Honda to set up racing base in Milton Keynes

Japanese automaker Honda said it will build a European racing operations base in Milton Keynes ahead of its return to Formula One in 2015.

Honda said in May that it will return to the sport as an engine supplier to McLaren in a bid to revive their championship-winning partnership.

On Friday it said it will build a new facility in Milton Keynes that "will rebuild and maintain the power units developed at Honda (research and development) centre" in Japan.

"The UK is an ideal location; it is the home of McLaren, many F1 suppliers are UK based and with seven of the 19 races taking place in Europe (in 2013)," Honda said in a statement.

The Japanese automaker pulled out of F1 after the 2008 season, ending an involvement that began in the 1960s, to cut costs during the economic downturn that ravaged Japanese exports to the United States and Europe.

It sold its team to former principal Ross Brawn the next year.

A recent change in F1 rules, promoting the use of environmentally friendlier turbo engines, has made the comeback decision easier because Honda could readily transfer the technology to its commercial vehicles.

The McLaren-Honda alliance conquered F1 from 1988 to 1991 with Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost at the wheel.

Honda started racing in F1 as a full-fledged team in 1964, and stayed until 1968. During that time, it won two races.

Then, as a supplier of engines to other teams including McLaren, Williams and Lotus, it raced from 1983 to 1992 and won 69 races.

After an eight-year hiatus, Honda returned as an engine provider and then part-owner of the BAR team from 2000 to 2005. In 2006 it took full control and renamed it Honda.

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Welcoming news from the Formula 1 scene after all the bad press about the safety issues regarding Pirelli tyres. Honda will not have its own team, unlike when it last pulled out of the sports in 2008. Instead, they will supply the turbocharged engines to teams like McLaren, one which they have past glories with in the late 80s and early 90s. It will be very interesting to see how Honda can help McLaren boost its position on the field.

Launch of the first supercharged model for Nissan - the Note

Nissan's first supercharged model has arrived. The all new Nissan Note was unveiled to a crowd of distinguished guests and friends of the media at an event in Clarke Quay. Following the victory of the Nissan Leaf electric vehicle a year ago, the Nissan Note had also been recently awarded The Car of the Year by the Automotive Researchers' & Journalists' Conference of Japan. The Nissan Note will be available in a base variant as well as the DIG-S supercharged version.

Sophisticated and dynamic are words that come to mind when looking at the front facet of the Note

The Note sports a stylish and impressive exterior, featuring a striking characteristic known as the 'Squash Line' and an aerodynamic shape. Combined with its distinctive front grille, headlamps and rear tailights, the car creates a sense of sophistication and dynamism.

The cabin of the Note is spacious, beyond expectations for a car of its class. The glossy piano-black centre console with silver finishing which is only available on the DIG-S variant adds to the luxurious feel - something that is rarely seen in entry level hatchbacks.

Under the hood, the base variant is powered by a 1.2-litre HR12DE engine while the supercharged Note features Nissan's newly developed 1.2-litre DIG-S HR12DDR engine, which is capable of delivering performance equivalent to a 1.5-litre engine. This highly efficient supercharged engine combined with an electric clutch controls the On/Off operation depending on engine speed, resulting in both greater fuel efficiency and acceleration performance on demand.

Mr Joseph Ong, Managing Director, Tan Chong Motor Sales said that the Note is primarily targeted at the young who are looking for a compact hatchback that combines style and performance but is also easy to maintain.

Glossy piano-black centre console enhances the luxurious feel of the Nissan Note's cabin

Combining an aerodynamic exterior with advanced technology, coupled with the 1.2-litre DIG-S supercharged engine, the Note achieves class-leading fuel efficiency of around 20km/L and low CO2 emissions of 121g/km. As a result, it is eligible for a $10,000 CEVS rebate.

The first 30 customers who purchase the new Nissan Note are entitled to a helicopter aerial tour of Singapore or a half-day yacht charter.

The Nissan Note retails for $134,800 and the DIG-S supercharged version retails for $142,800 at press time. (Price is inclusive of COE and CEVS rebate)

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The prices make one dizzy, welcome to Singapore. Price aside, the Note seems to be a great product in the midst of high fuel prices. Boasting a fuel consumption of just 20km/L, alot of cash can be saved without compromising on the power with a supercharger.

Road tax and insurance will be cheap with a 1.2L engine, plus the new CEVS rebate, had the COE been lower, this would have been a great car to own.

Successor to Nissan Sunny arrives in Singapore

By Tony Ng

The successor to the Sunny and Latio has been unveiled in Singapore.

Branded as the Almera in Southeast Asian markets, the Thai-made car has a relatively wide shoulder width with a new chrome-accented front grille (see photos below). In China, it retains the Sunny brand.

Underpinning the car is a new global 'V' platform that is touted to be around 68kg lighter than the previous platform.

Driving the Almera will be an all-aluminium, fuel-efficient 1.5-litre engine mated to a four-speed automatic transmission.

Rated fuel consumption stands at 6.9-litres/100km while power and torque comes in at 99bhp at 6,00rpm and 134Nm at 4,000rpm respectively.

The family car is touted to have class-leading cabin space. Rear legroom is expansive at 636mm and effective cabin room stands at 1,828mm.

Safety features include an anti-locking braking system, brake force distribution and brake assist, with two front airbags.

Variants

Three variants will be offered. The entry-level Comfort variant will come with factory-fitted 15-inch wheels.

The Premium variant has several enhancements, including 16-inch locally fitted wheels, keyless entry and push-start, leather-covered steering wheel, audio controls on steering, and a remote key release boot. Both entry-level and premium will have leather upholstery.

Nissan distributor Tan Chong is also bringing in a five-speed manual transmission variant with the same specifications as the Comfort model.

Mr Ron Lim, general manager for Nissan distributor Tan Chong Motor, expressed hope that the incoming Almera will lift sales volume.

Another five to six models, including a hatchback for the compact segment will be coming next year, Mr Lim revealed.

The Almera arrives after a long absence of new Nissan bread-and-butter models. The last one in recent memory was the Nissan Sylphy in 2006, positioned as a premium saloon.

The distributor is making the car available for preview at its Ubi showroom at 19 Ubi Road 4 before production begins in December.

It will be priced, with COE, from $91,300 onwards for the manual, $95,300 for the Comfort, and $98,300 for the Premium.

A $1,000 pre-launch discount is offered to those who book now. Nissan owners get another $1,000 off.

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Finally Nissan introduces a new bread&butter model after the Sunny's "dominance" for about a decade and seriously needing a change. Sad to say though, it's no longer made in Japan. At 99bhp, it seems that power has taken the backseat with emission rate and fuel efficiency taking the priority.

Interior wise, Nissan designers have taken a bold step in making the dashboard look cute, and cheap, to be honest. S$95k for a car that would have sold for only S$55k back in the days of year 2005-2009. It is not hard to imagine how well this will sell.