Ford Fiesta preview at Ford PJ

Credits to: http://star-motoring.com/blog/permalink.asp?id=1126

If you missed the preview of the all-new Ford Fiesta 1.6l hatchback last week at the One Utama Highstreet Concourse, you can catch the car at the Auto ConneXion Ford PJ until this Sun.

The five-door hatch, which is actually being loaned from Singapore, will give you a chance to get a feel and idea of what to expect when the Thai-made Fiesta arrives in the third quarter of the year, in both 5-door hatchback and 4-door sedan forms.

Still here, until Sun.

There will be three variants of the Fiesta, led by the range-topping 120bhp 1.6l Duratec Ti-VCT hatch and then the 1.6l mid-line sedan engine, both of which will be equipped with a dual-clutch, six-speed PowerShift gearbox and with an indicative pricing of RM85k and RM80k respectively. The entry-level offering will be the 1.4l hatch, with a five-speed manual gearbox, priced around the RM75k mark.

Features include USB and Bluetooth connectivity and iPod compatibility across the board, cap-less refueling and 16-inch alloy wheels, and there'll be plenty of colours to choose from if you're looking at the top of the line hatch - there are seven shades to choose from, and the sedan and entry-level hatch comes in four colour choices.

So, head on over to Ford PJ if you're keen to catch the Fiesta in the flesh.

Ford expands its EcoBoost range with 4-potters

Credits to:  http://paultan.org/2010/04/15/ford-expands-its-ecoboost-range-with-4-potters

Ford has announced a few more engines that will join its EcoBoost range of ‘downsized’ turbocharged engines with direct injection. One is a 1.6 liter inline-4 EcoBoot which will be slotted into the European Ford C-MAX MPV. This is a particularly interesting engine – just imagine what fun it’d be if it gets slotted into the small Ford Fiesta?

The engine has two tunes – one 150 horsepower and the other more powerful version featuring 180 horses and 244Nm of torque. The 1.6 liter EcoBoost even in its 150 horses form can also probably easily serve as a replacement for the normally aspirated 2.0 liter in the Focus. But this probably won’t happen in all countries as with the debut of the new Focus at Detroit 2010 early this year, Ford also introduced a new direct injection normally aspirated 2.0 liter Ti-VCT engine making 155 horses and 195Nm of torque that will be slotted into the new Focus.

Next is a 2.0 liter inline-4 EcoBoost that will be slotted into larger Fords such as the Ford Explorer, the Ford Edge and the Ford Mondeo. With 200 horsepower at 5,500rpm and 300Nm of torque from as low at 1,750rpm this would be an awesome replacement for the 2.3 liter Duratec in the current Mondeo. Lastly there is a revised version of the original 3.5 liter V6 EcoBoost optimized for the Ford F-150 pick-up truck.

Ford also unveiled that it is working on a version 2.0 of the EcoBoost range that adds Exhaust Gas Recirculation to its existing list of technology including direct injection and turbocharging. This variation of EGR typically used in diesel engines will take abit of exhaust gas, cool it in a heat exchanger, and pump it back into the cylinders. This apparently has the effect of reducing combustion temperature, which ultimately benefits the car’s power and fuel economy – by a figure of approximately 5% according to Ford. EGR is also primarily used to reduce the amount of NOx produced during combustion.

Ford is also apparently working on small three cylinder and even a two cylinder EcoBoost unit, although they are still a few years away from production. They could feature in the next generation versions of small Fords like the Ka and the Fiesta.

2010 FORMULA 1 CHINA Grand Prix Official Highlights

Credits to: - http://www.formula1.com/results/season/2010/827/6723/
                 -http://paultan.org/


The British duo of Jenson Button and Lewis Hamilton were the first ones to cross the finish line after 56 laps at the 2010 Chinese Grand Prix. Both World Champions from McLaren secured the team’s first 1-2 victory and Button’s second win of the season after starting the race from fifth and sixth places respectively. Nico Rosberg managed to get onto the podium yet again for Mercedes GP with his third place.
The German was in fact leading the race at the early stages after starting from fourth place. Fourth place went to Fernando Alonso after making up to five pitstops! Kubica was fifth followed by Vettel who started from pole, Renault’s Vitaly Petrov, Webber, Massa and Schumacher. Yet again Schumacher was out-paced by his teammate. Kovalainen came home in 14th place for Lotus, ahead of the new teams. Jarno Trulli retired after suffering from what believed to be a pressure-related problem.
The race was mostly a wet affair although it started with an almost dry track. Alonso made a ‘good’ start and jumped ahead of both the Red Bulls. Unfortunately for him and Ferrari the start was classified as a jump start and the World Champion was ordered to serve a drive through penalty.

Moments later the SLS AMG Safety Car was deployed following a crash that involved Force India’s Vitantonio Liuzzi on the first lap. He spun after losing the car under braking, collecting both Sebastien Buemi from Toro Rosso and Kamui Kobayashi from Sauber. Rain started to fall and most drivers made their pit stops for intermediate tires. Rosberg wasn’t part of the list hence he went on to lead the race. Conditions got dryer a while later and it was another round through the pits for dry weather tires. Rosberg maintained his lead.
As the positions settled down it was Rosberg leading ahead of Button followed by Kubica and Vitaly Petrov of Renault, Toro Rosso’s Jaime Alguersuari and Lotus’ Heikki Kovalainen in sixth. Michael Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber made up the rest of the top ten. A couple of laps later Kovalainen dropped to tenth place which did not come as a surprise. Rosberg was the fastest man on track until Hamilton started to clock quicker times.
Rain started to pour again and Rosberg suffered from a spin which allowed Button to take over the lead. All drivers eventually pitted for intermediates and the rain got worse. The Safety Car came out again after Alguersuari left pieces of his front wing on track. As the race restarted it was Button in the lead in front of Rosberg, Kubica, Petrov, Schumacher, Webber, Hamilton, Vettel, Sutil and Alonso. Towards the end of the race most drivers pitted again as their intermediate tires began to give way.

The race was definitely interesting with a couple of incidents apart from the first lap accident and of course the rain. There were quite a few overtaking and nice defensive moves as well and I find that the Chinese GP is the most interesting race thus far in the season. Hamilton also had a go with Schumacher and managed to pass the 7-times World Champion. Other incidents included Hamilton’s and Vettel’s squabble when both entered and exited the pits.
The stewards later revealed that Hamilton’s move will be investigated after the race and he may be slapped with a grid drop penalty at the Spanish GP. Button also made a controversial move when he slowed down the pack tremendously right before the Safety Car came into the pits for the second and last time during the race.
Reigning World Champion Jenson Button now leads the Driver’s Championship with 60 points while Rosberg is second with 50 points. Both Alonso and Hamilton are in third and fourth with 49 points each. Vettel is in fifth with 45 points ahead of Massa with 41 points. McLaren is also ahead in the Constructor’s Championship with 109 points. Ferrari and Red Bull are in second and third with 90 and 73 points respectively. Formula 1 will now a have a 3-week break before the Spanish GP flags off on May 9th.

Pos	Team	Points
1	McLaren-Mercedes	109
2	Ferrari	90
3	RBR-Renault	73
4	Mercedes GP	60
5	Renault	46
6	Force India-Mercedes	18
7	Williams-Cosworth	6
8	STR-Ferrari	2
9	BMW Sauber-Ferrari	0
10	Lotus-Cosworth	0
11	HRT-Cosworth	0
12	Virgin-Cosworth	0

FORMULA 1 GRAN PREMIO DE ESPANA TELEFÓNICA 2010 on 7th to 9th May 2010 would be the next race.