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Chevy has just launched its latest model Spark, and is inviting everyone to join the virtual carpool. Simply mosy over to the Chevy Spark Virtual Carpool Club Facebook application and you get the chance to win five iPad 2s.

All you have to do is “like” the Chevy Philippines Facebook fan page and register in the Spark Carpool Club application. Upon registering, you will automatically be designated as the virtual carpool driver of the account. The objective of the game is to add as much Facebook friends to be your carpool buddy.

Of course, aside from just Liking the page, you will need to have friends join your carpool club, as well. The more friends you invite, the more entries you get to the raffle. A winning “car” with five members will be picked each week, with the members receiving movie tickets and Chevy merchandise. Meanwhile, the winners of the final draw get an iPad 2 each.

Chevy’s latest Spark comes in two new variants, particularly the 1.0 liter 4-speed automatic and 5speed manual, which have the same design as the 1.2L MT. According to tests, these new models can give you as much as 22 km/L for the manual 1.2L and 1.0L variants, and 19 km/L for the 1.0 automatic. How’s that for a fuel-efficient pocket rocket?

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It’s pretty weird to be giving the Nissan Teana a go when Angelo has already driven it a while back and he has done quite an exhaustive review of the car. However, since Nissan has been kind enough to give another PinoyAutoBlogger another go at its flagship luxury sedan, I’m more than happy to give my two cents worth on the Teana.

Power

The unit’s still the same 250XL unit that Angelo drove a while back. The car packs a 2.5L V6 engine under the hood and the engine is mated to a CVT transmission. Power is sent to the front wheels. The engine supposedly produces 182 hp which means that should theoretically be more than enough but the sheer size and weight of the Teana makes the car seem wanting at times.

Literature pegs the 0 to 100 kph sprint time at 9.6 seconds which is, by 2.5L V6 standards, is quite slow. And 182 hp from a 2.5L engine seems to do the displacement quite the injustice. It also seems to have a problem getting off off the line which I presume is no thanks to the max torque being accessible at the 4,000 rpm rev area.

In normal driving mode, the engine seems to produce power in lumps and you have to rev past 2,000 rpm to get any decent response. The CVT transmission seems to temper how the power is put on the road. With all those ponies to tap, I was expected some torque steer but there was none. The gear changes were sublime enough but this is expected of any modern automatic transmission these days.

Only when pressing the Sport button (which is basically the overdrive switch), does the Teana comes alive. This allows the engine to rev happily past 3,000 allowing the car to really start tapping those ponies to work. Pretty handy when overtaking other vehicles or simply just getting up to speed.

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Driving is such a nonchalant type of activity nowadays that most people don’t give it much thought. But despite its outstanding prevalence, driving is still a dangerous activity in many ways. High speeds, heavy vehicles, and different driving skill levels, among many other factors, all contribute to potential danger on the roads. If you’re seeking out the safest possible trip for you and your family every time you drive, you’ll need to depend on a few key car components designed to make every drive safer. Some are obvious safety features, while others are less clear. Whatever they are, however, you want to keep these safety components in good shape, so that you and your passengers always make it safely from Point A to Point B and beyond.

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Nissan Motor Philippines is currently running a low-downpayment promo for various models, which also include upgraded features for the same price, like leather seats, parking assist camera and multimedia system. Check it out.

• Nissan Sentra 200 6MT – PhP 99,999 d/p
• Nissan Sentra 200 CVT (now with leather seats) – PhP 118,000 d/p
• X-TRAIL 2.0 AT 4×2 – PhP 160,000 d/p
• X-TRAIL CVT 2.5 AT 4×2 – PhP 220,000 d/p
• X-TRAIL CVT 2.5 AT 4×4 – PhP 260,000 d/p

Low monthly offers are also available for 30% and 50% downpayment options.

Check out the press release after the jump. Continue reading …

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A growing family has growing needs. And that’s just what my family and I are experiencing these days. This includes the need for growing space in the family car. Kids are in grade school. Baby is now a toddler. Strollers have given way to big school bags. Moving to the city’s outskirts has necessitated bringing more stuff in the car than before.

And so it’s just the right timing that Honda has decided to lend us the new CR-V to take out for a weekend spin. It was short-notice, but I didn’t say no when Honda’s marketing manager called me to say the car was ready for pickup within a few hours’ time, even if it meant an hour’s drive in bad weather.

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The MMDA has been hell bent on arresting each and every speedster driving along Commonwealth Avenue and I don’t fully agree with them on how to make the “killer highway” safer. Speeding, they say, is a textbook case of reckless driving. Again, I don’t agree.

Sure, almost all of the collisions on Commonwealth involves idiotic and reckless drivers but to focus solely on speeding as a manifestation of recklessness is unfair to drivers who can speed up responsibly.

If you can stay within your lane and allow for the proper stopping distance needed between you and the vehicle up front, you can definitely safely drive even at speeds in excess of 100 kph. If every driver out there can do this, then there’s really no real problem upping the speed limit.

Besides, modern cars can safely go beyond that speed and have way better stopping power and shorter stopping distances since the old highway codes and manuals were written.

The real problem is that most of the other drivers with whom you share the load are idiots with kamikaze driving styles. The MMDA should just focus their attention on these idiots.

I say that the MMDA should focus their efforts not (solely) on speeding but on jerks who have erratic or truly reckless driving styles. Drivers who do not yield for right of way. Drivers who change lanes abruptly and not using signal lights. Motorcyclists who weave through traffic. PUV drivers who can’t stay within their designated lanes.

Thing is, given their equipment and capability, catching speeding vehicles through their speed guns is probably the MMDA’s most profitable venture to date. At Php 1,200 per pop, they are bound to make millions in a week at their claimed rate of apprehension.

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Hyundai Asia Resources, Inc., the official Hyundai distributor in the Philippines maintains a positive sales outlook for the year, with a 6% growth in May compared with the same period last year. This growth has been mostly fueled by commercial vehicles and SUV sales.

Hyundai sustains its momentum, as it posted total sales of 1,643 units in May this year or 6% growth from the same month last year. By category, sales of light commercial vehicles rose by 16% while that of passenger cars declined slightly by 3%. By models, the boost came largely from Tucson which expanded by 52% and the new models, Sonata and Elantra, which sold 75 units and 291 units, respectively. This brings sales performance for the first five months of 2011 to 3% growth or 8,062 units.

Hyundai is focusing on channel partners for fleet purchases, and this includes banks, projects and other commercial operations. Meanwhile, the company is confident that 2011 sales outlook will further improve, due to economic growth in the country.

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Let me begin this review of the Honda City 1.3S AT with the disclaimer that prior to picking up the review unit at Honda’s Ortigas office, I came fresh out of my weekend-long test drive of the Nissan Teana 250XV V6. Big car to small car. That’s just like my Honda Jazz experience, which came right after reviewing the Nissan Sentra 200 CVT.

With this in mind, I guess I should resist comparing the two review units, as these are on opposite sides of the size spectrum (not extreme, but still opposite). The 2011 Honda City sits smack at the bigger end of the subcompact class and almost nearing the compact class with its dimensions (it measures largest among its contemporaries). And while the City is meant to be a small, fuel-efficient car, it delivers just the right level of performance that you would expect from a car this size. With the City, you won’t be afraid to weave in and out of Metro Manila traffic. But you won’t feel out of place with bigger and more expensive cars on the street, either, with its sporty arrow-inspired look and clean lines.

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On Philippine roads, rarity gets you attention. Never mind if your car costs PhP 4 million or 100,000. If it’s not too common on the streets, you’re definitely in for head-turning scenarios. That’s what Nissan Teana 250XL v6 gave us for the extended weekend we had the review unit.

[We've updated the post to reflect the model # as 250XL V6 and not 250XV. Apparently, the 250XV model was a limited release sold before the 350XV was available. This writer's lazy eye didn't quite catch the fact that the model we reviewed was an "XL"a nd not "XV."]

Nissan Philippines lent us the midrange model of its flagship Teana a few weekends back, which came in Deep Amethyst Purple. This being the most expensive car I’ve reviewed so far, I was wowed when the car was delivered. It seemed like a treasure cove of gizmos, gadgets, bells and whistles.

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The Philippine auto industry has undoubtedly been largely affected by the Japan Earthquake last March 2011. Most car part importers have become very cautious in predicting future sales and have decided to lower them and optimize production thru a myriad of ways.

One of these manufacturers is Honda Car Philippines, Inc.

“Currently, we are on an indefinite ‘yellow flag’ status—meaning we are on an alert mode—because of the fluidity of the situation. We will conduct a monthly review [to assess the situation],” Voltaire Gonzales, head of Honda Cars Philippines sales department…

He also said the company might not be able to reach the 17,600 units predicted this year.

However, the Chamber of Automotive Manufacturers of the Philippines Inc. (CAMPI) has said it will remain with its forecast since sales will pick up come the latter part of the year. According to Elizabeth Lee, CAMPI President, they will stay the course:

“Despite the difficulties we face due to the lack of supply of some vehicles and parts, we are optimistic that we will be able to recover the lost sales given the full-year outlook.”

The Philippine auto industry will know by next financial year-end report as to who was right.

Brought to you by car hire Cyprus. Article via Manila Standard Today | Image StaraBlazkova at the Czech language Wikipedia [GFDL or CC-BY-SA-3.0], from Wikimedia Commons

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