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Already distinctive and rather good to look at, the new 3 Series is made even more desirable with this aggressive bodykit. While the stock 3 has design cues that resemble the bigger 5 Series, the added M kit seems to lend well to help the 316i carve its own identity, which is definitely a good thing.

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Less Can Be More | BMW 316i M Sport

Last to the 3 Series family, the 316i may pack the least power, but it's so affable, it may just leave its middle siblings neglected by the crowd.

Happenings

Eurokars City Centre Revamped And Unveiled

IN Eurokars, Group, Centre, MINI, Porsche, Rolls Royce, Showroom

With Second Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran as the Guest of Honour, the Eurokars City Centre opens its doors to the public.

No need to hunt for a parking lot or wonder where to go, the Basement 2 car park is dedicated to receive you. Just pull up at the service reception bay and a service advisor will attend to you promptly. He will then run through the areas that your car will be worked on for the day, and proceed to give you a cost estimate.

Happenings

Audi Service Excellence 'Test Driven'

IN Audi, Audi Centre, Aftersales, Service, Premium Auto

They could have sent out a press release saying that they've got a great aftersales service program. But Audi went one better and invited us to experience it for ourselves.

Combine that brief with Tilke's characteristic safety features and tarmac run-off areas (less exciting for professional racing, much safer and friendlier for trackdays), and everyone's a winner. As a car enthusiast in Singapore caged by endless rules and taxes, this news comes at a perfect time to give us hope and take our minds off the recent ridiculous trends in our car industry. If you'll excuse me, I've now got to start saving for my own trackday monster...

Happenings

FASTrack Iskandar Appoints Hermann Tilke As Track Designer

IN FASTrack, Iskandar, Johor, Malaysia, Track, Racetrack, Motorsports, Trackday

Motorsports fans and petrolheads rejoice. After news of the Changi Motorsposrts Hub's demise left car enthusiasts disappointed, there now seems to be hope for the local motorsports fraternity.

The Cascada looks to be a serious contender to some of its more established German rivals. Cheaper, more practical and with arguably better looks than an A5 Cabrio, GM has an ambitious target in its sights. Sure, with an A5, you can brag to all your friends that you have an Audi, and granted, the Vauxhall/Opel Badge is not as desirable as an Audi one. But which do you prefer? A large, well made, good looking and practical car with some extra cash left over from the purchase of the car or a slightly smaller, well made Audi, with nothing left in your pocket? The choice is yours.

Happenings

Topless Vauxhall Unveiled!

IN Opel, Vauxhall, GM, Cascada, Convertible, Cabriolet

Vauxhall builds Astra and Insignia-based 4 seater convertible.

Of course, the car is nothing more than a concept at this point in time. That said, if the Provo ever entered production, how much of the radical design would actually make it into the final product? The car in its current form is certainly quite striking though, thanks to the contrasting roof color, one-piece headlight and taillight housings, and oversized wheel arches paired with radical wheels.

Happenings

Hot Korean Model Rivals The British And Germans

IN Kia, Provo, Concept, Geneva, Hybrid, Sports

Kia’s Provo Concept is set to be serious contender in the compact car category. MINI, watch out!

Now, I can bet with you that Lamborghini would like to be known as the manufacturer that makes wild supercars again. At the Geneva Motor Show, they made sure that that nickname stuck by launching the Lamborghini Veneno. Underneath the radically styled carbonfibre body, lie the chassis and the running gear of the Aventador.

Happenings

Ultra Rare Aventador-Based Supercar Launched!

IN Lamborghini, Veneno, Anniversary, V12, Geneva

Lamborghini builds the insane Veneno to celebrate its 50th anniversary.

Two models of the A-class will be available here, both powered by turbocharged 4-cyl engines: the 1.6-litre A200 with 156 hp and 250 Nm of torque, and the 2.0-litre A250 Sport with 211 hp and 350Nm. Claimed performance figures for both models are 8.3 s and 6.6 s respectively for the 0-100 km/h dash, and top speeds of 224 km/h and 240 km/h. Thanks to Mercedes' BlueEFFICIENCY engineering philosophy, both cars are rather fuel efficient at 5.8 and 6.4 l/100km, while CO2 emissions of 136 and 148 g/km ensure up to $10,000 in CEVS rebates.

Happenings

All-New Mercedes A-Class Launch

IN Mercedes, Mercedes-Benz, A-class, A200, A250, Hatchback, Cycle & Carriage

The previous Mercedes A-class was an innovative exercise in compact packaging and practicality, but suffered from ungainly looks and the results of the infamous Elk Test. Will the new one redeem it?

The stats, though, really do make for quite some startling reading. The 6.3-litre V12 is a development of the unit from the F12 Berlinetta, but massaged to produce 790 bhp at a screaming 9000 rpm. Coupled with Ferrari's HY-KERS (HYbrid-Kinetic Energy Recovery System), the LaFerrari manages a grand total of 950 bhp and 970 Nm of torque, eclipsing the McLaren by about 50 bhp, and murdering the Porsche's 785 bhp. As a result, 0-100 km/h is done and dusted in less than 3 sec, 0-200 in less than 7 and 0-300 in 15 sec. The mighty Bugatti Veyron SS, with around 200 bhp more, can only manage those benchmarks in 2.5, 6.7 and 14.6 sec respectively.

Happenings

The New LaFerrari - LaAwesome, Or 'Come On lah'?

IN Ferrari, LaFerrari, Geneva, Hybrid, Hypercars

Years of planning, research, testing and teasing have led to this. The War of the Hypercars is upon us and Ferrari wades into battle with the biggest arsenal. It's gonna be an exciting year ahead...

Now however, they have unveiled a new, smaller mid-engined sports car to rival the Porsche 911: the B6 Venator. Currently still a concept, it is slated to begin production for most markets in early 2014, and for North America in Autumn 2014.

Happenings

Spyker Returns With The B6 Venator Concept

IN Spyker, B6, Venator, Concept, Geneva

Spyker is back with a vengeance as it announces its first new model in over 3 years, and it has the Porsche 911 in its sight.

The difference is not only cosmetic. The new DB9 gets more poke too. That said, this is no Vanquish; the new DB9 is heavier than the Carbon-Bodied Vanquish. Anyways, back to the topic. The new DB9 is powered by Aston Martin's trademark 6.0-liter V12.

Happenings

Aston Martin Facelifts The DB9

IN Aston Martin, DB9

The DB9 is the latest Aston to receive a facelift. So how did its little surgery turn out?

Stomp on the pedal from standstill and the new GTI will accelerate to 100 km/h in 6.5 seconds and reach a top speed of 246 km/h. The GTI Performance will edge ahead a little at 250 km/h and 6.4 seconds for the sprint to 100 km/h.

Happenings

New Volkswagen Golf GTI To Grace Geneva Motor Show

IN Volkswagen, Golf, GTI, Geneva Motor Show

Following the news on Volkswagen's GTD diesel hot-hatch, their iconic GTI has officially been announced and will make an appearance at the Geneva Motor Show.

Ok, so we've driven it on curvy italian sweepers, but how does it fare on our local roads. We grab the keys to a Golf Sport which packs 140 bhp and 250 Nm of torque. The 1.4 TSI turbocharged engine will enable the Golf Sport to hit 100 km/h in 8.4 seconds from standstill, and onto an impressive 212 km/h, where roads allow.

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Hole-In-One | Volkswagen Golf Sport 1.4 TSI

IN Volkswagen Group Singapore, Volkswagen, VW, Golf, 1.4 TSI, TDI, DSG, Mk 7, 7, 1.6 TDI

Volkswagen scores a hole-in-one with the new Golf. We drive it, only to find out that it has just bagged the coveted Car of the Year award. We couldn't agree with the judges more.

Aside from the ActiveHybrid badges, it's pretty much the same on the outside, what you get on a regular 3 Series sedan is what you'll find on the AH3. Our test car did come with some silver aluminum inserts and trimmings, the signature kidney grille for example, has its slats finished in silver instead of chrome. Another quick way to differentiate the AH3 from the regular 3 Series is to look at the wheels (provided they aren't spinning). The rotor-styled wheels are unique to the AH3, and along with its bigger brethren, the AH5 and AH7, complete the range of propeller-design wheels on the ActiveHybrid series.

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Mean & Green | BMW ActiveHybrid 3

IN BMW, 3 Series, Performance Motors, Hybrid, Active Hybrid, 3

How do we save the world without any super powers? BMW has the answer. Packing 335 bhp and 450 Nm, the ActiveHybrid 3 is both mean and green!

The Audi A6 is one such car that has really impressed me. With a powertrain that is made up on a combination of the 211 bhp, 2-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated with a 54 bhp electric motor, it pushes a total output of 245 bhp. Pretty decent for this sedan, and more than what you would need on a daily basis.

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Clean Performance | Audi A6 Hybrid

IN Audi A6, Audi Singapore, Premium Automobiles, Hybrid

Audi's A6 Hybrid packs a combined power of 245 bhp and will save you some money too (if you drove it like it had 120 bhp)! But for the price, wouldn't a 3.0 TFSI make more sense?

I've always been fond of Peugeot's car designs. The 308, RCZ and the new 508 GT in particular are my personal favorites. I can't say the same for the 408 though. Somehow, the proportions look a bit wrong to me. That said, I could be the only one with that view, because almost everywhere I took the 408, people were staring - no kidding - this regular sedan was turning heads!

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French Kiss | Peugeot 408 1.6 Turbo

IN Peugeot, 408, Sedan, AutoFrance

The new Peugeot 408 has a lot of room and packs some 'vroom' too. Can it take the game to the Germans and the Japanese though?

Motorsports

TimeToAttack Final Round

IN Zerotohundred.com, TimeToAttack, Event, Sepang

2012 ened with a huge bang as Zertohundred.com closed their TimeToAttack series with a final round at the Sepang International Circuit.

After passing through the checkpoints, the cars regrouped and blasted up the North-South Highway in unison. Sheldon and myself made a good effort to do our best in this challenge and kept throttle-discipline during the drive up, keeping in mind the only rule for the challenge; that the last car had to be no more than 5 minutes away from the first car, upon arrival at the end-point. Sheldon being the more experienced 'eco' driver, made use of both the cruise control and optimal rev count to keep the consumption as low as possible.

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Don't Just Speed, Feed!

IN Volkswagen Group Singapore, Volkswagen, VW, TDI, DSG, Diesel, CEVS

To Malacca and back. Over two days. With less than a tank of diesel. We join Volkswagen on an epic trip up north to sample good food and great cars.

That is not a problem if you are rich. However, the majority of us are not rich, which means that a fast Juke is out of our reach. Until now with the introduction of the Nissan Juke Nismo.

Happenings

Nissan Puts More 'Go' Into The Juke

IN Nissan, Juke, Nismo

Nismo, Nissan’s tuning arm, squeezes more style and power out of the funky Juke.

Happenings

Aston's Sedan Gets Rapide-ly face-lifted

IN Aston Martin, Rapide, Rapide S

Aston Martin continues its face-lifting spree, this time, on their Rapide sports sedan/coupe.