3rd Generation Prius in Malaysia - RM175000

Zerotohundred carried the article about the launch of the 3rd Generation Toyota Prius in Malaysia. It is selling for RM175,000. Yes that is how much they are selling it. It is even more expensive than the Toyota Camry or the Honda Civic Hybrid which is priced at RM129,980.

A check at Toyota's website have them list the price for the 3rd generation Prius as "estimated price list" at RM175,000. Is there something else that we should know?

Even Chips@Motortrader and PaulTan was way off with their estimate pricing when they tested the car in Japan.

I guess its going to be a costly affair for us normal Malaysian to drive an eco friendly vehicle until the government decides to do something about it. Who knows if that day will ever come.

Clay Bar

Recent viral browsing brought me to read up about claying. What the heck is claying? Claying with a clay bar. Ok I have to admit that I'm not a detailing freak but I always like a nice shinny finish to my ride. I love some good elbow grease but detailing the whole car by myself is just to long. (I'm just plain lazy at times)

Back to claybars and claying. Here is what WikiAnswers says to the question - What is a clay bar?.

I would define it as below.

Clay bars - putty/dough like material that can be shaped and moulded. The material has ability to remove surface contaminant.

Many people have written guides and suggestion on detailing with the clay bar but I find this clay bar detailing guide the best so far. Make sure you read through the clay bar detailing guide before you start claying your vehicle.

Here's a nice video guide on using the clay bar.

What I need next is to get my hands onto some real clay bars!!

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RON95 and My X-Trail

For my X-Trail, I've used both RON92 and RON97. They both work fine without any issues. Since the new RON95 sits in between there is definitely no problem. The sad part is I'd have to say goodbye to the cheaper RON92 fuel. It was nice knowing you. Alas.. au revoir!

RON92 works fine with X-Trail, my only beef with it is that I get slightly lower mileage. My numbers shows that over time there was no significant dollars and cents saved using RON92 compared to using RON97. Then again my data could be wrong.

Don't know why so many folks were afraid to use RON92. It says very well in our user manual the X will only require a minimum of RON91. Chip's RON List in Motortrader also recently got updated with RON data from Nissan. I was shocked ETCM said the X was not compatible to RON92.

Earlier on, one of the reasons I heard for this was that ETCM did had always played the safe side of things. Less issues with warranty.

Take away notes from this post for those still having doubts on RON95 :-

X-Trail works with RON95 !!!!!

Now go worry about something else :)

Shell RON95 - Available @Alisha Station along Federal Highway Batu 3 (Klang bound).

KUALA LUMPUR, TUES:

SHELL Malaysia Trading Sdn Bhd announced today that its Shell Unleaded 95 fuel is now available at the Alisha Station along Federal Highway Batu 3 (Klang bound).

In a statement, Shell said the fuel will be available at all of its stations nationwide by September this year in compliance with government's directive to introduce the RON95 fuel to the market.

"We are pleased to offer our customers the opportunity to try our Shell Unleaded 95 fuel with fuel economy formula at this site," said the company's managing director Datuk Mohzani Abdul Wahab.

"Our customers can be assured that this new fuel continues to deliver on Shell's fuel quality promise and complements our aspiration of helping our customers get the most out of every drop," he said.

Shell also said that to address the need for fuel efficiency, tips are available at the http://everydrop.shell.com.my website to help motorists save up to 10 percent in fuel consumption.
"Shell will continue to work to educate drivers on ways to optimize their fuel consumption, and very soon we will be addressing RON95 public awareness as well," Mohzani said. - Bernama

Latio vs Wira

A friend's Nissan Latio got got a head on collision on its side with a Proton Wira. This unfortunate incident happened while making a turn at a traffic light. The Latio engine was still running after the incident but the Wira totally stalled. The Wira suffered damages to the bonnet, bumper and the front part of the chassis. I didn't manage to get any shots of the damaged Wira. We shall see if i get to visit the workshop. :)

The Latio suffered door damages only. Not sure if the pillars have issue that will need further inspection. According to the Latio's driver, he felt nothing more than a thud during the impact and only realised the severity of the damage when he came out to inspect it. Thankfully there were no one in the passenger seats. I can't imagine what would have happened.

Looking at the car, these thoughts come to mind

• What is the limit of these side impact bars?
• There were no skid marks from the wira showing signs or it braking. How fast was it going? Did the driver panic or was he looking else where
• Does this prove Nissan's claim for the Latio's 6-Star JNCAP rating?

I'm just glad no one got hurt.