The New Hilux

Posted on January 3, 2011 by momekh

Toyota Hilux Turbo in Pakistan

For those who are not aware, the Toyota Hilux is very much a living legend.

From Top Gear to Newsweek, the critics have always held great respect for the rough and tough 4×4. Not only that, the Toyota Hilux is well known for its part in the wars of our world! Yes, much like the revered AK-47 when it comes to weapons, the Toyota Hilux is considered the AK-47 of vehicles.

The Toyota Hilux in Pakistan

We have had the Vigo, the imported variety of the Hilux, plying our roads for some time now. It is by all means, a desirable vehicle. And no one has to tell you that they are talking about the Hilux and when they say ‘Double Cabin’.

But there is one problem; more often than not, you’d see the ‘lords of our country’ stuffing their guards into the Hilux. It is, for most intents and purposes, considered a ‘guard car’, but that is not to be considered a bad thing! The Hilux gets a kick out of this reputation as well; guards get the toughest car, no?

My anecdotal review

One fine day, I got to ride in a Land Cruiser, a Pardo and the double cabin Hilux. All three 4×4′s, on the same day. As expected, the Cruiser took full marks on pretty much everything (it is not the best car in the world for nothing!), but to my surprise, I just couldn’t place the Prado above the Double Cabin. The Hilux was more comfortable, even in the supposedly cramped back seat (it is not cramped, you only imagine it to be!)

What’s new in the New Hilux?

The same that you’d expect from a monopolistic, zero-competition industry; not much. The ‘new’ Hilux is claimed to have a new ‘Turbo’ engine, whatever that means, and the website does not tell you much about what ‘new engine’ got placed.

There are two ‘trims’ to the Hilux; Hilux Standard and Hilux Turbo.

So, what is the difference in the engines of the Standard and the Turbo? If you dare to read the specifications, you will clearly see the difference in the Standard and Turbo engines.

Toyota Hilux Standard and Turbo difference

And what exactly does TURBO mean?

Why are you not surprised that both the engines have EXACTLY the same specifications?

Toyota, especially with the Corolla, have given us the same 2.0 Diesel engine for ages, whereas the diesel technology on Toyota cars has leaped forward in other parts of the world. I request the Toyota guys reading this, to please give us a break!

Give me 4 Lacs, I will give you AC

If you ever get a chance to see the Toyota Indus website, you’d see that they have tried to present even the smallest of things as ‘features’ of this ‘new’ Hilux. They even go ahead and mention things like “premium” fabric on the inside of doors as a freakin’ feature. Are you kidding me? And they mention that the new Hilux have ‘bottle holders’. What the hell?

But then again, the ‘Standard’ version of the ‘new’ Turbo Hilux does not have Air Conditioning, or the ‘premium’ fabric gracing the inside of the door. So you better end up paying 400,000 more for the Turbo version! Wait till people pimp their Standard versions over at the Montgomery Road, and get it to “look” exactly like the Turbo version for quarter of the price difference.

And there is no option of automatic transmission in either of the two trims. That is just sad.

The Price We Pay

The standard comes to 2,349,000 Pakistani Rupees.

The Turbo costs 2,749,000 Pakistani Rupees.

There is the touchscreen DVD and other ‘little things’ that make up the price difference. You also get the A/C in the Turbo version. So rejoice!

Will you buy this car?

I will buy this vehicle because it ‘looks’ good, and even the ‘old’ engine tech of Toyota has stood the test of time. I will not buy this car if I have the slightest of chance of getting an imported vehicle.

I only want to get one thing clear; the Pakistani market is constantly given a bad deal, or rather a deal that is just good enough. As mentioned previously on Car Advice, if you really want to see if ‘our cars’ would stand up against ANY competition, let us import cars at a lower duty. Then no one, and I mean, NO ONE, would pay what we have to pay.

Specifications (the boring part)

DIMENSIONS
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
Overall Length	mm	5130	5255
Overall Width	mm	1760	1835
Overall Height	mm	1810
Wheelbase	mm	3085

ENGINE SPECIFICATIONS
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
Engine Type		2KD-FTV
Fuel System		Common-Rail Type
Displacement	cc	2494
Maximum Output	kW/rpm	75 / 3600
Maximum Torque	Nm/rpm	260 / 1600-2400
Maximum Turning Radius (body)	m	6.5

PERFORMANCE
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
Transmission		260 / 1600-2400
Brakes	Front	Ventilated Disc
Brakes	Rear	Drum
ABS		X	0
Suspension	Front	Double Wishbone
Suspension	Rear	Leaf, Rigid
Stabilizer Bar		Standard
Steering System		Hydraulic Power Steering
Tire and Wheel		205R16C 6J	255/70R15C 7J WITH ALLOYS
Fuel Tank Capacity	Liters	76

SAFETY
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
GOA BODY STRUCTURE		0
FUEL LEVEL WARNING		0
Seat Belt		Driver: 3 Point ELR, with Pretensioner and Force Limiter Passenger: 3 Point ELR
Seat Belt		2 Passengers: 3 Point ELR Center Passenger: Non Retractable
SRS Air Bag		X	D + P

EXTERIOR
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
Front Grill		Black	Body Colored
Door Outside Handle		Black	Body Colored
Front Bumper		Black	Body Colored
Outside Rear View Mirror		Black	Body Colored With Side Turn Lamps
Front Head Lamps		Halogen
Antenna		Pillar
Deck Guard		0	X
High Mount Stop Lamp		X	0
Rear Window Defogger		X	0
Sun Visors		X	0
Side Step		X	0
Over Fenders		X	0
Rear Bumper		X	0
Roof Rack / Carrier		X	0
Roll Bar		X	0
Bull Guard		X	0
Front Hood Protector		X	0
Front Fog and Driving Lamps		X	0
Deck Liner With Tailgate Cover		X	0

INTERIOR
		STANDARD – 4X4	TURBO – 4X4
Air Conditioning		X	0
Heater		0
Speakers		X	4SP – Door Mounted
Audio		X	Touchscreen DVD/CD Player
Steering	Wheel	3 Spoke Urethane	4 Spoke Urethane
Steering		Manual Tilt
Seats		Fabric	Premium Fabric
Interior Color Scheme		Gray
Multi Info Display		Clock Only
Door Inside Handle		Colored
Room Lamp		0
Instrument Panel Center Cluster		Gray	Silver
Power Windows		X	0
Headrest	Front	0
Headrest	Rear	0
Console Box		X	0
Speedometer		Analog KM/H

Toyota Avanza in Pakistan

Posted on January 25, 2010 by momekh

2010 has hardly started, and Pakistan sees five different cars being launched!

First, there was the Suzuki Swift (covered on CarAdvice here and for Swift pictures, see here). Then there is Toyota coming out with four different cars, all belonging to the, ahem ill-defined ‘spacious’ variety:

Toyota Prado (CarAdvice’s review of one cool feature in Prado can be found here)
Toyota Avanza
Toyota Fortuner (that I can’t help spell and call Fortrunner)
Terios (by Dihatsu)

Toyota Avanza is priced at PKR 1,799,000 for the Standard version and PKR 1,999,000 for the ‘Up Spec’. And the difference of PKR 200,000 is because in the Up-Spec version, you have 4 speakers instead of 2, 15-inch alloys instead of 14-inch steel and ‘electronic’ rear view mirror control instead of ‘manual’.

The car is 1.5 liters which I feel will be underpowered if you stack the car up to full capacity and drive back home from a good lunch. Toyota is intelligent enough to introduce different cars into the market and play up to the wallet of all classes of our society. I keep hearing stupid remarks by people that ‘the cars are too expensive’ for Toyota to bring in. No man, the car is expensive for me to buy it! But there are definitely people out there who’d consider Toyota Avanza as a right fit for their combined family trip. Tthe reason Yamaha doesn’t bring in heavy bikes, or Suzuki doesn’t bring their highly successful GS series of motorbikes (from 150 CC to 750CC) to Pakistan is ‘officially’ quoted as ‘lack of a market’. Well, there will be no market unless some makes it, and Toyota makes it every time!

Toyota Avanza Pictures

This is what it is all about, check ‘em out.

Porsche’s (mis)adventure in Pakistan’s market!?

Posted on September 4, 2009 by savaiz

porsche Porsche Pakistan was launched by Autotechnik Pvt. Ltd. in 2005 with the establishment of Porsche Centre Lahore. Autotechnik is the exclusive importer of Porsche cars in Pakistan.

normal After changing two locations & opening/closing a service centre the company seems to have shut down its operations temporarily. The reasons purpotedly include a clash between partners & a ‘fall-out’ with the parent company in Germany.

cayman-s Today the contact numbers given by Autotechnik website are 0425872871 & 042-5872875 while the Porsche International Website (incidentally linked on Porsche Pakistan website gives the same as (Sales) 111-777-911 & (Service) 111-888-911. I’m confused but what is more confusing is that none of them is being attended.

cayenne-turbo Nevertheless the cars that are being sold are being sold at these proces (as er Porsche-Pakistan.com website:

www.porsche-pakistan.com

Boxster Rs.6.483m Boxster S Rs.7.502m

Cayman Rs.6.977m Cayman S Rs.7.908m

Cayenne Rs.7.003m Cayenne S Rs.9.082m

Cayenne GTS Rs.10.018m Cayenne Turbo Rs.14.213m

Unfortunately the classic 911 & the superfast Panamera range are not available in Lahore but you can get one from Middle East importers.

The convertible Boxster has a top speed of 258kph (standard) & 272kph (S-type) while Cayman & Cayman S have almost identical topspeed but with a fixed roof.

Until the sales start once more you can try checking out the porsche international website http://www.porsche.com for any further updates.

Suzuki Alto vs Daihatsu Cuore

Posted on August 29, 2009 by savaiz

design_concept_alto_11 img_coure-1 Suzuki’s Alto has been launched by the carmaker to compete with Daihatsu’s Cuore. Although they are both priced in the same range (Alto variants priced for Rs.0.588million & Rs.0.637million while variants of Cuore sell for Rs.0.569million to Rs.0.709million); engine displacement of Cuore is only 847cc (3-cylinders) with a 3-speed A/T transmission (5-speed in CX & CXCNG variants) compared with 970cc (4-cylinders) displacement of the Alto’s with its 5-speed M/T transmission.

is more compact at 3.3m in length while Alto is slightly larger at 3.395m. Both have near exact suspension systems i.e. MacPherson Strut for front wheels & isolated trailing link for rear ones. WHile fuel tanks are also identical (37-litre capacity) the CNG cylinder in Alto is slightly bigger (55-L) than Cuore’s (50-L).

If Alto sells for its better performance features the several photo_7 variants of Cuore design_concept_alto_11 make it affordable to a variety of buyers including some chunk of the Cultus market which is otherwise the only car that competes exclusively against ‘unorganized imports’. Both are assembled locally with Daihatsu assembling their’s at the Toyota Indus Motors plant & Suzuki having their own assembly unit.

Which is the fastest road car in the world?

Posted on August 26, 2009 by savaiz

Face it boys will always be boys & the badder the boy the faster will be his ride. However here we are interested in super cars that are street legal & go faster than all others.

Although Bugatti Veyron made by is the fastest production car currently with a price tag of US$.1.7million and a top speed of 253mph achieved by its 1001hp Narrow Angle W16 Engine and ended McLaren F1′s (Top Speed: 240mph) 11-year reign as the fastest production car in 2005. Today several cars are in various stages of development that have proven faster in trials.

One such car is the swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX whose manufacturer also claims that it is capable of exceeding 250mph putting it at par with the Veyron. Infact CCX ended the reign of McLaren F1 but its own reign was short-lived as Bugatti immediately updated its Veyron. Koenigsegg has announced that they will update CCX very soon.

Yet another challenger is SSC Ultimate Aero which on Sep. 13th, 2007 using a closed section of Washington State Highway clocked a top speed of 256.18mph using a V8 engine half-the-size of Veyron’s. It generates 1183bhp & of torque (Veyron: 479lbs). The car’s website page(www.sportscarcup.com/ssc-ultimate-aero/) lists the top speed as 273mph. Price: US$0.6Million.

Another equivalent of this amazing challenger is the fast yet modified supercar built by Barabus called Barabus TKR having 6L V8 Chevy bi-turbo engine capable of generating an amazing 1095bhp & acgheivingtop speed of 270mph. The body & chasis of the car are both made of carbon-fibre. It is rumoured to reach 0-60mph in 1.67sec which is amazing since even 4 sec qualifies for supercar.

An obscure modifier using modified versions of Dodge Viper under name of Hennessey SRT-10 Viper Venom 1000 Twin Turbo Coupe claims to challenge Bugatti Veyron (even SSC Ultimate Aero) using a 500bhp Viper engine reworked to give 1000bhp at 15psi instead of the usual 10psi creating a 255mph marvel priced at a ‘reasonable’ US$0.225million.

Colani Racing of Switzerland has designed a roadster which is yet to see the light of any road other than the 24-hour LeMans Circuit. With a 900hp engine The Colani LeMans is rumoured to have a top speed of approx. 255mph. However there is no news regarding any plans for commercial production and Colani are uptil now only producers of cars for racing purpose.

Callaway Corvette Sledgehammer reached a top speed of 254.76mph on Oct 19, 1989 driven by John Lingenfelter. Only 1 of these cars exists, although, at the time Callway Motor Company claimed that they could reproduce it for 0.400million. It seems no one wants one at that price & it has ended up being a concept car rather than a commercial production model.

Other concept cars that failed to become production cars included Oldsmobile Aerotech Short Tail (Top Speed: 257mph); Lotec C1000 (Top Speed 268mph); F-Bomb 1973 Camaro (Top Speed 270mph); Bristol Fighter SCR (270mph – electronically limited to 225mph); Audi R-Zero (Top Speed 253mph); Melling Hellcat (Top Speed 276mph) & the 2000hp Walley Larson LE1 Groundfighter (Top Speed 305mph).

Anything I missed please do let me know.

Mitsubishi makes the best micro car?

Posted on August 17, 2009 by savaiz

mitsubishi_i_hello_kitty 800px-mitsubishi_i_1

Although it may not be virtually unknown outside its ‘native’ Japan it won the 2007 Car of the Year award from the Japanese Automotive Researchers and Journalists Conference (RJC), and two other “Car of the Year” awards, from the Carview Corporation website and the Consumer’s Choice.

It also won the “Most Advanced Technology” Special Achievement Award at the 2006–07 Japan Car of the Year awards, where it was nominated unsuccessfully in the overall Car of the Year category, and ranked first in the Japan Mini-Car APEAL Study published by J.D. Power Asia Pacific in October 2006, with a higher score than any previous winner. Aside from the 2006 Good Design Grand Prix, its style won Design Awards from the Japan Automotive Hall of Fame (JAHFA), and the magazines Popeye and Car Styling.

Even the 2008 Car of the year 2008 Toyota’s iQ although better performance wise & designed by Toyota’s design studio in France pales in comparison to the sleek shape & georgeous look of the “i”. Agreed that microcars or ‘kei’ cars as they are known in Japan are made generally for the ladies &/or ‘sissies’ but offlate the modified versions of Smart Cars having superbike engines have been known to pack quite a muscle (0-100kph in under 3.5seconds.

“i”s breakthrough success with the said market came after a “Hello Kitty” customized “i” was put on display in a large Japanese Department Store for a week in 2007. Other close rivals include Smart Mortor’s fortow & K models, ZAP (zero air pollution), Toyota iQ the proposed Aston Martin-Toyota joint venture Cygnet & Honda’s Insight.

Suzuki has also marketed its own budget version of the smart car known as Suzuki Twin while rounding off the European competition are Mercedes-Benz’s Motsy & Subaru’s R2.

Wanna get dirty??

Posted on April 13, 2009 by nabeel

bombardier_outlander

I’ve been dreaming about getting a quad bike for a birthday present since I was about six years old. Sadly however that magic birthday never came. In my dreams I’ve driven through valleys and deserts and rescued gorgeous looking girls on my quad bike. But none of these dreams ever saw the light of day.

charlie-angels1 I know a quad bike is not very practical as a mode of transport, in fact it is pointless unless you live alone on a mountain top. But it does combine all the coolest ingredients of a great thriller in a very small package. Just like Charlie’s Angels…

When you look at a quad bike it instantly makes you forget about practicality, you just want it for its fat spiky tires, the torque-filled two stroke engine and those huge shock absorbers.

But I’m not so sure many six year olds will get to tear the gift wrapper off a quad bike because these beasts are quite pricey. A proper quad bike can cost between 50 to 500 thousand rupees. This is why it would be a good idea to rent one for the weekend instead of buying one. Unfortunately however I’ve never heard of a place where you can rent a quad bike. Maybe that’s why I get to see so many 40 year old fat balding businessmen riding their own quad bikes around town. And they always have a mischievous smile on their face like a six year old boy who just got a quad bike for a birthday present.

quadbike-hpwr

Made in China

Posted on March 16, 2009 by nabeel

chery-m14

These days you can buy a Chinese fake version of almost anything for a fraction of the price of the original.

You can buy a carbon copy of the Honda 70 for half the price, or an iPhone look-a-like with a logo that shows an apple eaten from all sides…

Even cars from Chinese brands are not that uncommon these days.

Chery is one of the leading car makers from China. Their 800cc car “QQ” is

Chery QQ

becoming quite popular in Pakistan. And you have to give them the credit for making a car that offers a much better build quality, performance and more features than its rivals. And the best part is that even the top-spec model of this car costs nearly the same as the cheapest Suzuki Mehran, which, as we all know, is made from used tin foil.

The only thing that lets this car down is its looks. But don’t forget that Mehran doesn’t exactly look like the Mona Lisa either.

But I’m not very interested in talking about 800cc family cars right now. I want to talk about a car, made in China, which has just two seats, an electric folding roof and a 2.0 liter, 195 bhp, turbo-charged, petrol engine. Yes, Chinese sports cars are coming our way…

For those of you with large bank accounts and a fleet of cars parked outside, this might not be something to look forward to. But it is a very exciting piece of news for petrol-heads like me who love cheap thrills.

Chery M14

It’s called the Chery M14. It was introduced back in 2006 as a concept car. Designed by a car designer from Pininfarina, it was displayed in several car shows around the world and received a lot of appreciation from the public. It was promised that its mass production will start by the end of 2007. But it didn’t. And strangely after spending so much time and money designing and advertising this much awaited car, it seems that Chery have suddenly backed out of the cheap sports car business. There are no mentions about this car on their global website and the Chery Pakistan website lists it as an “upcoming model” whose mass production will start in 2007.

If this car ever goes into production, it will cost around $19,000 which roughly equates to 1.5 million (15 lac) rupees. For a car like this, trust me, it’s the biggest bargain in the world.

M14 interior

I know what you are thinking…you’re thinking that it will have a crap build quality like everything else made in China. Well, think again…because it can’t possibly get worse than the cars we are already used to, like the Suzuki Cultus or Toyota Corolla XLi which happen to be two of the highest selling cars in Pakistan. If we can live with these cars, we can live with anything. Bring it on Chery!

Let’s hope that the M14 goes into production soon and then other car companies from China also join the competition.

Chery M14 promo

FERRARI vs MEHRAN

Posted on February 28, 2009 by nabeel

ferrari-vs-mehran-small1

People of Lahore are familiar with three forms of driving…

Driving in the city (which can turn into serious off-roading),

Driving on the highway (often with donkey carts going in the other direction),

And last but not least, reckless driving.

Oh and there’s one more; driving in the fast lane at 30 km/h. Actually this is even more dangerous than reckless driving because it puts you at the risk of being murdered.

But don’t forget that this is also the city where literally hundreds of people own top of the range cars from Porsche, BMW, Mercedes, even Ferrari and Aston Martin. These are just a few names from a long list that’s growing fast.

Aston Martin DB9

Ferrari 360

Porsche 911 Carrera 2S

Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

When I first realized that my fellow citizens drive these exotic beauties, I almost fainted with excitement.

But if you think about it, you will realize that people are driving cars that can do 320 kph on roads that hardly ever allow 120. That means my 40 horse power Cuore can easily keep up with a 400 horse power Ferrari on the highways.

And as soon as we are off the highway, I will instantly leave the Ferrari in my dust…

Yes…and the reason is that now we’re in speed breaker territory, most of which happen to be taller than the Ferrari itself. And there’s a very good reason behind these world famous speed breakers. You see, building sky scrapers is an extremely difficult task, that’s why we decided to go for the tallest speed breakers in the world.

By the way, these speed breakers are usually nicknamed “jumps”, which says it all. I call them something else which I can’t tell you.

So if I had the job of issuing license plates for cars, I would issue a special golden “Jackass” plate to anyone who has one of these imported exotic cars in Lahore. I mean what’s the point of having a Ferrari when you can’t even keep up with a Mehran in a race???

Let’s face it, Ferraris are not designed keeping the streets of Lahore in mind, and you can’t explore their potential without getting stuck on a speed breaker with all four wheels in the air.

And I would love to take a picture of a Ferrari driving behind a donkey cart on a highway.

That means all three forms of driving known to Lahore-kind, have been ruled out for Ferraris and Porsches. A Mehran, on the other hand, is not only perfect for all of these scenarios, but also much faster. It’s the super-car of Lahore.

Now that I’ve proved that you can go faster in a Mehran than a Ferrari. I want to prove it wrong. I’m not going to ramble on about road conditions and government policies because, let’s face it, we are on our own.

It’s time to introduce a brand new form of driving to Lahoris. This form of driving is the reason why names like Ferrari and Porsche exist, and no Mehran has ever seen it. This is the form of driving where you need a racetrack. nurburgring1

Perhaps I should explain that a racetrack is a road that doesn’t go anywhere, it has no speed humps, donkey carts are not allowed to use it, and you can go as fast as you dare. Oh and it’s a little bendy too. In fact it can scare the hell out of you with its high speed bends.

Only trouble is that this magic road doesn’t exist anywhere near Lahore. It doesn’t even exist anywhere in the country.

So would you like to know why racetracks are non-existent in our country even though we have hundreds of cars designed only for the purpose?

Here’s why…About 1.6 million years ago, Martians came to earth. They marked out the boundaries of Pakistan and then cursed it to make sure no one ever enjoys driving here.

This is the best logical explanation for the fact that no one has ever built a racetrack inPakistan. I’m not kidding; I even have strong evidence to support my theory of Martians.

Indian Formula Rolon

Across the eastern border, India is currently hosting four separate motorsport championships on proper racetracks with purpose built formula cars, now that’s more like it. Here are some names if you are interested; Formula LGB Hyundai, FISSME (aka Formula Maruti), Formula Rolon and JK Tyre National racing championship.

Still not convinced? Well even if you only watch PTV and you’ve never heard of Michael Schumacher; you would know that Formula1 is the most prestigious car racing championship in the world. To give you an idea about the success rate of Formula1, theShanghai race circuit built in 2004 cost $300 million to make. And it’s such a money tree that they hope to recover its cost by the year 2014. You do the math.

Now please take a deep breath because what I’m about to tell you might come as a big shock…

India will be hosting a Formula1 race in the year 2011 on the streets of New Delhi. Not to mention that their Formula1 team, Force India debuted back in 2008.

Enough said?

I think it’s time for us to call the Martians back to earth and beg them to lift the unbreakable curse before we become a laughing stock for Indians. Otherwise it’s a possibility that soon you will be offered an unused Ferrari in exchange for your old Mehran. And you will probably say, “No thanks!”

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

Posted on January 12, 2009 by admin

Got the pictures and the owner has agreed to give a detailed review of Land Cruiser Prado. As the review is on the way, I would like to share a nice little feature that is found in this 4×4: The camera that gives a detailed view of the surroundings at the back of the Prado.

When you put the vehicle in reverse, the display inside the car automatically shows the view:

When you put the car in reverse, the screen switches to the camera at the back of the car.

But the real clever bit is the use of simple and easy to understand lines that show the expected path of the vehicle depending on which way you turn the wheels!

close up of the screen with a neat overlay of lines showing the expected path of the vehicle

You turn the wheels a certain way, and the yellow lines will adjust accordingly, showing you the expected path of the vehicle. As you can see, I am right now reversing into the gate.

No more neck twisting, left-arm-behind-passenger-seat type of reversing. This makes your driving experience a tad more pleasurable – and in today’s high end cars, it is the little things that make the biggest difference, no?

Basic Info:

Car Name: Toyota Land Cruiser Prado

Model: 2003

Registered: 2004

Price: PKR 3.5 Million

Color: Silver

P.S. I will be uploading the pictures as soon as I get the review in place, God willing.

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