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Honda’s TEI Series merchandise offers 4 different collections

Honda owners and fans in Malaysia have a new line of Honda Official Merchandise to show off their favourite car brand. Known as the ‘TEI’ Series (TEI stands for Trust, Equality & Individuality’), there are 21 items inspired by Honda’s Philosophy.

The 21 items are grouped in four different collections – Corporate, Lifestyle, Activewear and the newly introduced Travel – and include a newly launched Sports Hijab.

According to Honda Malaysia’s Managing Director & CEO, Toichi Ishiyama, Honda Malaysia’s official merchandise has always been well-received by Honda enthusiasts and fans in this country for its trendy and appealing designs.

“Apart from providing the Joy of Buying Honda cars to our customers, we would also like them to experience the joy of owning items from Honda’s Official Merchandise collection which can be incorporated into their daily lives. It is therefore our delight to share the new line of Honda Official Merchandise with them which embodies the core values of Honda’s Philosophy. We are confident that Honda customers will appreciate the high quality and uniqueness of the new collection,” said Mr. Ishiyama.

‘TEI’ also means shape or form in the Japanese language and the designs are injected with a combination of Japanese elements. This new line of Honda Official Merchandise represents a unique, practical and energetic spirit, with a focus on style and innovation without compromising practicality and comfort.

The Corporate Collection offers smart casual clothing to supplement the working adult’s wardrobe while the trendsetters can choose stylish and exclusive items from the Lifestyle Collection such as the unique Reversible Bomber Jacket that offers two interchangeable designs in one jacket.

Other stylish items in the Lifestyle collection include the unique water-activated ‘TEI’ fineprint 30-inch Umbrella where the ‘TEI’ print will appear embossed when it comes in contact with water.

In the Activewear Collection, female fitness enthusiasts will be pleased to know there’s a newly launched Sports Hijab. Also in the collection is a reflective Activewear Shirt that provides high visibility and safety, especially at night.

For travellers who are looking for useful gear, the Travel Collection includes a reflective Travel Jacket and a specially designed 2-in-1 Detachable Travel Luggage Bag that is practical yet trendy. The luggage bag incorporates a backpack that can be attached to the cabin-size luggage bag or detached to be used as a backpack after arrival at a destination.

Priced from RM31 to RM320, the ‘TEI’ Series can be purchased at any of Honda’s 92 authorised sales dealerships nationwide or at ongoing Honda mobile roadshows. Visit www.honda.com.my to know more as well as to find the nearest Honda showroom.

RUF’s Porsche-looking Rodeo Concept for off-roading

RUF is well known to enthusiasts and Porsche fans for its custom creations that are not just original Porsches but can be considered independent designs which utilise only the Porsche chassis. In Fact, RUF Automobile is recognised as a vehicle manufacturer by the German government and its production models have their own identification numbers (VIN).

The company’s history goes back to 1939 although it is only from the late 1970s that it began to be noticed for its sportscars. As at other carmakers, RUF’s designers have many ideas but not all can be commercialised and sometimes, they start a project to build a concept car.

The latest is the Rodeo Concept, inspired by the Rodeo Drive Concours d’Elegance and its founder – and friend of RUF – Bruce Meyer, as well as by Ralph Lauren and his 2011 Western Collection as well as RUF enthusiast and collector Phillip Sarofim who has roots in Texas.

The car features the same carbonfibre monocoque chassis as the CTR Anniversary and the SCR, but with a 4-wheel drive system, larger all-terrain tyres, longer-travel suspension and other features for off-road use. The Rodeo Concept can accommodate either a normally-aspirated or turbocharged RUF flat-six engine.

“When we began building our own automobiles, it was all for the thrill of the drive,” said Estonia Ruf, Marketing Director of RUF Automobile GmbH. “The Rodeo Concept combines that passion for cars with the love of western culture – an appreciation I found while studying in Oklahoma, USA. This car is inspired by some of our favourite people and our love for the countryside.”

First production SCR
At the unveiling of the Rodeo Concept recently, the company also presented its first production RUF SCR. The 1,250-kg SCR uses a 4.0-litre normally-aspirated flat-six engine producing 510 bhp/470 Nm and is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox. The rear spoiler generates high downforce to keeps the SCR stable at its claimed top speed of 320 km/h.

The SCR has had a place in the brand’s history for 42 years, having had its premiere in 1978. The original SCR was powered by a 6-cylinder engine with 3.2-litre displacement and its power output could be uprated to 217 bhp.

Isuzu Dura Miles Challenge shows fuel efficiency of 1.9-litre Blue Power engine

Isuzu Malaysia’s Dura Miles Challenge has proven that the Isuzu D-MAX is a champion when it comes to fuel economy. It has seen the pick-up truck being driven from Bangkok to Singapore on just one full tank of fuel, certainly an impressive achievement.

In the automotive world, technology constantly advances and the Isuzu D-MAX has become a more efficient all-round vehicle with new capabilities as well as those already embedded in its DNA. It has the new 1.9-litre Blue Power turbodiesel engine that produces more power and torque than the 2.5-litre powerplant it replaces.

To demonstrate its capable performance and engineering supremacy, Isuzu Malaysia loaded a 1.9-litre Single Cab model to its maximum permissible capacity of a ton and took it through some of the highest accessible hills along the Titiwangsa Mountain Range. In total, it clocked over 1,000 kms and two bars of fuel still remained in the tank.

“The prowess of the Isuzu D-Max continues to astound with its remarkable capabilities. Despite being the pick-up truck with smallest displacement on the market, the 1.9-litre Isuzu D-Max completed the challenge with absolute ease and confidence. It truly suggests that the Isuzu D-Max 1.9-litre Blue Power has what it takes to get any job done,” said Chief Operating Officer of Isuzu Malaysia, Masayuki Suzuki.

Prior to starting its journey from its ‘birthplace’, the Isuzu-Hicom Malaysia factory in Pekan, Pahang, a thorough inspection of the vehicle was conducted by PUSPAKOM. This was to verify its conformity as a showroom-standard unit.

With its crates, bonnet and fuel tank sealed, the D-Max headed north for its first challenge – the East-West highway linking Jeli in Kelantan and Gerik in Perak with a climb to the peak of 1,052 metres before ending at Ipoh for the night.

The next day, the route was even more daunting as the lone white D-MAX travelled up 1,112 metres to Tanah Rata in Cameron Highlands before heading on to Fraser’s Hill (1,222 metres) via Raub. From there, the journey took on an even-bigger challenge: the climb up to Genting Highlands at 1,604 metres before ending at the Isuzu Service Centre in Shah Alam, Selangor after clocking 1,145 kms.

It was certainly a very long way to go from Pekan to Shah Alam but the D-MAX passed through the gates of the finish point with ample fuel to spare in its 76-litre tank. Based on the reading from its on-board computer, the 1.9-litre engine had consumed an average of just 7.2 litres/100 kms or 13.7 kms/litre.

“Through advanced technology, the new 1.9-litre RZ4E-TC engine is by far the most fuel-efficient engine ever produced by Isuzu Motors and this was clearly demonstrated in this exercise. Perhaps some vehicles can travel long distances on a tank of fuel, and some can probably manage to carry a ton of weight or climb mountains. But to achieve all three criteria with one vehicle is a true feat of a competent vehicle,” added the CEO of Isuzu, Malaysia Koji Nakamura.

All D-Max models (including the 1.9-litre Single Cab) come with a 5-year 150,000-km warranty. To know more about the range and to locate a showroom for a test-drive, visit www.isuzu.net.my/pickup.

Super GT racing returns to Malaysia with the world’s first-ever night race!

After a 6-year absence, SUPER GT racing is back in Malaysia! To be between July 16 – 19, 2020, the event will be the world’s first-ever GT night race, besides seeing the debut of an-all Malaysian team for the very first time.

The SUPER GT Malaysia Festival 2020 is one of two races outside of Japan and will be round 5 of the 2020 Autobacs SUPER GT Series (listed as a major event in the Visit Malaysia 2020 calendar). 80,000 spectators are expected during the 4-day event. Hopefully, the current COVID-19 epidemic will have diminished, if not ended, by then.

*SUPER GT events were held in Malaysia between 2000 and 2013.*

The 2020 Autobacs SUPER GT Series starts in April at the Okayama International Circuit, before moving to Fuji Speedway and Suzuka Circuit in May. The Series’ two overseas legs will be held in July at the Chang International Circuit in Thailand and in Malaysia at the Sepang International Circuit. After that, the teams return to Japan for the remaining three rounds with the final one being held in November at the Twin Ring Montegi raceway.

The Autobacs SUPER GT Series runs a two-driver endurance format with race distances ranging from 300 kms to 1,000 kms, There are two classes – the GT500 main class effectively exclusive to works teams, and the GT300 class which run far less downforce than their GT500 counterparts.

The GT500 main class features a clash of titans among the big three Japanese manufacturers Toyota, Nissan and Honda spread among the 15 teams, with four participating tyre manufacturers such as Bridgestone, Yokohama, Dunlop and Michelin. The GT300 class features 30 competing teams representing a wider array of manufacturers such as Mercedes-AMG, Toyota, BMW, Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini, Nissan, Bentley, Honda, Lotus and Subaru.

“SUPER GT racing continues to be a huge crowd-puller worldwide and especially in Malaysia. We thought long and hard about how to make it better and realized that a night race would present teams and drivers with a unique challenge, in addition to racing under extreme heat and unpredictable weather conditions,” said Haro Sports & Entertainment Managing Partner, Fahrizal Hasan.

“With the GTA fully in agreement, Malaysia now has what is essentially the world’s only GT night race. Motorsports fans and gear heads now have something to look forward to every year, and we are bringing the race back with a bang!” he added.

2020 SUPER GT MALAYSIA (4) — A Hop-On Hop-Off Bus will be used to promote the SUPER GT Malaysia Festival 202 race in Kuala Lumpur and ferry motorsports fans on a circuit safari around as the cars race around the Sepang International Circuit during the weekend.

“We have missed the heat of Malaysia. Malaysia offers a unique challenge of higher temperatures and conditions than what the competing teams are normally accustomed to in the other rounds held predominantly in Japan,” said Chairman of GTA Ltd. Masaaki Bandoh. “This is something that not only test the drivers, but the heat and, sometimes, torrential rains put the cars, their engines, the tyres and the crew involved through one of the toughest challenges available in circuit racing.”

Malaysia previously hosted the first overseas race of the All-Japan Grand Touring Championship with two exhibition races in 2000 and 2001. The following year, this country was officially included as a full-fledged championship round and Malaysia continued to play host to the Series’ overseas rounds until 2013.

A popular attraction associated with the event is the presence of the SUPER GT Race Queens who bring not only immense colour and character to the event, but provide a vital connection between teams and the fans, particularly during the open pit sessions, pit walk, grid walk, circuit safari and activity stage at the mall area.

SUPER GT Malaysia Festival 2020 will also feature a Kids Pit-Walk session, open to schoolchildren aged 5 to 12 years and to all ticket-holders who bring at least one kid of the age group. Certainly a treat for the young ones who are interested in motorsports at an early age!

Tickets are priced from RM100 (K1 Grandstand), RM250 (Main Grandstand) and RM2,000 (GT Club) and can be purchased online at www.supergtmalaysia.com. For now, early bird purchasers can get them at reduced prices – RM80 (K1 Grandstand) and RM200 (Main Grandstand).

Also available are three exclusive Dream, Ultimate and Experience packages. The Dream Package and Ultimate package includes GT Club paddock hospitality, a taxi ride, grid-walk, pit-walk and circuit safari. The Experience Package offers GT Club paddock hospitality, a taxi ride, pit-walk and circuit safari.

2020 SUPER GT MALAYSIA (1) — *Spectators stand a chance to win this brand new Toyota GR Supra in a competition during the event.*

In partnership with UMW Toyota Motor, organizer of the well-established Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival one-make street race, all SUPER GT Malaysia Festival 2020 ticket-holders will also have the chance of winning and driving home one brand-new Toyota GR Supra in a ‘Predict and Win’ competition.

2020 SUPER GT MALAYSIA (2) — *Art of Speed will also be organising many displays for motorsports fans.*

Art of Speed will also be at the SUPER GT Malaysia Festival 2020 and treat motorsports fans to an outdoor Auto Expo at the open Mall Area. There will be a wide range of displays by car manufacturers, automotive brands, aftermarket specialists, car clubs and companies offering lifestyle products.

GM looking forward to all-electric future with Ultium batteries

Like many carmakers, General Motors is heading for an all-electric future and putting considerable resources into building a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that can rival its full-size truck business. By right, the company should be way ahead in the EV field today, having come out with the first mass-produced all-electric car, the EV-1, in 1996.

However, advanced as it was, the car was expensive to produce, and GM saw the EV segment then as being unprofitable, so it stopped making the car. Developing EVs then was not a priority (engineers who were assigned to such projects considered them ‘dead-end jobs’) and so GM didn’t advance its EV technology the way Toyota had done so with its hybrid technology after it introduced the Prius in the late 1990s.

GM EV-1 — *In 1996, GM launched the first mass-produced EV known as the EV-1. But it saw the EV segment as unprofitable and did not carry on development and marketing.*

Now GM is accelerating its R&D into EV technology and the heart of its strategy is a modular propulsion system and a highly flexible, third-generation global EV platform powered by proprietary Ultium batteries.

“Thousands of GM scientists, engineers and designers are working to execute a historic reinvention of the company,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “They are on the cusp of delivering a profitable EV business that can satisfy millions of customers.”

The Ultium batteries and Propulsion System
GM’s new Ultium batteries are unique in the industry because the large-format, pouch-style cells can be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack. This allows engineers to optimize battery energy storage and layout for each vehicle design.

Ultium energy options range from 50 to 200 kWh, which could enable a GM-estimated range up to 640 kms or more on a full charge with 0 to 100 km/h acceleration as low as around 3 seconds. Motors designed in-house will support front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, all-wheel drive and even performance all-wheel drive applications.

Ultium-powered EVs are designed for Level 2 and DC fast charging. Most will have 400-volt battery packs and up to 200 kW fast-charging capability while the truck platform will have 800-volt battery packs and 350 kW fast-charging capability.

Driving costs downwards
The flexible, modular approach to EV development is expected to drive significant economies of scale for lower production costs and create new revenue opportunities. The cells use a proprietary low cobalt chemistry and ongoing technological and manufacturing breakthroughs will drive costs even lower. Together with LG Chem, its joint venture partner, GM sees continuous improvement in battery costs as they are driven down to US$100/kWh.

GM’s all-new global platform will be flexible enough to build a wide range of trucks, SUVs, crossovers, cars and commercial vehicles. To build them with capital efficiency, GM will leverage on existing properties, including land, buildings, tools and production equipment such as body shops and paint shops.

The vehicle and propulsion systems are designed together to minimize complexity and part counts beyond today’s EVs, which are less complex than conventional vehicles powered by internal combustion engines. For example, GM plans 19 different battery and drive unit configurations initially, compared with 550 internal combustion powertrain combinations available today.

Third-party forecasters expect EV volumes in the US market to more than double from 2025 to 2030 to about 3 million units on average. But GM believes the numbers could be materially higher as more EVs are launched in popular segments, charging networks grow and the total cost of ownership to consumers continues to fall.

Isuzu Malaysia provides compactor trucks for cleaning services companies

Isuzu Malaysia, the market leader in commercial vehicles, recently delivered a batch of Isuzu FORWARD FVR compactor trucks to Environment Idaman Sdn Bhd and their sub-contractor, Warisan Integriti Sdn Bhd. The trucks were procured from Indah Utara Auto Sdn Bhd, an authorised dealer of Isuzu Malaysia.

From the procurement of 10 units, Environment Idaman will receive 6 units for this year while Warisan Integriti will take the other four. The FORWARD FVR compactor trucks are slated to be used for solid waste management, collection and disposal for local municipalities in Perlis and Kedah.

During the handover ceremony, Atsunori Murata, Chief Operating Officer of Isuzu Malaysia thanked representatives from the two companies for choosing the Isuzu model. Mr. Murata said he is confident that Isuzu’s reliability and durability will serve both companies well in their pursuit of providing timely services for day-to-day operations.

The newly procured units are expected to replace Environment Idaman’s aging fleet. For Warisan Integriti, the procurement is part of their long-term fleet expansion exercise. Isuzu Malaysia will be providing a training session to allow drivers of both companies to properly familiarise themselves with the vehicles.

For more information on Isuzu’s range of vehicles, visit www.isuzu.net.my.

Click here for other news and articles about Isuzu.

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Honda’s TEI Series merchandise offers 4 different collections

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