Announcements
Technical glitch at iCars.sg
iCars.sg suffered from a technical glitch recently, which caused accessibility issues that went on for about a week. We are pleased to report that the problem has been rectified, and we can continue to bring you the latest in local and international motoring. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. Happy motoring!
Announcement: Subscribe to iCars Singapore news via email!
You can now subscribe to iCars.sg’s daily news via email. Simply add your email address in the space provided at the top right of this page. Its that easy! By doing this, you will get daily email messages whenever we have new content.
Thank you for your support.
Regards,
iCars Singapore Team.
Technical glitch at iCars.sg
iCars.sg suffered from a technical glitch recently, which caused accessibility issues that went on for four days. We are pleased to report that the problem has been rectified, and we can continue to bring you the latest in local and international motoring. We would like to apologize for any inconvenience caused. Happy motoring!
Racing legends to the grid!
Professional race car drivers are who they are because of their addiction to that adrenaline fuelled fix they get when hurtling down a hair-pin at 60 mph. Thus its any wonder that legends such as Sir Stirling Moss are still going strong. Organizers Motor Racing Legends concentrate on events and races featuring top flight cars from a specific era with their original period specifications. Even in the period of economic recession there is still no sign of faltering by enthusiasts.
In the recent Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy, half the grid was filled within a week of publishing entry forms. One of the earliest entries was the Ecurie Ecosse D-type ‘MWS 303’. They will also be largely involved in the Le Mans Legend a support race for the Le Mans 24 Hours which is said to have invited interest from racers and car owners alike. One of the legends attending the event will be none other than Sir Striling Moss in his own Osca FS372.
In line with Aston Martins 50th anniversary of winning the Le Mans in 1959, the same model Aston Martin DBR1 will also be competing along with the DBR1 that came second. Motor Racing Legends also organise 3 other historic race series which is the the Royal Automobile Club Woodcote Trophy, the BRDC Historic Sportscars, and the Motor Racing Legends Pre-War Sports Car Series.
EU parliament supporting measures to help ailing automotive industry
The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) stood by the European parliament’s resolution regarding the automotive industry in light of the global economic climate. The parliament today stated that they will back measures to bring life back to the ailing European automotive industry.
The ACEA which includes global brands like BMW Group, DAF Trucks, Daimler, FIAT Group, Ford of Europe, General Motors Europe, Jaguar Land Rover, MAN Nutzfahrzeuge, Porsche, PSA Peugeot Citroën, Renault, Scania, Toyota Motor Europe, Volkswagen and Volvo.
This means a big chunk of the European and global automotive workforce is involved in this measure today, directly or indirectly as these companies employ 2.3 million people which effect another 10 million jobs.
The EU parliament has pleaded with member states to increase the lending capacity of the European Investment Bank, Speed up and simplify access to credit, Coordinate fleet renewal measures throughout the EU, Support measures to retain a high-skilled workforce, Facilitate and sustain high levels of R&D, Ensure a balanced and fair trade agreement with South-Korea, Scrutinise new regulatory proposals to ensure competitiveness.
Ivan Hodac, secretary general of the vehicle manufacturers’ trade association ACEA said that “As the Parliament states, the current crisis is caused by the credit crunch and the rapid deterioration of demand. These factors outweigh by far the more structural issues that manufacturing sectors are facing in today’s globalised economy. The auto manufacturers have responded swiftly, but the extraordinary circumstances demand exceptional measures to ensure employment and investments”
The point that needs to be put across to the general public is that the EU automotive industry is a giant of design and innovation, which has given birth to the latest in automotive technology. Everything relevant started here, and competition generated between manufacturers creates ground-breaking technology.
If this goes down the tube, the automotive industry and society will regress back a few years thus suffering from a plateau of technological advancement.
Bugatti Veyron Bleu Centenaire
Only two things about the centenaire was true from the rumours that were going around. One that it was going to be called Centenaire and two that it was going to be…..A bugatti?. Basically underneath the new blue paint job it is a Veyron, and the customer will be free to customise the car to their hearts desire.
The model on display is a Veyron in a eye-catching combination of blue matte and glossy paint.
Honda Accord achieves 5 star EuroNCAP rating
Honda Accord is yet another car to achieve this prestigious safety rating system across its range. The rating itself has changed slightly as the previous car had a 5 star adult rating, 4 star child rating and a 3 star pedestrian rating, the new rating is a scoring system that takes to account, adult, child, pedestrian safety, and electronic safety assistance.
If a car reaches a mark of over 70% this would validate a 5-star Euro NCAP rating which the Accord gets at 78%. It has to be said that the Accord only gets this rating with the safety assistance devices (VSA according to Honda) if it is fitted in 85% of the 2009 Euro line-up as standard.
Along with the standard safety systems that achieved the 5-star Euro NCAP rating, the Accord also includes, Passive Dynamic Systems, Vehicle Stability Assist, Motion Adaptive Electric Power Steering, Advance Driving Assist, and Advance Compatibility Engineering body structure, some available on request.
The selling point of Honda at the Geneva Motor show will highlight these particular features.
Renault-Nissan Alliance to the rescue.
You might think that with today’s influx of Hybrid and electric cars, how practical would those vehicles be, especially when the fuel gauge or battery life reads ‘LOW’. I’m not talking about getting stuck in the middle of the African continent but in your very own metropolitan capital.
Enter the (comic-book-like name) joint venture between two major automotive manufactures, The Renault-Nissan Alliance. The Alliance was formed in 1999 and its main goal was to rank on the top three vehicle manufacturers in terms of quality, technology and profitability.
Sales of electric vehicles (EV) will commence in Japan and the US next year and globally in 2012, and word is that they have teamed up with a UK company Elektromotive, and are combining efforts in the Partnership for Zero-Emission-Mobility, with the aim of accelerating the installation of charging networks for EVs in cities.
All three companies have obviously seen a market for the new EVs that are being introduced , will make running these particular vehicles viable without dependence on fossil fuels.
Elektromotive is one of the few companies that are in the market of installing electric charging post, and installed its first Elektrobay in London in 2006 and has now more than 40 charging bays in London.Other charging bays have been added around the UK and are usually located on roadsides and multi-storey carparks.
The Alliance aims to lead the charge in the zero emissions mobility effort and have already started projects in Israel, Denmark, Portugal, the Principality of Monaco, the US States of Tennessee, Oregon,Northern California and in Japan.
