Curva do Diabo - Luna EESTI Rally 2009

Andropause Rx: A Porsche to restore low testosterone?

Scientists have conducted a rather interesting study, according to an article posted at Zeintec (Zei-News) online newsletter.

A group of men were first given ownership (for a full hour) of a £75,000 Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet, followed by ownership (for a full hour) of a sixteen year old Toyota Camry, which definitely fell into the ‘beaten-up-family-car’ category.

Before the drive began in the Porsche, tests were conducted on saliva samples from each man and a testosterone level was noted. After the men took a drive through the country side, alone in the car with no witnesses, there was a significant increase in these levels! To take it a step further, the levels increased even MORE when the man drove through a town or city where there were plenty of female onlookers to fluff their tail feathers for.

BUT when the man took an hour drive in the Toyota, there was no increase in their testosterone levels and sadly, some men even showed a slight decrease!

For a man, owning a Porsche would be the equivalent of having the brightest feathers amongst your peacock rivals! It is common knowledge that a low testosterone level in a man can lead to a decrease in health; bad moods, sleep difficulty, putting on weight and a low sex drive...So the conclusion we come to: driving a Porsche is great for your health!

Recall do Nissan Sentra 2008

A Nissan anunciou nesta quinta-feira, 12 de novembro, a convocação de um recall para verificação e eventual substituição do cilindro mestre dos freios dos modelos Sentra fabricados em 2008.

De acordo com a montadora, o equipamento pode apresentar vazamento de fluído, que é informado ao condutor por meio de uma luz no painel. Caso o veículo continue sendo utilizado nestas condições, haverá um aumento no curso do pedal de freio e, consequente, a perda progressiva da capacidade de frenagem.

A inspeção leva aproximadamente uma hora e pode ser agendada em qualquer uma das revendas da marca. Caso a substituição da peça seja necessária, o reparo leva cerca de duas horas e não tem custo para o cliente.

Para maiores informações, a Nissan disponibiliza o telefone 0800 011 1090 ou o site oficial da empresa.

Confira os números dos chassis envolvidos no reparo:

Nissan Sentra (fabricados entre 23 de fevereiro e 18 de abril de 2008)
3N1AB61D28L703250 a 3N1AB61D68L705261
3N1AB61E99L600000 a 3N1AB61D09L602144

Perodua Viva Elite

Today I shall get down-to-earth, back-to-basics with this car review. No other car epitomize this better than Perodua Viva Elite. It is by no means bargain-basement cheap, considering that Perodua is considered a national car maker and is afforded tariff exemption, special tax incentives et al.






Not paying much attention to this Perodua model initially, I was surprised at how decent this rebadged Daihatsu Charade (of previous generation) can be. Things that matter like ABS, twin SRS airbags are there. Even the wing mirrors are electrically foldfable. Hear this UMW Toyota: (well, they are of the same core business group anyway), where's the electric folding mirror action for the RM175k Toyota Prius?

Then there's also adjustable seatbelt anchorage points on the B-Pillars. Similar items in Toyota Avanza and even Nissan Grand Livina? No.

Though the seats are not the last word in comfort - its flanks support and backrest are a little thin/stingy but the thigh supports are surprisingly adequate (at least for my short stature) i.e. ant-posterior length-wise up to the mark. Once again, even the ever popular (D-segment!) Toyota Camry is a little shortchanged here. Serious.

Drive wise, there is nothing much to complain about. It's sprightly enough, light footed and willing on the move. There's even 4 -speed auto now, versus the Kancil 850 EZ which my better half owned 8 years ago. Idling vibrations is still noticeable, even though idling engine speed is pretty high at 1000rpm. The instruments panel are simple, clean and easily legible. something that the other 'major' national carmaker needs to learn for its Neo model or even its new Evora...er, I meant Exora.

The chassis gets a tad floaty as you breach our national highway speed limit but I guess flogging it to, say 130 km/h is much akin to wearing your Croc sandals to do snorkeling.

Funnily, the alloy wheels managed to look like wheel caps, which is something rather 'bizarre' considering that some good wheel caps can mimic otherwise these days!
In contention for a NST-Maybank COTY award 2009, whether the Viva Elite will present better value than the Hyundai i10 remains with the end-user. While the little Hyundai does handle better and has a better interior, the Viva's trump cards are its features.

At the end of the day, most motorists at this entry-level budget segment will likely emphasise on Viva's resale value in the future as a key consideration factor in their purchase.
Or perhaps another choice may be the newly relaunched, facelifted and renamed Naza (Kia) Picanto?

BMW Motorrad Concept 6

A BMW criou a moto conceito com motor de seis cilindros em linha denominado BMW Motorrad Concept 6. Ela tem o estilo de competição Café, da linha Série K.

Ela tem o motor 1.6, porém a BMW não divulgou a potência. Outra consequência do alinhamento dos cilindros está na largura da moto, 10 cm menor que a tradicional.

Ela tem a suspensão em liga-leve que reduz seu consumo a deixando com consumo equivalente ao das versões 4 cilindros.

Clique nas fotos para ampliar:

Fotos do Bugatti Galibier

A Bugatti divulgou imagens do 16C Galibier Concept o superesportivo foi apresentado em setembro durante as comemorações do centenário da marca.

O carro conceito ainda não tem previsão de ser produzido. Ele é feito de forma artesanal em fibra de carbono e alumínio que são cromados.

O 16C foi inspirado no Type 57, fabricado entre os anos de 1934 e 1940. O motor é um motor 8.0 W16, o mesmo do Veyron, porém roda com Etanol.

O conceito será mostrado nos dias 4 e 13 de dezembro nos Estados Unidos.






Fonte

2010 Porsche Boxster Spyder

Porsche AG is at it again. This time around the boys at Zuffenhausen sprinkle their special edition magic on their facelifted (2nd generation 987 series) Boxster S, creating another Spyder variant: aptly named the Porsche Boxster Spyder.

Powered by the similar state-of-tune 3.4L naturally-aspirated Boxer-6 found in the Cayman S, the Boxster Spyder has a peak output of 320hp instead 310hp in the standard Boxster S. The Spyder will zip from standstill to 100km/h in 4.8 seconds when specified with Porsche Doppel Kupplungsgetriebe (PDK) twin-clutch gearbox, along with the (extra cost option) Sports Chrono Package. Terminal velocity is a lofty 267 km/h. In comparison, the standard Boxster S does the same century sprint in 5.0 seconds. Just how well the lightened and simplified pull-over canvas roof takes to this Vmax is anybody's guess. Yes, the regular electric folding top has gone the way of weight saving.




The most noticeable differences on the Spyder are the new 'double-bubble' rear deck, reprofiled front bumper, a set of newly designed alloy wheels and a large fixed rear spoiler.

Also obliterated in the interest of excess fab shedding are the standard Boxster's daytime running lights and fog lamps. The cabin has been stripped out of any "excessive" equipments like audio system and air conditioning. Both these items however, can be refitted as cost options! The interior also gets a pair of seat-belt like strips as door pulls instead of the regular metal door opening handles. In addition, there is also a pair of sport bucket seats of lightweight carbon-fibre construction.

After all these 'dieting' measures, this special edition Boxster manage to shed 80 kg off a regular Boxster S. To be exact, the Spyder tips the weighing scale at 1,275 kg.

Reliving a legacy harking back to the days of the iconic Porsche 550 Spyder from the 1950s, the 2010 Boxster Spyder essentially replaces the standard Boxster's electrically retractable soft-top with a simple and lightweight pull-over contraption that hooks up onto the windshield frame. It also sports rear double-humps just distal to the roll-over hoops, with a sloping contour reminiscent of the Carrera GT.






The new Boxster Spyder is slated for worldwide launch sometime February 2010. Base price starts at €53,100 (US$78,400) in Europe. Would the price be hovering near a standard Cayman S with PDK (RM665,000) if this is at all made available in Malaysia next year?