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The question was not without merit. Sales of the outgoing Toyota Crown had dwindled to just 21,000 units. A far cry from the heady days where the Japanese automaker sold 200,000-plus units at the peak of the Crown era in 1990. It would take nothing short of a complete reboot to stop the decline of interest in sedans around the world.
Happenings

SHOCK: Toyota Crown sedan splits up into four-strong model lineup for 2023

IN Toyota, Crown, SUV, Luxury sedan

16th generation Toyota Crown becomes an SUV, wagon, and lifted sedan; to be sold globally starting from Autumn 2022 in Japan


But first, let me backtrack a bit. No doubt you’re here reading this because you saw the main picture and were intrigued by it. You’re probably wondering: why the heck would anyone want to bring a family MPV to a trackday, the least sporty kind of car imaginable?
Motorsports

I brought a 7-seater MPV to Sepang Circuit and didn’t die

IN Mitsubishi, Grandis, MPV, Sepang, Trackday

It’s not what you drive that matters, it’s how you drive it


Peugeot is the first mainstream car manufacturer to join the series after a sweeping revamp of the technical regulations, and made its competition return this weekend at the 6 Hours of Monza, the 4th round in the 6-race 2022 WEC season. Its weapon of choice? The new 9X8 Hypercar. Here’s a video of its very first lap in action: It was initially hoped that the 9X8 could make its live debut at the 2022 Le Mans 24h, but the newly-formed Team Peugeot TotalEnergies elected to skip that and instead focus on further testing to ensure the car’s race-readiness. This included a 15,000km test session and a marathon 36-hour endurance run to put the crew and their processes through their paces before wading into battle.
Motorsports

The Peugeot 9X8 is the next Le Mans Hypercar contender

IN Peugeot, 9X8, Le Mans, WEC, Hypercar, Motorsports

The radical wingless racer made its race debut in the WEC this past weekend at Monza


And it’s getting serious, with many of the biggest car manufacturers throwing their hat in the ring. Take Porsche for instance. Back in 2017, it made the decision to leave the World Endurance Championship, which it had dominated for the prior three years, to focus on Formula E. And aside from running its two Porsche 99X Electric Formula E cars, it even has the Taycan Turbo S performing safety car duties for since the start of this season.
Motorsports

Here’s five reasons why you should check out Formula E

IN Formula E, Porsche, Motorsports, EV

A weekend with the TAG Heuer Porsche team at the Jakarta Formula E race taught us a thing or two about how this engine-less series is more exciting than you expect.


The SUV in question is the Škoda Kodiaq vRS. The latter suffix is the Czech carmaker’s performance sub-brand, not unlike BMW’s M division or Mercedes-AMG. Perhaps, Škoda parent company Volkswagen’s GTI range might be closer to the concept of vRS. Speaking of which, vRS apparently stands for “victory Rally Sport” and the other fun fact is that the vee in vRS is actually supposed to be silent! So it’s simply referred to as, ‘RS’. In fact, in Škoda’s official communications, the the v is omitted altogether. It seems that not only is the ‘v’ silent, it’s invisible, too.
New

Bear market: Skoda Kodiaq vRS review

IN Skoda, Kodiaq, RS, VRS, SUV, Performance SUV

Skoda’s renown vRS performance line expands to its flagship SUV


(content from BMW Asia) Singapore. June is the perfect month to hit pause on everyday life and press play on a holiday adventure that will reignite your passion for travel. But there are some very important questions you need to answer first! Where do you go? What do you do? And most importantly, who will be your travel companion(s)? After a bit of thought, we made the decision to take to the roads with a few good friends and head out on an exciting journey to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia for the weekend. As everyone knows, a road trip is a great way to enjoy a holiday with family and friends. The excitement comes not only when you arrive at your destination, but from the journey itself. Kuala Lumpur is the perfect weekend getaway as it’s under 400 km away from Singapore and offers bustling streets, excellent cuisine, and plenty of shopping! The BMW iX, a fully electric Sports Activity Vehicle, is the perfect long-distance companion providing a virtually silent and locally emission-free drive. If you’re planning a drive up North with an electric vehicle (EV), here are some things to consider.
Happenings

“Road trip! Road trip!” A cross-border electric drive from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur in the BMW iX

IN BMW iX, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Drive

What to look out for when planning your electric adventure.


The 3 will be the biggest hitter in the Polestar food chain for the foreseeable future. Where the 2 is a performance executive sedan aimed at the Tesla Model 3 and indirectly, the Audi A4/BMW 3 Series/Mercedes-Benz C-class segment, the 3 will be a large SUV about the size of a Porsche Cayenne or Volvo XC90. In terms of direct all-electric competitors, it goes up against the BMW iX, as well as the forthcoming EV version of the Range Rover Sport. No details yet on its figures, but it’ll have a dual motor drivetrain (one on each axle), and a battery pack good enough for 600km of range. In due time, it’ll be able to drive itself, introducing “autonomous highway piloting powered by the best-in-class LiDAR sensor from Luminar and centralized NVIDIA computing power”. Fancy.
Happenings

Polestar's third act is a luxury electric performance SUV.

IN Polestar, EV, SUV, Electric vehicle

Polestar unveils their new luxury electric performance SUV, due to go on sale in October 2022. We take a closer look at the Polestar 3 here.


Back in the '80s, during F1's original turbo era, Porsche was an engine supplier, providing McLaren Racing with a 1.5-litre twin-turbo V6. But before putting it into the race car, it had to be tested, and for that, McLaren and Porsche stuck it unmodified into a 930 Turbo test mule. This white prototype - largely unmodified save for 17-inch RUF wheels, a front bumper from the 930 Flatnose, and a taller whaletail engine cover with extra vents - was kept secret by McLaren until it surfaced in the middle of last decade.
Happenings

These 3 F1-engined road cars beat the Mercedes-AMG One to the punch

IN Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG, Mercedes, AMG, One, Hypercar, F1, Formula One, Porsche, 930 Turbo, McLaren, Yamaha, Ferrari, F50

The Mercedes-AMG One isn’t the only car with a Formula One powerplant. Here are a few that came before it.


With the new Unlimited range by German wheel manufacturer BBS however, that’s about to change. Under this new “one size fits all” philosophy, BBS Unlimited wheels will only be made in one bolt pattern - 5x117.5. The wheels then mount up via adapters that match the car’s bolt pattern.
Happenings

BBS unveils universal wheel that’s “suitable for all vehicles”

IN BBS, Wheels, Aftermarket, Car modding

A step change for the aftermarket?


The collective brainchild of Ken Block and BBi Autosport, the Hoonipigasus was built to be the fastest overall at the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb in Colorado, USA, which celebrates its 100th running this year. BBi has had several class wins on Pikes Peak in various 911s and Caymans, so if anyone can pull this off, it's them. Starting with a Porsche 964 as a base, BBi stuffed a 4.0-litre flat-six out of a 911-gen Porsche GT3R racing car behind its rear seats to make it mid-engined, then gave it two massive turbos (the biggest ones that turbo maker Garrett has ever made) and all-wheel drive. It runs on methanol, revs up to 9,600rpm, and produces 1,400hp at sea level.
Happenings

The 1400hp Porsche 911 “Hoonipigasus” is Ken Block’s latest insane ride

IN Ken Block, Porsche, Porsche 911, Hoonigan, Pikes Peak

And he’ll attempt to conquer the Pikes Peak Hillclimb in it too.


For the new 2023 Range Rover Sport, that involved driving nearly 300m up the spillway of the Karahnjukar Dam in Iceland, against a torrent of water moving at 750 tonnes/min, and up a 25-degree incline. The danger of getting it wrong? A 90m drop off the end of the spillway into the valley below.
Happenings

The 2023 Range Rover Sport splashes down with a dam impressive debut

IN Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Land Rover

The new Range Rover Sport proves its mettle by driving up the spillway of an Icelandic hydroelectric dam


The 911 SC is the second of four special “Heritage Design” 911s that will be made by Porsche Exclusiv Manufaktur, all limited edition and each paying tribute to a different iconic decade of Porsche style. The first was 2020's 911 Targa Heritage Edition (below, right), which was a throwback to the 1950s and the Porsche 356, while the SC here takes inspiration from the early 911s of the ‘60s and early ‘70s. The next two models are due in 2024 and 2026.
Happenings

The Porsche 911 Sport Classic is the retro manual RWD 911 Turbo of your dreams

IN Porsche, 911, 911 Sport Classic, 911 Turbo, 911 SC, Savethemanuals

This limited edition model by the Porsche Exclusiv Manufaktur programme is the most powerful stick shift Porsche 911 ever made


Today, Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) have taken over as the car of choice and so unsurprisingly, the BMW X3 has become one the brand’s best-selling models. Although the 3 Series/4 Series are still the brand’s best-selling models in 2021 with 490,000 units sold, the X3/X4 range is closing in with 414,000 units finding homes last year.
New

BMW X3 xDrive30i M Sport

IN BMW, X3, XDrive30i, M Sport

Some timely updates and upgrades are set to keep one of the brand’s best-sellers at the top of its game.


We mused a couple weeks ago about exactly which variants of the Supra would get the stick, and now we have our answer. Unfortunately despite the 2.0L Supra’s B48 four-cylinder engine being sold with a manual in some of BMW’s 30i models, that won’t be repurposed for the Toyota Supra. Instead, the new manual will only be available on the 3.0L version.
Happenings

Toyota GR Supra 6MT: Full specs and details revealed

IN Toyota, Supra, Gazoo Racing, Sports cars, Coupes, #savethemanuals

The long-rumoured manual transmission Toyota Supra finally breaks cover. Question is, will it come to Singapore?


Asian cars like the Toyota Alphard/Vellfire, Lexus LM and Hyundai Staria have largely had this potentially lucrative sector of the market to themselves thus far, but now Audi wants in on the action too. Say hello to the Audi Urbansphere.
Happenings

The Audi Urbansphere is a self-driving luxury EV MPV for designed for Asia

IN Audi, Urbansphere, Concept car, EV, Autonomous car, MPV

Audi’s new “urban mobility concept” previews a future where cars become a “well-being sphere” for relaxation, leisure or productivity


Porsche has made itself a leader in this space, but there are plenty of other car brands that can benefit from this technology. Has there been any interest from anyone else in the car industry that has reached out to you to potentially partner on this? Or is it only Porsche and the private sector at the moment? There are some talks with other car and motorcycle manufacturers who are interested in such fuel, but in the beginning we will not have the volume to support the world. In principle there is interest, and although we see ourselves as pioneers in this direction, we hope that others will follow.
Happenings

Everything you need to know about how Porsche wants to save combustion engines with eFuels

IN Efuels, Synthetic fuels, Porsche

Porsche has just invested S$100m to produce synthetic fuels in Chile, with additional plants planned for USA and Australia.


Toyota also revived the Supra to much acclaim, but although it’s the flagship of a now thriving Gazoo Racing sub-brand, one thing about it stood out compared to its lesser brethren: it was not available with a manual transmission.
Happenings

Toyota GR Supra to get manual transmission

IN Toyota, Supra, GR Supra, Gazoo Racing, Save The Manuals

Toyota goes doubles down on the #savethemanuals movement, but what does this mean for BMW?


With my curiosity seriously piqued, I headed to my two favourite B-roads at night, and this was when my eyebrows nearly joined the pole star (that’s the one in outer space, not the one from Sweden). Firstly, there is the Polestar 2’s seeming incomprehension of the concept of understeer. There were a couple of instances where I was pretty damn sure I’d overcooked my corner entry, but no, the car pretty much sailed into the bend once I lifted off the brakes - not even a moment’s hesitation waiting for the front tyres to regain their grip. Even with deliberately over-aggressive throttle application when exiting corners, the car settles into more of a four-wheel drift instead of washing out at the front end.
New

[Opinion] The Polestar 2 completely changed my mind about EVs. Here's why.

IN Polestar, 2, Polestar 2, EV, Sedan, Opinion

For BP’s diehard and handling-obsessed petrolhead, the future of cars in an EV-only world looked bleak; but the Polestar 2 might just be his guiding light


Described as a British car that’s been “raised globally”, the Eletre was designed and engineered by several teams in the UK, Sweden and Germany, and will be the first Lotus built outside Britain - in a brand new factory in Wuhan, China. Don’t forget of course that Lotus is now owned by Geely, as is Volvo and its luxury EV offshoot Polestar.
Happenings

The Lotus Eletre is a 600hp, 2-tonne, all-electric inevitability.

IN Lotus, Eletre, EV, SUV

Lotus’s first ever five-door car is a Lamborghini/Aston Martin/Ferrari-rivalling hyper-SUV.


The Mazda CX-60 may be a 'tame' family hauler rather than a fire-breathing rotary sports coupe, but it still piqued more than a bit of interest here at the office. That's because the platform the CX-60 rides on, which will go on to underpin a number of Mazda's larger future offerings (including the next-gen Mazda 6), has the engine mounted longitudinally, which means… … wait for it… … a rear-wheel drive mechanical layout!
Happenings

Launched with a Buzz | Mazda CX-60 PHEV SUV

IN Mazda, CX-60, SUV, Hybrid

Kodo, Ma, Kaichou, Musubu, Hacho and Kakenui for you, Takumi-san?



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