Monday, October 8, 2007

A new breed – Mitsubishi Outlander 2007

Does the Outlander “out-everything everything”?



By Tushal Bhadang

For some people the pajero is simply too big or too expensive, so the Outlander was launched in 2003, which was an okay-ish small CUV (compact utility vehicle). It tried too hard to be a car and wasn’t too happening off the road either. The engine was puny and it looked funny from the front. It was time that the Japanese manufacturers of pocket-rockets like the Lancer Evolution series pulled up their sleeves and hit the drawing board. The result - an all spanking new vehicle based on the new Lancer EX platform, the 2007

Mitsubishi Outlander! It looks very chic (we know you girls are already droooling), clean lines, a simple but handsome front grille, the sloping roofline toward the back makes for

better aerodynamics as well. With viper-like high intensity discharge headlamps, the appearance is menacing at sundown and smart in the day. We tested the GLS trim which had a whole lot of goodies, but we’ll focus on that later.

Motivation comes from a newly developed high revving 3 litre V6 power plant with a MIVEC multi-camshaft lobe system that changes the engine valve timing for the best power to fuel efficiency ratio. It develops a whopping 235 bhp of power @6250 RPM (highest in its class) and 288 Nm of torque @ 4000 RPM (again highest!). A6-speed auto ‘box (with sports mode) All Wheel Control (AWC) system puts the power on the road, the tranny allows shifting from 2WD, 4WD Auto and 4WD Lock mode via an electronic control knob on the centre console.

What makes the Outlander so special is the manual mode with paddle shift behind the Steering wheel, its not an Enzo fast shifter but it is fast enough. This is the first time ever a paddle shift has been introduced in this segment and gives a definitive sporty feel to the CUV. Overall, Mitsubishi got the transmission spot on. Off the road, the ride quality is comfortable and she is very very capable in 4WD Lock mode. Make no mistake; it still drives like a car, so some limitations are bound to bog it down like the 220 mm ground clearance. It will tackle most obstacles but rather not get too adventurous. In 2WD mode she transfers all power to the front wheels and then throws its weight around when cornering due to the soft suspension set up. The steering is very light and offered limited feedback. Rolling on large P rated 225/55R18 tyres, the Outlander makes mince meat out of its competitors on the highway cruise. Sound proofing is good overall, but we did experience some unpleasant wind roar which wasn’t too comforting. The 5.3m turning radius of the car is remarkable despite a wheelbase of 2670mm. Inside, the GLS trim level offers leather seats, a steering adjustable for rake and reach, steering mounted audio controls, cruise control switches, a sun roof and a specially developed for the Outlander, Rockford Fosgate 6-speaker audio system with a subwoofer mounted in the boot. Keyless entry and ignition, an intelligent Multi-info display in the speedo console and flexible seating arrangements come standard as part of the GLS package. The climate control system is efficient and chills the cabin quickly.

All the safety aids of ABS, EBD, TCS with disc brakes all around are standard throughout the range. Seating five passengers in comfort, the Outlander is equipped with 8 airbags for all-round protection. Its monocoque body has been designed with energy absorbing sub-structures that absorb impacts from even the most acute angles while keeping the occupants out of harms reach. Last word The Outlander is F-U-N to drive; it introduces many elements that the modern CUV owner demands at a price point that is only a fraction higher than the market leaders. It looks good from the rear too where red LEDs light up the back and its subtle attention to design detail make it appealing to a wider group of people. The smaller 2.4 litre engine produces 185 bhp which is still more than its competitors. There are very few things that could upset the momentum of this car, the days of experimentation are over, Mitsubishi has delivered a severe blow to its CUV competitors. We recommend this car for its ride, comfort, features and heritage, and for the wind roar, crank up the audio.

Sunday, September 30, 2007

Brute force - Dodge Nitro 2007 (3.7 V6)

This is Dodge’s baby for 2007 which started off as a concept SUV.

Brute force - Dodge Nitro 2007

By Tushal Bhadang

Four-by-four’s are darlings of the Middle East market, and when they’re as radically designed as the new Dodge Nitro, it only eggs people to adopt the difference in appearance. At first glance the Nitro looks large and beefy. Exaggerated flared wheel arches and tough off-road tyres give it strong road presence. The body from after the front fender toward the rear closely resembles the Jeep Commander. There are no curves on the Nitro, its boxy design appears bold and unrelenting. . Industrial strength exterior door handles are tough to look and use. The front bumper did catch our interest, if European cars have large open mouth radiator grilles; this bucking bronco has an extended chin and a very low one. It’s the first thing after the signature chrome cross hatch grille that shouts there is a brutal beast lurking under

The Nitro is available in two V6 engine variants (3.7 litre and 4 litre), the car we had for test had a transverse mounted Magnum 3.7 litre 205 hp easy-going motor which leisurely revved to a peak of 5200 RPM. But the torque of 314 Nm@4000 RPM is what this motor is all about, it pulls away like a train, but a lot of its own body weight seems to bog it down. The motor only starts howling over 4000 RPM. Though even at city speeds, the exhaust note is deep, clearly announcing your arrival. Power delivery is smooth but the four-speed gearbox is a let down, it just doesn’t shift up or down as quickly as you’d want it to. Throttle response is sluggish as well, though once spanked; it goes like a scalded cat. All the torque can be put to particularly good use for towing and the Nitro has a small button that transfers all the juice to the rear wheels for best traction when towing. A tow hook has to be attached separately. Weighing in at 1.8 tons it wanted to swing its heavy rear out at turns, so we had to be careful. The long wheelbase of 2770mm is good for straight line stability but increases the turning radius to 12 metres. 210mm ground clearance is just about acceptable.

She is a respectable off-road vehicle with a part-time 4WD transfer case that can be switched via a dash mounted knob. In regular driving, 2-wheel-drive with the power going to the rear wheels, the steering feels light and ride quality is soft and bouncy. Even small indents on the road surface make her bob all over the place. The same suspension is very comfortable off the black, absorbing even the worst surfaces without a hitch. So it is more suitable for off-roading than on the road. As you sit high up, the visibility is extremely good and reversing is not an issue either, as there are no thick pillars to obstruct vision, though parking sensors would’ve been a bonus.

Our Khaki coloured Nitro had khaki interiors, khaki dash board, khakhi cloth seat covers, khaki door trim, everything in a variant of Khakhi! The only bright spots being the chrome garnish on the shift knob and cleverly designed door release latches. A single disc DVD/CD/MP3/WMA player is standard (no video display screen) with six speakers. The foot wells are illuminated and steering is adjustable for rake. The dashboard is flat in design and short people may have some ergonomic problems with having to reach out to all the switches. A triple-barrel speedo is attractive and backlit in white while the highly tactile buttons are backlit in green. Interior fit and finish is overall good but very rugged in design and feel. This makes the car feel brawny, women, are you reading this?

It features a Load 'n' Go, a cargo storage system whereby the rear seats and front passenger seat fold totally flat in seconds; additionally, the cargo floor slides rearward out over the rear bumper, and can hold 181 kgs, making the loading of heavy objects much easier and prevents back injuries and it still manages to sit five passengers in comfort.

The Nitro comes equipped with four airbags for the front passengers and disc brakes on all four wheels. ABS, EBD and ESP are standard through out the model range. Additionally, a tyre pressure monitoring system does a system check on start up and warns appropriately. Part of the problem with the bouncy on-road ride quality can be directed towards the 16” steel wheels, though an optional 20” rim is available in R/T trim, we’re assuming it will handle better with larger rims. Our Nitro came with 235/70 R16 off-road rubber.

Last word

The Nitro is the first mid-size SUV from Dodge, and has all the Dodge character. It's built on the platform of the future Jeep Liberty, and actually feels bigger than its size. People would buy this car for the boxy but attractive looks and if it wasn’t for the low extended chin (we got sand into its teeth a few times), it would do even better off road. On the road, we felt it handled better with the 4WD engaged, it won’t take you through Sahara but it will take you through Sakhir. The full spec R/T model comes with a new 4 litre V6 engine and makes 50 more horses, comes with larger rims and lower profile tyres and a comfier ride. Appearance-wise, the R/T gets body coloured bumpers and radiator grille which make the Nitro look classier. But if you’re on a thin budget and want some brute force, our test car, the Nitro SE is just about right.

Rating 3 stars

Car supplied by Behbehani Bros., Kingdom of Bahrain

Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Take your top off

Published in City Tribune 3rd March 2007

By Tushal Bhadang

Call it fashion, call it passion, no experience compares to the pleasure of driving with the wind in your hair, absorbing the landscape and being one with the car as you dominate the curvaceous Riffa roads. A convertible car captures this feeling of oneness with the practicality of a conventional roof (hard-top) and the pleasure of lowering the same when the sun is shining. Designing a convertible car is not as simple as chopping off the roof and installing a folding cloth (soft-top). Issues pertaining to structural strength and aerodynamics have to be considered in the design stage. Addressing these issues is what raises the price of a convertible car as compared to its fixed roof model. Technically the roof of a car keeps it from twisting and bending.
A car without a roof is like a suspension bridge without cables. This requires the bottom part of the car to be extra stiff with heavy reinforcement brackets which increase the weight of the car. Usually, with their top down cars are less aerodynamic than with fixed roofs. A long, flowing roof smoothes the airflow over the car, resulting in less drag. Have you ever seen people driving a convertible with their hair blowing forward? This happens because the fastmoving air coming off the top of the windshield encounters the slow-moving air inside the cabin. This can be uncomfortable for the occupants, and can increase the aerodynamic drag. A glass shield behind the headrests blocks this air, making the cabin quieter and more comfortable, as well as improving the aerodynamics.

A soft top requires the driver to latch and unlatch the roof manually after electronically raising or lowering it, in a Honda S2000 for example. Coming to hardtops, the Lexus SC430 is almost as aerodynamic with the top down as it is with the top up because of its hard metal fold down roof. This car is a hardtop convertible. As a hardtop, the car makes no compromises: The ride is quiet and the structure is stiff. With a push of a button it becomes a convertible. You don’t even have to undo any latches.

The roof on the SC430 folds in half and stows in the boot. When you press the button to lower the roof, the windows roll down and the boot opens. It opens the opposite way, after which the roof starts to open, folding in half as it heads for the boot. The roof folds over until it is fully inside the boot, at which point the boot closes. The cool thing about the boot is that it can still open just like a regular car boot — although with the roof down, there isn’t much room in there.

Having one convertible is (almost) as good as having two cars in your garage. With the top up, a convertible can be as practical as a coupe. But with the touch of a button (and perhaps a few un-latchings), your ride to work can be a whole lot more fun. Heck one can even have the most expensive cars in the world on convertible form, take for example luxo barges like Rolls Royce Phantom and Bentley Continental GT and super cars like Lamborghini Gallardo, Zonda and Aston Martin even! Though the Mazda MX-5 Miata, Renault Megane CC, Mini Cabriolet and Peugeot 206 CC and their likes should be the should be the one that the masses will be able to afford.

Turbo Chargers - When shove comes to push

Published in City Tribune - 16 April 2007

By Tushal Bhadang

The modern internal combustion engine is without doubt a marvellous invention, starting from producing a meagre 2 - 4 horse power (bhp) from to todays 1000 bhp road rockets.

Ever wondered what the ‘Turbo’ or ‘GTi’ bezzle at the back of a hatch or a truck meant? Some time in the 1920’s, lightning struck and designers analysed the way a normally aspirated car engine worked and they came up with a way to shove more air into an engine to increase the compression of the fuel air mixture in the cylinder so that the pop from the spark plug turned into a controlled bang!

Welcome the arrival of the airy Turbo Charger or Supercharger (for super cars)

So you ask, what good is a turbo charger? Well, for starters most normal road cars are normally aspirated. Which means the air in the air-fuel mixture passes through the air filter and then gets pushed into the engine with the fuel into the combustion chamber.

A Turbo charger is basically an air pump fitted on the engine in such a way that the exhaust gases that exit the engine, are used to rotate a turbine (fan) which creates a vortex of air to shove it into the engine though the intake passage.

A 1.8 litre normally aspirated car engine would generate between 120 to 150 bhp depending on the compression ratio of the engine which can vary from 9:1 to 10.5:1, where higher the ration, more expensive it is to manufacture and also it would require higher octane fuel. So, if one were to bolt on a turbo charger to the same 1.8 litre engine, it can be tuned to produce over 300 bhp which is double the original engine output.

Turbo chargers are not plug and play accessories that you have for your computer, a significant amount of mechanical and electrical modifications go into the process of converting an engine to use a turbo charger. Though factory fitted cars with turbo chargers are best as there are minimal hassles on their maintenance and have been tested extensively for compatibility.

We’ve now shown you the advantage of a turbo charger, now to focus on its drawbacks. The turbo charger actually only starts working at a certain engine RPM (Revolutions per minute), which means if you are looking for power at 1000 RPM, forget it! The Mitsubishi Evo 8 (400 bhp tarmac shredder) car uses power from the turbo charger at 3000 RPM (which is pathetic!) but if you keep the car in the right power band and the right gear the same turbo will give you power when you need it. The reason for this is that the Evo 8 is fitted with a massive turbo charger for its 2 litre, 4 cylinder engine! A larger turbo means more power but it also means you need more revs to get it spinning. While a smaller turbo on the New VW Golf GTi will give you only 220 bhp but the turbo starts working even at lower RPM’s as low as 1000 RPM. So you see, bigger is not always better.

In the recent Yalla Bahrain Drift event at the BIC, most of the cars were equipped with turbo chargers so that they could transfer a heap of power to the rear wheels to spin them ferociously which helped them to drift.

Turbo chargers have long been used in diesel engines as well, which are much heavier than their petrol counterparts. The power output is low compared to a petrol engine of the same capacity as combustion is via compression and not ignition. A turbo helps diesel engines rev up faster so that they reach their max potential sooner by improve torque output for lugging heavy loads.

Turbo chargers prevent the loss of power at high altitudes, thus providing significant advantages to turbocharged trucks and off-road machinery. They harness and recycle the energy by reusing exhaust gases to produce more power. As a result, turbocharged engines deliver significant fuel cost advantages over their naturally-aspirated counterparts.
Today’s turbocharged diesel engines produce 50% less NOx and CO2 emissions than conventional engines.

They also deliver greater torque which, in turn, translates into improved performance on the road and make driving a real pleasure. So what are you waiting for? Get charged today!

Slick truths - All you might want to know about engine oil


(Published City Tribune - April 9 2007)

By Tushal Bhadang

Just like the human heart, your car has a heart - the engine. A modern car engine is an intricate network of narrow passages cast in metal and sealed by gaskets. The lifeline of an engine is the engine oil pumped through all the nooks and corners over all the internal parts.

No matter what the fuel used (diesel or petrol) metal rubbing against metal causes friction and hence wear and tear in an engine. Engine oil creates a thin film of lubrication between all the moving parts so that they can survive the intense heat, pressure and speed generated by the moving car.

Alesser known fact about engine oil is that it has cleansing properties (detergents), which are necessary to remove sludge (thick oily formation) from tappets, valve seats, crank shaft etc. and also to hold on to the nasty byproducts of combustion such as silica (silicon oxide) and acids. This cleaning action helps build a consistent layer of film on the moving parts and also keeps the engine cool. Engine oil is not a very interesting topic and hence motorists often ignore engine oil essentials. For starters, engine oil is available in various grades. Pick up a can of oil and you will come across jargon such as: “SAE/API SJ 20W40/50” on the label. SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and API (American Petroleum Institute) stand for the international grading authorities, “S” for petrol engine use, if “C” then for diesel engine use. The second letter indicates the quality of the oil, higher the better. An ‘SJ’ oil can be used for any engine requiring a lower grade like SB, SG, SH etc.

Now to explain the numbers - they denote the viscosity/thickness or resistance to flow. The lower the number, the thinner the oil and vice versa. So, ‘20’ denotes, that you can start the car safely with temperatures no lower than 20 deg. Fahrenheit. The Upper number ‘40/50’ is where the role of multigrade oil comes into the picture. For a country like Bahrain, where the ambient road temperature in the summers exceeds 50 deg. Fahrenheit, this grade is suitable. Oil, like any other liquid also tends to vaporise at high temperatures. Note that often after a high speed run, if you open the bonnet in peak summers ((if you dare to, that is!) and uncap the oil cap on the engine, you will notice light vapours rising. Excessive smoke means that your engine is actually heating up too much and vaporising the oil before it can do its job. Entering the garage now, is synthetic or semisynthetic oil, which, unlike pure mineral oil has additives and a modified molecular structure that helps it to ‘cling’ onto the metal parts. Hence it is better to use this kind of oil as compared to pure oil due to its better engine protection properties. It is also safe for the environment.

DON’T JUDGE OIL BY ITS COLOUR

Summer is soon approaching Bahrain and the chances of engine oil being vaporised also increase. Hence it is not only necessary to check the oil dipstick frequently (every

fortnight) but also part of good car maintenance. The procedure is clearly mentioned in your car’s owner manual. Garage mechanics make a quick buck by getting you to purchase new oil and filter from them, i.e. the mechanic will say that the oil has become dark black in colour and needs to be replaced. But your car doesn’t need an oil change unless you are getting key components like piston seals replaced. The dark colour of the oil is due to the carbon it has absorbed from combustion. Run a car for 10 minutes after a fresh oil change and it will change colour! A periodic oil change is necessary though, due to high temperatures in Bahrain and to maintain engine performance, a change

of oil and oil filter is recommended at 5,000 kms or 10,000 kms varying from car brand to brand. Buy a fresh pack of oil as far as possible and look out for improper storage of

packs before purchase as older oil may not be compatible with your modern car.

Use a proper grade that’s recommended for your car. You don’t need to use an expensive

grade of oil that goes into a E u r o p e a n luxury car for your small car. It would be in the best interest of your car and your comfort to invest in good quality oil. Peace of mind and better resale value are only some of the benefits. Don’t hesitate to ask your dealer for information about the oil they’re putting in your car, it’s your right to have a car that’s running smooth and clean.

OIL AND WATER DO NOT MIX

So do not pour your used oil onto the ground. Firstly, it’s worth noting that used engine oils are mildly carcinogenic and may cause cancer, specifically skin cancer. Don’t pour used oil into the sewage either. Take it to your nearest authorised car service station and they will know how to dispose it. Contact Hudson Quick Service in Bahrain to dispose off used oil.