LiewCF.com

Posted: 27 Oct 2009 12:07 PM PDT

Yahoo! Youreka! logo Yahoo! Malaysia has launched YOUREKA!, an online and offline treasure hunting contest.

All you need to do is visit Yahoo! Malaysia or Youreka website and spot a colored ticket.

Yahoo! YOUREKA!: I found a red ticket. In fact, you could NEVER missed it! It’s so easy!

Register online and you’ll receive a confirmation e-mail that you can exchange for a corresponding Tag to redeem a special premium from Yahoo! and Adidas.

If you are lucky, you may end up exchanging for a very limited purple tag that gives you a chance to participate in the YOUREKA! Finale Event and stand a chance to win an Apple iPod Touch and Apple Macbook Air!

The first YOUREKA! hunt pit-stop is at Adidas. Red tag holders will receive 10% off Adidas products and free Adidas premiums.

Date: 31 October (Saturday) & 1st November (Sunday), 2009
Time: 12:00noon to 9:00pm
Venue: Adidas Flagship Store at The Gardens Midvalley City.

My two cents

YOUREKA! is too easy to participate and I don’t think it is a “treasure hunting” contest.

Everyone who visit the YOUREKA! could spot the colored ticket and claim your tag, then get discount from the selected shops. That’s no brainer.

By the way, the web design of Yahoo! YOUREKA! reminded me about The Million Dollar Homepage.

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Paul Tan's Raves and Rants on the Automotive Industry

Tokyo 2009: New Toyota Mark X
October 26, 2009 at 9:31 pm

toyota-mark-x-live-1

The new Toyota Mark X’s Mazda-like wheel arches are even more obvious in real life than in photos. Toyota has basically taken the existing Mark X design and literally did a facelift on it, seemingly stretching the front design outwards and upwards.

toyota-mark-x-live-2

As for the rear end, the car’s bangle butt design has been toned down a little and the tail lamp design now stretches onto the car’s bootlid. Kinda reminds me of the Sylphy really. Look after the jump for more live photos of the Mark X at Tokyo 2009.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Tue, 27 Oct 09 09:31:59 +0800.

Honda rethinks its future product offerings
October 26, 2009 at 11:34 am

Honda Logo Future automobile products are planned a few years in advance and with the volatile world markets these days the job of a product engineering team as well as a product planner is getting harder and harder.

Autonews.com has a very interesting story they managed to squeeze out of Honda’s management at the 2009 Tokyo show centering around one of Honda’s most vital platforms – the Civic platform.

The Civic platform forms the basis of other vehicles like the Stream, the CR-V, and even other Hondas not found in our market such as the Honda Element. The interview revealed that Honda’s original intentions was for the next generation Honda Civic to be even larger and more plush than the current Civic, which has already grown to last decade Accord-ish proportions in terms of length and wheelbase.

Honda Civic Hatchback
The Civic hatchback platform differs from the sedan’s and is smaller.

But that plan has been scrapped. Honda engineers have instead been told to make the Civic smaller and lighter. It’s not 100% clear what this means – the Civic may not necessarily become smaller than the current generation. It could probably mean smaller and lighter than originally intended to be, which would hopefully put it around the same size as the current generation. Honda wants to try creating an increased perception of interior space but keep the exterior dimensions within control.

Another rumour that surfaced a few months ago was that Honda could be splitting the Civic into two lines like Toyota’s Corolla and Corolla Altis, a smaller one for Japanese tax regulations and a larger one for markets that like more metal for their money.

Honda Stream
Stream is based on the Civic platform

But such a mid-way change has caused the project to be somewhat delayed. The current Civic has just been facelifted and a new one is supposed to arrive in 2011, a 5 year cycle after its introduction in 2006. But Honda is putting in more manpower to try to meet the target. If that doesn’t happen, the Civic could be delayed for a year or so. Honda president Takanobu Ito admitted the team was struggling.

This is not unprecedented, the previous generation Corolla Altis was also delayed and we still ended up with an all-new Altis that was pretty much a reskinned previous gen.

CR-Z

Other new upcoming Honda products include the implementation of the hybrid IMA system across more models. Right now it is only available in small to medium cars – the Insight, the Civic Hybrid, and pretty soon the CR-Z. A hybrid minivan is coming – this could mean a few things such as an USDM Odyssey Hybrid or even a Stream Hybrid. Not much else was revealed about which minivan model. There used to be an Accord Hybrid but that was scrapped due to discouraging sales. But larger hybrid vehicles like the Accord Hyrbid is going to make a comeback soon.

Honda revealed that a dual-motor IMA system is currently under development. The dual motor system will be configured in a way that it is able to function as an e-CVT in full electric mode, much like the series-parallel system in the Toyota Prius.

This means Honda will have a two-prong hybrid strategy – a motor assist parallel mode hybrid system for smaller cars and a full hybrid series-parallel system that can be used in larger cars. A series-parallel hybrid is of course more costly and complicated to implement thus more suitable for larger vehicles that are able to carry higher price tags.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Mon, 26 Oct 09 23:39:37 +0800.

Lotus Engineering's new Versatile Vehicle Architecture – a technical presentation
October 26, 2009 at 12:51 am

Lotus Logo Lotus Engineering is currently pushing its Versatile Vehicle Architecture to any manufacturer that wants to license it as a base platform for future cars.

The Lotus Evora is the first production car to debut based on the VVA chassis and previously we’ve also seen the Lotus APX Concept which was also built on the VVA. It’s interesting how these two models could have come off the same base platform as the APX is a front engine crossover SUV kind of thing while the Evora is a mid-engine sports car.

The VVA allows for the development of a range of vehicles up to a gross vehicle weight of 1,900 kg. It is designed for low to mid volume applications and is an evolution of technology from the tub that forms the basis of the Elise, Exige and Europa. The tub now allows for ease of ingress and egress from the vehicle (it’s not exactly easy to get in and out of an Elise), build modularity and improved, lower-cost repairability.

View presentation in full screen for ease of reading

One of the key selling points is that usually when car manufacturers make a niche or halo vehicle, it rarely fits the kind of engineering that the rest of its product range does. Not every car company is like Toyota, able to quickly source a rear wheel drive platform and boxer engine from now-partly-owned Subaru. A halo sportscar that may require a bespoke platform will rarely fit in with the rest of the mundane front wheel drive sedans and hatches in terms of platform engineering.

So instead of spending lots of time and money on a bespoke niche platform, Lotus hopes car companies will come to them for the VVA instead. It has been designed so that it can be stretched in width, length and height. The strength and stiffness of the low volume VVA chassis can be modified cost-effectively by varying the wall thickness of the extrusions, without altering the exterior dimensions.

This story originally appeared on Paul Tan's Automotive News on Mon, 26 Oct 09 16:06:26 +0800.

Tokyo Live 2009: Daihatsu e:S Concept
October 26, 2009 at 12:22 am

Daihatsu e:S Concept

Looking at photos are one thing but seeing a concept car in real life is another. The Daihatsu e:S manages to look compact but somehow not excessively cheap at the same time, so you feel like if you bought one, it’s purely because you do not need anything bigger – just two seats and a small boot behind your front seats. The e:S has some really small rear seats though making it somewhat like a 2+2, but you’re better off using that space as a boot instead.

To give you an idea, the e:S Concept’s 2,175mm wheelbase is actually even shorter than the now-”extinct” Kancil’s 2,280mm wheelbase. It’s based on an existing platform but had its wheelbase shortened so it should mean the development cost for a production car would not be excessively high.

Weight loss techniques such as slim and lightweight seats and light materials give the e:S a total weight of 700 kg. As a result, its 660cc engine with auto-start stop can take it as far as 30km on a liter of fuel under the Japan 10-15 drive mode.

Look after the jump for a live photo gallery of the e:S.