Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Saab is officially bankrupt



Pengeluar Kereta Sweden, Saab secara rasminya telah MUFLIS aka Bankrup. Baca seterusnya untuk maklumat lanjut.
Saab’s owners signed it into bankruptcy this morning. The company has been mortally wounded since April, when it ran out of cash, couldn’t pay its suppliers and had to stop building cars. After eight months of extraordinary and desperate negotiations over potential rescues, last month it looked like Saab was safe. A sale was agreed with Chinese manufacturer Youngman and distributor Pang Da. But that deal has now been called off, triggering the bankruptcy.
The stumbling block is General Motors. It has forbidden its designs to be used by the Chinese, so they have pulled out of the deal.
A brief explanation: GM once owned Saab, but put it up for sale in late-2009 when GM itself was in trouble. By that time Saab had designed the new 9-5 and 9-4X using mostly GM parts in their underbodies, suspensions, powertrains, and electronics. In early 2010. Saab was bought from GM by Victor Muller’s investment company, which also owned tiny supercar maker Spyker.
But when Muller agreed a sale to the Chinese, GM decided it won’t let its designs go to China. It thinks copyright protection is too weak in China and its engineering would be pirated. Which is terrifying for GM, because it makes so many other cars using the same systems (the Insignia, Astra, new Zafira and their US and – crucially – Chinese equivalents, with many more to come).
There seems no way back for Saab now. Saab had been up for sale for months. No western, Japanese or Korean car company wanted to buy. An American investment brokerage claimed to be confident of finding money, but failed. Vladimir Antonov, a Russian banker and owner of Portsmouth FC wanted to invest, but he was arrested on 24 November over dealings at the bank he owns. And now the Chinese money has been nixed.
With bankruptcy, Muller has said he won’t get any money out of Saab. Creditors will scrap over the remaining value left from the company’s tools, equipment and premises. They won’t get much. The workers will have a very thin Christmas.
So what happens if you own a Saab? You’ll be more or less OK. Think what happened to MG-Rover. The company went away, but there were and are still cars on the road. So it is still worthwhile business for independent suppliers to make and sell parts, and independent garages to do the servicing. The worst thing is the secondhand value of your car will drop a bit, although with the furore surrounding Saab’s future that has been factored in for a while now.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Subaru BRZ coupe - Pictures










First drive: Subaru BRZ coupe

First drive: Subaru’s new BRZ coupe
Posted by: Ollie Marriage , 03 December 2011


First of all, let’s solve the mystery of the name. BRZ stands for Boxer, Rear-wheel drive, Zenith. That’s pretty clear isn’t it? Well, the first two parts are, and as for Zenith, that’s just Subaru’s way of saying this is the best it can do. Personally I think SubaruZenith has more of a ring to it than Subaru BRZ which, let’s face it, isn’t exactly a dynamic name.
And this is a shame for a rather dynamic car. That’s right, we’ve finally, finally driven the BRZ. We had to go all the way to Subaru’s test track, two hours north of Tokyo to do so, but it was worth it.
So where to start? As suspected, both Subaru and Toyota have had specific tasks within this joint project. Toyota has been responsible for the design (certainly not the most dynamic aspect of the BRZ), and has lent its direct injection technology to the engine. Subaru has done pretty much everything else. Talking to the engineers you get the sense this is very much Subaru’s car – the first development prototype was a cut n’ shut Legacy, the next an Impreza. This is good news, as we know Subaru can build great cars. The BRZ clearly has potential.
It’s a brand new car from scratch – a rare thing these days. The engine is mounted so low, Subaru believes it has a lower centre of gravity than a Ferrari 458. And a low engine is not only good for handling, but also means the driver can be sat low, yet still see over the bonnet. It’s snug inside, the design largely functional, the colour scheme mostly grey. It’s no Audi TT, but the impression is good because you’ve dropped so low into a wrap-around seat and your hands are clasping a small, feelsome wheel.
The driver’s seat is definitely the place to be. Subaru boasts that this is the world’s smallest four seat rear-wheel drive coupe, so you can guess what that means for those travelling in the back. And the boot seems to be a complete afterthought.
But enough of that, it’s the driving that counts. The 2.0-litre flat four is naturally aspirated, revs to 7,400rpm and develops 200bhp and 151lb ft of torque. These, you don’t need me to point out, aren’t massively impressive figures these days. And the BRZ isn’t a massively fast car. Final homologation happens next month, the expectation being a 0-62mph time of around 6.8secs with the CO2 target being 160g/km. I’d guess at a top speed of around 145mph, and 42mpg on the combined cycle.
It’s light though (1,220kg), and Subaru has worked the torque hard, so although the peak is between 6,400-6,600rpm, you have almost all of that before 3,000rpm. Put your foot down at low revs and it picks up healthily, aided by super-quick throttle response. But it tails off a bit through the mid-range, meaning you have to head for the high numbers to get your kicks. And that’s where the BRZ is at its best. It zips through the final 2,000rpm, feels keen and energetic and then, well, and then there’s the noise. We have high hopes…
Of course, it sounds different. This Boxer doesn’t chunter and warble like an old Impreza, it’s a smoother note than that, still slightly off-beat and noisy enough without being intrusive. It’s not Honda Type-R addictive, but it’s a plus, a whack more interesting to listen to than any four cylinder turbo you care to mention (VW Scirocco? Renaultsport Megane? Mini Cooper S?). It makes this a fun engine to use, but it’s not the best thing about the car.
Because the best thing is the handling. The BRZ steers like it has no weight to deal with. It doesn’t appear to roll, pitch or dive. It’s neither nose nor tail heavy, just a sense of the front and rear working in perfect harmony. You steer, it goes and when the grip runs out (it was pouring with rain in Japan), the BRZ is almost totally neutral. And you get so much warning of when that’s about to happen. I was nervous when I found out it had electric power steering, but this has to be about the best system I’ve tried – the springy weighting is lovely and real sensations are fed back into your hands.
How best to describe it as an overall package? Keen. Eager. It’s not puppy-ish in its enthusiasm, it’s a bit more measured than that, but it’s a lot of fun. Easily better to drive than a VW Scirocco; more agile and rewarding than any Audi TT. It may not have the lungs on a Nissan 370Z, but it’s way more dextrous and I can’t think of any hot hatch except possibly the Renaultsport Clio that provides as much satisfaction.
You can still tell that it’s a Subaru at heart – not just in the engine, but the steering and manual gearbox – but it’s like they’ve let Lotus loose on the chassis. Well, almost. The light frame does get a bit thrown by big bumps, but it never feels unnerving, instead it inspires confidence.
The manual gearbox is really good – mechanical and precise – and the six-speed auto is better than expected. It’s not a double clutch, but it’s just fast enough and intelligent enough to justify its presence in a sports car.
Any other criticisms? Well, being honest, the BRZ seems slightly out of step with other rivals. Subaru has ditched the turbo just as others have adopted it, it’s available with an unfashionable auto rather than a double clutch, the biggest wheels are likely to be 17s, there’s no adaptive damping or any other chassis trickery. But does this matter? It will to some buyers, just as the styling is too plain to tempt others. But if you enjoy driving, if you relish the thought of a compact rear-drive coupe, this is the car for you. Roughly 1,000 per year will come to the UK, starting in June, with prices from around £26,000-28,000.
This article copied from TopGear.com

TOYOTA 86

Wallpaper Toyota 86







TOYOTA 86

Model gantian untuk Toyota Corolla/Sprinto Trueno dengan kod casis AE86. Toyota 86 kereta sport pacuan roda belakang (RWD) yang dicipta bersama Subaru. Enjin Toyota 86 ini menggunakan enjin Flat 4 (Boxer) yang dikeluarkan oleh Subaru. Subaru sememangnya terkenal dengan Enjin Boxer yang digunakan dikesemua modelnya. Bersama kita nantikan Toyota 86 ini berada di jalan raya. 
sebelum itu, saksikan secara maya.... hehehe






Toyota 86 Badge




Bahagian Dalam Toyota 86




Enjin Boxer Subaru

Thursday, December 8, 2011

Donna Eljammal: 26-year woman in Sweden's first police recruit in a hijab.

Donna Eljammal, a 26-year woman, has become Sweden's first police recruit in a hijab as she considers her traditional Muslim hijab as an asset rather than a hindrance for a future career. The ban on police recruits wearing a veil, a kippa or a turban as part of their regular uniform was lifted just 5 years ago.

”If anything it is a reflection of the multicultural Sweden we live in today,” Eljammal told The Local.
However, Donna Eljammal has known since she was a little girl that she wanted to be a police officer. 
”I like working with people, helping people, and to not do exactly the same thing everyday. I always knew it would fit my personality,” she said. 
”And it shows the public another side of women choosing to wear the veil, that we are not oppressed but can be strong and independent women.”
Before being accepted into the police academy, Eljammal worked for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service (Kriminalvården). 
Wearing a veil never constituted a problem there either, and she always felt she was well treated and respected by the other members of staff. 
Eljammal thinks that it is an asset in all professions today to have staff with different cultural and religious backgrounds. 
”The veil shows clearly that I have first hand knowledge of a different aspect of Swedish society,” she said.

Source: www.thelocal.se

"I grew up in little Piteå and we were among the first immigrant families there. Also when I worked in the prison service I was the first with a headscarf. But there weren't many who made comments about the headscarf when they got to know me as a person."
Eljammal doesn't think taking off headscarf for her work.
Source: www.worldbulletin.net