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Original Aston Martin Vantage racing cars offered as a special edition collection

Between 2009 and 2018, Aston Martin scored two 24 Hours of Le Mans class victories (in 2014 and 2017) and seven FIA World Endurance Championship titles, as well as numerous international sportscar championship titles in British GT, GT World Challenge (Europe) and the European Le Mans Series.

This was one of the most successful periods in the luxury British sportscar brand’s racing history and in commemoration, as well as to pay tribute to one of the company’s most successful racing cars, Aston Martin Racing has created the Vantage Legacy Collection.

The trio of Legacy Vantages, based on V8 Vantage road car launched in 2005, have been created in Aston Martin Racing’s workshops and are being offered for sale as a collection. This includes a V8 Vantage GTE, a V12 Vantage GT3 and Vantage GT4.

All three are brand new chassis, ready to race, and have been identically liveried in sterling green with the distinctive and classic Aston Martin yellow trim lines around the radiator and cant rail.

Vantage GT4
The Vantage GT4 was the first racing car created around the VH-era architecture. It made its debut in 2009 and, by the end of 2018, Aston Martin Racing had built 107 cars, winning races and international championships across the world. Many of these cars are still competing today. The car in the collection is the 108th and final car to be made.

Vantage GT3
The V12 Vantage GT3 followed the GT4 three years later, making its debut in 2012. It soon became the dominant car in the British GT championship, winning outright titles in 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2018, proving its competitiveness right up until it was replaced by the new Vantage in 2019. Over 7n years, up until the end of 2017, 46 cars were built.

Vantage GTE
The V8 Vantage GTE made its debut with the Aston Martin Racing works team in 2012 at Sebring. It spearheaded Aston Martin’s works return to production-based racing following three years of competing in the LMP1 class. The V8 Vantage GTE took its first win at the final round of the FIA World Endurance Championship in Shanghai in October that debut year.

Only six V8 Vantage GTEs were originally built, with the car racing for the last time in the GTE Am class at Le Mans in 2018. During this time, it became the most successful car in the FIA World Endurance Championship, winning 7 titles and two Le Mans class victories, including a famous final-lap triumph in 2017. The GTE in this collection is the seventh and final car to be made, chassis number 007.

“For a collector, this trio of Aston Martin Racing Vantages represents the ultimate tribute to a halcyon period for the brand in international sportscar racing. While Aston Martin has since gone on to record world championship titles with the current generation turbo-charged V8 Vantage, the foundations laid by the huge success of the original car won it admirers the around the globe and led to it becoming a firm favourite with racing fans. The Legacy collection is a beautiful sign-off for this wonderful car,” said President of Aston Martin Racing, David King.

Click here for other news and articles about Aston Martin.

For a healthier motoring life, be sure a cabin filter keeps the air in the car clean

The air we breathe has always had undesirable particles and germs but in Malaysia, we are fortunate that our air is not so polluted that our health is endangered (not to say that people do not suffer from unhealthy air quality). We have not had to wear face masks before but now we have to in order to protect ourselves and others from the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

While we are now expected to wear face masks by law, it is also useful to take similar precautionary measures inside our cars. Most ventilation systems in today’s cars have some sort of filter, some more effective than others, to help catch dirt particles and keep the air quality reasonably clean.

Air quality is very important
Air quality is of great importance to all of us because it directly affects our health and immune system, as Dr. Rajveer Singh Saren, Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialist, stresses. “Air pollution is a silent killer and has caused over three million deaths in the Southeast Asian region. In Malaysia, the World Health Organization categorizes our air quality as moderately unsafe. In my 17 of years of practicing, I’ve seen an increase in health problems such as asthma, allergies, sinusitis, chronic bronchitis, lung cancer and heart attacks every year due to long term exposure to current air quality levels,” he said.

Some studies have found in-car air quality can be up to 15 times more polluted than the air outside the car. Sitting in traffic causes the highest air pollution in the car as emissions from surrounding vehicles can flow into the car.

Subsequently, a Bosch Automotive Aftermarket (AA) study done in April this year reported that 96% of Malaysian drivers do realise this and showed concerns about air quality in their car. On top of that, exhaust or unpleasant smells and dusty air in the car are the two most common experiences – 64% and 58%, respectively – that drivers notice. These are an indication that many vehicles may have a clogged cabin filter.

Dust, dirt and bacteria
The same survey also reported that the top three types of air pollutants drivers are concerned about are dust, dirt and bacteria. A cabin filter in the ventilation system should be able to capture and keep out these unwanted air contaminants and impurities, as well as smoke, mold spores and pet hair.

*Undesirable particles in cabin air are even smaller than the diameter of human hair and a good filter should trap them to maintain good air quality.*

The better cabin filters may also have enhanced features including anti-bacteria and anti-virus properties that can help minimise exposure risks to airborne pollutants, bacteria and viruses while sitting in the car.

Use good quality filters
“We at Bosch highly encourage drivers to start making the air quality in the car cabin a focal point for health with prioritizing the use of good quality cabin filters in this new normal and beyond. Many drivers are unaware of the existence of a cabin filter as they are an unseen car part. They are in fact a simple, affordable, and very accessible car part that helps limit airborne pollutants, bacteria and viruses from flowing into the car cabin, and reduces our exposure to them. It is with this additional protection that drivers and passengers can be safer in their cars without wearing a mask,” said Dillion Goh, Marketing Manager of Bosch AA.

“The new normal way of life has heightened the awareness on the importance of air quality in relation to our health. The quality of air in your car cabin – how much it stops airborne pollutants, bacteria and virus from the outside air brought into a car – can make a key difference being you staying healthy and falling ill,” he added.

Bosch makes various types of cabin filters with various features such as the ability to remove or trap particles as small as 2.6 microns (a strand of human hair is 50-70 microns in diameter), and an activated carbon layer that absorbs and neutralizes unpleasant smells and harmful gases.

Replace periodically
Just like the air and oil filters in the engine bay, the life of cabin filters is not unlimited. As dirt is trapped, it accumulates and affects the airflow. first. A few that the filter is clogged and needs replacing is when you can smell unpleasant odours, frequent foggy windows and reduced coldness from the air conditioner (although this can also be due to refrigerant diminishing over time.

*The cabin filter is usually behind the glovebox in most cars.*

Depending on the manufacturer’s recommendation, the cabin filter should be replaced every year or every 15,000 kms, whichever comes first. Replacing filters is usually an easy procedure and its location will be mentioned in the Owner’s Manual (usually behind the glovebox in the dashboard).

All-electric Porsche Taycan sets a drift world record (w/VIDEO)

Just like the performance of cars with internal combustion engines (ICE) kept rising as the technology evolved and advanced (and continues to do so), the same has been happening with electric cars. Considered only suitable as golf course buggies initially, today’s electric cars can match ICE cars in many aspects of performance though the most powerful are still at the expensive upper end due to the more advanced technologies which are more costly.

The Taycan – Porsche’s all-electric sportscar – is one example and those who have driven it have been amazed by its performance. Now that is further demonstrated by a Guinness World Record for the longest drift with an electric vehicle.

55 minutes of drifting
The record was set at the Porsche Experience Centre (PEC) in Hockenheimring, Germany. Porsche instructor Dennis Retera did 210 laps on the 200 metre-long drift circle without the front wheels ever pointing in the same direction as the curve. In 55 minutes, the sideways expert covered a total of 42.171 kms.

By completing this marathon distance, Retera secured the world record for the longest continuous drift in an electric car. The average speed was 46 km/h. The record was achieved with the rear-wheel drive version of the Taycan (on sale in China).

The attempt took place under the supervision of Guinness World Records official record judge Joanne Brent on the irrigated driving dynamics area of the PEC. “We’ve had some drift records but with an electric sportscar, it’s something very special for us too. Here Porsche has done real pioneering work,” said Brent, who has been supervising record attempts of all kinds for Guinness World Records for over 5 years.

Record meticulously documented
The Guinness representative meticulously documented the record with a whole range of technical aids and other independent experts. This included a local land surveyor who measured the 80-metre diameter area of the drift pad with millimetre precision. GPS and yaw rate sensors within the vehicle were used for documentation purposes, as was a camera installed on the roof of the track’s control tower, with which the record ride was filmed.

Another independent expert was Denise Ritzmann. Prior to the record attempt, the engineer confirmed the standard and roadworthy condition of the Taycan on behalf of testing organisation DEKRA. Ritzmann knows all about drifting – she was European drifting champion in 2018 and 2019 and was also responsible for ensuring the Taycan remained in a permanent drift throughout the record attempt.”

“You can see at a glance whether the front wheels are pointing in a different direction to the curve. As long as this is the case, the car is drifting,” she explained. Together with Brent, she also counted the laps completed during the record attempt.

“When the driving stability programmes are switched off, a powerslide with the electric Porsche is extremely easy, especially of course with this model variant, which is driven exclusively via the rear wheels,” said Retera, the man behind the wheel of the Taycan. “Sufficient power is always available. The low centre of gravity and the long wheelbase ensure stability. The precise design of the chassis and steering allows for perfect control at all times, even when moving sideways”.

“Nevertheless, it was also very tiring for me to keep my concentration high for 210 laps, especially as the irrigated asphalt of the drift circuit does not provide the same grip everywhere,” he admitted. “I concentrated on controlling the drift with the steering – this is more efficient than using the accelerator pedal and reduces the risk of spinning.”

The new record set by the Taycan joins over 53,000 Guinness World Records. Every year, about 8,000 new records are added from around the world.

Already setting other records
The Taycan has already set other records as well. One of them is a gruelling 24-hour endurance run over 3,425 kms on the high-speed track in Nardo, Italy; the best time in its class on the Nurburgring-Nordschleife, and 26 sprints from a standing start to 200 km/h at an airfield.

Click here to read more about the Porsche Taycan.

The ultimate driving simulator for Volvo engineers

What would the ultimate driving simulator be like? For gamers, it would be a set-up with a seat that moves and a steering wheel with haptic feedback that gives the same feel as driving a car, bumps and all. And of course, and a crystal-clear virtual reality headset with all the ambient sounds to provide total immersion.

For the engineers at Volvo Cars, the ultimate simulator is simply one where it is hard to tell reality from simulation. They have developed a ground-breaking mixed-reality simulator that is at the next level, used to take new strides in safety and autonomous driving technology.

Driving on real roads
Using cutting-edge technology from the leading real-time 3D development platform Unity and Finnish virtual and mixed reality experts Varjo, the simulator involves driving a real car on real roads. It combines life-like, high definition 3D graphics, an augmented reality headset, and a full-body Teslasuit that provides haptic feedback from a virtual world, while also monitoring bodily reactions.

This combination of software and hardware allows the engineers and researchers to endlessly simulate traffic scenarios on a real test track road while using a real car, all in total safety. They can gain important insights on the interaction between people and the car for development of new safety, driver assistance and autonomous driving features.

Testers can be exposed to imagined active safety and driver assistance features, upcoming autonomous drive user interfaces, future car models and many other scenarios. It can be used on real test track roads or in the test lab, and every scenario is fully customizable. The possibilities are literally endless and importantly, safe.

Driving with a mixed reality headset
Last year, together with Varjo, Volvo Cars became the first carmaker to make it possible to drive a real car while wearing a mixed reality headset. Now that collaboration has been expanded to include Unity and full-body haptic suit maker Teslasuit.

According to Casper Wickman, senior leader of User Experience at Volvo’s Open Innovation, this enables Volvo Cars to study authentic human reactions in a safe environment and at a fraction of the cost of a real test.

“Working together with great companies like Varjo, Unity and Teslasuit has allowed us to test so many scenarios that look and feel totally real, without having to physically build anything,” said Wickman. “It lets us test drive actual cars in through traffic scenarios that look and feel real, but can be adjusted at the touch of a button.”

Testing safely
When developing safety systems for cars, like collision-avoiding technologies, testing is crucial. But testing these systems in reality can be dangerous, time-consuming and expensive. Virtual and mixed reality simulations, however, allow for perfectly safe testing in authentic environments, without having to build any physical prototypes or set up complex scenarios.

“By using this cutting-edge technology, we are exploring and leading the development for creating safe cars in the future. It’s great to play a part in that,” said Wickman.

When Volvo drove a car off a building for a crash test (w/VIDEO)

Sime Darby Auto ConneXion offers discounts and free perks to Ford owners

Ford owners who bring their vehicle to Sime Darby Auto ConneXion (SDAC) from today until February 15, 2021 can enjoy up to 20% savings and additional free perks. Announcing the Service Promotion, Syed Ahmad Muzri Syed Faiz, MD of Sime Darby Auto ConneXion, encouraged owners to ensure their vehicle is in good health.

“As the country looks forward to a new year and the hope of coming out of the pandemic, a focus on better health will continue to be a top priority for many people. Likewise, we encourage all our Ford owners to ensure their vehicle health is also being taken care of going into the new year by taking advantage of these service deals,” he said.

Savings and free perks
When customers book a service during the promotion period, they can take advantage of savings up to 20% on vehicle maintenance on selected parts and engine oils. There’s also a 10% discount on labour fees for lubricant, brake and timing belt packages.

Although the CMCO and need to be more cautious will limit holiday travel this year, vehicles should still be checked periodically, especially if they are not used much. SDAC is offering a 27-point inspection by Ford-certified technicians to ensure their vehicles are in tip-top condition at no additional charge.

Customers who spend more than RM350 in a single receipt will receive an exclusive multipurpose bag (while stocks last).

Genuine Ford Parts used
When servicing at any of the 42 Ford authorised service centres nationwide, owners are always assured that only Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) parts are used. Genuine Ford Parts are made to the highest standards of quality, fit and finish and specifically designed for Ford vehicles.

Additionally, all Ford Genuine Parts (excluding wear and tear parts) purchased and installed are covered by a warranty for a period of 12 months or 20,000 kms, whichever occurs first.

Booking an appointment
SDAC recommends that owners make an appointment first as there is a need to observe crowd control and social distancing at the company’s premises. This can be done by booking online, calling an authorised Ford Service Centre (click here for the contact details of operational service centres) or call the Customer Care Hotline at 1300 38 3181.

All Ford service centres and showrooms are open, subject to CMCO conditions at their specific locations. Customers are advised that Standard Operating Procedures such as registration, temperature checks and sanitary measures will be observed in accordance with government requirements.

For more information on products and promotions, visit www.sdacford.com.my.

Click here for other news and articles about Ford and Sime Darby Auto ConneXion.

Cycle & Carriage Bintang opens a Mercedes-Benz Virtual Showroom

Cycle & Carriage, associated for decades with the Mercedes-Benz brand, now has the first Mercedes-Benz virtual showroom in Malaysia. Responding to trends, the Cycle & Carriage Virtual Showroom offers the same high-touch retail engagement online that customers get with the physical retail experience.

“The low-touch economy spurred by e-commerce marketplaces has propelled a need for us to re-engineer our strategy in the luxury car segment. While our physical retail experience will certainly be here to stay, complementing it with an immersive online experience and seamlessly incorporating both channels would make the purchasing journey better for our customers,” said Cycle & Carriage Bintang CEO, Wilfrid Foo. “Our customers’ car-buying journeys can begin not just at our showroom, but at their fingertips. We hope that with a seamless offering, we can deliver on our promise of delivering Exceptional Journeys to our customers in ways that meet those needs.”

Immersive high-quality experience
Simulating a physical showroom, customers can virtually explore both the showroom and vehicles in an immersive experience. For now, there are nine Mercedes-Benz models on display. Visitors can select external and internal 360-degree views of the models, and customise them using the configurator.

There are also exclusive Cycle & Carriage Expert Review videos for more in-depth understanding, with detailed information also available just a click away. Once customers have previewed each vehicle and have an interest, they can also make an appointment for a test-drive at their preferred Cycle & Carriage Autohaus.

Meeting customers’ evolving needs
“We believe that to be a trusted dealer partner, we need to deliver on that promise of meeting our customers’ evolving needs. Our new virtual showroom is one of the many investments we are making to nurture the overall customer experience and together with our physical showrooms, our customers can begin their ownership journey with confidence,” added Mr. Foo.

Cycle & Carriage has been in existence since 1899, starting in Kuala Lumpur as a general goods store. It is today a leading regional automotive group in Southeast Asia that distributes, retails and provides aftersales services for passenger cars as well as commercial vehicles of various brands.

Listed on Bursa Malaysia, Cycle & Carriage Bintang is one of the leading dealer groups for Mercedes-Benz passenger and commercial vehicles, as well as a dealer group of FUSO commercial vehicles. It has 12 outlets across the country, with three Daimler AG-certified ‘Centre of Competence’ facilities.Cycle & Carriage Virtual Mercedes-Benz Showroom.