not castrating me there and then. SLIDING SCALE WHO: ELLIOTT…

Aston’s long-awaited Valkyrie hypercar is a moving object. Just before qualifying for the 2019 British GP, Aston’s ‘High Performance Test Driver’ Chris Goodwin took the first verification prototype for a lap of Silverstone – the start of an “extensive physical testing regime” before customers get their cars in a few months’ time. “On the spectrum of road cars I’ve driven, it’s not even on that. It’s totally off that scale,” he told us afterwards. “It’s more along the lines of Formula One cars I’ve got experience of. I’m racing GT cars all the time – and it’s not like that. It’s just like sitting in an F1 car, right down to the seating position. When you fire the engine up, there’s a lot of structure-born feel from the powertrain coming…

There are three certainties in life. Death, taxes and Audi finding a way to fill every existing niche, then dreaming up a few more. This month’s SUV-inspired fodder? The Q3 Sportback and A1 Citycarver – yep, all lowercase. Q3 Sportback first. Well, Audi couldn’t sit by and watch Mercedes and BMW take all of the compact SUV coupe sales, could it? Target customer, then: everyone who likes the BMW X4 and the Mercedes GLC Coupe but isn’t quite sold on either. The Sportback obviously has plenty of normal Q3 in its genes. The interior, with its 10.25-inch digital instrument cluster as standard and optional 12.3-inch Virtual Cockpit, is straight from its sibling. And if you need some ammo to fire at the cynics, bootspace (measured up to the parcel shelf)…

01 McLaren Speedtail sculpture Before we ever clapped eyes on the McLaren Speedtail, the 106 confirmed buyers were gifted this hefty desk sculpture. It’s awfully nice (if a tad, um, vulgar), but we’ve had more fun with other small McLarens – namely the Lego Senna. 02 Koenigsegg Agera roofbox CvK’s hypercars are desired just as much for their engineering as they are their speed and noise. For the 402kph Agera, you could get a bespoke Thule roofbox, specially shaped by aerodynamic bods to disrupt the 1,100bhp’ Segg’s aero as little as possible. 03 Pagani’s heavenly shoes Of the many remarkable things about the Zonda, one of the cutest was the free footwear that came with your £400k V12 missile. Each pair of shoes was handmade by the same man who…

With a constant quest for unique innovations and partnerships, luxury Swiss watchmaker Hublot continues to stand on the touchline of football, this time with a certain local Malaysian powerhouse. The Swiss watchmaking house recently announced its partnership with leading Malaysian football club Johor Darul Ta’zim Football Club, or better known as JDT, becoming both the official watch and official timekeeper for the defending Malaysia Super League (MSL) champions. Notably, both JDT and Hublot aren’t strangers to each other. Prior to this partnership, JDT had participated in the Hublot Match of Friendship Malaysian Edition held last year in the heart of Kuala Lumpur to raise funds for charity. A unique fusion of time and the power of dreams and passion, this partnership opens a new chapter in Malaysian footballing history. In…

ISN’T THE JAGUAR XJ OFF SALE NOW? Yep, Jaguar has stopped XJ production to make way for a brand-new, fully electric alternative. That could be a wondrous thing, but our hearts are nonetheless broken because it means that the V8-powered XJR is no more. If ever there was an excuse for one last blast… and with the XJ C, its great great grandad, for some context. SO WHAT HAVE WE GOT? On the left, the XJR575 with as much metric horsepower as its name suggests. It’s the most powerful XJ ever sold and the big limo at its punchiest. I’d have one of these over the current BMW M5, I’m such a big fan. On the right, the XJ 5.3C, a V12 version of the outstandingly pretty two-door Series 2…

Mazda doesn’t like to play by the rules. When big engines were in demand, it invested heavily in 1.3-litre rotaries that never really took off in the mainstream. When certain communities began to make demands for diesel to be outlawed, Mazda continued to refine its SkyActiv-D powertrains. The Hiroshima-based carmaker blatantly ignored the numeral system in naming the CX-30, a crossover that naturally slots between the CX-3 and CX-5. And the rebellion is rubbing off on local distributor Bermaz if the pricing of the fourth-generation Mazda3 is anything to go by. Heads were turned when the recently-launched C-segment fighter arrived, tagged with a CBU starting price of RM139,620. It may be the most premium-looking vehicle in its class at present, with fluid lines and use of sensual materials giving it…

From RM455,000 FOR More engaging to drive than its modest output suggests, updated cabin feels sublime AGAINST Optional 21-inch alloys ride a bit harsh, NVH reduction not the best in class Porsche has officially made the rear light strip cool again. Once a staple for the 911 alongside many mainstream cars in the 1980s, the horizontal crimson bar was a design trend that was likely influenced by cost more than aesthetics back in the day. Like the 996 which split the strip into two – effectively limiting it to an AWD-exclusive feature for generations to come – much of the automotive industry moved on to more fluid light clusters towards the turn of the century. But you can always count on designers to pull something out of the retro bag…

HONDA HR-V SPORT £27,840 FOR Manual gearshift, strong and smooth turbo engine AGAINST Dynamics not as lively as performance, short gearing Bit of a surprise, this. Mainly for its speed. If you’d told me it had more than 200bhp and could hit 100kph in 7.0, I’d have believed you. The published figures are 182bhp and 7.8secs, delivered by a more heavily boosted version of the 1.5, and fed through a lovely 6spd manual. Don’t have the £650 CVT. Satisfying drivetrain, then, and although the dynamics aren’t as crisp, this understated crossover has enough about it to create a bit of driving interest. OM NISSAN GT-R NISMO MY20 £174,995 FOR Godzilla returns. More pace, still as physcial as ever AGAINST McLaren money for a 12-year-old Nissan… Yep. Still at it. Still…

The situation is flat-out intimidating, if I’m honest. There is a full pit crew, and serried ranks of colour-coded spanners marching across the blocky terrains of branded toolboxes. There are laptops, dataloggers, and men with code scrolling behind their eyes like human fruit machines, the space filled with the whirr and chatter of pneumatic tools. Outside, there is a huge Michelin tyre truck and people miming steering-wheel inputs with constipated expressions on their faces. These are not my people. They are far too organised, and… clean. Every other driver here has sponsors, matching kit and the studied nonchalance of the truly good-at-driving. I, on the other hand, have a plain white Arai helmet (albeit a good one – I appreciate my brain) and a mouldy race suit from when I…

“Complimenti… Bellissimo…” …mutters the Italian woman who has emerged from nowhere as we park the Ares Panther ProgettoUno in a quiet church square to duck out of the searing heat of the hottest day of the Italian summer. While this reads like a scene straight out of central casting, it isn’t. In this part of Italy – the hills above Modena – the love of cars runs deep. “È un Ferrari?” she asks, in between shooting myriad pictures and calling her grandson. It seems a reasonable question, given the Panther’s striking appearance and the noise ricocheting off the medieval walls as it’s fired up and repositioned for the next shot. My broken Italian struggles to articulate precisely what the Panther actually is. I offer ‘Ares’ and ‘Carrozzeria’. She shrugs. I…

In the heart of Frankfurt, a 110-year-old structure called the Festhalle stands tall in the company of considerably more contemporary architecture. Every other year, its domed interior is filled with space-age machinery that nobody from 1909 could have imagined was possible, such is Mercedes-Benz’s knack of laying the gloss on the Frankfurt Motor Show from within its dedicated venue while its peers make do with the run-of-the-mill exhibition floor space. Back in 1979, Mercedes-Benz broke new ground in the industry when it launched the W126 in Frankfurt; the ancestor to today’s S-Class is often credited for bringing airbags and seatbelt pre-tensioners to the mainstream. The ‘Sonderklasse’ has a long history of setting industry benchmarks after all. And the trend looks to continue with the star of 2019’s stage, the Vision…

Pickup truck enthusiasts rejoice. Isuzu has renewed its D-Max range, with 11 models now making up its passenger truck catalogue. It’s a lot to swallow, but the highlight of the update is the introduction of Isuzu’s 1.9-litre DDi BluePower four-cylinder turbodiesel mill which essentially replaces the outgoing 2.5. The new engine develops 148bhp and 350Nm of torque. Isuzu also claims average economy of 8 litres of diesel per 100km. Speaking of which, the company is prepared for the introduction of B20 biodiesel in Malaysia and will provide customers a simple hardware fix to cope with the new fuel once the time comes. The engine has undergone over 3,500 hours of testing to ensure compatibility with local Euro 2M and B20 fuels after all. As before, both manual and automatic transmissions…

The seventh-generation Lexus ES is finally here in ES250 format to woo affluent customers who like their luxuries with a side of space and comfort instead of sportiness. As its name suggests, power comes from a 2.5-litre Dynamic Force engine good for 204bhp and 247Nm of torque. The numbers are modest, but the luxury saloon tops things off with premium features like Adaptive High Beam, three-zone climate control, 360-degree parking camera, wireless charger and 10 airbags to justify its RM299,888 entry price – the range-topping Luxury is slightly pricier at RM332,888. Also new to Lexus’s Malaysian line-up is the updated RX300. The posh, Japanese SUV soldiers on with a 235bhp two-litre turbo, but gains an improved chassis with new hollow stabilisers and reinforced bushings for reduced body roll and improved…

ASTON MARTIN – BENTLEY BENTLEY – FORD FORD – INFINITI ISUZU – LEXUS LEXUS – MERCEDES MERCEDES-BENZ – NISSAN NISSAN – PROTON PROTON – TOYOTA TOYOTA – VOLVO…

Ladies and gents, we have a new Pagani: the Huayra Roadster BC. “Looks like the other one with the roof chopped off!” I hear you scream. But it’s not. It’s all-new. Let’s start with the engine – a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 specially designed for Pagani by AMG, whose engines have powered all of Pagani’s cars. It’s now the only V12 AMG makes and is bespoke to Pagani to futureproof 12 cylinders for years to come. It’s a thumper, too – there’s 791bhp and 1,049Nm for the bespoke Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R rear tyres to try to deal with. It uses a completely new composite of carbon that’s stiffer and lighter (overall weight is 1,250kg), although it does increase costs by 450 per cent. Oops. There’s 500kg of downforce at…

Attention, the four or five people for whom AMG does not yet cater. Have you been waiting for a ludicrously fast estate car that isn’t too big? Have you been hoping for a 415bhp hot hatch but thought the AMG A45’s boot was just too small? Then meet the Merc-AMG CLA 45 Shooting Brake. The estate version of the four-door saloon coupe version of the AMG hot hatch. This car shares all of its heavy-duty engineering with the A45. That means a record-breaking 2.0-litre turbo engine good for a massive 415bhp. If you can do without the ‘S’, you’ll be getting by with only 377bhp and taking 0.1secs longer to get to 100kph (4.1secs), but it’s unlikely to come to the UK. The CLA 45 ‘S’ also brings with it…

Malaysian Falken tyres distributor Stamford Tyres (M) Sdn Bhd (STM) once again seized the initiative to treat its dealers with yet another exciting incentive trip. The most recent one saw the firm enthralling selectl local Falken dealers with a trip to Japan, coinciding with the Red Bull Air Race Chiba 2019 round too. The trip ran for five days and four nights in total – including travel time – from 5 Sept until 9 Sept 2019. For this trip, STM chose to treat 16 dealer representatives in total. Present for the trip too were STM’s representative Mr Ku Seng Yeow, Sales Executive. Like past incentive trips, this recent one featured plenty of exciting activities for all. The itinerary included a tour of Kawagoe city on Day 2 to bask in…

Concepts don’t have to be cutting-edge to be a good idea. Take the Renault e-Plein Air concept. It’s an electrified replica of the original Renault 4L Plein Air, launched in 1968. Only around 500 were ever built… none with the electric powertrain from a Twizy like this. The concept has been built by Renault Classic, Renault Design and Melun Retro Passion. Original dials are replaced with a digital display, the grille swapped out for something a bit cuter, and there’s a picnic basket instead of rear seats. We can’t yet tell you whether the range is better than the Twizy’s 100km. But be honest – do you care?…

Bell & Ross has a new watch, and its case is neither circular nor square-shaped, not in the traditional sense at least. In effect, the recently-launched BR 05 marks an evolution of the iconic square-cased BR 03, retaining its “round in square” design philosophy while testing new creative boundaries with an integrated case that fuses with the bracelet. Notably, the BR 05 is the first square-cased Bell & Ross timepiece that can be had with a steel bracelet. Rubber straps are available as a marginally cheaper option; they’re even colourcoded with the dial, which is currently available in a choice of Black Steel, Grey Steel or Blue Steel. Regardless of the dial’s finish, all BR 05 Steel specimens feature Applique numerals and indices coated in Super-Luminova, plus a sapphire crystal…

IPHONE 11 Apple has unleashed its new and improved iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max smartphones. Both the Pro and Pro Max, which replace the outgoing XS and XS Max respectively, now sport a new glass back with textured matte finish, a brand new triple rear camera setup plus an upgraded front camera unit, not forgetting an improved OLED display that Apple has christened as ‘Super Retina XDR’. At the heart of things is Apple’s new A13 Bionic chip with 3rd generation Neural engine, with Apple claiming it to be both the fastest CPU and GPU ever fitted in a smartphone. It’s reportedly 20 percent faster in performance whilst consuming 40 percent less power. The enhanced camera setups get matched with equally bolstered photo and video…

It’s an encouraging sign of times that Proton has once again regained its position as one of Malaysia’s top brands on sale today, falling just behind the sales juggernaut that Perodua has become in recent years. Ever since Geely got involved in Shah Alam’s operations and set in motion a major product and branding overhaul, Proton has grown from strength to strength with a slew of new and improved models that have really made an impact with locals. Mirroring what the VW group did when it acquired struggling brands like Skoda and SEAT, Geely embarked on a massive overhaul of the product starting with the new Proton flagship – the much-lauded X70. This new SUV did a fantastic job of changing the public’s perception of Proton, which for the longest…

“THE MORE THE REVS CLIMB, THE HARDER IT HITS, THE NOISE GAINING INTENSITY” £50,000 approx. FOR Brilliant new engine, clever 4WD system, well-judged ride/handling balance, interior design AGAINST It’s a £50k hot hatch, needlessly complicated screens and set-up Let me take you through a corner in the A45. In fact, no, let me shortcut to the unusual bit: what happens when you get back on the power. Up to that point, it’s the usual braking, downchanging and turning, all of which the A45 is thoroughly competent at. But when you hit the throttle, something unusual occurs. Gone is the old A45’s noseheavy, understeer-led approach, because the all-new 4Matic+ system instead hurls as much power as it can at the outside rear wheel. This pushes the back axle slightly wide, effectively…

“IT’S A GOOD-LOOKING HATCH AND HIDES ITS NOSE-HEAVY PROPORTIONS CLEVERLY” £37,230 FOR Switch to FWD means the mainstream versions are super-competent AGAINST The top-of-the-range one is fast, but not as distinct as the old M140i When did you last see a 6cyl 1-Series? The one where aligning the engine longitudinally made sense. The one where RWD made it exciting? For every one of those happy buyers, BMW would sell about 19 regular low-powered 1-Series. Each of those were compromised on space and weight for no real driving benefit. BMW has understandably concluded that it’s not great business to give 95 per cent of 1-Series people a bum deal, when half of those didn’t even understand why, as they were unaware which wheels were driven. So now they’ve got a car…

RM134,500 FOR Sensational powertrain, plush creature comforts, practicality and surprisingly agile handling AGAINST Price, price and price… Keyless ignition, multi-function radio with hi-fi speakers, central locking, and enough luggage space for a short weekend getaway. No, we’re not talking about a premium German car, but a motorcycle instead. Welcome then to the world of touring bikes. The machine featured here is arguably one of the best yet in this class, and it’s called the BMW R1250 RT. Having spent a considerable amount of time in its hot seat not long ago, we’re certain that this is all the bike that one would ever need, really. Launched earlier this year, the RT was the first from BMW’s heavily upgraded R1250 range to debut locally. Sure, the darling of this range is…

“WITH THE HOPES OF A NATION ON ITS SHOULDERS, THE C8 HAD BETTER NOT MESS IT UP” Twenty nineteen marks the 50th anniversary of the US being the first country to put a man, Neil Armstrong, on the Moon. But as long ago in the black-and-white-picture past as that seems, that was still nine years after General Motors showed its first prototype for a mid-engined sports car, the CERV 1. That could make the arrival of the mid-engined C8 the longest wait in automotive history. OK, so it wasn’t badged a Corvette back then, and neither was the CERV 2 which followed in 1964 – the first mid-engined Corvette concept, the Reynolds alooominum show car, was shown in 1972. But both were developed and informed Chevy’s thinking by GM engineer…

{Case 1} FORD PUMA Look, we don’t want to come over all ‘old man shouts at cloud’ here, but this one hurts. It’s the perfect case study of the cars we used to want, versus the cars the world wants now. In 1997, Ford’s idea for a healthier bottom line was to take the humble Mk4 Fiesta, clothe it in a feline two-door body, have chassis genius Richard Parry-Jones set up the handling, and develop a completely bespoke, Yamaha-honed 1.7-litre, 123bhp engine that was exclusive to the Puma. The Focus, Ka and even the Fiesta never got a sniff. It was a smash hit, out-driving the mainstream coupe rivals of the time, which, in fairness, were rubbish. We’re talking dullards like the Corsa-based Vauxhall Tigra and Renault’s Megane Coupe. Puma…

As far as headline acts go, Mercedes stayed true to the electric script at this year’s Frankfurt Motor Show, with its main display, fronted by the Vision EQS, focusing on other electrified models like the recently-launched EQV and plug-in hybrid variant of the W177 A-Class. The company even took the opportunity to officlally launch the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E team in the Festhalle, with F1 team boss Toto Wolff in attendance. That said, petrol isn’t dead – not yet at least. And also significant for the three-pointed star in Frankfurt were the first public appearances of the GLB35 AMG and the new GLE Coupe in AMG53 and non-AMG formats. It will be interesting to see how the former, a compact seven-seat SUV that rides on the same underpinnings as the…

Volvo Car Malaysia has opened yet another 3S centre, this time in the prime location of Mutiara Damansara, Petaling Jaya. The new facility is operated by dealer-partner Ingress Swede Automobile. “We are looking at incorporating technologies and processes that adds value to our customers’ lives – like our cars, everything we do must add meaning to the experiences of our customers – that is how we would like to impress them,” said Nalin Jain, Managing Director of Volvo Car Malaysia during the launch. The new Volvo 3S centre in Mutiara Damansara features a showroom and service centre that adheres to Volvo Cars’ latest Volvo Retail Experience (VRE) motif. Apart from the distinctively ‘Scandinavian’ design of the space, the new 3S centre also houses six service bays manned by Volvo-certified technicians,…

It’s no secret that we at TG hold the current-gen Honda Civic saloon in high praise, especially in its flagship 1.5 TC-P form. Said variant seems to have all its angles covered as far as style, performance, kit and value go. Of course, as everything else are in this day and age, ‘good’ can always be made ‘better’, and that’s exactly what Honda set out to do when time came to refresh its venerable C-segment saloon. We’ve been given first dibs with one in Thailand recently and, put simply, things are looking pretty upbeat for the Civic. As you can see from the images featured, Honda opted to refresh the Civic’s exterior ever so mildly. Highlights seen in the Thai-spec car pictured include new full-LED headlights and front foglamps, a…