English Archives

Piston.my

English

The Story of N – Hyundai N (w/VIDEO)

Like Mercedes-Benz with AMG and BMW’s M, Hyundai Motor also has a high-performance sub-brand which it calls ‘Hyundai N’. The first association of ‘N’ with Hyundai was when the carmaker presented its N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo concept car for PlayStation’s Gran Turismo videogame series in 2015.

Hyundai N2025 Vision Gran Turismo — *Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo concept*

In that same year, Hyundai brought in Albert Biermann, the former head of BMW’s M division, to spearhead the development of the N sub-brand and create a line of high-performance production cars.

Born in the WRC
To introduce the N brand as well as to give Hyundai engineers a development environment that was high pressured and extreme, Hyundai Motorsport, based in Germany, was tasked with participating in the World Rally Championship (WRC). In WRC events, rallycars compete on rough terrain and roads of gravel, tarmac, snow and ice, pushed to the limits by their drivers. Thus WRC is considered the ‘cradle of the N line-up’ where Hyundai’s high-performance concepts were first tested.

Besides the ‘WRC testing ground’ which is global, Hyundai engineers also used the Nordschliefe at the Nurburgring circuit for durability testing and tuning. In fact, since September 2014, the carmaker has had a permanent presence at the circuit, having established its European Test Centre there.

What does Hyundai N mean?
The ‘N’ in Hyundai N stands for Namyang, home to Hyundai Motor’s global R&D Centre in Korea since 1995, and also for Nurburgring, where N models are tested and developed further. The close connection between Namyang and the Nurburgring created the foundation for N, aiming to build on the company’s motorsport experience to bring winding road fun to customers who love cars. The ‘N’ logo itself embodies this idea, as it symbolises a chicane.

Measured in BPM, not RPM
The first mass production Hyundai N high-performance car, the i30 N, was launched earlier this year, Instead of focusing on pure numbers, Hyundai has chosen to emphasise driving pleasure and the emotional impact on the driver’s heartbeats per minute (BPM), rather than simply measuring revs per minute (RPM). When the driver hits the throttle and shifts through the gears, the Rev-matching function increases torque and acceleration.

Based on three cornerstones under the theme ‘Fun to Drive’, the i30 N is referred to as a ‘Corner Rascal’, and has proven its racetrack capability. It can be used for racing on weekends and driven to work on Monday.

The i30 N TCR
The i30 N TCR represents Hyundai Motorsport’s first steps into circuit racing (while continuing with the WRC), and entrance into one of the fastest growing categories in motorsport. The design phase of the i30 N TCR project began in September 2016, with the first completed test car running in April 2017. In 2019, Hyundai Motorsport increased its TCR offering with the launch of the Veloster N TCR.

HYUNDAI VELOSTER N TCR — *Hyundai Veloster N TCR*

The TCR project continues the expansion of Hyundai Motorsport, with both cars built and developed by the Customer Racing department at the team’s headquarters in Germany. Since its debut, the i30 N TCR (priced from €128,000, equivalent to RM588,000) has secured wins and championships around the world, including the inaugural WTCR titles in 2018.

2020 Hyundai i30 N for sale on Lazada! 20 units only – RM298,888

Prodrive starts division to restore and support competition cars it built since 1984

Since being established in 1984, Prodrive has built more than 1,100 race and rally cars, from the first Porsche 911 SC RS to the latest Aston Martin Vantage GT cars. These cars have won titles across a range of motorsport events, from World Rally titles for Subaru with Colin McRae, Richard Burns and Petter Solberg, to world sportscar and Le Mans titles with Aston Martin and Ferrari; as well as British Touring Car Championships with BMW and Ford.

Prodrive Subaru — *Prodrive built more than 700 Subaru rallycars, including nearly 100 Impreza and Legacy Group A and 160 Impreza World Rally Cars.*

“Many of these cars are now appreciating classics with immense value to their passionate owners,” said Paul Howarth, Prodrive’s Head of Motorsport Operations. This has led to the formation of Prodrive Legends, a new operation dedicated to the authentication, restoration and support of these cars.

“With the formation of Prodrive Legends, owners can now bring the cars home to the same company – and even many of the same people – who originally designed and built them and took them to multiple wins,” said Howarth.

The creation of Prodrive Legends is a direct response to a significant rise in requests from vehicle owners to verify the provenance and then restore race and rally cars that Prodrive has constructed over the last three decades. There are also an increasing number of opportunities to race historic competition cars and a dramatic rise in values, especially for vehicles that have won high-profile events, fuelling the market for historic cars.

Prodrive Aston Martin — *Many ex-Prodrive DBR9 owners are now competing in historic racing events. Prodrive Legends can support with race preparation.*

The programme, which only covers Prodrive vehicles, includes a ‘fixed price’ authentication service that will verify whether a chassis is a genuine Prodrive car; factory specification engine rebuilds in Prodrive’s new powertrain centre; and whole-vehicle work from servicing and race preparation to ground-up restorations to the original Prodrive specification. All restoration work, including chassis, engine, transmission and bodyshell preparation, is carried out in-house at the company’s world-class engineering facility in Banbury, England.

Over the years, Prodrive built more than 700 Subaru rallycars, including nearly 100 Impreza and Legacy Group A and 160 Impreza World Rally Cars. In the 1980s, the company also built nearly 40 BMW E30 M3s and, more recently, nearly 50 Aston Martin racing cars based on the DB9 and a further 180 on the previous generation Vantage.

For owners of ex-Prodrive vehicles or those considering purchasing one, utilising the expertise of Prodrive Legends offers numerous benefits, as Howarth explained: “Quite simply, there is nobody in a better position to rebuild a Prodrive car – we literally know them inside out and many of the people we have on the Prodrive Legends team built the cars originally.”

“What’s more,” he added, “we have all the original build data and also hold the rights to reproduce key parts of the cars, while sourcing genuine components that are notoriously hard to find doesn’t pose an issue thanks to the network of contacts we have established since the early 1980s.”

“The level of our work pays dividends for customers who wish to compete with their car and those that lean more towards seeing it as an investment. Some owners choose to run their cars in less demanding exhibition events or merely show them, but any car that leaves us will be turnkey and ready to run competitively,” Howarth said.

Moe information on the services offered by Prodrive Legends can be found at www.prodrive.com.

TUMI announced as McLaren’s official luggage partner

McLaren together with TUMI has announced a new partnership where TUMI now becomes the official luggage partner. This will also include catering to the world-famous race team, McLaren Racing, as well as the McLaren Automotive company itself. Time to step up your travel game, fellow hype beasts and enthusiasts? (more…)

2020 Hyundai i30 N for sale on Lazada! 20 units only – RM298,888

Hyundai-Sime Darby Motors (HSDM) has finally unveiled the latest 2020 Hyundai i30 N for sale here in Malaysia and the variant that we’ll be getting is the top-end i30 N Performance five-door hot hatch. But there’s a catch; only 20 units are available, and it’ll go on sale during the Lazada Malaysia 12.12 Grand Year End Sale. (more…)

Renault Megane R.S. Trophy-R sets new record at Suzuka

The Renault Mégane R.S. Trophy-R has been on a record-breaking rampage in the past few months and the latest one was set at the legendary Suzuka Circuit of Japan. With Laurent Hurgon again behind the wheel, they’ve successfully set a new front-wheel-drive record of 2:25.454 which is more than three seconds faster than the previous record!

(more…)

RON95 petrol price to be increased gradually by 1 sen a week in 2020

Raising prices of fuel is never popular and in some countries where governments have done so suddenly, there has been public anger and even riots. In Malaysia, while RON97 petrol has not been subsidized for a while and has fluctuated according to global oil prices and the calculations of the Automatic Pricing Mechanism (APM), RON95 petrol and diesel have had their prices maintained through subsidies.

Come 2020, there will be a major change as the subsidies stop being available to everyone and the new Petrol Subsidy Program (PSP) is implemented. The PSP (only for Peninsular Malaysia) will be for some 2.9 million qualified motorists who will receive their subsidies at 4-month intervals from April 2020. The cost of the subsidies will be around RM65.4 million a month.

With subsidies removed, fuel prices will go up and this can be disruptive for motorists. So what the government plans to do is to increase the price per litre gradually. Currently, the plan is to add 1 sen each week and slowly bring pump prices to the level indicated by the APM.

The plan was revealed by the Deputy Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister, Chong Chieng Jen, who said it would reduce the burden on the public and prevent prices from spiking once subsidies are removed. The price of RON95 petrol will remain as RM2.08 a litre for Sarawak, Sabah and Labuan.

MIROS and Lazada Malaysia to work together on Child Restraint System Awareness

The Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS) and Lazada Malaysia today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work together to raise awareness on the importance of child restraint systems (CRS) in reducing road fatalities. As part of the initiatives under the MoU, Lazada Malaysia has launched its Car Seat Assurance programme – a curation of CRS products on LazMall – which currently offers over 40 product models from 6 local and international brands.

Prices range from RM100 to RM1,599 and Lazada gives assurance that each childseat bearing the Car Seat Assurance icon are sold by companies which have submitted to Lazada copies of UNR44 or UNR129 certificates (which are strict and comprehensive sets of child carseat safety regulations by the UN) as well as crash test reports. This product documentation has also been submitted to MIROS for further evaluation as part of an ongoing process to ensure that product safety is not compromised.

Compulsory use of child restraint systems, ie childseats, will come into effect from January 1, 2020. All childseats must meet the United Nations’ ECE R44/04 and ECE R129 specifications.

“We are delighted to have Lazada on board to carry out this initiative which will contribute to the government’s objectives to reduce serious road traffic injuries and fatalities. Through the Lazada Car Seat Assurance programme, we hope to educate more parents on the importance of CRS use and choosing the appropriate CRS for their children which meets the requirements detailed in the Guidelines for Child Restraint System in Malaysia,” said Dr. Siti Zaharah Ishak, Director-General of MIROS.

“We also need to change the perception that regulation-compliant childseats are unaffordable and make it easier for Malaysians to purchase childseats from wherever they may be and accessible throughout Malaysia,” Dr. Siti added.

MIROS GUIDELINES — *Visit **www.miros.gov.my** to download a free copy of the MIROS guidelines on childseats.*

During the first 6 months of 2020 when the law is in effect, summonses will not be issued to motorists who do not place their small children in childseats. Enforcement officers will give warnings and advice instead. The firm decision to introduce the law comes from the fact that less than 30% of motorists have been found to provide childseats, while a MIROS study found that 31 out of 53 (58 per cent) children and infants died due to road accidents.

(more…)

Thieves using WhatsApp to steal cars

Car thefts have always been an epidemic issue despite car manufacturers amping up their safety features. Statistics in the UK have shown that over 112,00 cars were stolen between 2017-2018, which is up by 50%. It turns out that UK thieves have been exploiting WhatsApp in order to complete their dirty deeds. (more…)

New vehicle sales start final quarter on high note with 21% increase in Total Industry Volume

New vehicle sales for October – the first month of the final quarter of 2019 – began on a high note with a 21% increase over the Total Industry Volume (TIV) in September to 53,870 units. This volume was also 14% higher than for the same month in 2018 although a comparison may not be right since it was after the GST-free period when sales had seen a huge boost and the market slowed down in the first few months after that.

The Malaysian Automotive Association (MAA) attributed the increased TIV to more selling days as well as more working days. When there are many holidays, there is also disruption in processes such as registration and loan approvals, delaying completion and affecting deliveries.

Oct 2018 - Oct 2019 Sales — *Source: Monthly reports of Malaysian Automotive Association*

By segment, passenger vehicles (excluding pick-up trucks for personal use) accounted for 93% of the TIV in October, a 16% increase over the same month in 2018. However, commercial vehicle sales were virtually unchanged with 4,883 units (including pick-up trucks) delivered.

The cumulative TIV after 10 months of this year reached 496,861 units which was 5,267 units lower than for the same period in 2018. The higher TIV last year was due to the 3-month GST-free period which saw an above-average surge in monthly sales as buyers could enjoy significant savings (especially for the more expensive models).

Production
The assembly plants collectively produced 55,775 vehicles in October, compared to 51,789 vehicles in the same month in 2018. The increase was largely in the passenger vehicle segment while the commercial vehicle segment declined.

Cumulative production for 10 months was 481,816 units which was 97% of the cumulative sales volume but this direct comparison may not be entirely accurate as there would be an overlap in stocks and imports. Popular models may leave the plants within days of being completed but there may also be vehicles which don’t move out so fast (although the plants would not want them around too long either as they take up parking space).

With two months left to the year and a forecast of 600,000 units for the year by the MAA, it means that sales in November and December must average 51,569 units. This year, 5 months have seen the TIV above 50,000 units and it’s often the case that there is such a big boost in December that the forecast is met.

Hyundai to open first manufacturing plant in Indonesia

Hyundai Motor Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the government of Indonesia to build its very first manufacturing plant in the country. Why Indonesia? Hyundai sees the country as a potential growth into the ASEAN markets as well as securing future growth engines in the global automotive market. (more…)