Thursday, 26 July 2012

2012 Volkswagen Golf R




Well, look who showed up. Golf!! Not just any Golf, it’s called the Volkswagen Golf R. It had been launched in Malaysia and it is up for sales. There’s no GTI on it but it’s badged with ‘R’ on the front grille as well as at the back of the car. From the history of cars, you know that if a car has the letter ‘R’ badged on it, it suppose to be a more hardcore and powerful car. It doesn’t have the V6 engine from the most powerful Golf before this, the Golf R32. It runs on a 2.0 litre TSI turbocharged 4-cylinder engine that gives out 252bhp (188kW) and an astonishing 330Nm of torque. That makes it more powerful than the R32 Golf. The Golf R comes with two variants; 6speed manual or 6speed Direct Shift Gearbox (DSG) and sprints from 0-100kmh in 5.7s in the DSG model and is said to be about 0.2s slower in the manual version. Launch control is only available for the DSG transmission. Top speed for both variants are electronically limited to 250km/h. 

This car takes up one thing from the R32 Golf though, its 4Motion All-Wheel-Drive system and the handling is said to be much better around corners unlike the GTi which under steers much when going high speed around a corner. Many who test drove this car complimented about the steering wheel as it is said to feel lighter and response being a lot better. Exterior doesn’t look too over sporty and fancy; new bumper, grilles, rims and side skirts were probably the noticeable changes compared to the Golf GTi. So, it looks good and runs preety impressive as well. Good car to conclude and if you have RM 268 888 and have interest in a small and astonishingly fast ride, get the Golf R. Besides, you’ll be able to listen to the wonderful sound the car makes: 


Wednesday, 25 July 2012

Toyota FT-86




Toyota FT-86
Not too long back, Toyota unleashed their new sports car called the FT-86 or Scion FRS in the US region. Its been quite a while since Toyota produced a sports car and it is good to know that they haven’t forgot about it. The FT-86 is powered by a naturally aspirated 2litre flat-4 boxer engine that produces about 197 hp. The car comes with an option of two transmissions, 6 speed manual transmissions or an automatic with paddle shifters.  According to the Toyota website, the FT-86 does 0-100km/h in 7.6s in the manual and 8.2s in the automatic while the top speed is 210km/h for the automatic and 226km/h for the manual.

The car looks not too bad having futuristic features and actually resembles some of the looks of its cousin, the Lexus LFA which was released a couple of years ago. But what it is actually is a new version of its predecessor, the Toyota AE86.  Toyota AE86 is an iconic car especially in the drift world. The new FT-86 is also tailored to the drifting world, with it having all its power to the rear wheels. This car is said to be a good fun throughout. All sounds good till it gets to the price. Price starts from a blistering RM243000 and goes all the way to RM250000; can’t really blame Toyota for this, because it is the Malaysian Customs that are slapping high tax rates for imported foreign cars. 

All in all, it is a good car but run times could be a lot better probably with the help of aftermarket tuners and about the price, well we can't do much about it can we.