Proton Satria Neo Rally Car in Japan

Malaysian car maker PROTON and Japanese Manufacturer Carrosser Co. Ltd. (CUSCO) has formed a partnership to sell the Proton Satria Neo Group N rally car in the Japanese domestic market.

The pictures here are from a Shakedown event last month at the Maruwa Autoland Nasu in Togichi.

Five Japanese professional drivers, from various racing backgrounds, were invited to test drive the cars (Group N Rally car, Neo Standard and the Neo Concept car) and share their experience with the media present.

The cars were put through the paces and covered over 250km on gravel roads in 2 days without any mechanical issues. Overall the Neo was rated as having very good handling and balance when driven at high speed, by the experts.

At the same event, the Neo raced a Mazda 2 rally car and the Proton car beat the Mazda, clocking in a time of 1 min and 19 seconds, ahead of the Mazda by 6 seconds over a 1km stage.

PROTON and CUSCO will be participating in the Asia Pacific Rally Championship 2011 under the Junior Trophy category. The category will be introduced for the first time this year in the APRC, to increase opportunities for young talented drivers within the Asia Pacific region.

Sorry about the low resolution pics. Will try to get some higher resolution pics later.

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The Nissan Land Glider

One of my friends who works with Proton, the Malaysian auto maker mentioned that the Peugeot BB1 concept looks like the Nissan Land Glider.

Nissan Landglider at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show

The Nissan Land Glider concept was unveiled at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show. Similar to the BB1, the Land Glider also has a motorcycle-inspired Tandem architecture. The rear view mirrors have been replaced by cameras and monitor. Another innovation was the non-contact charging system that enables it to be recharged at any wireless charging station.

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Euro NCAP's best performing cars of 2010

Euro NCAP recently announced the five best performing cars of 2010. These vehicles achieved a high overall score and attained the coveted five star rating.

The top achievers by category are:

• Executive category: BMW 5 Series
• Small Family category: Alfa Romeo Giulietta
• Supermini category: Honda CR-Z
• Small off-road 4×4 category: Kia Sportage
• Small MPV category: Toyota Verso

Last year, Euro NCAP crash tested twenty nine vehicles, 65% of which reached the five star rating, compared to 90% in 2009. This decrease is attributed to the fact that the Euro NCAP’s criteria to reach a five stars are now tougher. 

The  poorest results of 2010 were the Citroen Nemo with three stars and by the Landwind CV9 which received only two stars.

Check out the full list of cars tested in 2010 on the Euro NCAP website.

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The Peugeot BB1 concept

A complete rethink of the car by Peugeot. The BB1 concept is an electric car which carries 4 people and designed so that it is only 2.5 metres long - smaller than the Smart ForTwo and Toyota iQ. The car made its debut at the Frankfurt International Motor show.

Instead of a steering wheel, the car has handle bars and no pedals on the floor. Similar to a bike, the accelerator and brake levers are on the handles.

Check out the video:

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New Honda Civic concepts

Honda unveiled the ninth-generation Civic concepts at the North American International Auto Show in in Detroit, Michigan.

This two new cars are the Civic Si Concept coupe and the Civic Concept sedan. They will come as hybrid and natural-gas variants. The new Civic hybrid will feature a lithium ion battery cell, the first ever for a Honda hybrid.

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xO sportscars. South Africa

I am glad to introduce the company and products of one of our AADA members, namely Mr Abdul Gakiem Fakier.

The companies name is xO sportscars.
The offices are located in South Africa.

Imagine driving to the race track on the perfect day in a low slung sports car and the engine roaring as you start your journey. As you get to the race track you either race straight away or you do some quick adjustments. The flags drop, lights green, and the engine screams as you launch full thrust! Acceleration and handling come together as though they are one.

We manufacture a range of products and custom fabrications to suite our clients needs.
Current production models are the xO500 and xO400.

Model specifications.

xO500

Weight: 500kg+
Engine: VW or Audi engines
Gearbox: 5/6 Speed Manual
Front Brakes: 2 Pot
Rear Brakes: 1 Pot
Suspension: Rosejointed Double Wishbones
Body armour: GRP Panels


xO400

Weight: 400kg+
Engine: Busa and other engines
Gearbox: 5/6 Speed Sequential
Front Brakes: 2 Pot
Rear Brakes: 1 Pot
Suspension: Rosejointed Double Wishbones
Body armour: GRP Panels

A wonderful job indeed.

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A Green Car Featured in London Science Museum

Countless people have taken a peep at the transport of the future after a new hydrogen fuel-cell powered car proved to be the star of the show at London’s Science Museum this winter.

The new car built by manufacturer, Riversimple has been on display in the museum’s new gallery "atmosphere.... exploring climate science". It is thought that the two-seater vehicle could be on British roads within two years.

Hugo Spowers, the founder of Riversimple said: “Many of the most iconic pieces of machinery in our island’s history are in the Science Museum and this is a tremendous honour for us. The new industrial revolution, in which we move from fossil fuel dependency to a sustainable economy, is underway and we are proud that our contribution has been recognised.”

The cars which have a top speed of 50 miles per hour and can go 200 miles on one tank of hydrogen, were first road tested in 2010. It is hoped that they will officially be on British roads by 2012.

The car, which weighs about 350kg, can recapture its own motion energy when braking, providing 80% of the power needed for acceleration. The only waste produced by the car is a few drops of water.

As part of plans to create a sustainable vehicle for use in cities Riversimple, which has so far spent £3 million developing the technology and the car, will lease the vehicles rather than sell them.

Drivers will pay approximately £200 a month and then 15p a mile as part of a business model similar to a mobile phone contract.
Riversimple hopes that by 2015 it will have manufactured a four-seater version of the car which can be used safely on long journeys. By 2020, it plans to have tens of thousands of the cars of British roads.

Green cars are capturing the public's interest in a large scale. Another way to reduce your carbon footprint is to consider buying a used car. Compared to a new car, it has a much lower footprint of grey energy. Even though producing new cars has become much more efficient these days, it still consumes huge amounts of resources.

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