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Posts on cars.
Kia Soul 2009: Concept to Production
May 29th
After hanging around the car industry for around 2 decades, the Korean manufacturer Kia Motors is finally gaining some respect by coming out with models that are actually very attractive, especially in terms of look. The Kia Soul 2009 is a production car that was first shown as a concept car at the 2006 Detroit Auto Show.
Kia Soul concept in the Autoshow
The design of Soul is very distinctive and quite unlike any other compact SUVs, the chief designer at Kia Motors Europe Gregory Guillaume was quoted saying “The all-new Kia production car will be a car that defies classification and encourages customers to build an emotional bond with their new purchase by providing a creative platform that they can customise to match their car to their own character. It will appeal especially to the young-at-heart – whatever their age”.
Kia Soul on the road
A 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engine mated with a 5-speed automatic transmission would be driving the Soul. Although an SUV, this car is most likely to get only front wheel drive, there is no 4 wheel drive version as yet. You can call this a car-type SUV rather than something you would want to take off road.
To give you an idea on the power from this car, the current 2.0 liter engine used in Kia Spectra produces 138 bhp. Pretty tame for an SUV, hopefully they boost up the power output a little since the Spectra is certainly a lighter car.
This car is definitely going along the line of Mini Cooper and VW Beetle 2.0, with attractive styler that will likely to capture the younger crowd. Pricing should be around US $16-18k when it is launched this summer.
Audi A3 Clubsport concept car
May 29th
Audi came up with the A3 Clubsports concept car that really shines not only in the way it looks but also in terms of the overall performance package.
In the heart of this compact 2-door 4-wheel drive sports sedan is a heavily tuned 2.0 liter TDI diesel engine that churns out 221 bhp with a massive 332 lb/ft torque that you would expect from a diesel. A six speed gearbox completes the package. The car is capable of 0-100km in about 6.6 seconds.
Audi A3 Clubsports quattro
The car was built specifically for an annual VW and Audi get together in Austria, lets see if Audi will bring this baby to the market. With that kind of performance and look it should be able to sell very well alongside popular offerings such as the VW GTi
Truckin Ride of the Month, free T-shirt
Jun 12th
TruckinWeb is an online magazine that is devoted to everything truck and SUV related. You can find a host of information from custom reviews of trucks, to technical data, and everything in between, pretty neat if you are a fan of trucks and SUVs.
The web magazine also holds the Truckin Ride of the Month competition too, you just need to submit the pictures of your outstanding truck or SUVs via the website to stand a chance to win a free truckinweb t-shirt. For this month, the last day of submission is 17:00 p.m. PST 6/22/2007, and the voting process starts from 17:30 p.m. PST 6/22/2007 till 17:00 p.m. PST 6/30/2007. The top three highest voted trucks will win the t-shirt. You can submit up to 4 pictures, pretty simple process.
Other features of the site includes a price checker for new trucks in US, just select the make and model from drop down menu, and key in the zip code of the location you wish to purchase the truck and viola, instant price list. A pretty nifty information to have before heading to your local dealer.
There is also a forum you could ask questions should you need to find otherwise hard to find information. However, above all, the most interesting feature of the website must be the Multimedia section. There you can download wallpapers of your favorite ride, and there are plenty of videos too, though titled truck videos, most of them are bikini contests of girls with trucks, check it out!
To complete the portal, a trucking blog is built in too.
Ford Mustang Giugiaro 2006 Concept Car
Dec 4th
Ford presented the Mustang Giugiaro 2006 concept at the prestigious L.A. Auto Show. The external design is done by Italdesign, led by styling director Fabrizio Giugiaro, making it an American machine with an Italian shell.
This concept car has a panoramic roof, with the front wind shield, roof, and rear screen forming a single unit that provides almost 180 degree of unobstructive view. Not entirely sure how one can get away from the sun though. This Mustang also comes with the scissor doors made famous by Lamborghini.
the next American stallion?
Although this pony comes in at a hefty 1,500 KG, it does have an engine capable of 500 hp with huge amount of torque (480 lb/ft). Those fat 20″ wheels should come in handy to distribute the power onto the tar.
Will this concept make it to the road? We shall see, the major hindrance might be the unique roof though. A big piece of curved glass is expensive to produce and not easy to take care.
Specs at a glance:
Engine: front mounted, rear wheel drive,
estimated 500 hp, 480 lb-ft of torque
4.6L, 24-valve SOHC V8 Supercharged
Curb Weight: 3,307 lbs (1,500 kg)
Wheels (front/rear): 275 40 ZR20 / 315 35 ZR20
sources:
automobile.com
abc news
Beware where you park your car
Oct 18th
Usually we do not take particular notice on where we park our cars, so long as it is a valid spot and we are reasonably sure we won’t get tickets for it. However, there are times where we should be more careful on choosing a parking spot, and here are two instances that illustrate the point very well.
Perodua Kancil reduced to metal sheet
The first collage of pictures shows a Perodua Kancil being reduced to a sheet of metal not higher than 2 feet. Apperantly this happened outside a factory in Penang. A semi-trailer fell over the unsuspecting Kancil that was parked next to it. Luckily no one was hurt, it is not clear if insurance covers such incidents.
Proton Satria hit by fallen tree
Parking under a tree gives you shade, if you can put up with the occasional bird droppings. However, during a thunderstorm, this tree snapped under the strong wind and came down upon the Proton Satria that was parked directly underneath it. Luckily the car only sustained minor damages on the hood and side fender.
So, think again when you park your car, and make sure you pull the handbrake too!