Livina, Versi Pendek Grand Livina

PT Nissan Motor Indonesia akan meluncurkan Livina, yang merupakan versi pendek dari Grand Livina. Sedianya, Livina, yang termasuk kategori hatchback, akan diluncurkan pada bulan Juli lalu, tiga bulan setelah Grand Livina, yang termasuk kategori multi-purpose vehicle, diluncurkan.

Namun, setelah Grand Livina diluncurkan pada tanggal 5 April 2007, sambutan yang diberikan oleh masyarakat di luar perkiraan semula sehingga pembeli Grand Livina terpaksa harus menunggu dua sampai tiga bulan untuk memperoleh mobil yang dipesannya.

Persoalannya, kapasitas produksi Grand Livina 1.500 unit per bulan, padahal pemesanan Grand Livina mencapai 8.000-an unit. Akibatnya, pembeli harus bersabar menunggu, yakni dari tiga sampai tujuh bulan, tergantung varian yang dipesan. Walaupun PT Nissan Motor Indonesia sudah melakukan shift (menambah jam produksi), tetapi hal itu pada awalnya tidak banyak membantu.

Itu sebabnya, PT Nissan Motor Indonesia tidak mempunyai pilihan lain kecuali menunda peluncuran Livina sampai bulan Januari tahun 2008. Sulit dibayangkan apa yang terjadi jika pembeli Livina juga harus menunggu selama pembeli Grand Livina.

Meskipun baru akan diluncurkan pada bulan Januari 2008, tetapi sesungguhnya Livina sudah dua kali muncul di depan umum. Yang pertama adalah pada peluncuran Grand Livina di atrium pusat perbelanjaan Senayan City (5 April 2007) selama beberapa menit, dan yang kedua dipajang di stan Nissan pada Indonesian International Motor Show (IIMS) 2007 pada bulan Juli lalu. Dan, perhatian yang diberikan kepada Livina pun cukup banyak.

Namun, mengingat segmen yang disasar oleh Livina itu sudah sangat sesak, maka Livina pun mengadakan persiapan khusus sebelum menerjunkan diri. Bagaimana tidak, di segmen hatchback kompak yang didominasi oleh Honda Jazz itu ada Toyota Yaris, Suzuki Swift, KIA Pride, Chevrolet Kalos, Hyundai Getz, dan Daihatsu Sirion. Dan, di dekatnya juga masih ada Daihatsu Xenia dan Toyota Avanza.

Dalam kaitan itulah, PT Nissan Motor Indonesia pada tanggal 1 November lalu mengadakan lomba modifikasi Livina yang melibatkan sekitar 20 rumah modifikasi di kawasan Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, dan Bekasi (Jabodetabek). Dan, pada tanggal 16 November lalu telah dipilih lima finalis.

Lomba modifikasi itu dianggap perlu mengingat Livina akan memasuki segmen yang didominasi oleh kalangan muda, yang gemar tampil beda. Dengan adanya lomba modifikasi tersebut, PT Nissan Motor Indonesia membantu kaum muda dengan memberikan pilihan modifikasi yang tetap memerhatikan faktor keamanan (safety).

Belum diketahui berapa harga jual Livina yang memiliki panjang 4,400 meter, lebar 1,690 meter, dan tinggi 1,595 meter. Dari segi sosok, yang berbeda dengan Grand Livina, hanyalah panjangnya (Livina 20 sentimeter lebih pendek), sedangkan jarak antara as roda depan dan as roda belakang (wheelbase) 2,600 meter serta ketinggian bagian bawah mobil dari permukaan tanah (ground clearance) 18,5 sentimeter sama dengan Grand Livina. Dan, dari segi mesin, Livina hanya ditawarkan dengan mesin berkapasitas 1.5 Liter

(releated from www.kompas.com)

VW

Volkswagen is a German manufacturing brand/marque of motor car/automobile, based in Wolfsburg, Germany. It forms the major component (in volume of sales) of the much larger Volkswagen Group ("Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft", or "Volkswagen AG"), which is the world's fourth largest car producer after Toyota, Ford, and General Motors respectively.
The Volkswagen name means "people's car" in German, in which it is pronounced [ˈfolksvagən]. Its current tagline or slogan is Das Auto (in English The Car).

How to Drive

Drifting is a driving technique and a motor sport where a car slides at an angle, with its side moving in the direction of the turn.
Things to do Before You Begin Drifting

Drifting with Rear Wheel Drive and Manual Transmission
1. Find a car with both rear-wheel-drive and a manual transmission. Ideally it should be a sports car with as close to a 50/50 ratio as possible, and enough power to keep the tires spinning is ideal.
1. Head to an open area (i.e. an empty parking lot) safely free of pedestrians and motorists and police!
Hand brake technique:
1. Accelerate and shift into a gear with room to rev. Second gear is generally used because it allows the widest variance of speed and is best for harnessing the engine's torque.
2. Push in the clutch.
3. Flick the steering wheel to the inside of the turn as if you were going to turn around it. While simultaneously pulling the hand brake.
4. Immediately out some pressure on the gas pedal, let out the clutch, and steer the car in the direction of the slide, using throttle to control the angle of the drift.

More Throttle will make the car turn more, and also move the car away from the turn center. Less throttle will reduce angle, and allow the car to move towards the inside of the turn more freely. You're drifting!

(releated from wikohow.com)

Worsham Plans to...Go Racing

Worsham's Blue Max

Del Worsham is a racer. It's what he does, it's what he loves, and it defines him. So, faced with a string of 12 NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series events in 18 weeks, what did Worsham choose to do on the first of only six off-weekends between now and Labor Day? He chose to pull his popular Blue Max Nostalgia Funny Car out of the shop to take it racing, of course.

Worsham has entered his Blue Max in the "Funny Car Fever II" event, set for this Saturday (May 10) at Southwestern International Raceway in Tucson, Ariz., where he will compete with other dedicated nostalgia competitors in search of low E.T.'s, bragging rights, trophies, and purse money. Though strictly a Worsham side-project, the carefully restored version of Raymond Beadle's 1977 Mustang II Blue Max has impressed crowds and racers alike, while either making exhibition runs at NHRA National Events or competing at a select few sanctioned nostalgia events and match races. Worsham's first full lap in the car, an exhibition pass at the '05 NHRA Dallas race with Beadle in attendance, resulted in a 5.97-second time slip, making his Blue Max the first Nostalgia Funny Car to dip into the 5-second range.

"We just love racing the car, and when I heard about this event in Tucson I knew we wanted to go have some fun, if the weather didn't mess up our NHRA schedule," Worsham said. "We've had some iffy weather at the last two NHRA races, in Atlanta and St. Louis, so I was keeping my fingers crossed and I couldn't commit to this deal until I knew for sure we could go. I don't know if the fingers being crossed helped or not, but we dodged the rain drops enough at both races to get them in on time, and now we have the chance to go nostalgia racing this weekend.

"We've been to the track in Tucson a lot of times, and it's a really nice facility with a great racing surface. We used to test our Checker, Schuck's, Kragen Funny Car there, so we've made quite a few laps at S.I.R., and the fans in the area have always been great. Even in pre-season testing, they'd come out in big numbers and it felt like a real event, not just a test session. I'm sure they'll pack the place for this nostalgia race, because these cars are so popular and people love to come out and watch the teams run them."

A great part of drag racing's allure is its open pit area, where fans can take in the behind-the-scenes action while just a few feet away from the working crews. That benefit is even more personal at nostalgia racing events, as the massive 18-wheel transporters and plush hospitality areas are replaced by more era-specific equipment, including the 45-foot trailer Worsham will haul to the track behind a heavy duty pick-up. While he loves his full-time job, racing as a pro on the NHRA tour, he sees these events as a chance to relive the early days of Funny Car racing, and just have fun.

"That's what it's all about, and it's why we built this car and take it out whenever we can," Worsham said. "I guess it was about four years ago, when my dad was helping out Nathan Bugg and his nostalgia team, and he really got into that because it was so much like the old days. I was just a little kid in the 70s, but my dad was racing by then so you know it really hit home with him. When we started talking about messing around with this ourselves, I knew I wanted to build a Blue Max replica. It was my favorite car as a kid, and I'm sure more than a few grade-school teachers could verify that, considering how many pictures of it I drew in my notebooks.

"It's great to go to these events, get our hands dirty, work out of a small trailer, meet the fans and the other nostalgia racers, and just go back in time for a couple of days. The only pressure I feel is just to make sure we don't hurt the car, and make sure we have enough fun. And let me tell you, driving this thing is serious business, but it's a ton of fun."

Worsham will be assisted by his father Chuck, as well as Marc Denner, Grant Downing, John Fink, and Robin "Silky" Silk.

The race, Funny Car Fever II, will feature a Chicago-style format, in which each Funny Car will make two laps during the event and the quickest two cars will be brought back for the final round, and it will also feature plenty of memorable machinery. In addition to Worsham and his Blue Max, the event promoters are expecting Terry Capp in his Bubble Up Firebird, Jim Adolph in the Nitro Charger, Bucky Austin in his Northwest Hitter, James Day in the Holy Toledo Jeep, and many others.

(releated from www.dragracecentral.com)

Mercedes-Benz History

The origins of the Daimler-Benz company founded through a merger in 1926 date back to the mid-1880s, when Gottlieb Daimler (1834–1900) working with Wilhelm Maybach (1846–1929), and Karl Benz (1844–1929) independently invented the internal combustion engine-powered automobile, in southwestern Germany. Although they were only sixty miles apart, these pioneers were unaware of each other's early work.

Karl Benz had his workshop in Mannheim where he invented "the world's first true automobile powered by an internal combustion engine" in 1885. It had three wheels. He was granted a patent for his vehicle dated January 29, 1886, for what he called the "Benz Patent Motorwagen." Among many inventions, Benz patented his first engine in 1879, a high-speed single-cylinder four-stroke engine of his own design which he included in his "integral" design for the Motorwagen patent application.

In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and design partner Wilhelm Maybach, working in Cannstatt, Stuttgart, were granted a patent dated August 29, 1885 for what is generally recognized as the prototype of the modern gas engine, that they named the "grandfather clock engine."

On March 8, 1886, Daimler purchased a stagecoach made by Wilhelm Wimpff & Sohn and he and Maybach adapted it to hold this engine, thereby creating a four-wheeled carriage propelled by an engine. The only distinction about this carriage was that it carried an internal combustion engine. None of many similar attempts to adapt carts, boats, or carriages, in many countries, were propelled by this type of engine. On the official history pages of the Mercedes-Benz Internet site it is referred to as "a carriage — without a drawbar but with the conventional drawbar steering. A carriage without horses..." Daimler and Maybach later purposely built, from scratch, the first four-stroke engine powered automobile with four wheels in 1889. They founded Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, DMG, in 1890 and sold their first automobile in 1892.

Stationary engines were his major business and he invented many improvements to them and their application, but Karl Benz continued to refine his Motorwagen through several models and sold his first automobile in 1888. He built his first four-wheeled model in 1891. Benz & Cie, the company started by the inventor, became not only the world's first, but also largest manufacturer of automobiles by 1900.

In 1898, DMG automobiles built at Untertürkheim (a city district of Stuttgart) were raced successfully by Emil Jellinek (1853-1918), an automobile enthusiast and dealer. He had the name of his daughter, Mercedes, painted on the automobiles for good luck. Wanting faster race cars, it was Jellinek who spurred the development of the seminal 1902 DMG model that would be the first of the DMG Mercedes series, bearing the name of his daughter.

After suggesting some design specifications, he promised to purchase thirty-six of the new DMG model if Maybach would name the new 35 hp (26 kW) engine contained in it, the Daimler-Mercedes engine. A contract of five hundred and fifty thousand marks was made for these new models. Within weeks he contracted for thirty-six of another DMG model with 8 hp (6.0 kW) engines. He was granted an exclusive concession to sell the new DMG automobiles in Austria-Hungary, France, Belgium, and USA.

That new model later would be named "Mercedes 35 hp" (in 1902) and it was a very important advance in automobile design. The contract called for delivery of the first automobile to Jellinek in the Fall (Autumn), but it did not reach him until December 22, 1900. He became obsessed with the name Mercedes and even had his name changed to Jellinek-Mercedes. Jellinek was invited to sit on the DMG board of directors, which he did from 1901 until 1909, when he retired from automotive activities in favour of diplomatic appointments.

The name change also prevented legal issues as after the death of Daimler, DMG sold exclusive rights to the marque; "Daimler", and some technical concepts to overseas 3rd parties. As a result, vehicles branded Daimler continued production. Although trucks and a range of bespoke vehicles were made, Daimlers are still built in England but as re-branded Jaguars.

A fire that gutted the old Steinway piano factory in New York, which had been converted to produce the new Mercedes models, stopped American production.

The first logo of Mercedes-Benz from the 1926 merger of the companies of Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler

1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK "Count Trossi" in the Ralph Lauren collection

The rival companies of Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) and Benz & Cie. started to cooperate in 1924, due to necessity arising from a troubled German economy after World War I, and finally merged in 1926 to become Daimler-Benz AG, which produced Mercedes-Benz automobiles and trucks. The merger agreement established that the two companies were required to remain together until 2000. While focusing on land vehicles, Mercedes-Benz also built engines to power boats and airplanes (military and civil), and even Zeppelins.

Karl Benz died in 1929.

Hitler's Personal Armored 1943 Mercedes Limousine

1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe from the Ralph Lauren collection

Throughout the companies' history a number of notable sports cars have also been produced; e.g., the early supercharged S to SSK range developed by Ferdinand Porsche, and the iconic 300SL Gullwing of 1954.

The prototypes of the Volkswagen were built and tested in Stuttgart, in cooperation with Porsche. Before that, Mercedes-Benz had a similar but unsuccessful rear-engined small car, the 130 H.

[edit] Purchasing

Mercedes-Benz automobiles are available at dealerships in over 130 countries and their work fleet (trucks and commercial vehicles) are available from a group of dealers worldwide as well as the factory-direct. As with several European brand automobiles, Mercedes has offered a European delivery option for purchasing of a Mercedes-Benz automobile for American customers.

(releated from www.wikipedia.com)

Suzuki GSX1000

Fast. A great word, and one used rather regularly when talking about bikes like this. Frequently, it’s preceded by another word to emphasise just how fast it is, but we’ll not be using that here. In fact, this is a great time to blow some of the nonsense that is being peddled by some alleged experts about this bike. The GSX-R 1000 is not past it. It isn’t over the hill, baggy, overweight or gutless. It is about as far from those things as you can imagine while remaining a usable road bike. It isn’t new for 2004, it’s true. And it’s no longer the lightest and most powerful in the class. But it’s more powerful than some and lighter than some. And at the end of the day, any litre class sports bike is far faster and more capable than you or I will ever be. If you’re a professional superbike or GP racer then please ignore that last comment – it’s aimed at the mere mortals reading…

We’ve had this bike on test for the best part of three weeks now, and it’s opened my eyes to the reality of litre bike ownership. I’m going to do something a little different here. I’m going to lead with the conclusions of the test and then justify them. Why? Because it feels the right thing to do. And because that’s the over-riding impression that remains after an enthusiastic ride on a GSX-R1000. The sensation of arriving at the end of your journey just a little before you actually left.

The GSX-R 1000 is an incredibly capable road bike. It is comfortable and usable with decent mirrors, excellent lights and plenty of points to strap your luggage on. It handles wonderfully, managing to be stable while not being too much hard work to get turning. And it goes quite well too. Acceleration is positively brutal. Overtakes take no more than a brief thought and a slight twist and they are clear and done. When we had the chance to test top speed it turned out to be simply ridiculous. And yet the whole thing is as happy bimbling along at the national speed limit as it is at warp factor 21. In a nutshell, I really liked this bike and didn’t want to give it back.

Of course, every silver lining has a cloud. And though it is difficult to find any real criticism to level at the GSX-R 1000, the test period wasn’t entirely without trauma. First of all, there’s something about having a bike that is king of the production racing scene that will be familiar to anyone who ever owned a Yamaha LC. Racers are, on the whole, pretty decent people. But some of the folk around racing aren’t. If you have a GSX-R 1000 then get a decent alarm, a decent lock and a decent garage to keep it in. Because even parking ours in front of a CCTV camera and illuminated by spotlights didn’t stop it from going walkies. We only got it back because the opportunist toe-rags who nicked it didn’t have the brains to figure out how to get it rolling and didn’t have a van with them to take it away. They left it hidden in some bushes a few hundred yards from the hotel. I found it, took it back in and left it in the corridor outside my room for the rest of the night. But you might not be so lucky, so take lots of precautions.

The other thing you will need to be careful of is yourself. This bike is very fast. I think I may have mentioned that before. And overtakes are very easy. I probably mentioned that as well. Add the two together and you soon find yourself doing devastatingly effective overtakes on cars that are already exceeding the national speed limit by some way. And that makes you very vulnerable when it comes to losing your licence and, possibly, your liberty as well.

But enough waffle. During the time we had this bike it was used in town, in the countryside and on motorways, A roads and back roads. It was used in the rain, in the dry, at night and… well, you get the picture I’m sure. We did everything with this bike that we possibly could. And what did we find? We found that it was far better than we are at everything we asked it to do, of course.

Let’s start with practicality. Not normally the strong suit of a supersports 1000, and perhaps a pointer that the GSX-R has gone a bit soft. Except, of course, that it was always practical. Luggage hooks on the rear pegs and moulded in either side of the number plate mean that you can actually strap a bag on the back and be reasonably sure that it will stay put. Especially if you use the pillion seat instead of the cover – not an option we had but it would have made a good thing even better. Add to that a seat that actually offers some real comfort, a screen and fairing that are reasonably protective and an engine that finds sensible cruising speeds so easy that fuel consumption becomes laughable and suddenly you consider going a whole lot further that you normally would on a sports bike and wondering why the hell anyone would buy one of the lardy sports tourers when this does such a good job.

Then you need to do a decisive overtake. Maybe you need to get past before some white lines or a bend, maybe you’ve misjudged the closing speed of that truck coming the other way or maybe the subject of your overtake just needs to be shown what you and your bike can do. None of these are good reasons but they all happen. Or maybe you’re just being cautious and spending the least possible time on the wrong side of the road, officer. Either way, you close on your target and take a decent fistful of throttle. And Jeez – you know why people go for lardy tourers. If someone had been on the back the wheelie you just pulled would have been a little more exciting than you needed. And if you’d had luggage on elastics then it would be catching you up and smacking you in the back just about…now.

(related from www.motorbikestoday.com)

MotoGP rostrum riders review Estoril race

The champagne freshly sprayed on their leathers, the MotoGP podium finishers faced the cameras to give their views on an incredible race in Portugal. Taking centre stage was, of course, rookie race winner Jorge Lorenzo.

The champagne freshly sprayed on their leathers, the MotoGP podium finishers faced the cameras to give their views on an incredible race in Portugal. Taking centre stage was, of course, rookie race winner Jorge Lorenzo.

Jorge Lorenzo – Race Winner

`First of all I have to thank Yamaha and all my sponsors for the trust that they placed in me. It is unbelievable to be here in MotoGP, to win in Estoril.

`The start of the race was crazy! I took a big risk passing Valentino, but luckily I got past him OK and was able to break away. Tomorrow I will undergo an operation on my arm pump, but for now I will celebrate as if it was the last day on earth!´

Dani Pedrosa – Second Placed

`I am happy with this second place. At the beginning of the race things were difficult; the pace wasn´t so fast to start with, but it picked up later. Thanks to everybody.´

Valentino Rossi – Third Placed

`At the end of the day, it´s not a bad result for us, because Portugal isn´t the best track for Bridgestone. I made a good start, and tried to set the pace early, but then the tyres started to slide a bit and I had to let Pedrosa past. It´s my second podium in a row, so I can be happy with that.´