Hungarian GP this weekend
Will Raikkonen make it this time? Will he
start at the front this time? Will we see a good scrap between
him and Alonso and Montoya? Will BAR make it to the front this
time? The answers to all these questions this weekend.
Apart
from the Renaults and the McLarens and BARs, there appears to
be nobody else in the hunt. Ferrari are going backwards at a
great rate, BMW Williams look as if BeeEmm have given up and
Williams is just at sea. Red Bull had a great run at the
beginning of the season, but a lack of development in the car
is now starting to become apparent. Toyota? Much better than
last year, but still not able to consistently race at the
front. Sauber? Forget it. Jordan? A joke. And Minardi? Has
anyone actually seen a Minardi recently?
As a racing venue, Hungary has a long
history, with its first GP run in 1906, and regular events in
Budapest since 1926. Built with state backing, and laid out in
a natural amphitheatre, the Hungaroring opened in 1986 and
attracted an estimated 200,000 spectators.
Raikkonen
Though the event was well organized, and
the hosts very appreciative, it was felt that the 2.494 mile
Hungaroring had been laid out more in the style of a twisty
street circuit rather than a bespoke road track. There were
few opportunities for overtaking, though things were eased
from 1989 when a tight corner was by-passed and the lap
distance became 2.466 miles.
However, it remains a circuit that is not
high on any of the drivers’ lists, unless you are after a
piece of quick action behind the pits, as the Hungarian
government actually erected (nice word in the sex scene) some
mobile brothels a couple of years ago. I think they are still
in use today!
I will be watching from my favourite roost
at Jameson’s Irish Pub on Soi AR (next to Nova Park) and the
racing begins (I think) at 7 p.m. but check your local TV
feed. We watch the South African channel so are not troubled
with breaks for adverts or the silly talking heads on UBC.
Join me at around 6 p.m. for a natter and some food.
Should we all
buy economizers?
With the price of crude oil spiraling,
partly as a result of the decreased production from the Iraq
oil fields (thanks George), and the rest by conniving in the
cartels, people are beginning to look at fuel efficient
vehicles. This is not being done to save the planet’s
natural resources, I should add, but to save the individual
drivers pocket resources! In the past six months the cost of
fuel at my local pumps has gone from around 18 baht/litre to
now around 24 baht/litre. Where is the end? (How long is a
piece of string?) Just for interest, gasoline is now over 33
baht/litre in Australia.
Peugeot
407
Down-Under, the economizers are certainly
seeing a sales boom, including the gasoline/electric vehicles
such as the Toyota Prius and Honda Civic hybrid, which are
initially more expensive, but much cheaper to run. These
vehicles seeing sales up between 17 and 78 percent!
Here are the top fuel misers. Some are not
available in this country, but the economy figures are quite
startling.
Toyota Prius hybrid (4.4 litres per 100 km)
Smart Fortwo (4.8)
Peugeot 307 diesel (4.9)
Daihatsu Charade (5.0)
Honda Civic Hybrid (5.2)
Volkswagen Golf diesel (5.5)
Smart Forfour (5.6)
Honda Jazz (5.7)
Hyundai Getz (5.7)
Audi A3 diesel (5.9)
Peugeot 407 diesel (5.9)
Citroen C5 diesel (6.5)
Mercedes-Benz E270 diesel (7.1)
From that list there are a few available in
this country, and it would be worthwhile having a look, if you
are in the market for a new car. The Honda Civic Hybrid is 1.7
million, the Honda Jazz around 600,000, the Citroen C5 at 2.1
million, Peugeot 407 diesel about 2.6 million and the Mercedes
about 5.6 million baht. At the consumption levels quoted
above, you should be able to drive to Bangkok from Pattaya for
around 100 baht.
A brief word about European diesels is
called for here. Gone are the clunking, smelly diesels,
remembered without fondness in the ubiquitous ‘song taews’
of Thailand. The European diesels are smartly revving engines,
fuel efficient, powerful, and economical. To be quite frank,
with the escalating gasoline prices at our pumps, the diesel
variants make more and more sense every day. The performance
is equivalent to the gasoline powered models, but running
costs are way down by comparison.
The diesel engines are much more fuel
efficient, going much further on a tank than do the gasoline
engined cars. Why all the manufacturers are not offering their
Euro-diesels, I do not know.
BMW is a prime example, with a top-notch 2
litre diesel for their 3-Series, but it does not get released
here. However, Volvo have seen the light, and are now offering
a diesel in their S80. It is significant that diesels are
ordered in around 70 percent of the European new vehicles
these days.
I also wonder why the Thai government is
not encouraging the manufacturers to bring in diesels? Seems a
logical move, but in the 12 point economy and energy saving
manifesto that was released, the government actually wants to
stop diesel engines in passenger cars. Why? Beats me.
The overseas experience is quite
remarkable, the way the econocars are taking over. According
to Toyota Australia spokesman Peter Griffin, the company was
unable to keep up with demand for the Prius hybrid, which has
the electric motor as well as a conventional gasoline engine.
“We sell every Prius that comes into the country and we
could sell more if they were available,” Griffin said in the
Australian press.
He continued, “The car is more expensive
to buy but the current petrol price is certainly helping us.
We’re sure we’ll see the number of hybrid cars over time
increase. It’s no longer experimental technology.”
It is also significant to note that in Australia, the
country that has always gone for the big cars, small car sales
are up 16 percent, whilst the larger cars are down 10 percent.
There is a message here for both buyers and manufacturers. (I
think I’ll keep the Daihatsu Mira for another year!)
Chopsticks at
the ready? The Chinese invasion has started.
China’s cheery Chery is already being
assembled in Malaysia, and will be here soon. With the Thai
government in confab with the Malaysian one to jointly develop
auto industries, it will not be long before we see them
arriving on Thai soil. Last year, Chery exported 6,000
vehicles to Malaysia and Iran. They also have a contract to
supply 250,000 vehicles to Visonary Vehicles in the US by
2007.
Geely
Geely Automotive Holdings, another of the
Chinese players, is also negotiating with the Malaysians to
assemble their range of vehicles. It is projected that Geely
will start production (assembly of semi-knocked down units) by
September this year.
Now it’s Hybrid
motorcycles!
Thailand’s rather progressive (and
aggressive) motorcycle company Tigar Motorsales plans to have
its hybrid Tiger motorcycle on sale next year. A prototype was
seen at the Bangkok International Motor Show and according to
company spokesman MD Piti Manomaipaibul the motorcycle, while
still in the development phase, is progressing well and they
have begun registering patents on the designs.
The new motorcycle should come on to the market next year
with a projected cost between 40,000-50,000 baht. Which
motorcycle taxi rider will be the first to take advantage of
the fuel sparing technology, I wonder? It certainly won’t be
in Chiang Mai, where they are still trying to get red buses
off the road and municipal buses on them!
Autotrivia Quiz
Last week, I said that in 1918, there were
only two makes of cars built in America with right hand drive.
I asked what were they? They were Pierce Arrow and the
American built Fiats.
So to this week. Which F1 champion started
work in a garage when he was 10, his father was a house
painter, and did not start motor racing until he was 23?
For the Automania FREE beer this week, be
the first correct answer to email automania@pattayamail .com
Good luck!
A couple of weeks back I asked about the
first US Jeeps and Bobby Joe came back with this very detailed
piece with an interesting item at the end. “Hundreds of
companies competed for the original vehicle request. Three
final companies were considered for the “first” Jeep bid
by the US government were the Jim Dunn company, Ford company
and Willys company. The first contract for the Jeep was
awarded to Jim Dunn for his Bantam model. The Bantam proposal
was lower than the others and this company received an order
to produce 70 Model 60 or MKII. That famous, first, U.S. Army
contract was awarded to American Bantam back in the summer of
1940.
The first Jeep Specs: 45 hp. Continental
engine, weight 2050 lbs., wheelbase 79 in., 3 speed syncromesh
Warner T84 gearbox with floor mounted shift lever. A total of
2675 units were built in 1941. The name “Jeep” was applied
to all three of the jeep type vehicles produced in 1940 - 41.
Our favourite vehicle was named after Eugene the Jeep. Eugene
was a character out of the comic strip Popeye. Eugene was a
small, impish, cat like character. He could walk through
walls, walk on ceilings, appear out of nowhere. Soldiers were
so impressed with the new vehicle’s go-anywhere, do-anything
capabilities, they were reminded of the character; and so
dubbed the new vehicle a Jeep.”
I also mentioned the Bandag Bullet in this
column a little while back. Well, it is still setting records
and is the world’s fastest diesel-powered vehicle when it
averaged 186 km/h across the 1 km track in Bundaberg
Queensland, Australia last week, bettering the old mark by
more than 30km/h. The eight ton truck was doing 215 km/h at
the end of the measured kilometer.
