AUTO MANIA: by Dr. Iain Corness [email protected]

Who sold what at the Bangkok International Motor Show

Isuzu D-Max.

The official figures have now been released following the close of the Bangkok International Motor Show at Impact Arena Challenger Hall. It was no surprise that Toyota again dominated, selling 10,341 vehicles, making up 25 percent of total sales.
In second place came Honda, selling 7,788 cars and snaring 19 percent of the market. Next up was Isuzu with 3,918, showing that the Thai love affair with one tonne pick-ups is not over yet. Nissan continues to show its resurgence, clocking 3,232 and eight percent of total sales.
Mazda also did very well with 2,224, outselling Ford (1,880) and Chevrolet (1,953).

China looking for a factory

The Chinese automaker Great Wall Motors was present at the Bangkok International Motor Show last month, but had no intention of selling any vehicles, in fact there are none in Thailand. Company representative Mr. Wang stated their presence at the show was “mainly to inform Thai people about our plan to commercialize the car in Thai domestic market and build up a manufacturing plant in Thailand.”
Whilst their Haval SUV range has been the top seller in China for the past 10 years and is already exported to Russia, Australia (where it is the top selling Chinese brand), South Africa, Chile and Italy, the focus is now on SE Asia, and Great Wall has earmarked 10 billion baht to build a plant in Thailand, which should be able to produce vehicles by 2015. It is expected that this plant will be in one of the existing industrial estates in Rayong and one of the Hemaraj estates with the high level of auto industry suppliers would be a good bet.
The numbers being quoted for this yet to be built facility are 100,000 vehicles per year, in RHD form. This figure includes Thailand, ASEAN and Australia.
The Haval 6 comes fully loaded, including GPS with voice actuation, 4WD, brake assist, tyre pressure monitoring, reversing camera, touch screen entertainment, electronic stability and the full suite of acronyms. Being Chinese it should also be keenly priced.
I was most impressed with the quality of the finished product (although LHD at the Motor Show).

Alternators, alternators, alternators!

Have I angered the god of alternating current, or is it some fiendish plot, or am I becoming paranoid? In the past 12 months, the alternator has failed on my race car (the mighty BBX-Acorn Pub Escort Mk1), not once, but twice! Now I can sort of understand that by saying standard alternators probably are not made to withstand constant 7,000 RPM - however, the tale of woe does not end there.

Alternator.

As well as the race car, my daily driver, the much maligned Daihatsu Mira’s alternator also threw in the towel. OK, it is 15 years old, so maybe it is allowed to fail, but that brought it up to three alternators in one family.
But it didn’t end there. Last week my wife reported that the family Fortuner would not start, and since the battery was over two years old, she had ordered a new one from the local battery shop, and it was installed and the SUV was now running again. End of story? No, because the next day the Fortuner would not start, despite its new battery. Down to the friendly chaps at B-Quik, and guess what? The alternator had given up, and this one was only six years old. And as an additional problem, this was Songkran, so the alternator supply shops were closed. As I write this the B-Quik boys are now trying to find one in Bangkok! And that makes it four alternators in one family!
I have found from prior experience that batteries do not last long in this country, and around two years seems to be it, but until recently I had not put alternators in the auto consumables basket. Have I just had some bad luck, or is this a more common problem than I imagined? I would be interested to hear your experiences.

What did we learn from the Bahrain GP?

Well, the first thing we learned was that F1 may be the flavor of the month for the Bahraini royal family, but not for the Bahraini residents, of whom only 28,000 turned out to watch the race.
The next thing we learned was that although there was some spirited dicing in the pack, the overall opinion was that the race was boring. This was partly due to the dominance of Vettel of magic finger fame, the featureless and exceedingly bland circuit in the desert, and some very unimaginative TV coverage and editing.
However, the race did start with some old fashioned cut and thrust which soon relegated pole-sitter Rosberg (Mercedes) into leader of a high speed train behind the leading trio. At the very pointy end, it was Vettel (Red Bull) and Alonso (Ferrari), who found themselves joined by a rather fired-up Di Resta (Force India).
However, this lasted only as long as Alonso’s DRS system, in which the top movable element of the wing blew over-center and then would not close. The correction for this (securing it in the closed position) took two stops and took away all chances of Alonso being on the podium.
Once again, it was the tyres that dictated lap times, rather than the driver or the car. These Pirelli tyres seem to last 10 laps at racing speed, if you are lucky, and if you are not, then you spend time driving back to the pits on three tyres, like Massa (Ferrari), who eventually finished 15th (after two additional tyre stops) having started fourth.
Undoubtedly there was some close racing, perhaps none closer than between the two McLarens of Button and Perez (the latter having been given a lecture to start pulling his finger out). It was certainly extracted in Bahrain, so much so that Button began calling to his pit wall to tell Perez to back off. Unfortunately for Button, this did not occur and Perez took the upper hand, finishing in 6th to Button’s 10th. You will see more of this aggressive driving from Perez, now he has the tacit encouragement from the management.
Once again, it was the quiet progression by Raikkonen (“Lotus”, even though it is really a Renault built in Enstone in the UK) that brought the Finn up to second, finishing nine seconds adrift of The Finger. Surprisingly, the second “Lotus” driven by Romain Grosjean, was to snatch third place from Di Resta in the dying moments of the race. Grosjean will continue to impress if he drives like this all year, hopefully having given up the demolition derby style of driving that he showed previously.
Mercedes still has the problem in which they are very fast over one lap (Qualifying), but gets this at the expense of the tyre wear, which means they cannot continue at the same speeds for the race. Pole-sitter Rosberg ending up ninth, and after a controlled drive Hamilton finishing fifth, overtaking Webber (Red Bull) in the last few laps.
After the top 10 point-scoring drivers, came 12 others who were so rarely seen on the TV coverage, I began to doubt whether they had actually started at all.
Driver’s Championship points after four Grands Prix are Vettel Red Bull 77, Raikkonen “Lotus” 67, Hamilton Mercedes 50, F Alonso Ferrari 47, Webber Red Bull 32.
The next GP is in Barcelona, Spain, on May 12. This should be a more exciting venue, with passionate spectators, and you can expect another battle between The Finger and Alonso (Spain’s favorite son).

Young drivers need continuous support

The Institute of Advanced motorists (IAM) in the UK keeps excellent statistics and has announced that young drivers need more guidance and support in the first six months of obtaining their license.
Some of the suggestions included a tougher test to include rural roads - where young people are most vulnerable. A new focus on treating driving as a skill for life - through continuous learning with post-test checkups in the first six months of solo driving. A minimum driving period during learner stages to increase exposure to as wide range of traffic conditions as possible and a relaxation of the rules allowing learner drivers on motorways.
And where does that put the learner drivers in Thailand? There is neither L plates, nor is there insurance available. When my wife was learning to drive I asked my insurance broker what should be done in case of an accident. His answer? “Change seats!”
We have just had Songkran with the dreadful road toll, perhaps Thailand should be looking overseas for some guidance?

Some musings from the Bangkok International Motor Show

Suzuki Swift.

I am very lucky. Every year I receive an invitation to attend the Bangkok International Motor Show now held at Impact Arena Challenger Hall, and every year I look forward to it. Many reasons, but I have been attending motor shows from more than 40 years, including a very memorable one in Geneva in 1967, to which our editor at large John Weinthal and I co-drove the latest top secret release from British Leyland, long since gone to the wrecker’s yard in the sky.
The hoped-for Geneva show stopper was an Austin 1800 (officially ADO17 in BL-speak, and unofficially called the ‘land crab’), rebadged as the Wolseley 18/85, complete with illuminated Wolseley button on the grille. This was taped over so that the utmost secrecy could be maintained on the road trip from the UK to Geneva. No wonder BL went under with cars like the 18/85 being pride of place.
I enjoyed this year’s 34th Bangkok International Motor Show more than some of the recent ones. Exhibitors were finally producing Press Kits in English for a start, making the show even more “international”, and there were more exhibitors this year, with enough examples of Porsche, Ferrari, Lamborghini, R-R, Jaguar and the like for us mere mortals to look at, who will never afford to have one in our garages. Even little electric vehicle Gemcar had English brochures. Another stand-out was the Suzuki Swift, reminding me of the chunky early Morris Coopers.

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what famous engine was designed by three firefighters in WW II? It was the Jaguar XK engine designed by William Heynes (Chief Engineer), Walter Hassan and Claude Baily, who discussed a new range of engines to replace the pre-war Standard based units whilst fire-watching on the roof of the SS factory in Swallow Road, Coventry, during World War II.
So to this week. In 1912 the Stanley company made 650 steamers. That was the same as one day’s production of what in 1923?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].