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

MG at the Bangkok International Motor Show

World’s fastest MGB 1971

I have a soft spot for MG. I have owned several models (TC’s and TD’s), followed by MGA and MGB. MGA was the first car I ever raced, and my MGB was raced by me under the Leyland banner and they claimed it to be the fastest MGB in the world in 1971. I can even remember my MG Car Club number. I am an MG man!
One of the larger stands and promotions at the Bangkok International Motor Show was MG, a name not common in Thailand, but one that the manufacturers hope will change.
The MG Car Company has gone through much trauma since its inauguration in 1924 in Cecil Kimber’s garage. The initials MG actually stand for Morris Garages, with the first MG’s being modified Bull-nose Morris’s. Later the company was bought by British Leyland, only to go bankrupt and was eventually bought by the Chinese manufacturer SAIC. Of course, this brought on near hysteria in some quarters, but is understandable. MG may not be Rolls-Royce or Bentley, but they too have non-British owners these days (BMW and VW) and have survived.
What the new MG manufacturer has to do, is to convince the public that it still has a deep British heritage. I spoke with the MG people on their stand at the show and they were very keen to point out that the design was from the UK factory in Longbridge (an ex-Leyland facility) employing several hundred British design engineers.

MG6 2014

In Thailand, production of the MG6 will be in a new factory in Rayong and will be backed by a Joint Venture between SAIC and Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group (CP Group), which also controls 7-Eleven stores amongst other businesses.
SAIC Motor-CP Co. Ltd. president Wu Huan said the Thai debut of the MG6 at the Bangkok show was a part of the company’s plans to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the MG brand. “The public debut of the MG6 in Thailand is the opportunity for the Thai market to see the new MG6 before it arrives on Thai roads,” he said. “All nine cars on display were built locally at the production facility in Rayong province.” At the time of the announcement, MG said it would produce 50,000 vehicles a year at the plant before eventually ramping up to an annual output of 200,000 units.
For the time being, MG has only confirmed production of the MG6 at the Rayong plant and it remains unclear whether the company will expand production to its MG3 light hatch.
The Thailand manufactured MG6 will have an 118 kW/215 Nm 1.8 liter turbo-petrol engine matched exclusively with a five-speed manual gearbox.
The price was not quoted at the show, claims by the staff being that until they know exactly who the market might be, it is too difficult to assign pricing to the car. This is in part due to them being unsure of trim and technology levels for local production.

Mitsubishi PHEV Fuel Miser

The Mitsubishi PHEV (plug in hybrid) claims an official combined fuel consumption figure of just 1.9 L/100 km. That will make it one of the most frugal vehicles for sale anywhere. That is less than half of the Toyota Prius fuel consumption, and much less than the Lexus RX450h or the Porsche Cayenne Hybrid SUVs.
I saw one of these last year here in Pattaya for the start of the Asian Cross Country Rally. Entered by a private team (“Two and Four Motor Sports”), backed by Mitsubishi Motors, the sole Outlander PHEV finished 17th overall with no failure: quite a success for what was essentially a standard car - including the Twin Motor 4WD plug-in hybrid electric drivetrain, as well as the Super All Wheel Control (S-AWC) system - the only modifications being the regular cross-country racing routine of upgraded shock absorbers and springs, roll cage, underfloor protection, exhaust and snorkel duct, etc.
Owners can plug the Outlander hybrid into mains power to charge up its batteries before a journey. Fully charged, it runs for around 50 kilometers on battery power alone - easily enough to account for the average drive into work or school.
The pair of electric motors with a combined 120 kW output use zero fuel for journeys around town, though its petrol motor will cut in when brisk acceleration or highway speeds are called for.
That 2.0 liter, four cylinder engine can be used to power the car on its own, or to charge up the batteries in a similar fashion to GM’s Volt which uses its petrol motor purely as a generator.

What did we learn from the Bahrain GP?

Well we learned that I bungled the date of the GP last week, writing it was April 21, when it was April 6. Sorry!
We also learned that Formula 1 can still produce the goods (even if some of the parameters are ‘manufactured’). The race at Bahrain was one of the best seen for many a year, with a tight field (and more on that later) and plenty of passing (and more on that later as well).
Another win for Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) and a well deserved one at that. He took the lead from grid position 2 and held it all the way to the chequered flag, despite several moments of side by side racing with team mate Nico Rosberg. With another 1-2 for Mercedes, Red Bull can see the championship slipping away already.
Force India must be shaking hands with themselves for choosing Mercedes power for 2014. Six out of the top 10 with the three pointed star in the tail. Perez claiming third is a great boost for Force India, but he was lucky that Hulkenberg had an ERS problem at the end, as he was certainly quicker than his team mate.
Fourth outright from 13th grid slot and besting the current world champion is on Ricciardo’s CV after Bahrain. Ricciardo was the driver of the day/night without a doubt. The Finger will have trouble with the likeable Aussie in the 2014 season.
The Williams duo of Massa and Bottas (Mercedes power) are spearheading a resurgence for the Williams team after a few years in the doldrums. Massa is surprising everyone (other than himself) and is still showing plenty of tiger.
Ninth and tenth at the flag for the once unbeatable Ferrari team, despite two former world champions in Alonso and Raikkonen, is not good enough. Raikkonen had a lack-luster evening, and once more I think he will be the only driver in history to be sacked twice from Ferrari. Luca Montezemolo was in Bahrain to witness the lack of performance, and even left early. Heads will be rolling at Modena, by the time you have read this.
Spectacular roll by Gutierrez (Sauber), after being given a helping hand by Maldonado, who was given a stop-go penalty and five grid spot demotion for the next GP. He deserves a stop-go for the rest of the season. He does not deserve a GP seat. He will already have cost “Lotus” the sack of gold he brought with him to buy his seat for the season.
Now, despite the fantastic close finish, it should be remembered that the field was artificially closed up by the advent of the safety car 10 laps from the end. This allowed Rosberg to get on the tail of Hamilton, and brought the Force Indias and Red Bulls together and within striking distance. Now factor in the ERS power boost and DRS assistance on selected straights and these all help to produce the close racing we saw in Bahrain.
Finally, I read that Hamilton has now equaled the number of GP wins recorded by Fangio. This is a rubbish statistic. In Fangio’s day there were only around seven or eight GP’s each year, not 18 as there is today. If you wish to compare today’s crop of drivers with Fangio, then look at the percentage of race wins and poles. Fangio won 46 percent of the races he competed in and was on pole for 55 percent of his races and on the front row for over 90 percent of them. There are none of today’s pampered drivers even close to that.
The next GP is April 20 from China. Telecast is at 2 p.m. Thai time.

Porsche boosts performance of Boxster and Cayman

Boxster GTS

The two most powerful and fastest mid-engine sports models from Porsche have uprated engines and the excellent PASM chassis in the Boxster GTS and Cayman GTS.
The new uprated models have blackened bi-xenon headlights - with the Porsche Dynamic Light System (PDLS) as standard - and exterior lettering in silky black gloss are subtle yet unmistakable features of the new top models.
The six-cylinder boxer engines fitted in the new top models are based on the 3.4 liter engines from the Boxster S and Cayman S respectively. Thanks to optimized fine tuning they now deliver an additional 15 hp (11 kW). This means that the Boxster GTS now has an output of 330 hp (243 kW), whilst the Cayman GTS delivers 340 hp (250 kW). The torque has also increased by ten Newton meters in each model.
The Sport Chrono package is a standard feature in both cars. This means that in conjunction with the optional Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK) and the active Sport Plus button, the Boxster GTS claims 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds, whilst the Cayman GTS is a tenth of a second faster.
Top speed for the Boxster S is 281 km/h and the Cayman S is 285 km/h the sports coupé is even faster. Fuel consumption figures are of 8.2 l/100 km with PDK and 9.0 l/100 km with manual transmission.
Tyres are 235/35 at the front and 265/35 at the rear on 20 inch Carrera S wheels. Both cars come with sports seats and leather interiors as standard. Like other GTS models from Porsche they are refined with Alcantara elements.
The new models will be launched from May 2014. With country-specific equipment and VAT the Boxster GTS costs €69,949 and the Cayman GTS costs €73,757 in Germany.

Natter Nosh and Noggin

The Pattaya car club meets at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR next to Nova Park. The next meeting is on Monday April 14 at Jameson’s at 7 p.m. A totally informal meeting of like-minded souls to discuss their pet motoring (and motorcycling) loves and hates (plus lies and outright exaggerations). Come along and meet the guys who have a common interest in cars and bikes, and enjoy the Jameson’s specials, washed down with a few beers. A couple of the members were scrutineers at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, so they may have some scuttlebutt about the F1 scene. Always a fun night. Be prepared to laugh a lot at some of the antics of the members (when they were younger)! The Car Club nights are always on the second Monday of the month (not every second Monday)!

Autotrivia Quiz

Last week I asked what car’s chassis was the result of the designer working on the Mosquito fighter bomber in WW II? It was the wooden chassis Marcos.
So to this week. What car had this in the design brief - carry two large peasants wearing clogs and 100 kg of assorted goods to market along unpaved roads and drive across a ploughed field with a full load of eggs without breaking any?
For the Automania free beer this week, be the first correct answer to email [email protected].