Luke Aker’s 1996 Nissan Maxima

Film-maker Luke Aker decided to put up his beloved 1996 Nissan Maxima on Craiglist with a humorous video accompanying it - "Luxury Defined" as he put it.



It was so good, Nissan actually decided to buy it and later restored it to it's former glory and will be displayed at their North America’s headquarters.

Nissan came out with an equally funny video to mark the occasion:



Auto companies do have a sense of humour.

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Rejuvenating an old car - repairs on a Proton Wira 1.3 M

Different people buy cars for various reasons - for many a car is an extension of their self image - representing their lifestyle. Almost everyone I talk to has a dream car - one they aspire to even if they cannot afford it. However, there are also a lot of people for whom a car is just a machine useful to get from point A to point B. My dad happens to be one of them. He has been driving the same Proton Wira 1.3 manual transmission hatchback for more than 8 years now and asked him whether he wanted to update to a new car. He was not really keen.

He calls luxury cars, houses on wheels because with the price of some of the cars, you can actually buy a house.

He is really fond of the car and I am not surprised. The car has only done 127,800 Kms and recently had timing belt in the engine changes. He proudly mentioned that the car has not broken down even once and starts up immediately.

However, I was sure that the aging car was bound to have some problems and this was confirmed when I recently had it serviced at the local Proton Edar service centre near my house (SENAXIS Sdn Bhd). One of the tyres needed to be changed immediately as it was nearly bald. They also pointed out that several parts need to be replaced and even suggested that it be better to actually buy a new car. However, my dad was not having any of it - his reasoning was that the estimated total cost of the repairs was about RM1000 but to buy a new car would cost at least RM45000 for the Proton Persona 1.6 M version. This was because he does not want a small car and does not like the look of the Saga. I guess he does have certain preferences.

Anyway we decided to go ahead with the repairs and overall a total of 27 parts were replaced (big and small) and the overall damage came to RM1642.80 including tyre allignment (RM40), labour (RM250) and 6% tax (RM15).

The major parts included:

1. Insulator assys x2 = RM188.24
2. Rubber bump x 2 = RM151.56
3. Link control assy LH and RH = RM127.53 x 2
4. Shock absorbers assy RR, RH and LH = RM102.12 x2
5. Strut FR suspension LH and RH = RM185.07 x 2 (the costliest parts).

Other minor parts included rubber bumps, pads, tyre nuts, bushing coils, rubber stabilizers.

I know that official car service centres are more expensive but I choose to go there because I wanted genuine parts.

Do you think we could have got them cheaper elsewhere?

Anyway, I think we have extended the life of the old car for a few more years.

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DeLorean fan's amazing creations

Rich Weissensel's amazing creations using damaged DeLoreans include a monster truck, six gull-wing limo and of course, a 'Back to the future' homage.

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Proton Surprima S Standard launched

Proton Holdings Bhd today unveiled the Suprima S Standard model and made it more affordable with prices starting at RM69,438 for solid colour and RM69,888 for metallic painted cars. That's nearly RM7000 cheaper than the executive version which cost RM76,760.05 (Metalic) and RM76,410.05 (Solid) respectively.

However, in making this car more affordable, a number of safety features present in the Executive variant have been removed. The new car model has only 2 air bags - the side and curtain airbags have been removed. It also loses the TC (Traction Control), ESC (Electronic Stability Control) and hill hold features.

I wonder whether their ad may be misleading as removal of all these safety features may result in different NCAP ratings. Fortunately ABS With EBD is still present. The touch screen and GPS are gone as well and the steering wheel does not have paddle shifters or radio controls.

The headlights are no longers LEDs but the normal bulbs and you would have to adjust the side mirrors manually. Sometimes I am amazed when I remember that these features were standard on my old Volvo S40 which was more than 10 years old.

What message is Proton trying to tell its customers?

This will definitely not improve the perception that most consumers have about the national car brand.

Don't get me wrong. I have been a long time supporter of Proton and I even did my MBA dissertation on the national car. They have come a long way but is still in no position to compete with other brands if the Government policies were removed.

The new car is still not which I call "affordable" cheap and we recently bought the Proton Preve Premium version with all the features - all the bells and whistles - at almost the same price. With the cars getting cheaper and the variety of choices in the market, I forsee Proton coming up with a number of promotions to try and get rid of unsold stock in the near future.

The engine is still the same CamPro 1.6 Turbo engine with 7-speed ProTronic CVT. The car runs on 16" alloy wheels fitted with 205/55 tyres.

This new variant is available in five colours: Tranquility Black, Solid White, Genetic Silver, Atlantic Blue and Fire Red.

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Restoring 30+ year-old BBS RS 001s rims

Car audio company Clarion is in the process of restoring an iconic 1974 BMW 2002. As part of the project, they got their hands on original 30-year-old Germany built BBS RS 001 wheels. They hired VR Wheels in Los Angeles to restore them to mint condition - actually the end product looks better.

Check the amazing video of how they refurbished the old wheels and gave it a new life:



Related link: Clarion Builds

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(Uganda) Kiira ev SMACK

Automotive manufacture is a serious goal heating up in the East Africa region.  Uganda comes in with an answer to Africa's private mobility needs after an earlier achievement of a full electric vehicle namely the Kiira EV prototype.  This time they created a proof of concept for a production vehicle with a Hybrid powertrain to match called the Kiira EV Smack. 

"East Africa’s first hybrid electronic car has gone on display in Kenya ahead of its production in 2018.

The Ugandan-made Kiira EV smack will be launched in Nairobi later on Friday as the manufacturers seek potential investors willing to fund their dream.

Kiira Motors Corporation, the manufacturer of the vehicle, is looking for $300 million to enable them begin production.

The hybrid electronic vehicle was conceptualised and made in Uganda, and now is seeking for potential investors across the East African region.

Chief Operations Officer of  Kiira motors, Albert Akovuku says: “The amount of investment that is required 350m USD.”

A first for East Africa, the Uganda government has already committed $70 million as seed funding.

Akovuku says : “ By 2018, we should have the first car out of the production line for the east African market.”

The moment the engine is off the battery takes over and gives you extra mileage

However,  in a region that does not generate enough electricity the car has been termed by many in Uganda as a prestige project, one likely to become a white elephant.

Not so says Akovuko who is driving the dream of having East Africa’s first hybrid electric car.

“The engine in there is a generator, when you are the on the road and the electric mode is off the generator automatically charges the batteries to give it traction, the moment the engine is off the battery takes over and gives you extra mileage.”

Hybrid electronic cars combine the benefits of gasoline and electric motor engines with the aim of attaining fuel economy, speed and engine efficiency.

The Kiira is no different says the manufacturer, who hopes to sell it at $20,000 per car.

What started as a university project, is now a Ugandan government project. The Ugandan government says it is stopping at nothing until Kiira EV smack in on the road in East Africa and soon across the continent."

Courtesy of

http://www.sabc.co.za/news/a/0ae62f004632dfbc9c53fd96d4703d1f/East-Africas-first-hybrid-car-to-be-launched

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Nissan Datsun Go crash test results

The Nissan Datsun Go car which is aimed at the Indian market was recently tested for safety. The car failed spectacularly getting 0 out of possible 5 stars. The car comes without air bags and looking at the video of the test, it would not have done much good even if the car had been fitted with them. If the car can get this badly damaged at just 40mph speeds, I am just wondering what would happen at UK highway speeds of 70mph.

MNCs need to stop pushing lousy products into the emerging markets. And India definitely needs to have some minimum safety standards put in place.

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