Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Safety risk of Heavy Quadricycles

Quadricycles, which as the name suggest, were originally derived from motorcycles. They have emerged as a new class of sub-compact vehicles in Europe.

They are small and fuel-efficient. I have recently noticed several Universities here in the UK using street-legal quadricycles. These include the Club Car Villager 2+2 LSV, the Renault Twizy 80, the Tazzari ZERO and the Ligier IXO J LINE 4 Places

Their safety tests are different from other cars as they do not have to pass any of the rigorous crash tests to which cars are subjected. However,according to a recent report from the EURO NCAP, frontal and side impacts at 50km/h, revealed severe safety problems for all four cars.

The vehicles were scored primarily on data from crash dummies but penalties were also given for poor performance of the structure or restraints. The Ligier and the Tazzari had major failings of their restraint systems in the frontal test. In the Ligier, the upper connection of the driver’s seatbelt pulled out of the structure, leaving the dummy unrestrained and leading to a high risk of injury.

In the Tazzari, the driver seatbelt broke and the driver’s head hit the steering wheel with a force that indicated a high risk of serious or fatal injury. The structure of the Club Car virtually collapsed in the frontal impact. The Renault Twizy - the only vehicle of the four tested to have an airbag as standard - scored best but its stiff structure and restraint system resulted in some dangerously high dummy readings.



Read more here: Euro NCAP




Thursday, 8 May 2014

Wanted - a small car for city driving in Malaysia

Wanted a small, affordable second car for city driving in Malaysia.
The maximum budget is RM 40K (approx £7298).

If I had that budget here in the UK, I would probably go for a second hand car and would have several options.

However, in Malaysia there are only 2 options available, namely the Perodua ViVA (Yes! That is how the name is written) with prices starting from RM 24,936.45 (for the ViVA 660 BX - Manual, solid white colour) and the Proton Saga with prices from RM 33,426 (for the Saga SV Manual, solid white colour). The SV stands for Super Value.

Dimension wise, the Perodua ViVA (3575 x 1475 x 1530) is slightly smaller but taller than the Proton Saga (4278 x 1680 x 1520).

Looking at the websites of the two Malaysian car companies, I am quite impressed with the information provided from engine specs in detail to the various accessories available.

Though there is nearly RM 8000 difference in prices between the two cars, the Viva seems quite underpowered even for a city car with an engine displacement of only 659 cc. If I choose the ViVA 850 - Manual (847cc), prices goes up to RM 32,756.45.

I am not too concerned about the maximum speed but I am definitely interested in the fuel efficiency.

The Perodua website does not tell us anything about the fuel efficiency, other than mentioning that the cars have been equipped with "Dynamic Variable Valve Timing (DVVT), Double Overhead Camshaft (DOHC) and Electronic Fuel Injection  (EFI)".

The Proton Saga has a CamPro IAFM, 4-cylinder, DOHC 16V 1332cc engine and according to their website, the fuel consumption at @ 90km/h (approx. 56m/h) is 5.7 litres.

So if you had RM 40000 to spend on a car, I would definitely recommend the Proton Saga.




Wednesday, 7 May 2014

Subaru Forester & XV - for those who love the rural life

Have you watched the recent Subaru ads?

They show their two vehicles  from their all-wheel drive range, the Subaru Forester & XV in action. They are perfect for those who love life in rural areas.

Forester Features:




  • Heated door mirrors
  • Remote control key system
  • Roof rails
  • Subaru Vehicle Dynamics Control
  • Multi-function display
  • Bluetooth, iPod and USB connectivity
The XT model is turbo-charged.

XV Features:

  • Reversing camera
  • Steering wheel audio controls
  • Cruise control
  • Hill Start Assist
  • Rain-sensing windshield wipers with de-icer
  • Leather gear lever & steering wheel


Prices for the XV starts from £21,995 and £24,995 for the Forester.












Wednesday, 2 April 2014

Monday, 31 March 2014

Clubbing together for an electric revolution!

The UK’s largest independent car club, City Car Club, is working with innovative start-up LipraLoof Technologies Ltd, to trial smart power technology, which could one day see cars powered by AA-style batteries. Who’d have thought it?

James Finlayson, Managing Director of the hourly rental car club said: “When LipraLoof approached us we instantly realised how exciting this technology was – it has the potential to revolutionise the way we drive. However, like with any new technology, rigorous real-world testing is a must and with a 700+ fleet of cars which are used mainly for short journeys, we are in the perfect position to help.”




LipraLoof’s batteries contain complex mix of four metal hydrates which creates a quad, or 4A battery, which produces far more power than a standard battery. When these batteries are combined with technology that harnesses, stores and reuses the energy usually wasted when driving, it creates a system capable of powering a car up to 88mph over a significant distances.


LipraLoof’s founder and managing director Dr Ed Heaverben, explains: “We’ve combined our quad batteries with virtually 100% regenerative breaking which harnesses the energy normally lost when we brake. Another significant area where we’ve conserved energy is with the tyres – we’ve developed a specially designed tread that ‘grabs’ energy which normally escapes onto the road as heat. This saved energy is then stored in a French-Luxemburg engineered Flux Capacitor, ready for use when needed.”


It’s expected the trial and development phase will last around two years, and hopefully the commercial version of the complex system will be ready for market in 2016-17, and we at Auto Lah can’t wait to test it!

Car clubs are all about providing a realistic, flexible alternative to car ownership that benefits individuals, the wider community and are environmentally sustainable.
For further information visit www.lipraloof.co.uk.


Happy April Fools day

Saturday, 29 March 2014

Subaru VIZIV 2 Concept

According to Subaru, the new VIZIV 2 crossover concept is "introducing the future of All-Wheel Drive vehicles."

VIZIV stands for Vision for Innovation and Subaru is using it to showcase how advanced hybrid technology can be used with "Subarus All-Wheel Drive (AWD) while also indicating at a future design direction for Subarus production vehicles."

The powertrain uses a new 1.6-litre turbo-diesel DIT (Direct-Injection Turbo) Boxer engine and three electric motors, one to power the front wheels and one on each of the rear wheels which operate independently.

We are looking at a possible future generation of hybrid technology powered Subaru AWD vehicles.

Saturday, 1 March 2014

BMW 4 Series Gran Coupé

Roomy and sporty Coupés from BMW. Four frameless doors and a large boot.

A great example is the BMW 435i, which is powered 6-cylinder TwinPower Turbo petrol 225 kW (306 hp) engine and accelerates from 0 to 62 mph in 5.5 seconds.
Average fuel consumption is quite modest at 28.3 to 29.0 mpg (Steptronic transmission: 30.9 to 31.4 mpg), accompanied by CO2 emissions of just 193 to 189 g/km (Steptronic transmission: 178 to 174 g/km).