i10 which is solely produced in India might soon be exported to US for Hyundai America. Hyundai already plans to export the i30 a larger hatchback made in South Korea to US next year. “We are considering launching the i10 (in the United States) as more customers are looking for smaller cars. But we have not made a final decision yet as we are still studying logistics costs and various technical issues,”an official said to a newspaper.
Volkswagen to launch Beetle in India
Volkswagen has finally decided to launch the people’s car Beetle in India. The beetle will be launched in India by 2009. Beetle which is manufactured in Mexico for VW’s worldwide supplies and could come to India through the completely built unit import route. “Beetle will come here. After strengthening our dealership network, it will come next year,” Volkswagen India President and Managing Director Joerg Mueller told. Volkswagen which currently has eight dealers in the country and plans to increase to 15 by the end of this year.
Bike Modification
This article is written by Lokesh a bike passionate from Chennai
Pulsar to Ninja:
The massive growth in the buying power of Indian youth has pushed automobile majors in the 2-wheeler segment to launch new products in a never-before seen pace. However this fails to satisfy our youngsters who value individuality as much as functionality. Those who have money, time and patience import exotic rides (read Ninjas and Harley Davidsons). Others who only have time and patience turn to aftermarket products.
Bike modification has been favourite area for true bike enthusiast.To modify a bike and earn to lure eyeballs, you have to spend tons of time and few bucks. We will try to cover all the items related to the Bike modification / alteration in this section. Watch this space to know more……….
Cosmetic upgrades:
The versatality of this field is astounding. From tuning the bikes to deliver unbelievable performance to creating a superbike look-a-like, the possiblities seem endless. The most sought sfter alteration , as in the job market, is in the design department. One of the many things that can be done is to add a carbon-fibre fairing which gives the bike a dynamic appeal. Adding an engine guard is a double-edged sword. Though it may give the bike a macho look, in most commuters it looks unnecessarily bulky. While attaching a bigger fairing may look good, at times it requires changing the entire headlight assembly. Some wise(?) people use a vertical sticker on the headlight to make it look like a double light head lamp. And then there’s always the paint job that can render any colour to almost any part of the bike. The success of this attempt solely depends on the aesthetic sense of the owner and to a little extent on the quality of the job done.Except for the engine block and silencer where the paint starts to melt and causes discoloration, this idea does not cause any problems mechanically.
Beefy tires and sporty suspension:
The upgrades discussed above are not known to affect the performance in a big way, and stick only to enhancing the looks. However there are certain areas which influenze both the looks and handling of the bike. One such area which is frequently experimented with are the tires. Many believe that switching to wider tires lends a big-bike feel and look to the bike, but few realize that it takes a toll on fuel consumption and top speed. The trick is to either sacrifice the above factors or balance on’es selection to go with the bike’s overall theme and also not spoil the bike’s performance. Raised seats and heightened suspensions are also frequently seen in traffic nowadays. The ride quality that comes with this package is not very good and most often gets bumpy in an already spoilt road. Putting in more ‘moolah’ to get imported shocks or switching to a mono-suspension is a feasible option.
Skin deep — K&N filter and Iridium spark plug
A combination or a selection of the above ideas could make an onlooker go crazy guessing your motorcycle’s make. But what good is an expensive facelift when an age-old RD350 beats the crap out of your Honda CBR (read modified Pulsar) ? Not to worry as this too has been looked into. The first word that comes into everyone’s mind is ‘diffuser’ , the second is ‘loud’ and third is ‘cheap’. Freeflow exhausts are available or can be made in most lathe shops. These ‘sophisticated’ products allow the exhaust gas to the atmosphere literally throwing any environmental concerns to the wind. A performance boost albeit minimal s guarenteed but the uncivilized noise and smoke do not make it road legal not to mention the fuel consumption.
A little bit of automobile know-how would lead one from the silencer to the carburettor. Performance filters from companies like K&N are available for 100cc engines and above. This is one of the very few authentic products that is extensively used in the alteration procedures. K&N filters optimize the fuel-air mixture in accordance with the throttle opened at any instant of time by controlling the amount of air entering the carburettor. Unlike in a diffuser, the engine note becomes low and mean above a particular ‘rpm’ range. The power band range in the tachometer is also unofficially expanded allowing the engine to be pushed to a higher rpm than before effortlessly. The air-fuel mixture can also be changed by using a bigger nozzle for fuel supply to the carburettor. Together with performance filters the pickup and acceleration are noticably improved. Further alterations like changing the powertrain and certain parts of the engine-assembly provide much better results, but are quite expensive.
Few catchy trends in bike alteration among youngsters, like paint most part of the bike black have been followed up by bikemakers like Bajaj in their product upgrades. With everything said and done, not one of the afore-mentioned alterations are approved by any bikemaker in India, which seriously affects any guarentee or warranty claims that come with the product. But that’s a small price to pay for the owner’s pride and onlooker’s envy.
Bajaj to launch Blade in US
The economic slowdown and the spiking crude oil price has changed the mindset of Americans in a big away. Americans the world’s largest oil consumers and their love for SUV’s and Harley’s have always been a favourite subject for enviromentalist to criticize. However when the crude oild touched 4$ per gallon this summer, Americans felt the heat. Sales of Ford’s F150 and Toyota’s Tundra pick-up dwindled and i believe there wll not be question on Hummer. The shift is fast and even the mighty Toyota fails to cope up with the trend. Sales of prius and Mini jumped to many fold. But that alone may not be the solution. Finally American must follow the way of Indians and Chinese to survive in the toughest times. For short travel they have started looking for economical scooters.
The appeal for scooters is on the raise, where India’s second largest two wheeler maker wish to ride on. 131,000 new scooters were sold in the United States in 2007, nearly double the 70,000 sold in 2002 and triple the 42,000 new units sold in 2000. Meanwhile, U.S. sales of new scooter units were up 24 percent for the first quarter of 2008 compared with the same period a year ago. Bajaj once sold chetak in US exited from the country as Bajaj moved away from the scooter business to produce small engined motorcycles.Visit http://www.bajajusa.com/ to know more about chetak’s journey in US.
Bajaj is now looking to introduce the blade 125cc scooter in US. The blade 125cc unveiled at the January Delhi Auto expo is powered by a 4 valve, DTSI engine. The US variant of blade 125cc would feature Fuel Injection technology to return better fuel efficieny figure. Americans who have been riding Yamaha’s and Honda’ scooter might find the Bajaj’s blade an attractive option it will priced very competetively. The success or failure of Bajaj’s Blade will convey a lot. If it succeeds and global crude oil price continues to raise, Americans may have to ride splendours like their Indian counterparts to live.
Honda new City 2008 spy photo
Here’s another spy shot on Honda’s new 2008. The new Honda city 2008 is spotted in Thailand where the car is believed to make its global debut.
source:pantip
EKO vehicle to launch EV 60 e-scooter
EKO vehicle Bangalore based electric bike (ebike) maker today said that it would soon launch its second product. To be named as EV 60 will be priced at Rs 39,600. EV 60 is the second escooter from EKO vehicle after cosmic/velociti. EKO vehicle has so far sold more than 15,000 units since the launch of cosmic. “We have orders to deliver (another) 100,000 units”,EKO vehicles Chairman Anil Ananthakrishna said. EKO vehicles has 65 dealers in six States. EKO vehicles plans to launch its electric scooters in United States ofAmerica by 2009.
Hot news update on Toyota altis
While the actual launch of the altis will take place only on septmeber 05th, Toyota will showcase the altis in its handpicked showrooms on 23 and 24th August. Check your nearby Toyota showroom to know more about the altis.
Engine and Performance:
The new corolla altis is powered by a 1.8L petrol engine producing 132bhp of maximum power. However there will be no diesel engine on offer.The new corolla altis comes with both manual and automatic option. The automatic transmission will be a four speed one with sequential multi mode shifter. According to Toyota the new corolla altis can reach 60kmph from stand still in just 4.76 seconds and 100kmph in just 11.66 seconds. Also Toyota says that the new corolla altis would give better mileage than the Honda civic.The new corolla altis will run on 195/65 R15 tyres.
Space and comfort:
Though the new corolla altis will be shorter and slimmer than civic, it will be taller than the civic by 30mm and will have a higher ground clearance. The dimensions of the new corolla altis are length – 4540mm, width – 1760mm ,Height- 1450mm ,wheelbase – 2700mm and ground clearance – 176mm. The turning radius of the new altis would be 5.3m
A total of 22 storage points are located around the interior of the Corolla. These include: a main glove box in the traditional lower dashboard location on the passenger side and second one with an internal shelf on the upper section of the dashboard on the passenger side; a drop-down holder for sunglasses, a selection of cupholders; generously proportioned door side pockets; and centre console storage.
Features:
Toyota claims the altis new efficient a/c will cool the cabin in just 11.3 seconds compared to the Civic’s 22 seconds. The new corolla altis gets a host of exciting features such as – sliding arm rest at the front and a first in class electro chromatic rear view mirror. A multi-information display – which tells you the Time, outside temperature and average speed,average fuel consumption / the mileage is also a novel feature in the new altis. Other novel features in the altis includes High Intensity Discharge (HID) headlamps with head lamp washer,cruise control,power seats and stick remote. Safety features in the new corolla altis inludes airbags and ABS with EBD.
Electrochromatic rear view mirror and Headlamp washer demystified
Electrochromatic rear view mirror
An electrochraomatic mirror uses advanced sensing technologies to detect ambient light and glare from headlamp glare of vehicles approaching from behind and other sources. It then varies the reflectivity of the mirror, dimming to give the driver just the right amount of rear vision and glare protection. The feature is currently available in BMW 5 series.
Headlamp washer
Maintaining headlamp output is extremely important during night but even a small amounts of road slurry build up on a lamp can reduce its output by 50 percent. Moreover, during snow/icing/fog conditions this defused stray light dramatically increases light above horizontal causing the fog/snow at the driver’s eye level to be illuminated, thereby further impeding forward vision. Hence to maintain the headlamp clear washer are used. Washer sprayS high pressure fluid on the headlamps and clean the headlamp.
Price:
The manual variant of new corolla altis will be priced between Rs13.5 to Rs14.5 lakhs (depending on the variant). The corolla altis automatic (AT) will be priced around Rs15.2 lakhs. The corolla altis will come in three variants – altis low-end 1.8L (Manual),1.8 GL (top end Manual) and 1.8 J automatic.
To see the teaser visit corolla altis home page http://www.toyotaaltis.in
P.S You can book the new Toyota Corolla Altis through Mr.Dilli Babu (91-9841627209) in chennai
Suzuki Lanza 150cc
After the Yamaha its now suzuki turn to make bike enthusiast cheer. Suzuki will soon launch an 150cc bike with a six speed transmission. Excited ! stick to the floor, unlike the R15, Suzuki’s lanza will be a commuter bike. Ya, Suzuki is following a different strategy, as every manufacturer move towards sportiness, the former TVS partner wish to tap the buyers whose first preference are the ergonomics,performance and fuel economy / mileage. Suzuki’s lanza 150cc will be the only bike to sport toe and heel gear lever other than pulsar in the 150cc segment.
The lanza 150cc boast a bikini fairing with a wolf eyed headlamp similar to the pulsar. The pilot lamps are mounted on each side which increases the aura of the lanza. However the most striking features in the lanza is its muscular fuel tank. The handlebar comes with weight on both sides which might be borrowed from the Suzuki’s 125cc zeus. The cockpit will be a digital one with a LCD console. The rear cowl is big and features a LED tail lamp cluster.Lanza features a disc brake at the front and drum brake at the rear.
Bajaj used to facelift its product every 12 or 18 months but a facelift for pulsar is due. It seems like Bajaj has forgotten its job and with lanza Suzuki has done it instead of Bajaj. But it’s hard to blame the pulsar except for its troublesome gearbox and inconsistent engine performance. Suzuki might do magic with its ultra reliable engine and butter smooth six speed transmission.
TVS Apache RTR 180cc the Menace
As we eariler reported, TVS will soon come up with a 180cc version of flagship product apache RTR. Codenamed as the menace, the new apache RTR 180cc would come with few cosmetic upgrades. But what’s more exciting will be the new powerful 180cc engine.
TVS has earlier said that it would introduce the ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) in its forthcoming powerful bikes. However the new apache RTR 180cc menace will not have ABS as it will push up the price. The proposed 200cc version of apache RTR might come with ABS. TVS will launch the scooty streak in September and the apache RTR 180cc Menace might hit the showrooms in October or November.
Yamaha YZF R15 Pictorial Review
Who made the mistake? whether its the general public or the Yamaha Motorcycles. Even in 2008 Indians view Yamaha as a maker of Rx100 which is no longer in production. That’s true, after the RX100 (production stopped in 1998) none of the Yamaha bikes including the gladiator is able to quench the thirst of Indian customers. This may be partly attributed to our’s love for fuel efficient bikes. But we gradually expressed our interest towards higher segment bikes. The success of pulsar and Karizma is a strong case. The japanese maker never waked up and launched series of 100cc bikes. There were no takers for the bikes and Yamaha’s market share plummeted from 40% to just 2% in the last ten years.
Let’s put the past behind us. Here is the new Yamaha which is all set to regain its lost ground. Yamaha has come up with a new bike christened R15 which is very much similar to our dream bike. YZF R15 comes with racy styling, features fuel Injection, Monoshock rear suspension and disc brake at the rear. Without no doubt, R15 a tiger in the specs sheet. But that does not says all, we test drive the much touted Yamaha’s R15 150cc and find out whether its our dream bike!
1) Yamaha YZF R15: While the R1 is inspired from M1, Yamaha’s YZF R15 is developed to imitate R1 in every aspect. R15 takes the credit for being the first bike in India to come with full front fairing. With its unmistakeable R-series styling, YZF R15 easily stands out in the crowd and is easy to mistake for a much larger capacity machine. The dual headlights have a distinctive R-series look, while the low frontal area and small tail are clearly influenced by the bigger R-series bikes. Overall R15 is more a clone of R1 it scores full point in styling.
2) Yamaha YZF R15: This race bike comes with a hi-fi engine. The engine boast plenty of new technologies that we can list only in a separate post. All aluminum DiASil Cylinder is not just an low weighing one but also has excellent heat dissipation qualities (cooling capacity is improved by 60% and reduces engine weight (by 30%). The forged piston and the six hole type injector leads to excellent power developement. Since the bike comes with full fairing a compact radiator works overtime to cool the engine.
Whether its traffic signal or real race, R15 pips all other bikes with hands down. Pulling away from a stoplight, it only needs the slightest turn of the throttle to get you moving ahead of traffic. On the race track, it tempts you to go faster and faster. But finally its a 150cc engine don’t expect it to act like Ninja. The six speed transmission is butter smooth and carefully spaced gear ratios offers ample power at all speeds. We clocked a maximum speed of 132kmph in the sriperumbudur race track. The only disappointment is lack of any distinct beat (still ears beg for the Rx100’s wine). As expected R15 returned 33kmpl in our combined city and highway drive. Considering the 12 holding capacity of the chunky tank, you will have to visit the petrol filling station often.
3) Yamaha YZF R15:
Ergonomics and comfort:
Though we are used to Xtreme’s and Apache’s. The ergonomics of YZF R15 demands our flexibility. The reach to the handlebars remains short, but the pegs are higher and further back, and the bars are angled more downward. You are in a more aggressive position, but it becomes livable once you are used to the sporty riding position. Big people over 1m80 tall are at ease on board – more so, at any rate, than smaller people, who will probably find the seat a little too high. The handlebars are mounted on the fork tops so your wrists don’t take the jerks and the seat isn’t massively hard either. Passenger accommodations are there, but while braking your spine has to bear the thrashing pillion.
4) Yamaha YZF R15:
Handling:
Yamaha’s proven deltabox frame along with the aluminium swingarm forms the chassis of the R15. The duo makes the R15 to deliver an optimum balance of strength and rigidity. Once you are used to the radical riding position, manoeuvering in signals with R15 becomes a lovable exercise. When riding in stop-light traffic, the weight on your wrists becomes a distinct sensation of the riding experience. The sporty riding position (sitting closer to the larger tank) seems to help somewhat. While negotiating tight corners, the position works very well putting you in a good position, to move the bike around, and to move around on the bike.
Powerful, linear, fade-free braking is all we expect from performance bikes. The large diameter 292mm front disc is slowed by a compact twin-pot caliper which delivers strong and progressive braking performance for good controllability over a wide range of speeds. The large single front disc is complemented by a 230mm rear disc, giving the R15rider accurate control in town as well as on the open road.
5) Yamaha YZF R15: The high speed stability of R15 is impeccable. R15’s race-bred technology puts you confidently in control. MRF has worked and produced a special tyre specifically for the R15. Both the tyres are tubeless. The F 80/90 -17 inchestyre in the front and 100/80-17 inches tyres in the rear. The mirrors are very functional even at high speeds. You can take the corner very fast and it is very stable in braking while the front gives the positive expected feel for when entering a corner so it’s possible to be ridden at your maximum limit. R15 provides ample feedback from the tires and this helps to understand your maximum limit and the amount of grip provided by the surface you ride on. But i’m sure that every buyer will look for a bigger tyre for the betterment of the look.
6) Yamaha YZF R15: R15 comes with all the essentials we love, except the LED tail lamps. R15 features digital speedo, alloy wheels, clip on handlebars, golden coloured telescopic fork, handlebar weight, split grab rail, open type chain and fatter rear tyre.
7) Yamaha YZF R15: Yamaha YZF R15 comes with a hefty price tag of Rs1,05,000 (On The Road Chennai). Similar to R1, YZF R15 comes in two colours – black and blue. Yamaha have developed a range of quality accessories for YZF-R15 owners wishing to customise their bike. The line-up includes a double bubble screen, a yoke, a seat cover, roller protectors and a tank pad.
Verdict:
The R15 checks all the right boxes in styling, performance, ride and handling chracterstics. But as expected it does not fare well in fuel efficieny/ mileage dept. But that does not paralyses the R15, it is easily the fastest bike in India. This is achieved through the use of number of cutting edge technologies. But the use of such technologies have pushed the price of R15 beyond the 1 lakh rupee mark i.e almost double the price of similar 150cc bikes. The die hard Yamaha fans with fat wallet must be happy with the product. But for many of us, R15 might continue to be dream bike for some time. But start saving, its worth buying. Not at all convinced! wait till a bike with similar performance comes to the market with a lesser price tag.
P.S: Our sincer thanks to visvanathan (9884444909) you can contact him to book R1 in chennai