LAUNCH: The Nissan Cefiro..I mean Teana

Nissan customer’s together with the automotive press gathered at the Singapore Turf Club on Thursday for the launch of the Nissan Teana, formly known as the Cefiro. Nissan sells the Teana under the Cefiro and Maxima tag in different regions.

  

With an all new look, the new Teana comes in 3 variants in the form of a 2 litre, 2.5 and also the top of the range 3.5 charging it head on with the recently launched Honda Accord 3.5. After viewing all 3 variants, the 3.5 is clearly a serious threat to the Honda Accord with luxuries like a twin-gass sunroof, an indirect LED illumination which shines on the front and rear door grips, a much less cluttered center console when compared to the Accord, a power ottoman-style legrest for the front passenger and even a Push Start button ignition.

I’ve had the pleasure of testing the Accord 2 litre and 3.5 litre a couple of months back(My article comparing the Toyota Camry with the Honda Accord: http://www.sgcarmart.com/news/review.php?AID=45) and I am looking forward to testing the Teana soon and comparing it against the Accord. Please follow the jump for the pics of the ne Teana: 

 http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/raginb21/Nissan%20Teana/

LAUNCH: The new Lamborghini LP560-4

Surviving on the amazing teaser video’s released by Lamborghini on their new Gallardo replacement, the highly anticipated car has finally made it to our shores to much fanfare. 2 launches, 1 for media and an evening affair for existing and prospective Lamborghini owners exclusively were held. The newest addition to the already impressive line-up from Sant’Agata seems to be on a totally different diet than the older Gallardo.

The heart of this bull comes from an all-new, direct-injected 5.2l V10 churning out 540bhp, 10 more than the Supperleggera. The total weight of the LP560-4 has also decreased by 20kg from the Gallardo. Other machanical enhancements includes a revised transmission and a permanent 4 wheel drive system that creates a rear bias of up to 30:70.

To the stance and look of the beast, it doesn’t take you long before you realise that the front mug of the car takes after the super exclusive Lamborghini Reventon. New revised rear diffuser and the smoother underbody improves the aerodynamic efficiency from the its older sibling by almost 31%. New front and rear lamps greatly improve the appearance of the car and gives it a much wider stance, especially at the rear. Although priced much higher than the car it replaces, the hike is absolutely justified with the numerous improvements made.

Follow the jump to see all the photos from the launch:  http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/raginb21/LP560-4%20Launch/

EVENT: Singapore’s Vintage Car Grand Prix & Concours ’08

Over a quiet weekend a coupla weeks ago, convoys of cars were seen(mostly heard) chucking past famous landmarks here like the Fullerton Hotel, the Padang and finally coming to a pit stop at the Raffles Landing Site. Driver’s and curious by-standers alike paced up and down the different stretches of roads, awestruck in admiration of these beautifully sculptured machines. On parade were various car’s from Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz, Lancia, Triumph and even a Cadillac. 

 

 

 

 

Follow the jump for pictures:  http://s4.photobucket.com/albums/y138/raginb21/Vintage%20Car%20GP/

NEWS: One-77- Aston Martin’s hot new ride

Aston Martin has been the talk of the town lately with the teaser release of its new vehicle the One-77. 

After visiting the website, one could decipher that One-77 probably means that the car is going to be in limited production. The new supercar will be propelled by a 7.0 Litre V12 engine churning 650bph, set on a featherlight Carbon Fibre Chassis and protected by a painstakingly hand beaten all-alluminium body.

Sure it’s not much, but it’s enough to know that this car will be capable of mindblowing performance and also that all 77 would be spoken for even before the first vehicle rolls off the production line in England. Expect to start seeing more pictures of this baby later this year when a proper running model will be developed. Damage is suggested at over a million pounds (more expensive than the Veyron) with sales starting sometime next year.

 

Check it out at: http://www.one-77.com/

NEWS: BMW tightens its pockets

 

Sure it drives great, but will it sell?

The slump in America’s automotive industry has been the cause for much worrying within the big car companies in recent times. Global powerhouses like Mercedes-Benz, Toyota and Nissan are resorting to shortening their product range and cutting their labour force to soften the inevitable financial impact of tumbling sales of SUV’s and trucks. 

Now BMW have found themselves tangled in the mess and are even expecting revenues to dip by 40% compared to the same period 2 year ago. Revenue is expected tumble even further unless the Fat cat’s at the Bavarian company act fast and cut some of their costs, quick.

First to go is the new X7. Hardly in its development phase, the Range-Rover rivalling luxury SUV has been indefinately shelved and till demand for these extremely expensive SUV’s pick-up again, you won’t be hearing much of it anytime soon. Second is CEO Norbert Reithofer’s intention of slashing production costs in the Mini department. So unless BMW reaches an agreement to share platforms with Fiat, alternate plans would be for the Mini to hop onto the 1 Series platform. By the way sales of the Mini around the world is SOARING and switching to the longer 1 Series wheelbase would wreck the dynamics of the Mini big time.

So your probably wondering why a photo of the X6 is up. Well I don’t have any idea why its even on the market. It’s no where near being a Coupe(as regarded by Beemer). It’s ugly. Same engine as from the 335i CC. A monstrosity, and it only sits 4. The only saving grace of this would be that it is afterall a BMW, which naturally means it inherits the dynamic driving experience you get from many of their other cars. So with the active Green movement in the automotive industry and also the rocketing prices of fuel, who would actually buy this car? And why would they ever?